i started reading xianxia novels in december 2015, and i read at least 10 of thi genere.
this is the firs one that i stopped reading, i like book one and have some laugh but book 2 went down and i just couldn't continue reading.
there are things that doesn't come together, for example why does the character want to grow stronger? and since i stopped reading it a while ago i don't remember the rest Lol.
i understand that thos type of novel have the necesity for cultivating items, pills, monster cores, etc. But this novel takes it too much. He just cultivates, and tarin a little the techniques just to barely using them.
i am not of writting reviews or reading them, because in the end it is jus someone else opinion and maybe we can agree or not, so i encourage you to give this novel a try to find out if you like it or not. But if you like coilling dragon, stellar transformations, against the gods, etc i don't think you would like this one because this mc is not as hard working and has some real motives as the others.

I Shall Seal the Heavens (ISSTH) is one of my favorite xianxia series out there as the story doesn't follow the usual rinse and repeat format unlike the other popular novels out there.

ISSTH is not only about Meng Hao getting powerful in every arc. As Meng Hao once said Immortality is just a destination but what matters the most is enjoying the scenery.

ISSTH would make you laugh. Meng Hao's conman skills would make your day and so would Lord Fifth. It is also the only xianxia novel which would make you cry. The novel is full of strong philosophical moments.

Sure the entire story is focused around Meng Hao and the focus on side characters is pretty low but ISSTH'S side characters are one of the most well characterized side characters out there.

ISSTH has one of the best female side characters out there. Sure we see some fanrgirl but most of the female cultivators are unique in personality. They are not some stupid and one dimensional characters. I especially liked "Big sis" from Fang clan. The chapters focused on her are treat for eyes.

ISSTH has the best Master-Discipline relationship out there. Usually when I read cultivation novels the Master-Discipline relationship is pretty shallow. But in ISSTH the personality of Pill Demon is such that you can't help but praise the author for creating such a perfect character. The arc in which Meng Hao was accepted as his legacy apprentice was one of the best storyline out there.

Meng Hao sows karma with many during his journey for better or for worse. I liked how the story wasn't about just getting power-up. The Desert Migration arc was one such beautiful arc. Meng Hao developed family love for the tribe he was protecting. I especially liked how he got sad when he learned that one of his "subordinate" (who was once his opponent) was killed in order to draw him out...that scene was so painful.

I think the best part for action and fantasy readers is that the story doesn't focuses on "arrogant genius" vs MC. We don't see the descent of one stupid villain after the another. Plus author rarely uses tournament style arcs and when he do they are full of suspense and drama.

Er Gen is a genius when it comes to creating unique abilities. Characters have so many never seen before abilities. Plus the battles are rarely dragged and mkst of the times there is no stupid side characters reaction.

Believe me this series deserve a chance. It's in no way perfect but still the best read out there. Give it a chance.

... Last updated on May 28th, 2016, 9:12am

I'm new to the Xianxia theme novels, and honestly the numbers of novels that I've read are very few, it's so few that it didn't exceed the number of my fingers. Despite of that I can tell that ISSTH is really exceptional to many chinese web novels. If you don't wanna read this long review, just go to the ~Enjoyment~ section.
"I shall Seal the Heavens" or "Wo Yu Feng Tian" is the Top 9 Novel and the Top 1 Xianxia Novel in Mangaupdates

~Story~7
ISSTH is composed of 1614 chapters and the translated chapters have almost finished the 4th Book, probably by this month the 5th book will be translated, now this novel is a continuous slow paced but very connected. ISSTH is not very complex, but also not simple, it's actually it was able to mixed up its subject by using complex things while simplifying it overall, especially the DAO.

The Dao is a combination of road, way, path, course, direction, say, talk, speak, truth, principle. They may sound complicated but the overall story was portraying them in simple way, actually the only thing which unpredictable is the Dao, which makes the whole series exceptional to others. Overall the predictability and uniqueness of the story is not superior to many series, it's even repetitive if you'll try to look at it in a different picture, however it's a clear evidence that ISSTH exceptional. ISSTH is very heavy on Dao, it's so connected that it was able to connect some individual chapters like the 58th chapter to 625th chapter, which is about the "Dao" of the protagonist, also every legacies and power-ups was foreshadowed so much that the Plot Armor makes sense, If other series activates their plot armor in the dire situations, ISSTH is like a Soldier who wears an Plot Armor and Plot Weapon before he goes to war.

Note: I'll try to differentiate the whole series by dividing them into Two, which is the combination of 1st, 2nd and 3rd book, and the 4th book since the first three books were composed of 300 chapters, and it's the same case as the 4th book.

The Individual elements of the story is still the same as the others, the 'Adventures' are great, there were many places which was visited and the scale of the fantasy world was really vast, the entire story much bigger than I've anticipated, and the story was able to cover up only the half of the continent. The First 3 books was able to explore the 1st continent, while the 4th book was able to explore the 2nd continent, and there are 4 continents in total. The First 3 books was able to portray world building and the overall idea of the universe and it was able to create an intelligent exploration. However the 4th Book is the opposite, it's not Logical and Intelligent as the First 3 books, even though it was filled with epic adventures which focuses on tribal, clan and sect wars, it has too much power ups especially Legacies. The First Three Book was very strict to its rule, even though the Protagonist was Unique, he can't break that rule, however the 4th book have thrown out that logic and strict rules, the 4th book is mostly stereotypical.

There are few times that the 'Action' was really detailed and the action, the only problem was there's too much "Chasing" happening throughout the whole series, there's no book that it didn't happen, every life and death situation involves chasing. The First 3 books have used too much chasing, but at the same time it's very Logical and enthralling that most action is about that if it were to be compared to battles, but it's the opposite in the 4th book, it's the Protagonist who usually chase the antagonists The 4th Book is composed of War which is participated by thousands of people and most of the time the Protagonist is the Strongest, there's no other person who was able to Stand Against him in the entire book, it's quite flawed since the First Three books were balanced while in the 4th book it is not.

To Make it clear ISSTH in the First 3 Books were filled with Intelligent prerequisites, the 1st book is the most intelligent book of the 4 books, while the 3rd book is very refreshing except in the last scenes before the 4th book, the 2nd book is comparable to 4th book, though the 2nd book is much interesting than the 4th book, the only differences was there were so many Wars in the 4th book, while the 2nd book is much focused on adventurous exploration and amusing accidental lucky situations.

There's a Good Balanced of Drama and Comedy, but most of the time the story is focused on Improving One Self which is an introversion type of character dynamics. There might be dramas which will focus on character development(not power or strength) in the future but for now, within the current translated chapters, there were only few scenes which can be considered as Dramatic scenes which gives an importance to character growth. The Comedy is usually executed by the antics of the other people whom the protagonist have met, especially the comedic relief which is the companions of protagonist(Meat Jelly and Lord Fifth).

My problem in the story is the Character Execution, one of the mottos of the story is "To Rely on Myself" this is not actually a flaw, but it's an Identity, at the same time this Identity is not generally liked by many people including me. only few interaction and memorable moments throughout the 4 books, and those moments are generally like a Gold to readers like me, since the interaction throughout the 4 books is heavy on Observation, Reading, Suspecting and others, like there's no room for trust and mutual connection, also the problem is the Interaction were written in simple words while the power-ups are so detailed that almost 75% is only about that.


The genre: "Romance" was not written in this site, but there was too much 'ship tease' and the possibility is high. It seemed that no matter where the protagonist went, he would attract attention. The interaction of the protagonist to some women leaves an impression to both women and readers, but I didn't like the halfway style of the author, for 4 books, the 2nd book was able to create an interesting interaction, but leaves behind, especially the moment he became the Son in Law of Song Clan. The rest of the women were treated badly in terms of plot device and character execution, they didn't become a fanservice either, but the author have used some women just to let the readers know that Meng Hao is attractive. At least there's a fruitful interaction between Meng Hao and Xu Qing.

~Characters~6.5
Meng Hao is the only who's receiving the spotlight. His Dao can be found at chapter 625, which is full of philosophical moments. Meng Hao's always Calm, his Killing intent is covered with calm appearance; Clever, he's so clever that you can easily call him a cheater for his extortion skill, plunder and etc..; Usually cold that he doesn't care for others except for those who are willing to die for him like Mastiff and Ke Yunhai, his Friends from the Reliance Sect and his Tribe, or for those who have terms and conditions, he will always try to protect them, but nothing more than that, and he might even try to leave them if the situation is dire; he's a con-man, many women is attracted to him, but not only that, he knows how to deal with them, except he's not interested in lustful ways nor romantic relationship, he's really busy that he doesn't have time to deal with that, the only way to attract his attention is to show love to him, much better if the women tried to die for him (I hope I can see that in the future) and the hell he tried to kill a puppy because of its noise; he's cunning, but that's only in the First 3 books, the 4th book is about showing his overpowered skills; he's a changed man, he was a pacifist who loves peace, but he's now the opposite; he's deliberate loner, the whole series is just about him; he's Fearless, but not an idiot like his enemies; he's hard-worker, the whole series is about his works; he's a hated protagonist, even I hate him, but I have to admit that he's unique and admirable; he's always lucky, finding things by accident or by serendipity is very common for him, and he takes advantage of it, and because of that, he owns great treasures, knowledge, and legacies; he's very mischievous; he's observant; he's ruthless, he have killed many people in a brutal way, not only that, he even tortured people by studying them; he's smart that he have taken many advantages.

His characteristics does not fit an ideal protagonist, he's more fitted as an ideal antagonist. The supporting characters are well rounded, they do change a lot and they develop too, the only problem is that they don't shine very well, since Meng Hao is always receiving the spotlight, at the same time, most of the Neutral characters are always 'underestimating' Meng Hao, and they can only change their impression afterwards, and one of the greatest problem are the antagonist, they are very shallow and most of them are stepping stones or just there for the clown show, only few have changed nor have tried to become new, but there's no antagonist who's worthy for Meng Hao to battle, eventually there's no rival who can stand again'st Meng Hao. Well one of my demand is a worthy Antagonist who will be remembered throughout the story.

~Enjoyment~7.5
It's a relief that translated chapters have only covered the 39% of it, if the whole series is just only made up of 600+ chapters, then I can say that it's potential was wasted and have gone downhill. Honestly I've enjoyed the 1st book, because I've seen so much intelligent development and mind blowing scenes, also the author is not relying on typical tropes such as deus ex machina and plot armor, almost everything in the 1st book is unique, the only repetitive was the chase. I loved the 2nd book because of Chu Yuyan and Jelly Meat also because of the "Gathering at the Song Clan". I like the 3rd book, it's more refreshing, though there's only a few interaction in it, also the debates are great and the best was the time he was almost dying in the last part. The 4th is the only thing that I didn't like, honestly it's filled with Epic Wars, Philosophical Moments and Reunion, but that's it, most of the time was about Meng Hao's power-ups, legacies, luck, boring fights, predictability, and the worst are extortion, plunder, torture, animal abuse(almost), bullying, though by doing these things, he gets a bad karma.

Overall I've enjoyed it, since the series was exceptional and have exceeded what I've expected in many ways, and I've read this novel by playing epic BGM and by searching some Images, and there's Great Philosophical Moments especially the way of Dao, and most of all the interaction of the supporting characters to Meng Hao is the best which is rare throughout the story like my favorite Chapter 189: All the Enemies Arrive
(the Trailers is a lie, I thought it's a group adventure). I just have a mixed feelings for this one.

... Last updated on May 5th, 2016, 11:51pm

"Why does the MC want to get stronger? Why does he struggle? He only knows that he can't live as a mortal anymore, but there's no real purpose behind his actions. "
This is later explained in chapter 625 or 624 I believe if you had continued the series. Xianxia is a genre that means immortality really. A person who wants to get stronger and we basically follow the stories of his life. It is a great novel and I recommend anyone to read it. Once you get to the third book and up, it's going to be even better.

... Last updated on April 30th, 2016, 8:43pm

One of the best Novel i read so far ... Everything how MC is handling his enemies and how smart is he ... Meat Jelly, Parrot & Outtie together .. so funny!!! I love them reallyyy ... I recommend anyone to read this novel, you will be soo into it and won't be able to get bored .. i have been reading it for the past week and now i am in chapter 510 and still not bored and want to complete it as fast as i can ... if i wanna compare it with CD ... It will be the first then CD will be the second in my list as CD is a bit boring .. But this Novel is so interesting every chapter will leave u anticipating what's next ... ^_^

That I keep in my bookmarks. This is a far better quality novel than the majority of wuxia/xianxia stuff out there. It's not one of those ones that you can swap MCs between other novels like ATG/MGA/BTTH/CSG/etc and barely see any difference. This is an extremely different sort of world and writing with a lot of variety in plot elements. If you want actual depth of character with a MC that goes through real trials and tribulations, read this.

Also, very good quality and consistent translations.

As for the guy below me defending JetGT's comment even though he never read this novel...well, those of us that *do* read the novel can only shake their heads and laugh at the both of you.

ive never read this novel. but after reading jetgt. i decided not to. i dont know if it is true or not what he said.. but as far as i can learn about what he said. everything seems right.. i mean come on!

if you like this novel much..it is ok to defend it.. but please.. dont cover up all the flaws with you saying that " DONT READ JETGT REVIEW or something.. because, it makes you desperate to want to tell everybody that this is a REALLY REALLY good novel..

so lame to tell not to read others review... SO FREAKIN LAME!! it is like you are trying to manipulate the readers... which in my opinion is making you "review" practically worst. haha.. jet is good enough to point out what he think is wrong.. and i think i got the same mind set. but i think he has a better understanding.. after reading his/her comment.. haha thanks...

never ever say that someone is wrong base on their "negative" opinion.. maybe they are right...

ill still read this novel. but whenever i feel that 60% of what JETGT said was completly true. i mean approximately 60% of what he said is actually right.... hahaha i will stop reading this, if he is bullsh*tting.. then.. i will admit, and edit this comment..

EDIT: dude on top of me... (not sexual). do you even get my point? my point is. he is convincing.. but i will admit that i am wrong and jetgt is wrong if this jetgt guy is bullsh*tting.. anyway.. after i finish this novel i am currently reading. then i will start this novel.... if you like to laugh at others, you are very judgmental and wont let other get their opinion on you. so i wont argue with you. im not so low that i would laugh at others because i feel "SUPERIOR" to them.

but yeah. he is totally on point. ive read so many chinese novels. and he is totally pointing out what is actually there. like he is an honest trailer writer or something. but i think he is hateful at the same time so that is a minus. haha.

... Last updated on March 26th, 2016, 6:01am

I've read the first book and it was good despite the slow pace. However, even after a hundred chapters the MC is still aiming at nowhere.

He lacks a clear goal, someting final to pursue...the author barely gives us bits and bits of the hidden plot. Because of that you'll feel like the story goes nowhere.

Why does the MC want to get stronger? Why does he struggle? He only knows that he can't live as a mortal anymore, but there's no real purpose behind his actions. Plus, in terms of character there's nothing outstanding about him. The only thing he good at is being a thief - which in turns leads to him acquiring magical artifacts and precious cultivation techniques.
He's not extraordinary in any way - no hidden potential, no funny personality, not even ruthlessness.

He's an average scrub offending powerhouses that could eradicate his being in a blink of an eye. The whole first book and the next few tens of chapters you'll only see him stealing everything he can in order to become strong for no real reason

... Last updated on May 9th, 2016, 10:25pm

ISSTH is one of the best light novel I have read. The story is a typical Xianxia novels : a young MC who will train and become powerfull. BUT the mentality is totally different.

The protagonist is not a flamboyant badass, he is calm composed, and deadly. There no differences in genders. Strong female and male characters, beaten characters do not fall in love magically with the MC. The MC doesn't make a harem. Everybody is equal in face of death (or in face of the MC's plan/jugement). So in my opinion the machism that plague many xianxia is not present and it make a lot of differences. A good number of time the MC is too weak and have to flee. There is a Lot of humour that often come unexpected.



The writing is smooth & easy to read. Fast when there is action, passionnant when there is reflections. Few descriptions and a really good translator, who when we meet an old caracter again, make endnotes pages' link to the chapter where the characters first appeared. (sooo useful !).The translation is top notch and the chapters come really fast (daily)

ISSTH is pretty much like every other Xianxia novels. Being underestimated and ridiculed at the beginning, the journey to become strong, fortuitous encounters that help the MC grow, searching the truth behind the MC's mysterious background, increasingly difficult and vast hordes enemies, MC against the world etc. What makes ISSTH unique though is that the backstory and the story itself which unravels into a Mythical tale of epic proportions. We're talking about the heavens, immortals, ascension, gods & demons, reincarnation & resurrection, the karma wheel, alternate realms, heavenly tribulations. Very deep and ambitious scale of chinese high fantasy not just mediocre martial arts with some fantasy slapped on.

Now the writing, except for the first book, everything else is near perfect. The first book(around 100 chaps) is where people will drop it, its slow, excruciating and frustrating. After the first book, the pacing and plot buildup gets quite comfortable with a lot of character development and storyline advancement with plentiful of challenges.

Like most Xianxia/Wuxia novels, focus is 75% on MC, so don't expect much character development on side characters. Its a shame as the supporting characters all seem pretty interesting even though they only get less than 10% focus(fatty is very much loveable lol).

The author tends to use a lot of idioms and chinese literature stuff but translator does a good job with the glossary. The plot twist and unraveling is well thought out, though the author is quite a tease as he tends sprinkle tons of plot hints but the truth is revealed way later in the novel and they end up actually raising more questions rather than answers. Theres also some much needed comedic relief in the novel in form of Ultimate Vexation and Lord Fifth, i swear those 2 are probably one of the best things to happen in this novel.

Now the MC himself is pretty much standard among the genre, he's not too OP even if he gets lucky and has special bloodline. He can triumph over adversaries in the same realm but higher realm, he'll usually try to escape, he does manage to kill opponents in higher realms though at a cost or at least he has to struggle to win. Makes the power progressions much more believable compared to 100% win streak shounen cliches. Also he leans more towards a mix of Chaotic Good and Lawful Evil. He won't stop to save innocents or help other factions but when he does, its always for an ulterior motive or benefit and also he won't shy from evil deeds. Most importantly he is not a hypocrite and doesn't contradict himself unlike most other MCs. Romance wise, much is left to be desired but hey, its still quite early in the novel though i personally hope it won't all end up in broken hearts. I have to say, for this novel specifically i'm wishing for a harem ending.

Overall, this novel is without doubt a fulfilling read. I'd highly recommend this novel for both newcomers and veterans alike. Just endure through book 1 =).

... Last updated on February 11th, 2016, 3:45am