RegisterLogin
Theme
Search
Series Group
Library of Heaven’s Path
Type
Web Novel (CN)
Genre
Tags[ ]
Loading...
Tags List | Request Tag
Rating(3.8 / 5.0, 1395 votes)
5    52% (724 votes)
4    13% (178 votes)
3    12% (162 votes)
2    8% (118 votes)
1    15% (212 votes)
Language
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
N/A
Year
Example: 2012
2016
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
2268 Chapters (Completed)
Licensed
Yes
Completely Translated
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
Release Frequency
Every 305.7 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #1314
Monthly Rank: #807
All Time Rank: #11
Reading List
[Graph]
On 13095 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #1946
All Time Rank: #77

Description

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

Traversing into another world, Zhang Xuan finds himself becoming an honorable teacher.

Along with his transcension, a mysterious library appears in his mind.

As long as it is something he has seen, regardless of whether it is a human or an object, a book on its weaknesses will be automatically compiled in the library.

Thus, he becomes formidable.

“Emperor Zhuoyang, why do you detest wearing your underwear so much? As an emperor, can’t you pay a little more attention to your image?”

“Fairy Linglong, you can always look for me if you find yourself unable to sleep at night. I am skilled in lullabies!”

“And you, Demon Lord Qiankun! Can you cut down on the garlic? Are you trying to kill me with that stench?”

This is an incredible story about teachers and students, grooming and guiding the greatest experts in the world!

Associated Names
One entry per line
LOHP
Thiên Đạo Đồ Thư Quán
Tian Dao Tu Shu Guan
天道图书馆
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
History’s Number 1 Founder (18)
I’m Really a Superstar (9)
History’s Strongest Senior Brother (9)
The Book Eating Magician (6)
Cultivation Chat Group (6)
Running Away From The Hero! (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Para ler
  2. My Top Cool-Smart-Calm MC Novel - List
  3. Novel's i enjoyed to Read
  4. Good novel
  5. Are U Lacking Laughs in UR Life

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/14/17 Webnovel c80
03/12/17 Webnovel c79
03/11/17 Webnovel c78
03/09/17 Webnovel c77
03/08/17 Webnovel c76
03/07/17 Webnovel c75
03/06/17 Webnovel c74
02/23/17 Webnovel c73
02/22/17 Webnovel c72
02/21/17 Webnovel c71
02/21/17 Webnovel c70
02/20/17 Webnovel c69
02/19/17 Webnovel c68
02/18/17 Webnovel c67
02/18/17 Webnovel c66
123…6
Go to Page...
Go to Page...
Write a Review
247 Reviews sorted by


PoSunBanYi
New PoSunBanYi rated it
February 23, 2021
Status: c400
The most kind of ridiculous writing, on the most promising different modus operandi chinese cultivation novel.

What starts as light and well, how to put it, simple; turns into a desperate savage of- "hey, is that a fly¿" *random#1532 started hesitating, after all, he's hesitating, let alone MC, hestitates* "ok then, let's humiliate, insult his efforts just to be gratified and get ours balls all scratched so pleasurably" -*Anyone else*: "True!".

MC does not only have no character, he is supposed to be a grown adult at his past life,... more>> just to become ret*rded. A librarian who doesn't know how a human could think¿ Lame.

No character, at all, let alone something as important as a feeling of being a MC, it feels more like a side-story suddenly becoming more intense than the main novel, but in the end is all a fraude and is being forced, non-stop, without any sense of reasoning.

Any other characters lives for MC.

That's it, that's one of the worst sh*t there is in some novels, not even BTTH was so adamant and ret*rded upon side-characters, here, anyone exists only for MC, they aren't a character in a novel regardless their role, they're just npc mode for ever, any and every single one of them.

1* For different plot, although comparing it to ED, this one is a suck-up all the way till you get the blood and marrow clean off the body through the balls to "the higher-ups" of society, and that's what this novel is based about... -2*.

1* For at least having a sense of progression of "knowledge" and importancy of not relying on brute force when havng such a 2, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 IQ cheat. Litreally, that's what kept me going until- I got tired of cultivation being mentioned as highest important but is in fact, just a f*cking word being written, as much as inconsistent "You..." everywhere for by no reason at all (thanks satan he isn't a scripter), which means -1*.

Anything else is the less, romance¿ meh, kinship¿ can't go through it with pixels.

Would recommen this to a starter of reading chinese novels, but I believe this ridiculous MGA level of writing is nowhere near satisfactory to give it a full read, only if you wanna experience a new thing until you actually get tired of seeing the same plot that happened 5 chapters ago repeat itself in 30 chapters after the actual one lasts for 20... how many chapters does this novel ha- oh, no, im, f*cking, out. <<less
0 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Purps
New Purps rated it
February 17, 2021
Status: Completed
Classic Face Slaps, Repeats and all that Plot Armour >:o HWA plot ar mor

I liked the novel

Ending Spoilers V

... more>>
Spoiler

classic pointless ending with MC ascending the highest realm in existence because why not? then. all of a sudden. there is a higher world. reason? mysteries for another potential novel :/ (unlikely tho, Author said next book wouldn't be about MC and Father-in-Law

[collapse]

if was gonna say one thing... that REALLY Pissed me off... twis be this

Spoiler

he ends up getting together with Qiqi, seriously? cant have just one novel where the MC is Monogamous? sigh

[collapse]

Spoiler

although im quite happy that my boy Sun Qiang finally got some at the end

[collapse]

Spoiler

also some disciple's father came back to life, that was pretty neat, sadly it was just randomly announced for like a paragraph towards the end, then ignored with the rest of his disciples

[collapse]
<<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
hphunter
hphunter rated it
June 29, 2017
Status: c129
Okay, this novel has good and bad points.

Good points:

  • Characters (at least initially) seem interesting
  • Having the protagonist as a teacher seems like a novel idea
  • A somewhat light tone and some comedic situations are peppered between the face-slapping contests
  • Translation was good
Bad points

  • Characters are pretty shallow and fill very few types of stereotypes:
    • The "you-dare?!" type of misfit who was born to oppose MC in every action
    • The "hmmph!" snob woman whose beautiful complexion enchant everyone but MC
    • Side characters who are despise the MC but as he opens his mouth then they become speechless
    • Students who have been miraculously cured and now have their cultivations soaring the heavens
  • s*upid MC who has everyone jerking him off because oooh he's so good ahh so smart... But he has ZERO merits as his knowledge is obtained via a cheat. The worst part? He thinks he's the shit.
  • His teachings are s*upid as his cultivation. There's no wisdom, it's like you're learning skills from a game's NPC. There's no development, no bad aspects, he just writes a book that makes his student become the shit. like he think he is.
  • When there isn't anyone jerking him off, then it's time for the face slapping. And the face slapping isn't as fun as Emperor's Domination as ED's MC at least put effort into his cultivations, share some wisdom and treasures to his followers but no, in this novel you'll see s*upid people throwing their faces into MC's face. And the worst part is that everyone is so senseless s*upid, I can't believe a society with only half-brained people can be formed like this. There is no common sense, no sense of politics or intrigue. No, my name is Misfit-48, you stepped on my toe, prepare to die! *gets destroyed*
  • Really, this is like the author read Martial World, Against the Gods, I'm really a Super Star, Ancient Strengthening Technique, Sovereign of the Three Realms and Anciently Godly Monarch, put them into a blender and put into a plate that was a school. I don't say this novel is worse, but it isn't any better than any of the previous mentioned ones.
As you can notice I wrote more about the bad points than the good ones. Well, that's because this isn't a very good novel. Read this while you're in the toilet cultivating.
135 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
archigoel
archigoel rated it
December 29, 2016
Status: c132
I have read ahead till c132.

It's very entertaining till now, and there are awesome "Face slapping" scenes. But, I don't like the direction book is going:

1. Whole story is "modelled" around Face-slapping, which though may feel good initially, really makes the story very silly. Till now I just see events to show how great "MC" is. These kind of stories dont hold my interest very long.

2. MC can learn anything at click of button (like NEO did in Matrix). My favourite part in Xianxia is where MC spends countless efforts... more>> to learn and achieve a skill. Here power and skill is gained like in western novels - u gain power immediately, without any effort.

Author seems to be writing for the subscriptions and I don't see long term coherent plot here. Also, MC has started getting "Super arrogant", which I absolutely despise. <<less
121 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Rrett
Rrett rated it
July 23, 2017
Status: c110
This has to be one the lowest effort stories I've ever seen.

Save yourself the time in reading it. It's poorly done. The characters are simple, world building doesn't really exist, and all the conflict is extremely shallow.

I don't know how people think this story is any good. I made an account on this site just to give a review that actually reflects this stories quality.
54 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
DeathStroke96
DeathStroke96 rated it
April 24, 2017
Status: c100
The first 100 chapters are not anything special, I had my curiosity spiked towards this novel due to many people saying how they were willing to lnmtl it, so I read it, I will say that the first 70 or so chapters were ok but even that's stretching it a bit too far...

basically what this novel revolves around is face slapping, and misunderstandings to make the main character look as if he was a god, but don't bring in logic into it- a lesson I have learnt from my first... more>> senseless/logicless xianxia, so I never bring in logic and this reviews rating doesn't change my opinion of it even if I mention a logic point, however let me ask you this question, how the heck does a 19 year old become a teacher of 16/17 year olds because thats what I understood from it, they might have been 14/15 if I memory is not serving me properly...

characters are 2 dimensional - all you find is them looking down on the MC, you clearly have those bad and good guys if they dont look down on the MC... I find the library power interesting but it is also applied s*upidly because the author could have had it that upon touching a book it would be instantly copied into his library instead of him opining and looking through each book and looking like a ret*rd which the characters in the novels also assume but than he face slaps them and they are assumed to have misunderstood him for some messiah...

nothing special about the novel, so if you have nothing better to do than give it a go, in my opinion it is a totally avoidable novel... <<less
54 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Sleepy Z
Sleepy Z rated it
August 2, 2017
Status: c425
Sooooo... I had real high hopes for this one. Good comedy, decent plot, no beta MC or anything. But it follows the exact same formula for every situation...

The MC will 'randomly' run into famous people, end up at some event, or some situation where someone is helpless ect.

EVERY time, the MC stands by the side playing it cool, and then will casually say something along the lines of "oh i'll give it a try".

And then there's always a character who starts shaming him or some shit, and the MC of... more>> course is too magnanimous to respond negatively.

MC completes task and makes everyone 'dumbfounded'.

People suck up to MC.

MC moves on while people 'sigh in regret'.

Rinse and repeat. I don't think any situation has deviated from that. At all.

Oh and up to chapter 425 only like 2 months have past since the story began.

What? <<less
52 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
vladimir935
vladimir935 rated it
December 24, 2016
Status: c235
Very funny so far, and if you like History's Number 1 Founder you will probably like this. The MC is a guy that is reincarnated into a body of a worst teacher in some academy for cultivation and gets some kind of heavenly ability in his mind that allows him to see any and all weaknesses one has in their cultivation technique or body etc. So far (ch.6) the story is focused on him recruiting student in a very funny manner so it's entertaining and if you like that kind... more>> of stuff I recommend this novel.

Spoiler

Update
So I caught up to the raws (235) and the story just gets better. I am gonna spoil few interesting thing the MC does so if you don't mind being slightly spoiled and want to know what to expect read this

Spoiler

So the story focuses on the MC's OPnes and is based on MC impressing and face smacking. The MC has a very OP ability, he can flip through a whole library of books and have it all copy and pasted in his "mind" library and it pretty much becomes his knowledge (though he doesn't know it, whenever someone asks the question he knows the answer immediately and later he has an ability to learn it all instantly). So he goes to his school library for cultivation that only teachers can access, copies all books, removes the flaws and creates the perfect OP technique for himself so he goes through level of cultivation in mater of minutes.

The only reason he doesn't just become the god in one week is because he needs like (for example) 1000 seven level flawed cultivation manuals to create one perfect seven level manual and he doesn't have the manuals for the higher levels.

The other good thing is his relationship with his students and other OP people. I mean he bends his back for the 5 students he has and spends a lots of money to unlock their potential and the students really love and respect their master.

Also there are few cliche "I am a rich young master, how dare you tr*sh exist" kind of characters but they appear at the beginning and some of them even become good guys and redeemable. And the novel is VERY funny (in my opinion)

[collapse]
[collapse]
<<less
52 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Greimour
Greimour rated it
January 18, 2018
Status: c502
At chapter 100 my rating of the story was around 4.8 stars.

At around chapter 300, my rating of the story was about 3.5 stars.

Now at chapter 502, I am probably going to stop reading it. The story does not change at all.

1: This and That is impossible...
2: MC uses special gift to see a solution that would be impossible for anyone else and says he will give it a go.
3: Everyone in this world is a Snob, thinks of the MC as a young and incompetent idiot, their... more>> status is ALWAYS (presumed to be) higher than the MC. They tell him he is an idiot, a fool, deserves a beating, should go die, etc.
4: MC shuts them all up by performing the miracle that he set out to do.
5: Everyone unrelated to the MC prior to the event, especially those that badmouthed him, spit/cough blood, want to pass out and other exaggerated reactions.
6: Move to a new place, meet new people, do the same thing all over again.

The more I read this story, the more disappointed in it I become. <<less
39 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
kirayuki
kirayuki rated it
June 15, 2017
Status: c160
Just like tons of translated novels here, LOHP started decently and steadily crushed and burned as the story progressed in a bewildering mass of idiocy and confusion. Two stars for the novelty concept of having an OP library skill of the protagonist.

The humor in the story quickly lost its luster and all villains deteriorated into hopeless heap of blithering morons who only know how to react and show bewilderment due to the MC's staggering performance. You would think that all the characters and mobs in the story share the same... more>> genes and intellectual faculty for their ability to constantly spew the same nonsense all thorough out the story. You would constantly see lines like: "Brother, you think that breaking through from---to---is as easy as breathing?" If one is bombarded with the same lines from chapter 1 to 100+ chapters, it gets old really fast.

Story is also very formulaic and does not contain a shred of tension. Even the conflicts only serve as to showcase how perfect and awesome the MC is. So despite my feverish prayer for the story to take off and get back on track, it became apparent that this novel is cursed to be part of one of my growing list of "Dropped" novels. <<less
39 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
redbat5649
redbat5649 rated it
December 29, 2016
Status: c67
Although the chapters are very few, it has gotten me hooked with it's first 13 chapters. The problem is, we'll never know if it'll stop becoming interesting as the chapters goes on, as it's still too early to judge if it the novel is a good read or not. He still hasn't started teaching his students yet.

Update: This is starting to follow the standard xianxia trope and it's STALLING HARD, 3-5 chapters for a small event to finish. Really close to dropping the novel, too much bullsh*t and annoying antagonist... more>> with powerful backgrounds that always break rules of their own bets and would always try to kick the MC out of the school in every f*cking chapter. <<less
37 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Slants Perpendicular
Slants Perpendicular rated it
April 5, 2018
Status: c652
Library of Heaven's Path can aptly be described as History's Number One Founder's ugly little brother.

I'll start this review with the MC.

The MC is, like most other CN main characters, a Mary Stu. I bring this point up because he's the most prominent "I can do everything and anything in the world" character out of all the Chinese novels I've read. Personality wise though he's clueless, he gets all the answers but none of the clues. If he wasn't given a nosy person's wet-dream in library form he would... more>> most likely end up working in fictional McDonald's for life.

Next is the side characters.

Simply put, the characters on the MC's side are bread, and the enemy characters are toast. What I mean by that is that they're bland, ultimately toast is bread and bread can just as easily be toast. There really isn't much to be said, I've read worse characters and I've read better characters. Though special note for the MC's steward, he's probably one of the "better" additions character wise for this novel.

Onto the "plot."

The main plot seems to be getting to 9 Star Famed Master before the age of 30, complex I know, but you must let a genius do what he wants for true greatness.

The arcs in between can be summed up into two words "Face" and "Slap", with no deviation. New place? Break records and face slap, repeat until 9 Stared Fame Master. Maybe after achieving 9 Stars the plot will change a bit? Well even if it does, it doesn't excuse the over 652 chaps of repeated brain cancer.

Now I will give credit to the writer for a semi-original idea, that of teacher MC and a teacher oriented world. But unfortunately the author executed it with all the elegance and tact of a tightrope walker with parkinsons.

Now romance.

There is none. Bless Allah, praise be to God and thank you too Buddha. Seriously there is only two types of people I'm frightened of in this world, the first type being the crazy people who read Chinese novels for the romance. They must be masochists, I have yet to read a single good romance in Chinese novels, half of them don't even deserve to be called romances. So not having romance in your novel is a plus for me, since I would like to lessen my intake of sh*t not increase it.

Action.

I can and will keep this short, since the action in this novel can be summed up in one word: subpar.

Lastly but not leastly, humour.

Truthfully this novel does get the occasional chuckle from me, be it from pity or genuine glee I don't know. A big running gag in this novel is that the MC always breaks shit, be it human, treasure or array it will be broken when testing the MC. Personally I find this to be one of the better running jokes in the novel, but this too will likely over stay it's welcome. Do note that I'm easily amused and read this novel very sporadically in fear of actually getting brain cancer.

Rating

I have very little to say about this novel because it's really just a massive formula in novel form, 'loop loop and loop some more for that pay check' is the author's life motto. I would give it a Chinese 1/10 but I'm going to give its big brother HN1F some face and round that 1 up into a 2.

Final rating is a Chinese 2/10.

PS, . The novel's setting is a blend (mix up) of two religions. So either author is being experimental or he's confused the two. <<less
34 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
illusiveishfi
illusiveishfi rated it
January 24, 2017
Status: c231
So far what I have to say about it is. Its a good humorous novel with a tons of potential. There isn't a serious purpose for MC to run after yet other than pursuing his career and powering himself up, The ability of MC seems simple in the beginning but its actually really OP. If you are looking for something lighthearted to read then this is as good as u can find. I am already caught up to raw (231st chapter at the time I was reviewing it). And for... more>> me its a 5 star so far. <<less
25 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Ruyi
Ruyi rated it
December 26, 2016
Status: c80
Only read up to c8 so far and I'm already addicted! The story is fresh and fun, taking the perspective of a teacher rather than a typical MC transmigration. A character like this would be the side character in most stories, but here he takes center stage! I'm already interested in seeing his interactions with his fledging crop of students and how they'll progress the plot. The best part is how chill he is while his students do all the heavy lifting/training. Looking forward to more chapters soon!

EDIT: Read up... more>> to c80 in the raws and I am in love with this story. None of the people on the summary have shown up yet, but I think it's going to be epic when they do. :) <<less
24 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Fourthaid
Fourthaid rated it
April 8, 2017
Status: c80
I must admit to not expecting too much when I started reading this. It felt like it would be your standard transmigration novel. And it certainly is in most ways. There's a cheat ability of some kind given the MC, there are tons of people who underestimate him and use any chance to belittle him, etc.

However, what I find sets it apart is its humor, the attitude of the protagonist and the side characters. The people that spout nonsense at him are very quickly subdued, usually in very funny ways.... more>> Most of them usually quickly understand that he is better than what they assumed and go on to respect him (unless you are one of the more dense main "antagonists") for what he displays, rather than go on for chapter after chapter of chastising him without the MC revealing his hand.

Other novels of this kind I end up just quickly scrolling through chapters to get to the good part where the protagonist proceeds to the face-slapping. Library of Heaven's Path has lots of minor face-slapping incidents that build up to the BIG face-slapping incident that I just finished. It's glorious. <<less
23 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Raneday
Iris Lazuli rated it
January 9, 2017
Status: c17
As of now I'm really hooked up with this novel. This novel just show that shamelessness is really a good spice for a comedy novel. Although the number of chapters are still few you can already see the ability of the author here 'cause he already have the element to make you interested on reading his works.
18 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Zyst
Zyst rated it
January 16, 2017
Status: c27
Funny as heck — Don't expect anything else!

First, you must temper your expectations. This isn't the tale of a man and his journey to the top, standing above thousands through martial might. Instead this is the story of a teacher with a peculiar cheat which allows him to see through flaws, among other things about the target. He uses this on his path to become the darn best teacher ever. Expect a tale of repeated face smacking, weird misunderstandings, and people doing anything they can to preserve face. There are... more>> probably tons of plotholes, just come into this with a light heart, open your mind, end enjoy the comedy. <<less
16 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
gaianova
gaianova rated it
March 7, 2017
Status: c310
Library of Heaven's Path is an excellent story that's near the top of its genre - face-slapping. Its plot is really well written and even though you kind of know what is going to happen, but you can't help but anticipate what's going to happen next. The MC is thick-skinned, arrogant sometimes even, but I think there's a certain charm to smug protagonist as long as they don't push it too far. At the very least, I find it better than a weak-willed protagonist who allows himself to be pushed... more>> around by the rest of the world. The MC is also kind of like a genius who does everything others find hard to easily, so you can't expect him to grind up slowly. After all, that's the kind of book it is. However, this doesn't really mean he doesn't work hard. Time progresses really slowly in the book and he really does a lot within that short period of time everyday.

Next, it does have the idea of the relationship of teacher and student, but it doesn't focus heavily on it. However, the author has said that the next arc will focus on it (that's 300 by the way.)

Just like many has said, it's not a deep novel and rather, it is more like something you read after a tiring day to refresh yourself.

It has potential, and probably will continue to interest me for the next hundred chapters or so. There's a limit to face-slapping genre and eventually things may get repetitive and boring, but up to this point, it is a 5 stars for me. <<less
15 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
TWINKLETWILIGHT
TWINKLETWILIGHT rated it
February 16, 2017
Status: c63
It's really funny. Some of the side characters are huge narcissists and that just leads to hilarious scenarios.

Warning: The MC is dense which often leads to ridiculous misunderstandings. You'll either find it funny or find it really annoying. Proceed at your own risk. The translator is doing a really good job with the updates.
15 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Tkals13
Tkals13 rated it
January 31, 2017
Status: --
I actually like this novel, there tends to be some useless chatter/monologues from time to time but the story is still pretty enjoyable. The ability he gets happens to be pretty unique in my opinion and all though it's pretty easy to make him OP I think that's where we will have to truly rate the quality of the story. I want to see how he uses his ability to affect his students and the ppl around him and hopefully not just hide away somewhere get stronger then beat everyone... more>> up.. That's annoying! <<less
14 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ValriaIness
ValriaIness rated it
January 12, 2017
Status: c200
Rating: 4.7/5

It's very funny. Like seriously (especially if you understand Mandarin because of the words used). Not to say you can't enjoy this novel without knowing Mandarin, it's just I feel some jokes are difficult to translate (since I'm far with the RAWS). I'm a difficult reader as I am the type to stop half way if it no longer peaks my interest, but I doubt I will be bored with novel anytime soon.

Now about the MC, he is the knowledge OP type, shameless and slightly arrogant. He will do... more>> anything to obtain his goals. There are a lot of face slapping scene like in most Xianxia and is very entertaining to read. He always uses the weirdest way (According to the book's common sense) to do most of the stuff and the reaction from the other characters are also very entertaining.

As far as I can tell, the story evolves with jokes and face slapping scenes but, the main plot has yet to be shown. Only clues and such with 200c so far. I can say it's still early to tell if this is a good novel but I have it 5 stars because it really entertained me as I was reading it. <<less
14 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Zackarotto
Zackarotto rated it
May 29, 2018
Status: Completed
I was sometimes earnestly amused by LoHP, but I think I was hate-reading it as often as not. It's definitely not the most boring cultivator novel I've read, but it may be the most s*upid one. It can be fun for a while if you never think about anything. But as cultivator novel, it's poorly designed, and as a comedy novel, it's too repetitive and brainless. I never formed an emotional connection to any of it.

There were several points where I considered dropping it in the middle, as the chapter... more>> count seemed to stretch on forever and the story repeated itself, moving the goalposts and extending the cultivation realms -- there are seriously like 56+ large cultivation realms in this novel, or more, depending on how you count them. But I decided to keep going to the end once I learned the novel had actually ended, and due to the later accelerated pacing -- it gets moving a lot faster later, but that's not to say that it ever really fixes anything.

The series has a fun hook, which is probably what made the first couple hundred chapters so easily bingeable: Zhang Xuan has been transmigrated into a world where your strength is determined by the quality of cultivation manuals you're permitted to read, but access to libraries is limited, and he has the ability to read entire books in an instant just by touching them. Cool, right? But this is also one of the novel's biggest problems: his powers are poorly defined and never strictly limited, yet the author tries to have it both ways, not just writing strictly low-stakes comedy but attempting to write a dramatic story with life-and-death struggles. I'm reminded of a review (by veteran internet writer Seanbaby) of a low-budget Justice League cartoon from the 1970s:

  • Superman had at least 150 powers, and the writers were making up two or three more every episode. If a script called for it, Superman would leak paste out of his ears that can control the weather. His fingernails might cure cancer and create food, he may never remember. For example, Superman had heat-ray eyes and freeze breath. He could kill you by looking at you or breathing on you. From across the room with no hands. But he didn't. If a villain tied him up in a crappy rope, Superman would just sit there and watch the guy launch a nuclear missile at a kindergarten. The super power he used most often was getting a 10 year old boy to scream at his TV, "Your eyes shoot lasers, you s*upid f*cker! LASERS! Blow a hole in his head! Do you want the kids to die, super donglicker?! ASS!"
ZX is like Hanna-Barbera's Superman. With his "Library of Heaven's Path", he can compile a "book" on any object -- or any person, as long as they perform a technique in front of him. This is trivial, especially later on, when people channel their zhenqi into every minor action they make, so even just moving quickly is enough to form one of these books. The books contain all of the subject's "flaws", and even a synopsis of a person's entire life history, which ZX can also read instantly. Need to figure out who the traitor is, or if someone is trustworthy? Just check the book. He almost never does, of course, but he can.

Nevermind that "flaws" are a relative concept. We're told that ZX's cultivation has no flaws? But he requires exponentially more resources to cultivate than anyone else, isn't that a flaw? Sorry, but if you've ever wondered this, you've already given it more thought than the author. The premise gets extended too far, and it's hard to see any logic behind it. He can get good at painting by reading books about painting, but his pill-forging and blacksmithing skills remain strictly theoretical? Why is that?

But I'm not done explaining his overpowered skills. He can collect "golden pages", which have nearly unlimited power and versatility, by finding any random stranger off the street and earning their gratitude. These pages can be used to kill people more powerful than ZX himself in one hit, or can strengthen ZX's soul, or virtually anything else -- we never learn the limits of the pages, because any time he wonders if the pages can do something, they are able to do it. But wait, he can do something even more overpowered! ZX can determine whether FACTS ARE TRUE OR FALSE BY WRITING THEM DOWN. Yes, that's right: he can unlock the secrets of the universe with a short game of Twenty Questions, and it costs him nothing.

ZX goes really long stretches without using these powers, so you might sometimes think the author has realized with great shame and embarrassment that he wrote himself into a corner, and wants to bury an idea under the rug. When you release a new chapter every day, you can't really go back and fix the old parts, so I'm willing to look the other way sometimes. But then, a thousand chapters later, he suddenly does the true-or-false thing again. All sympathy goes out the window -- I thought we were stealth-retconning this! You could have been doing that all this time, you dumb bastard?!

The author does sometimes does casually make excuses to set limits on these abilities, but never does any serious reflection on the fundamental problem, and soon trips over these limiters and ignores them. He dodges every opportunity to clean up the messes he makes for himself. At one point he decides (far too late) that the library only works on people within a few cultivation realms of ZX, only for him to successfully use it on someone well above that limit soon after. In one case the author realizes he messed up by letting ZX compile a book on a character that would have ruined his whole story arc, so he says the Library compiled a "fake book", creating new rules that only apply to this one person, and never again after.

If I tried to list every nitpick, my review would take all day to read. I'm trying to stick to a few central points, and so far this boils down to thoughtlessness and poor planning. And there are countless examples of that. All beasts beyond a certain cultivation realm are self-aware beings with language and deserving of all rights given to humans, but are fundamentally designed as s*aves due to the "taming" system. All weapons and pills above a certain level are born with spirits, which is a terrible idea because he's technically committing murder every time he breaks a sword, such as by sticking one into a spatial vortex to test how dangerous it is. None of the characters care at all, and it drives me nuts. It would have been easy to change tack and say that past a certain level, beasts' souls are no more vulnerable to subordination than people, or that it turns out swords only develop consciousness if you forge them wrong. But the author never reflects on these problems. At the risk of spoiling a bit (and saving you some time), the higher realms are a perfect opportunity to drop a lot of the baggage, and we're even told that his folded space explodes and all his items are destroyed. But the author forgets, and he somehow still has these things when he needs them.

I also know some fans of the work will read my complaints about the lack of planning or logic, and will roll their eyes and say "But it's a comedy novel." And in response, I could point to hundreds of chapters about cultivation or battle which don't have a single joke. Or I could say that a great comedy series requires as much or more planning as a serious dramatic story, which is why I like "Cultivation Chat Group" so much. But above all, the comedy is far too formulaic to carry the novel past its faults. The novel has a dozen gags that it recycles infinitely:

  • How many times has ZX "traumatized" some elder by using an absurd cheat to accomplish something difficult, and not bothering to hide how easy it was for him?
  • How many times has ZX given some beast tamer the misconception that beasts are masochists by "pummeling" them?
  • How many times has ZX asked if it was allowed to use his tamed beasts in a duel, and then brought out some absurdly overpowered beast to beat someone for him?
  • How many times has someone spied on him while he absorbed millions of books into his library, and had some "He's not even reading anything!" reaction -- even after the realm where it's said that anyone can read books with their spiritual perception?
To the novel's credit, it has some really fun plotlines (well, some are; others are boring), and there are other ways of being funny. There are many situations where I think it comes down to matter of taste whether it's a good thing when it doubles down on being outrageous instead of planning things out carefully. It's really up to a reader to decide if it's idiotic or just extremely funny that, for example, whenever ZX needs to impress someone with his medical skills, everyone in a 500 km radius seems to be in terrible pain from some curable cultivation injury, sick of a rare disease, or cursed by evil spirits. When ZX decides he needs to earn money, it just so happens that the richest billionaire in the city has a sick wife and is willing to pay anything to see her cured. There are many examples of this farce. Strictly speaking, it's an over-reliance on coincidence, but there's a deliberate comic absurdism there which largely defines the humor of the series.

It's really ridiculous and I take some enjoyment in that. Characters will say, "Ah! He reached the fifth realm of painting!" There's no way it's not intentionally being foolish sometimes. The "Honor Defend Realm" of student-teacher relationships? How can that possibly not be tongue-in-cheek? It's over-the-top when ostensibly dignified experts in their fields behave more like Bulk and Skull from Power Rangers in some misguided attempt to punish ZX for some minor social infraction, but I really do like the insane misunderstandings and absolute shamelessness of so many characters. There have been a few characters I never expected to see again who ended up popping up again in some creative way, and I think it's nice that few people ever die in this novel, as it's better if each arrogant foil for ZX has a chance to make a return later in some comical way.

But there's never any real wit. Why need cleverness when everything works out in your best interests no matter how badly you screw up? Why get smart when all your opponents remain s*upid? ZX makes random assumptions that turn out to be correct. He creates a convoluted web of alter-egos for himself and leaves a trail of bread crumbs back to his true self that nobody ever follows. Even when word finally gets out about his ability to instantly kill people of higher cultivation realms than himself, nobody follows up on it. Real creative opportunities are missed -- especially with his clone. Even when -- and I'm spoiling this here -- he's told that he must stop using his library power, he keeps using it, and never suffers any consequences. Near the end of the series (chapter 2145 for those who have read this and don't remember), he gets a prophetic dream telling him he must start collecting more golden pages, and at the end of the series? He has one left over that he doesn't even end up using.

The character writing is no better. I can't bring myself to care about anyone. ZX himself is morally incoherent. He's supposed to be a kind-hearted teacher, but often humiliates random people who have done him no wrong, just so the sociopaths in the audience can chuckle at their aggrieved reactions. He shows great magnanimity to some enemies, but then kills people for trivial reasons, or steals from morally upright people, or puts millions of lives at risk without ever reflecting on his own wrongdoings (the volcano story arc). Side-characters are purely one-dimensional, and even his direct disciples get no time to shine, becoming completely blank slates once their personal plots are resolved. Bai Ruanqing doesn't go beating anyone up after becoming ZX's disciple, she just loses all character traits, like a wife in the SNES version of Harvest Moon.

The writing of women in particular is abjectly terrible. Cultivators strengths are constantly (and pointlessly) measured as forces in the billions of kg, but the differences in the natural average body mass and strength between the sexes is preserved, as that's part of the author's fantasy. So we're told that women can't become top pillmasters because they can rarely stand the heat of an apothecary cauldron, or that it's unfair for a man to fight a (willing) woman one-on-one in an official duel. ZX introduces a new pill, and it's described like this: "Ladies would be able to preserve their youth by consuming it, and men could heal their internal traumas, enhance their talent, and advance their cultivation..." Ugh.

The romance is no better. Though ZX is the emotionally obtuse type who never reciprocates, every love interest goes through the same predictable template: a woman starts off in higher social standing relative to ZX, whether as a higher-ranking teacher or the princess of a greater empire. (The more formidable they are, the more "rewarding" it is when they become filled with unending admiration for our hero.) Almost all of them end up getting left at the side of the road after a month, due to ZX's blistering growth rate. And then -- and I can't help but spoil this one, so quit now if you still care -- the novel ultimately sets up a "star-crossed lovers" plotline with one single woman ZX actually does care about, but still ends up backtracking in the end, with the bride's own father insisting that he marries another woman at the same time, strictly because a past love interest ended up sticking around in the story due to scrapped plot points, and the author was too chickensh*t to have winners and losers in love. So really all the novel manages to do is sabotage itself.

Anyway, there's no substance here. The struggle of cultivation has no meaning because past characters keep getting free rides back up to the top, and even ZX himself breaks through previously unsurpassed realms just by contemplating obvious truisms about love or duty that virtually every human being on the planet has thought about at one point or another -- and these parts are definitely not trying to be funny or ironic. Skip this novel -- even readers who think I've come down too hard on it can surely agree that there are other ones more deserving of your time. <<less
12 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
1 2 3 … 13
Leave a Review (Guidelines)
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.

Novel Updates

User Tools

Latest Discussions

| Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Contact Us