Castle of Black Iron

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

After the Catastrophe, every rule in the world was rewritten.

In the Age of Black Iron, steel, iron, steam engines and fighting force became the crux in which human beings depended on to survive.

A commoner boy by the name Zhang Tie was selected by the gods of fortune and was gifted a small tree which could constantly produce various marvelous fruits. At the same time, Zhang Tie was thrown into the flames of war, a three-hundred-year war between the humans and monsters on the vacant continent. Using crystals to tap into the potentials of the human body, one must cultivate to become stronger.

The thrilling legends of mysterious clans, secrets of Oriental fantasies, numerous treasures and legacies in the underground world — All in the Castle of Black Iron!

Associated Names
One entry per line
Citadel of Black Iron
COBI
黑铁之堡
Related Series
Silver Overlord (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
Galactic Dark Net (3)
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation (2)
Bringing The Farm To Live In Another World (2)
The Ultimate Evolution (2)
Praise the Orc! (2)
Chronicles of Primordial Wars (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels i Have Read
  2. Novels that I have read
  3. Best Overall
  4. Harem novels 2
  5. NON-BL II ADVENTURE / NO LOVE INTEREST

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/01/17 Webnovel c9
03/01/17 Webnovel c8
03/01/17 Webnovel c7
03/01/17 Webnovel c6
03/01/17 Webnovel c5
03/01/17 Webnovel c4
03/01/17 Webnovel c3
03/01/17 Webnovel c2
03/01/17 Webnovel c1
Go to Page...
Go to Page...
Write a Review
105 Reviews sorted by


towelz
towelz
February 28, 2017
Status: v3c4
Easy going story where MC is not op and more of a ambitious person wanting to better himself and help his family. Not sure how far ahead the other review is, but at the current volume I don't see the overwhelming patriotism as mentioned. Nor is there any spreading of the MC's seeds, unless they're talking about his farming... Any way so far its a good read.
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
finalwars
finalwars rated it
September 14, 2020
Status: Completed
There is a chapter titled "Love and Hate" and it succinctly describes my view on this novel. There were moments where I wonder why this novel was rated so low (3.4/5) and moments where I thought the low rating was a decent reflection of the novel.

I will list the major reasons why many people rated it so low, some of which I fully agree on.

    • Slow start
This is s*upid. This novel does not, in any way shape or form have a "slow start". The reason why people complain about this is the amount of tr*shy web-novels we consume where the development is usually light speed compared to novels of established, respected fantasy authors. We consume so much tr*sh (junk food) and people complain why they can't lose weight.

The author was aiming for character introductions, character development, world-building, and lore. Yes, the start is slower than other off the shelf web-novels, but it is not slow. Keep that in mind.

But I would agree that it gets better after dozens of chapters in. I view the chapters before 100 as the "prelude" of the adventures of MC, and once MC goes into a cave and does some funky business, the real story starts.

    • s*x scenes
This one gets mentioned a lot, but I don't see any problem with it. s*x scenes in the beginning of the novel can get quite graphic; most probably big brother wasn't watching when the novel was not as popular before chapter 800 or so, and author just did whatever he wanted to do. Things could get crazy, but I don't see how this could affect anyone. Just sit back and go with the flow. Is just tits, why have to be mad?

    • s*upid MC
Rightfully so, as the MC was still a naive, h**ny kid in the beginning. Close your eyes, and think back on the things you did when you were 14 years old, the s*upid moments where you just want to punch yourself in the balls, and the regrets you have on your past. People complaining about this are either the most perfect human on earth, or they are just deluded and want a perfect MC.

MC is not perfect all the way to the end. Nobody is perfect. But the MC grew out of his naive, h**ny-teenage phase with character development. I can assure you that.

    • Injured MC - or author nerfing MC on balance update 1.1 and future updates
Now this is a real slap in the face. THIS IS REAL BAD! It was so bad, that when it happened for the first time, I almost dropped the novel and had to force myself and slog through 100 chapters. I wont spoil anything, but there were some aspects of the MC where it was mad OP. I actually knew the author might do something about it beforehand, but holy Kukulkan. The way the author did it was f*ckING BAD!

CN novels like to do this, where the MC got injured and they would not be able to use their full strength for a while, but this author - holy hell,

has a fetish of injuring (nerfing) his MC. In 2015 chapters, roughly off the top of my head, MC got injured (nerfed) about 7 times. Now I can safely say that once you complete this novel, you would have read a novel with the most amount of times an MC got injured (nerfed) !

Now, on the plus side, it's not as bad as I made it out to be. The only real shocker was the first nerf. It was bad, but once you slog yourself 30-100 chapters, things would get better and you wouldn't care as much as before. The nerfs after the first one, are baby-sh*t compared to the first one as they couldn't be compared to the sheer scale of the first one, but annoying regardless.

    • Nationalism
Standard stuff. Chinese are quite nationalistic, nothing wrong with that. But they have to shoe-horn the nationalistic ideals into their novels because... big brother is watching.

Can't blame them, complaining about this is akin to complaining why c*ckroaches are dirty and don't die. Just walk away, problem solved.

Look at nationalism in CN novels as comedy enacted by the author, and don't look into it seriously. If you look at it with a different perspective, you won't even find it as a problem. Works in life as well, different perspectives will have different outlooks for different people.

    • Word pad
This is my personal take. I find it weird how people are complaining about "slow" start, but barely anybody mentions the word padding of author. Once CoBI reaches chapter 800 or so, probably the time where it gets popular (a time where author had to tone down the graphic s*x scenes as big brother was watching!), author starts to add MASSIVE amounts of word vomit on background objects. No, it's not world-building if author spends 4 sentences on the road before entering the gate, 2 sentences on the pot of flowers on the side, 2 paragraphs about the meaning of life while walking to the front door, 2 sentences on how shiny the door knob is and opening it, and another 1 paragraph of entering, looking back, mentioning how f*cking shiny the door knob is and finally closing the goddamn door.

You start to see author do this on the second half of CoBI.

    • Translation
is ass. Get better editors for goodness sake.

Not google translate tier, but pretty damn bad. 4/10

Pros of the novel;

    • Start
Beginning of the novel, especially before chapter 400, is excellent. A mix of character development and world building, careful writing with barely any word padding. Loved it.

One thing that I don't see anybody mention is the fact of the progression of MC's powerlevel in the beginning. It is so progressive and balanced that I cannot even find a single flaw! I dare say that out of all the novels I've read, CoBI might have the best power-progression out of them - at least in the first 400 chapters. First 400 chapters of power-progression is a benchmark that every web-novel authors should learn from. Loved it!

    • Harem & romance
I have nothing much to say on this aspect, you get what you want to see. But thank f*ck this author doesn't act like a wishy washy woman when he wants to add this aspect into his novel. Not too much unnecessary drama, straight to the point. Man and woman wants it, they tie the knot. No random bullsh*t in between - almost every time.

If you like harem and romance, then look no further. If you're like me and don't care about it too much, just worried that the author might bullsh*t around, then no need to worry. If you hate harem and romance, don't even bother starting this novel unless you want a case of aneurysm.

    • Length of novel
is f*ckING LONG! It's not as simple as 2015 chapters, because the chapters during the first half of the novel is usually about as long as 2x the length of average CN novels. After that it starts to become uncommon at around 1000, and mostly normal length at around chapter 1500. So the 2015 chapters, in average CN novel standard, is AT LEAST 3000 chapters long. This is either a good or bad thing for different individuals.

    • Gains & losses - cause & effect
I really like this aspect in this novel. Author really likes his Dao philosophy. Not everything is perfect. To gain something, you would have to pay for it. Sometimes it might seem like you gained everything, but you might have further losses. Sometimes it might seem like you lost everything, but you might have further gains. Everything doesn't happen for no reason.

You would see this aspect throughout the novel, from start to finish.

Love and Hate. There were some aspects where I really wanted to ask why the author did that, and some aspects which I loved. I can understand why people rated it low, with the novel rating of 3.4/5 as of this moment, but if I were to quantify it as a whole, it is nowhere near the current rating.

Overall

4/5

8/10
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Timid
Timid rated it
May 22, 2018
Status: c600
Let me start this review by saying that this story has HUGE and blatantly obvious flaws. The most egregious being that nearly all the male characters (including the Main Character) act like the creepily pe*verted guys you find in Japanese anime. In fact let me quote the second paragraph in the story to give you a taste of what I'm talking about...

"Those upright chimneys, however, reminded Zhang Tie of his p*nis and the black smoke his seminal fluid. They polluted air like how the liquid polluted his underwear. Although he... more>> couldn't remember who was in his dream last night, for the third time this week, he could feel something sticky inside his underwear."

... that is in the introduction paragraph for our main character Zhang Tie.

No shit.

Aside from that, surprisingly this story does just about everything right. There is good worldbuilding in a steampunkish cultivation world. An interesting power system. The MC doesn't have everything given to him, and really has to work to distinguish himself. He has quite a few moments of real danger that he barely manages to scr*pe through with intelligence and instinct. No deus ex machina moments or ass pulls.

There is some great Hunter x Hunter exam type situations. The first being a semi-wilderness survival test after just entering the sect, that reminded me a little of Lord of the Flies. Behind the scenes there are political situations as various countries and organizations are in conflict with each other. There are no generic 'Young Master' style antagonists.

The big flaws that leave this with such a garbage rating aren't central to the story in any way. for example one situation that puts people off is

Spoiler

At one point out of nowhere Zhang Tie suddenly gets popular with the ladies despite being an awkward pe*vert. Then over the course of a couple of chapters he has s*x with hundreds and hundreds of women. It's the only time he even gets even a second glance within the first 400 odd chapters, and right after it's finished he goes to another sect to be the scrub newbie at the bottom of the barrel, and it's never really mentioned again.

These few chapters serve... just zero story purpose, and could quite easily be cut out

[collapse]

Honestly I love this story. It's got some of the absolute best and most interesting plotting and situations in the entire CN industry. Yet the author does his best to shoot himself in the foot, over things inessential to the actual story.

One commonly quoted reason for hating this (according to other reviews) is racism. Honestly, I don't see it. This isn't set on earth, he just sort of borrows bits and pieces from it, and none of the races and sects are explicitly stated to conform to any in our world. Just think of it this way. The author of this work has a small, almost miniscule pen*s. So he's overcompensating in the story to make the MC better than him in real life, including having slightly better talent because of genetics.

Easily the best story rated below 4* on the site. <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ththth12
ththth12 rated it
August 12, 2017
Status: c220
This is a great story. The main character acts and thinks like an actual teenager boy. He grows up and develops gradually. He has morals, so he does not massacre innocents, but he's still willing to kill his enemies. He is also can use his brain, even in later in the story. His cheat is very interesting, and it takes some effort and thinking to make it work. The world has unique feel to it. It's kind of steampunk world combined with unique cultivation. The story has more purpose than... more>> just becoming strongest or immortal. It's about a long war with demons. We also spared of many cliches, as there are no tournaments, MC does not pop pills to get stronger, and spoiled young masters are not a constant problem. There are reasons for all bad reviews. The first is juvenile humor on early chapters. It makes MC more believable teenager, but it'll be annoying to some readers. There is a way too much praising of chinese people, which can get really annoying on some later chapters. There are also some poorly thought out incidents in the story which will make you wonder what the author was smoking.

<<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
summers
summers rated it
July 3, 2017
Status: v2c5
It was just boring. Steampunk world MC with game dimension in his head, not OP and that's a good thing. It felt like a slice of life, but for that to work it has to have other interesting characters. We get the airplane brother hood who don't really doing anything; the hot teacher who has yet to say anything and is just leered at and fantasied about by other students. The ranking system seems in this world is different in that its all physical, they rate marching speed and effective... more>> combat and maximum spear rating etc.

At the point I dropped it I have yet to see the usefulness of his inner dimension.

Thx to translaters though. <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
DicerX
DicerX rated it
September 15, 2019
Status: c570
If you read the other reviews that gave this novel subpar grading you'd see that they always mention:

- Racism

- And overzealous nationalism

... more>> Those two to three-star reviews cite the above points for their displeasure. But honestly they're just overreacting, have you ever watched a zombie movie where all the world perishes except America? Oh ya, what if you start saying that the movie script writer is racist, there you'd see the negative feedback from the viewers telling you that that is utter BS.

The case is similar in here; the author's world setting is:

Apocalypse happened, most of the world perished in "holy" wars leaving China for X and Y reasons.

To me, that's one hundred per cent acceptable, because I honestly don't care about how an author sets his novel as long as it doesn't intentionally discriminate against a particular race in our real life. But the author doesn't do that. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
justien01
justien01 rated it
December 27, 2018
Status: Completed
Spoiler

MC is very cautious but he always end up being framed or wronged. But thanks to his godly toungue he can turn around almost all situations to his favor. MC doesn't relly too much on his cheat item.

Good Novel from the beginning to the quarter volume of the novel. I just hate it the ending.

At somepoint when the MC become powerful he said to the Demon God in overbearing manner. The he would reverse the situations, "demons would no longer be the nightmare of human race but human race will be the nightmare of demons" and "You want war, I will give you war". Then he go kill a few demons and lead the humans to repel the demons from the continent. When the demons are repelled all the human race requested him to lead the army again to bring the war to the demon world, (this is why im irritated about what he said) MC said to them "demons can't be extinguished because humans is full of greed, mu*der, r*pe, lust and thats what make demon God powerful" then book end.. Like what the heck is this. This author just end the book like this. The story could go on but he ends it just like that. So dissatisfied with this book.

[collapse]
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ughughugh
ughughugh rated it
August 3, 2018
Status: c125
So far I would say that this is a pretty lacking novel. The reason why I have been trying to push through it is because so many reviewers say it improves with time, but the issues with this novel have become offensive to a serious degree:

... more>>
Spoiler

1. Race: Throughout the start of the novel till my current chapter, I am still confused why the author would keep different ethnicities from our world in the fantasy world. To add on to this, the only one who so far has brought up different ethnicities is the protagonist, it just feels like the author is purposelly trying to make his own background the underdogs and then takeover. This is perfectlly fine, but the amount of bias towards other ethnicities is seriously pissing me off. I don't want to use foul language, but this author just keeps on putting clashes from ethnicites to an annoying degree, when it is completely unnecessary.

2. Sexism: Now I agree with most that fourth wave feminists are extreme, but I seriously think if even women from the 19th century read this their brains would explode. This author seems to think that as long as the protagonist is strong that girls would line up to suck his c***. Furthermore, unlike normal people that are born in a monogamous soicety (seeing how all other couples in the novel are introduced like this), the girls don't care if their lord husband has 100 wifes. I can handle this a bit in xianxias, but in this novel it just seems that they become mindless s*x s*ave zombies for the protagonist after he flexes his muscles.

3. Intelligences: So far in this novel their are various instances where the protagonist outsmarts his opponents, which I commend the author for. The only problem with this is that the way the protagonist outsmarts his opponents are all way too simple and these supposed adults apparently get spun around by words that are clearly blasphamy. Like you can't call someone a traitor if they are trying to screw wih you, even if you are student of an endagered association. The logic in some scenes can't possibley be accepted. Also it seems like the other adolescent boys in the story have the IQ of a bees as they are as easily manipulated as my 7 year old cousin.

4. "It's over 9000!"-DBZ

The amount of times the author uses the word h**ny is to a level where I have never read before and will probably never read again. I mean my god does the author use h**ny a lot, its almost as if he has a quotient to use the same freaking adjective at least 5 times a chapter or else he won't be paid. I'm not even gonna go into how the author seems to think that highschool boys literally have their minds devourd by s*x for every second (As a univeristy student I have never seen such a massive amount of boners in a school in my entire acadimic life). If I were to compare the boys in this book to anything in the real world, it would be the in-bred chiuawavas that constantly hump their owners legs.

[collapse]

I know I may seen harsh about this novel, but I really just can't stand it. I'm going to force another hundred chapters in the hopes of some pay off for the time I've already invested, but I wouldn't recommend it to you unless you have serious BS resistance. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
darthpsykoz
darthpsykoz rated it
June 11, 2018
Status: c507
2/5 for the first 200/300 chapters. It really became sh*t after around 500+ (after a demon fight, you'll see), but even before that, I was getting sick of the constant conspiracy theories and anti-science bullsh*t the author was trying to propagate (not to mention the Chinese supremacy).
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
rincewind
rincewind rated it
May 24, 2018
Status: --
If you ever wondered what kind of novel written by a pe*verted racist Chinese would look like, look no further just read Castle of Black Iron.

All the males are potential rapists including the MC and all the females are objects to be used and abused.

A warning to the readers m*sturbation is a prominent focus of this story as is racism.

Disgusting.

P.s: Also the oldest abacus discovered is Sumerian in origin.
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
General Tanya
General Tanya rated it
February 23, 2018
Status: c125
Is kinda funny and story is has a nice setting. Not very smart MC and his schemes are kinda childish, which I didn't mind because it is consistent with his age. But what I do find annoying is the people around him. Their IQ is lower than a animal to believe his schemes and lies. I think the author try too hard with the jokes and there has to be always bystanders near the MC to compliment and praise him for being so smart. I would have like for some... more>> drama or tragedy to spice things up. Like his brother dying or losing a few of his friends to make him grow more mature (didn't like the whole group of 7 anyway). They are there just for comedy relief.

Things that are not appreciated in the story: It has a lot of chinese propaganda. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
FaerNC
FaerNC rated it
March 15, 2020
Status: c151
Spoiler
[collapse]
wow, very sexist, much propaganda. I read many CN novels and I must say, the patriotism and sexist/racist stuff is much higher than even those that are set in modern times, so if you want to start and are worried about this, Imma add some zingers here (up to 151)

Sexism/ anti-LGBTQ:

Spoiler
    • "In the male school, besides learning basic Chinese, laws, and math, they also had to learn skills like taking care of seeds, making it mature, and turning grains into food. In contrast, education in the female school would be more human-friendly with courses like music, literature, cooking, fine arts, and dance."
    • "I am a man and I like women! I am not interested in your filthy game where you pretend to be men in public but become eunuchs in private. Stay away from me with that wolf hide that you use in your filthy game. If you keep following me shamelessly, don't blame me for using my spear to destroy your anus, letting your wish be fulfilled!""You disgusting bastards!...... Why are you still here? Piss off right now! Don't dirty Wild Wolf Castle
      " someone in the crowd started to curse at them loudly. Afterwards, Glaze's group was immediately buried by curses.

      "You didn't know? Some male students in their youth would be very depressed. If they are poorly self-disciplined, they might even do something strange!"

    • "
      During the survival training, the male students would always show their own abilities and worth, while the female students showed their value for reproduction."
    • "Regardless of s*x, white people had the advantage over Chinese people when it came to physical development. Taking this beauty as an example, although she looked no more than 16 years old, her hot figure could even match those Chinese women in their thirties."
    • "girls were born to wait for a man with a whip to conquer them!"
[collapse]

Now anti-capitalism/anti-vaccine/racism:

Spoiler
    • Perhaps others didn't have this feel, but the moment he saw the scarlet-dragon flag that represented the authority of the Norman Empire, he had already accepted the new rulers of Blackhot City inwardly. Since dragon was the totem of the Chinese clan, with dragon as the national symbol, of course the Norman Empire could obtain Zhang Tie's consent.
    • Perhaps this explained how different it was between the army ruled by businessmen and the army ruled by an emperor. People could clearly sense that solemn atmosphere of the imperial nation through the comparison between the two armies.
    • We Chinese is one most honorable human race, and the reincarnation of the Heaven's Dao.
    • In the name of injecting vaccines, some viruses would be injected in their bodies so as to completely destroy people's immune system. Those viruses could even restrict people's potential, as well as further improving and liberating people's DNA
[collapse]
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ijen
ijen rated it
January 16, 2020
Status: v59
What's more annoying than reading a useless user review which is incomplete. Don't bother writing your tr*shy feelings here cause none gives a damn.

Ok, now back to the review. Status- Completed

When I stumbled upon this novel I was searching for a huge harem with lots of XOXO. This novel is truly underrated if you like one directional novel like coiling dragon but not this. As usual MC founds a cheat like power and becomes the top of the world like 100000 wannabe Chinese stories. Not gonna spoil the story but... more>> summarize it with points only.

Perks:

1. A huge harem and lots of xoxo

2. Cheat power. Slightly likable power

3. Weak to strong and gaining reputation genuinely.

4. Deep conspiracies unlike other shallow wuxia novels which is somewhat thrilling

5. Has tragedy

Enjoyed:

1. The harem was big and plenty xoxo. But, there was once when one love interest said goodbye to MC because she wanted a true 1v1 love not a harem. I liked that part as an exception and her name was alice as in coiling dragon's bit*h. Not here though.

2. MC no matter how immortal he becomes always filial to his roots. Probably the only MC who thinks about low level foot soldiers from their standpoints and care about them. That's why the reputation he gains is praiseworthy.

3. The MC thinks before he acts and pretty intelligent due to plot armor. So, in the earlier parts of the novel MC solves problems in genuine cleaver ways, not in the latter part though.

4. MC opens a cult of religion. And the mindset is somewhat hilarious.

5. Good opening and good ending but middle part is somewhat mixed.

Disliked:

1. The world description is pretty lame. All though author, in the end could give us a full picture, it's somewhat deus ex machinaISH. When MC gets in trouble a new map opens and with out any mention of it before.

2. I hated this part the most. MC has a cheat like power or bloodline where he can change his face, voice annnnnd you can guess the rest. Fk if you get in trouble and just change your face, all problems go away. So, what's wrong with having a meteor fall from sky and killing your enemy everytime, huh? I hate deus ex machina you shi**y author. What's so bad is that author uses this trump card 10-15 times in the whole novel, not once or twice. Any problem just change his face. And each time the arc lasts 50-100 chapters of tr*sh story. To all authors, there are lots of ways how MC can escape problems even without disguise and how you do this defines how good you are as an author. Stop taking easy ways out. Because of this the story lost a full star.

3. MC loves every woman he sees almost. But he is sincere so he opens a bank account for every girl with lots of money. What's interesting is that every woman MC desires as in fantasy sense or dream sense marries someone else. So, MC remains with ones where he falls in love naturally together. MC has a huge harem with variety of nationalities and he wanted all of them to stay together. Alas, factions are formed and one faction decided to leave MC to go back to their roots because a caveman enjoys the cave more than a scifi world, metephor! MC could only watch with broken heart. Something came out of the tr*shy thing called harem, a harsh truth.

4. MC has a strong infamous master who played lesser than a side character screen time. What's the point then!!

5. Although the story has lots of xoxo, it's only 1-2 lines long. Come on although I don't want an erotica here but still you should write 5-6 lines about it or at least one good scene for every harem character.

6. The story is human vs demon. Where did demons came from, where did demons ended nothing described fully. Only the war process and collusion of traitors are the highlight of the war.

Overall, the story was really enjoyable at first and the ending is good. The romance was shaky and somewhat enjoyable. The deus ex machina parts are a big minus. So, from 5 it became 3. I recommend this even though I said so much against it.

PS: No ntr here even though mc's dream girls leave him with others. All have peaceful seperations <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
KirbyReviews44
KirbyReviews44 rated it
December 16, 2019
Status: Completed
This novel is a very good read. It is not a tr*sh tier brainless cultivation novel. The setting, plot, powers, characters are all well done and unique. Because its already complete and translations are also complete, its a worthwhile long term read for anybody who is looking for a novel to dive into. Here are the good aspects:

  1. Unique world and setting in a 'steam punk' style. A lot of stuff about steam engines, air ships. The enemy of humans in this steam punk world is the underground race of demons that seek to conquer the humans. The author does a tremendous job in world building in this novel and making sure factions and characters have unique traits.
  2. Very compelling rags to riches story. The MC stays true to his self even when he becomes s*upid rich and powerful later the novel. He cares for commoners and doesn't seek to lord of people.
  3. The author puts in effort to write compelling plot that is not based on the standard tr*sh tier cultivation novel of ret*rd young masters. The schemes of humans against humans and demons against humans drive a lot of the main plot lines. Mini arcs may be driven by human jealousy or plots against the MC but they seem fresh and exciting.
  4. The MC has a lot of interesting powers. The cheat powers the MC has is probably the most varied, OP, and hack powers in all the webnovels. But, the MC uses them in the right situation and they are very interesting to read. I won't spoil them because the way the MC uses them early in the novel is one of the strong points of the novel. Also, even though his cheats are pretty OP, he still puts himself in life or death situations due to his character and values so his fights against enemies do not get stale.
  5. Its complete, and the ending is pretty good. You can invest time into the novel and feel satisfied.
Now, for my rebuttal to the two main issues other people have with the novel, the s*x and the Chinese nationalism.

  1. I will admit that some people may be put off by some s*xual scenes, especially in the early chapters. There are descriptions of male students masturbating to a really sexy female teacher at a male high school. But, really, if you think about it, its the fantasy of a lot of young men and its just a depiction of reality, especially at an all male school. The MC also ends up in a lot of orgies with his harem of women as his favorite trick is to have s*x with all his women at the same time. I can't stop some people from being put off by this and refuse to read the novel. All I can say is that if you can dial down your disgust meter, I think the unique plot and powers of the MC will drive your interest.
  2. People complain that the novel is way dialed up on Chinese nationalism. Its true, however if you are here, you are reading a lot of novels written by Chinese authors and then translated. The author writes with a heavy, heavy Chinese perspective. The author creates a steam punk world where the dominant culture for hundreds of years was Chinese. Imagine if the author was American and he created a world where the dominant culture was American. Same thing really. Its just a different perspective. If you think its too much and you don't want to read it, that's fine. Totally understandable, but please don't tr*sh a great webnovel just because its in a different perspective.
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Bai Xiaolong
Bai Xiaolong rated it
September 9, 2017
Status: c8
When I first read the synopsis, I thought it was going to be a decent novel but the first 5 chapters are basically about the MC's lust and vulgarity.

Though I know that the MC is going through puberty and such, this is a little to much for me.

Don't get me wrong, I've read a lot of novels which have vulgar material in it, but this made me stop and think that it was way too lustful.

This is only my opinion so you can try the book out if you want.
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Eternal Hunter
Eternal Hunter rated it
July 26, 2017
Status: c185
Up until the survival arc, the novel felt very "slice of life" like.

The MC is not a kickass supertsmart guy that's reincarnated. Don't expect him to blow your mind from the get go.

It's a slow start, however, I can say that the MC grows up, especially from the survival arc and onward. He might still be a bit silly at times, and naive at certain moments, there is clear cut character progression. He's able to assess his mistakes and won't do them a second time.

At c185 where I'm at the... more>> moment, it feels like now (to use MMORPG terms) he's finally leaving the beginner village. <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Daniel_Francolin
Daniel_Francolin rated it
July 28, 2021
Status: c285
Oh my god! I can't take this! I need to shout!

F*ck! This story is actually very good but the repeated glorifying of Chinese makes me very irritated

chinese here, Chinese there. Chinese is the peak of humanity. Chinese is the only hope of humanity.

... more>> Chinese has privileges everywhere. Chinese needs to be learned because I forgot the reason but it should be because they consider Chinese as a very huge nation.

It also seems like only the Chinese has ancestral bloodlines but others doesn't.

What the f*ck is wrong with this author?

F*ck! F*ck I can't take it. A good story got ruined with the excessive Chinese. Every other element in this world is transformed and changed into fantasy elements other than CHINESE. It ruins the mood.

Sorry I just need to say this. The story is very good but is also very irritating. <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
LAFORGUS
LAFORGUS rated it
April 20, 2020
Status: Completed
A Wonderful Novel being ruined by the Author wanting to increase word count, but this will be a long review and also a thought about other people's review.

1-First thing first, about other's reviews:

... more>>
Spoiler

a) People says the author is racist and the novel has a lot of patriotism.
This is false, the issue here is that the novel is made by a Chinese author to Chinese people, even if we get lucky to find some one who will translate it for us the people of the world, it doesn't mean that the author have to please our culture, in fact, every author is like this. If I was the author, being from the Caribbeans, I would depict the Hispanic people as the best thing ever, and the G8's people are a bunch of Plebs ret*rds. The same reason why Japanese Mechas Animes, only have monster attacking Japan.

b) People Complain about the s*x innuendos, Harem and the swearing words.
Not sure why kids with close minds and religious frustrated people are reading an "Adult Novel" directed to Mature people, who is not a shut-in, an frustrated virg*n, or some antisocial jealous SJW. I found nothing wrong with these words, which only happens a little at the beginning, and for the s*xual innuendos, well, is a realistic depiction of the world.

People who lives in a modern age with a modern moral standard cant expect to read a novel where they find boy scout, in a world where the strong is supreme, THAT is very FALSE, read human history and you will see that all you hate to read in a novel about Human Behaviors, is nothing more than a representation of our past, so while you can life in a confy home with a fridge and internet, you can complain about multiple women, that DOESN'T apply in a culture where society doesn't have morals.

[collapse]

2- Ok, now lets start the Review of the Novel:

Spoiler

The beginning is slow, I like that, gives you more time to enjoy the MC's initial stages instead of being thrown into a tragedy right away. Such as the novel Swallowing Star (from IET), the MC finds a Plot Armor device who helps him to Cultivate Fast.

MC is a smart guy who never stay silent and rebukes any one even mayor powers when he is on discomfort, he is very loyal to his parents and friends, a well refreshing MC.

Overall the Novel is a good read away from mainstream cheap MC Novels, and those Hypocrite MC (mostly those transmigration) who never adapt to the history they belong to, it pisses me off, you cant be a saint in the world of power and strength, that is just lip-service and gratuitous self measurements to those readers who are either virg*n or live with their mom in a bas**ent.

[collapse]

3-Now time for Complains:

Spoiler

As I said in the beginning, the novel is Great at the start all the way up to a little more half way, then the Author falls himself to the Religion of the "World Count" and instead of advancing the plot, he decides to expand on gibberish on the same place, even with introduction of irrelevant NPC characters, where he spend Chapters (more than One (1)) explaining things. (just the Bloating takes Off a Star of this Review)

The Plot Armor who is the Castle of Black Iron, is never used as intended! He says "People would hunt me down if they know my secret" but STILL everything Hunts him down for trivial reasons, and most of the time ending on near dead situation Many Times. He hides secrets when he doesn't need to, I hate that in a novel, I know that the Author do that to create a shocking reveal, but on this case it doesn't work, is not as shocking as author wanted it to be. Author creates Heller to fill the Plot Holes he himself creates, and makes Heller Remember MC of things, Abilities and aspects of the Novel that the Author Himself forgot in the past, Heller comes to be, the representation of the Readers on this novel. Anything readers complain about on previous chapter, Heller comes out and points it, reminding the MC of things he should do. Which should have been Obvious if the Author didn't forget.

About Romance, there is some flirts and feelings development (a lot better than Senior Apprentice Sister's Dead), also I enjoy Harem. Even on Real life People have Wife, girlfriends and some f*ck buddies, so this is normal, BUT. Too much is TOO much! Gratuitous Harem partners shouldn't have existed at much an Harem of 4-5 women is good, if they have good developments, but it seems the Author was laying eggs waiting for ideas and increase world count, they even become unimportant later on, and the Author have the BALLZ (yup with Z) to write about the Wives complain wanting to separate from MC with their Kids, So the Author used his Messed up Harem to create more World Count Chapters.

After 1200 Chapters you will see yourself skimming chapters, because the author's world Counts Power become a Treat to the readers.

[collapse]

TLDR:

Is a good read, very nice novel out of mainstream and classic content out there, if you are a fast reader (with some Skim Skills) go ahead, is good. <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Zeeksi
Zeeksi rated it
January 4, 2020
Status: Completed
Enjoyed it immensely, the start was totally unlike any other cultivation novel I've read as it had a very steampunk/rough industrial feel to it which was totally unexpected but mentioned several times in many reviews so no need to cover it again.

The scale gradually gets larger but compared to other novels, doesn't really get that big as it's just contained to a few worlds instead of going everywhere across the universe, it felt like it'd go that direction but didn't.

The characters are ok, most of the women in it are... more>> very basic, they often have personalities before getting together with MC but after they get with him, he will often not see them again nor their kids for many many years along with bringing new women back. It does lead to some bad situations that made me feel for MC but there were alot of them so it was just another one for the pile.

The harem itself is disappointing but the ending is bittersweet.
Spoiler

Yunxi thinks their kid will be better than it's father but Zhang Tie's strength doesn't come from his bloodline which is the whole point of Yunxi being special, he will just have slightly better bloodline and given all the heavenly ones ZT activated, it'll be crazy but the kid will never have to put in as much effort in his life compared to his father.

[collapse]

It really feels like the author had a lot more planned as there are several plotlines that never get covered again, the big bad guy isn't actually defeated, so many pieces are just left unexplained and we were still being introduced new things <20 chapters from the end.
Spoiler

What was the point of upgrading the tree? What was the point of getting the tadpole rune sutra? Did he make the weapon to kill knights as non-knights? Did he go back to the other world? What is the point of the infinite prison?

[collapse]

Tbh I did get pissed when he was forcefully weakened the last time after his egg incident, it was annoying every time he was weakened but it seemed to be the only way for the author to make him 'slow down' and usually pick up a new harem member or uncover a plot towards the end.

I was really looking forward to the time he would be taking massive amounts of people into his personal space, evacuating the planet or something as it sounded like that'd be needed and he made so many preparations for it.

I was hoping that we'd get to uncover more about the universe, all the strong people that don't exist anymore, the reasons why things happened and a lot of other things, but it feels like we're only given a superficial look at the world and then it just ends. Could've easily been double in length and still felt a good story for me.

I liked it, starting was very awkward and there's a lot of things that feel like 'propaganda' which can be skipped without missing anything
Spoiler

All the stuff about Hua people being so much better than everyone else and the Hua people's views on other 'races'

[collapse]
but overall if you can get past some shortcomings, it's good and not full of too many annoying elements.

Spoiler

Thinking back to it now, the author could totally revisit the ending by making it another s*upid 'dream scene' and redo everything but honestly, that ending just sucks. It basically comes out of no where.

[collapse]
<<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Lacking Motivation
Lacking Motivation
November 17, 2019
Status: c1100
Very heavy on sexism and racism.
Spoiler

Females and males have the same strength but females must submit to males because their "emotions are weak"... Females cannot have their own surname. Males must fight and females can only make babies.

[collapse]

Spoiler

Western people not giving special treatment to "hua" (the chinese bastards in this story) is a grave sin and they should be happy to be the s*x and labor s*aves of the chinese....

Also korean and japanese people are very dumb and weak in this story and are very eager to be the s*aves of the chinese (no joke)

[collapse]
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Leave a Review (Guidelines)
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.