A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 256 Discussion

I'm a sucker for time-loop stories and ARTOC checks all the boxes.

The old saying goes: the Japanese are obsessed with Isekai, the Koreans with regression and the Chinese with martial arts.

This novel has all three and it's amazing. Some have compared it to RI and LOTM in quality, which need no introduction for season readers, but I think it's more similar to SSS-class su*cide Hunter and Re:Zero, story-wise.

Good Points:

• Great Premise and exciting subplots
• Great Worldbuilding
• Faithful cultivation system (s) that are well-thought-out
• Good characters
• Good MC (not a mu*derhobo) who grows throughout the story
• Cool philosophy bits and emotional moments

It's good, so good it's addictive.

The setting and worldbuilding are interesting; I particularly enjoyed the mashup of wuxia and xianxia in the mortal world. The characters are quite 'background-ish' at the start, but gradually gain depth as the story unfolds through the various loops. The other colleague in the martial world is an amazing character, too, and has one of the best arcs in the book.

Indeed, the strength of this book is its characters and the connections the MC makes during his loops. There is the acknowledgment on his part that when he dies, all the good, bad and unique moments he had will disappear too. The person he meets once may not be the same the next time, effectively making each regression meaningful.

Even so, there are a few flaws which I have to point out, though I hope they won't be big enough to discourage someone from at least trying this novel, since it's worth more than 95% of currently translated novels and a good, well-written eastern fantasy novel doesn't come easily. Again, this is just my opinion and I encourage people to read at least the first arc.

Flaws:

• The author tends to be very melodramatic sometimes. This is worsened by the fact that he uses the MC's suffering as a plot device (which is fair, Re:Zero does too, as most time-loop stories do to some extent), but things never go well for the MC and it can get a bit overwhelming when there's never a moment of respite.
• The first regression after he ascends to the Upper Realm is incredibly weak storytelling. It's really boring The author shot himself with the pacing. And the reward for all that was nonexistent. There is no excuse. But if you can stomach that arc, it'll gradually get better. As of the latest translated arc, I can say it's back on track.
• Some people have mentioned how bad the info-dumps are when the author explains cultivation, and to some extent I agree, but I also appreciate how much depth went into the cultivation system and how faithful it was to real taoism instead of Cultivation level 1, 2, 3... As someone who read all the sacred texts of taoism and has an interest in chinese mythology, I can attest he did his research well and that the cultivation is intrinsically philosophical. I just wished he did less 'tell' and more 'show', but I can see his passion.

9/10.