This novel is about a daoist making a living as a priest, travelling and exorcising ghosts and spirits.

Don't be fooled by the title and synopsis, they're written like low-effort harem novels but this is actually surprisingly well-written. The descriptive narrative is excellent relative to other Chinese novels, and the story is interesting and feels structured. Where the translated chapters currently are, there even hints to a larger overarching plot with the main ghost that Lu Yuan has encountered.

The novel gives a heavy focus to daoism. Not the philosophical lifestyle part,... more>> but the exorcism part. There's no structure to the exorcisms, but the author is clearly inspired by old daoist methods so it doesn't feel like he's making things up as he goes. There's also a clear power structure which isn't left vague like other xuanhuan. It's categorized through Lu Yuan's system, with some depth for both exorcists and spirits.

I will say Lu Yuan does feel a bit too much like a main character sometimes, which I wouldn't say is a good thing. He overshadows the side characters and love interests so they risk lacking depth despite the author clearly being competent enough to write interesting interactions and dynamics, but that's a flaw that comes with most Chinese novels.

The novel isn't far yet, but there's already some romantic development and it's played pretty fun, doesn't take itself overly serious.

So far, it's fun to read, feels grounded, has interesting worldbuilding and character dynamics, and the system doesn't get in the way. I eagerly await more chapters. <<less