Reverend Insanity

Description

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Humans are the spirit of all living beings, Gu* are the essence of heaven and earth.

With his three views* unrighteous, a demon is reborn.

Former days are but an old dream, an identical name is made anew.

The story of a time traveler who keeps on being reborn.

A unique world that nurtures, refines, and uses Gu.

Spring Autumn Cicada, Moonlight Gu, Liquor Worm, Great Qi Golden Light Worm, Slender Black Hair Gu, Hope Gu…

And a great demon of the world that acts as his heart pleases!

A story of a villain, Fang Yuan who was reborn 500 years into the past with the Spring Autumn Cicada he painstakingly refined. With his profound wisdom, battle and life experiences, he seeks to overcome his foes with skill and wit! Ruthless and amoral, he has no need to hold back as he pursues his ultimate goals. In a world of cruelty where one cultivates using Gu – magical creatures of the world – Fang Yuan must rise up above all with his own power.

Note :

Gu are legendary venomous insects, often used in black magic practices. They can take on the form of several insects, usually snakes, crickets, worms, etc.

Three views = one’s world view, values of worth and philosophy on life.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Cổ Chân Nhân
Daoist Gu
Gu Daoist Master
Gu Zhen Ren
Master of Gu
RI
المبجل المجنون
เทพปีศาจหวนคืน (ไม่มีตอนจบ)
蛊真人
蠱真人
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Warlock of the Magus World (30)
The Human Emperor (13)
Zhanxian (12)
Dungeon Defense (12)
To Be a Power in the Shadows! (WN) (11)
Netheril’s Glory (11)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Grimdark Stories
  2. Best Novels I Read in years (Must read for you)
  3. Really Nice
  4. NO Romance
  5. all of my 5/5 novels

Latest Release

Date Group Release
07/17/17 Webnovel c4
07/17/17 Webnovel c3
07/17/17 Webnovel c2
07/17/17 Webnovel c1
02/25/17 Shugui Translations c6
02/25/17 Shugui Translations c5
02/04/17 Shugui Translations c4
02/01/17 Shugui Translations c3
02/01/17 Shugui Translations c2
06/25/16 Shugui Translations c1
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331 Reviews sorted by


Kekboi97
Kekboi97 rated it
October 31, 2021
Status: c577
RI is the most bloated and nauseatingly poorly edited piece of writing I've ever had the misfortune of reading. I don't understand how so many people like it. Putting aside the poor quality of the translation, you could remove 80% of the passages and you'd be left with a much more readable novel. Every single chapter goes like this:

Fang Yuan does something amoral for obvious reasons. It results in his advantage.

Long passage explaining why he did the amoral thing for obvious reasons.

Fang Yuan thinking to himself: Hah, what I did... more>> may be immoral and may have resulted in an impact to my reputation, but I don't care about reputation! Reputation is merely a tool to bind one into this useless system! The only thing that matters is my strength and my cultivation level!

Long winded, poorly written allegoric tale about societal structure and social contract. It results in the conclusion that goodwill and altruism only serve to restrict ambitions.

Minor side character thinking to himself: This Fang Yuan is too devious and cunning! I have to do something about it, but alas, I cannot. Because while he's an amoral piece of shit, he's technically not breaking any rules.

Minor female side character talking to minor side character: This is unacceptable, we have to do something!

Minor side character talking to minor female side character: We can't. You don't understand this because you're female, thus s*upid. This is how society works, we are bound by rules. Another long winded explanation of why Fang Yuan did such a thing and why they can't retaliate.

Minor female side character: Oh, I understand now, thank you for enlightening me. Excuse my womanly ways please, I did not understand these subtleties because I am not in possession of male g**italia!

Fang Yuan, smirking to himself with a cold gleam in his eye: Hehehe, wow I am so ruthless. But I am not ruthless just for the sake of it. This is the demonic path to power, I am only ruthless when it benefits me!

Rinse and repeat ad nauseam, at least 400 times. Beat your readers over the head with the theme of the novel without any semblance of subtlety until you've ensured that even the most moronic of your readers have gotten the point. Congrats, you have successfully written Reverend Insanity. There are some good points, the plot points aren't always predictable and the cultivation system is interesting but FY as an MC is completely one dimensional and uninspired and all the good points are buried under a sea of mediocrity and bloat. Reading it is impossible without skimming through the hundredth paragraph explaining the same thing over and over. Chinese web novel authors in general don't understand editing as a concept (Mostly due to the word quotas they're trying to fulfil, leading to a very bloated and crowded piece of writing) and show don't tell in terms of approach to exposition, but RI takes it to another level. <<less
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icecream
icecream rated it
October 8, 2017
Status: c47
I love how malicious this MC is. He simply is doing what he can at the time he can do it. So while his actions are morally questionable, I still really like him as a character because they writing makes it to where I can empathise with him, although I can't sympathise. The other characters are also interesting and aren't just shallow minded 2d characters you can find anywhere. So the conflict is something to look forward to between all these great characters and I think the world building is... more>> also well planned to make this story become even more "alive" and captivating. <<less
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Seregosa
Seregosa rated it
May 17, 2018
Status: c130
This novel really isn't good, even if it had promise and I really wanted to like it. The only reason it's worth a 2/5 is because the translation is okay and the MC has a fairly interesting personality, but the author screws up EVERYTHING and turned this novel into a chore to read.

No, it's not because I dislike the MC. I like his ruthlessness. The issue is the way the author is writing this and that f*cking ret*rded power system.

The author puts in WAY too much drivel, musings and thoughts... more>> into this novel. A few poems and many exaggerated descriptions (he needs to explain every f*cking thing, how everything looks, its details, why the MC did this or that, what this can do, what that can do, everything, even if it's completely irrelevant, he also needs to re-explain everything after the MC did something in a sort of summary, to make sure we, the readers who are clearly ret*rded in his opinion, gets it) makes the MC look like some type of chuunibyou patient that tries way too hard to look cool, but it ends up feeling forced and s*upid instead. Everyone also has to muse out loudly, like the enemy explaining their abilities in their thoughts, as if they would ever think that "I have this cultivation and this sea level so I need to do like this"... F*ck no.

Oh, he also never fails to mention every damn time he does anything that he's so awesome because he has 500 years of experience and that's why he can do this. Yeah, we get it. We got it the first chapter and those who didn't get it then understood it by chapter 2. It's really annoying to be reminded every damn chapter and often more than once (the author never stops, even 100+ chapters in). It makes him look like a ret*rd. Shifting to other people's perspective all the time and never staying focused on the MC makes it even worse, usually to explain that the MC is awesome and that they underestimate him because he was so godly at plotting (which is not true at all, they do say that a character can't be more intelligent than the author and that the plot is limited by the author's intelligence and that really shines through in this novel, just the mc's "plotting" shows that clearly). It's truly a story you can't immerse yourself in or feel the characters, they're all boring, even the MC.

Okay, so that's the reason I couldn't immerse myself at all, at least a big part of it... that and all the huge plotholes that the author pretends doesn't exist, but I won't go into detail there. The author is just horrible at writing a good, flowing story.

Spoiler

Another thing I can't stomach, however, is the power system. I've never seen such a boring and childish system. It's all about so-called Gu, EVERYTHING. These "Gu" are literally f*cking everything. No, I'm not kidding you here. There's a gu for hope, a gu for suspicion, a gu for wisdom, a table gu, a bench gu, a footstep gu that can trace footsteps, a video gu, a training dummy gu, boar gu, a gu for honesty, a wine gu, a gu that can hold liquid and act as a dispenser, a flashbang gu, you name it, it exists. At this point, it's obvious that dildo gu surely exist as well, along with everything you can possibly think of.

Okay, so that's not so bad you say. It sounds kinda interesting and new. No, it's not only at that level of tr*sh. Did you know that the gu for hope feed on hope, the gu for honesty feeds on honesty? It sounds like a f*cking children's tale. Extremely childish. The story about ren zu, the first human or whatever, with his gu, is told exactly like you'd expect a children's fairy tale to be. It's to the point of giving me flashbacks to tales made for kids. But that's still acceptable, even if annoying and ruins it a lot.

The worst part of all about this power system is that... THEY'RE F*CKING WEAK! Gu is EVERYTHING. In other words, they have no power of their own, they have to rely on their weak mortal bodies and martial arts when they run out of gu or power. It doesn't matter low level or high level, if they lose their gu, they have no power whatsoever, they become like a mortal even with their cultivation level still intact. It's pretty much just a battle of who can make the other side run out of gu first. They never get any power that is truly their own and the higher ranks aren't really that much more powerful even if the author pretends they are. It's like they have a few guns with a few bullets and they can sometimes upgrade it to a gun with a higher caliber, so s*upid. The most powerful elder in that village (a rank 4) was screwed over by a rank 2 guy and he couldn't even stop him from almost killing someone since he wasn't able to kill that guy fast enough, despite fighting with him a few rounds, the power difference is just that small (rank 1-9 exists, the MC was a rank 6 in his past life).

Oh, and thanks to this sh*tty system, there's no techniques at all, because everything is about gu and only gu. The gu system really isn't even interesting, they're 100% relying on external power. The system is also really boring, the usual of rank 1-9 lower, mid, upper, peak and then the stages seems to be the same but "harder" every time they advance. It has no feeling of satisfaction from an increased cultivation, because it just doesn't matter much. It's a very empty, childish and lacking system that can't make you interested at all.

[collapse]

So, I really wanted to like this after seeing the reviews. I was badly screwed over. I wanted a cold, calculative MC that was intelligent, made good decisions and killed people for good reasons (not reasons like "they deserved it because they're douchebags" but rather "they needed to be killed for this or this reason, for my plan, for my goals etc), but I got a chuunibyou sociopath that tries too hard to be cool and has lacking intelligence. I got a system that might as well be a yu-gi-oh card game from how everything is about external gu. I seriously wish I had never wasted my time on this. <<less
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ShanaFY
ShanaFY rated it
May 21, 2020
Status: c1658
I wish I had read this after reading many other web novel stories because after reading RI, nothing else is good. It' all bland, tasteless. I hate it all so much, and all I can read is RI. Even Western novels aren't as good as this story, and the author has to be a genius amongst geniuses.

Okay, I'll stop with the zero information blind praising, and start getting to the reasons behind my faith here.

  1. This author has planned every detail of this story. There're no coincidences, there's no plot armor. Nothing is pulled out of the MC's *ss, and plot twists slam you in the face no matter how smart you are. Do you think you know what'll happen next? Heck, you wish.
  2. Character depth? Oh yes. This has to be the best character development story in all of Qidian. The reason for this is the author's storytelling method. He doesn't tell a story about a person; his story talks about the world. Everyone is noteworthy, nobody is dumb, the MC is important but the world he exists in is even more so.
  3. The emotional and philosophical points of this novel. I don't know who the author is, but if he was in front of me, I'd kowtow and beg him to shake my hand, with tears streaming down my face. The point of view that he has, the way he describes humans, the philosophy used in his story... I cried more reading this story than I did my whole life.
  4. The protagonist. I have no words to describe this. I'm sorry, but everything about him makes me emotionally incapable to speak. I'll shake and tremble and cry and puke and laugh in insanity trying.
And these are 4 of maybe 18 points I can think of off the top of my head. If anyone can try to give me a novel and say... more>> it's better than this one, I'll slap the book in their face and tell them to read it one more time. My love for this story is almost religious, whether that has a bad or good connotation, and I honestly believe that anyone who hates this book is a childish fool.

I do understand the cons of this novel; the author's repeated information, the highlighted lack of plot armor, the similarity to other wuxia, the cultivation system preventing self-strength, etc.

But I utterly disagree with every one of those. Repeated information? Sure, it can be annoying. But more often, it's useful. For those who have a splendid memory, you might say we should just look back to figure out what we forgot, but who wants to? It's useful for reading the information, and it doesn't even take much space! If you can't even take '500 years of experience' being said often, don't worry, the author stops mentioning after 200 chapters. In the beginning, it was necessary to highlight it.

And the highlighted lack of plot armor. Are you s*upid? When the main character mentions what he could've done with a better Gu, that's just an obvious reaction. After all, when you don't get the best thing, you obviously think about the best reward. It's reasonable from my point of view that he mentioned it several times, and the only reason it feels like it's happening too often is that you're used to reading novels with a sh*t ton of plot armor. The author mentions scenarios that are easily thought of by someone in the MC's situations, his actions and thoughts make complete sense.

Now, the similarity to other wuxia and the lack of creativity pertaining to the situations of the characters. Where do I start with this? Him creating an alternative cultivation system isn't enough for you? You want to go back to Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stages? The realism of this novel creates those situations, y'know. Geniuses and talents always find their way to meet, nothing goes according to plan - that's reality. Sorry if you can't handle it, or think it's monotonous, but it's sensible and consistent. Would you rather have some crazy bullsh*t be snatched out of nowhere because of magic or some random sh*t? No thanks, I like steadiness and rationality.

Then there's the cultivation system. I'd like to underline this: being human does not equal strength. It equals potential. Potential and wisdom to be exact. The difference between humans and animals is our f*cking brains. We use tools to become powerful, what's wrong with that? There are also ways to strengthen yourself through Gu, just reminding you. Humans are born weak, we only have potential because we use our surroundings. We grow through the environment, not through our own bodies. The system in RI is even better because of this, not worse. Besides, you can't even tell that it's not his 'own' power, so why does it matter? In system novels, nobody seems to complain that the only reason the people in it are strong is because of their systems. I don't know about you guys, but I love the Gu cultivation style and find nothing wrong with it.

I also saw someone write that the MC is predictable. I... have no words for you. I'm not normally rude, but since this is my favorite book, I won't be polite. You dropped your eyes and brain somewhere in the tr*sh because if you had even one of those, I could assure you you wouldn't think that. There's nobody, nobody, who can predict what will happen next in this novel, and that includes the MC's actions. Fang Yuan is not someone to make light of, with schemes in schemes, and the author creating new ideas that none of the readers could ever have thought of.

Aaah, this is taking too long. All I have to say now is that we should give this book a medal, crown it and give it the title 'The Best WebNovel in the World' though personally, I'd call it 'The Best Novel in the World', but I can't be a judge of that since I haven't read most of them. This book shows the difference of the heavens and earth to me; with this book as heaven and the rest as earth. I'll never, ever love another book as much as this one. <<less
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Addisonlu
Addisonlu
June 1, 2021
Status: c2334
So sad that the novel has been banned.
This novel is the BEST novel I've read, and it's hard to surpass, with all the world-building, the storyline, an MC that's actually realistic, and finally NO ROMANCE... Everything was really thought out and was an exciting read. The philosophy behind the novel was good too, I know this is supposed to be a web novel, hard to learn stuff from those, but, the novel describes society really well, benefits...

Anyways, the only thing bad about this novel (for me) is that after... more>> reading it, it was hard to start another one due to it being not as well written as this. Every time I started a new cultivation novel, I always ended up disliking it, comparing it with Reverend Insanity.

Well anyways, if you are debating whether to read this, then the answer is obviously, yes! There are 2334 chapters, so it can last you around a week, and if you reread and read the manhua as I did, it can last over a month.

Hope you have a pleasant read! <<less
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Kezmark
Kezmark rated it
May 1, 2019
Status: c650
To start with, the character isn't even really evil, he's just a sociopath with a really dumb "life goal".

The GU system is just GU-arbage. It looked promising in the beginning but it just seems to change over and over, whenever it suits the writer. Why is it that at the start in the village he prioritized flexibility and there were various types of gu he was looking for and found to be key, it looked like a really fun and free form system where you can be really adaptable. But... more>> no later on its decided you need a set of gu that works together and its kind of in the same type and you can't have different types and all that bs, and then there's some more changes on that later on, going back on some things. Now you might say its just cause at the start he didn't know what he was doing, and that might work if the character was a newbie but he lived in this world for 500 years previously reaching a high level, yet he never mentions any of this in the beginning, and he doesn't seem to be going for a set of any kind. Not to mention the "scouting GU" which pretty much becomes irrelevant shortly after as well, even though it seemed so key.

The writing is fairly typical of chinese novels, that is to say, there's lots of repetition, irrelevant characters and the longer the novel goes, the worse it gets. There really isn't a real tangible thing to work towards, just the same all "want to be the very best" bullshit, as such the main character isn't very interesting to follow once you've seen his shtick once. His memories of the past seem to work on the "I need to know this for the plot to work" kind of situation, with no real rhyme or reason for any of it. He remembers so much obscure sh*t in the beginning, things he shouldn't have put to mind since he was irrelevant at that point in time in his previous incarnation, recognizes people that he wouldn't have seen until decades or more later initially and never really interacted with, but now randomly encounters and recognizes their teen appearance. He remembers the most obscure sh*t that he would have no reason to put to mind in his previous life yet later his memory starts being obscure about massive events and locations that would have much more impact on the world, just makes no sense. Since I'm on the subject of the world, I have to say that it is poorly written, not really developed and generally nonsensical.

What else is sh*t about the writing ? Oh right, the writer just flat out lies to the reader to make more "WTF" moments later, characters are fairly boring and poorly developed. There's far too many plot threads that are just left hanging for hundreds of chapters and so on. I also have to say that there's too many setbacks and "level resets" that serve no other purpose then to f*cking drag sh*t on as we go through the same sh*t twice, its just sad. These sort of setbacks can work in a story where the main character grows and develops, but our MC is the same throughout the story so it serves no purpose.

Oh right also, the whole "Northern Plains" arc is just drawn out, pointless, repetitive sh*t and it pretty much what made me drop this.

So, closing thoughts ? Starts out interesting and looks quite good but as with a corpse it just gets bloated and starts stinking after a while. <<less
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rainx
rainx rated it
May 24, 2019
Status: c200
Note: I only read until C200 and there is currently 2600+ chapters on Qidian.

This novel is just a cultivator that reached middle-stages of cultivation and is a ruthless and evil person that died and reincarnated back to the time he starts to cultivate. Of course, he never change his ways and will do anything (literally anything) it takes to get the things he want.

Like all Xuanhuan, Wuxia and Xiuxian novels, this MC has a lot of plot armor backing him up. The thing is the author will keep insisting that... more>> it is all his hard work and emphasize on things that MC had yet to obtain to remind you that his plot armor is not that strong.

Alright, let's see the good parts of the novel

    1. The writing and way of explaining (excluding certain repetitive parts) are interesting and well made.
    1. The MC is portrayed in a situation where he would be using his brains (not just brawn) and the opponents are not all your everyday evil young master trope.
    1. MC is calculative and ruthless enough to achieve his dreams.
    1. MC is an anti-hero (?) /villain that is well defined (too well defined for the role actually)
Bad parts of the novel?
    • 1. This story is too forced. The author will keep on making up excuses for the peoples (good and kind) that the MC killed by turning them into bad guys/villains. If used once or twice, its acceptable but it keeps getting reused and I seriously don't think the MC is that clever at all.
Spoiler

There's one time when MC killed a family of hunters (mortals not cultivators) just because they lied. MC killed the old hunter's son and threw his corpse in front of him (seriously?) and demands for a complete map for hunting in that region. After the old hunter drew out the map, MC killed him and his daughter and stepped into the house searching for the real map. Sure, the drawn map is not detailed (excluded the danger places on purpose to let MC die in the wild) but MC killed the whole family just for a hunting map. All because they are mortals so he does not need to care at all.

Then, the author created a twist where the old hunter's eldest son that was supposed to be dead years ago simply did not die. Turns out that guy became a demonic path cultivator and wanted revenge but simply just died without even meeting the MC. What's the twist for in the end? My opinion is, the author is simply making up stories to justify that the MC is an evil guy that does not seem that evil. Contradictory, no?

In fact, the problem about the hunting map could be solved in a 'harmless' way but the author just need to make MC go that one route just to prove him an 'EVIL' guy. If MC is really clever, would he not understand one simple thing? Avoid little troubles if its going to bring big trouble. That's why I said this MC is simply an idiot at times.

[collapse]

    • 2. The meticulous set-up just to make the MC being clever seems to be quite intriguing at first but it gets bland and tasteless as it gets further. One could easily see how the set-up was made; back-tracking from the intended result to get the one specific process. It actually feels like watching Detective Conan; there is always only one answer. Does life really gives just that one path for you to tread upon?
Spoiler

Take the time when MC is still in the academy as an example. The reason he could do as he wished was because of the constrained rules of the academy. The author specifically tailored the opponents of the MC as those that will definitely put their household in the first place, will definitely follow the rules and will definitely do their current job to the T.

The author keeps comparing the world with Earth and says 'If this was on Earth, I would probably be dead due to the fights over profits etc..' This made it even more obvious that the world was tailored to fit his way of thinking. Cliche? Nope, I'm thinking about one word : fake.

Seriously, it made me want to puke. It's like those that tried to oppose the MC are programmed to follow what was stated above no matter how cunning, clever or far-sighted they are. Thus, the MC will easily constrain them and the author will write 'This is how the weak are, banded together instead of this and that.' Honestly, this trope is too boring already.

Say, for those that read other novels of this genre. Do you really think that the peoples are so uniformed? The academy elder here could not punish MC because he's scared of losing face and unable to keep up the rules and regulation in academy for not following the rules. In this world that is OH SO DANGEROUS where one needs to harden their heart to survive, he still follows the rule to the T while he is ruthless enough and already hate the MC enough to deal with him.

Is this really realistic, from your perspective?

Think about it, would a normal academy elder really follow the rules like that? A character with the same personality as the academy elder would have smiled at the MC and plot against him in the dark or he might just take action on the spot due to anger.

But the novel here will not do so, there will be a whole lot of talking about how clever a person is but in the end, he/she will still need to follow the rules no matter what. In the end, the MC will just easily kill them with his so called set-up in the box's intelligence. Seriously, the more I read, the more I feel the whole set-up is so fake and cliche. In fact, the more explanation the author gave, the more obvious it became.

[collapse]

    • 3. The whole novel likes to focus on the MC's perspective and it will keep emphasizing it from his viewpoint; demonic path. The author will keep emphasizing the meaning of being lonely leads to true strength while family and bonds are easily discarded tr*sh and so on. This isn't necessarily a bad point because the MC is very ruthless but he did the same thing to himself too. However, this author is trying to make the readers think that all positive values are for naught while negative ideals are the way to go. Personally, I think a good balance between good and bad is the way to go but the MC is already on the darkest side so I place this in the bad points due to my preference.
    • 4. Just like BTTH, the MC is very backed up by the plot armor. The author gave him lots of setback but he will get them all like, oh so easy in a few chapters later (except for his latent talent). In one chapter, he will say 'I need this but it's too hard to obtain' and the next few chapters will show him getting it all easily (with some troubles but considered easy). It's cliche but it is a necessary cliche in a story. Still, the author is using and emphasizing it too much. Too many of a good thing is not a good thing, so this is a bad point.
    • 5. MC is kind of a hypocrite, not a real one but a pseudo-hypocrite. Take the system that he always complain and despised for example. The way the author writes about them and connected it with reality is very nice and all but there is one thing I feel really contradictory. He b*tches about the system the world's organization but in the end still turns toward it in order to get what he wants. Yes, MC did that just for the benefits that he needs and it fits his character that will do anything it takes to obtain what he needs. But still it is a hypocrite to bit*h about a thing but still use that thing for his own benefit. Well, I just find it a little weird though.
To sum things up, this story is on the very dark side of the novel. It is interesting and well-balanced if you do not mind the somewhat forced way of set-up and ruthless and evil ways of the MC. If you are preparing to read this novel and you chanced up my comment, try to read it in a perspective of a villain instead of your normal protagonist or anti-hero. It will definitely help to make your reading smoother.

P.S: Hope those that read this novel either has a free and uncaring attitude or a strong-will to withstand the actions of the MC. Happy reading. <<less
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Skool
Skool rated it
June 21, 2017
Status: c29
very interesting, one of non-mainstream CN stuff out there, definitely a must read if you're tired of reading mainstream stuff.

let's just say the main character so far know what to do and the other character are unlike those common side character where they're just had a really dumb IQ and show up in a chapter just to be killed in a next one.

definitely looking forward for more.
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morrrie
morrrie rated it
December 31, 2020
Status: c1968
I find it ironic when people complain about the characters and the theme of this novel being overly dark, and then go on to eventually drop it.

I mean almost everyone complains when they don't exactly get to enjoy the thrill and suffocation of the "strong eat weak" world in the cultivation web novels, just like they were promised at the start. But when an author is daring to take the extra step to bring that feeling to your doorstep, most of the same people reject it in the name of... more>> it being too edgy, without even bothering to take a proper look at it. The story does come off as kinda edgy at the beginning, but everything smoothens out when we have enough characters and chapters in the story. The author has also mentioned this point and has acknowledged that back when he initially started writing the novel, he was casual about it and did not pay much attention to the tone.

Here we have a mature MC with difficulties along every step he takes and an author who doesn't make every challenge that the MC faces seem like an emotional tragedy, then people go on and interpret it as Fang Yuan being too emotionless. It's just that he is too much goal-oriented, and you cannot play chess at the level he plays it at if you are too emotional. I am not saying this is the only story where you have an MC struggling to make his name known out of the crowd, but this, for sure, is the most realistic description you will get ever get out of this trope. I know many people will argue against it with the argument that spring autumn cicada is a major cheat, but if you read the story and continue to read it then you will notice that using the cheat was also a threat with its own reason. You get an explanation for everything, just wait for it.

Now, coming to the characters, some people have complained that the characters here are too shallow, only capable of treachery and deceit. But that's far from the truth when you take the world they are in into perspective, as I have already mentioned that the world that the author has designed is the most realistic version of the "no law/strong eats weak" world you can find in the plethora of the cultivation novels that you might have read before. So, the characters being like what they are, actually make sense. At first, when you start reading the novel, the characters might come across as shallow and irrelevant, but as you get past the chapters, you will come to a point where you will nod to yourself and say this is how things should be like in the world they live in, the characters actually make sense. So give it time, it might take you a meager amount of time or a large amount of time, but eventually, everything will fall into place. That's not to say that there is no kind character in this story, there surely are some, but due to the world being how it is, they are minor compared to the majority of deceitful characters. And on many occasions, characters use kindness as a means to get what they want.

As for the story, it starts off on a rough patch but eventually gets smooth. You might have many questions at the start, but keep reading, every one of them will get answered eventually. Our MC, Fang Yuan, is an evil one, though he is not one who does evil acts just for the thrill and the sake of it, he does what he does for his benefits. He is a reincarnated individual and he doesn't express himself very much, sometimes not even in the face of adversity, just like you would expect from a person who has lived for 500 years and from one who has experienced almost everything in his previous life. Sometimes, he does show some emotion, but most of these instances were when he was about to pull a reverse Uno on his adversaries.

There is another feature in this novel that pulls people in and that is, the brilliant commentary on how much free will does an individual has in the world they live in. Sadly, this part where the author went to great lengths to show the conflict between predefined fate and free will was not so well received, and it became one of the major reasons that contributed to the eventual ban on the novel. This part of the story was really well done. It was probably the most detailed and blunt analysis of this topic I have read in any CN web novel. It really adds a different kind of charm to this story.

Now that I have listed down pretty much everything I have considered as good in this story, I would like to point out some bad points, the points which might deter people away from reading this story. The things that fall under this category are not many, but they are definitely important. First is, the personality and actions of MC. If you, by any chance, cannot connect to the MC even after reading the full first volume then I would suggest you stop reading the story. The thing is that despite how good this web novel is, there are many moments in the story where if you do not like the MC, then you will not be able to withstand those moments. Second is that, though the concept of the cultivation power system, world-building, theme, and philosophy are executed rather well throughout the novel by the author, two points do stick out like sore thumbs in the early volumes of the story and that is the dry writing and somewhat stagnant pace of the story. The author implements many great ideas in the story but there are some parts or arcs scattered through the early volumes where the writing is not that good, and this can be attributed to the general web novel environment, where the authors have to update chapters on a daily basis to stay relevant, especially in stories like this where the story is built on the foundation of different philosophies and ideas and not on some harem. So, when those parts come, do endure them. This problem with writing will become especially visible in the fourth volume. See-through it if you can because the payoffs are usually good at the end of each volume, and the real story in my opinion starts from the fifth volume, where we really get to know the Gu world in more depth, and then the gains never stop.

So, this is my review. It is somewhat partial, I know. But I can't help it, I liked this story very much and also liked how the author persisted with his concepts throughout the story. Sadly, the web novel is on hiatus for now, but there is some hope of it coming back in the future. With that being said, the 2300+ chapters at present are totally worth giving a try. Read it, either you will come to love it or hate it. It's a matter of perspectives after all.

TL;DR: If you find MC too much evil to your taste even after reading past the first volume, and do not like him one bit, then this web novel is not for you. It's a novel where we get to see the world from the perspective of an evil villain (our MC), it's pretty clear from the start, even the author mentions it in his notes in the early chapters, so if you do not like this factor then this story is probably not for you. Also, there is no harem here to buffer the evilness of our MC, so keep this also in your consideration before you start your reading journey lest you end up disappointed later. <<less
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Epythymy
Epythymy rated it
March 30, 2020
Status: c1160
This novel is full of bullsh*t.

Distorted worldview, MC who acts better than any world-famous actor but has no personality himself, and lots of mysterious, intangible powers in the background are the main reasons of this mess.

The plot only looks good on the surface. It's full of holes and flaws, some of them are intentional, while others are not. Lots of important information about world building skipped or never mentioned. Mystical powers like 'heaven's will', 'fate', 'luck', 'deductions and predictions' are like an icing on this messy cake. The concept of... more>> continuous time-traveling to the past doesn't help it either.

It's so bad that you can't even understand if MC is doing something on his own accord for more than 100 chapters. Why? Because he has no personality, morals or bottom line, while his main aims are mostly omitted by the author, so it's impossible to judge logically.

Likeable characters do not exist. The worldview here is so twisted that most of the characters with more or less decent personality are portrayed as utter fools in the best case scenario, while in the worst they are just a bunch of hateful hypocrites.

If you have better alternatives do not waste your time on this novel, it is subpar at best. <<less
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avidnovelreader95
avidnovelreader95 rated it
October 20, 2019
Status: c2335
so I've read this novel for a while now in fact I caught up to the raws and then I went and read it all over 1 more time. Yeah it was that good. However I've been holding on to my review for a while because I really didn't know how to describes this novel in words aside from amazing and perfection. Also the fact that there are already many amazing reviews out there already. However I'm writing this review now mainly because of 2 reasons 1 I think I've... more>> finally found the words to describe reverend insanity. 2 because I want to give out my support for the author even though its probably nothing but I just want to put it out there that I really respect the author for sticking in through with his word even though it was heavily criticized and banned for s*upid reasons I will go in depth on that later in the review.

so after reading a bunch of novels after this one I was filled with disappointment not for this novel but for all those novels and the several dozens that I've read before I remember back when I first read martial world by cocoon cow I thought that was a novel that was really good then when I found warlock of the magus world I thought damn this ones even better. But after having read reverend insanity I think this is the novel that is the closest to perfection of what a cultivation novel should be out there currently. It simply is the best cultivation novel currently out there.

my scoring

MC - 1 out of 1

Plot - 1 out of 1

Cultivation - 1 out of 1

Side characters - 1 out of 1

Fights - 1 out of 1

total score

5 out of 5

so here is my breakdown

    1. the MC fang yuan is a person originating from earth who transmigrated to another world eventually he embarked on his cultivation journey eventually leading him down the path of a demonic cultivator, due to circumstances he had to travel back in time 500 years to the day before he began on his cultivation journey. So this is a transmigration and reincarnation plot setup so what I expect is a character that is very rich in experience and unmoving to certain things the reason for this is you have lived for 500 years I would expect that you would have experienced pretty much whatever there is to experience at that point. The author delivers this perfectly fang yuan is not only indifferent to pretty much everything and everyone around him he focuses on his true goal which is immortality because that is the one thing he probably hasn't experienced and he wants to satisfy his curiosity whether its possible or not, not only that but he sticks to this goal and stays true to it, this is also a very strong purpose which is very important because a lot of the time in these types of novels the author will talk about how the MC has a strong dao heart or will power if we translate that to english but they will give some s*upid flimsy reason for the mc's determination such as oh I need power to protect my family and nakama. Or they won't even have a clear purpose. The reason why this is important is because it justifies the mc's pursuit for the peak of cultivation. He's also ruthless and does things based on pros and cons like what a f*cking normal logical character should be doing.
    1. the plot is honestly hands down the best plot i've ever read from a cultivation novel reason why is theres little to no plot holes and the author doesn't try to write forced conflicts from s*upid cliches like harem. The other thing that is amazing is the way the world is built is very organized and detailed. It feels like everything that goes on in the story is all tied up together seamlessly. Examples of this are sometimes things that happen hundreds of chapters ago that you thought were useless are just filler detail become the key turning points in a climax of the plot and then you get that euphoria that just clicks in your mind like "oh thats why that was there." I have to give props to the author on this it shows that the author really cared about his world from his detailed planning of the plot.
    1. the cultivation there isn't even a need for me to compare this it's probably the most unique system out there it a cultivation system based around gu and with this the author adds in the extra flair of the story of ren zhu simply amazing not much I need to say here.
    1. the side characters is probably one of the things I liked most about this novel all the characters feel alive as if they all have their own individual desires and thoughts. This could be shown in the none of the characters does things to cater towards the MC they do things because they want to. This makes it feel like when I read this all the characters are a sea of people and the MC is just one of those people within the sea of people except we the audience have a birds eye view and we can see all the people and tell that out of all of them fang yuan just happen to be the most special out of this sea. However this doesn't mean the rest are any worse in fact it just shows how the side characters as if they have their own life and thoughts it's just that fang yuan is the star of the show.
    1. the fights are amazingly detailed and the author makes use of the terrain and the type of battle style to accurately paint us a beautiful picture of the fight. The author uses details that most other authors never use or go that in dept. A example of this is
      Spoiler

      during the arc when fang yuan stayed at shang city he ran a strength build with the all out effort gu, the author explains how fang yuan is extremely strong in a upfront battle because he has a strength build and how he excels in endurance as well because with a strength build he doesn't have to use primeval essence to attack because his attacks are based on his body so his stamina is the limit, but the author also goes into how even thought fang yuan is strong in a upfront fight hes limited in a long range battle because if he can never get close to his targets he will have a hard time using his strengths. Also when they were fighting he also utilizes the terrain which is the stadium and the columns as descriptions as to how fang yuan maneuvers and dodges the enemies attacks with the help of the terrain.

      [collapse]
in general this is the most perfect cultivation novel to date. I stalled this review for a while because at the time I didn't know how to describe it in words accurately aside from amazing, but I think if I had to describe it now I think I would describe reverend insanity as an outlier, the reason why is I've read dozens of cultivation novel because this is my hobby and while I have run into several good ones the ratio of bad to good that I encounter is ridiculous I've read more than 50+ of these novels but I can literally count in 1 hand all the good ones that is around a 10% chance of encountering a good novel. As for reverend insanity its even more special because its a whole level above the rest, this is why if I had to describe it I would describe it as a outlier its something that shouldn't have happened but it happened. Also before I finish off this review I really want to give props to the author for writing this amazing piece of work and I would like to offer my support no matter how little to the author for sticking through and true to the plot of this novel and writing it out. For all of those who don't know reverend insanity is currently banned in its country of origin which is china idk why it's banned if I had to guess I would assume its because of its dark literature but that is just s*upid

but then again there are tons of s*upid sh*t they do. Anyways despite this the author has said he will finish the novel no matter what whether its through we chat or something. This was mainly the 2nd reason why I wanted to write this review was to offer support to the author too bad there aren't anyways I can donate to him I don't understand any of the Chinese platform stuff. Anyhow if you're looking for the best cultivation novel out there this is definitely what you're looking for. <<less
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Zyraph
Zyraph rated it
October 31, 2021
Status: c760
It's really not that good I dropped it around the zombie arc as most people do. I can't fathom how the hell are supposed readers slog to over 300 chapters of that garbage, it highlights everything bad about RI and it's also unfinished despite being over 2k chapters, talk about extreme padding.

The MC's monologues about SOCIETY at the beginning part of the novel comes up extremely nauseating and a truly "gamers rize up" moment.
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stima
stima rated it
November 29, 2019
Status: c267
Don't understand why this novel gets so many good reviews. The MC is a character without humanity. He will do anything for his own benefit. He is an epitome of evil. There is no reasons for why he has to be that way. And in many cases Maybehe does not need to be that way. The author tries too hard to make his MC unique. But at one point, you will find that this is nothing but a read of random bad guy with terrible and brutal personality. I cant... more>> endure the nonsense and brutality of MC when he decides to burn two children again and again until they die do that he can get his s*upid gu. Dropped it after that.

For people who likes this MC and find him a cool character, you really need to check your own humanity

<<less
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Bull3thole
Bull3thole rated it
November 23, 2018
Status: c615
I have a rule that novels can't be rated a 5 when they haven't ended yet; however, I making an exception for this. I'm doing this because I want to show you guys how good this novel is, and I recommend you guys to read this novel. The MC is like the MC from WMW, but better. My rating may lower if the story sucks later, but the current translated chapters have been great so far.

There are so many great things about this novel, unlike other novels.
  1. What's so good about this novel is that the MC is actually acting like a transmigrated/time travel character. There many novels out there where the MC travels back through time or reincarnated, and still acts like an idiot. The MC actually uses his brains.
  2. The MC is evil. Over 500 years old and he experienced everything. He will kill women, children, just about anybody to achieve his goal. There is nothing stopping him until he does.
  3. The MC doesn't care about his reputation or his pride, it's meaningless to him. He is willing to self-mutilate himself to achieve his goal--immortality.
  4. All the characters have personality and are fleshed out. None of them are those typical arrogant and idiotic antagonists.
  5. The cultivation method is unique and different. There is no overpowered Gu (where abilities come from). All the techniques have checks and balances.
  6. The pacing for the novel is amazing. The author knows what he is doing. He even said he planned this out for years. There are barely any fillers in this novel except for a few repeating information (needed for Chinese novels for us to remember).
  7. This novel has one of the best, if not, the best ending for each arc. The ending for the first arc was good and the ending for the 2nd arc was amazing. And the 3rd arc looks like its wrapping up.
  8. The plot is unpredictable. The MC actually fails in this novel.
  9. The world building is great; it's not overly complicated. Everything is already set up and there is none of the generic greater/better kingdoms or ascending to upper realms when the MC grows stronger.
  10. No harem or relationships so far. His only goal is cultivation.
There are a few cons. I'm just nitpicking.

  1. The MC isn't well developed. We don't know much about his past 500 years of life, but the author may explain this later on. There are currently over 2k chapter available.
  2. Some parts of the novel are boring because the author develops other characters. The dialogue between other characters can be really boring.
  3. The fairy tale chapters can be boring. The fairy tale chapters are about the ancient history of the first cultivator. When you read these parts throughout the novel, it may seem boring, and irrelevant, but it's interconnected with the plot.
I love this novel, and you will be missing out if you don't try it. Not every person will like it, but if you like WMW, you will like this too.
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kkgoh
kkgoh rated it
July 4, 2018
Status: c158
Decent novel with a villainous MC following an unconventional route of cultivation, but poorly executed. It's "Mushishi" (great Japanese manga) meets "Warlock of the Magus World" (boring prototypical ruthless MC novel). What drew me in was the "Mushishi" part.
The MC is a childish villain that makes no sense.

PLOT:
A reincarnator/transmigrator gets a second chance to relive his life due to his possession of a special Gu ("mushi"). MC is originally from Earth, so his personality gets warped in this new world that works on survival-of-the-fittest/dog-eat-dog principles. Despite MC's knowledge... more>> advantage from reincarnating, nothing comes easy, especially since he still has an inborn handicap.
The cultivation process is quite novel, based on the idea that Gu provide different supernatural powers to those who master them. So it's not just powering up, but finding a fitting "tool" for the situation.

CHARACTERS:
So far there's zero side characters. It's MC vs the world.

MC is a cynical loner with a cold, calculating personality, where everyone is just a stepping stone on his path to.... what? Nobody knows. No motivations (certainly not survival/revenge/being king-of-the-world), still no end goal for him 150+ chapters into the novel besides accumulating strength and ranking up his cultivation. This is a problematic story structure.
You knew from the beginning Goku from Dragonball wants to be the strongest as a point of pride and joy, Luffy wants to find One-Piece. What does the MC want to do in this 2000+ chapter novel?

MC is supposed to have literary talent, but it's just him quoting meaningless chinese poems from Earth. Kinda like giving Goku the ability to knit beautiful sweaters. It doesn't advance the story, and nobody around the MC appreciates it anyway.

It gets hard for a reader to identify with the MC on anything. He's a straight up self-serving villain, NOT an anti-hero that does things for an underlying cause. But the incongruence is that the author (or at least the MC) goes on and ON AND ON trying to justify his actions to readers/everyone, blaming the environment as a reason for him undertaking the "demonic path", and trying to pass off a villain as an anti-hero.

EDIT: Some reviewers have rebutted by pointing out that the author apparently wrote somewhere that the MC was always supposed to be a villain. And his self-justification is because "nobody is a villain in their own mind".

Firstly, I agree that there's nothing wrong with being a villain. There are plenty of cool villains that have universal appeal. Joker's "one bad day" that can turn good guys into bad when everything goes to shit. Deadshot, the family-abuse survivor that pushed him into his mercenary ways. I believe a lot of reviewers who gave low ratings are ok with villainous protagonists, just that it was poorly done in this novel.

Secondly, I reject the statement that "nobody is a villain in their own mind". If we define villain as doing what is socially accepted to be "bad things", then it's already understood that even psychopaths/sociopaths understand the consequences of their actions (i.e. they know whether their actions are villainous or not). Go read up any book on psychology. It's only a difference of empathy (which leads to different risk/reward behavior), basically whether the ends justify the means. All of the best written villains understood the consequences.

So now we have:
(1) An MC written as being in denial of reality -- by constantly justifying his actions as the only "logical" way.
(2) An MC that does illogical sh*t which doesn't fit any longer term goal even from the MC's warped perspective. It's just straight up senseless sh*t as referenced below and by many other reviewers.
Then what you have is NOT a cool villain. It's an MC who is a s*upid Joker, an addled child.
And I don't wish read about a child.

WRITING STYLE:
Novel title is named after the author's pen-name. No idea how that got translated into "Reverend Insanity". It's literally Mushi-shi (Bug Master, which incidentally was written in 1999-2002).

The author introduces pretty cool poetic allegories (the concept of "Ren Zu"), which does blend nicely with the cultivation system. But that's the only saving grace, and otherwise fails miserably compared to better novels like "Way of Choices" (2014).

Other commentators have pointed out how tedious and verbose the writing style is. The author spends entire chapters justifying MC's actions, even though it's patently obvious in the 1st paragraph. Probably attempt to meet word count requirements to get paid. I just skim chapters now.

ISSUES:
MC's psycho-analyzes and puts down everyone he comes across, but the same analysis is never applied to himself. Why does he want to accumulate strength? Not for money/power/sex/recognition/caring for kin. It seems like strength is just a means to survive in the world (which wasn't that hard), he has no other purpose. Whether he's an anti-hero or villain, it makes his pursuit of power pretty pointless.

MC embraces loneliness as a virtue while mocking everyone else for being part of the societal system. There are a lot of negative references to "relationships" (guan xi), a very colloquial modern chinese term. It's obvious the author is subversively mocking the Chinese govt and culture. And yet MC/author offers no alternative solution to governance besides complete anarchy. The story feels like it's become one big list of complaints.
While author is correct that our behaviors and values tend to be shaped by our environment, it's a contradiction and hypocrisy because the MC actively leeches off the same system he b*tches about to advance in his cultivation. He lives in his village, is provided safety within it's walls and enjoys it's resources and amenities (school etc). Sure he's mistreated and didn't grow up in the perfect family, but doesn't take away the fact that he was part of the system. And eventually when MC gets "taxed" by being asking to contribute (whether it's temporarily loaning his resources or being tasked missions), he balks and complains that it's absurd to be asked to do anything.
It's like a c*ckroach saying how dumb humans are to work so hard to make food, while stealing and eating the same human food. Sure, there are plenty of anti-hero MCs out there, but I don't there are any that this ridiculously shameless and self-righteous. This is the equivalent of a rich billionaire being caught for tax evasion, and complaining he's being asked to do more than his "fair" share.

Author fails to note that MC's methodology isn't necessarily the only means of achieving success. It's a classic case of "there is only one correct path which is mine, my demonic path is better than yours, everyone else who thinks otherwise is just a self-righteous or a fool". He screws over everybody if he gets the chance. Seems pretty dumb for someone to needlessly make enemies, especially who lived over 500 yrs.

Among the many other inconsistencies:
Spoiler

(1) MC goes on and on about how important it is to exploit the system while staying within rules and regs. But then his mu*ders start to escalate where he blatantly does it with eye-witnesses. MC gives flimsy excuses which is accepted because everyone else is busy with a war? Lazy writing.
(2) MC price gouges in the middle of a war, and no one punishes him for it? Even on "peaceful" earth, govts get to declare martial law and commandeer assets. It makes zero sense that MC gets to do whatever he wants. Really flimsy writing by author that contradicts all the "gaming the system" stuff mentioned earlier.

[collapse]

One bonus I'll mention is that MC doesn't bother to "face-slap" every arrogant or self-delusional prick he comes across. So that does seem more mature than most other chinese novels. <<less
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Daemonji
Daemonji rated it
June 23, 2022
Status: c2334
Best Novel Ever.
Not for kids
It's not your typical heroic MC.

Pros

  • FANG YUAN
  • Best Novel
  • Characters & development
  • Power Levels
  • World-building
  • Author has researched a lot before writing it, so you might be able to understand the profound meaning hidden in this novel if u r competent enough.
  • Cultivation - Rank 1 to 9
    Very simple yet very perfectly well-balanced and carefully thought cultivation system.
Cons

  • China banned the novel in Chapter 2334
  • Ban is yet to be taken back
  • Author "might" finish the novel after 2-3 years. No guarantees.
The story is not dark, but then again it's definitely not... more>> for those who are interested in a typical justice hero.

Little Description for those who want to know about the story

  • MC Fang Yuan is a smart and cunning character, he has experienced life and seen how the world works.
    Our MC has refined a legendary GU in his first life (GU are fragments of Dao (the essence of heaven &earth))
    But right after he has successfully refined it, he was besieged by the "Righteous Faction (Justice) " and was cornered to death.
    This legendary Gu he refined has the ability to go back to the past, although its credibility was unconfirmed at the time.
    He uses it when those Righteous faction people have cornered him and he had no way to escape.
  • He goes back to 500 years back when he was a teenager before he awakened his aperture.
    Our MCs goal is not revenge, his goal has always been the same, it is to become immortal.
    He carefully plans everything to reach his goal.

    MC is not super op and his plans do not always go perfectly well.
    The author would not be giving any random power boosts to MC. Like in other novels
  • MC will definitely become very strong, he is not the strongest (not yet till ban) but yet people dare not provoke and fight him.
    It is because of his personality, cunningness and meticulous planning.
About Cultivation System

  • Rank 1 to 9
  • From rank 1 to 5 it is considered Mortal Gu Master
  • From Rank 6 to 9 it is considered Immortal Gu Master
  • Difference between rank 5 and 6 is as of earth and heaven, not only in power level, but ascension and their primordial/immortal essence to use GU, and many other things which I don't want to spoil.
Well if I wrote more no one will read probably so I will stop here.
Well, Many might not read this either.

Regards. <<less
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Primordial Heaven
Primordial Heaven rated it
November 16, 2020
Status: c2353
This is the best novel on the site. Albeit I can not claim I have read every novel ever, I have read my fair portion. I can honestly say that this is the best novel, by far, that I have ever read. In fact, I was surprised this was a novel, genuinely. The author is a great writer, and I would not associate his work with any of the other mediocre Chinese novels. This is in a pristine league of it's own, standing at the top. But here comes the... more>> quandary. Xianxia is a genre and league of mediocracy and incoherent imbecility. So when you introduce a keenly intellective story to an imbecilic audience, they tr*sh it. People do not relish what they cannot understand, hence the negative reviews. I will do my best to give an in-depth explication on why I consider this the best.

1.) Fang Yuan, the Main Character. The most popular (and infamous) part of this novel, and for substantial reason. Albeit many claim to understand this main character, it is unknown how many genuinely understand the essence of his philosophy. It can be discerned by the peasants in this review section, calling him things like "evil" and "emotionless." The main character is not "evil" or "emotionless" at all, he feels every emotion, as we could perceive in his battle against Lu Wei Yin. He relives three lives, but without his memories, and we see his emotions at play. But at the terminus of his three lives, he finds these emotions to be tedious, nonessential, and vapid. Therefore he surpasses petty things such as "Good" or "Evil", and does what he considers to be necessary. The people who read this novel can never understand that, because their morals and emotions are something they can't discern objectively. But onto the main character. He is an opportunist at heart, capitalizing on any situation he can, to make him get the most benefits. He always calculates for failure first and foremost, exhibiting his cautious nature, and does not believe in triumph or defeat, but gains and losses. Things like reputation, pride, and so on, do not matter to him at all. He is seeing the world from the outside in, like a bystander, who does not care about what the people of the world cerebrate or feel. His ruthless and apathetic nature emanates from his own self entelechy, in that every being is mundane. To him, a humans death is no different from a trees or from an animals, there is simply no intrinsical difference. This is another thing many people hate. They cry, repine, and hate that Fang Yuan can kill and not feel anything, (even with the ruthless MC tag, I mean, what the f*ck were you expecting?) but they do not cry when he kills a bear. They do not cry when a tree is eradicated. The reviewers psychopathic nature gives more innate value to humans, to pretty girls over maleficent miscreants, and to heroes, not realizing this is profoundly erroneous. In the earlier chapters, when the girl is eaten by the bear, many people cried in the comment section. They called the MC evil and a monster for victualing the girl to the bear. But in the next chapter, when the MC kills the bear, there was not a single comment in bulwark of it. It is frighteningly eerie how many people are nescient of their own nonchalance and narcissism, but this novel has definitely availed me be vigilant of it. Many people additionally call his killing "nonessential" for example, the hunter family in the first hundred chapters. As Fang Yuan was hunting boars to feed his Gu, he came across five hunters. The four hunters were praising one hunter, exalting him non-stop. His name was Wang. Fang Yuan then proceeded to battle Wang and kill him. For what purport? Well, let's cerebrate logically. Fang Yuan needs a map of the forest and he additionally needs the circumscribed boars on the mountain to himself. So here comes the best hunter in the mountain, who is withal hunting boars. Fang Yuan kills him for two reasons, one to have an exculpation to get the map, and to dispense competition. But no matter how logically I endeavor to explicate, no matter how much sense it makes, the reviewers simply dismiss it as edgy. When he kills the peasant family to dispense the roots, they cry even more. Imagine you're in a cultivation novel. Due to a conflict of interests or other reason, you kill someone. Now, you make it known to that person's family that you killed him. In lieu of killing their family, you spare them. Ten years later, their family gets fortuitous and finds a Demonic Gu Master Inheritance, cultivate, surpass you, and then kill you. All because of your pity, for your self-rectitude, for not dispensing the roots. Many people in this review section would not survive in a dog-eat-dog world like the Gu world. It is known that Wang's family would take revenge if they had the chance, because it was revealed that Wang's family gave Fang Yuan a unauthentic map, one that would have gotten him killed. But the reviewers simply opt to gloss over this fact and not mention it at all. I would pay an abundance of money to see these reviewers conveyed into the Gu world, calling everyone they see evil, and endeavoring to spread their rectitude while being impotent-willed. They'd get killed very quickly, but it would definitely be regaling.

Plot - Very involute. Despite being in the same world for 2, 300 chapters, the world is still intriguing, still unfolding. The world building is astounding, and there is no unnecessary exposition. Every arcs ending has a very surprising twist, so I won't go into the plot aspect an extravagant amount, because I can't compliment it seriously without spoilers.

Cultivation - Intriguing and Unique. Gu masters cultivate fragments of the Dao, or "Gu", that come in the form of sundry things like insects. There are multiple paths for Gu masters to cultivate, each Gu belongs to this path, and this path additionally has resources that naturally/manually spawn in the world through Dao Marks. There is no power seeping, only in very special occasions can one fight above their rank, and it's extremely rare. There is no supreme Gu, only perfect Gu master, designating that the true vigor of the Gu is not the Gu itself, but how the Gu master utilizes the Gu, engendering a myriad of killer moves, refinements, paths, etcetera. The world is always moving forward, an incipient path engendered every Era, new techniques, new Gu, new immortals, new inventions, and so on.

Characters - Another area this novel shines in. Many characters are fleshed out, authentic in their circumstances, and consistent. There is no eternal friends or enemies, only eternal benefits. There are no incompetent immortals. Every last one of them is cunning, vicious, and prodigiously intellective. In a ruthless world like this one, those who manage to become immortals are definitely the cream of the crop, and it shows. They are all main characters in their own right, they each have tenable and relatable motivations, and they seem... authentic. A feeling I never authentically got before in any other novel.

Summary: I feel genuinely terrible for this Author. He will never get the recognition nor accolade this novel deserves, because he released it on the platform of children, man-children, self-righteous pricks, and incompetent people. Author is extremely talented, and I'm a very huge fan of this novel. I can only recommend to read it. <<less
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kawadakoji
kawadakoji rated it
June 5, 2020
Status: c2127
I was holding to make a review on this until I get bored or completed the novel, well I never got bored and the story is still going so I can't really stand by those principles anymore, so I will try to review it as best as I can with what I have.

The first basic principle of World Building in Storytelling is the question "What do they Eat?" that's because it is the fundamental detail that all the economy, society and government is based on, in this novel that question... more>> is not really outlandish, they eat regular food, but the key point is their Gu eat, and because they eat very specific and magical things the whole world's Economy is well built, the trading is believable because we learn that no one can fully feed their Gus on their own, people have limitations, and some Gu Masters use this as a foundation to have fields/crops/cattle of exotic beings and plants that they sell and earn their living out of it, so the world is believable even considering the outlandish cultivation.

The world is not Black and White, and although the Righteous Faction claims it is, we as reader can see that they are preaching it to gain more power and control over people, to be seen as Heroes that stands for what is Right instead of Selfish people who have no limits and would do anything to grow stronger, but the fact is.. its not Black and White, the world is Grey and thats the KEY THING that makes this novel amazing, Righteous or Demonic path, both seeks the same, power and control, the difference is that Righteous masks their desires with a veil of Righteousness, and Demonic doesn't give a f*ck.

The protagonist is a Demonic Cultivator, he knows that if he falls into a clan he will be chained by the system, so he does his best to grow while controlling the amount of chains that the system (Righteous Faction's government system) have on him until he gets strong enough to explore the world alone.

And he does, he carries this novel on his back like a champ, he is one of the best protagonists I ever seen, he has clear goal, he has a unique personality that fits the Grey World perfectly, he is not a psycho that kills for fun, but he also doesn't go out of his way to save the damsel in distress, he would sacrifice 1000 babies if needed if he knows that by doing so he would gain more power.. at the same time that he would save a life with all his might if he knows that by doing so, he will be able to earn something. The world rotates around a single word "Profit".

Now its hard to move on without talking spoilers, so I will end my review here, I super recommend anyone to read this, but this is not a novel for people that seeks heroic actions and peace loving people, this is the story about a world that is f*cked up, just like ours, but with an outlandish cultivation system on top of it.

The protagonist's personality actually makes me doubt my own sanity, I agree with EVERYTHING he has done, and I always think "I would've done the same in his place" its not a self-insert or a wish-fulfillment story, the protagonist doesn't win always, in fact he loses more than he wins, and even when he wins is rarely a perfect win, he needs to sacrifice something when he wins. so the way we view the story is not the boring and classic "What power up will the protagonist have to kill the bad guy?" instead is "What the protagonist will sacrifice to win and achieve his goal? and if he loses.. how will he escape?" its a MASSIVE difference.

Now im giving 4.5 Stars for 2 reasons, first.. the story hasn't ended, it can shift at any time although unlikely, second is.. I F*CKING HATE Feng Zheng! he represents everything I hate about Xianxia, and Feng Yuan haven't killed this b*tch boy yet, C'MON MATE, KILL HIM!!!!... I KNOW YOU WANT IT... YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT.. THE SEAGULLS ON MY DECK KNOWS YOU WANT IT!! <<less
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clowred
clowred
January 10, 2018
Status: c154
The first truly vile protagonist I've ever encountered since my two year obsession with Chinese Novels began. Cruel to the point of madness, yet cold and unfeeling towards everything including the reader themselves that from time to time actually hope to see a glimmer of light in the abyss of darkness where the protagonist resides.

Now that I've introduced the main motif of the story, the evil protagonist, sadly I'm not left with much to say about the story itself as it is only at the beginning... Maybe I could even... more>> say that it is at the beginning of the beginning as the protagonist hasn't even started his true path of demonic cultivation unless you take in consideration the last 5, 6 chapter.

From what the novel offered until this point I can say that its potential surpasses ISSTH, as the protagonist feels more polished and the story doesn't create any cliches, it just proves that goodwill can bring more hatred than any other evil act in this world. There is no proud character that simply searches his own gains without considering his surroundings, each of them matures at a steady pace, but because the protagonist is a 500 old demon, there is no way they can easily triumph over him.

In conclusion, please read this book and support the translator. This novel is a piece of art. Godspeed at reading. <<less
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EvergreenAutumn
EvergreenAutumn rated it
January 30, 2020
Status: c1400
I'm very picky about which novels I read, and this one is definitely top-tier. As of right now, I'm on chapter 1400 or so, and the story and translation are both excellent with very few mistakes.

The main character is extremely scheming and calculative. He's not an idiot who does stuff on a whim, "just because." Everything he does is for a reason, and every single enemy he has is also extremely scheming. There are no "spoiled young masters" or any of the usual xianxia cliches.

If you're expecting a protagonist to... more>> insert yourself into to feel like a hero, this novel isn't for you. This MC does anything and everything he can to achieve his goals, and none of them are out of the kindness of his heart. If he can benefit from it, you can bet he'll betray or scheme against anyone, even his own family.

Some things he's done to benefit himself:

Spoiler

Kidnapped a girl and let a bear eat her so he could increase his own aptitude.

Massacred his entire clan in cold blood so he could become stronger.

Physically tortured his own brother to have better success in refining a special material.

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