Shadow of the Abyss - Chapter 7: Icy Flame

In the vast world of cultivation, a talisman is formed by merging the essence of heaven and earth with the spirit and soul of the practitioner. Imbuing the formless with power and imprinting it onto paper, talismans hold immense potential. Yet, this art comes with a price—most who pursue the talismanic path exhaust their spiritual consciousness, falling before they reach their full potential.Lu An’s fate was no different—until his soul, shattered by fate, found itself reborn in a new realm of cultivation. Within his sea of consciousness, he discovers the Four Treasures of the Study, mystical tools that allow him to create talismans without depleting his spiritual energy. With this newfound gift, Lu An begins his ascent.[You have drawn a Breath-Concealing Talisman. Completion Rate: 62%. Grade: Inferior, first grade. Spiritual consciousness refunded.][You have drawn a Wealth-Bringing Talisman. Completion Rate: 73%. Grade: Middle, fifth grade. Spiritual consciousness refunded.][You have drawn a Three-Yuan Gathering Qi Talisman. Completion Rate: 85%. Grade: Superior, ninth grade. Spiritual consciousness refunded.]The world of talisman-making opens before him—mastery over the five elements, control of winds and thunder, the study of formations, the nurturing of spiritual creatures, and even the command of ancient treasures. With every talisman, Lu An’s understanding of the Dao deepens, his soul, body, and laws intertwining as one. His talismans grow in power—some divine, some forbidden—each step toward immortality.Using the very forces of nature as his tools, Lu An crafts talismans that can reshape reality. With mountains and seas as his ink and brush, and heaven and earth as his canvas, he will rise to the pinnacle of the immortal realm. Even the immortals and Buddhas will bow before him, for they know him as the Talisman Ancestor.But few recall the man behind the legend, the one named Lu An, whose journey to the top, though formidable, has only just begun.

Betrayed and left for dead, Richard Blackwood—formerly known as the world renowned hero Astralis—awakens a decade later to find the world has moved on, and an imposter now wears his mantle. Disguised as a rookie in the Mage Guild, he quietly hunts for answers.'If my little sister is levelled above me, then what about everyone else? How much stronger have the bastards who betrayed me grown while I was dead?'Richard must grow stronger once again, and rise much higher than the S-Rank.'What the fuck? I almost die, and I get a power up?'Not harem.

The empire has turned into the land of the undead due to a spell gone wrong. God summoned heroes from countless worlds to purify the empire and plant new hope. Lee Shin Woo, an ordinary earthling, was also summoned. As an undead, that is.

Monsters lurk in the night, but what if something else hunted them? An incident in his childhood left Velik an outcast with a racial subtype that thrives at night and unique class called [The Black Fang], which focuses on just one thing: killing monsters. He’s good at finding them, and he’s good at slaying them. For ten years, he’s been gaining levels and sharpening his skills on the thousands of monsters infesting the wild lands of the frontier. For ten years, he’s kept a lonely stretch of towns safe. Despite his efforts, this year has seen an explosion in the monster population, so much that he’s no longer capable of protecting everyone by himself. This draws the interest of another monster hunter, one that’s professionally licensed, but he seems more interested in investigating Velik than anything else. At least with him there, Velik is free to finally explore the mysteries of the deep wood, where he believes the source of all monsters resides. Every answer he finds leads to new questions, and not even Velik himself knows the truth of what happened on that fateful day. One thing’s for sure: not even the monsters are safe in the dark.