- #1
When you know what angle to approach this novel from, it loses most of the complaints people tend to have about the "filler". This novel is a coming of age novel more than anything. The whole premise of this novel, even in the blurb, is that the MC wishes to explore the world and achieve his dreams, seek towards his aspirations of character. Power has always been secondary for him. Yes, it began out of necessity, but it's little more than peace, discipline, the desire to protect and survive, and awe that pushes him. These "filler" arcs are not filler if you see it through the lens of him slowly experiencing new things in life and growing/learning from them, which is his primary goal. It is still a cultivation novel so of course there needs to be power progression for a character like him who isn't already near or at the peak, but it's philosophy and character development (whether it's learning more about the character or them learning from the experience) that takes up the main focus. I do have to admit, the world building can be jarring at times, but I believe it's moreso an issue of execution than the information actually being redundant to the plot. Another issue with the novel is its POV switching. I'm one to believe that POV switching, if it's going to be lengthy, should be done only after the major event occurring or broken into small chunks of interactions during the event. To give a scenario, take an action scene. MC is fighting like crazy and things are escalating and then BOOM, we get a long chapter between (may be split into several parts) of some important spectators interacting and commenting on what's happening and why. Rather than that occurring, it'd be better for that POV switch to occur after the fight and make a hybrid between a recap and the interactions that occurred during the fight. This or during the action scene, it could be 70% action and 30% the conversation between the important people that's there to add nuance and lore and world building in each chapter. Also, as a brief mention, it can be very difficult to keep up with all the information, and let me tell you, most of that information will come back in some shape or form to be the plot device used to explain an event. In numerous cases, you'll have to be able to reference the world building information from however long ago in order to make true sense of what's happening and why. It can be very troublesome to have such a good memory. This novel practically requires you to take notes to fully understand it.Besides that, my issues really ends rhere. Characters are VERY well written and will grow on you, im convinced of it if the author wants you to. This isn't to say that any of their deaths will strike some huge chord in your heart or whatever but you find yourself feeling fond of the characters and feel they make everything more vibrant and real and that they're all important in some way. Id argue that the cultivation pace is fine. I didn't like how long the MC was without cultivation but from there on, his cultivation progresses well especially with the system that the world appears to have. It's very big on enlightenment and spirituality, which doesn't come easy. I could say more but I'm kinda out of time. Do try the novel with the lenses of it being a slow paced coming of age novel.