The Arrogant Immortal - Chapter 23 - True and False

Facing extinction, humanity seeks salvation in the Astral Verge, a dangerous dimension accessed via portals that threatened to wipe out the entire planet.Few years later, aspiring recruit Daniel Vance enters the Verge for his final assessment, hoping to Awaken a Talent and secure his future. While others gain common abilities, Daniel secretly Awakens the mythical SSS-Grade Talent: [Soul Assimilation]. This allows him to absorb essence, enhancing gear, gaining stats and EXP from slain creatures, and crucially, absorbing attributes and skills from fallen Awakened.Witnessing the swift death of the arrogant Jaxon Rex, Daniel makes a grim choice: he assimilates Jaxon, gaining his first skill, [Kinetic Pulse]. This sets his path: scavenging the aftermath of others’ battles. He enhances gear and, after achieving his first kill on an injured beast, waits patiently to assimilate two more fallen recruits, acquiring [Quick Step] and the invaluable passive [Aura Sense].Starting as average, Daniel rapidly gains power in secret, enhanced gear, multiple skills, and boosted stats , far exceeding his peers while remaining outwardly unremarkable. He navigates the lethal Verge alone, using its inherent dangers to fuel his growth, wrestling with the moral cost of his unique, overwhelming power.

"Locke transmigrated into an era where everyone had Battle Beasts. Daemons were rampant and humans were forced to build walls around their dwellings while depending on Beastmasters to keep those monsters at bay.

When he returned to the World of Martial Arts, the game was filled with blood and battles! Chen Kaixin had chased after the footsteps of the one emperor, two empresses, three princes, seven dukes, and thirteen aces for three years, but during the eve of the Sword Among Us tournament in Mount Hua, he was ambushed by evil bastards, and was killed so much that his level dropped to that of a newbie. He completely lost the chance to join the ranks of the powerful players in the game! In great disappointment, Kaixin quit the game and got drunk so that he could forget his sadness, but during that stormy night, Chen Kaixin found that he had actually dreamed for a total of three years, because when he woke up again, he woke up to three years ago, when he was still a student.

- Description from Novelupdates

Traveling through time, he became Zhang Gui, a foreign relative of the Tianqi Dynasty. Because he didn’t want to be tortured to death by Li Zicheng in the future, he had to embark on the road of harming the powerful and bureaucratic officials of the Ming Dynasty.

The Yanguan scolded him for coercing the king and making disorderly manners.

The prince scolded him for being greedy.

The official hates him for being mean and cruel.

But helplessly, most of the Nine Frontiers are his lackeys, and even Jiu Qiansui is his godson, and the emperor can’t do anything about him.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty was at the mercy of him.

- Description from novelbuddy