OP Character - Ancient Being Predecessor of the Primordial Era

Let me preface this by saying that the story is good fun at least half the time.

Writing a story were the main character is oblivious to their own strength is hard. Immensely so.

The issue here stems from the display of the main character (whether the writing is bad or the characters itself is supposed to be comedic I don't know). In one scene he laments how little he knows and understands of the current world. The very next he has an option to learn and expand his knowledge without appearing weak or stupid (like even just asking his disciples for their understanding of a thing, not to teach him, but so he can better understand where they stand would easily be an option), the former being his ultimate concern right now. Self-awareness is a huge issue throughout the whole story. I'm not saying it's unrealistic, but it stretches plausibility significantly.

A similarly large issue for me is scene repetition from alternative PoVs. They add nothing, especially when the second perspectives can be easily deduced from the former. Here my advice for the author. Instead of having scene repetition, play with PoV shifts during a chapter (don't overdo this) or disregard the shifts entirely.

And lastly, stick to 3rd person limited, not the weird hybrid that is being employed. It's really jarring if a name is suddenly dropped that the PoV character shouldn't/couldn't have known.

I'd argue that a story that plays with people being stupid as their comedic gimmick, are not humorous, so this one isn't either.

It's still fun though.

Seems like there are other people who have basically said the same thing if you read other reviews, but it’s not a necessarily bad novel, but it’s not really great either. It honestly seems to follow a lot of the cliches you’ll find in an oblivious overpowered cultivation novel. The problem is that it doesn’t necessarily inherit the strengths of a novel in this genre. I’m sure there will be face slapping and the MC being able to show off his power later on in the story, but it’s really slow as of chapter 27. I think the reasons above are kind of the only reason why you would enjoy a story like this in the first place which is why that cliche not being shown so early is even a problem. This is a problem with a lot of novels as well, but the MC has no agency. He has no power over the plot, and the plot just pushes him along. As of chapter 27, he hasn’t gone out of his way to make a decision of his own despite all of his strength and wealth. I do think some of the powers shown so far are cool, but I’d rather have a good story over hyping up powers. The author is also aware of the cliche where cultivation MC’s want/are surrounded by jade beauties and so called “nukes” in these novels. And it’s just exhausting. He’s aware of it, but almost like he’s trying to be self aware, just states it so many times that it’s too much. Like I said though, it’s not bad, but it’s honestly exhausting for me to read this which kills any enjoyment I would have gotten from it.

Good novel with some history. This is a rewrite of an older novel that was never finished. So what does this mean? The first thing is that the writing is changed. Maybe you like that, but I think it's unnecessary, and some cases may be worse because it's just more verbose. Sometimes less is more. People liked the original. Why change it?

My overall impression is it's a Black Mesa of Half life. A remake, not a remaster, and there's no guarantee there is a plot beyond the original. Future chapters could have expanded the writing style and world building instead of replacing the original. That's generally the better solution. This doesn't give an impression the novel has a plan past the original content, so it could potentially stop at the same point as the original, or change the entire plot altogether. 

What's important is that the story actually goes somewhere, or it's not a story. If there is content beyond the original, then that's the real accomplishment. Maybe the MC being "weak" wrote the novel in a corner? That's incorrect according to the lore though. It's only the MC who thinks he's weak. Just give him a progression path, problem solved, doesn't even have to be big, any minor progression will solve the writing into a corner problem. Apparently this is what's planned, we just never got there before. 

IDK. I like the concept, but it needs to go beyond the original to be better. What people may not consider is that this novel was one of the earlier decent cultivation novels, but now we have a much bigger selection with classics like beware of chicken, Master this poor disciple died again today, and unfathomable senior. It's competing against better novels with an unknown progression path, and really needs that storyline to actually go somewhere to compete. The foundation is solid, but it needs to expand and do so consistently. Maybe 100 chapters to start breaking out. 

It's never been a bad novel, it just didn't have content and was dropped before it went anywhere. That's the problem, it needs content, and a rewrite doesn't add it. We won't know if it's a success until there's actual progress past the original. 

Humor? Impeccable.

Pace? Godspeed.

Inner thoughts? Screaming.

Hooked? Indubitably.

James is exactly how I would be in these situations. We all like to think of ourselves as cool, calm, and collected – figuring out the system. But when you're rewarded for getting a headache, it's all out the window. Give me my cozy blanket back. 

I'm so excited to see how this goes.

This story is really fun. Read the original and liked it too. Author is quite unhinged but that only makes it more peak.

The greatest problem with this story (at least the original) was that MC was frustratingly unaware of his abilities, but this problem has been severely mitigated on this iteration (and it also seems like the author plans for MC to slowly figure it out his true power.)

If you're kinda unsure of reading it, it's probably because of this fact, but I sincerely believe review score will go up once mc starts getting gud. Anyway, this is peak. I wholeheartedly recommend this.

Said MC is also doing the best they can with what they have, which is a sackful of godly tools, ingredients, coin and weapons, but no working system or even clue. 

I mean, it's obvious that they're genre savvy to some degree, but being an overpowered tabula rasa with only the vaguest hints of societal bonds mean that he'll do what he needs to do, even if the universe breaks out of misplaced effort. Of which he remains unaware.

The third-party POVs help drum up the tension and fridge-horror of the horrible misadventures that have, are and will continue to happen, but James' journey will hopefully rebuild his own humanity, while reinforcing everyone else's view that he exists only to confuse, confound and destroy.

PS: The Dragons are frigging CUTE AF.

its a decent story. The characters, humor and worldbuilding are all okay.

But I just don't like the fact that mc does not realize how overpowered he is. Its fun for maybe a few chapters but seeing the strongest guy in the setting act like a weakling coward all the time gets old quick. 

Overall if you want a lighthearted/not serious read its probably fine. 

Man, I read the first publication of this story years ago and was so sad that it wasn’t continued. When you announced that you would be doing a rewrite and continuing the series I was excited to see what you came up with. My friend you do not disappoint. 
For first time readers of this series it’s a novel start to an OP character story that has depth of character and exciting world building. I very much recommend.

I can’t wait to see where the story takes us! 

First few chapters are the usual fare for an Isekai novel. Short and to the point with just enough to give you a glimpse of transformation. The fun starts a few chapters in. The MC, feeling the lack of power, resorts to a facade and some schemes. It has a taste of empire (or Sect, at least) building, and the only battle scene thus far was over too quickly but very visually appealing. Author definitely has a way with words. 

I've found the story to be extremely enjoyable. So far it feels somewhat reminiscent of AYMTAV4 to me, so if you're looking to scratch that itch I'd give it a try! Only complaint is that it could do with a good editing.

Style: The pacing is a bit inconsistent with somewhat unclear time skips that I think could be set up and handled a little better, but overall it's a very pleasant reading experience.

Story: The world building has not yet had too much time to shine. It feels like a fairly standard Xianxia setup, but respective power scaling and different levels of strength in the world outside our MC are as yet unestablished. The story premise is very promising and, for me personally, the most important parts are being delivered on, so full marks despite the lack of a fully fleshed out feeling world!

Character: The characters are really quite good in my opinion, I think the author has captured the dichotomy of world-weary age that comes from living as long as the MC has against his naivety from lacking life experiences. I docked a half star since I haven't really seen how they will grow yet, but it's still early on.

Grammar: Expect simple mistakes in spelling, word choice, or word order every page or two. It's noticable but still easily understood and far from aggravating. I haven't noticed any issue with tenses (which I find to be a common error on RR that drives me crazy), so that's a big win in my book.