Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament - Volume 8, Chapter 2: Miniature Garden Within the Investigation. Area_No.23.

One day, unfortunate news flew all the way to the Mage’s City. The mage, Solar Xing Ayra’s, entire family had been killed in an accident. Thus, he must now become the next Lord of the Solar family. The childhood home he returned to felt unfamiliar and strange. He barely managed to conduct a funeral with advisors that regarded him with suspicion. After fainting from various stressors, he woke up and… “Hello, Master. Nice to meet you!” ^o^ From now on, I’ll be the cute GM spirit fulfilling Master’s dreams: ‘Adventuring the world!’, ‘Fun estate management!’ I’m so happy to be with Master from now on, yay! “Enter a name ______” … What is this pebble-like spirit that calls me ‘Master’? No matter how you look at it–these level-up quests and these system windows…they were similar to a game’s user interface from his previous life. What is this… thing that seems more suited to modern civilization? Reminiscing on the games he had longed to play, Ayra worked hard on the quests. And, slowly, he also began exploring the territory. However, the territory… [D-234 days until the fall of the Solar estate.] “There are 234 days left till ruin…?” Alright, let’s start with the coronation ceremony. Things will work out somehow.

Blessed by the heavens, Su Yang was born with an extraordinarily handsome appearance that could sway even the coldest beauties and innate sword talents that would make even the Sword Emperor green with envy.Su Yang thought for the longest that he would spend his life swinging a sword, but little did he know that fate had something entirely different in store for him.Instead of swinging a sword, he would be thrusting a different kind of ‘sword’. Rather than perfecting his sword techniques, he would be learning massage techniques.This is a story of how a sword prodigy ended up walking the path of dual cultivation and becoming the most powerful dual cultivator under heaven.--------------Note: This novel is the prequel to Dual Cultivation, but it doesn't require any knowledge from Dual Cultivation to understand so anyone can start reading without worry. Some terms/plots might differ from Dual Cultivation.

The world is a sea of bitterness.

The mortal swims in the sea.

The body is the vessel.

The soul is the mortal on the vessel.

The vessel carries the mortal as it sails endlessly towards the other side of the sea.

Does cultivating the body strengthen the vessel enough to reach the other side of this sea of misery?

Or does cultivating the soul give the mortal on the vessel the ability to master swimming?

Cultivating according to the martial path allows one to become an Earthly Immortal.

Cultivating according to the immortal path allows one to become a Divine Immortal.

Which path should be chosen?

- Description from Novelupdates

Set on a giant, almost finished bridge between Sadogashima and Niigata. Abandoned by the government, the bridge, and the giant man-made floating island at the center, has become a city of criminals and societal drop-outs.

Set in the same world as Durarara, but 15-20 years later. There is almost no overlap between Etsusa Bridge and the other novels.