Fantasy: I! Accept disciples and become stronger! - Chapter 79

The call of the nightmare realm cannot be denied, the woven fate is inevitable.

His ability to travel to the nightmare realm granted him immortality but also pit him with an unfamiliar world, curses and magics unseen before in the real world.

Monsters of unknown origin, macabre beasts and horrors beyond the ken of man have taken the place of old inhabitants of a once glorious civilization.

Now under the light of the Clairvoyant Moon the nightmare realm is on the verge of destruction. Here you will find dishonorable knights, mad sorcerers, twisted alchemist, the malformed Lost Ones and the vestiges of old gods all converging in a dead world.

But there are also those who seek to undo the curse, to restore the world. There are scavengers that only want to survive, the seekers of truth that seek the secrets of old.

And then there’s Aldrich who plans to exploit the resources and powers of the nightmare realm to achieve his own goals.

The epic tale of struggle against impossible odds and enemies bigger than life.

What Aldrich will find outside his little village will not just test the limits of his will, but also his sanity.

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Aldrich, is a fifteen year old boy, living in a small village called Wakefield, he dreams of being a Crestmaster.

On the day Aldrich awakens his Crest, Wakefield is attacked and burned.

He is the only survivor, barely making it out with a mysterious gift, a heavy mission and dire warnings to never turn back.

He is then told to forget about what he saw and the innocent villagers that died, to never ask questions. All things Aldrich could never do.

One day he will uncover the forces behind the massacre and take his revenge. But for now he will lower his head and pretend that nothing has happened.

For now.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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Humanity’s home is no longer Earth. Intersellar travel is now a common occurence, and technology has replaced blood and flesh.Luka, who grew up in the slums, has turned fifteen and taken the selection exams. His aptitude is of the “Imperial Guard.”

People got a planet in the beginning and what to do with it was up to them.Wang Yi, a young man in the 21st century, coincidentally transmigrated into a world where everyone had the opportunity to awaken a planet.The larger the diameter of the planet, the more advanced the energy transformed, and the more powerful the civilization created.Some people obtained the planet's energy as “ Martial True Qi” and used the creation sandbox to create a martial civilization, and the people on the planet were all martial artists.Some people get the planet's energy as “Immortal True Energy” and use the creation sandbox to create an immortal civilization, and the people on the planet were all cultivators!Some people obtained the energy of the planet as “Fighting Qi”, and used the creation sandbox to create the civilization of Fighting Qi, and people on the planet are all fighters!Some people obtained the energy of the planet as “Soul Power”, and used the creation sandbox to create the Soul Path Civilization, and the people on the planet were all Soul Masters!...Everyone was struggling to evolve a magical civilization system.Wang Yi, however, used his past life memories to start evolving an “Primordial” civilization!“Your world-extinguishing laser cannon is powerful, but I have the son of the Great Dao, Pan Gu! One axe will reduce your world to naught!”“Your thousands of angels are powerful, but I have three thousand Chaos Demon Gods to beat you in a minute!”“Your army of darkness is awesome, but I have the Buddha's Paramount Sage, who will defeat you in a minute!”“...”This was a story of how the Primordial civilization crushed various transcendent civilizations.