Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign - Chapter 5: Sparks and Stew

“Hey, hurry up and massacre those bandits!”

After years of hard study, she finally became a master's degree holder. One day, she suddenly finds herself traversing into a different world as an illegitimate daughter.In her previous life, she was a prominent student from a prestigious university; in this life, she is a weak girl from a noble family.She hides her brilliance, conceals her sharpness, aims for survival, and seeks peace. However, the scholarly family she is part of is also fraught with countless disputes and endless troubles.The concubine schemes against her, her legitimate sister plots, leading to her ruin and disgrace.Retaliation is a must!Her attitude must be gentle!Her methods absolutely ruthless!She retaliates fiercely with gentle means, and what's next is...Marriage?To whom?Can she choose her own spouse?This is a serious issue.*******************************

Cha Myung-jun, a sergeant who neared the end of his military service, found himself confined in the Ministry of National Defense’s bas**ent for over three decades due to his newly awakened abilities, just before the outbreak of war. Spending thirty years as the world’s most formidable blacksmith, wielding nothing but hammers, he skillfully outwits the watchful eyes of the Ministry of Defense to serve the war effort and reset the course of time. Now given a second chance at life, can he lead a successful campaign to avert humanity’s downfall and secure its salvation?

“Battling young masters for some treasures in mysterious caves? No, thank you.What's so special about a ring containing an old sage's trapped soul? I'll just toss it away.Becoming a direct disciple of some big expert with many enemies? Count me out.I'll flip the bird to the pointless struggle in prestigious sects that only attract calamity.What I have here, this opportunity I've seized, is plenty for me.I'll choose safe and steady methods of progress, even if they're slow. After all, I'm just a simple farmer seeking peace through cultivation. I'll rely on myself to pave the way.”- Aksai Everwood (Chapter 7)============Meet Aksai Everwood, a guy who thought he was done with life, but life had other plans.Aksai wasn't always Aksai. He used to be Arman Arlott, a terminally ill dude who decided to take one last wild ride before checking out. Little did he know, a crazy experiment would flip his world upside down. Arman's mind got tangled up with artificial intelligence, and things got seriously weird.Instead of peacefully bowing out, Arman ended up sacrificing himself for some mind-blowing breakthrough. But instead of eternal rest, he got a second chance as Aksai Everwood, a spirit farmer in a new world. Talk about a cosmic curveball!You'd think being a farmer in a serene, pastoral paradise would be easy, right? Nope. Aksai's new world is anything but peaceful. Farming is far from sunshine and rainbows here.Aksai dreams of a chill life cultivating his crops, but in the wild world of immortal cultivation, peace is a rare commodity.Luckily, Aksai's got some serious advantages. He's got a neural link fabric that makes him a whiz at alchemy and array formations, giving him a leg up on other Spirit cultivators. Plus, he has the Enchanted Everwood Farm, a magical place where he can grow all sorts of mysterious cultivation resources with awesome bonuses. This farm comes with perks that make Aksai a one-of-a-kind Spirit farmer.And here's the kicker: the farm is suspended in a spatial junction of all existing realities. That means Aksai can hop between different worlds as he levels up in his Spirit cultivation.With these unique advantages, Aksai ditches the traditional path of joining a sect or a renowned clan. Instead, he explores various worlds, using their unique resources and methods to forge his own path as a Spirit cultivator.What do myriad worlds unlock? A druid bloodline, body cultivation, martial arts, and lots more. Who’d join sects when given such perks?The stage is set for our Spirit farmer. Now Aksai, his companions, and you, his readers, are in for a journey of rebirth, redemption, and a whole lot of dirt under your fingernails.============Additional Tags: #druid #bloodlines #Martialarts #worldhopping #artificialintelligence #coldmc #battlenovel #calculatingmc #villain #farming #spiritcultivation #mindcultivation #bodycultivation #worldhopping #rpgelements #low-keymc #sliceoflife #nonarrogantmc