- #1
I'd give this 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up to 4.Excellent translations by isoThe novel is basically a mix of a Xianxia faceslapping novel with BL... and the ship hasn't even sailed after 77 chapters. I think it's starting soon, but man... this is slow burn for sure.I also feel like the pacing is a bit wonky (some things happen suddenly?), but I guess you could call it episodic? I think that the MC lacks a clear goal besides "get stronk, improve sect, beat up the yao, " so the topic/what's going on jumps around a lot. Also, there aren't really interesting side characters, and I have difficulty differentiating them/remembering them. I think I can remember like 2 of them by name, haha. A lot of side characters seem to get forgotten after their "episode" ends. Makes sense since you can't lug around this weakling once you get stronger, but it makes it hard to form an attachment to anyone besides the MC/ML.I think the MC is reasonable and strong without being overpowering, but... he's kind of bland imo. He's not a bad/cringe MC, but he's not very interesting. Also, I feel like everything goes too smoothly for him? That, or the author can't convey that there's a crisis. There hasn't really been a hype moment in 77 chapters (even in the serious action scenes and life-threatening moments).The MC's "pet" is also a little annoying (Kinda like Paimon from Genshin Impact :v). I appreciate that the bird's ride-or-die, but his dialogue (modern day knowledge/comments) is pretty inane imo. Not a big deal overall, but it's just another thing that bothered me. I feel like the author slapped in the bird to ensure that the MC wouldn't just be cultivating in silence or talking to himself, haha.Lots of faceslapping and Xianxia elements with a side of romance so far. I can see the tropes, haha. The novel tries to be self-aware with the bird's commentary pointing out tropes, but it's... still pretty much the same tropes. They aren't executed in an exciting way either... just executed normally.Not a bad read, but I'm having difficulty getting interested in it. Maybe readers who haven't read much xianxia (and don't recognize the tropes) would like it.
