- #1
This web novel is a bit convoluted and vague at times for my tastes, but holy sh*t it has some top tier character interactions, not to mention some actually interesting villains (sometimes). I wouldn't put it up there with the upper echelons of cultivation novels like Ze Tian Ji, Path Towards Heaven, Daoist Gu, and Lord of the Mysteries, but its comfortably above average.The protagonist is a fundamentally generic Xianxia protag, though made a lot more interesting through actually having non psychopathic morals and having some pretty sh*t luck. He also knows how to set boundaries with women who are interested in him because he only loves one girl. The supporting cast is incredibly strong for a xianxia web novel, and honestly with how slow paced the story is, thank god. Don't get it twisted, this story can be really slow paced at times, sometimes unbearably slow, so if you aren't a pretty patient reader this probably isn't for you, as narrative payoff can take a while. The supporting cast interacting with the MC is the fundamental draw to the story imo.In fact, I'd argue that often I wasn't necessarily bothered by the slow pace, but more so the cast the protagonist was stuck with at the time story progression was at a crawl. When the protagonist was surrounded by interesting characters with unique dynamics like Cui Chan, I wasn't bothered at all by the incredibly slow pace because the character interactions drew me so much, but there were definitely times when the revolving cast was weaker. Fortunately, it wasn't too often. The fight scenes and story arcs often ended in anti-climaxes, which means that the character moments are all the more important to justify the overall unorthodox direction the story can sometimes take. I actually don't mind the anti-climaxes too much, as it kept me on my toes a bit, making the story less predictable.World building is another focus of the story, and it was a bit hit or miss for me, where at times it provided welcome character to the world, and at others it felt like it clogged the pace considerably. That said, I do admire just how much thought the author put into all the different continents and empires within their world, and their willingness to just let the characters spend time on what can sometimes feel like meaningless detours. It really feels like a grand adventure where every mountain is a hurdle.As for some other smaller aspects of the story like romance, it was surprisingly good, especially for a xianxia web novel. The heroine is a fairly refreshing character in a similar way as the main heroine from Histories Strongest Senior Brother. The author of this story isn't a hack like HSSB's though, so she's a lot more well executed, and there were some genuinely touching moments where you felt the weight of both characters feelings (low standard I know). The translation is solid, and they do a great job of explaining the various poems and references to east Asian philosophy for the sake of the reader.Overall, I'd say this is a story that's worth trying, but it definitely won't be for a lot of people. It's that slow paced. That being said, if you aren't so caught up with the destination, and are willing to enjoy some pointless detours where characters get to shine through their interactions with each other, then you might get a lot out of this web novel. God damn is it long though, 366 chapters felt like 2000 with how high the word count was.