I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary - Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Compilation 2 [Captain Hiro and the Crew on Founding Day]

“Even if this universe is truly nothing more than a brutal bloody shadowy forest, we Cultivators will burn all that we have just to give off a single weak flickering spark in the darkness!

No matter how weak each spark is, how short-lived, how small… As long as the sparks flow unabated, then one day one of those sparks will light some tinder, and that tinder shall light some fallen branches, and those branches shall set ablaze each and every last tree of the forest!

In the end, even the smallest sparks will eventually set the shadowy forest ablaze, and illuminate the whole world!”

In a world teeming with cultivators, Li Yao, who makes his living collecting scrap metal, encounters the soul of a titan powerhouse from forty thousand years in the past.

- Description from novelupdates

The challenges a female cultivator had to overcome on her life journey were countless.

She mustn’t be lacking in talent, cultivation techniques, medicinal pills, and magic weapons. Otherwise, her cultivation would progress too slowly.

She also mustn’t have too many emotions, weaknesses, kindness, and greed. If she had too much of them, she would soon be saying hello with death.

Moreover, she must look neither too pretty nor too ugly. Although she mustn’t be stupid, she also couldn’t be too intelligent.

Being a female cultivator, Mo Tiange naturally had to face those challenges. Nevertheless, being orphaned from a young age had toughened her tenacity and resilience. Neither having what were deemed as waste spiritual roots nor limited resources could deter her spirit. Staying as inconspicuous as possible but never let an opportunity go was her daily life. Follow Mo Tiange as she embarked on a journey to survive and achieve immortality in the harsh and merciless cultivation world…

- Description from Novelupdates

Intellectual Villages are old fashioned rural villages recreated with cutting edge technology. Those villages attract the Japanese monsters known as Youkai.

The high school boy Jinnai Shinobu lives in one of those villages and has a Zashiki Warashi living in his house. He tends to run across Youkai with unnerving frequency and this often leads to trouble for him.

Possessing the power of the demonic path, he follows a cultivation method that absorbs the essence of heaven and earth and seizes the spirit of all beings.Yet this power invites endless enmity, shunned by the heavenly way and despised by righteous sects. His sect is destroyed, and he barely escapes with his life.By chance, he acquires a mysterious blood mirror that opens a portal to an apocalyptic world overrun by zombies.On this world, he can freely sacrifice zombies without facing divine retribution; instead, he gains boundless merit and luck!Freed from the restraints of the heavenly way, his lifespan and cultivation soar to unimaginable heights, rivaling even the heavens.True demonic cultivation is not just the pinnacle of power—it is the path to defy fate and reshape destiny!