Sage Monarch

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Yang Qi was the son of the patriarch of a wealthy family from a small town.

Believing himself to be in love, he stole a pill for his lover, only to have the girl betray him, by taking the pill and leaving him behind.

Caught, his dantian was crippled and left to die under the lightning.

This lightning helped him to recover his lost martial arts and also helped him gain a new, divine-like cultivation technique.

After this second chance, he gains more power as he sought revenge and also to find about his missing mother….

Associated Names
One entry per line
Sage Emperor
Sheng Wang
SM
Thánh Vương
圣王
Related Series
Yang God (Chinese Novel)
Recommendations
Fallen Monarch (4)
Clash Of The Sword Titans (1)
The Immortal King In The City (1)
Recommendation Lists
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Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/23/16 Dark Translations c38
09/08/16 Dark Translations c37
07/25/16 Dark Translations c36
07/22/16 Dark Translations c35
07/18/16 Dark Translations c34
06/20/16 Dark Translations c32-33
05/31/16 Dark Translations c31
05/24/16 Dark Translations c30
05/09/16 Dark Translations c29
04/25/16 Dark Translations c28
04/18/16 Dark Translations c27
04/16/16 Dark Translations c26
04/14/16 Dark Translations c25
04/11/16 Dark Translations c24
03/28/16 Dark Translations c23
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88 Reviews sorted by


zell66
zell66 rated it
April 26, 2020
Status: c828
This novel is very rich, full of allusions to Chinese Classics. That is, however, the main good point.

Character development and plot are NOT the forte of this novel. The MC's "power-ups" are so frequent and loose (exponential), its simply feels like its a way to keep the novel going with minimal character/plot development. No matter which side character, which incredible item, they will always become extremely obsolete in a few chapters. The author appears to make an effort to remind the reader he hasn't forgotten about old side characters or... more>> items, but their reappearances seems meaningless -- this feeling pervades the whole novel (at least until the current chapter, 828) including the MC's family, friends or his own personality (character development).

MC's character development goes neatly for the first arc, however Yang Qi's personality gets "diluted" rather fast. Along the MC's power-ups most of his likes/dislikes/quirks/traits get replaced by what feels like a "robotic ruthlessness" in a spiral of "finding a generic antagonist, getting powered up, destroying/making him submit, finding another generic antagonist".

Overall, quite a frustrating read. <<less
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rwang2911
rwang2911 rated it
January 9, 2020
Status: c208
Deathblade is a great translator.

Dropped at 208.

Everything is very flat. Characters are boring, revenge is boring, overarching plot isn't super exciting either.

MC makes lots of friends. Friends end up helping MC but it doesn't feel like they're actually friends or care about each other.

Overall, MC's powers are pretty cool, but the details about powering-up aren't described very well.
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NoobyWonders
NoobyWonders rated it
December 15, 2019
Status: c619
Edit: Retried story after reading it in 2019 - c250 -> 619

I can summarize this story in one sentence. It's one of those litRPG cultivation parodies except it's not funny.

I originally said this was probably underrated at 3/5 due to Death Blade's fans comparing it to his other translations. I take it back. This story deserves to be as low as it is. Definitely an average story for the first continent. But it's SO BORING after that. Yang Qi has such a godly "cheat" that he's basically just fighting one... more>> realm up at all times. That wouldn't really matter if he was fighting strong opponents, but unfortunately the MC LITERALLY NEVER fights anybody stronger than him.

New enemies comes in and says "Wow what a genius! But he's a whole realm lower than us, so we can easily kill him and force the godly energy art out of him! Then we will rule over all heavens!"

Yang Qi: "Hmmph. You are not match for the godly legion!" He easily curb stomps them.

Enemy: " Yang Qi! I will slughter your entire family and everyone you know!"

Yang Qi: "No u." Then he kills them and ens*aves whatever society they came from to help his daddy's world cultivate. He ranks up a bit, then conflicts with their backer.

And then we repeat. He curbs stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps, and he curb stomps,

and then I stopped reading. YQ grows acts more conceited every chapter. YQ makes insanely strong enemies, but they're not allowed to fight him until he's able to stomp them. All his friends are useless lackey's. YQ is never worried about anything. <<less
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haanhaan
haanhaan rated it
June 10, 2019
Status: c179
So far so good,

MC is naive, although he try so hard to show mature attitude, but still like an unstable teen in their puberty age... Soo impulsive. (shake head)

... more>>
Spoiler

In chap 179 he must retrieve his own reward in form of mission? Dude... That reward is the mission compensation not the tournament reward... And MC said it's a test? Dude.. are you smart or dumb? Cleaning mines for a thing that SUPPOSEDLY already his.

MC is too trusting, abd he trust the old man? Man... The older the wine the more rotten (or fermented.. whatev you want to call it) inside.

[collapse]
<<less
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Trolltractor
Trolltractor rated it
April 18, 2021
Status: c8
Here are some quotes for you:

... more>>
Spoiler

Chapter 4:

I need to conceal the true level of my strength, 'Yang Qi thought. 'And I can't reveal the truth about the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, nor any of its stances or moves. I'll just use the energy art forms and stances of the Yang Clan. If anyone asks how I recovered so quickly, I'll just say that it was thanks to my aunt.'

Chapter 5:

For three nights in a row, Yang Qi would slip out unnoticed to cultivate his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. During the daytime, he would pretend to convalesce, doing nothing to reveal his true state. As far as everyone could tell, he was a cripple, unable to recover from his injuries.

AND

On the morning after his third night of cultivation, the sun slowly began to rise.

The eight gates of Yanhaven opened, whereupon a caravan of horse carts began to thread through the city toward the Yang Clan mansion, which immediately aroused the attention of the cityfolk.

Chapter 7:

But now, his response to Yang Qi's rebuke was nothing but a cold laugh. Looking over with scorn and arrogance, he said, "What. You heard me! Are you trying to tell me you three aren't cripples? Your two brothers are poisoned, and will live lives of endless pain. And your sea of energy is destroyed. Crippled? You're worse than a cripple. You're a useless humiliation to our clan!"

"Oh really?" Yang Qi replied coolly. "You think I'm useless, Yang Feng? Alright. Let's have a little competition, right here. Let's see which one of us is really useless."

Chapter 8:

title: Displaying Prowess to the Full

"Father, " Yang Qi said respectfully, "my sea of energy was indeed destroyed. However, because of being struck by lightning, I experienced some sort of transformation. My meridians and sea of energy recovered, and I actually got stronger. In fact, I advanced so dramatically that I'm already in the Energy Eruption level."

[collapse]

The author is clearly writing tr*sh. There is no other explanation that in 4 chapters, the MC does exactly the opposite of what he said he would, and the opposite of who the author characterised him as.

These 4 chapters are only 3 days. 3 days. Wow.

Great stuff there champ.

And no, I don't have something out for cultivation novels or s*upidly op mcs, to read a few chapters and slam a poor review. I was hoping I could read this and enjoy it. It unfortunately had some good reviews which tricked me into thinking it might be somewhat decent. It's not. <<less
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PotatoKing
PotatoKing rated it
April 12, 2021
Status: --
Another piece of tr*sh praised to the heavens because of misguided folks and the word of a reputable translator. Truthfully, this novel doesn't deserve 1 star. However, I think if people are dishing out 4-5 stars for garbage at 2-3 stars then I can do the same the other way. Don't let the reviews and praise from the translator distract you, this novel is exactly as you would think; a subpar cultivation novel with the same ideas and s*upidity. You won't find uniqueness.

The MC is a moron who does things... more>> based on impulse. Even after the narration tells us of his so-called "maturity after hardship", he doesn't change all that much. Like many other of these novels, random characters pick fights with the MC for no reason other than word count. The same "clan wants to destroy themselves with conflict" nonsense and much more.

I also don't buy into the s*upidity of "the rest are copies, this one did it first". No, it did not. This novel, as listed by Novel Updates, came out in 2011. There are many other novels with similar ideas and tropes existing way before this one. So it's not the first by any means. Not that it's a valid point of argument anyway. Just because you're the first one to take a dump, doesn't mean your dump is not smelly. Might be less or more smelly, but it's still sh*t.

It's not as if cultivation novels can't be done well without s*upidity. There are several who have done so. I just fail to understand why translators seem to feel the need to pick garbage instead of actual good stuff out there. What a waste of time and energy. 1600 chapters that could've gone to an actual good novel. I sincerely hope Deathblade picks his next novel well, I love his translations and enjoy his updates. Only reason I bothered to stick around past chapter 3. <<less
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Aeonir
Aeonir rated it
March 31, 2021
Status: c1140
Well I somehow got this far, but it was pure agony. I wanted to trust Deathblade (Translator) and others that said it got/was good. The trouble is that this story might be the most flat unexciting bland novel ever written, only rivaled by A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality but lacking any of the sparks of wonder or anticipation.

Every villain is completely over the top arrogant a**holes. I thought I'd seen arrogance before but every f*cking character in this novel could beat most other characters in any CN... more>> in that department. Everyone thinks they're the next Supreme God and that the multiverse belongs to them and everyone else should bow down and beg to become a s*ave. EVERYONE. From the lowliest teen flunkie on the first tiny continent to halfdead zombielike hidden elders to the scions of the higher heavens. Every character in this story would be a Demon/Devil Overlord villain in any other setting, there is no reasonable or wise person present.

Contrary to something like Er Gen's or I Eat Tomatoes stories that usually gets better after the first 1-3 arcs (for me) this was just like constantly chewing dry cardboard, no highs, no lows no flavor.

The last point for me is the insane powercreep that happens after leaving the mortal world. I've never seen anything like it. Somehow, of course, the already insanely powerful never actually does anything too serious before the MC can react even if they are literally millions of times stronger, older and supposedly wiser... <<less
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Haxious
Haxious rated it
February 29, 2020
Status: c713
The elements are cliche and virtually no character development could be found aside from the main character as well as people with brains or wit, the higher the protagonist climbs, the dumber people seem to get for some reason. Characters with potential development and personality are killed off a few chapters later and his so called allies and brothers are so far off from writing that you can't even consider them background characters anymore.

And yet aside from all the nitpicking, I've rated it as good and continued reading it forth... more>> as even though it might be cliche, it still provides a mindless reading entertainment as there are almost no hurdles or difficult situations for the main character as he's basically a male Mary sue who can do literally everything and anything as long as the author wills it. <<less
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Gopper
Gopper rated it
June 9, 2019
Status: c178
Deathblade is a really good translator and needs no explanation about his translation skills. The author of the novel sucks. The story had an impressive premise but the chapters have literally gone to shit. There is alot of repetition that even Deathblade himself has pointed it out in the chapter notes. The plot was good then went to shit. Dont waste your time reading this novel because you will find yourself in the same quandary im in, Good translator but sh*t novel: should I continue to read?
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Phaos
Phaos rated it
May 20, 2019
Status: c137
caught up with the translation, its filled with plot hole throughout, stuff still aren't explain well, random powerboost, idiotic villains, it lacks direction and goes all over the place rapidly.
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Sheenius
Sheenius rated it
April 30, 2019
Status: c34
Uhhh so I too picked this novel up because of DB's amazing work on issth and awe and considering his high tones of this novel I expected a lot! After 2 such gems I wouldn't have thought I'd land in something like this. What a major disappointment, cliché after cliché. Arrogant clans here, enemy after enemy there, big clans and a s*upid miss who will regret sooo much what she has done after her sect bends his head. This novel got everything, except everything good and most important: originality.
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rhianirory
rhianirory rated it
April 30, 2019
Status: c1000
the start is terrible (it took me three times before I got through the first 100 chapters). the next 200 or so chapters are sometimes bad and sometimes OK. the next 200 is OK. then it becomes a despotic empire building story for a while, which was meh. this has been a 2.5 for me so far.

the MC is insanely OP, covered with impenetrable plot armor to the nth degree, and his luck stat is off the charts (except when it comes to his schools/ sects, where they all plot... more>> and scheme against him and he never attends any classes).

for all that I like some of the things he does, like looking after his friends and family, the further I read the less I like the MC on a personal level. not because he kills people, all MC in this genre are ruthless killers, but because he's such a prick that by chapter 500 I was wishing the bad guys would break out of the typical mook mold and curb stomp him (yes, I was actively rooting for the MC's downfall).
Spoiler

he regularly refines his enemies in his cauldron, causing immense soul pain while slowly absorbing their cultivation, memories, and arts, which in most other novels I've read is considered disgusting and very much a devil/ evil cultivation technique. in this novel cultivators run around refining each other all the time, which I find repulsive. plus there's all that brainwashing and torture to make his enemies worship him so he can further his cultivation with their faith and their loss of free will.

[collapse]

lastly, I really don't like the religious aspects thrown in with all those angels and devils, heavens and hells, and the MC needing to be worshiped to further his cultivation. its a really odd conglomeration of western and eastern mythos. I usually skip stories where religion is a part of plot but it didn't come up until later and it's not in the tags.

edit: by chapter 800 this is a solid 2. I was skimming more pages than I was reading as there is a lot of repetition, even with DB cutting out some of the padding. every sect he joins the same things seem to happen over and over again and even after so many chapters I feel nothing but dislike for the MC, so I don't really care what happens to him... though if the author kills him off at the end I might give this another star. I'll probably wait until this is finished and give it one more try, but most likely I'll skip to the end and just call it done. <<less
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TheGamingNerd
TheGamingNerd rated it
October 6, 2017
Status: c101
Uhh Finally picked up again... Story is okay for now slightly generic but I dont lose interest cause every novel is a new experience and honestly (I dropped most novels cause I'm bored of some themes) The cultivation system is interesting not too fast not too slow just the right speed... Looking forward to more for my final review.

[Personal message for those who compare this with AWE and ISSTH... honestly Er Gen and Dreamwalker got way different writing styles Er Gen focuses on Shameless shameless shameless mostly comedy and... more>> dreamwalker focuses on the most mainstream type of writing it depends on the readers and honestly this is a pretty old novel came out before ISSTH was even an idea :) ] <<less
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vkg313
vkg313 rated it
September 28, 2016
Status: c522
Story is fairly plain xianxia story with lots of killing, and less plot. Cultivation system is interesting though. I'm also glad that the MC is supposedly empathic to all creatures, and not a psychopath like other stories. Glad Wuxiaworld picked it up overall.

Chapter 522

Spoke too soon. MC is totally a psychopath. He ended up being just like the original enemy that he was trying to defeat before, even saying the same things. Hypocrite.

Story is 2 stars... It wouldnt let me change the number
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BrianGitahi
BrianGitahi rated it
May 30, 2021
Status: c956
I wanted to like this novel especially since it was translated by a top tier translator, but I just can't. The MC has zero character development. None of his accomplishments so far feel earned, every thing is handed to him and he never truly struggles for anything. The cultivation was interesting at first because the author gave a lot of details regarding his breakthroughs but after a while he gave up and it became pretty boring having to read about him going from one realm to another without any details.... more>> The only good thing about the novel is that fights are resolved fairly quickly so no 10 chapter fights. Reading this novel is probably a waste of time. <<less
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Poireau
Poireau rated it
May 3, 2021
Status: c45
Take all the stereotypes from most the Xuanhuan novels into a single novel and you have the "Sage Monarch":

    • Face slapping at every chapters,
    • OP cultivation of the MC with breakthroughs during every critical battles,
    • Arogant MC who can't have an argument without fighting, even to the point that all the cultivators of his own clan want to kill him (but his Parent & Brothers)
    • MC saving a damsel event if her father was responsible when he became a cripple,
    • Boring cultivation system,
    • Boring world buiding,
    • Characters screeming the name of their cultivation techniques at each move,
    • Classical plot of one the parent with a mysterious origin,
    • Etc...
Erf, select a random cultivation novel and you'll have better chances to actually enjoy your reading. The only reason the rate of this novel is not close to 2/5 must be because of the face the other reviewers must have given to wuxiaworld. com... it is clearly over rated...
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SzOszkar
SzOszkar rated it
April 3, 2021
Status: c1600
This was really meh, I've read it all because I hate not completing anything, but it was'nt worth it. At first it started like a basic chinese novel withe having to restore family power, reputation, etc. Ok, I can get behind that, but than it just got out of control. The power systems introduced through the whole novel were ridiculous, there were too many, and may got discarded really quickly. It felt so random. The story was just who is more powerfull? Yang Qi wasn't at first, but with some... more>> conveniant upgrades he received he just destroyed everything. There wasn't anything more to it. And I really hate this world, everything and everybody is so crule. Everybody rules with death and fear, and yeah I get the idea that this is how it was in the past in china (and still is with corrupt officials in some cases), but still, this was too much. And I was expecting to get some cool techniques, that are't just names. I can't associate a technique name with what it does, it just does amaziiing things, and inverts ying-yang and stuff, but meh. The charactes are also really bland, after we get through one of their arcs, they don't exist anymore, or become some yes sayers describing how op the protagonist is. There were some scenes that I liked tho, but the majority of the novel is just meh, really meh in my opinion. <<less
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Immortal Daoist
Immortal Daoist rated it
December 26, 2019
Status: c576
I will give the translation/translator a higher rating then the actual novel. That's not to say that it is unreadable but the amount of liberties that are taken to ensure the plot armour of the MC is never dented is borderline mentally crippling. Having one dimensional side characters, random power growth that is pulled out at the exact moment he needs it and the one that irkes me the most is that using his godly tier energy art is supposed to be slowly making him the Lord above lords yet... more>> he wantonly commits actual of mass mu*der without bstting an eye. But I will continue to read this novel until completion because ive invested to much time to not see how it all ends, wearing my rose tinted glasses the entire time enjoying Deathblade's immaculate translations. <<less
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Stompound
Stompound rated it
December 23, 2019
Status: c448
It's interesting to read the other reviews and see everyone's opinions here. I can see where a lot of them are coming from.

Although I'd love to leave a detailed and interesting review like Leaning Maple and dustystaff who came before me, I think I'm going to keep this is a bit simple.

The story I feel is something that takes the xuanhuan genre to it's farthest reaches. If something could be exaggerated, stretched, or blown out of proportions it is. It is a fantastical and ridiculous ass kicking adventure where the... more>> main character defies all logic and flies around the universe whooping ass (pardon my language).

I started reading Sage Monarch, and probably continue to read it, mostly because I really love Deathblade's translations. But ultimately speaking I feel there are a few more reasons to stay.

Those reasons aren't super complex plot, easy to understand cultivation systems or culture, wars of words or politics, and definitely not a slow or easy life.

But if you like; high fantasy, awesome powers, ass kicking, ridiculous exaggerations, insights into complex and difficult cultural and mythical Chinese elements, rapid power growth and pacing, and some solid friendship and comradery... those are all reasons to read Sage Monarch.

PS: I don't think I'd recommend Sage Monarch for beginners into the genre. And I wouldn't recommend it for people who like to impose real world limitations or logic on fantasy. Everyone else should give it a shot. I know I'm not disappointed. <<less
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Kosowar
Kosowar rated it
December 23, 2019
Status: c573
Translator is doing an amazing job.

But the novel is so-so only.

The MC is ridiculously overpowered. Under the excuse that he has god genes he can run over everyone.

In addition he has the best luck in the entire universe.

Last negative point are the fights. Techniques names are 2 lines long and the whole flow is weird.

Bottom line is the novel is still interesting to read.
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