Very gripping series - I had to go read MTL for this to find out what happens!
This story has a really similar feel to Scum Villain Self Saving System, albeit less on the comedy side. The MC is a kind-hearted shizun who has no interest in romance, and sacrifices so much for the ML (mostly to keep saving his life). While he is happy to be pampered by the ML, his priority is cultivation and becoming stronger. So throughout the series, he keeps trying to leave, which results in the ML becoming more and more obsessed with him (because he's trying to leave him). He also loves teaching swordplay, which results in him taking in a bunch of people as unofficial students... Which results in hilarity as the ML drinks tons of vinegar and gets possessive over being his "only student". My favorite was when he tried to

Word of warning - the ML is NOT a nice guy. At all. He is overbearing, a yandere, and drinks gallons of vinegar at any little thing. For me, this fits my tastes perfectly - I love stories with a pe*verted ML who gets jealous and possessive. As long as you go into this story knowing that the ML is not supposed to be a sweet and selfless guy, but a black bellied yandere that goes from being an entitled human emperor to being an . He is a terrible person - but all of this is in line with him being an entitled emperor and his true identity.
The MC will , much like in Scum Villain. The last time when he does this was very entertaining - I love the ML's reaction to finally seeing him again, and the ML's jealousy of his new student.

All in all, love this series, scratches that itch for pampering, yandere vinegar chugging ML gongs.

If you're looking for plot, characters with actual characterization, logical storytelling, worldbuilding with any level of sens, palace intrigue, emotional scenes, suspense of disbelief as a whole, worldbuilding with any level of sense, etc, this novel isn't for you.

And clearly it's also not for me. There's not even remotely sexy tr*shy smut to read where I can pretend the rest of the novel is just foil for PWP.

MC isn't your average cute!dumb, he's the type who would be blinded by terror in one moment and then righteously ragey and loud... more>> the next split second for no f*cking reason other than some seriously shallow reasoning.

You ever met a narcissist who you find annoying and is an overly braggart with zero actual skills and wanna bring them down a peg with reality and humility? That's the MC. Except 1000x worse cuz we're forced to see it from his ret*rded nonsense perspective. And apparently all the other characters eats it up like no tomorrow.

MC currently has a weak and frail body who would keel over with a strong gust of wind and have zero spiritual energy? Hold the author's beer as they whip out cannon fodder cultivator 1-10 who can't even slice a single one of MC's hair cuz MC is so genius and powerful despite the fact that they are reputable cultivators from major sects and this is a high cultivation world where ascention is possible. And watch as the weak and helpless MC be strong enough to go easy and pretend to lose to the ML. Oh noooo~ that cold gust of wiiiind~

Palace intrigue and dogblood drama? Mystery? The word "tried" would be an insult to all 5 year olds who "tried" to play grownup by stealing their mom's heels and makeup to draw on the walls. MC is the most stunning beauty in the existence of ever and all palace people knows his face, but he can casually stroll around, knock out servants, and with a change of clothing never be detected ever. Oh, except when random mortal side characters who needs to show up in order to heap praises on MC somehow manages to tail MC for ages. No biggie cultivators can't even do that. Or when fodders need to show up to do not even a good villain monologue for no good reason either before they swoon into MC's pretty face. Which means the faceslap is just pathetic and basically nonexistent too.

I'd write more, cuz this is barely the tip of the iceberg, but I've already wasted so much of my life.

TL;DR. Writing, plot, worldbuilding, anything and everything that you might care to read is a shallow ripoff of a ripoff of an offbrand. The high rating is a f*cking lie, the summary is misleading. Don't bother reading this. <<less

I'll return with a more extensive review at some point but suffice it to say for now that I'm a rabid superfan of this novel. Don't let the summary fool you - this isn't a palace-centric concubine story. It's a rollercoaster of a sprawling xianxia adventure, the perfect blend of action, adventure, mystery, romance, friendship, tragedy, comedy and feels! I laughed and cried while I read this and look forward to doing it all over again.

Our MC Qiu Yutong is my favorite part of the book. He's incredibly lovable -... more>> talented, powerful, and kind, but also lazy, slow to read social cues, and easily coaxed with baked goods. He begins his journey as a strong but naive cultivator who only cares about swords and ascension; through the trials, betrayals, heartache and joy that follows, we watch him slowly learn that neither people, nor the world, nor his own heart are as simple as he assumed. Other traits include laziness with his personal grooming habits, a bit of a temper, and the tendency to be cutely smug when he concocts extremely incorrect conclusions about what's going on around him (such as ANYTHING that has to do with ML's behavior towards him hehehe)

ML is a somewhat typical paralyzed face cold overbearing gong but has a soft gooey heart when it comes to MC. Where MC's life goals can be boiled down to 1) ascending 2) eating sweets and 3) going barefoot whenever possible, ML only has one: Follow and pamper Shizun. That being said he does behave very badly toward the MC at times, in part due to the machinations and betrayals of other people but also due to his own personal failings- (below for tw in this area). I wouldn't say he necessarily goes through a lot of character growth, but he learns how to become the kind of person for the MC who is able to make the MC happy, cared for, and loved. He goes through many personal challenges throughout the story, struggling with secrets about his origin and identity and his conflicting impulses toward QYT, the dark and the lightness within.

TWs:

Spoiler

One scene of non-con between ML and MC. He definitely feels remorse later and works to redeem himself, and it's not handwaved away, but be aware.

Also one scene of body horror some might find squicky having to do with bugs.

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I cannot recall the last time a novel gripped me this hard - probably only Qi Ye / Lord Seventh, SVSSS, and Spring Trees and Sunset Clouds can compare.

Big thanks to translator for picking this up! Highly encourage you all to give it a try and make sure to leave a comment on translator's website if you do! <<less

I read this because of the synopsis which suits my taste and also due to the high reviews. However, in the few chapters I started to find the writing unsatisfactory, with so many flaws. It seems like this novel was written by inexperienced and ignorant writer - where many elements were lacking; and the characters are immature and act lower than their status and roles e.g., as emperor or as noble in this story.

Chapter 24 has the most glaring flaw. The palace allows the emperor to roam the street or... more>> be in public without any guards closed by? Or the public does not recognize the emperor, as if he's just a civilian? The crowd, the sellers or the brother of a government official don't recognized him and even has conflict with him. This author treats the life of the emperor very lightly. With relatives vying for the throne and conspiracies exist in every politics, this author didn't even considered these elements for the character's status as important as an emperor. The conflict with the brother of a government official is laughable. The conflict and the emperor appear cheap here. I can't continue reading this anymore. <<less

Chen Sensen is a very special author. I was a big fan of hers at some point of time, so I read everything she wrote. How to describe it... it's like she has fifteen cards with certain dog blood tropes, and she uses ten of them in every novel. So, you read one novel, and it it pretty good. Or extremely good if you enjoy this stuff. Then you read the second novel and feel a bit strange because half of the tropes, details and motifs you have already seen.... more>> Then you read the third, and... there is nothing new. You have already seen exactly the same things. Not to mention fourth and fifth...

So I would recommend to read only one of her novels, and it should be this one by far. It is a lot deeper, more passionate and more refreshing than the other ones. I loved both the MC and the ML very much. Well, loving the MC is natural, he is a shou, and he's very sweet and naive, but the ML does a lot of questionable things. But you will never, never doubt his love for the MC. This love makes him more vulnerable even when he's physically dominating the MC. And I will never forget the little dragon who was bringing his master beautiful stones, trying to make his master pay attention to him (crying my eyes out). <<less

Really loving it so far! Our MC is real endearing ?? he’s a bit dense but its funny (and bit sad), he tried his hardest for his little disciple, and despite current misunderstandings he still cares deeply about him, my heart is just very soft for this little shizun ;;;; and how can we not stan a spoiled shizun suddenly having to go through such hardships? He is definitely my favorite part of the story so far! His reactions to ppl (especially our ML) are great and he’s just on... more>> a different wavelength than everyone else so it’s real funny to see how ppl react to or misunderstand him!

It is highkey frustrating for me when the ML misunderstands due to previous misunderstandings and then the misunderstandings just seem to stack up and the already negative feelings get even worse and danger is approaching and run for your life while you still have it little shizun!! I just want to bonk them both over the head to clear things up sjsjkakajafvghb but the reasons for the misunderstandings are... reasonable u.u I can feel the shame and embarrassment our MC feels/would feel, and the ML has plenty of reasons to believe what he believes so I cant be mad at him. It doesnt feel like “misunderstandings are here cause we refuse to take a moment to sit down and really its just cause the plot demands it”, things feel a bit more nuanced than that. So my frustration isnt the kind that makes me want to stop reading, its the opposite! I want to read more so that I can see how things stack up and get worse so that when its all revealed these two clowns have to look each other in the eyes and face the f*cking music and face what ya’ll did!! (Are we allowed to say f*ck??)

ML is a bitter angy sad bit*h and I love every minute of their train wreck interactions.

Oh boy and the tension has been real, especially in the early early chapters. Im a sensitive flower you know? I get anxious real easy, so I had to step away for a little on some parts cause of the tension and worry I was feeling but I really didnt want to snsnsjsjsh our MC isn’t afraid to pursue anything when he puts his mind to it, despite his current situation, and I really gotta admire that about him (even if my heart my cant take it...)

I can’t say a lot about the plot tho, ive only been seeing vague tellings of it so far. But I am interested to see where its going, like we do have two (??) big mysteries hanging over our heads so far and I’m definitely sticking around to find out more!

So if youre still wondering about if you should read it just think about this: I’m only on chapter 19 but I had to drop everything to make an account on this site at 2:30 am despite reading different CNs and visiting this site for over a year now to gush about this freaken novel!! What does that tell you?? That I have no friends? Yea youre not wrong asshat, but aLSO ITS JUST REALLY GOOD GDI!! READ IT!! AND THEN SCREAM INTO THE VOID W/ ME!!! I WILL HEAR YOUR CRIES DONT YOU WORRY MY SWEET CHILD!! <<less

A very good read with satisfying storytelling and ending. The MC is a bit of a white lotus but not exactly, he’s quite tolerant, naive, simple and dense af, but doesn’t deceive himself once he figured it out. And he’s not excessively have the urge to help people indiscriminately nor he suppress others, he’d just reach those within his reasonable conscience. To simplify, more or less he has a good-normal morality value for a modern world. This morality value should be abnormal in a dog eats dog cultivation world.

There’s a... more>> long and winding path of misunderstanding here, but all ends well.

The ML though.. I like him too, in many various ways he’s very pitiable. Personally I pity him more than the MC but that doesn’t exactly justify what he did either..

I like this one more than the scum villain’s self saving system. <<less

This novel gives me strong 'The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System' vibes, since there was many instances where MC falls into misunderstanding with ML that causes a *ton* of grief for the both of them, that could be straightened out if the MC only spoke up about his intentions (but doesn't, since he feels he has to maintain a stoic image or doesn't want to admit the truth or what he's suffering with).

Not to say the story is bad due to it, it's a rather epic story. Certainly it's a strong... more>> a plot device that's used multiple times that I give the author some side-eye on. But to be fair, there's a lot of interesting things that happen in the plot to make up for it. The dynamics of what happen is pretty complex, so I'll update this review once I can summarize better. Other than that, the real 'villain' of the story towards the end of the story was someone I semi-suspected halfway through the story, and there's some world-hopping to the modern world that happens later on in the extras that's a lot of fun. <<less

I can't describe how adorable this novel is! I was hooked from the first chapter, and when translated chapters ended, I absolutely couldn't stop. Even though mtl is broken (only a part of each chapter mtl'ed), I went on with google translate, and oh my... I cried so much over it. I laughed, too. And sometimes I cried and laughed at the same time. It is a very emotional story, full of misery and sweetness (it ends in sweetness, thankfully :)) It reminded me SVSSS in some aspects, except there's... more>> no System, no transmigration, and, well, I was much more emotionally invested in the main characters in this story. The feelings were so unrestrained there. The MC, Qiu Yutong, the teacher, is kind, naive, sweet, clumsy, funny, a bit delusional... as much a cinnamon roll as one can possibly be. The ML, Lu Xiao, the student, is possessive and passionate, he does a lot of questionable things but I never could bring myself to hate him because you can always feel how desperately he loves the MC. There are lots of misunderstandings in the story, mostly because Qiu Yutong has an innate talent to withheld necessary information and say wrong things at wrong time, and because of Lu Xiao's jealousy. It was painful in a good way and it made me feel happy. I really, really loved everything about this book. <<less

I MTLed this and there were some parts that I didn't understand. It's really hard to read MTL versions of historical and cultivation novels.

It was a good read, definitely worth your time. The MC and ML complement each other.

The MC might be a powerful sword cultivator but he's kinda naive with other life aspects. His most prominent characteristic is being dedicated as the ML's master. He is also caring towards his senior brothers.

The ML is a bit black-bellied. He will do everything just to be with the MC. There were... more>> times when I found him annoying and excessive, maybe because he's portrayed as yandere.

The MC's senior brothers were loving and caring towards the MC. They have different ways of showing how they cared for the MC. I kinda get why the senior brother did what he did. He had became obssess with being the eldest brother who raised his younger brothers and as the sect master who took care of their sect that he has done a lot of mistakes. I also understand why the second brother, third brother, and the MC can't tolerate what their senior brother did. Since what he did was really out of the line. You can also see that the only people he truly cares about are his three younger brothers.

I was also satisfied with the ending of the main text and the extras. I would love to read this again when the translation is complete. <<less

Immortal going on a mortal world for exp to succeed ascending only to end up possessing a mortal's male pet body. ML is a paranoid emperor & MC is concerned but his goal is to go back to his sect for healing.

Please, MC is not the depiction or doesn't have characteristics of an cultivators and more like "gain a title but doesn't have qualities". Said to have power but clearly lacks mental ability and proofs I mean to what extent can you say that you're a master while you're dumbness... more>> covers your whole face? Who in the world will get scared towards a mortal when you're someone who almost ascended to heaven?

It's not to my taste. The intensity of situation isn't worthy enough. And the relationship is lacking trust.

While I criticize them, the plot and extras & villain's are not bad and truly appreciate the roles given to them. It's worth to read if you ignore the MC & ML's nonsense. <<less

The tags pretty much tell you what to expect.
I really love this. It's not perfect, but it was really good and I loved it enough that I had to MTL 90 chapters. Thanks so much to the translator, and I'll be waiting for updates.
An important theme is karma, because from the distant past to the present of the story the actions of the villains and the main characters have lasting consequences. Sometimes MC and ML's relationship frustrated me because the misunderstandings became too ridiculous but I still rooted for them and I couldn't stop reading. The author also developed the MC's relationships with his senior brothers well and my favorite character was the eldest.
Spoilers:

The character I liked most in all the story is the Senior Brother Xie Wanting, I felt he was the only one true to himself. I admired his determination and I wish he could have had a better ending.

... more>> He literally did everything for his family and didn't care about anything or anyone else, unfortunately his brothers left him in the end because they didn't approve of his actions. He really deserved better.

For the rest the book was interesting although the relationship between the MC and ML lacked trust, like completely. <<less

The novel is so good I loved the the MC and ML characters but unfortunately the novel isn’t complete, I tried Mtl but it was missed up.

Since our class is starting, I wanted to find something good to read. At first, this was pretty fine but as the story progresses, I don't know if I'm still thinking fine or perhaps the MC's s*upidity rubbed off on me. Very very frustrating, felt like I wasted my remaining vacation time. There were times when it was really exciting, although I was mostly disappointed afterwards. It could've been better. The characters could've been better. If only they stuck with their character descriptions, it would've been really nice. Supposedly, the... more>> MC is kind of unrivaled, but he acts like your generic martial artist whose name is only famous and whose skills are not on par with the said abilities. Words > Actions.

Great time-killer, I guess. Pissed me off most of the part, but it's... okayish. <<less

Questionable but either way, it still kept my interest especially with the surging pile of mysteries. I'm not quite taken with how abrupt some turns are but I guess that's life.

Am I the only one getting impatient with Qiu Yutong getting reunited with his disciple brithers? Like I am so excited with their interactions ah, it seemed like they had a sweet relationship. Feels a lot like Liu Yao or My Disciples are All Villains. UwU