Oh come on guys, IET’s works reallyreally lack romance. So, please don’t mislead people, who like romance genre and never read IET’s works before, decided to read this novel. They would feel down a bit.

But overall, this is still a good novel, from ‘zero to monster’, so IET-ish! Won’t say much, other reviewers already did.

I recommend to everyone who like the plot which concentrate in Cultivation, so I declare!

idk why people are saying that CD lacked romance, I thought that it had the best balance. Sure it was put in the back burner but at least it was developed.... sorry to say that so far DE’s romance isn’t... probs cause they’re still young but who cares Linley was still young and yet the romance was still better. nough said.

The reincarnation part excited me but so far, it's just disappeared into the plot never to be seen again which is kinda sad.

I would probably say that DE isnt a... more>> bad read but it can get a bit repetitive

(i have read up to vol 10 btw) <<less

DE is not free of IET’s usual quirks. It reads in very much the same way as his other works, which can almost always be summarized with something like “follows the journey of MC from childhood to becoming Taoist Jesus.” This is not necessarily bad, as all of IET's stories follow a very comfortable structure that is relatively easy to read. On the down side, this means that his stories can be a little bit repetitive and predictable.

The most notable pro in DE (in my opinion), is that most of... more>> the characters, MC included, are usually reasonable people, who act amiably and respectably. This helps to make the story very palatable – you are reading about the numerous adventures and experiences of the MC in a fantasy world, rather than about an endless stream of obnoxious pricks puffing up their chests and throwing tantrums (like in many other Xianxia, such as ATG, PMG, MGA, etc).

The most notable flaw, like with most of IET’s works, is that the story is a power crawl, a gradual progression. As the MC levels up and moves on to better things, everything, and I mean everything – old power levels, techniques, treasures, even other characters – no matter how epic or important they were at the start, basically just fade into the background (and are eventually forgotten).

In the end, it’s the kind of story where it’s very easy to get hooked, and find yourself coming back to see what happens next. <<less

This series has a lot of potential especially since the MC is talented and have great personality, however it does suffer from having no distinct identity so readers are left wondering where the author wants the story to go. It seems like the MC wants to become strong because it's the natural thing to do, although there is revenge on the mix but it seems like secondary at best. Besides it suffer from having a slow pacing, although it does give a clearer picture on the cultivation method and the... more>> world building, it might make people get impatient, skip parts of the chapters, and or drop the novel. Finally it doesn't have enough fanservice such as more focus on romance or give more screentime on the girls to develop their characters, which would help casual reader to stick with this long dragged out journey. This novel seems to take itself too seriously making it not suitable for everyone except people who are realy deep into the process of cultivation and fighting. 3/5 rating so far. Since the whole series have 40 plus books, this rating might increase as I get a better understanding of the plot and see the whole picture of this long story. But right now it has not hooked me and got my complete interest like issth, atg, pmg, mga, wdqk, tgr, mp, tgdk, oem, mer, and other popular xinxia. <<less

Review as of V8-c10. Good series, somewhat let down that there isn’t a major goal or antagonist until quite late on. The general theme of the series is “to get stronger for the sake of getting stronger”. The skills and combat descriptions are interesting. However, it suffers from what I think is the “scaling problem”. In gaming terms, you would struggle against barbarian tribes in the Civilization games, only to discover a nuclear-powered faction right after you managed to clear the tribes. The jump in the gaps of powering up... more>> seems steep and we have descriptions of characters living hundreds of thousands of years old, acting like gods and yet are not gods; making me wonder what’s the point of stretching the gap so far if the MC is going to eventually cross it anyway.

Also, female characters are somewhat lacking other than the MC's mother. All others are described as a combination of shockingly alluring or aloof, and yet serve not much purpose in this genre as the characters in this setting are supposedly above carnal pleasures. <<less

This is a decent novel. It’s very IET-ish.

It felt awesome watching Ji Ning power up and then beat up the guys who were previously untouchable figures. I didn’t really feel the loss of his father and mother very much, but it was still done at least not in a mediocre manner. If you like xianxia in general, I can guarantee you will like this novel.

A solid story. Not the best world building so if you are looking for an intricately designed world look elsewhere. It starts off pretty slow but when it picks up it really takes off. Both of the translators who have taken the project are amazing and do a great job. Recommended.

Was a pretty good read. All that I felt annoyed by was the romance and how it's at times heavily emphasized, to the point it became frustrating.I feel that even without the romance, the story would have still been good. But otherwise, in general, I loved it.

This is easily the best IET novel out of all 5 I've read of his, so far.. (3 more to go) Even better than Swallowed Star.

Story broadly divided in 2 parts, detailing the Journey of MC from Mortal to immortal and immortal to God and the set of these two ascension happens on totally different scale.. Although the storytelling follows broadly the same pattern as IET's previous works, this novel focuses much more on world building and adventure as well as maintaining the relevancy of plot.. Story is much more... more>> detailed in terms of adventure, exploration and cultivation which is less rigid and much more diverse in application..

Most often, such story have pointless or dull/disappointing endings but in Desolate Era last arc and ending were executed so good that it stayed firm to the relevance of the plot until the very end and Final antagonist was also great to read..

Although I don't have much problem with storytelling and world building, as for Characterisations, as expected I find it a bit disappointing.. It has vibrant cast of characters, someone always new for various situation but most of the character are rather shallow or become irrelevant to story after finishing their role in any particular arcs.. For example, most of the characters in 1st arc become totally irrelevant in 2nd half, save for very few... Some characters felt like wasted potential by giving them good background intro but not utilising their potential.. However there were some side characters that contributes to the story and not being irrelevant after some time, which made story not revolving around MC and other characters are only there to glorify him.. MC himself isn't some unique or original character but quite cliché righteous but ruthless type protagonist.. Aside from cultivation, there wasn't much character development of MC.. There was the final arc of 1st half which showed some potential of impacting MC's character development but it failed to carryover to 2nd half..

2nd this I find little underwhelming is action, in 1st half MC was superior portrayed so there wasn't much thrill and in 2nd half most battle held on level of Universal where some same old moves and powers were repeated in exaggerated manner..

Overall good cultivation story for a cliché novel depicting good storytelling, world building, cultivation and adventure but underwhelming in Action and character development.. <<less

Loved! Loved! Loved it!

Ji Ning is one of the most likable MCs I've read, neither too soft nor absolutely terrible, but just the right amount of kind and ruthless.

Most people seemed to hate his desire to revive his wife, but I personally find that perfectly aligned with his personality as he is very loving towards his loved ones, in addition, it is very nice to see MCs in cultivation novels so devoted to just one person.

And I love stories with THE SWORD. It just made the novel even more attractive... more>> to me. I was never bored as Ji Ning's start to cultivation and the end where he stands at the apex is simply stunning and well structured. No terrible, brainless young master, no gaggle of unrelated women who are forgotten in the long line of harem or unnecessary amount of enemies.

Everything was just the right amount. Even the amount of work he had to put in to reach his goals.

So once again, loved, loved loved it!!!!! One of the best Cultivation novels I've read! <<less

This is truly good and not the harem one and the MC is truly likeable who dedicated to his family, lover, disciple and teacher. The MC is not arrogant one who piss of other left and right. The Story progress was smooth and cultivation rank is simple to remember.

One of the best Chinese novels. Really engaging. The life of Ji Ning was shown in a great imaginative way. However there are still few points left out in the story. (Sorry I won't give any spoilers.)

Overall a good story!

I read this almost 2 years ago and I still remember the main plot lines, and the power system. This is very rare for me as I always forget everything related to books after a few days. It's that good!

If you don't like the first few arcs, wait, the story gets better when he comes out of the first world.

... This novel was tooooooooooooooooo f*ckin long...
Kinda got boring after a while but I still managed to finish it without skipping...

I was really disappointed on how they spent all that chapters but didnt even bother to make the ending satisfying...
I felt scammed at the end... I mean comeon... only a few chapters ending? atleast give me an after story or something... man...

3/5

I finished this a while ago but I forgot to make a review. Its one of my favorite light novels to read. The ending was also very well written. Its pretty emotional and there were many parts where I cheered for the MC.

I've read this before. The story is really engaging and addicting despite of its long exhausting amount of chapters hahaha

I finished this book in a week because I was bored as hell. Also, I would rate this 3.5 if possible.
Anyways, the book itself is pretty good. The lore and world-building are pretty epic ngl but goddamn what the **** is with the MC. You can't expect this guy to love a woman after she dies for 1 million chaos cycles where each cycle is 10 billion years? Wtf? That sh** is not okay, they met for like what, not even a century?? The author simply does not know how to write romance. Don't even get me started on the proportion of time here. You can't expect me to imagine him sitting in some random place in "secluded mediation" for a *casual* thousand chaos cycles. I don't think the author realized what kind of *Dao Heart* is necessary just to ponder on about life for that long. It's not realistic especially when the overlords don't have the personality of an overlord...

Overall, if you're looking for a decent read, go for it. A lot of worldbuilding and the character isn't too overpowered... (yeaaaaa... when he takes 100 years to comprehend some law while his master took a hundred million years while being inherent talented). It gets better I suppose but the arcs are still genuinely interesting. Not sappy or boring. I'm just gonna end it here.

I am with the majority of good reviews I don't have much to add to them here are some issues I feel off about. First thing, is one of things I hate about general cultivation novel. There is no real character development from start till here countless years have passed pass it's like he just an kid enormous power but he still an kid. Author should change MC mindset when reaching higher level of power it is an big change like mortal to immortal. Let not talk about how much... more>> MC age but in general in 'mere' 100 years can have impact on one thinking and personality, there is no denying it just direction change are different if you grow old nearing death it will have different personality if ascended the heaven with one step become immortal it will different change if become immortal by very difficulty getting setback one after another who had seen the real face of World. There is never some who has same personality/mindset who is washed by the sands of time as time changes people. In most novels there will an part like this many years went by he roamed the vast this place and gained experience that it then we go back how he was before that as there is difference between saying and doing it the same here just because you he/she changed doesn't mean sh*t only through his/her actions and decisions will know oh, he matured or whatever. Most of novel struck at this phase and this the difference between top quality novel and good novels. It like the different between house and home, an top house may be good to see but an home is where you comfortable the point is people are living the house is not. It the same everywhere else what matters are the people not place or other things like that in novel no matter how awesome your world building is it will still feel fake while with good an 'real' characters will make the world more alive/real. It is what take the top dogs and front to mid runners aside. 'It is the journey that matters that the destination' also one of the major flaw to me at least is where author progress forward at any pace but forget the past like they become irrelevant, I not asking to repeat the thing but rather just have some chapter where how the world and characters is affected by MC any his actions what was the aftermath and how is it at present day or little side chapter/arc just to keep some relevance and to enjoy the changes. The point of this whole review was my dissatisfaction with this point as I alone can't represent other as everyone have different taste. Also this novel and many other have some flaw but they are still good novel I only had some dissatisfaction because it could have been better to me at least. Also writing even at novel of this level still takes hard work and skill as it is difference between saying and doing so my respect to author. Of course I don't like cringe work so my middle finger to them <<less

Absolutely the best. Character grows in power and maturity throughout the story. Unique and interesting cultivation path. Very good writing and well edited. I never got bored and never felt like skipping a word. 10/10, I recommend.

So far, this is the widest scale I've read on par with ISSTH universe scale

Read this years ago but just put some review here now, anyways I love Ji Ning but the goal of the story is kinda off for me, it focuses more on bringing her dead wife back well there's nothing wrong about it since the story make up on improving on how cultivation works, I love how it started like the story really tells you the basics of the sword stances, he started as a beginner not... more>> just suddenly he know how to use this and that and that was unique in wuxia <<less