Tales of Herding Gods

Description

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There’s an ancient saying in Great Ruins, ‘Don’t go outside when it’s dark.’

In Great Ruins, the old, weak and disabled elders of Disabled Elderly Village picked up an infant by the riverside and named him Qin Mu, raising him up with blood and sweat. This day, as the night descended and the darkness shrouded Great Ruins, Qin Mu left home…

Become a villain undulating in the spring breeze!

That’s what Blind told him.

This is the rise of Qin Mu’s road to becoming a villain!

Associated Names
One entry per line
Mu Shen Ji
Mục Thần Ký
THG
牧神记
Related Series
Rise of Humanity (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
Perfect World (3)
Ze Tian Ji (3)
Cultivation Chat Group (2)
A Will Eternal (1)
The Avalon of Five Elements (1)
World of Cultivation (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels i Have Read
  2. A Whole New World
  3. Novels That I Have Read Over The Years
  4. Awesome Novels I've Read
  5. Light Novel list

Latest Release

Date Group Release
10/30/23 Isohungry Translations c1748
10/30/23 Isohungry Translations c1747
10/29/23 Isohungry Translations c1746
10/29/23 Isohungry Translations c1745
10/28/23 Isohungry Translations c1743
10/28/23 Isohungry Translations c1744
10/27/23 Isohungry Translations c1741
10/27/23 Isohungry Translations c1742
10/26/23 Isohungry Translations c1740
10/26/23 Isohungry Translations c1739
10/25/23 Isohungry Translations c1738
10/25/23 Isohungry Translations c1737
10/24/23 Isohungry Translations c1736
10/24/23 Isohungry Translations c1735
10/23/23 Isohungry Translations c1734
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Review
65 Reviews


OddJobs
OddJobs
Feb 22, 2018
Status: c400
Spoiler

Read up-to chapter 400 in mtl. My vague understanding of the story so far. There might be a few wrong bits since I read it in mtl.

    • The synopsis is a big bait.
    • The MC Qin Mu is not a villain.
    • The plot is all over the place.
    • The elders in the village are not all villains
      Spoiler

      grandma is a heaven-defying beauty which caused her master to fall-in-love to her which then made her to kill him in their wedding night, everyone who sees her real appearance or even hears her voice greatly affects their spirits. That is why she is wearing a skin and looking like a grandma

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    • MC became a sect leader of one of the great holy lands because of the grandma
    • MC became emperor candidate because village chief, even though there is someone more fit than the MC for that.
    • MC's fights are boring.
    • The only interesting thing is the MC's mysterious past.
    • MC acts smart and cunning most of the time and dumb during a few important moments.
    • The great lie of the village chief about MC having an "Overlord Body" because he doesn't want the other elderly to feel bad about MC being ordinary became very annoying in the series (it makes smart characters look dumb for believing it even though it's plain-clear that it is a lie)
    • There is one point in the story wherein it is hinted to the MC that his "Overlord Body" is a lie were presented and yet after the MC thought about it (he even came to the point to realize that the village chief lied) he still insisted that he is overlord body (so smart? yeah right...)
      just to boost his self-confidence.
    • There is no clear plot, few fighting scenes.
    • If MC is considered a villain in the story then majority of the shameless MC's in various novels are pure bad-guys.
    • Plain side characters, only the elderly in the village are interesting.
    • Spoiler

      His harem is because his blind grandpa forced him to marry the princess and his rival (in the sect leader position) because his grandpa is afraid of him dying outside the village

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    • The only thing that will probably hook you up to continue reading this is the MC's mysterious past, and whether or not he will become a villain.

If you're searching to read something really interesting go search for another novel.

P.S.

I will update this in the future

*update: chapter 400+

Spoiler

MC starting to create cultivation techniques out of thin-air, this novel is going downhill real quick

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DemWafflz
DemWafflz
Feb 11, 2018
Status: c15
It’s about a boy who grow up in a village surrounded by ‘special’ villagers. Yup best part is —- it seems like he’s going to grow up as a ruthless and OP protagonist. Hurhur no harems so far (which I like coz I hate those bootlicking girls that cling onto the protagonist for benefits)
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Akackc
Akackc
Jun 20, 2018
Status: c213
If you dont read this novel then honestly your missing out big time! Its a great read and one of the novels with some of the best character development out their, heck even some of the mob villians who apear for one page have more character than some of the MC’s in novels these days.

Give it a try the storyling is unique and the fighting is interesting, you wont regret it.
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TexanTerrorist
TexanTerrori
Jan 05, 2019
Status: c269
Holy sh*t this novel is gold, this is the goat. F*ck, so much better than the other shitty cliched novels with 1-dimensional character.

This novel has characters that could actually think not like most elders who could only yell, "JUNIOR, YOU DARE?"

There's another thing good about this novel, no dragged out fight scenes. In other novels, the number of chapters for the fight scenes was only supposed to last for 1 chapter, but it gets dragged out to like 20[ATG (Against the Gods) ]. ATG is a good novel but f*ck,... more>> it gets on my nerves.

Can't express well with words, but you guys should really give this novel a go, if you don't like it, then it's probably because you read too many cliched novels, and when you meet a novel that directly conflicts against the cliches, you'll find it hard to accept reality and fall back to your delusions. <<less
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evildave
evildave
Mar 12, 2018
Status: c71
A well fleshed out land of danger, full of relatable villains, monsters and demons, and sort of villainous 'hero' types.

MC is a likable, if a bit naive boy, and the story moves along at a nice pace. There are girls, but nothing you could call romantic, so far, after 70 chapters. Yeah, he is getting a little 'OP', but not really out of line with a plot armored child of fate.

It's weird this never shows up on the list of updates, though it's updated nearly daily.
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Daoist LastWish
Daoist LastW
Apr 14, 2018
Status: c118
Qin Mu is a little kid who is brought up in a village of 'disabled' elderly people. The elderly people seem weak and frail and constantly keep telling little Qin that the outside world is dangerous. Little does little Qin know that the most dangerously insane ones are in fact living with him in the village...

... more>>
Spoiler

The elderly people are all very dangerous and are considered very evil, but in reality, they are nice people who dote very much on Qin Mu. First part of the novel (Chapter 100) is really enjoyable, and centers on eccentricities of the villagers and the dangers of the great ruins.

Then Qin Mu becomes the Master of the Heavenly Devil Cult, and the story rapidly goes downhill. After the first 100 chapters, the story is literally an uninteresting mess, with no real direction. It seems to have only one aim - how to glorify Qin Mu somehow.

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Recommendation: First 100 chapters are very enjoyable, so read the first 100 chapter and then drop this novel, because after the 100 chapters, the author suddenly loses all sense of direction.

All Time Recommendations: These novels are excellent and rather enjoyable: Ze Tian Ji, Nightfall, Death Sutra, Pivot of the Sky and A Will Eternal. <<less
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AardwarkThe2nd
AardwarkThe2
Feb 11, 2018
Status: c15
Spoiling some stuff happening in CH.1, read it before opening if you care.

... more>>
Spoiler

The story's protagonist is an infant held tight by a corpse as they flowed down a river, found by a old woman and adopted by a village of cripples. Surnamed Qin from the jade that he held, he is given the name Mu meaning 'Herder', his future duty in the village. As for how this becomes a Tale of Herding Gods... Well, we'll only find out after reading more!

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I really liked the 15 chapters that were newly uploaded today. Good grammar, No Pinyin and every term other than the names were translated. No bloating and unnecessary filler.
But since that won't be able to convince you to read, I'll give a bullet recommendation as well.

•Amazing opening: I really liked the opening chapter for this novel. No cliche tr*sh, crippled etc.
The introduction to a mysterious world and our protagonist who is equally mysterious, though that is perhaps due to our lack of knowledge about him. The world where the impossible can happen and is even common. The village of cripples who pour their kindness on the single healthy baby who arrives at their doorstep by fate...

•Quick Progression: In the span of 15 chapters, MC learns about the world and martial arts. The author keeps the progression quick enough that it keeps you scrolling through the pages, while not skimping down on the description and worldbuilding. Zero bloating and unnecessary filler. While I doubt this pace will go on as this is a CN novel with an expected 1K+ chapters, the first 100 chapters or so will be good.

•Worldbuilding: We don't know much about the world. What we do find out though, makes the reader long for more. The Great Ruins where the village of the protagonist is located, could be a place written by Lovecraft. The Great Ruins, what are they ruins of in the first place? Mysterious ghosts, intelligent beasts and ruined kingdoms...

•Good Fights: The battles in the story are crisp and well written. They are easy to visualize and there are elements of strategy and basic battle tactics.

•Good characterization: The villagers are characterized well, each and every one not seeming fake. The MC as he is young has yet to develop his personality, yet he is already questioning good and evil and has already stepped on the path of becoming a villain. The progression of the innocent MC into becoming a villain will be fun to read, as most CN novels with villain MCs (Warlock of the Magus World, Gu Daoist Master and Plundering the Heavens) have a evil MC from the beginning. <<less
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riida
riida
Jun 20, 2018
Status: c212
"REFRESHING!" is what first comes to mind around the time when MC reaches lvl5.

What makes this different is that there's a well balanced subtle infusion of intellectual mind-games in the violent action, as you read further. Also, the world background gets deeper when you least expect it.

Compared to most other novels where characters CLAIM to be intelligent, here they actually ARE! And not only that, they have breadth of character, evaluate things believably and can change their mind in a way you can actually identify with!

So different to usual brain-dead... more>> action! <<less
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Tobi
Tobi
May 02, 2018
Status: c243
EDIT-[I've seen people bashing the MC for his lack of motivation and a clear goal. I'm sorry but the novel doesn't need "I'M GONNA BE THE STRONGEST HURR HURR" kind of motivation. This novel is a journey, the MC is barely in his teenage years and people expect him to have a clear definite GOAL?! This is an adventure of the MC, meeting new people and visiting new places, plus uncovering who his family is.] -The MC doesn't have a cheerleading squad btw every character is unique and have their... more>> own specialties.

REAL REVIEW BELOW

I kid you not, this novel is good.

Now hold on a second here, I'm not saying that this novel is a masterpiece on the same level of some of Er Gen's works or a particularly strategic novel like Grandmaster Strategist that everyone likes but trust me when I say this, It's not bad.
-
Story - The story is above average but below really good, somewhere along the lines of "Interesting". I don't want to spoil anything so I will not say anything about this. [4/5]

Characters - Oh god, this is one of the reasons why I love this novel. The characters... hmm... How do I explain it, Lifelike! Interesting! Makes sense! The varieties of personalities in the characters are the best thing in the novel and I like what the authors are doing here and hope that they never change. [6/5]

Fight scenes - I'm no fight scenes expert but I like what I read. It's better than explaining stuff in 3-5 paragraphs and then ends the battle and it's definitely better than wasting a lot of chapters in useless chatters and content. [4/5]
-
The world building is good, not cliched or used, the mysteries makes suspense and the backgrounds of the characters are interesting. [4.5/5]

I'm thoroughly recommending this novel to the masses, don't listen to what anybody says, just read it for yourself, see how you like it... or dislike it.

[For the romance peeps here (like me) The romance is slow, but I can see it budding, as it is a harem novel there will be a lot of romantic moments. If you're here for romantic interaction, just do yourself a favor and busy yourself with the really good interaction between the side-characters first and then wait till the romance. Trust me.] <<less
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Jed1
Jed1
Feb 18, 2019
Status: c528
I have to say this may be one of the best novels I have read in a long time. The more the story progresses the better it gets. The world and the characters are so fleshed out it is amazing. Almost all of the characters in this story are actually competent and not absolute cliché morons like over 90% of the novels that seem to cover this genre. The amount of time the author puts into his characters is obvious since there are so few one dimensional characters. There are... more>> many reasons why this is currently the most popular novel by far for Qidian in China right now.

I’m 528 chapters into this story now and can confidently say that “Tales of Herding Gods” is a massive step up from “Rise of Humanity”! I discovered this much earlier it is just that I didn’t make a review until now. The author has definitely learned from his mistakes and written an absolutely amazing story with a super detailed and wonderful world.

The more I read the more I realize how bad the most liked review for this novel on this site is. It is an utter load of crap. Honestly if you believe a review from somebody who read the story with a machine translation than you must really not have any knowledge of what a “good” review really is. If I read the story from mtl I would have had absolutely no idea how good this story really is since I wouldn’t have properly understood half of the things going on in the story. “No clear plot” my ass. You can really tell he couldn’t comprehend the plot since he made that statement. As the story progresses the characters ambitions are slowly formed and he realizes what he wants to truly do. That by the way is called “CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT”. Which a lot of novels do a very poor job at and the reviewer obviously didn’t notice. I could go on more, but I don’t really need to. <<less
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Stormbreaker
Stormbreaker
Oct 26, 2018
Status: c396
Since the top review is about someone who read 400 chapters in MTL and the translation has caught up (396 atm) I can safely say that while he isn't fundamentally wrong, it's like saying that a fast food is a restaurant : roughly yes but when it comes to the details you are miles away from the truth.

About the synopsis it isn't really a big bait but it isn't really important compared to the rest.

So is Qin Mu (the MC) a villain ? Depend on your definition but the last... more>> person who though that he was a honest and naive young man was traumatized, so up to you.

The plot is extremly interesting because it doesn't follow the typical cliché : underdog > fortuitous encounter > rise above everyone > ascend to a higher realm > repeat

Here there is a lot of foreshadowing (which is very confusing in MTL obviously) and along with MC growth we learn more and more about the world and the beginning region (great ruins in particular but not only) with the plot growing bigger and bigger while keeping you hyped, it's a very strong point of the story imo.

The elders of the village are one of the best characters in the novel, very well developped, each his strong points and weak points, they bring a lot of comical situation too and aren't second plan character, they keep coming back bringing more substance to the plot, clearly top side characters among the novels you can read there, btw who said that all of them have to be villains ? They raised a devil that's all hehe...

About the roles he gets in the story like

Spoiler

Sect master of the one of the top 3 cults, Human emperor etc..

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yes his elders are involved in him getting a chance to optain them but ultimately it is his own capacities and not his "background" that play a big role and there is a good justification about why he is chosen over another. Furthermore the titles and organizations linked to him are relevant to the story (not just here to decorate while Qin Mu is doing everything) and he his taking his responsabilities seriously, not just remembering once in a while that he should do something for the organization he belongs to.

The fight aren't boring at all, maybe the first one when he is very weak and that's all, there is litterally a fight where both the MC and his oppenent are ONLY walking but it is so fking epic that I felt more thrilled and excited reading this battle than so called battle in 95% of the other novel out there. He doesn't change his techniques every now and then, and so when he use one of his skill you remember where it comes from and what it does, so clearly a very strong point of the story too (lost in MTL without a doubt)

MC isn't dumb at all after he was teached by his granpas except when it comes to the fairer s*x (since no one ever taught him about that) but he is learning by himself so be patient and don't worry.

About his Overlord body the situation is much more complicated than a simple lie because MC believe it so much that it help him continously break through human limits which further augment his belief about his constitution, and in the end even the reader may doubt (sometimes) wether it is truly a lie or not so clearly a very interesting point which was quite unexpected.

About romance, it's slow and I personnally find it well done, it flows well and doesn't harm the story

Spoiler

He will have a harem, he already has 2 wives but it is a bit more complicated, while he is forced to marry a girl (which likes him while he likes her but he isn't totally aware of it) he doesn't suddenly transform in a mature man. I mean he doesn't force himself into his wives, who won't refuse him though, because it isn't coherent with his previous behaviour and a forced marriage won't change a thing. More girls to come too and everyone one well developped so far, they don't fall in love with him directly and there is a progression about feelings on both sides

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Clearly a refreshing novel (with a strong comedy) who isn't very different in the form : it is clearly a XuanHuan but the execution, the background and the developpement are clearly something new bypassing the usual clichee, at least some of them <<less
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IMakeCopperMirrors
IMakeCopperM
Sep 03, 2019
Status: c780
Rating: 10/10 (also my favorite)

Many plebeians don't understand this fine work because they are used to get everything about a world, the MC and his situation on a plate from the very few chapters of a novel.

First of all, this is a novel meant to be read for entertainment, not in-depth, realistic character exploration. Just to follow the flow of the fun plot with suspense and gratification. It is the novel with the best humor from those I read in this genre. With surprisingly witty and sharp... more>> exchanges of replies between rival peers, MC and enemies and MC and seniors.

Second, the lore of the world is very impressive and well-thought from the start- believe me. Just that it is revealed over the course of hundreds of chapters. The author keeps secrets truly secret and the MC only slowly pierces into the mysteries. Even now we don't know the core games played behind the scenes over the course of the million-year history of his world.

Certainly worth the read: for the fun, the touching tragedy and the exhilarating plot. It goes beyond the crude face-slapping of other novels. <<less
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UndeFR
UndeFR
Jul 08, 2019
Status: c746
I really like this novel. Easily one of the best one I ever read.

The world building is amazing, my english is too bad to spot incoherence and it may be why the world seems so mysterious in my head, but it feel amazing to read about an unusual and complex world like this.

The world is nicely grey... no bad guy or good guy, the character all seems to have they own goals and motive, and they work for them.

I don't think that Qin Mu (MC) can be considered OP, he... more>> is an top level genius but he often meet other genius that put up a real challenge. His main strenght is thinking outside the box.

I would like to had an extremely interesting fact that I never saw in other novel and that feel like icing onto this already amazing world : The seniors :

In most wuxia/xanxia/etc... The senior generation are a bunch of exausthed people who are only used as a way to bother the MC, you can often see a 8000 years old god of a few generation ago, get in rage and trying to kill the MC for any kind of BS, they are only older, stronger but can't grow anymore, they have reached their top. In ToHG, the seniors aren't just that, most of them are still improving and most importantly, they are wise, they look at their junior like the future, they usually don't meddle in the juniors business for nothing. I really like that, you don't feel in a world full of moron that only the MC is interacting with. The world feels full of old and new geniuses and is constantly altered by the schemes of hundreds of people plotting and double crossing each other. The MC is one particullary good amongst them. :) <<less
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keklel
keklel
May 29, 2018
Status: c124
Spoiler

Some good parts here and there, but overall rather disappointing. It has the appearance of cleverness but not the substance. Here are some of my complaints:

    1. The MC never seems to make any bad decisions despite being an actual kid. Humans learn by making mistakes and having them corrected, nobody is perfect. But in this novel, much everything the MC does gets approval from the village elders. There is not a single scene where he makes a serious mistake, let alone be corrected by someone else. If the MC doesn't make mistakes and learn from them, how does he improve? We get this boring invincible MC who never makes mistakes, never loses a fight, and always one-ups other people (even world-class experts).
    1. MC is a bit too dense to realize that the people living in disabled elderly village are the world's peak experts. Throughout the story he should have witnessed enough incidents to notice that, but often in the story it is written as if he does not. This is supposed to be a joke, I guess, but it is really inconsistent with the "MC is a genius without even trying" theme.
    1. Too many predictable ass-kicking scenes where the village elders completely destroy their outclassed enemies. What really is the point of these? One is enough. We don't need to be reminded over and over that they're the strongest. It gets boring if you already know the outcome of fights before they start.
    1. MC is perfect and can see through everything effortlessly. Example: without any medical experience, he becomes a genius doctor who can treat an incurable poison the first time he sees it. Everything comes effortlessly to him. I can't feel any character development - MC is already perfect so what's there to develop? Everything he does is perfect, everything he says is always right, he never makes mistakes.
    1. Let's talk about that scene in chapter 123 where he cures the Thousand Opportunity Poison by using 1023 maids in more detail. That entire scene was so handwavy it was ridiculous. If the author didn't want to describe it properly he shouldn't have mentioned it at all. It was just like those scenes in Star Trek where the problem is some made-up nonsense and someone comes up with some made-up nonsense solution and saves the day. If you want to show that the MC is clever, you have to actually make him do something clever, not just make up some unintelligible handwavy vagueness and have all the other characters tell the reader how clever the MC is. That's not how it works. Consider Strassen's matrix multiplication algorithm. For a long time nobody believed matrix multiplication could be done faster than O (n^3). Then Strassen came up with this faster algorithm and it completely blew people's minds at the time. If you haven't seen it before, it is still mind blowing to see it for the first time - it makes you think "how the hell did he come up with this". There are plenty of other examples from other fields, e.g Cantor's theorem, Cook's theorem, Noether's theorem etc. To show that a character is clever, you don't have to come up with something original, just something that makes sense and is genuinely cool. It doesn't have to be mind-blowing like Cantor's theorem either. Even something as ancient as the man-in-the-middle attack is still cool if it's written well. What I don't like is vague garbage like how the MC cured that poison. I had hoped it was going to be an interesting puzzle (https://puzzling. Stackexchange. Com/questions/3321/poisoned-bottle-of-wine) but it turned out to be some vague nonsense instead.

The author aims too high for his ability and ends up failing completely. Had he stuck to the tried-and-true formula followed by God of Slaughter and Great Demon King at least the flaws would not be so glaring.

At best I can rate this 3 stars.

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Vudis
Vudis
May 16, 2019
Status: c676
It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.
This is a commonly used quote, yet it couldn't fit all these chinese webnovels any better.
We all know how these novels tend to decline towards reaching their end, but we still read them, because we enjoy the journey that leads up to it. ToHG is such a novel, where the journey is incredibly entertaining and well thought out.

While Qin Mu, our protagonist, is certainly the firmament of the series, the pillars that hold it together are the side characters. I'm... more>> not going to go into too much detail as far as the MC goes, because he does follow the common webnovel tropes of being op, having plot armor, a bunch of women, etc.
What I want to talk about, which is also the reason I want you to read this novel, is the amount of character progression side characters go through, especially in regards to senior cultivators.

We've all read novels where these aloof existances, several realms higher than the MC, are introduced, just to either give pointers to the MC, or throw stones in his way. Yet they are never really fleshed out.
Not so in this novel. You will find that almost all of the senior cultivators (not just the ones from Disabled Elderly Village) have recurring appearences and are vital to the plot. This makes for some amazing conversations, where these 100s or 1000s year old people are talking philosophy with eachother and enlighten their respective conversation partners. I've yet to read a novel that does such a wonderful job of keeping people way older than the MC relevant in the story (safe for Cultivation Chat Group I guess). They are not just teachers for the MC or other junior cultivators, but also teachers for eachother. For example: A character who deserted the army 20.000 years ago because he was too afraid of the battlefield, yet he has saved countless mortals by bringing them away. He has always blamed himself for not dying with his brothers back then and was even blamed by other Gods. It took some time to finally sink in what he's done for humanity, until another one of his brothers, who has already died but was brought back as a skeleton, gave a redemption speech for him. It's a beautiful thing really, I can't say it enough.

While you might be put off by some bad reviews about the MC, which, for the most part, tell the truth, I'd really urge you to give this novel a try, just for the interaction between characters alone.
Some of the best parts in the novel are not the fighting scenes by far, but the conversations and the characters debating philosophy or religion, or using algebra to outsmart eachother.

It's a really unique novel, seemingly throwing just way too many concepts like buddhism, daoism or mathematics randomly together, but the author really does a good job in making you enjoy every single one of them.
You will definitely be hooked, trying to find out more about the MCs past and the history of the different worlds and how everything came to be how it is now. I cannot stress this point enough, this novel is my favorite of all the ones I've read so far for good reason. <<less
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sufod01
sufod01
May 09, 2018
Status: c505
C.1-150

... more>>
Spoiler

MC is raised in a village full of elders, all of them are top experts of their own fields (speed, alchemy, sword, painting..). They are overprotective and passed down their knowledges and skills to MC.

This novel is very interesting and original. In this world, it's thought that one has to possess a spirit body to cultivate faster and reach higher realm. MC have a ordinary body but the Village Chief lied to give a reason to live for other villagers. Here began the misunderstanding, at first other villagers are skeptical but slowly and weirdly MC began to become stronger and stronger and they finally believe the Village Chief. After all the Village Chief is considered as the strongest, the most experienced and the most knowledgeable in the village (and maybe in the world)

MC is smart, sly and cunning because he got often tricked by some other villagers since childhood so he can be considered as smart but is not the smartest. At the end he can't beat some old foxes and that's why this is interesting! Let's not forget, MC is still a kid!

A interesting part of the novel is the questionable antagonist, the Imperial Preceptor. Is he bad or is he good? Is he really a antagonist? Indeed, he can be seen as bad or good depending on which POV you see him. Give off a ZTJ vibes. It makes you wonder what MC will do with him, will he kill him or not? After all in a Xianxia/Xuanhuan most of times you expect that MC will kill the antagonist. At first before his appearance, you will think he is bad because of the slaughters he did or because he is responsable for the disabling of an elder of the village but after his appearance MC began to show respect and admiration for him. This is really life-like in my opinion.

The novel is a bit slow paced and a thing that I disliked is MC mysterious past, I found it meaningless. This is totally fine that MC stays « ordinary ».

About the romantic subplot.. I found it a bit forced for the beginning..

Overall in my opinion this is the best novel from Webnovel (by excluding novels previously translated by other groups..).

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I recommend strongly this novel, a warning is this novel is more focused on interactions than fightings.

Update : Currently I'm at chapter 505+, the novel is still pretty good. Will make a review when I'm free. I keep my five stars rating. <<less
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Ookamice
Ookamice
Aug 16, 2019
Status: Completed
The novel starts off pretty slow with a focus on MC and his effort/lucky events. However, give this novel a chance as it quickly esculates into grand (and consistent) world building (and I mean GRAND). There is a lot of breath and depth with this novel and it just gets better over time. The MC feels human with his own motivation and thoughts and even the surrounding characters are fully fleshed out with their own unique traits and past.

... more>>
Spoiler

There is a heavy focus on the past and its event. Time travelling is present but it places emphasis on story telling and plot instead of an indulgent MC messing up. The time travelling present is the type where the past already has him interfering so the present isn't changed (but he gains knowledge of his past/future deeds)

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Edit: I have finished reading the entire web novel (in raw) and it's a real shame that this masterpiece's translation was dropped. The only minor criticism I could have is the ending wasn't explored fully and would have loved to see alternate perspectives of the story. However, as the afterword of the story says, "This story is about QinMu's calamity not anyone else's". The way the author blends his own views of life into the web novel really adds dimensions to it and makes it feel more than just a mere fantasy. Overall I really enjoyed reading the raw and would love to see if get picked up for translation again so more people can enjoy it. <<less
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dosithee
dosithee
Aug 18, 2018
Status: --
Best Chinese web novel I've read. Characters are noble like in original wuxia. Characters are funny, clever, and diverse. MC actually has personality. More plot than most, not just arc after arc, is one plot, at least up to latest 296.
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BAAM
BAAM
Mar 28, 2018
Status: --
Although im not a huge fan of Qidian I must thank them for bringing us novels like this. This is a must read for anyone who wants a decent Anti-hero, much higher quality than most of the generic novels we are used to seeing.
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SayMrrp
SayMrrp
Jul 27, 2018
Status: c266
Reminds me of Ze Tian Ji, but less tragic.

The characters are interesting and memorable. They aren't flat. It's difficult to determine who/what group is in the wrong or right, so a lot of the novel feels grey (as in not black or white), which is interesting. It really makes me think.

The MC feels a bit normal (compared to other novels) but at least he's not too weird or ruthless. Unlike the summary, the MC isn't a villain. It's kind of in the gray zone. No clear romance so far. Lots... more>> of mystery in the novel. The cultivation is slightly unique. I feel like most things in the novel are slightly unique. It's kinda like how you see so many stories with the same cliches, but this one is a bit different. It has fewer cliches, and the cliches don't make the story seem similar to others in terms of plot or characters. The faceslapping isn't really shoved in readers' faces.

Overall, not the most exciting book, but it's got it's fun moments. Decently written, will continue reading. <<less
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