schung14

2 years ago

Not recommended

This review was made after reading 300 or so chapters.

The first arc of the story was good. The translator does a good job providing links to references. But that's about all the good the novel has to offer.

There's only so much rinse and repeat I can take. This novel suffers from the same formulaic story telling as other Chinese novels. MC gets underestimated because of some arbitrary power system. However this time the MC is so much stronger he can jump multiple power levels because... plot armor. He never truly faces any enemies that are challenging. Every time a new and stronger opponent shows up the story sets up a scenario where the MC is in really deep trouble. However due to recent power ups or some other bullsh*t reason he actually has an ace up his sleeve because of a recent power up, or some ancient technique that only he knows about.

The enemies are all brain dead after a certain point. "Hey there's the MC that has proven to be able to level up very quickly and no body knows how strong he actually is. Let's try to kill him even though everyone else who tried has ended up dead."

Past chapter 300 the novel gets quite repetitive and the fights become long and drawn out they might as well be filler. The peanut gallery is completely unnecessary as well. This wasn't a problem at the start of the novel where the fights only took at most a chapter to resolve itself.

Drop this novel after the first arc. It's not worth your time.

bananacarz

VIP

2 years ago

Recommended

Purchased

(This review has been updated at chapter 30, additional thoughts in the last paragraph)

Spoilers for the first couple of chapters.

As of this review, the preview only has five chapters so bear with me. First of all, I have really high hopes for the translator, Seth. Not only do they do a really good job of translating overall but also the traditional Chinese sayings and references that don't really exist in the West. What's even better is that they explain a lot of the Chinese concepts like the green hat and live-in son-in-law in a way that everyone can understand.

Getting on to the main story so far, I really enjoy it. Su Yi was originally at the pinnacle of the cultivation world but in order to achieve greater heights, he chose to reincarnate. When he "died" he saw his most trusted disciples turn on him for his treasures. When he reincarnates, he is the live-in son-in-law of some clan in a backwater city in an empire with sparse spiritual qi. Worst of all, he has to start his cultivation from scratch. His main goal is to get revenge on all of the people who betrayed him and climb even higher in his cultivation than in his previous life.

In my opinion, the premise of this story is very generic. However, a story doesn't have to be completely unique in order to excel. Take for example stories like RMJI (A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality) and Solo Leveling. If you have read any of these, you will know that although they do some stuff differently, the main elements from standard xianxia (RMJI) and power fantasy novels (Solo Leveling) are very prominent. What makes them popular is how well they execute it. What I hope is that the author knows this and tries to make a compelling story and not stray down the path of Scum Che.

Overall, a lot of potential for this novel but it is also very easy for the author to ruin it as well (I hope they don't). If this story is picked up by WW, you can bet that I'll be reading this.

-------

After reading the novel until chapter 30, I can confidently say that the novel has the potential to go really far. I do have one minor issue with one of the details. I still don't understand how others with higher cultivation can't detect that Su Yi has regained his cultivation. Maybe because he employed a secret qi restraining method or people don't care to check, I didn't notice any mention of this. Perhaps the city just sucks in terms of powerhouses. This is probably my fault since I have been used to skipping paragraphs of the story because xianxia novels have a tendency to spout nonsense (NSHBA). Besides that, the pacing is great and Su Yi is a good MC that doesn't give a shit about mortal affairs. Hope it stays this way throughout the entirety of the novel.

Alecthar

VIP

2 years ago

Recommended

Purchased

[Review at Ch. 15]

Just so we're clear, this is a minor variation on the classic "great figure reincarnates as downtrodden chump" trope, and so far I wouldn't call it an especially original one.

That said, even early on I'm intrigued by the characterization. The writer is hardly breaking new ground: the protagonist is prideful and supremely self-confident, but at least so far seems to be more capable of backing it up than similar characters in similar novels. For example, after defeating a bully, the hero sends him back to his family, informing him that he gives everyone a single chance to take revenge, but to be wary of the consequences. It feels fun, and like a good representation of his confidence and capability that doesn't verge into tremendous stupidity or needless murder.

The translation is probably the best part of the novel, though. Without quality translation, even stellar writing gets mangled, and I think Seth is doing incredible work taking fairly solid prose and enhancing it here and there to ensure it flows well in English. End of chapter translator notes aren't hugely uncommon, but I appreciate that Seth leaves a lot of them, generally regarding interesting quirks of translation, explanations of Chinese culture or idiom, or just why he's chosen a particular synonym over another for a particular word or phrase.

Overall, so long as you're not coming in with unreasonable expectations, I think this has the potential to be a fun read. The writing is reasonable solid so far, there's some hints of humor in various characters that I hope to see more of as time goes on, and the translator is killing it. Regardless of how the novel turns out, I hope Seth sticks around WW for the long haul.

First Immortal of the Sword

Details

Translator's Notice

Related Novels