Ze Tian Ji

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To pick is to choose. This is a story about choices. Three thousand worlds full of gods and demons, with a daoist scroll in your hand, you are able to control the entire universe…

At the beginning of time, a mystical meteor came crashing down from outer space and scattered all over the world. A piece of it landed in the Eastern Continent. There were mysterious totems carved upon the meteor. Through viewing these totems, mankind comprehended the Dao and established the Orthodoxy.

Several thousand years later, the fourteen years old orphan Chen Changsheng left his master to cure his illness and change his fate. He brought a part of a marriage vow with him to the capital, thus beginning the journey of a rising hero…

Associated Names
One entry per line
Fighter of the Destiny (TV series)
Trạch Thiên Ký
Way of Choices
ZTJ
择天记
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
World of Cultivation (9)
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (8)
Transcending the Nine Heavens (5)
Nightfall (4)
Joy of Life (4)
Pivot of the Sky (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels That I Have Read Over The Years
  2. Novels I have read
  3. The Mt. Tai of Chinese Novels
  4. Light Novel list
  5. Timeless Masterpieces - the Best Novels Ever

Latest Release

Date Group Release
07/17/16 Novel Saga c196
07/10/16 Novel Saga c195
07/06/16 Novel Saga c194
07/02/16 Novel Saga c193
06/29/16 Novel Saga c192
11/27/15 Ze Tian Ji Translation c107
11/27/15 Ze Tian Ji Translation c106 part2
11/26/15 Ze Tian Ji Translation c106 part1
11/26/15 Ze Tian Ji Translation c105 part2
11/26/15 Ze Tian Ji Translation c105 part1
Write a Review
205 Reviews sorted by


tjalling
tjalling rated it
August 28, 2018
Status: c781
If you are looking for something different from the standard action-packed harem Chinese Xuanhuan or Wuxia novels, you should give this book a try.

The main character is very different from the standard MC, he is very calm, rational, ethical and even a bit unfamiliar with the civilized world as he has lived in the mountains all his life before coming to the big city (literally the second chapter or so), which makes for some funny situations.

Furthermore, side characters go through some character development, not every pretty female falls for the... more>> MC, the MC is not overpowered, there is no power creep and the author has a nice writing style. The focus is not mainly on fighting, but also on the political games being played in the country, philosophy, the Dao, etc.

So those are the good parts.

The major "bad" part in my opinion is that it is very, very slow. Progress in the story is super slow, and I dare say that the first 700 chapters could be written in 300 chapters by some other authors, without skipping anything major or losing any suspense.

If you like the good parts I named before, and are very patient and can handle a slow story than you should check it out.

If you are still hesitating, I can tell you my reason for dropping the novel, maybe that helps.

The story is very, very slow, mainly because it focuses on the political situation in the country with everyone fighting for the power and the throne. No one is loyal to anyone, and everyone is backstabbing and scheming. MC is quite weak at the start, and also very pure-hearted as he has lived isolated in the mountains as a sort of monk all his childhood, and as he gets caught up in these political games he gets in quite a lot of near-death situations, but every time someone saves him. This would not have been that bad if it was one of his friends or allies, but no, the author makes it a sport to let other random characters from the story (or even enemies) save the MC, and rationalize and explain their reason in the subsequent 10 chapters. Likewise fights themselves also take easily 10 chapters.

Normally in Xuanhuan novels and the like there are some 'evil' characters who are scheming and do everything for their own gain, e.g. The stepping stones such as the young master from the large sect which is offended by MC, in this novel every character is that level of scheming, and the only "good" people are the MC, his fiancée and his friends. It is exhausting to read all this backstabbing, especially as at some point his fiancée and friends are gone from the story for some reason I won't spoil. <<less
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anik
anik rated it
June 9, 2018
Status: c1003
First half of this story is very promising, enticing, full of suspension and expectation. The second half of it was a let down. The sluggish story development was borderline boring with occasional repetition and filler conversations/explanations/fill-ins dotting all over the places.

There were many punchlines used along the story that inevitably and eventually became 'cliche' such as 'the miraculous save' by unexpected someone; the 'mysterious references' of things/persons/events. A little made the plot interesting, too much, too deliberated made it become banal.

It is such a pity that such an interesting plot... more>> was waylaid by its own desperation to explain the not-really-necessary underlying messages.

My advice is scrolling quickly over the parts that made you yawn repeatedly and skipping to the next part; that said if you are still wishing to finish the story at the 700-ish. <<less
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kkgoh
kkgoh rated it
September 24, 2017
Status: c600
Beautiful, incredibly poetic writing. So many memorable quotes. This is a rare novel where the author puts an incredible amount of thought to every sentence and nuance. There REAL politics, factions, alliances, relationships, world building, mysteries that keep you guessing. Combat is subtle and emphasizes real technique, NOT just dumb power-ups and boring Dragonball-type fights that are typically found in other chinese novels (i.e. My cultivation level/power is higher than yours, therefore I automatically win).

This is not one of those lame shounen (young male) novels. Some readers complain about slow... more>> story progression, but that's OK because this is important for setting the scene and building up the characters motivations/thought processes. And they are written in a way that's quite entertaining and thought-provoking. It's NOT junk fillers.

That said, it's precisely because of that that you CAN'T BINGE READ this novel like the others. That would be like trying to read LOTR or GoT in a single sitting.

FYI I actually read both the chinese and english translated versions, so I can appreciate the writing a lot more. <<less
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nzz
nzz rated it
April 25, 2017
Status: c449
Very slow development and very intricate plot lines (sometimes contrived) with details that resurface repeatedly, explored and developed from multiple perspectives. The novel becomes more and more entertaining as the series progresses, so please give it a chance. It feels closer to wuxia novels than the common, everyday xianxia novels.

The tone of the novel (or intended audience) seems to mature alongside with the development of the MC; the novel seems somewhat shallow early on ~1-300, then afterwards 300-450 the novel becomes more serious.
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Kyriios188
Kyriios188 rated it
November 2, 2020
Status: Completed
The novel is amazing blablabla.

The main flaw people find in it is the pace. Yes it is slow at the beginning. The author decided to introduce the world, factions and characters as the MC meets them. He could just have MC do stuff and introduce the world later to explain what he did but no, he shows us a VERY detailed worlds with its history, schools of thought, historical figures and political factions.

This takes time to introduce, but it's necessary. When it's done, you have a story where you understand... more>> every character's motivations and goals. This is what drives the story. It's not like poorly written xianxias in which sh*t happens because the author thought iyt would be cool and then the MC reacts. You know what are the tensions in the world, what are the issues but you don't know how the MC will adress them.

And that's where the novel is amazing. The MC takes on everything while using what was introduced. Nothing is just invented to save him.

The story only accelerates. At the beginning you discover the world, but the more sh*t happens the bigger the sh*t happens and the faster it happens.

Also some top reviews... Eww did you read the novel ? The top review is awful. The fiance doesn't care about her family at all. She was adopted by the empress and regards her as her true family. Why would she care about the MC if she did not meet him yet ?? You hate her although you've never seen her cause you didn't read long enough to see her for real. And you know what ? That's the point ! You're supposed to dislike her early on into the novel. That's the MC's pov : fiance is thinking she's so noble but she's just tyrannical *he thinks, without actually meeting her* + her family is awful. The fiance thinks the same : *wants to marry me just because of the arranged marriage ? I have my own life I'll marry who I want, deal with it* + her maid was trolling her. 150+ likes for this yikes <<less
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Unamom
Unamom rated it
December 19, 2019
Status: c286
It's really hard to judge this novel.

... more>>
Spoiler

World - 9/10 - one of the most best-written and interesting worlds i've ever read. Events happening even without MC, truly great.

Characters - 8/10 - interesting characters. Not one-sided. Not just evil because of evil. Plots everywhere.

MC - ? (5) /10 - MC is totally inconsistent. When author introduced him I was like "WOW! Finally, some intelligent calm guy as a protagonist." Then when he came to the capital and visited wife's family I was like "Yeah, finally some calm intelligent (not rude, not excellent verbal abuser) guy with pride. It will be interesting how he'll solve all his problems". Then when he asked Luoluo to cripple an as*hole during some festival I was like "Yeah, finally some calm intelligent (not rude, not excellent verbal abuser) guy with pride. And he has balls and is ready to kill people (we remember for cultivator being a cripple is worse that death). It will be sooo interesting how he'll solve all his problems". He has a clear goal - change his destiny, he can clearly distinguish who is friend and who is foe. Okay slow storyline is fine, there were no many events where he could prove his character. Tournament, when he met guy from some sect who says: "I came here to kill you. We cheated to make this possible because we want you dead." And hi won but didn't cripple or kill him. And I was like "Really?! You crippled 12years old kid who was rude and aggressive but did nothing to grown-up who plotted and tried to kill you?! That's f*cking strange." Then MC became the most influential young guy in the capital, pope supports you, you shouldn't worry about being assassinate, you can punish, at least make feel regret everybody who did sh*t to you. You never worried about other's opinions but were't you proud from the beginning. If Majority of problems btw I see are from engagement arc i'll describe in next section.

Love story - ? (2) /10 - I've seen in comments everything will be explained in 800+- chapters but i'll judge from what we see now (MC can't check comments, can he?). MC comes to wife's family to break engagement because he is not interested. That's a great beginning, we remember our guy is sick and have no time for useless stuff. Her family are full of shit, nobody listen to him, just insult him and say that if not for worry about empress reaction general would kill him. Ok, our guy is proud so he decided to make them regret. They create a lot of troubles to him and his wife asks everybody not to kill him (yeah, you can create troubles, ruin his future for not allowing to enter any academy, but just don't kill him). Then when other party Mount Li (as I remember) proposed engagement and he'd shown contract everybody and wife approved it everybody blamed him (not her family who agreed knowing their daughter is already engaged, not her who has known her sect in about to propose engagement in secret and who decided not to let them know that she's married). And yeah, she sent him a letter "Do you best!" (not sorry that I use you for my plans, not sorry for creating mess where you need to live in, not sorry for making you a scapegoat). Now MC has bad opinion about his future wife and her family (yes, her father tried to kill you, nice father in law). After he won a championship and received invitation for a family dinner I was in suspense, when he handed back a contract I was sooo happy "Yeah, suck it, you said I'm a sh*t and now I'm one of the most influential from the younger generation here and I'm not interested in your daughter!" And then they returned contract to him and asked to solve this business personally with their daughter. And here I expected his pride to be shown again, like burning contract, coming to pope to break it, or just something. But he obeys. WTF?! Wasn't this storyline started as antagonizing your wife's family's rudeness when you had no power? And now when you have pawer and influence you just obey?! WTF?! Now MC dislike her one more time. Ok, let me give this story one more chance. When they came to garden and he noticed like she acted like a doctor and asked one of her sectmates: "Did she left smth for me?" WTF!? Since when do you care? No logic, I don't understand. When she was almost killed I was so happy again, maybe when she's dead her ex-boyfriend would turn everything upside-down to accuse MC of killing (not saving) her and we'll have some banishing arc or something. But I checked some spoilers where learned she will survive and they will fall in love with each other. And now I'm so pissed off that I just can't read it anymore. So broke that even registered here to write this review.

[collapse]

So my main problem with this novel is it's not satisfying. For 280 chapters we haven't seen any as*hole being punished or at least face-slapped (yeah, the only one was 12-yo girl who said that MC is a toad trying to eat swan's meat and was called a whore. Really? Chinese novel?). MC character changing unpredictably, today he's proud, tomorrow he's obedient. Today he's rightful and merciless, tomorrow he's noble and forgiving. Today he doesn't care about stranger's opinions because he has no time but tomorrow he argues with nameless bastards to prove his point of view.
I truly don't understand how this story could be enjoyable, and I will be really grateful if somebody can really explain: maybe it's fine, or maybe I just don't get something. <<less
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amedortega
amedortega rated it
April 24, 2019
Status: prologue
This author is ridiculous. As many other reviews point out, there are entire chapters dedicated to some random/minor and inconsequential character, object, etc. The author could be said to even be "poetic" in how detailed a description of a room could be, and then they just walk out of it...

Is there a story here? Yes, but by no means a superb one. Grab any random Chinese novel with an author that gets paid by the words and they would still write this series in about 350 chapters at most.

Imagine someone... more>> wrote down a trip to the supermarket and took about 30 chapters to describe internal monologues, other product prices, history of other companies and their quality, describe random people in the aisle and their possible thoughts leading to their current clothing choice, final choice + review of why you selected that product. Now do that for every darn thing you buy in the supermarket. That's this novel in a nutshell.. a very mundane run of the mill story expanded and detailed ridiculously. <<less
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gameplay913
gameplay913 rated it
September 19, 2018
Status: c1184
Damn this story is so f*cking bland! I kept reading until the but the ending was still disappointing. I suggest you read something else, you will just waste your time on this one.
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madstack
madstack rated it
August 28, 2018
Status: c282
I'd recommend this novel only to people with nothing but time on their hands. The author stretches literally every chapter as much as possible, leaving nothing to the imagination, overexplaining everything... This is not hyperbole.

In the 282 chapters I've read, there is very little content. Also, you know about plot armour? Well, this novel has a reverse version of that, where the protagonist is often suppressed for the sake of the plot, or side characters are boosted to keep up with him. Occasionally, there's a battle or two, but the... more>> author is really bad at describing action.

Also, misunderstandings. The novel is full of them and they are often used to pad word count. If one took out all the content that was repeated more than twice, I bet there'd be about 60-70 chapters instead of the 282 I read.

In conclusion, one could say that the main theme of this novel are actually fillers and misunderstandings. There's plot crawling around somewhere between those two. <<less
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Tykos
Tykos rated it
May 4, 2018
Status: c779
The only regret I have about this novel is that 5 stars is the highest score I can give it. Of all the novels I have read up until now, this one is the absolute number one. Finally a main character that is not an arrogant as*hole who thinks no one could reach his knees. The best part of this novel is its characters, and as someone who puts more emphasis on that when reading novels I have no complaints. Now, first a warning, MC is not like usual cripled... more>> genius characters out there, he needs more then 150 chapters just to start cultivating and most of the readers wont like that since he gets bullied a lot in that time, but to me the first 150 or so chapters were the best of the whole novel. At first, I was shocked. THERE IS ACTUALLY A CHINESE MC THAT SOLVES HIS PROBLEMS WITH WORDS!!! All other chinese novels keep saying how mature their MCs are and then they kill through all their problems for s*upid reasons. But, the MC of Ze Tian Ji shows what maturity is all about, he ignores those that insult him and always thinks ahead. Even when he gets stronger he does not go back simply to kill the people who insulted him. That doesnt mean he is weak willed, he is often stubborn and does things according what he thinks is right. What I found the best about this novel is romance. Even though it takes awhile to happen, it made me puke rainbows when it came to it. What was the best part is that the female lead is actually more talented and stronger then MC so it is actually him who needed to prove himself to her rather then have her jump in his lap on the first sign of his awesomeness, which I found incredibly interesting and engaging. I could go on for hours explaing everything that is great about this novel. All characters have depth to them, villains and heroes alike, plot is great and always keeps you invested and all around I couldnt find a single complaint. I sincerely recommend this novel to everyone <<less
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Mavsynchroid
Mavsynchroid rated it
January 14, 2018
Status: c700
Favorite novel by far hands down. There are two main reasons why.

The first reason is that the characters in this novel, including his opponents are actually believable for once. By that, I mean most of them aren't these arrogant young masters who are trying to constantly kill the MC either due to jealousy or because the MC spoke a sentence that hurt their pride. They are his opponents, sure, but not his enemies who can't live under the same sky as him. Even the real baddies... more>> later on in the story are more reserved than the most basic enemies in most other novels.

The second reason is the mc's personality. You may think other MCs are calm and collected, but after reading this novel they'll seem like maniacal serial killers. This MC always thinks before speaking, almost never lets his emotions control him, and is so polite and respectful that it actually causes some funny situations.

This is NOT a novel that lacks description. The great thing is that I actually want to read all these details and learn more about the world, including the cultivation (which honestly a lot of the times in novels I find it so boring that I skim over the cultivation details.)

Can't recommend this novel enough and I'm extremely excited for the day it's finished being translated.

Oh and an absolute 5 out of 5 for translating and editing. The new (relatively anyway) translators are actually going back and re-translating all the earlier chapters so the terms and overall flow of the story sync up. Extremely high quality work all around. <<less
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Azureus
Azureus rated it
June 18, 2017
Status: c104
I don't know why there are so many positive reviews here, but let me tell you, this novel is complete tr*sh and it is not because of the slow pace of the novel, that is not the issue, the issue is with the MC and other characters.

Novel starts really well and the hype is built in the prologue itself and the MC is portrayed as a cool headed person who deals with everything with a clear mind, but he turns into a whiny little b*tch who is always complaining about... more>> his own incapabilities real fast. At first, when he is interacting with potential enemies, he acts like a boss and makes enemies out of people who could easily be avoided and then when he realizes what he has done, he shits his pants and complains about how weak he is.

And about side-characters and the 'audience', they're complete ret*rds, worse than the unreasonable ret*rds who cant see Mt. Tai in ED. When MC 'shocks the world with a single feat' everyone respects him and they even stand up and start clapping but after just 2-3 chapters, he is back to being a 'tr*sh' again, they completely forget about his previous achievements and start jeering at him and he is too weak to stand up against them and therefore he is forced to act as a 'cool headed' person.

Do yourself a favor and go read something else, unless you're used to reading frustrating novels. <<less
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DeathStroke96
DeathStroke96 rated it
April 22, 2017
Status: c443
For me it is one of the most amazing novels currently in translation! How great would it be if the other novels by the author that don't have a tl were to be picked up - slightly off course sorry...

This novel is slow, there is no point denying it, and simply it is not a novel for new readers of the xianxia genre, why? Because they started off with very quick paced, and simple writing and that's the kind of novels that they are looking for, so there's no point... more>> for suggesting it to new readers of xianxia or for new readers themselves to pick it up because a result will arrive by those new readers rating it something between 1-3 stars. Why do I think like this? Simple I was similar, it's just that I don't rate too often, especially when they are not my cup of tea...

The story is about Chen Changshen an orphan that is trying to alter his destiny whilst trying walk through all the plots and obstacles that other people place in front of him.

The main heroine is not Luo Luo but Xu Yourong please don't create misconceptions about Xu Yourong because she was portrayed as bad very early on, as you read on and reach 200s you will realise this as for LL well she in nothing but a sister to the MC.

The story/plot has moved quite well from the arrival to the capital to the latest arc, so there is a lot of enjoyment there, the only thing that I can complain about is that in the late 100s Mao Nis writing about MCs fights had been dead boring and I understand that it is not his strongest suit, but overall the novel is amazing.

I only recommend this novel if you have read tons of repetitive xianxia and you are looking for a novel that is unpredictable as well heavily descriptive and slow paced because otherwise it is not your kind of novel, well at least not yet, come back when you get tired of very simple xianxia! <<less
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heads-or-tails
heads-or-tails rated it
March 30, 2017
Status: c68
... I don't know what to say about this marvelous piece, it is different from others of its genre for sure but its so unique that it doesn't really fit as a Xuanhuan.

The MC is a free spirited person that does not plot against other or feels compulsed to curse others (at least outright, there are some nice word plays he uses) he takes life with a mentality of what is meant to be will be and I love it. People shouldn't expect action from the get go or... more>> horrible drama like in other works. The author actually thought things through when he wrote each chapter, blessed be his soul- <<less
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nefe
nefe rated it
December 7, 2016
Status: c192
Coming from the future; this novel is slow pace, you can get angry because the MC is not strong enough, but I recommend you to be patient, this story is gold, is a shame the translation is slow; highly advise to read Ze tian ji, it has romance, action, adventure, fantasy and even comedy. The friendship between Chen Chang Sheng and Tang 36 is really nice to read.

The author sometimes wrote the same to much for my taste but still is a good reading.
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greentea
greentea rated it
July 15, 2016
Status: c180
The novel is very slow-paced and requires a lot of patience, patience that others might find absolutely ridiculous to the point that skipping chapters becomes a habit. I, unfortunately, have done that, skipped chapters to read ahead because it is slow-paced. Regrettably, only recently did I discover the beautiful and fascinating world-building. The world's history is rich, the plot is steady, the power-system slowly reveals itself in time and the mystery of the past, present and future is also enticing. The main character is stoic, smart, and humble yet realistic... more>> with bursts of amount of pride and childishness. But, for me at least, it's the secondary characters and their interaction with MC that tempts me to read, especially the opponents/antagonists/rivals. <<less
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ninthlite
ninthlite rated it
November 3, 2015
Status: --
The characters and setting is solid. While I am usually ripping on other chinese novels for having the MC being too op too fast, this novel is incredibly slow
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Death God Asura
Death God Asura rated it
January 19, 2021
Status: Completed
It's quite interesting how some reviews for ZTJ don't ever give their reasons as to why" this certain thing is wrong", only that the "author is bad, because I don't read books", "it is too slow, because my reading comprehension takes 20 minutes to understand the vocabulary contained within the novel". I want to address some of the things said in the reviews that give this novel a sub 3 star rating. First, you having ADHD is not a valid reason for you to criticize something to be poor in... more>> nature. It is your problem, the same reason people with dyslexia and illiteracy doesn't comment on the fact that a book is too hard for them to read because they lack thereof of something. I do understand wholly how hard it would be for a person with sever ADHD to read this novel, because I am one myself. No one is forcing you to do anything, no one is forcing you to read a slow paced master piece, the same way no one makes you look at the g**itals on Michelangelo's sculptures. Having detailed descriptions of the surrounding is called imagery. Perhaps you are not a fan of the literally devices taught to 10 year old's in their 3rd grad English class. Then let me quote some of the reviews

  1. Any chain is as strong as the weakest link and the few horrible mistakes made by the author really destroyed what could be a great novel. I really liked most of it, as it has several unique, interesting and engaging components to it, BUT, it's very emotionally unbalanced. Mostly negative. MC is getting horrible treatment from EVERYONE, unjustifiably and unreasonably. In addition to that there are even badly written plot holes to forcefully put the protagonist in an EVEN worse position than he is! WHY?!... I had to stop reading... too bad, too bad....
interesting, "plot holes" yet he names none, 112 chapters read, yet he comprehended none of it. Horrible treatment from everyone, well have you went outside... like ever? That is called life son, not everything is fair, let alone one that takes place in China before modern times. You read 112 chapters in a slow novel, and expected a complete overhaul in people's reaction towards MC. You know what, let me name an example, if some country bumkin, walked up to you sitting in your suburb urban home, and told you, I have a marriage proposal towards your daughter signed by your deceased father, how would you react to him?

2. Author's that literally destroy the novel at the end only after they've already got money out of it really make me feel disgusted, like you truly don't care about the novel and the readers? Only money or what? Is quite sad especially since the MC was quite likable at the beginning, really annoying, or maybe is just like they said he tried to end it as fast as possible due to the chinese readers that had some problems with him or so I have seen, maybe I am wrong idk, who knows, maybe reputation in china matters a lot, they are probably toxic af or something like that, like twitter users or something like that, I wonder how popular are these types of novels in China, probably quite popular compared to how unpopular they are in the west

look, I won't say that I am completely free from being a racist, but some of these reviews are just attacks on the author's ethnicity. Let me take a quote from the author's afterword :"Why did I want to write a story about youths? Because I'm gradually getting older, and my blood is cooling. I'm very afraid that, just like I've written so many times in the book, I will gradually become a fat koi slowly sinking into the mud. I want to remind myself that I cannot decay, cannot be afraid. Even if I don't dare to fight, silence is also a sort of stance." I don't know if you consider everyone to work for money, but I truly believe that if you enjoy your work, then you won't work another day in your life. This is just an old author trying to write a book he will remember in his following days. You, who has not even bothered to put how many chapters you read, does not get to judge how the book's ending. I truly do not believe you have read the entire book to be able to give your opinion on the ending.

3. The funny part is the name "Way of choices", I remember one choice! It was the decision the MC takes in the second chapter. Everything else.... Do you believe there is a choice between execution and a way out? Actually there is, Socrates is the example you seek, but you must have a foundation, a reason for that to be an actual choice like Socrates, which leads to a rational or irrational decision (there needs to be a ratio - reason, even to make an irrational decision, it is in the word!!).

Ok then, for this one, I can see how this mistake came to be, the review itself that this quote came from does raise an argument for what he claims. However, counter point, do you think the author... from China... get to choose what the name in English was? Some of them do, however this one, did not get to. Ze tian ji translates to fighters of destiny directly, perhaps the translators decided on way of choices, which I believe to be a better name to catch people's attention, tbh I wouldn't have been about to find this out if I didn't search up the raws. But the first youtube knockoff link you will see, is called Fighters of destiny. The novel is actually called fighters of destiny. This is the reason, why some of the translation for this novel was confused whether to call it fate or destiny. As the name of the TV show was fighters of destiny, yet fate would fit much better in the novel.

4. "This novel is unbearingly slow. Some people dislike how fast paced some of the poorly written xianxia novels are, fans of this novel read this due to the knee jerk reaction to poorly written “time skips” that seem ever prevalent in translated novels. However the author of the novel somehow believes the more chapters he has in his novel, the better it will be. Many chapters are dedicated to the main character having a conversation with a uninteresting side character, lately in the tournament arc it has been following dragon ball z in where a chapter is dedicated to taking one step. The amount of chapters is not how a quality of a novel is determined, otherwise the bible would be considered the world’s most pleasurable reading experience.

Oh boy, here we go, let's start with this sentence "lately in the tournament arc it has been following dragon ball z in where a chapter is dedicated to taking one step." Let's analyze exactly what this person means by this sentence, first it says "lately in the tournament arc" I can only assume he is referring to the tournament that ends on chapter 179, which is no where near the total 1183 + afterword of chapters. The amount of chapters is not how a quality of a novel is determined, true, but the amount you have read is less than the ones needed to determine the quality of a novel. I can't imagine someone who made this review at chapter 179 went on to finish the entire novel. I am not even going to talk about how you are comparing a book to dragon ball z, I am just going to comment on the "Where a chapter is dedicated to taking one step". Have you heard that the journey is more important than the destination? Where one day you will look back, and see all that you have accomplished and be proud of it. It is not the speed that is important, it is the direction. One final comment, I bet some people truly considers the bible to be the most pleasurable read, after all, it is the most sold book in the world.

5. The author has really like to pad his chapter with a lot of words and it drags the story down. I don't mind the pacing but at least have something interesting. There are dozens of chapter where the only thing the MC did was stare at a pillar, "comprehending", with nothing interesting happening. The story is not fun to read, it's not a proper mystery, it's not an action novel, it's just bland. EDIT: As a sucker for shitty novels, I finally read the whole thing. My opinion haven't changed a single bit. The author really have no idea how to write a proper story. The pacing is so slow and the plot so asinine, it got up to a point where even the author got bored of it and basically gave up. The ending is as unsatisfying to read as the rest of the story (it's even more unsatisfying than "Inheritance Cycle" ending) Whoever is considering picking this up, please drop it and read something else. Even generic isekai novels at least give you something to laugh about, this novel is just too bland to even evoke a reaction."

This, this is quite something, he put his chapters completed at 1251, damn where are you reading that author's manuscript, cause you gotta send a copy to me. I truly doubt your statement of "I finally read the whole thing", because if you did... you should at least know what chapter it completed at... Also, did you read Inheritance Cycle? How can you compare it with ZTJ? I am going to take reddit user geesemaster's point of why people hate the ending to Inheritance

"Too open ended - so many unanswered questions and loose ends. From large mysteries like Angela and Tenga, to small things like the Belt of Beloth the Wise just kind of disappearing and being forgotten about, or even tiny ones like the hooded figures on Vroengard."

The only unexplained thing present in ZTJ is the world of the God, which to anyone who read it, would understand why it was unexplained. As explaining it, could literally entail a second series of books on it. Every other thing was answered.
Spoiler

How did they change their fate? They didn't, fate doesn't exist. Why did the monsters want MC's body? Because it was filled with divine light from the god's continent. Why did Zhou dufu die? Because all of the human experts and demon experts planned his death. Why did black robe join the demon's side? Because she was Zhou Dufu's sister.

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Like you said, it is not an isekai. It doesn't have filler beach episodes, It doesn't have author's golden thumb guiding the OP MC. The MC does not go everywhere oblivious to the FMC's advances. The MC does not win fights because the author wanted him to. But rather it is the most reasonable thing in that moment. Ze Tian Ji IMO is one of the most realistic fantasy novels out there, whether it be the interaction between the characters, how deep each characters are or how deep the world building is. On the note of how deep the characters are, let me take another quote from the author's afterword. "The following miscellaneous details were not put into the main text out of length concerns, but they're rather interesting: the Black Dragon's favorite food is braised chicken wings, because she hates Phoenixes. The diets of Nanke and Xu Yourong don't contain birds. The Heavenly Tome Monoliths are shards of a world and are all connected with each other. Right now, they can transmit sound, but in the future, they can be used to traverse space. In the second-to-last chapter, when Wang Po decided to not take revenge on the Chen Imperial clan and I had Xu Yourong say 'dying for one's country... ', that was something I decided on before I even started writing the book and I forced it in here. With regards to Tang Thirty-Six, other than that line about how he's rich both mentally and physically, I also wanted him to say: "I'm not targeting anyone, everyone present is... " Chen Changsheng has an illness, so this is the first thing on his mind when he sees someone, thinking that everyone is ill. This was why he was able to tell that Mo Yu, Su Li, Nanke, Xuanyuan Po, and even Tang Thirty-Six on the night that he was injured, were all sick with a single glance." The author had the ability to make this novel much longer, do you really think those other novels where the characters' personalities break down after 100 chapters could really compare? No way... of choice... yes I also hate myself. <<less
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kakistory
kakistory rated it
October 31, 2018
Status: Completed
It is original a very good story.

You know, a protagonist who is pure but not s*upid.

His character is very much likeable!

But the romance in this story is..

... more>>
Spoiler

it started out with a little misunderstanding (yurong didn't want a stranger as a fiance), later developed into further misunderstanding (Oooh the angst when they lied about their identity to each other and keeping on trying to tell, but something gotta happen and ruin it), after that angst, then comes the lovely part, where the affection is sweet, but keep on secretly loving (they gotta separate due to different path) But! It caught me, when changseng being sick, overused himself due to his illness, and yurong break all restraint to care for him! I swear that's so sweet!. Then again later, some sh*t happened and they gotta separate again. (basically over and over) and the end is.. cliffhanger. Changseng was planning to wait on yurong to come to his plane/stage/continent but his time is almost over on that place, then otw to yurong, he met someone, and he's interested in going to Divine plane and poof!.... The End. Fin. Stops. Tell ya, I hate cliffhanger the most and most story I've read and write reviews on, all focused on the romance.

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Titan LLS
Titan LLS rated it
September 6, 2018
Status: Completed
Really nice novel, I mean really nice. I once wrote a review for another novel where I chastised the author for trying to use elements to sophisticated for his story, but here I want to only give praise for that same choice. The linearly elements blend so seamlessly you can not help but garner a love for the culture and style of writing, when you read it. This probably really is best in it's native language to it's native audience. Which is why to the translators and editors that worked... more>> really hard to bring it into an English audience for that I would like to give a true heartfelt thank you, to all of those who worked on it over the years. The story was really nice as well. I can not claim to like the last few paragraphs or so that ended the story. Most of the last chapter I even loved, but just not the very ending it was intentional but it leaves a kind of WTF? Feeling. Seeing as even that was only part of the last chapter I can forgive it and say this thing was great. This novel really gives one a sort of respect for youth, and the youthful heart I really love the fact that despite youth being a main selling point so is the eventual maturity of characters. If I had to truly gripe about something it is that the Dragon was simply such a freaking outstanding guy. I mean towards the end his last scene almost made me mad that he was such a freaking good guy. In a love triangle I almost always feel myself rooting for the MC, but forgive me this time I truly felt the Dragon should have had the girl. He is simply that self sacrificing and upstanding. Other than that I truly enjoyed this story and I think almost anyone with good appreciation for storytelling and patience would as well. <<less
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