The Charm of Soul Pets

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Many islands dotted the vast oceans of this world. However, some of the islands were a lot more sinister than the rest. Those islands, known as Nightmare Islands, were true nightmares to all but the strongest and most fortunate. Children were kidnapped and thrown on these isolated islands by the Nightmare Palace, forced to sign soul pacts with evil soul pets: Nightmares. These devils slowly devoured the souls of their trainers to grow stronger. If the children did not cultivate fast enough, their souls will be devoured whole, leaving only an empty husk behind.

Chu Mu, the protagonist, was an heir to the Chu Clan, but due to a plotted mu*der, he was thrown on the island, sentencing him to almost certain death. Dancing on the edge of life and death, he struggled to survive with a small Moonlight Fox he captured. When he finally escaped the devilish foremen on his island, he couldn’t help but let a breath out. But little does he know, the experience was only a beginning to a fated journey with his little Moonlight Fox…

Associated Names
One entry per line
Chong Mei
CSP
Sủng Mị
TCOSP
宠魅
寵魅
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Taming Master (6)
Long Live Summons! (4)
Monster Paradise (3)
Pivot of the Sky (3)
Monster Pet Evolution (2)
Emperor’s Domination (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels that I have read 2
  2. Awesome Novels I've Read
  3. Novels I have read
  4. Legendary Novels that Give me Will to Live
  5. KR Novels I'll Read When They Finish (and some CN)...

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/07/16 Wuxiaworld v1c20
09/05/16 Wuxiaworld v1c19
09/02/16 Wuxiaworld v1c18
09/01/16 Wuxiaworld v1c17
08/31/16 Wuxiaworld v1c16
08/30/16 Wuxiaworld v1c15
08/29/16 Wuxiaworld v1c14
08/28/16 Wuxiaworld v1c13
08/27/16 Wuxiaworld v1c12
08/27/16 Wuxiaworld v1c11
08/27/16 Wuxiaworld v1c10
08/26/16 Wuxiaworld v1c9
08/26/16 Wuxiaworld v1c8
08/26/16 Wuxiaworld v1c7
08/26/16 Wuxiaworld v1c6
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Okuri Ookami
Okuri Ookami rated it
March 31, 2017
Status: c111
This novel is everything pokemon should have been and more realistic (in a fictional way) in how the world would work. If you never really liked Pikachu or Charizard but wanted a (Shiney) Evee and Vulpix mix then this is the novel for you.

Also think about everything you find wrong about pokemon:

-Trainer is sent out as a (perpetual) 10 yr old into the world given a starter pokemon out o 3 standard choices dependent on region or family / personal situation
-Free to roam the world as they please
-Enslaving and forcing pokemon to battle one another either to be captured or for a shiny bit off metal from... more>> different areas around the world
-No real reason for how pokemon evolve
-No deaths whatsoever

In this series the kids are at minimum 14 to 15 and even then they'd still be taken care of by their clan and or family until they are well past 30 if they have potential. Roam around? Pfft that'd get you killed QUICK! A person from a good clan would have atleast 2 people protecting them at any given time.

Capturing and Storage (Poke-ball equivalent) :
Spoiler

There are no pokeballs, trainers (as they are also called) sign Soul pacts with the beast they are trying to catch and it has to be mutual so is cancelling the contract. No red laser to store the beast inside of a storage device where they can only shake the ball repeatedly if they want to break out. No this novel does it right and adds an CN influence. The pets are stored inside a soul space which is essentially inside the Trainers sea of consciousness.

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Rated 16+

Spoiler

This is not and I repeat NOT a kid friendly series, there is pretty much death and violence from chapter 1 through 111 where I left off reading... if you can go 10 chapters without something or other dying I'd call you a f*ing liar! r*pe? Sex? Consciousness? Morality? 1st two aren't without reason but the latter you'd be hard to find in anyone besides the MC... sometimes.

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World Building - Action - Logic - Story Progression:

Spoiler

This story is abundant in a steady world building experience, you are constantly learning new things about the makeup of the world that doesn't seem forced and made up on the spot. More importantly its not 'convenient' in the way that its souly like this for plot armor and appears out of nowhere 'just cause / deus ex'.

The action is constant if not rampant throughout the series and maybe its because its Pokémon style the author can plan out battles without loosing the reader or being boring as hell. I mean its much easier to build battle scenes or imagine them (author and reader) if you've experienced it before and there shouldn't be many under 30 who've NEVER seen Pokémon at least once. All evolutions/maturations/levelups are well within reason and are explanatory by thinking about growth patterns and training regiments. Story overall is well paced, not fast not slow its not even medium. It has its own pace with a few time skips be it long or short it is not afraid of taking a risk. Though I do wish some of it where to be expounded on I can understand knowing EVERYTHING would be a little boring and give the author no room to pull things out of a hat (give the reader a small surprise).

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MC personality - Pet Relations:

Spoiler

MC is kinda everything Ash 'Get'em all' isn't. First of all he will eventually age past 15 which is his starting age. His IQ isn't so mentally stunted that he'll eventually have to relearn the lessons he learned not to far in the past. No this MC constantly grows and improves, he starts off sullen and solemn, grows cold, gains confident, matures into a man and so on. The pets all have different and enjoyable personalities that's all I'll say as giving examples will take away the fun.

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Capture rate - Training speed:

Spoiler

MC is picky and he has a right to be considering how his first choice was how his third one was and what his 4th turned out (this is something that will be confusing until reader is towards chapter 90 - 100). Training speed? Who for? MC? Pet? Nightmare? all about the same, the growth rate is linier with steady progression overall considering the MC's and pets circumstances I consider it not actually all that OP. The Time skips make it hard to track sometimes though.

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I say this story is the best mix of Chinese fantasy mixed with a cultural icon of a generation. Its not like some one dimensional knockoff that just takes everything away from Pokémon and puts a sheet over it and calls it new no it even goes out of its way to make powers different from Pokémon be it name or ability, it must be a real pain to name something Evil stare instead of Glare or Ravaging Claw instead of fury / ferocious swipes. <<less
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LadyBlue
LadyBlue rated it
May 24, 2017
Status: v2c67
All these amazing reviews for this novel made me very excited to give this a try.

As far as the plot goes, I have to agree that it's darker and faster paced than other xuanhuan novels (still wouldn't tag it as gore though). M.C is smart, does whatever he can do to survive, understands that sometimes you have to make sacrifices and works really hard. The abilities, cultivation mode is pretty fleshed out. Translations are fast and pretty well done. Kudos to the translator.

And now here are the issues that bugged... more>> me so bad

1. The m.c posses huge plot armor in the form of his main pet Mo Xie and his other pets in smaller amount. What bugs me the most is that Mo Xie seems to be able to do anything, and win against anyone.

2.M.C is very cool-headed, very smart, talented, and hard working. The writer never misses a chance to tell us how smart and cool the m.c is.

3. The villains are so boring and one dimensional. Each one is a copy of the previous one. In pretty much all of the battles the m.c wins because apparently, he is the only one who can think. The villains pretty much seem to have the IQ of seven-year-old kids.

4. The story flows pretty smoothly. Pretty much smooth sailing for the m.c who seems to be married to Lady luck--he always finds the most interesting soul pets and win all battles.

In short, I think this story is over-rated. Once you finish the first hundred chapters, it's not that different from all the other wuxia novels. <<less
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Aragorn
Aragorn rated it
August 28, 2016
Status: v1c13
Honestly, this is one of the most refreshing reads in a TL novel world littered with multiple OP mc/Cultivation. Don't get me wrong, I love those novels as well, but this is just such a refreshing change. Think of it as Pokemon, but for Wuxia/Xianxia style. The whole story revolves around an MC that is training their "soul pet" (pokemon) in order to become stronger and stronger. Slight Spoilers: I have personally read ahead in the raws, and can attest to the fact that while the first couple of chapters... more>> are mostly world building, there is definitive plot development. Additionally, there is little to no harem, which is quite unique for any novel in a similar category.

Overall, I have been enjoying the translated chapters (job well done!) and I hope everyone else will love this novel as much as I do (go pokemon!). Feel free to message me for any specifics on spoilers etc. <<less
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Potatos
Potatos rated it
September 11, 2016
Status: --
Well, I definitely wasn't expecting much from this besides being a new novel to procrastinate with.

First Impressions: Woah! Is that a chinese pokemon novel?
First few chapters: Better than pokemon, a lot of world building though. It's pretty dark though
More chapters: Wow! This is pretty good!
Reading through the raws: Dammit, I can't stop T-T

Real review:
Like most chinese novels, it starts off slow, with world building and a lot of potential. The potential (mostly) isn't wasted like in ATG and MGA (at least IMO, because we... more>> all have different tastes). The antagonists (so far) aren't 2D "You piece of tr*sh!" "Bow before this young master!" characters and since I see no harem tag, so I doubt that there will be any 1D women throwing themselves at him because he's so strong... I honestly have very high expectations for this since it may even be able to reach the level of ISSTH (once again, IMO). The summary may make it seem like a pokemon rip off, but I can attest for the fact that although the world is similar, the plot is completely different (well, mostly). There aren't any major plot holes (yet) and the author makes the story flow well. The MC doesn't have multiple personalities (yet) so that's something I really appreciate. I also want to applaud the translator (s) for translating in a readable way and not giving us a non-edited machine translation.

Overall, like Vex said, as long as MC doesn't become another Ash Ketchum or rapist, I'll enjoy this novel very much. I'll also edit this review once/if I manage to get to chapter 150 or 200 because that is usually when a novel starts to get good, or goes downhill fast...

Edit: Forgot to read more because of rl.........

Anyway the story continues on being amazing with the villains being properly fleshed out. His pokemon *cough* soul pets too, while being variations to their species and particularly strong, are not without weakness.

I do have to comment though that most women are not as well fleshed out as the other characters are. They are less realistic, but are still 3D enough that you can understand them at least.

Overall, I would give this a 4.5/5 but if the women were more realistic it would definitely be a 5/5. I would recommend this to everyone in this CN community as something different and new. The plot is amazing, the world building is essentially perfect and the author remains consistent. Give it a try, you'll probably like it. <<less
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Epythymy
Epythymy rated it
April 2, 2019
Status: v2c300
I've got somewhat mixed feelings about this. At the beginning I've read it with interest. But later on novel became annoying.

The main problem is the MC's main pet's "unique" ability to evolve. It ruined everything. Author basically shot himself in the leg by doing it.

Because of this there are no strategic battles or anything similar in the story.

... more>> At the start it was fine but later on came the biggest problem.

His low ranked pets transformed from powerful to burden. MC loves them so he can't just throw them away and get the higher ranked ones (rank is very important here). And they cant evolve. Then what to do? Author came with the most annoying idea of "strengthening".

Battles are not about tactics or who's got better and rarer pets anymore, but about bullsh*t strengthening. It looks like this:

Your monarch phase 7 pet looks amazing, but so what? Look at what I've got here! My servant phase 5 pet got some nukes on him and will sent you to hell with a flick of its claws.

Very interesting! Much wow! Such tactics! Amazing! What a god!

Another annoying thing is that MC's opponents don't have their own "nukes". Why? Hell knows, but I've got a feeling that all his enemies have some kind of brain issues. So there is nothing but farce in this novel. MC and his tr*shy low-level pets equiped with nukes and plot armor are basically invincible. <<less
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ArgosYesu
ArgosYesu rated it
September 16, 2017
Status: Completed
I don't like how people compare this with Pokemon. Other than catching a partner from the wilderness there is barely any other resemblance.

Let me state a few of this world's rules. Firstly, each soul master can only have a set number of pets, and this caps out at, I think 15 pets. They can summon up to a total of 5 pets at a time, starting from 1 at the very start. Not only can the pets grow stronger, but the soul master can also grow stronger. At the start... more>> they could summon 1 pet and have a max of 1 pet. The limit of the first stage is 1 summonable pet and 3 partners. The next level's limit is 2 summonable and 6 pets. And this continues until it hits the cap.

Pet growth is limited by their 'race rank'. A lower ranked race has less of a chance at growing stronger than pets with higher race ranks. This race rank can be broken through with a race mutation, but that is so rare that only 1 pet in the entire novel had such a thing happen to it.

Just the system itself already tells me this novel has better thought put behind it than the dumb-ass pokemon. This isn't a soft story with a light tone, but a dark one with death and gore and tragedy. This is a true dog-eat-dog world as one can get stronger by killing their opponents and harvesting their internals to power themselves up. I've read one soul pet kill millions to absorb their souls in order to grow, and I've read of millions using wave tactics to rush one powerful soul pet just for the chance to get stronger.

So if you're expecting pokemon, just don't. Go play the dull, repetitive games and leave this novel alone. It doesn't need such eyes reading it. <<less
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Vex
Vex rated it
August 31, 2016
Status: --
Okay, so when I first read the name, I was like " Eh, probably some girly pet care life of slice..." Damn I was so wrong...

Just imagine Pokemon, where ash is not an eternal 10 year old, not an eternal loser, uses brain, and where team rocket are enemies with cunning and wit. That's all this about.

The whole premises of the story is refreshing. The execution is also well done. Till now (as of chapter 120) I am satisfied. The MC is gradually getting OP, but at the same... more>> time he is also facing OP enemies, instead of s*upid bullies with almost zero brains and 100 backers.

The characters are a bit 2D, still it's not some great flaw. The writing is fine. The translation is great. Till now the translation speed is also great.

In short, the story is definitely a must read, until the MC becomes another Ash or Chu Feng. <<less
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dtim
dtim rated it
April 14, 2017
Status: v1c86
The story has potential but it also has major problems.

The MC's main pet is a visible form of plot armor. It's a unique creature that he randomly picks up (sound familiar?). It has Deus Ex Machina upgrades mid-battle against enemies that would have killed the MC, etc.

The MC himself becomes enamored of his kidnapper's strength and buys into a "to defeat me you must become me" type of challenge. It's sad to see such a weak-willed character and the brainwashing (the real kind not the fantasy kind) is creepy to... more>> witness. <<less
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Slashs
Slashs rated it
January 26, 2017
Status: c83
This is a chinese/Xanxia version of Pokemon.

This is not an exageration and knowing this you can already get a good idea of what to expect. The pokemon side brings pets to be raised by their trainer. The pets can evolve, will gain new skills with levels and evolutions, the trainer will explore looking for pets to capture. The potential of each pet will vary they have attributes and the chances are... you will probably find a pokemon version to a lot of those pets. At the begining most of the... more>> figthts are the trainer invoking their pets and staying behind while giving order to the fighting pets.

The Xanxia side brings cruelty, death, blood, gore, chinese trope and unreasonable people as well as a fighting MC. The MC will regularly find himself put against people that are unreasonable and self centered. The fights almost always end up in the death of the pet and their owners, in very bloody fashion. Since it is a Xanxia novel the trainers will have their skill to fight too. You get the usual tropes, pills/medecine/plants to progress faster, the need to meditate, the level X pet that is special so he can fight against level X+3 pets and so on.

Now that you have a general idea of the novel let's go a little deeper. The MC has a very close relationship with his pet (s) and that is a very refreshing part of the novel, their relationship is great and so far his pets are very cute. The MC is not s*upid and will think and prepare. He is the type to swallow humilations and strike back later rather than unleash knowing he will loose. He is interesting but doesn't escape the egocentrism of most chinese MC... Still it isn't as overbearing as it is with some MCs.

The author has prepared a nice backstory for the MC and we get glimpses of it as the main story progress and it looks like it's gearing up to be quite interesting with possible clan building down the line. There is quite a bit of plot armor going on especially during fights but it's still at an acceptable level. Overall the plot feels prepared rather than improvised (although it still feels like some stuff is pulled out of a hat at the last second). You will have a lot of seeds that are introduced only to "bloom" much later in the story. I am hoping the author can keep this up even in a few hundred chapters.

The translation is good (not as fast as some crazzy translators though, but you can expect a chapter every 2 or 3 days). You do not need to be a fan of pokemon to enjoy this, although they share many similarities, the atmosphere and events make it closer to a Xianxa novel than the actual game/anime/manga.

I personally haven't enjoyed pokemon in more than a decade. But I binged read this in a night :).

It is a very enjoyable read despite its faults :). <<less
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newbage
newbage rated it
June 4, 2017
Status: v2c78
Overall, I like The Charm of Soul Pets (TCOSP) and highly recommend it. I will first discuss what makes TCOSP great. Then, I will address some of the criticisms raised by other reviews in-depth, and explain why many are either misleading, or based on incorrect facts.

Other reviews calling it a darker, grittier, faster pace Pokemon-xuanhuan hybrid are fairly accurate. That alone would make it an "okay read".

What stands out to me and brings it into the realm of "excellent read" -- is how it either eliminates or tones down many... more>> annoying xuanhuan tropes like: disposable 2-d supporting characters, underdeveloped settings/world-building, over reliance on exposition, and unrealistic character actions/reactions to events.

The author actually spends time building the world and much of it is "show" rather than "tell". Of course exposition still exists, but is not nearly to the degree of a standard Chinese webnovel. Characters are also a bit more developed than is usual in Chinese webnovels. And unlike virtually all Chinese webnovels, characters and settings are revisited. People that the MC meets in one arc may very will pop in during another arc and play a role in advancing the story. Good stuff.

The author also takes pains to justify why the world and social structures are the way that they are, and why characters act as they do. For example, a little ways into the story, the MC becomes extremely outstanding for his age and gains significant renown. The key phrase is FOR HIS AGE. There are plenty of people stronger than him even mediocre servants 30-40 years older than him pose a significant threat. Most novels just ignore this obvious fact and treat the MC as unstoppable. The author of TCOSP instead explicitly acknowledges this fact, and comes up with a convincing explanation for why talented individuals of the older generation don't just come and squash the MC despite him failing to maintain a low profile.

At this point let me address some of the negative comments I've seen in other written reviews. I'm referring primarily to Ladyblue's eloquent and succinct critique. At the time of writing, Ladyblue's review gives the lowest rating of all written reviews, and of the negative reviews, it also gives the most detailed and logical explanation for its uncharitable assessment of TCOSP.

1) MC has plot armor because his Mo Xie is way too OP.

I have to say, Mo Xie is indeed a bit OP. The MC finds her by random chance as his first pet, and she actually evolves to higher level species as she levels up, which other moonlight foxes don't do. That said, it comes down to a matter of degree. Most xuanhuan protagonists are way more OP relative to the world than the MC in this novel. Mo Xie is not invincible. In the most recent arc, the MC was ambushed by the old, mediocre servant I mentioned above. The MC's acknowledges explicitly that this guy is stronger than him, and also that this guy isn't even particularly talented within his own generation. He's just a low-level servant. Nonetheless he's actually significantly stronger than the MC, and the MC had to rely on a sizable degree of tactics and subterfuge to barely make it through. Mo Xie was under serious threat of death and did not "superman" the situation.

Another thing to mention is that the MC isn't stronger than his peers "just because", like in most webnovels. The author does take pains to show (rather than merely explain) the difference in methods and herculean effort/persistence that the MC puts forth compare to his contemporaries.

I think the reason readers LadyBlue might regard the MC (and MoXie) as way too OP is that the MC has been fighting mainly opponents from the same generation as him, where he indeed has a pretty insane advantage. In a fight with older gen opponents though, he's only "alright", and sometimes must avoid combat altogether.

2) The author never misses the chance to tell the reader how smart and cool the MC is.

Yea. That's pretty much true. But again it's a matter of degree. The percentage of time that author spends doing this relative to the rest of the story is lower than most xuanhuan. Furthermore, he doesn't just "tell us" how smart the MC is. He often also shows us.

3) The villains are boring and one-dimensional. Each one is a copy of the previous.

I have to outright disagree with this one. The author takes pains to illustrate (rather than merely explain) the motivations of each major antagonist. The antagonists themselves have a variety of differing motivations, and also go about taking hostile action against the MC in different ways.

Yes, there are a fair number named and nameless red-shirts that get killed as well. But it seems to me that LadyBlue is labeling such individuals as "villains" when they're really just red-shirt grunts. Below, I'll speak about a few of the actual villains in general terms. They'll be in no particular order. I highly recommend you do not read everything in the spoiler section below as it is pretty spoiler-iffic. Just skim it, and only read some.

I'm including it in order to highlight how very incorrect LadyBlue's claim is:

Spoiler

Villain A: Was MC's boot camp chief instructor and direct superior. He is antagonistic because he's worried that the MC is too talented, and will end up getting his position after graduating. He also does not like the MC's aloofness and insubordination. He prohibits students from killing each other during a long, unsupervised training period (at the conclusion of which, a death-match selection tournament will take place where only 10 of the students will ultimately be allowed to live and advance). MC kills other the boot camp members (Villain B and his bros) because they were trying to him (and others) in order to reduce the number of competitors and increase their chance of surviving the impending selection tournament. Villain A tries to use the fact that the MC violated a direct order not to kill other students in order to have him killed. He is foiled by a combination of factors, including his own subordinate instructors who are gunning for his position.

Villain B: On paper, he is the most talented in the MC's cohort of boot camp students. Leverages his overwhelming talent and the vague promise to assist others in surviving the tournament (ostensibly by killing other students that would've otherwise have gained a spot in one of the 10) in order to get subordinates and s*xual favors from female students. Died because the MC employed superior tactics and strategies in tandem with a strong pet (who's true strength he's wisely concealed up to that point).

Villain (?) C: High ranking member and assassin of Nightmare Palace. Kidnaps the MC at the behest of an the Yang family, who are antagonistic to the MC's family. Yang family fails to pay Villain (?) C. So Villain (?) C instead acknowledges the MC's talent and takes the MC under his wing. Promises MC the opportunity to become OP and take revenge on the evil family for ordering his kidnapping. Is not an outright antagonist at this point, and it is Villain? C's aegis that gives the MC status and resources while ensuring that a stronger member of the older generation doesn't just come and squish him.

Villain D: High ranking member of nightmare palace and rival of Villain? C. Is antagonistic to MC because MC gained instant fame and standing by taking out a couple high-level redshirts in the same generation as the MC. Since the MC is part of Villain? C's faction, the MC's reputation significantly bolsters Villain? C's

position.

Villain D initially does not even want to kill the MC, and explicitly says so. He simply wants someone in the same generation as the MC (Villain E) to win in a match against him in order to halt the meteoric rise of the MC's reputation. When MC kills Villain E, Villain D reassesses his position and decides to take steps towards employing a lethal measures against the MC instead.

Villain E: Distantly related to the Yang family. Initially doesn't have a personal beef with MC, and was merely asked by Villain D to beat the MC up and hinder the development of the MC's reputation. MC, however, begins engaging in a guerilla war against Yang family, in order to save his own family, and to avenge their attempted assassination plot against him. During a subsequent tournament that was supposed to be non-lethal, MC openly tries to kill Villain E's younger brother as well as every other Yang family contestant he faces. Villain E doesn't really care about the rest of the Yang family all that much, but does care about his brother. So he intervenes in an attempt to stop the MC. He loses to the MC, and the MC tries to kill him. But old servant (mentioned above) interferes and negotiates Villain E's safe passage away from the vicinity of tournament. Villain E and old servant later ambushes MC and tries to kill him because MC killed Villain E's

brother, killed and his strongest soul pets, and tried to kill him. MC survives ambush and kills Villain E.

These aren't all of the villains in the story so far only some of them. But already, it's fairly clear that all of the villains mentioned above have fleshed out motivations and backstories. Moreover, said motivations are significantly different from each other, as are the subsequent actions each villain undertakes against the MC.

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4) The story flows pretty smoothly. Pretty much smooth sailing for the MC who seems to be married to lady luck he always finds the most interesting soul pets and wins all battles.

Partially true, but misleading. When you look deeper into the facts, the conclusion one tends to arrive at is quite different than the one Ladyblue arrives at.

The story indeed flows smoothly, but I find that a positive trait rather than a negative one. The author doesn't spend an unnecessary number of chapters on each battle like most xuanhuans do. Consequently, the story overall has a lower percentage of repetitive bullsh*t (or peanut gallery commentary) about how OP the MC is being during said battles, as compared to other xuanhuan, wuxia, and xianxia novels.

It is true that every one of the MC's pets is a stronger, rare variant of their species. However that isn't to say that merely they're one-sidedly OP. For example, his most recent acquisition is a bug-beast hybrid that has abnormally high self-regenerative capabilities. However, its attack power is sh*t (well below the norm for his species) and so it must rely on its tenacity and willingness to take copious amounts of pain and punishment to win through. It needs to be switched out when facing stronger opponents. Many of the MC's other pets also need to be switch out when facing opponents that are super-effective attribute-wise against them

What is not true is idea that the MC wins every battle. He has, in the past retreated and/or avoided combat specifically because he knew he couldn't win. He has also employed environmental hazards against opponents that would otherwise have curb-stomped the MC. For example, luring enemies into the territory of a very strong soul best, who itself can also curb-stomp the MC. It isn't just "smooth sailing" and non-stop OP steamrolls as Ladyblue claims.

This story is NOT like the vast majority of xianxia, wuxia, and xuanhuan novels. It does have certain elements in common. But it also removes and improves upon many of the undesirable characteristics of the genre, while providing a fairly compelling story. If you're on the fence, I urge you to disbelieve the claims that this novel is overrated and give it a shot. <<less
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prinsewa
prinsewa rated it
May 4, 2017
Status: c718
(Edit: Summed up)

For the synopsis look up, for the good points and comparisons look previous reviews (Potatos for example). I'm pointing out some issues here.

The concept is pure gold and the story is quite good. On the other side I find the narration (or the author) too narrow minded and unilateral. After you've passed the world/foundation/character building in the first few chapters, pretty much everything becomes biased. All must serve to praise the MC in a way too obvious form!

Practically no use of implicit meaning. Every action, event,... more>> encounter, growth, is foretold. There's literally an old pet-guy with the MC to tell him everything he should do, everywhere he needs to go (Like the author telling the readers, "next we are going to make him participate in a tournament without real motive, so as to make his pets levels adequate for the following town", in a very annoyingly straightforward fashion). There's no real mystery to unfold (i can't really find the main plot anymore), only new ways to get stronger (pointless goals limited to level rising).

The opponents are either stepping stones or a older generation he'll step on soon anyway. The story is written in a way to never make you feel that the MC is inferior, not even when he actually, momentarily, is. You have a part, for example, where it is said that his father is a genius pet trainer who lead him on the trainer way with a lot of praiseworthy components, and in the next sentence the narrator says something like "of course he'll surpass him soon enough, he has his own way, not following his father's tracks...". This kind of obvious partialness creates a feeling of contradiction and incredulity from my part (you've created a story, at least allow your personas to have a meaning on their own, something other than being a cushion for the MC).

The MC is always growing up to the challenge/problem, no setbacks, never makes mistakes (only taking risks :\), never escaping because too weak (always another pretext), giving a feeling of boring linear progression. And the author keep insisting (strongly!) on the MC virtues, even when the merit is not really his.

In the end, I think the main problem resides in the way the story is told, the strong opinions and exaggerated presence of the narrator, the lack of 'process' or smooth transition, leading from a situation to another one, and the fact that the arguments are casually thrown when needed (the author doesn't seem to know how to lay plots foundations in advance). <<less
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acoleman2
acoleman2 rated it
March 3, 2017
Status: c98
This is a total Pokémon knock off. Pokémon meets cultivation novel. Entertaining, and I'm a loyal reader. Still, to me it's a 3 star novel. Lots of luck, MC has plot armor. Read if you don't have anything else you're dying to read.

Update 10/16/17: I'm still reading. Still entertaining. Still almost exactly the same. I really don't have much to complain or complement. It's fun, and fresh elements are introduced right when you start to get bored. Worth a binge read if you are looking for something to entertain you... more>> for a little while. <<less
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zhangyenumbertwofan
zhangyenumbertwofan rated it
October 21, 2016
Status: c41
Overall, fairly solid novel. A good change up from the normal wuxia. The MC is powerful, but not annoyingly so. Pokemon comparisons aside, this is a pretty fresh novel with LOTS of action, and the fight scenes are depicted very well so far. Another bonus is the consistent releases. Looking forward to the rest of this novel!
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sukets
sukets rated it
August 9, 2018
Status: v2c349
This novel is filled with plot holes, past chapter 200 it actually has plot holes on a chapter by chapter basis.

This is one of those novels that makes you wonder what you are doing with your life, as you have time to sink into reading this.
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Dips
Dips rated it
October 2, 2016
Status: c32
So far so good. The story has flow and steady progress. It is going quite far and is hiding a lot of the MC and his beasts abilities until he unleashes them all at once. I assume it will slow down once it hits the 100 chapter point. But at chapter 32 and below everything is amazing. I can only hope for it to get better than it is.
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Wiger98
Wiger98 rated it
September 26, 2016
Status: c29
Call it a pokemon ripoff if you will, but it definitely is more interesting than pokemon in the fact that this book has no qualms with killing and a fairly dark plotline makes this a great read.
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ShadowMusamune
ShadowMusamune rated it
April 21, 2020
Status: c592
Tries to be an adult Pokemon, but makes even less sense than Pokemon. Every monster is a cannibal, because of the tone. There is no powerful herbivore such as an elephant or mammoth. Something like a big whale that eats tiny krill. Everything just eats each other to get stronger. I feel like Pokemon actually puts a lot more thought into some of their creatures even if some of the are ice cream cones or key-chains.

Other than that it follows most cultivation stories. Someone powerful gets offended to the point... more>> is s*upidity and protagonist overcomes. The protagonist "outsmarts" his opponents, because apparently he is just "smarter" than everyone else. I feel like your protagonist isn't smart if all your opponents are brain dead.

It's okay if you want to turn your brain off and want an adult Pokemon with less logic. I feel like the more the author tries to explain things the less I liked it. I would probably have liked it more if he didn't try to explain things in a way that I couldn't accept or didn't make much logical sense. I read what happens at the end and it is somewhat beautiful, but I don't think the journey is worth it. <<less
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Renjisea
Renjisea rated it
December 27, 2018
Status: --
It is best to skim through the story to see if you could take on it illogical plot. It can be called s*upid cliché plot. MC is as strong as human, and everything around him is as weak as ant (his enemy). But he needs to be careful to kill one small ant one by one, while he can just use fire and burn them all down. HE wasted so much time on trivial matter that can be solved in minutes, so he can hide his true power and show... more>> off when the time need. This is s*upid, there is a bigger world to explore. Many chapters in and he is still playing with ants. <<less
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Gainaxe
Gainaxe rated it
August 28, 2016
Status: c12
Still very early in the book, but so far has a pretty cool premise and good writing/translating. Basically think Pokémon with a more "realistic" system and a much darker world (main character sentenced to death at 15, and used literally as a sacrifice while he does what he can to live)
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puffiness123
puffiness123 rated it
August 28, 2016
Status: --
Kind of like Pokemon but a darker version.
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