the best wuxia/xianxia novel

This novel is the typical Xianxia about a protagonist going back to the past while keeping his memories, and no matter how much people praise the main character's originality, he's just the same as others and simply much less of an hypocrite and a more honest sociopath.

I'll admit the protagonist is a pretty good character on many aspects, mainly because he's pretty much an actual sociopath with no feelings whatsoever for anyone, which is probably what an actual immortal would be like after many years of living and power. However, there's a lot of forced situations where the author just plains gets him to be cruel for stupid reasons, giving superficial justifications to his crimes (him randomly killing mortals or hitting them).

Additionally, the side and secondary characters are awful. Most of them are this novel's equivalent of young masters, which means they act righteous while actually having evil thoughts and somehow, everyone is thinking in an absurd (although interesting, but it would be impossible for everyone to be so cynical) way, with society merely being a tool to control and abuse others.

Not only that, there's a lot of absolutely awful characters which are given focus like the protagonist's younger brother, with an awful boring personality that never improves and only aims at making the main character shine. Some other characters which could have been interesting opponents to him or at least great character (like the divine inspector), are just minor ones that don't play any important role.

I was greatly disappointed to see that this simply turns into an ordinary xianxia where the protagonist picks up one item after another. All the great struggles that are introduced are quickly killed off by the author without actually focusing on them, which I'm disappointed to see, as they could have created a really unique and good plot.

I'll add that although the cultivation system is 'original' and perhaps creative, it feels like a child thought about it. There's almost no consistency and it feels like a video game if anything, where you have levels, fuse things, each item has its unique feature which completely changes after evolving, the way they're fed is random and illogical too, etc.

If you like intricate schemes in which all the characters think and the MC is in actual danger, read it.

I`d recommend reading the first chapter and then checking out the first chapters of the manhua (until the first death). The novel is great, if you feel it repeats itself its probably a translation of the first version (the author remade lots of incongruities like the relations and order between blood, soul and enslavement paths) but since the novel got banned it's difficult finding an updated version.

Edit:I use to have a long comment but I'll leave at that.

... Last updated on February 17th, 2022, 1:38am

This novel is amazing, but can be hard to get into.

What you need to understand first is the protagonist’s starting point in the story.

Protagonist

The story starts with Fang Yuan already having lived two full lives. The one on Earth and the Isekai one in the World of Gu where he struggled and suffered for the most part of 500 years. This is important in order to understand his behaviour, low ethics and goals. As a result he's detached from any goals aside from eternal life, because from his perspective only eternal life is worth pursuing. Everything else is meaningless and fleeting. Hence, he's chosen to pursue eternal life in his third life - or die trying.

This is all stated at the beginning, but it’s also part of his character development. His motifs and prior experiences aren't as clear at the beginning. Only following the plot does this really sink in. There’s also no character progression in this story, so there's no change to his personality.

But what's great about FY as a character is that he's always pushing the plot. Even with all the plots surrounding him it always feels like he's picking his fights on his own terms. This is where most Wuxia/Xianxia fail. The protagonists are forced into situations to progress the plot. Same with ruthless killings. So many Wuxia basically corner the protagonist into situations where it's suddenly justified to kill his enemies. Reverend Insanity will not create this kind of pretext. The World of Gu is a very hostile dog-eat-dog kind of environment. As such it always feels like FY is struggling and walking a very thin line. He's presented with obstacles to solve and grow.

Story & World Building

The things I liked most about RI was the world building and meticulously crafted setups and payoffs.

The story progression is different from the usual cookie cutter Wuxia/Xianxia. Usually they progress through 'there's always a bigger pond' or 'a sky above a sky' by moving the protagonist to bigger and more ridiculous stages/dimensions with copy-pasta but stronger enemies. Reverend Insanity does not. It’s one vast world that slowly unfolds and changes through the story. What’s really great about this is that information provided or characters introduced in earlier chapters stay relevant to the story thousands of chapters in.

And what really ties into this are meticulous setups by the author and payoffs sometimes hundreds of chapters later. And I’m not kidding, there’s some incredibly satisfying payoffs that for example happen around chapters 200, 400, 600 and 1000.


Conclusion

I know there’s some events in the plot that are really rough for most readers. And there’s no excuse to be made for those. FY is incredibly goal-driven and there’s also external pressure to make progress, hence at times there’s almost no bottom-line he wouldn’t cross for benefits. But in my opinion this isn’t any more or less cruel than what you’re being spoon-fed in many Wuxia/Xianxia. They just create some hypocritical justification like revenge for a protagonist to kill his enemy and their complete family registry.

Reverend Insanity doesn’t make these kinds of excuses nor does it glorify the act itself. And there’s always repercussions for FY.

This out of the way, I can’t recommend Reverend Insanity enough. Give it a read and join the Heaven and Earth Great Love Alliance!

... Last updated on August 8th, 2021, 4:04am

Not sure if a certain comment below is reading the same novel, it is not sexist (try other CN cultivation novels if you want to say it's sexist geez)

The MC is realistic as he should be in the setting given to him. There is a reason why this novel is famous for being called 'the novel where once you read it everything else turns into trash' as it has smart MC, but also smart enemies. Even from the start, the enemy is not to be underestimated, and there's much lesser nonsense like 'stupid young master' cliches.

There's no harem, the romance is believable, the world is cruel and the world building is great. Plot is planned well and even at times frustrating that MC's enemies have more plot amor than him. So instead of the usual 'MC will surely win' cliche, it's the other way round.

Though to be expected because MC is the true villain of the story. Also in terms of villainous MC, he is really 'evil' = none of the 'oh my friend is in trouble. I'm a bad guy but I have a good heart and I should save him' or 'damsel in distress! I still have a heart so I should save her' bullshit.

Overall 10/10 everyone should give it a try if they step into cultivation novels. Truly one of the best written ones.

The story has so many sexist elements that I am not going to count them. (There was: sexual assualt, verbal abuse, etc). Maybe because of my moral standings or just cause I am a female, myself, I couldn't take reading the story anymore.

On the otherhand, I got pretty far (ch151) before I decided to completely stop. The story has a main who's evil doings aren't particularly forced. He does things for his survival and as long as another character is not enchroaching on that, they are fine. In addition, he doesn't have any werid obessions.

The author is an okay storyteller, better than most webnovel authors as well as some modern wuxia/xianxa authors. Give it a try, if you can read through sexism, you will like! Otherwise, its not worth your time as it wasn't worth mine.

I can't enjoy other xianxia novel because of this shit...

Well detailed world history, lore and cultivation system. Author goes as far as having a native mythology/fable.

MC is evil in the proper sense. No real friends, no harem, nothing but reliance on self and any means necessary.
There is a perpetual sword of damocles feeling in the story for a good part of it, and only 500+ chapters in does it feel like some of that tension comes off.