Combat Maid Harem - Chapter 817 The Branching Pattern

The Dao Court has ruled the world of cultivators for over twenty thousand years. The noble families maintain a strict hierarchy, making life difficult for independent cultivators.At ten years old, Mo Hua, who comes from a background of independent cultivators, struggles with his cultivation journey. This changes when a Dao stele appears in his mind.The stele is damaged and mysterious, but it can enhance spiritual awareness and help understand mystical formations.Mo Hua plans to use this stele to develop a supreme spiritual awareness, learn the secrets of celestial formations, and pursue the ultimate path of immortality. His goal is to change not only his own destiny but also the destiny of all lesser cultivators across the world.The path to greatness starts with the smallest steps, and the journey to immortality is long and challenging.Through dense fog and treacherous terrains, past horrors and chaos, where demons dance wildly, he must plant the seeds of his spiritual quest, survive the deadliest of trials, and prove his worth on every dangerous step…In the grand scheme of heaven, where the universe is the game board and all creatures its pieces, the strategic game of life and death begins, shaping destinies through its intricate moves…

The people of Dafang village all say, the personality of the Lian family’s eldest daughter changed dramatically after her engagement was cancelled by her fiance’s family. She became extremely forceful and unreasonable. After hearing this, Lian Fangzhou secretly thought: Forceful? My parents are dead, my little brothers and sister are still young, with no one lending a helping hand, there are too many people looking to bully us showing up at my door! There’s still the most shameless pair of uncle and aunt eyeing our few acres of land, and even scheming to sell me off as a concubine! Treating my siblings as servants at their beck and call! If I was not forceful, how would we be able to live in peace? Don’t tell me that I should act like the previous Lian Fangzhou and die from extreme anger? In order to quell this bunch of demons, break out a wide path to walk on, angelic faces are useless, only the tricks used by malevolent spirits are the way to go!

- Description from Novelupdates

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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