The Cold Crow Crosses the World

Traditional wuxia | Reading order: Either main story then extras, or extras then main story.

Jokey blurb:

Other protagonists get revenge with high-status titles, powerful friends, and the respect and loyalty of the martial world.

Our protagonist gets revenge while every sect in the martial world is hunting him down. In the imperial court, he's the former emperor of the previous dynasty, and still has to take the civil service exams himself.

All alone, he does everything himself. He's an entire team in one person!

Passing heroes, show some kindness and put those money-making hands to work. Help our protagonist speed things up!

Serious blurb:

Ten years ago, during a palace coup, Crown Prince Li Hanlu escaped the imperial city with help from many members of the martial world.

Ten years later, a young man named Shu Hanya enters the martial world and begins his plan to cleanse the world.

[The martial world is rotten, so dig it out from the roots.]

[The imperial court is rotten, so replace its ruler.]

Protagonist: Shu Hanya (Li Hanlu)

Elegant, easygoing, proper, and courteous on the outside; calculating and unfailingly strategic underneath.

Upcoming female-led no-romance story: Using a Modern Weapons System to Run a Gacha in Two Worlds

Bad news: Long Lan triggers a barrier while on a mission and gets transported to the Qi Refining Continent several thousand years in the past.

Good news: She gets a modern weapons System. She can trade Qi points for weapons, and she can collect Qi from other people.

So she starts eyeing cultivators with abundant Qi:

“Fellow cultivator, would you like to hear about my cultivation-sharing app? For just a few Qi stones, you can get access to food from across the continent and share information. Best of all, it comes with a weapons System. See this gun in my hand? I used it to interrupt a great shaman's spellcasting. Now, if you spend just a few Qi points, you can try drawing brand-new weapons you've never even seen before, weapons capable of destroying the world.”

Just as all the Qi Refiners start thinking Long Lan is a complete fraud, her sealed memories return. She uses her vast Qi reserves to open a space-time gate and invites the cultivators of the world:

“Welcome to four thousand years in the future. We need you to help us restore order to the world.”

★ A lighthearted skit:

The Qi Refiners: “Long Lan! Give us back our Qi points!”

Long Lan runs off at full speed, calling back, “The gacha page clearly says there's only a chance of winning. Don't blame me just because you have terrible luck!”

The cultivation-world reporter running alongside her pants as he asks, “Captain Lan, what's the winning probability you set?”

Long Lan smiles as sweetly as a flower. “That's a trade secret. Can't really say. It's like chopping something a few times.”

“Oh, you don't know what that means.”

“Don't worry, once you get to the modern era, you'll find out soon enough!”

Worldbuilding: Early story: Eastern fantasy and leveling up on the Qi Refining Continent.

Later story: Back in the modern-day apocalypse, combining science with cultivation.

The historical romance Little Shopkeeper Girl is currently being serialized.

Theme: Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust.