Shadow Author - Chapter 27 7. Mess

Thrown into the chaotic “god Verse,” Ryan Stone awakens a power beyond imagining: the SSS-Tier “Ultimate Infinite Extraction System.” While others struggle with mundane abilities, Ryan can deconstruct anything, from monster corpses to ancient artifacts, even the fading signatures of defeated foes, assimilating their essence to achieve limitless growth.From a desperate survivor in a starting outpost, Ryan’s unique talent propels him to unimaginable heights. He outwits cunning rivals, crushes powerful challengers in Sector-wide scrambles, and seizes control of a god Weaver, becoming a Sector Lord. But as he unravels the secrets of the lost Precursors and the cataclysmic Reality Schism that shattered their universe, his system evolves, granting him the power not just to extract, but to impose his will on reality itself.

Meet Gu Yu—a college dropout and a talented incense maker, and at the same time, the rather stoic protagonist of this story. Despite his somewhat introverted manner, he has a tendency to make sarcastic remarks in his thoughts. One day, after saving a squirrel, a windfall (metaphorically and literally) dropped into his lap. Stumbling into the cultivation world with little help, he was not turned into Superman overnight (as he would like). Apparently, becoming a cultivator would not make your life easier, at least in the beginning.

Somewhere along the road, he ran into Jiang Xiaozhai, a young woman who’s got the brains, the beauty, and maybe one or two secrets of her own. As it turned out, the two made a perfect team—Mulder-and-Scully style. Motivated by many unanswered questions, they had been running up and down the country, getting into all kinds of trouble, and learning more of the modern cultivation world, which is by no means the same as in the ages long past…

- Description from Novelupdates

In the face of absolute strength, every scheme proves futile. Yet, acquiring such strength demands substantial resources.Resources? Wealth?'Money is the last thing I care about,' – Tyler White.“Fellow Daoist, what are your superpowers again?”“I am rich.” (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

In the world of cultivation, countless tales follow righteous protagonists, fated heroes blessed by destiny, or those chosen by heaven to walk the path of immortality.But what of those who stand in their way?What of the villains? The so-called obstacles to the hero’s journey—do they not bleed, dream, and struggle as well?Xiao Ning was never meant to succeed.From the very beginning, the Grand Dao wove him as a stepping stone—a necessary sacrifice to elevate another. His path, like that of all designated ‘villains,’ was doomed to failure by design.But what happens when that design is defied?After death, Xiao Ning awakens—not in the cycle of reincarnation, but in the cold silence beyond it. There, he is offered the Eternal Paradox Codex—a forbidden artifact containing the hidden truths of the Grand Dao System itself.Rules. Loopholes. Vulnerabilities.Knowledge not meant for those like him.With this power, Xiao Ning is granted a single, impossible choice: accept oblivion, or step outside the Grand Dao entirely—to abandon fate, sever karma, and cultivate a path unbound by heaven or law.It is Xiao Ning’s journey, from ashes to something beyond comprehension.Not to become an Immortal among men.But something even the heavens dare not bind.If fate is a chain…Then let him forge his own path in the void beyond.Welcome to this humble tale.The cultivation world is vast and unkind.Let us begin again—on our terms.