The Silly Alchemist

Description

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My past life: Ordinary. Mediocre.

What I want in this life: Riches. Power. Influence.

My goal: To be a prodigal son. A waste youth with riches and power. Maybe even sidekicks.

My name is Ye Lang, I’m an alchemist, and I’m also here to squander as much money as I can.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Alchemist Frenzy
Luyện Kim Cuồng Triều
TSA
炼金狂潮
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
A Will Eternal (7)
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Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (WN) (3)
Long Live Summons! (2)
Destroyer of Ice and Fire (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. For the chuunibyou guy inside us all: male centric...
  2. readable stuff I find sometimes on the world wide ...
  3. Not masterpieces, but enjoyable enough.
  4. Chinese Web Novel
  5. Amazing comedies pt. 2

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Keimichi
Keimichi rated it
May 26, 2017
Status: c72
Originally I decided to read until the current releases to decide if it was worth continuing with the raws.

Some people might say that this is full of fillers, but it is really just a slice of life comedy type novel. It is like some others said not a super cliche CN, however just because something isn't cliche doesn't mean it is good.

I'm honestly rather annoyed by the MC. I'm not saying that only righteous MC's make for good characters, however I can't stand the blatant hypocrisy this story takes when... more>> MC acts badly and yet people still praise his actions as being great:

Spoiler

I'm really talking about the part where MC helps a "fat girl" to chase after their School Prince. Do I want the "fat girl" to have a happy ending? Yes. But see, the school prince was already in a very happy relationship with his girlfriend. But the MC just encouraged the "fat girl" to basically break this relationship by inserting herself as the third wheel. As a second girlfriend. The novel even bends the morality but justifying the act even though the fat girl became prince's second gf FORCEFULLY. As a second girlfriend that he is supposed to date at the same time as his first. And then, MC (and fat girl) dare to claim the moral high ground about this for no other reason than "plot armor". And guess what. When this plan doesn't work out (fat girl and prince breaks up), rather than backing out gracefully, MC went ahead to defame the prince's first girlfriend. Totally DESTROYING her with slander, by creating rumors to present her as a nasty "slut" and make it seem as if she aborted her unborn child. None of which actually happened. She ended up being ostracized by everyone for things she did not do, and rejected by the prince because the rumors made prince think she was heartless. MC just made up lies and destroyed a girl's future, and the story pretended that it was the right thing to do.

Why all of this? Simply because this girlfriend tried breaking up prince and fat girl's relationship. Well, what did they expect? From the girlfriend's perspective, some random girl just came up and forced herself on your boyfriend. You were a happy couple, but now you have to accept a mistress in your relationship and then pretend nothing is wrong? And then that mistress would then play the victim as if she was the one who was hurt even though she was the one stealing your boyfriend?

And MC, when things don't go his or the fat girl's way, felt totally justified in ruin that gf's reputation? (Even when this can literally ruin her whole life?)

Btw, this whole relationship didn't work out DUE TO the fat girl. Even though after the prince ended up accepting fat girl's feelings, SHE was the one who couldn't keep her distance with the MC. She used the excuse that the MC was her friend and spent most of her time and attention on the MC. Ofc the prince would feel like she was cheating. Which guy wouldn't be suspicious when a random dude with dubious relationships with your (new) girlfriend spends more time with her than you do, is closer physically and she shares more with him than she does with you. And she even goes to his home EVERY night... Sure, we readers knows nothing is going on, but from the prince side, ofc he would be suspicious I'm not saying this girl shouldn't have male friends. I LOVE platonic relationships. But "fat girl" and the MC are extremely hypocritical and have double standards. Let's look at this logically. Fat girl claims to have really strong traditional values on male-female relationships, to the point that even "holding hands" with him is too much for her. And yet she is perfectly fine with holding hands with the MC? Where did that reserve on male-female relationship go? She is so traditional and yet totally fine with having a close male friend? Without any boundaries? And she claims she is too shy to hold hands with you and yet she is totally fine with holding hands with him? Can you see why this prince is so dubious of the fat girl's integrity? It is a lot of bull.

I'm fine with a MC that have different moral standards. MC's with grey morality are interesting. You get to explore the nuance of human behavior that one. But this one is just pure hypocrisy so much that you have to bend over backwards just to justify their behavior and make MC into a saint.

You can feel the author bullsh*t from miles away. I'm guessing this happened because that's the only reason he could find to include "fat girl" into MC's harem even though the premise was that she liked someone else. Oh, btw, the story literally calls her "fat girl", but after a makeover from the MC, she's a "thin beauty with jade skin and pretty face". It's all so convenient that she turns into a beauty when it "matters". She also won't ever get fat anymore as a side effect. Because of course the MC couldn't have an actually "fat girl" in his friend circle/as potential love interest. Figures that MC can only get pretty girls. The double standard is disgusting.

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After 72 chapters, I still feel like we are going no where. I can endure a slow start, but at this point it doesn't even feel like it's a build up for anything, just a bunch of short inconsequential events that are rather boring imo. I'm not saying this because it is a slice of life. It's just that it has none of the impact of an action xuanhuan novel, none of the charm or depth of a slice of life, none of the darker cynicism of a dark humor novel, no OPness of the OP character, and no super funny moment of a comedy or the romance of a romcom. If this is what you mean by original, then I'd rather not have any originality because at least your cliche CN would give us nice gratification when we see the MC face slap stereotypically evil villains. Genre exist for a reason, you know? They have their specific appeal. However, the reason why this story stayed "original" was because it stripped itself of that appeal. It COULD have been something great that goes outside of the box. But what it really is, is simply something half-assed.

Needless to say, I'm not even attempting to read the raws. Yeah, the story is not as bad as I make it seem, it's not bottom feeder, but I still don't really recommend it. <<less
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Gsichtselfmeter
Gsichtselfmeter rated it
April 19, 2019
Status: c29
Good job, author, ruining a perfectly fine story with transmigration bull shit. The personality of the MC before the "reimport" of the double memories was perfectly fine, why do you have to insert the cheap chinese soul?
37 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
slay_mithos
slay_mithos rated it
November 15, 2016
Status: c33
I went into this not expecting too much, even with a lot of high rated reviews (because there are always reviews with "best ever", and it doesn't mean much).

The chapter 5, and a bit of the chapter 6 nearly made me drop it right there, as it made it sound like a really badly documented "science" statements from a reincarnated person. I had read that it was not going to continue, so I forced myself to continue, and by the end of chapter 9, I understood why it was rated... more>> that highly.

Basically, it's not reincarnation per say, just a few bits of information/memory that were transfered, and most of it actually isn't helping the main character (his main "bad" trait of wanting to spend money left and right comes from those for example).

The main character is not a genius that conquers the heavens, neither is he a superbly intelligent person that can scheme his way through the world. In fact, he even has a lot of deficiencies, and the only reason why he isn't your typical bullied main character is because his family actually cares for him even if he was to always be bellow even a normal person in every aspect.

Obviously, it would not make a good story to stop with just that, so the author gives him a few things he actually is good at, as well as a bit of luck. To compensate for the weaknesses, other character are introduced and made more prevalent than in other novels.

I won't spoil the story, but I'll say that this protagonist that isn't "best in everything" makes for a much more stable story, and allows other characters to actually have a place aside from your generic audience that praises the main character in most novels.

Writing and translation are both on the higher side too, which really helps.

TL;DR: Don't be mislead by the first 6 chapters, this is actually a fairly solid start, with decent writing and less flat characters thanks to the MC not being the best at everything.

EDIT: after the latest chapters (28 and above).
(spoiler tag not working for some reason...)

I hope that it will retain some of the uniqueness of the start of the story, because this protective family even towards a weak member was much more believable, especially in a world where "face" and "honour" is important (it is a big aristocratic family after all). <<less
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Timid
Timid rated it
October 7, 2019
Status: c50
To begin with, the first chapter of this novel is not very good. It sets up a typical transmigration situation in a rather s*upid way, with a really lazy explanation for his prior knowledge.

Then, surprisingly, the novel changes tack. In the next 30 chapters the story follows an idiot savant in an alternate world, from his birth to 15 years old. Born into a really affluent family it narrates him growing up in a sort of 3rd person objective viewpoint. It then has the MC bumbling around, oblivious to the... more>> world around him and forming fairly sweet relationships with the various Women in his life.

Very slice of life, but somewhat interesting.

Then MC gets hit by lightning, pretty much dies, and is replaced by a cookie cutter Chinese dipshit. The perspective changes, the whole slice of life comedy theme changes, and all that's left is a badly written OP wish fulfillment story. It's not good, and this is coming from someone who usually avoids slice of life and likes the OP face smacking stuff.

Particularly galling is that the sweet relationship that has been built up with the beastgirl, princess, his sister and others changes right away. Suddenly they have no personality, and become cardboard fangirls. The most sudden drop of quality I've ever seen in a cultivation novel. <<less
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flyingnimbus
flyingnimbus rated it
July 25, 2017
Status: c57
5 star beginning, 1 star turning point.

The first 30-40 chapters of this story were great, the main character (Ye Lang) was a breath of fresh air amidst a sea of indistinguishable MCs in the other works on NU. He was reincarnation done in an interesting way, a person who didn't bring any memories or skills over to the next life, just a desire to live a prodigal life. Reading about his adventures was great because there is a sense of straightforward logic in all of his actions, yet they still... more>> differed dramatically from common sense.

Alas, the author failed to keep it up and
Spoiler

gave him back his memories.

[collapse]
Lost is the adorable, clumsy simpleton, replaced by an aloof faker. It's like the person I started reading about and had grown attached to is gone. Feels like a bait and switch, so I'm out, the story isn't worth reading anymore. <<less
23 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Tedious
Tedious rated it
May 6, 2017
Status: c45
MC hilarious and badass with cute moments the whole reason why I read.

Spoiler

After taiga left MC personality is so cliche and plain even more annoying than before he got his memories back and the characters became one dimensional

[collapse]
15 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
yinko
yinko rated it
October 8, 2016
Status: c9
It's funny, though the story is still in the introductory phase. He hasn't really done anything alchemical yet, he's just aiming to be as lazy as humanly possible, to the point of intentionally disappointing everyone's expectations of genius so as to not have to do much in the future.
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DicerX
DicerX rated it
October 15, 2019
Status: c184
Initially, I was thrilled by the novel's introduction, a brand new start where the MC's memories have been locked away after reincarnation, leaving everyone (in the new world), to think that the MC is mentally disabled, aka "silly." But on one fateful day, the MC gets hit by a lightning strike and supposedly wakes up from his stupor, things were to advance from here to a "normal" novel. But the author decided to make the MC into an airhead and a pu*sy magnet, keeping him "silly" throughout while throwing crumbs... more>> here and there that the MC is sane Etc.

The author doesn't define what "Alchemy" is, because to the MC, Alchemy is nothing but a passing interest that is never is expanded upon. For example, I would liken it to discussing BASIC Physics only for it to start introducing in the next paragraph a device that can nullify gravity. Oh, dear readers, want an explanation? Who cares about that!

To make the waters muddier, the author is probably demented as he constantly repeats the same sequence of events on and on. The novel is in a constant loop where: MC gets into trouble > meets villain/ally >MC gets into trouble> ∞. RINSE AND REPEAT.

The story is not appropriate in its current form. I can see its potential as a comic or sitcom but NOT a novel. I would not recommend reading it. <<less
11 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
taptothebeat
taptothebeat rated it
November 21, 2016
Status: c37
We are only 37 chapters in at the moment, but I am greatly enjoying this novel~ It has an easy and light atmosphere so far. A feel-good type of novel with some comedy mixed in.

... more>>
Spoiler

The MC starts off with a partial re-incarnation into a body of an autistic child of a powerful and wealthy family. As a child he knows some random knowledge from the other world, but does not know why the knowledge is true, or why he even knows it. Thus he cannot integrate into society properly.


But what is apparent is that as a child he is truly a sweet and honest kid, a trait much lacking in Xianxia worlds. This personality trait wins over the people near him, as they love him for who he is (non-romantically), and happiness becomes their day to day life as they watch over him, despite his extreme oddities due to his partial knowledge from his previous life.
[collapse]
<<less
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Shuchou
Shuchou rated it
July 14, 2017
Status: c93
Just like the title say, it is silly. The MC is so silly. Hes silly without exceptions! Idjits keep saying that the MC is a dense guy some say he doesn't give a crap to anything even to his family and friends but the truth is, Hes silly because he got reborn with incomplete soul. Means he doesn't have any recollection of his past life so the him right now is only have a half soul so his way of thinking is dumb.

But don't worry he will regain his past... more>> memories. And what makes this novel a good one because the MC stayed true to his character even though he regain hi memory by pretending.

This novel showed us that even though a big clan young master is a tr*sh, not all will look down on him. This novel showed me that not all people shows disdain on tr*sh.

Anyway, it is really refreshing to read the whole clan, citizens and even the royal family dote on MC. <<less
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Reindeer
Reindeer rated it
February 13, 2017
Status: c44
It's really really really good. One of my favorite comedy novels out there. Also, an MC that just has the best logic out there.

To be honest, I like this novel more than its quality, that is already 5 by the way, because I have always wished for this kind of school life novel. Well, at least right now it still is. I just love how we still haven't been through some shitty trying to explain this really cool sh*t that will make MC strong. The author only mentions it like... more>> in a few paragraph, which I really like.

This, to me, is like fulfilling my regrets of my past life. By this, I mean remember Douluo Dalu? Yeah, I really do love the novel, just that sh*t always get bad late game no matter what novel. That's why the best part of the novel was the school arc. And the sad part about it is that it is always filled with either battle scenes or character development, leaving no room for slice of life scenes. This novel, I hope to see a lot of school stuff, since there are quite a lot I think to be covered up.

And lastly, I just love how it's comedy. It's not the Wtf, gahahahaha! kinda laugh of ATTE, or whatever it is right now, but it's kind of a series of small and big jokes here and there which really makes my mood great.

The novel needs more love than it receives. I wish the novel gets to be introduced to other people as well. I think one problem here is the novel cover, but I think that's just me..... I think.

Well anyway, that is all, Peace out, <<less
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ArchersGoon
ArchersGoon rated it
December 26, 2016
Status: c37
FIVE STARS!!! (37 Chapters)

'The Silly Alchemist' is one of the funniest Xuanhuan I have read. The first 35 chapters of this novel made me laugh and laugh; I even got in trouble for waking my roomates with my snickers! ; -) I was almost disappointed when the clumsy yet adorable MC, Ye Lang, regained his memories and common sense! I hope that this novel will continue to maintain a high level of humor with the development of the MC. I can't wait for more!
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
KanameShiro
KanameShiro rated it
June 13, 2018
Status: c150
Why you should read it?

It's decent enough to make people read it. Humor is overused but still good enough to make one laugh or at least grin

Why you should not read it?

... more>> Author loves to jump from one harem member to another. Personally I'm still pissed with how he handled Tigress (letting her leave out of nowhere and never to return). It was sloppily executed and inefficient.

At ch 100+ I didn't like how he forego his initial plan to let Ye Lang have a nice easy going journey just to have unnecessary 'drama' so that the story can have another template villain. Not only did it felt forced, it was against the supposed easy going theme of the story.

Long story short, author can't create harem and harem characters properly and has problem with being coherent with his story telling. <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Larriken
Larriken rated it
April 12, 2017
Status: c260
Funny novel. The MC is a combination of Edward Elric and Big Bird. Weird combo but it works. The characters are likable and have some depth instead of just a pure MC oriented scheme. It's a lighter novel with a few dark elements. Closest similarity would be Death March.
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
JetonS
JetonS rated it
November 9, 2016
Status: c29
Okay guys I'm gonna warn you first. This story is not the way you think it's leading to.

At first, I thought the story was weird and pretty inconsistent. I was like "Oh, great, another reincarnation story without originality..." BUT I WAS WRONG. I kept on reading because it was funny enough to read regardless of the many flaws I thought the story had.

But as the chapters kept on being released, I found myself enjoying it more and more until I actually looked forward for another chapter. And here comes... more>> the plot twist. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but at chapter 29, a revelation just crumbles the whole story and the whole vision you had about the story until now, which is in itself pretty understandable as the author intentionally led us to the wrong path (no, sorry, allow me to correct myself, the author is just taking advantage of our pre-defined commonsense of fantasy type novel to mislead us. The author literally deceived us from the beginning).

The story is funny and the characters are lovely, avoiding the Xianxia cliché of thugs picking up fights randomly at the street's corner. In an overall funny atmosphere, the story can really catch you unexpected at some times, when you just can't help but leak out a small grin. This novel has huge potential, if the author keeps up the good job, comes up with more funny situations without turning this into a Xianxia bullsh*t cliché novel, I believe this will be a really great novel in the near future. <<less
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RedPlays
RedPlays rated it
April 8, 2021
Status: c145
The start of the novel is great until he gets hit by lightning (he becomes prologue mc). It was still readable.

Kid MC (dumb and interesting) and Prologue MC (adult and the one at the prologue)

But damn is chapter 145 the worst chapter yet. The MC becomes even more unaware than his kid self (kid mc), which is already s*upid and unaware. It is like the author wanted to fix the MC but only ended up ruining him more. He already became united but he becomes even more s*upid... more>> at 145.

This is honestly more frustrating than bad novels like Martial god space, and MgS does not even hide its laziness. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
k-r-i-s
k-r-i-s rated it
December 9, 2019
Status: c237
Just a really annoying MC. I was expecting something unexpected since that's what it said in the description. But it's just a generic MC except people acknowledge the MC is dumb and lucky unlike some other novels.

Just like every other cliche story, the MC can't do anything wrong and it always works out for him.
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Seregosa
Seregosa rated it
October 7, 2017
Status: c128
I quite like this novel, a lot. It's pretty different from many other novels and things will never be truly serious, not even when someone is usurping the throne and killing the emperor and other princes/princesses. I just hate that tigress, my favorite character and the only female I want to truly fall in love with the MC, was sent away around chapter 40-50 and doesn't show up again before chapter 416+ or something like that (checked machine translations). Damnable is what it is... Though every chapter is about half... more>> or a third of what other novels chapters would be in length, so it's really not that much, it's just that the translation is a bit slow.

He's pretty strong and something of a genius, yet he can be s*upid in the most unexpected ways, usually when it comes to common sense or stuff that normal people find to be easy. It's pretty amusing.

Definitely worth a read. Solid 4/5, except for the first 20-30 chapters where he's pretty much a happy-go-lucky ret*rd with tidbits of modern day knowledge and an incomplete soul. After a certain event, his soul will fuse together and get complete again, drastically changing his personality and turning him into what he's supposed to be, a somewhat silly yet genius alchemist who was originally from earth and brought with him a lot of earth knowledge (like generic chinese formations, martial arts and other stuff that we tend to find in xianxia or other stuff). I warn you, the first 20-30 chapters are a FCKING pain to read, it's enough to make you want to quit, especially the first 10 or so chapters are even worse. However, just don't quit, it takes a great turn for the better after a while, especially when the souls fuse. <<less
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alexzxz
alexzxz rated it
May 7, 2017
Status: c67
Had hopes. Story was interesting till tiger left. Now feels like filler and gathering random harem.

Even though this is rom com type novel, there should be some action. His alchemy is almost nonexistent. I feel jebaited with promises of alchemy when all along the author had no worldbuilding idea, and just wanted to milk out the rom com cliche.

Will drop this for 50 or so chapters. Hopefully this improves by then.
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
pomoli
pomoli rated it
April 2, 2017
Status: c48
The great thing in this novel is how the MC is original: in the beginning he's kinda mentally deficient, and even after, he's a "special" character. That makes him really attaching and cute in a way.
I like the many characters' interactions, quite rare in a Xuanhuan.
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
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