This is the story of Xi Ping, who goes from a frivolous and wealthy Marquis's son to a god. The summary is a simple 3-4 lines: someone saying that if they could, they too wish to be an ordinary person in the humdrum of life, to live and die like a mortal. It's very poignant when seen as Xi Ping's wish as he walks the very lonely path to godhood.

The world of the novel is incredibly fleshed out. There are four nations, each nation has its own history, its own rich world of cultivators and mortals, divine instruments, connections, power hierarchy and politics. Xi Ping's path takes him through all four nations.

On to the bad stuff first. This was 247 chapters and honestly the book didn't need to be so long. There is quite a lot of info-dumping / telling not showing. I've lost count of how many side characters that Priest introduced.

Each mini arc also started out really slowly and the last few chapters are always hurtling forward at breakneck speed, with shocking plot twists. This meant that at times the novel is slow as molasses, at other times I can't stop reading. So I really didn't like the pace and the huge cast.

I have always liked Priest for the strong themes and very nuanced commentary in her writings. E Danglers, the fan translator, did a fantastic job translating and really managed to convey the vivid images and motifs that Priest used, like the Bell of Tribulation, the Impassable Sea, the Riverward...

On to the best thing about this webnovel: the commentary and themes. This is about Xi Ping's lonely path to becoming a god-like figure, but it is also about the story of a world of incredible power inequality where cultivators near godhood can smite anybody with a single glance, and mortals are like ants. As Xi Ping remakes himself and is transformed, so does the society change. The end of the novel sees Xi Ping as a guardian of sorts of a new era of this world, where cultivation disappears entirely, everybody lives a mortal life, with no magic and powers - a more equal society. Mortals are analogous to the powerless, and cultivators are analogous to the powerful.

I am inconsolable over Zhou Ying and that ending 😭😭😭 how fiercely he loved Xi Ping and how much Xi Ping loved him back, his sacrifice, and the ending of the whole book where Xi Ping sees the words left behind by Zhou Ying before his death (I was here), in a full circle.

I have a hole in my heart from how the ending sees Xi Ping outliving everyone he knows and loves and how he sends them off one after the other as they leave this world 😭😭😭 there is so much loss in this book, so much so that I had to keep taking breaks.

no paring