A Tale of Blades & Blood - Chapter 12: The Hound

Yu Ziyou and Zhong Wan served different masters.

They had once been the closest of souls, and were the bitterest of enemies.

After losing the fight for the throne, Zhong Wan brought his two young masters with him far toward the borders for the sake of survival. He relied on the little friendship that existed between him and Yu Ziyou when they were young. He borrowed some of his personal belongings while also dropping various hints around which made everyone think that there was something intimate going on between them.

Given the Yu Clan’s powerful authoritative presence in the imperial court, this appearance of a close tie allowed Zhong Wan to live a much better life than before. As such, the stories he cooked up began to carry more and more weight.

As rumors of their lovely romance spread a thousand miles into the horizon, Yu Ziyou, who was located in the distant capital city, eventually caught wind of his deeply moving and epic love affair. In a trance, Yu Ziyou, who had been completely brainwashed for seven years, believed in them. He guessed something special really did happen between them back in those years…

- Description from Novelupdates

At the end of the dark 40,000 years, the enemies in the Milky Way launched their final offensive. When the end of the Era comes, the eternal war will come to an end. The human empire has now reached its destined final moment.

But the gear of fate does not end. The fate of the Milky Way will be determined by him and them as it was ten thousand years ago. What will happen at the end of this dark 40,000 years?

- Description from novelbuddy

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.

After dying a pathetic death as an overworked office drone, I woke up reincarnated as Archer—the bastard prince of the Brutish Empire.My existence is a royal secret as My father, the King, would rather pretend I don't exist. My half siblings get royal treatment while I'm hidden away like a dirty secret.But I have a secret of my own. I was OP.By age two, I realized monsters flee from my stupidly OP mana. By age ten my mana could level cities—if I dare to unleash it.When my half-sister is kidnapped by the demon king, I finally decided to step out of hiding to become the strongest in this new world.