Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential ! - Chapter 53: Growing reputation

A young man plagued by recurring nightmares finds himself visiting a blind fortune teller, who sends him to a world of martial arts that looks a lot like the wuxia stories he used to read.

In the sky of this world, a tome shines every now and then, revealing the hierarchy of mighty beings that seek power amid troubled times. Determined to unravel the mysteries of his involuntary journey and the secrets of the world he has ended up in, he endeavors to ascend the tome’s rankings, all while looking for a path back home.

Official Chinese blurb

Wandering the jianghu with a blade and wine, where beauties’ grace is filling one’s mind.

A youth, saber on his back and wine gourd at the waist, strides forth, yet the jianghu of his heart seems only more elusive;

With each flipped page of the Tome of Troubled Times, decades of nights soaked in rain pass over the jianghu.

As he suddenly turns to look back, he finds that the mortal world has shattered in his wake.

Power runs in blood - and blood always demands payment.Aya rules the North Kingdom with an ancient power that could end her bloodline forever. When Killan, the Southern King, seeks alliance through marriage, politics turn dangerous and desire becomes a liability.What begins as political maneuvering soon becomes something far more volatile. Drawn together by necessity, respect, and a growing attraction neither expected, Aya and Killan must navigate court intrigue, ancient rivalries, and the heavy cost of duty. As old wounds resurface and war looms on every border, the choices they make will determine not only the fate of their kingdoms—but the price of their hearts.Echoes of Ice and Iron is a story of power and inheritance, of love tested by obligation, and of sacrifices demanded by crowns forged in blood and history.

Aether Moirai was never meant to be free.Born from the final spark of the Abyss—a forgotten god’s last act of rebellion—he is the last vessel, a boy whose powers grow stronger the more his mind fractures. Bound by the Codex, a system that can rewrite history itself, Aether is hunted by worlds that fear what he might become.The Infinite Library has always been his home—a labyrinth between worlds where every book is a living realm, and every story is a battlefield. But when the tales begin to warp, birthing monsters and rewriting entire histories, even the Library’s endless shelves can’t protect him.To survive, Aether must step into dangerous books where myths breathe, legends bleed, and the wrong choice can erase you from existence. Each journey brings him closer to the truth of his creation—and the author who penned his fate.He is not the hero of these stories.He is the flaw in every one of them.

“Power? I have enough of it to end a war before lunch and still make it back for a nap. The problem was never the power. The problem is that nothing has been interesting enough to use it on.”~~~Alistair Eldenberg liked his life the way he liked his mornings — quiet, horizontal, and entirely free of other people's ambitions. War Sovereign. Archmage. Spiritwright. Three cultivation systems at near-mythical levels, achieved by a man who considers genuine effort a personal failing.The kingdom exiled him north and gave him a wife.She was supposed to be the villain of the story.She isn't what the rumors said.Hm. Interesting.~~~