Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 52: Northern ambition(2)

Wen TianHe originally thought he was a man who’s going to be a domineering chairman. But in the end, he became the man alongside the domineering chairman.

The sharp edge of a knife is difficult to cross; thus the wise man said that the path to salvation will be hard.
—Mao Mu, (Blade)

The blade of a sword must be sad for its lack in friendship. Because no matter whom it wants to give a hug, the other would be divided into two.
—Vietnamese Overbearing Chairman, Si Guan (Silence is Golden)

- Description from Novelupdates

Liu Yuan transmigrated into the world of a Xianxia online game named “Shang Yang” after he maxed out the stats for all the playable characters in the game.

Liu Yuan barked, “Usually, people receive a system or cheats when they transmigrate to another world. What am I supposed to do with this illustrated handbook? And I can only target female characters?”

For the sake of survival and becoming stronger, Liu Yuan once again embarked on the journey of gaining the favorability of NPCs. As such, the most despicable liar and outstanding lover in the history of Shang Yang Realm was born.

Just like how everyone adored heroes in their childhood, a certain young man adored those powers hidden in shadows. After hiding his strength and living the mediocre life of a mob character by day while undergoing frenzied training by night, he finally reincarnates into a different world and gains ultimate power. The young man who is only playing at being a power in the shadows, his misunderstanding subordinates, and a giant organization in the shadows that gets trampled…. This is the story of a young boy who had adored powers in shadows possibly eventually reigning over the world of shadows in another world.

Long ago a great calamity struck the earth, destroying much of it and merging what remained with pieces of other worlds.

With these worlds came Aether, a new form of energy that can allow one to transcend the bounds of normal mortality and human limitations.

In a world where humans absorb the essence of aether beasts to gain power, Aiden Hawke joins the class of humans known as arcanists, people who defeat aether beasts and absorb their essence into cores they forge within themselves, and who infuse themselves with the aether that permeates the world around them to increase the power of their body and mind.

However, unlike most, Aiden will find that he holds a unique gift and that his journey as an arcanist will not be so simple.