A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands - Chapter 21Book 2: : Portents

Shen Qingxian is the Honored Lord Lianhua, only lacking ascending to the heavens.

Gu Jianshen is the Demonic Emperor Jiuyuan, only lacking destroying the three worlds.

Everyone believed that a meeting between Shen Qingxian and Gu Jianshen must result in a war spanning the three worlds, the two of them dueling to the death.

Until Shen Qingxian went through a hundred years of closed-door cultivation, and spied upon heaven’s mysteries.

Words of heaven’s mysteries: For ten thousand years, no one in the cultivation world has ascended to the heavens. This is because the Heavenly Staircase has long since collapsed. The only way to set this right is to follow the directions of this jade scroll.

Jade Scroll Writing: First, meet with Gu Jianshen. Second, drink and get drunk together with Gu Jianshen……. Thirteenth, pass a ‘spring night’ together with Gu Jianshen…….

Shen Qingxian: “……”

- Description from Novelupdates

[Your shadow is alive.][Feed your shadow, devour souls, level up, gain skills, complete quests, and grow stronger.][Do you wish to view your current stats?]In the magical world of Aetherus, Damon Grey is the weakest student at Aether Academy, relentlessly bullied and ridiculed for his lack of power and defiant personality. Yet, he endures the torment, clinging to his scholarship—the only thing providing him with the funds to keep his sick sister alive.After a brutal attack leaves him near death, Damon encounters a dark viscous entity in the forest that fuses with his shadow, awakening the Living Shadow System. This strange power grants him unimaginable abilities but comes with a grim cost—a relentless hunger for souls and flesh to feed his shadow.Now, with his shadow alive and insatiable, Damon faces a terrible choice: feed it to grow stronger or starve it and die with it.In a world ruled by ruthless nobles, deadly monsters, and power-hungry demons, Damon must decide if his newfound power is a curse or the only way to survive. With the Living Shadow System, his fate is clear: devour or be devoured.

When the enigmatic and overpowered Kieran Drayke awakens in a foreign magical world after a sudden transmigration, he brings along a system unlike any this realm has ever known. The “Sovereign Architect System” doesn’t just make him invincible—it gives him the tools to build something far greater.But Kieran isn’t interested in world domination. At least, not in the usual way.Disillusioned by the world's surface-level glimmer and the rot beneath it, Kieran sets his sights on the forsaken—those discarded by society, lost in the shadows of nobility and corruption. From slums, war zones, and forgotten ruins, he gathers orphan girls of various races—elves, beastkin, humans, and more—each with untapped potential and pain behind their eyes.He trains them in secret. Guides them. Empowers them. Not as soldiers, but as a family. A hidden organization that operates behind the curtains, shaping the world while appearing as ordinary students at the prestigious Aetherion Magic Academy.Kieran himself? Just a carefree, slightly lazy transfer student with a penchant for sweets, sarcasm, and sneaking naps between classes—on the surface, at least.With a slow-burning plot that weaves magical worldbuilding, deep friendships, training arcs, casual comedy, and a cast of unforgettable girls who grow into queens of the unseen, Chronicles of the Hidden Crown explores what happens when an OP MC doesn’t conquer the world with brute force…But builds a legacy from its forgotten pieces.No betrayal. No forced drama. Just the steady rise of a secret kingdom in the shadows of a crumbling empire.

As soon as he opened his eyes, the white scorpion was worn on the body of a notorious dude.

I heard that her father is an upstart in the North City, and his fame spreads far and wide from nothing;

Her illegitimate eldest brother is a genius, and went to Jiangjing University as the champion of the market;

The illegitimate younger sister is the versatile school belle of the international class next door, gentle and courteous;

The fiancé is a wealthy son of finance, a school god, and he didn’t take her seriously…

And she, just an ordinary person with a low IQ, was kicked out of this family at the very beginning.

Bai Po: All right, then she will study hard and try to be an ordinary person~

All (smiling faces of fans): …you are the best? ?

The eldest lady who was assigned to Xiangcheng had no background, no knowledge and skills, everyone could step on her… Can’t step on it? ? ? ?

[The only beauty in the world is lazy and wanton, whoever provokes her will be killed, whoever criticizes the heroine madly vs the noble and glamorous male protagonist who exudes a majestic aura and IQ crushes all the male protagonists present]

ps: The male and female protagonists are very Su

Conception: love to learn, be a good person.

- Description from novelbuddy