Jun 13, 2020

By:William Lee

The story has ups and downs, and is hilariously ridiculous

Link to Read/Purchase Novel

This novel by Legend of the Paladin is complete in its entirety so there's no suspense of waiting for hiatuses or new chapter delays. Oh wait, no, that's only if you can read Chinese. The English translation from Webnovel.com is powering ahead, just about 1/3 of the way through the story. Suspense ensues.

Just read the premise of the story:

"One day, Song Shuhang was suddenly added to a chat group with many seniors that suffered from chuuni disease. The people inside the group would call each other ‘Fellow Daoist’ and had all different kinds of titles: Palace Master, Cave Lord, True Monarch, Immortal Master, etc. Even the pet of the founder of the group that had run away from home was called ‘monster dog’. They would talk all day about pill refining, exploring ancient ruins, or share their experience on techniques. However, after lurking inside the group for a while, he discovered that not all was what it seemed..."

This is one of the best summaries of any story (with the exception of some of those novels that have titles that are several full sentences strung together), because you can basically infer the plot from this short blurb. So although the plot itself is as ridiculous as this premise sounds, the hilarity that ensues comes out at you in the little surprises tucked into every little conflict Song Shuhang runs into. He is truly one of the most fortunate/unfortunate cultivators of all time!

The plot armor is thick with this main character, but you're not going to read this novel for the suspense. He is altogether a good-natured guy who is willing to do what it takes to just barely scrape by in a world where he is surrounded by overpowered seniors. Romance-wise, the development comes at a glacial pace, and there's a bit of a mini-harem going on, and it's definitely not a major theme in the story if you're looking for that.

Overall though, it's a wonderful story (albeit a long one with occasional uneven pacing in plot development; it does read slow at times), 4 out of 5 stars.