MTL - Extraordinary Genius - Chapter 1986 Was it broken at the beginning?

Qin Zhaoyue, a hundred-year-old Soul cultivator and famous artifact refiner, dies and transmigrates into a body of 16-year-old Xi Zhaoyue, who was killed on her wedding day.

The unlucky previous owner of the body was an illegitimate daughter of an influential family and was forced to live her whole life in the orphanage. However, at the age of 16, her Guide glands were awakened and as fate willed it, Xi Zhaoyue happened to have the highest compatibility with the youngest, bravest, most handsome Major General of the Empire, a dream husband of the whole Outer Space! Finally, a loving family she so longed for was within her reach… Yet, at the wedding ceremony, her Mental sea was invaded and she died.

Once Zhaoyue figured out the situation she landed herself in, she vowed: she wouldn’t be a proud and self-respecting cultivator, if she didn’t strive for independence, for the right to live the life freely! Cultivate, refine, get stronger! Become your own person!

- Description from Novelupdates

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.

Young Chen Xiang had a fateful encounter with a goddess & demoness and received their peerless heritage, divine pulses, ultimate martial arts, and transcendent alchemy techniques, which gave him an easy ride in his journey of cultivation.

When hungry, he refines some spirit pills to eat as snack, when lonely he flirts with the goddesses, when bored he teases those martial artists who came to beg for spirit pills, when tired he lets his beautiful wives massage him.

- Description from Novelupdates

-- WSA 2025 Entry --“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.[Updating home-world 39515’s version][Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode][Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?][Yes] [No]“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…