Cultivation Nerd (xianxia)

So far so good, just started it and quality wise you'd expect it to come from a published author. The story itself isn't fully unique, but what is these days, at the very least it's a fun read that subverts the more common xianxia tropes like sect entrance and fiancees breaking up with them in the first ten chapters

If you take note all the bad reviews are from people who read to the first few chapters. As someone who has caught up I'd like to say a few things.

First of all, this story doesn't include the bare bones of cultivation, it takes time for everything to be revealed

The characters are well written and their relationship show gradual development.

I highly recommend this story, and if you want to read it at least finish the first book (I think its about 50 chapters)

Really competent author and/or editor, with little to no grammatical errors. Very refreshing having a character actually work for their strength and not be supremely lucky/talented. MC is a little too paranoid. And of course with a story basing its identity on avoiding the common tropes it IS rather slow paced imo but  I guess that’s what I signed up for. 

Overall I think it is a great read and would highly recommend it. 

p.s. I like turtle

Is a standard cultivation novel nothing special the same sects the same people besides the mc who has more of a "modern earthly" though process you know what I mean.

The cultivation system is the same again nothing special from body tempering to nascent soul just from 1-9 stars per stage in every realm which is rly inconvenient for the author and not the old and in my opinion better early foundation building or middle foundation building style in my opinion it's rly becoming boring to read the same way people advances all the time it just feels like you just throw a bigger fireball after each advancement nothing fundamental.

When I first started to read I thought we will get a innovative MC who will like create his own style and arts but he is just a book worm he reads a lot in the library we only saw the effect of knowledge only 2 times in the first book which is around chapter 63 or so the mc is playing everything safe but till now besides a higher IQ and probably a stronger soul because he can sense Qi early on which is only an early advantage he is nothing special and in my opinion not worthy to invest in if we look from the perspective of an elder 

The writing is okay nothing that catches my attention like always a pov reminder when we have pov change.

Some things don't make sense to me like the second town he was in  which Is less the a day away from the sect why they didn't know a damn about his sect but at the end of the first book the author mentioned how multiple earth worth of landmasses  the sect controls and such.  The way he introduced the so called red haired Boy who is probably heavenly favored in one chapter he talks about how the disparity between cultivation stages is huge but then flees and hides from a 3 star body tempering stage boy as a peak 8 star body tempering cultivator.

The main character comes into this world witnessing unbelievable healing powers, and more than that, they see a world of possibilities unknown. Early on they constantly proclaim that something they just saw happen isn't scientifically possible. The author introduces the protagonist as someone with some knowledge of cultivation tropes or novels, and then quickly declares that they're going to do their best to utilize that while staying away from most of it.

And yet, they consistently have a very narrow view of the techniques they're learning. They're almost incapable of modifying or discovering unique ways to utilize techniques they learn. Everything they do is by the books that they read with almost no experimentation that isn't nudged by another characters help. Their self made status page is a small step up from the norm, but they hardly experiment at all.

Their nerd like behavior is at best studiousness and at worst a meek and polite personality.

Not to mention that after the author introduces the crazy core disciple who grows to like our protagonist, all sense and world building might as well come to a halt. The protagonist's fate becomes intertwined with a psycho core disciple who's probably going to be the next sect head, and yet he tries futilely to distance himself from her. This is despite being offered riches beyond his wildest dreams and cultivation support like he's never seen. It's all for naught because she's the greatest backer he could hope for so far, and the sect believes they're connected.

At that point, he's not being nerdy in any appreciable way except to be able to read nonstop, and he's purposefully hampering himself by avoiding Song-Song. He's already getting the negatives of being associated, but he refuses to accept any of the benefits. My suspension of disbelief was shattered when he rejected her offer, and my desire for the protagonist to be more scientific with their cultivation was already unrealized.

For all the meta awareness the protagonist has, he's pretty dumb. He may comment on a meta moment, and then become mind numbingly thick. He'll sense somethings off, and then go, "oh it must be nothing" like a complete cliche.

Starts interesting, but over time devolves into generic xinxia. Mc's character is all over the place, sometimes we see more nerdy character, but most of the time mc is made dumber, or changes personality 180 degrees to a cold blooded killer. World building is near non-existent. Side characters are better then in most similar novels.

A good story. I'm liking the main character and his interest in understanding this world. I also like how he's aware that strength is needed if he wants to not be bothered in his interests. 

The hints of something more brewing but our MC not wanting any part in that is nice. I like the hints of it and also that I believe that no matter what he will have to deal with that issue sooner or later. 

I am giving this a five star rating. I have followed the story for a little while, and I think it is well written. Unlike most xianxia stories that are all, "OHMYGOD! THISGUYISCRAZY!", I feel we actually get an ACTUAL side character's viewpoint, while the side chracter is still, of course, a little bit amazing himself.

To expand a bit, the way that the novel introduces the different relationships tied to the main character is good. Usually characters come together because of "plot", but really, just convenience. There is effort in this story when it comes to those relationships, as well as expanding upon them.

The author understands that to write a story is to connect dots between each other. And I appreciate that. If there is a not enough to connect between two dots, usually authors just tie another string to the dot. But here, the author properly measures and considers the circumstances, personalities, and how they go together.

It is well written.

Beyond slightly too many in-your-face reminders that the MC is originally from our world, the rest of this story is very capably written. No issues with the execution.

The rest of the cast is well fleshed out despite the story being set in a very classic cultivation world. There are the usual archetypes around in part, but they aren't two dimensional. It feels like a place that could exist even if it doesn't deviate too far from the standard for the genre.

I'll happily keep checking back to see where it's going. I'd be happy to just see a standard cultivation story in this world from the POV of a dude who spends all his time in the library. I really doesn't need much more.

What I really like about this novel is that it shows how the mc deals with common cultivation problems with a sound and logical mind. I like how he doesn't solve it with just "you provoke me, just die!" shit cultivation trope. Also, I like how he progress his cultivation though slow but still you can see how he supplement it with other means possible.