Cult of the Sacred Runes

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The formless ancient world was infested with despicable demons. They hunted and feasted on mankind, keeping the human civilization constantly in a weak and suppressed state.

During the first known year, a magical mountain descended into the world from the realm of the Gods. Carved on this enormous mountain was a message: ‘Heaven Prevails’…

After the Grand Descent, a name that was given to the descending of the mountain, the Three Great Sages made their ways to Mystic Mountain where they learned to harvest what we now call magic, establishing the Mystic Cults and eighty-one sacred shrines to help aid mankind with the cult’s mystic powers against the eternal fight to the death with demons.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Shén Wén Dào
神紋道
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Tales of Demons and Gods (6)
Against the Gods (5)
True Martial World (4)
Coiling Dragon (4)
Cultivation Chat Group (3)
Chronicles of Primordial Wars (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Best Wuxia / Martial arts novels
  2. Awesome!

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20 Reviews sorted by


Demonic Reader lv 451F
Demonic Reader lv 451F rated it
June 7, 2016
Status: Completed
The first 50 chapters are good. The translation is pretty descend. So I jump from the translated to raw. Then.... !!!!!

... more>>
Spoiler

I read raw, to the final chapter.

[I want to redeem my lost time!!]

However - my heart bleed!!. The plot turns confuse. The illogic arises. Important characters are thrown away, despite being praised highly in the first 100.
His world-shaking master, his overlord-benefactors, his family, his friends, his developing army, his world-chattering rune making ability, etc, etc - all become garbage, not being mentioned again.
Totally disappear, completelr discarded, never be seen again.
Even his r*ped woman simply disappears !!

If that's not disappointed enough, the final act.. all world buildings and other characters just simply - disappears.

Author ended his novel. No reason.

Just end. That's all.

So, for you who read TL version, better prepare your mind. Read each chapter/act as it is. Do not expect development. Discard any characters you like. Just focus on what MC *currently* does, then you'll be happy.

Genre of this Novel : Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Martial Arts, Romance, Xuanhuan.
Better delete out : fantasy, romance, martial arts, xuanhuan

Novel title : Cult of the sacred Runes?

Author DROPPED the development of the runes around ch.300.. so, what's next ???

Worst novel ever read.

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27 Jul 2018 :

Two years later and 100+ novels read. Not one in those 100+ novels could snatch this novel's "worst novel ever read" title. <<less
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riida
riida rated it
January 11, 2016
Status: --
this doesn’t seem to be a prequel, but the author’s first attempt and a stepping stone. he polished his skills and succeeded with TDG.

so far the story is developing similarily to TDG, except it’s a far less interesting read...
and here I thought it was an actual prequel to TDG with the same quality of writing. what a disappointment
... more>>
Spoiler

he gets tons of knowledge without deserving it.

everyone else except one person is a spineless hateful arrogant bootlicker.

so far, 5 chapters to show how amazing the protagonist is with his new knowledge (that he did NOTHING to deserve) while all the shallow excuses-for-characters drool with anticipation of his failure...

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Blackrabbit0634
Blackrabbit0634 rated it
April 14, 2016
Status: --
So far I read as far as the current chapter 40

I read the other reviews and I agree with their ratings of 4 (only gave a 5 to somehow offset the 1) except for the the one review below with 1/5 which I couldn't understand maybe he had too much expectation because of TDG which I also read..

Don't mean to compare but I'd put TDG and CSR on the same level in the way they introduce the story at the start (not just because both started at sleeping in class... more>> :D) I think the MC of TDG will act the same as the MC of CSR if Nie Lie did not restart with his memories, I mean even he did not have a high level of self-esteem when he began, I mean if you compare both MC one has a few dozens of years of experience (memories) while the other is only a 13 year old kid with low self-esteem.

Although there is already the cliche clan fighting at least he is not one of those 'geniuses' who can defeat those several ranks above him while being low rank himself.

The only reason why I made this review is to ask 2 questions
Spoiler

1. Do you think MC in CSR will meet the Sage Emperor in TDG?
2. Do MCs need to deserve the power/knowledge they get accidentally/plotwise armor? I mean personally I'd skim this kind of chapter since it will just be another info dump and I'd be guessing cliche developments like working hard from previous lives to deserve their power/knowledge like Nie Lie (no offense I like TDG) or Yun Che from ATG.

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Just Sam Random Guy
Just Sam Random Guy rated it
October 29, 2016
Status: c171
Dropped this novel at chapter 171. Very average novel. If you have time to spare then you can read it.

My problem is that it is always MC vs the world, all the time. Although he eventually powers up then beat his enemies, it isn't satisfying at all. There's no "rest" time for the MC. As soon as he beats the first one, another one will pop up. It's like reputation/fame/rank/influence only applies to enemies. The MC himself has gained some prestige, but he is still the public enemy number 1.... more>> The sequence of events gets tiring, along with the over abundance of 'common sense' narration and inner thought. Ex:
Narration: MC leveled up. He got stronger.
Then followed by inner thought:
MC: I leveled up. I am stronger now.

Even worse is that sometimes there are no distinction between MC's 'inner thoughts' and author's narration. You can interchange the two and only affect the novel insignificantly. <<less
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mrttao
mrttao rated it
January 10, 2017
Status: c213
Very formulaic xianxia that feels a bit bland. MC is s*upid, gets tons of luck and plot armor, becomes OP.

It does compare favorably to a lot of other xianxia though:
1. Zero rapists so far. (Seriously why is every young master is a rapist in xianxia?)
2. Only a small minority of young masters/chosen are psychos for the MC to kill. Most are plain bullies that wouldn't go further than a light beating, and actually can get over their face and avoid over escalation. A decent number of them... more>> are actually decent people. I would say 1/3rd nice people, 2/3rds minor bullies that don't have the heart to cripple people. And 1/100 are psychos.
3. MC's entire clan actually treated him well despite him being "tr*sh" who can't cultivate. They didn't waste precious Qi pills on him, but gave him very generous allowance of silver (generous for a mortal who cannot cultivate at least), they never insulted him, and were concerned about his future.
4. MC actually starts out being a s*upid kid with low self esteem and works through it as he grows up and matures.
5. Despite being tagged as harem, so far there hasn't been anything of the sort
6. Cultivation system is somewhat interesting and has a fresh spin in the form of runes (although everything else about it is formulaic to the extreme) <<less
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chekanalia
chekanalia rated it
June 29, 2016
Status: c89
This is amazing....I never read it before since the synopsis isn't all that awe-inspiring but wow!! when I did, I like where this is going. The MC is a breath of fresh air (a rarity in this genre)... the only other MC comparable to him imho is Lin Ming (MW) if only for the lack of overbearing arrogance; I like that this is not a harem and he seems to be loyal to one love interest. To everyone that said he gets ton of knowledge unfairly, what the hell genre... more>> are you expecting this to be... cheat items are a must!!
Spoiler

I think they need to tell him that he has a supreme rune resonance asap that could let zi yan's family let them get together.

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Laughing_Man
Laughing_Man rated it
June 22, 2016
Status: c82
Love this novel! Although it is not yet apparent how it relates to TDG I can't wait to see how it will. Setting aside TDG which was written by the author later, Cult of the Sacred Runes is a good story on its own. It is very different from TDG in that he has no past memories to rely on, and the MC here starts from scratch. Love the runic system and how it works, and I like the decently fast pace of the story. If you want an interesting... more>> novel to read check it out! <<less
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sparky
sparky rated it
July 23, 2016
Status: c667
Welp. I really liked this novel. The protagonist grows at an unusually fast pace, even for an MC (I'm an impatient reader so that's a plus). I had no idea this series would end so abruptly, since I didn't look at the total number of chapters this novel has beforehand. I was hoping I would find the common point that links it with TDG, but no dice. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the ending (or lackthereof) makes this novel fall short of 5 stars.
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makenai89
makenai89 rated it
April 24, 2016
Status: c46
Reviewed at 46, rated 4.

As previous reviewers said, Cult of the Sacred Runes doesn’t seem like a prequel to TDG, although it’s probably just because we haven’t arrived at the juncture where the two stories meet. However, it’s clear that if one reads this story with the expectation of something like TDG, then s/he will be disappointed. Contrarily, if we put CSR apart, then we’ll see that it has its own charm.

To begin with, the world construct was unique. The thing that left the most impression from CSR for me... more>> was its world construct that revolves around runes and stances and so on. Although the author’s narrative and pacing in this novel left much to be desired, but it is still attractive. There are fine hooks in place, albeit quite predictable.

The next point was characters. The MC’s initial characteristics was someone with rather low confidence, careful personality, but pretty steady when it comes to choosing what’s important. In relation with opposite gender too, he’s just the average kid; not a playboy, though not an ignorant either. As the result, he’s not someone who stood out in the crowd, be it within the novel or among other MCs in xianxia/xuanhuan genre. However, this kind of MC gives CSR its own flavor. Furthermore, his family might be one-of-a-kind among cultivation novels, being an average family that treats kids with tr*sh talent pretty well.

Other characters so far were just cliches though, including villains, (ex) childhood friend, new love interest, new teacher. And the MC growth not yet can be seen. However, it’s got potentials for the future, especially as the author’s narrative hopefully improves as the story goes on. <<less
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SinsI
SinsI rated it
May 23, 2017
Status: c178
Good and promising start that ends up degenerating into generic Xianxia cultivation novel...

First the author created a good and interesting alternative way for the MC to cultivate instead of the usual sitting on his ass doing nothing plot-relevant after stuffing himself full of drugs, allowing characters to advance by improving and inventing new Stances, and requiring new experiences as inspiration for them - and then he completely fails to use it, wasting years and years "meditating"...

This leads to the classic problem with non-MC characters: they are disposable dolls, appearing for... more>> a brief moment and then getting ruthlessly thrown away. What sort of "best friend" is it if you don't even visit him once in 3 years despite being in the same city?! <<less
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Vulfer
Vulfer rated it
March 14, 2016
Status: --
It seems very good. I don’t really see how it’s very similar to TDG though, that’a s story that starts half-way through.
Spoiler

This is a guy who had a lucky “meeting” as it were and gained his advantages through that.

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I feel the story seems good, and pretty different to other novels. At least having read up to ch30. The whole rune/stance system seems interesting and more original than most power systems in novels.

If I was to point out a flaw I would say that the villians so far are all fairly standard, and yes shallow. But the story hasn’t been translated very far yet so hopefully that will change. I can see a lot of “could not see Mt Tai” happening, but that’s the same with pretty much every novel.
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readingdigest
readingdigest
March 14, 2016
Status: --
I don’t think it’s fair to pass judgement on this series so early as others have done. TDG started with a bang because the MC was a reincarnate expert and hence he hit the ground running. This story develops slower as the MC takes longer to find himself and grow. It has shown promise to be as interesting a story as TDG. I actually find this MC to be far more interesting than Nie Li as he has shown himself to be more humble and intelligent. I’ll agree that this... more>> is wrongly labelled as the prequel to TDG. It’s too early to tell but, at the very most, this story only shares a universe with TDG. It is as much as prequel as Coiling Dragon is to Stellar Transformation. <<less
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ScotlandForsythe
ScotlandForsythe rated it
February 7, 2016
Status: --
I actually really like this. It's really similar to TDG, but I like it better than TDG. The quality of writing may be lower but l love the main character's attitude better. He isn't a pe*verted basted with no respect towards his family...

Overall people may like TDG better, but I like CSR. It's good in my opinion, despite being slow and not as upbeat. ?
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camelCase
camelCase rated it
April 15, 2016
Status: --
I don't see how this can be a prequel to TDG, since the cultivation system is completely different. I may like this better, because there's none of the annoying cryptic foreshadowing that happens when the MC knows what's going to happen and goes about trying to influence the future. The story is 40 chapters in, still developing, and there's a lot of directions the plot can end up going in. I only have two complaints at this point. The first and most important doesn't have to do with the plot:... more>> the translation speed is SLOW--- I am super grateful, but to be blunt, would rather the translator stop and let someone with more time pick it up than continue on at this glacial pace--- that's why I took off one point; I want potential readers to know what they're getting into. The second is that the author overuses the trope of people not saying things that need to be said (iirc, this was also done in TDG). <<less
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Daoist LastWish
Daoist LastWish rated it
March 7, 2017
Status: c83
This novel is ok if this is your first time reading some Xianxia novel. It is way better than BTTH, WQDK, True Martial World, Emperor's Domination etc. So if you like those novels you might like this even more (or not).

Pros & Cons:
... more>>
Spoiler

Pros:
MC (Main Character) is not a randomly mass mu*dering ret*rd.
Antagonists are also not as ret*rded as the ones in novels like Emperor's Domination etc.
MC will actually try to help people out instead of just killing everyone and taking what he wants.
People from MC's family are not heartless and don't ostracize him because of his low talent.

Cons:
Writing is bland and formulaic. But aren't most Xianxia novels this way?
The world is still bending over backwards to hand the MC what he wants.
A beautiful older girl from a super powerful family (:rolls eyes:) takes pity on MC and later ends naked in front of him. What a load of crap.

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Conclusion: Read ISSTH or RMJI or Death Sutra or Instant Kill instead. <<less
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Lawkz
Lawkz rated it
January 1, 2020
Status: c60
Very mediocre overall, extremely annoying writing style with most paragraphs just getting in the way of the reader.

The novel description has nothing to do with the chapters I read, here's the plot:
MC is a tr*sh cultivator, he sleeps on top of a magic book that gives him supreme knowledge over runes (runes are just how people make the magic-like special moves seen in every cultivation novel), this gives him the possibility not being tr*sh in the future.

I stopped reading when the main love interest spoke about her family ... more>>
Spoiler

It's a super elite family that will probably want to arrange her to marry someone else and MC will have to fight someone to stop the marriage and so on.

[collapse]
Since the romance was the only reason I was still reading, when I noticed where it was going I instantly dropped it. <<less
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bushwhacker2k
bushwhacker2k rated it
November 11, 2017
Status: c234
BTW: For reasons unknown, the translation has stopped at #235 for 2.5 years now. Plenty of people want to read more but it's just not being translated.

I quite like this series, in many ways it's very similar to Tales of Demons and Gods.

... However, on several occasions I've seen really atrociously bad writing.

He doesn't tell people what he should be telling them; people don't understand what the signs of a demon are, despite having years of experience fighting them personally; and he delays dealing with important things for no obvious... more>> reasons- and gets immediate bad repercussions because of it.

I still like the series but the segments where people are just being s*upid are really painful to read. <<less
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LNTheories
LNTheories rated it
December 22, 2016
Status: c206
I don't know about the others, but even though the MC is completely different (in my perspective) then Nie Li (TDG) I still find this read very intriguing. The magic and even the mentions of the sages gives me a theory.

Will Ye Wei become the Sage Emperor?
Or will Ye Wei write the book that Nie Li found in TDG?

So far I like this light novel for multiple reasons. Unlike TDG or RoT (rebirth of a thief) this kid is 13 years old in the beginning, but he doesn't... more>> have past experiences. He doesn't know what his future holds. But he tries, he makes connections, and even though he gained the knowledge out of no where, he still learns from his experiences. And makes mistakes. Like Albert Einstein once said, "He who never made a mistake, never tried anything new."

And Nie Li is perfect in almost every way. Same thing with Nie Yan (RoT). We don't see their past experiences in the light novels, and we don't see them really learning new things. They take and cheat from the past. But I do have to admit... they are pretty bad*ss XD

This is the reason I love Mad Snail. I believe you really should read all of his books. I can't stop when I start. <<less
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MyRAMEN
MyRAMEN rated it
October 27, 2020
Status: c2
I really like tales of deons and gosa manga so I tried this out, but honestly I didnt like reading both stories
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Draughnay
Draughnay rated it
September 16, 2019
Status: ch. 667
I've finally read through the whole story. Overall I have to give a poor rating. I've read too many stories, to give a care about it being about a boy with no power, then suddenly he receives something (gets stuck by lightning and receives a powerful beings inheritance, get thrown off a cliff and finds a ring that slowly or quickly gives him a lot of power etc.), but what I do care about is if it's well written and the feel the story gives me. And I have to... more>> say, it's really disappointing. The first 50 chapters is ok, but it begins to feel really forced after that. And the ending, that was not really worth the read. Especially the last twelve chapters, it feels like the author didn't want to continue the story, but couldn't just drop it and then wrote the ending to not disappoint the readers. But for me that just sort of makes worse. I can only give it a poor rating. <<less
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