A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands - Chapter 8Book 3: : Bread & Water

Elaine Monroe never meant to fall in love with him. She never meant for her heart to betray her like this. But as she watches him stand beside another, hand resting on the waist of the woman he’s meant to be with, she wonders if she was always destined to be the outsider.“You knew,” she says, voice barely above a whisper. “You knew how I felt.”His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t deny it. He never does.“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” he finally says.She laughs bitterly. “I know.”Loving him was always impossible. He belonged to someone else. To his family’s expectations. To a future where Elaine had no place.“Forget whatever you think you feel,” he tells her, voice firm, but there’s something unspoken in his eyes—something that makes it hurt even more. “It will never happen.”And yet, his gaze lingers, just for a second too long.Then there’s her best friend—the one who stands beside her when the world turns its back. The one who sees her pain without asking.“You don’t have to do this to yourself,” he says, handing her his jacket on a cold night. “You deserve more than waiting for someone who will never be yours.”She wants to believe him. She wants to move forward. But some loves are impossible to forget. Some wounds never truly heal. And some desires, no matter how forbidden, refuse to die._____“loving him best decision i ever made” Elaine“you are my world”

In the realm of cultivating the nine states, the Taoist court is unified, the aristocratic families are oppressed, the sects are monopolized, and the barriers to Taoism are tight.

The monks at the bottom have no way to practice Buddhism, lack spiritual stones, and have a hard time living.

Ten-year-old Mo Hua was born with a weak body, was born as a Buddhist monk, and came from a poor family.

Even if he practices hard, he may only be a humble ant-like Qi-refining monk throughout his life.

Until a Tao tablet appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness.

You can comprehend the heavenly formations and infinitely enhance your spiritual consciousness.

Ink painting will use the Taoist stele to break down the barriers of Taoism, create supreme spiritual consciousness, fully understand the formations of the Immortal Tao, and strive for the road to immortality…

- Description from novelbuddy

The Great Yan Empire exists in a world where respect can only be earned through strength. Within this Great Yan Empire, the four great clans have always stood above the rest. Among them, a particular incident in the Lin Clan resulted in the banishment of a certain individual who went on to start his own family, in hopes of one day being recognized again by the Lin Clan, and rejoining them…

Hailing from a banished family of the Great Lin Clan, when Lin Dong was very young, he watched, powerless, as his talented father was easily crushed and crippled by the overwhelming genius of the great Lin Clan, Lin Langtian.

With a despairing father, a heartbroken grandfather, and a suffering family, ever since that fateful day, Lin Dong has been driven by a deep purpose; to take revenge on the man who had taken everything and more from his family.

Armed with nothing but willpower and determination, join Lin Dong as he unknowingly discovers a destiny greater than he could ever hope to imagine when he stumbles upon a mysterious stone talisman…

“If I were ever reincarnated in another world, I’d be the ultimate villain.”That was the last thing Ace joked about before getting hit by an out of control ambulance–ironically, while saving his best friend.Truly, Fate has a twisted sense of humor.Now Reincarnated in a fantasy world, Ace isn’t a chosen one, a prodigy, or a hero. He’s a background nobody—an extra in a story already set in motion. Weak, talentless, and scorned by society, his new life seems doomed to follow the same path as his last: forgotten and meaningless.Destined to be killed off early in the plot, With no noble bloodline, no rare mana affinity, and a world stacked against him. Ace must rise from the ashes of his failure and break this tradegy, the only way he knows how.But Ace isn’t the same person he used to be.Armed with wit, ambition, and a twisted sense of justice, he refuses to bow to fate. If the world wants a villain, then a villain it shall get. He’ll climb the ranks, topple the so-called heroes, and make sure the world never overlooks him again.This time, the extra is writing his own story and it starts with CHAOS.But as he treads the line between fiction and reality, a bigger question looms—Was his reincarnation really an accident?