I don't think I have enough words to say how incredible this novel is, at least until now....

This novel has a lot of plots, and insights about the cultivation world, about having hardships and having to endure many adversities to prevail. Its not like any cliche novel where the MC is going to be saved by the plot, no, the MC is one of the smartest MCs I ever saw. He's clever, cunning and smart, the way he looks at the world is neutral, you can't call him evil or... more>> good, he's just a cultivator with principles.

I would say that its a fair 5/5 but it's kinda lacking in good fights, it's more about plots and knowledge than fights. It's also a very good novel for anyone that likes good side characters, since in this novel, almost everyone is very intelligent. Mc's enemies are veeeery smart, and you can say that the only reason MC wins is because he puts himself with 'miracle' situations that no one would expect.

Can you imagine a kid plotting against cunning old cultivators? (That's one of the 'miracle' situations.)

This novel is just too coherent, when I imagine somewhat a real cultivation world where the strong preys the weak is the law, I would say this novel has one of the best ones. <<less

A very refreshing start with a real smart MC. The world was also interesting but after a while, it started to go downhill, especially when the MC sometimes does such random moves that makes a perfect situation 1000% more troublesome. These IQ fluctuating moments are way too glaring when u compare to the earlier parts, not sure if I can continue reading, but if u can accept this flaw, you'll enjoy the novel.

This novel started out so strong. The MC was actually quite smart, his enemies are also decent and believable. It somehow managed to avoid most of the tropes of cultivation novel that I've seen so far. The MC is literally a Chinese politician thrown back in medieval times. He knows how to play his enemies and how to make allies. It was fun and the MC seemed to have built a group of side characters around him that would develop with him. Not only that, at the beginning of the... more>> story, the MC made a vow that set a clear object for the story to follow. It had all the makings of a really good, 5/5 webnovel. All the author had to do was to stick to the object, develop his cast of characters and he was golden. He didn't do that.

Instead of building on what he had set up, the author kept reusing old idea, introduce meaningless new side characters and neglect old ones. Sure, you will still see some off them mentioned in passing but characters that should have been central were quickly sidelined and it was such a shame because I would have loved to read more about these characters.

The author also reused a lot of similar plot line. For example, in the early parts of the novel there is this great sequence where the MC was kidnapped and chased across the country. He had to use his wits to outsmart his enemy and survive. It was well written, I was actually caught off guard by the MC's planning. Really well done. However, guess how many times the MC would "get chased down by more powerful enemies and had to outsmart them" by the time I reached chapter 664? Three more times. And these were full blown story arcs that spanned nearly one hundred chapters. They got progressively staler and staler and I ended up skipping a lot of them without missing a story beat.

But that's not even why I dropped this novel. The reason why I dropped is because by chapter 664, it has become painfully clear that the author has lost the plot. Instead of focusing on the main story, the MC get side tracked again and again on some random quest (albeit some pretty good but mostly boring). The culmination of all of this side track is the world hopping. He gets accidently transport to another world, and another world, and then another world. All the while neglecting the main world with its wonderful plotline and characters. After the third world, I dropped the novel. Honestly it's a shame because this novel had so much potential <<less

I am happy to read a good (so far) Xianxia after a long time! A bit slow paced, but the MC is calm, collected & is willing to lower his "face" to achieve his goals. The side characters are also interesting and certainly more fleshed out than in other novels. So far, I am impressed and hope that this gets translated fully.

It had a very interesting start with clever and smart MC with intriguing and well written characters. I really liked how the plot was developing and how the MC plans a lot of things and uses his smarts. However the pacing of the later chapters ruin it. 3k words per chapter and barely anything happens, it's just info dumps after info dumps which drastically ruined the experience so 3/5 for a story which otherwise would have been much higher.

Probably one of my favourite cultivation novels of all time, and I've read a lot.

I've seen complaints about info dumping, and whilst the novel can be slow, all the information is relevant and interesting, and you can tell the author has put a lot of thought into his world building (unlike most).

Ultimately, this novel is going to be a long and slow journey, so if you're after instant gratification and a protagonist who ascends like a rocket... Go read Top Tier Providence (which is great but very different).

3/5 seems low compared to other reviews, BUT, while there are no major issues and the characters and plot aren't bad, they aren't great either.

Protagonist is on rails and even though there are plot twists, he achieves every one of his goals. He's a bit interesting, but he is ALL there is to carry the story, and "a bit" isn't enough.

Another problem that while the chapters are very long, they actually don't progress the story much, because of CONSTANT info-dumps. Instead of letting the reader naturally learn about the world... more>> and other story backgrounds bit by bit as the story progresses, that information is condensed into large paragraphs which are dumped inbetween the plot points. It's like reading a booklet in a book. Annoying. <<less

This novel was pretty interesting compared to most cultivation novels, so I was pretty eager to read it and completed the MTL.

My honest rating would be 9/10. It's not a prefect novel by any means, but since most cultivation novels are absolute garbage, this novel is a masterpiece in comparison.

The protagonist is intelligent and actually relies on clever strategy rather than some sort of cheat ability, yet he still has his cool moments where he overwhelms his opponents. The enemies are actually threatening as well, instead of rolling over every... more>> time they get face-slapped. There's also no harem drama either, and the female characters feel like actual people instead of being jade beauties without a personality.

So why don't I consider this novel perfect? A few reasons:

• • Slow beginning. It takes at least 100 chapters for the novel to get interesting. The parts without cultivation involved are a chore to get through.

• • Lack of comedy. I'm not a huge comedy fan, but I still thought the novel could use a few more lighthearted moments.

• • Due to the protagonist relying a lot on strategy, it takes a while to get to the payoff where he triumphs. Some arcs feel a bit long, since you have to wait for his plan to unfold.

This novel also suffers from a lot of problems all good cultivation novels have to deal with. The side characters have a hard time keeping up with the protagonist's cultivation and become more and more irrelevant, the actual cultivation system becomes more generic at higher levels, and the final ending is vague and unsatisfying.

Despite its flaws though, this novel stands out from a sea of tr*sh. If you're tired of the usual faceslapping young masters tropes and want to read a protagonist with actual challenges that he overcomes through clever strategy and skill instead of overpowered nonsense, then this is the novel for you. Just be aware that it's a bit slow paced since it's more intellectual. <<less

Fire, characters and relationships between characters are all done super well. Logical MC, no face smacking young masters, no women falling over themselves love at first sight bullshit, just a well written novel (so far).

This novel has great potential, from the chapters I've read so far.

Its shaping up to be a really great cultivation novel. The world building is going along quite well. The story itself might not be that special but this novel has a really interesting main character along with some good side characters as well.

So far there was no young master face slapping and the "villains" don't seem to be dumb either.

I hope it continues this way and gets even better! I can only recommend it at this point.

It rather slow placed cultivation story but this a quality story.

The MC is cautious (without cheat or system), knew to lower his head and more important knew to don't bear any useless grudge. Let hope he will still be the same when he become a powerfull cultivator (too many time I disapointed in Xianxia story in the long run).

That nothing extraordinaire but this very well done story for now. If you want to give a Xianxia story a chance (or a second chance) that the story for you.

One of the most competently written story I've read so far. Unlike other xianxia authors Zero Destiny shows his comprehension of actual interpersonal relationships and motivations. As a result any hints of romance actually make sense and reflects reality where people don't just fall in love because the plot calls for it. In fact so far there isn't any actual romance, only the beginnings of what could be.
The characters in this story are all very understandable and fleshed out. The main character in particular is very comprehensive in his... more>> motivations and goals as well as his bottom line in regarding those goals. It's a slower pace but I see it as the author taking his time to set up the story. It's still a little too early for me to judge this story as a whole, but from what I've read (39 chapters) this story has the potential to be one of the classics of xianxia.

Oh and huge props to the translator. This story has bits of classic literature and pretty esoteric explanation of things such as meridians and whatnot but the translator has done a fantastic job. I imagine this is a harder story to translate but they're doing a great job. <<less

I read up to the translated chapters and then listened to the chinese-audio book.

Like other reviews here, the first 200-300 chapters of this story is fresh. Characters feel smart, multi-dimensional. Many factors can influence an end result.

Well, it has all gone to sh*t as the story progresses. I don't know why I stayed for so long. Every common trope has been exhausted and overused. The main character as well as every side character randomly losses IQ just to progress some cliche storyline. No character matters other than the main character,... more>> side characters are developed and just forgotten.

Even the main character's intelligence takes random dips. This has become as dry as any other generic cultivation novel. I cannot force myself to go further.

4.5/5 For first 200ish chapters

1/5 for For Chapters 200-800 <<less

I really enjoyed the first arc of this novel ending at chapter 130, it's a shame that people stop at chapter 70 and worse that they discourage others from reading the payoff.

MC is a screwed average talented cultivator with believable motivation, the difference to other novels is that the author is smart enough to write a smart character without confronting him with dump characters. He is not well liked by the majority of the other characters.

The fights are challenging varied and resolved without Deus ex machina.

Characters are enjoyable, while not... more>> the best some side character even reviece a small character arc.

Pacing isn't the best early on, which can be forgiven once you realize how much seemingly unimportant information contributed to the payoff.

Give this novel a try! <<less

The MC is smart and although still has a bottom line I like him anyways except the part where he swears a heart demon oath to avenge his immortal friend, for me the main problem is pacing wise because after he became a a servant so he could get a servant spot for the academy storyhasent even progressed its just a competition for the spot, like from this pace I can guess the academy is going to be the same he will compete against other studens from the academy to... more>> earn a spot for the sect. <<less

This is a slow pace one. Actually, I read this novel because of its author. Divine Throne of Primordial Blood was one of my favorite. And Zero Dynasty doesn't fail me this time too.

Although novel is extremely slow pace and too much theories in techniques, it is worth to read. And it also focuses on side characters unlike other cultivation novels. Most importantly there are not much cheat codes except transmigration.

It about modern day guy living in a teen kid body in different universe. There a lot list how they level up. I, myself will not remember it. They way they are taught about fighting style. I'm lost. I'm only read for adventure and see he become famous. As girl it hard for me to understand maybe easy for guys.

smart mc! Could be good novel if not for the fact that the author likes dragging so much and info dumping, reading MC talks full page in one session gives me headache

40 chapters and MC still not even joining a sect nor becoming proper cultivatior, the cultivation and the plot move realllllllyyy slowwwww

for example of how worse the info dumping is you could try read chapter 33 (dont worry it doesnt have spoiler), if you think its good then this novel is for you!