I just wanna say few common things about reviews here,mainly people that didn't even read half of the whole story claiming they completely understand entire novel and main character.
If you didn't bother to finish story,then just skip rating it,lot of them even point it how it starts good then gets worse at some point and they drop it,truth is it picks up again in next book,it doesn't go on downwards path.

Its probably amongst the best cultivation novels out there,with high quality translation,give it a shot if you have time,its a nice journey.

I ended up dropping the series half way through book one because of how poorly the main character is written. They have no depth and their sense of values and behaviour switch more or less at random from chapter to chapter. The actual writing is fairly solid for a webnovel. However the plot is formulaic at best and while some of the side characters are entertaining the novel as a whole rests on the main character. Which is why it falls down for me. You can't even like or dislike the main character because in many ways the main character doesn't exist in any kind of coherent sense. Very disappointing but at least I bailed out early.

This is just another xiaxia novel about the fall of a mortal into depravity. I don't know why authors in this genre like to make main characters that keep getting more and more amoral as they grow strong, I certainly don't like wuss and "goody two shoes" characters, but a psychopath that kills everyone who "cross" him, steals and exhorts people just because he can is not my idea of an interesting character either, even torture and kidnap take place and while he doesn't rape his freaking pet loves to Worst still is that the author tries to justify this kind of behaviour, pictures the main char as a balanced person and even goes as far as calling this amoral progression as "becoming mature".

My second gripe with this novel is the reason by which the main character is able to grow strong, all Xiaxia have them, rebirth, an invisible teacher, sudden appearance in a different world and so on, in this one the reason is LUCK, yep, luck, and yeah, I know luck and destiny/fate have a similar meaning in this novel. Still, the main char happens to find all he need on the way and all falls into pieces for him to just happen to get what he needs when he needs. In my opinion, even if the other methods are cliched they are hundred of times better than this convenient crap about luck, oh and how the author likes to use that word again and again as justification.

As for the good, it's hard to say since I read a translation but the writing is not bad, better than other Wuxia and Xiaxia novels I read at least and for the most part there is little repetition of phrases (which I find very annoying), so good job the author, the translator or both, can't tell (The translator at least does an incredible job, using a variety of phrasing and words, which makes for good prose, not just sticking with the cliched styles. You can really see the effort invested in the translation [Edit: unfortunately he seems to be running out of steam in the 4th book and the writing becomes mediocre]). Also, they clever and scheming personality of the MC is well done, you can often see the pieces of the plan falling into place in a logical way which I always find satisfying. Also there are some pretty nice uses of rhetoric which are also very satisfying.

Edit: After finishing the 4th book I can add:
This has become extremely long-winded, the author is becoming increasingly verbose and takes chapters and chapters to describe exhaustively (leaving no room to doubt just how uber the MC is) something that could fit in one chapter, thus making the story unnecessarily long, Ej. I don't need 4 charapters explaining how the MC extorts a person!. The same content could be told in 30-40% of the pages the author used and still use good prose and be descriptive, given this has something like 20.000 pages that amount of superfluousness just kills it.

The luck factor mentioned above gets even worse, the MC seems to be the exception to all rules and past paradigmas, he's unprecedented or something not seen for tens of thousands of years in everything he does and if there ever is something he can't handle some miracle happen, he learns a new ability out of nowhere or a mysterious invincible figure pops-up saves his ass and disappears. By this point he has over 20 secret/heavenly/forbidden/forgotten legacies, one of which would make him world unique, he needs over 20! and it only the 4th volume!

Last and by far the most off-putting is how it's progressively becoming a self-mastubation ode about how great the MC is, how some hate him, some love him but, no one would ever dare! to ignore him, given the MC is the authors creation and thus in many ways a part of him I find this rather pathetic to be honest. Talk about kissing your own ass.

The result of all this is a terribly boring story were except at the start, all miraculously is turned into good fortune for the MC, there is thus no suspense since how can the MC not be awesome, the best ever, invincible, etc, and lest not forget an unparalleled orator and actor. There is nothing more boring than a perfect character (except maybe a perfect char with sh*t personality...). Dropped after v4 If this is the best Xiaxia, I'm guessing this genre is not for me.

By the way, the author should really be more consistent with time and distance, its a senseless mess. Ej: In a dumb effort to make every single crap sound amazing the author screws up time, quantities and distances all the time.

... Last updated on August 31st, 2018, 10:43pm

Nothing happens for 38 chapters, where I stopped the first time.
Then things happen, but also a Bang-whoosh-wham drama.
Ultimately the monsters have escalated so much, and all the side characters I care about are dead, I'll stop.

After offically finishing this novel, here are my thoughts.

Firstly, the first 4 books of this novel was awesome. Great example of Chinese literature just like Coiling Dragon and Stellar Transformation. It was better than Stellar Transformation.

The antics of the bird and the meat jelly were hysterical. Especially the human figure "who dares to cause strife" formation (you'll know it when you see it ^^), that was some great creative writing right there. It was such a remarkable and memorable scene that it stuck with me for ages and made the bird the mascot of this novel. Then came the epic war of the Frigid Snow clan, the shocking finale and the desert migration. It was masterful, shocking and awe inspiring.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, then the Ancient Demon Immortal Sect arc comes along and ups the epicness. It was just beautifully written. You read about the rich story of an ancient destroyed era, the glories of the legends in the past. Lots of great world building that gave clues to and made the background story of this novel more interesting. Yet that wasn't the best part. In this arc, the best part of the writing was about the characters. You read about the story of a father and son. It was a story of love, of selfishness, and of redemption. I don't want to go too much into it as it would be a spoiler, but suffice to say it was very moving. It even brought a tear to my eye.

This was the highlight of the story. Unfortunately this was also the turning point.

The next arc after that was still good and funny, there were some peculiarities to some character's actions, some minor mistakes, easily overlooked. Then the next arc after that, you start to notice some things. At a certain point in time you realise the writing's gotten worse. Why did this group of people engage in such a stupid action? Why did the main character forget this and this? The next arc after that. Plotholes crop up. The next arc after that, it gets worse. As you read along chapter after chapter, it becomes obvious that the writing's gotten lazier. Things like items, abilities, even important plot points mentioned in previous chapters are forgotten soon after. Things that had been previously established gets changed or retconned into something else with no explanation or reason. As you keep reading, the glaring stupidity of these plotholes becomes worse. Why did the main character and the other characters become such retards?

At this point I was literially punching out computer screens in my mind. Keep calm, you tell yourself. Maybe this is one of those stories that have a good beginning, crap middle and great ending?
Then the ending comes. Nothing changes. With a sigh, I then realised this was the most plothole ridden Chinese novel I've ever read! It was an absolute disgrace to all Chinese novels. Damn it, why did I not have a time machine to tell myself to stop reading after book 4 huh? Give me back my good memories of ISSTH!! ┗|｀o′|┛

With the benefit of hindsight, let me tell you if you don't like reading stupid plot-hole ridden stories, have good reading comprehension skills, don't read past book 4. DON'T READ PAST BOOK 4! (Ok maybe one chapter after, as c629 should be in 4, but NEVER GO PAST THAT!) Most of the other reviews were written before the latter shitty chapters were released. Get out on a high note, move on to other novels!

(note: my rating only applies to the earlier books)

The depth of the story stands out among all the other light novels out there. It's funny, awesome, cool, and smart. The English translations are also top notch. To not read this novel if you are a fan of Xianxia's is a sin against humankind.

There is actual foreshadowing of stuff that happens later in the story, showing that there is thought and plot behind the writing. There is an actual point to everything beyond just cultivating, getting stronger, and stomping on the enemies (a common problem among your average Xianxia like MGA).

I don't really think I need to get into explaining the story b/c if you've read the other positive reviews you should have a pretty good idea of what this is about.

Just read it. You'll thank me later.

I'm a prodigious reader, I read pretty much everything I can get my hands on. This includes web novels, which for some reason I keep reading even though the majority make my eyes and brain bleed due to the low writing OR translation quality. I Shall Seal the Heavens, thankfully is not one of them. The translation quality is literate and well done, and the writing quality is general paperback novel level. This is a large mark in it's favor before we even talk about the story/characters or plot itself

<disclamer: I will attempt to explain xanxia novels for those unfamiliar with them in the following paragraph, if you are familiar with the genre feel free to skip this section>

ISSTH is a Xanxia novel, which for those of you unfamiliar with chinese novels, this means it's an "Immortal Hero" novel. Xanxia (for the uninitiated) is a genre of chinese fantasy with it's own tropes and cliches, usually featuring some martial artist who practices some form of internal enlightenment translated as "cultivation" which will lead to some further enlightenment which will lead to stronger "mystical powers" which will eventually lead to some form of immortality. Xanxia novels typically include characters who are called "immortal cultivators" fighting against each other, sometimes fighting against monsters, dragons and demons, often eventually fighting some god or gods. It might be easier to imagine if you think of a movie like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which while not really a xanxia tale, comes close enough to a "low level" story in a xanxia world as to give you something to work with.

ISSTH is of course a xanxia novel. because of this it contains many of the tropes and cliches of the genre. It features a main character who practices "cultivation", who gains martial prowess though increased enlightenment in "cultivation"; the character eventually get powerful enough to no longer need to eat, sleep or even breath. They can suffer and heal wounds that would kill a "mortal", they hold long grudges and tend to fight with eachother for stupid reasons. If you don't like Xanxia you probably will struggle mightily to enjoy ISSTH because as a story ISSTH exists comfortably within it's genre.

That is not to say it is held back by it's genre. ISSTH, while containing many of the tropes, trappings and cliches of the genre also distinguishes itself from the genre. It has an uncommon main character who is a failed scholar and a shameless conman. He's grew up poor and as a result has an ABNORMAL lust for $$$. As a result he tries all the angles. Immortal Cultivation itself is something he does for some loose reasons, as its never been his ultimate goal. Money is his ultimate goal. With such a mundane and human motivation he's infinitely more relatable then most of the MCs of Xanxia novels who often follow cultivation for "power" because "the world of cultivation is the world where the strong takes from the week" (yes that is a quote from another Xanxia novel, in fact that quote probably shows up in some form in MOST xanxia novels, it's a very common mindset/setting).

In addition to ming hao's twisted and "colored" world view there are an assortment of colorful side characters who Gen Er introduce who are all largely memorable.

The comedy in ISSTH is one of it's strong points, however it's best to understand that GenEr's sense of humor isn't readily apparent at first. Much like Gintama, there is a weirdness factor that the reader must acclimate to in order to see all the small funny things GenEr includes in his stories. Better still are the hundred plus chapter long jokes he'll build in the background all for some uproariously funny punchlines entire books after he started to build the joke. A good early example of this multi-chapter /book buildup would be the introduction of the Reliance Sect's founder and leader in book 1. This is a character a whole novel builds up only for several punchlines to be dropped when he finally shows up. A better example would be the search for the husband for the Song clan girl in book 2. the first 3 chapters at the song clan event are ALL punchline/payoff for a 70-100 chapter long joke gen er started to weave mid way through book 1 (those three chapters had me laughing so hard i couldn't even read it i was crying too hard from all the laughter).

The plot does wind around a bit, it's organic, and grows from point to point rather then have some overarching theme, as Ming Hao himself likes to talk about his own "Dao" (way) the story is about Ming Hao's journey, not his destination. GenEr does add a lot of philosophy and some interesting and profound moments to this book. And while the philosophy can be engaging at times, what the author does better then philosophising or humorizing, is HUMANIZING the story. This is a story with a heart, and there will be many sad-nostalgic-deep HUMAN moments throughout the story. This is something most Xanxia fails to establish even when the mc is human and weak, and it is something that often is forgotten early even in the xanxia novels which succeed in humanizing it's characters and plot. No matter how strong the MC gets, this story always finds a way to keep itself lively and human.

I noted some reviews complain about the slow start. I actually went back and reread the first 20 chapters of the story and disagree. I remember the start being slow, much like I dropped Gintama around episode 13. However I was still getting used to the author's style, and much like with gintama, somehow I was able to persevere till I started to get the author. The first 50 chapters or so of ISSTH is just as funny and human as the last 50 (translated). however since I wasn't familiar with his weird sense of humor, and didn't grasp the world or characters well I found myself bored early in this series as well. However right around the time Ming Hao became an inner sect disciple I fell into GenEr's pace and was trapped by a very adictive, and funny story.

ISSTH is not a masterpiece, there are weaknesses in his story (like how the MC's love interest is somehow the most boring girl in the series), however by webnovel standards it's easily one of the best you'll ever read.

Slow start, nearly dropped the series at around 100 chapters. Gets better afterwards, and the plot/comedy is pretty good read most times.

That MC though... Granted I haven't read many of the Chinese novels, but this guy's one blackhearted prick. He'll never do anything unless it either benefits himself, he can't run away like a little bitch or if he feels indebted to someone. in 99% of the cases it's either the first or second option. He'll beat and kill people if they got something he wants, and even if he causes calamity to fall upon himself (e.g. killing a vip) he feels wronged and swears to destroy their whole clan/sect. All the time I read this it feels like he's extremely similar to Xiao Yi from "My Disciple Died Yet Again" - novel.

Also, a little gripe I got with gore. It feels like people in ISSTH world will spurt out blood even if one so much as touches another. After 800+ chapters the only way to tell that a character takes serious damage is for the novel to directly tell you it. You won't knowl anything based on how much blood flows; bloodletting is so prevalent that it stops being a sign of getting hurt, but something that happens to both sides in practically every fight. It goes beyond ridiculous, and after a few hundred chapters gore has already lost its purpose, and feels more like a satire than anything serious.

I have read Stellar Transformations,Against the Gods, Tales of Demons and Gods, Desolate Era, Battle through the Heavens but this is was the one I really liked, it doesn't mean i didn't like the others.Each one has its own good points.I usually like OP MCs so I didn't really start reading this for quite a while as many were saying the MC is always chased and is running away but when I picked this I was instantly hooked and finished its 650+ translated chapters in a week.The thing I like the most in ISSTH is that it's very profound.I like the cultivation levels and it's comedic scenes, and how Er gen doesn't forget any characters and trust me the MC is OP and there is some really good character development for some characters.The only thing I don't like is how later on there are many scenes where majority of the writing is about how powerful characters are shocked by MC and.It sometimes feel like I am watching Yun Che from ATG.But still ISSTH is really good go read this now.For me ISSTH>ATG,TDG,BTTH,ST>DE

I'm shocked that there are so many bullshit so-called 'reviews' treating this as their comment section.

I could do the sensible thing and refute them. And believe me it would be easy. People like Jetgt make it seem like there's so much wrong with the novel while being immensely vague at same time. And then there's the "I wanted to read this, but then I read Jetgt's review and decided not to, but instead decided to post here my non-existant opinion".
For the love of god, how ignorant must one? I will quote you the reason why Jetgt dropped this novel: "randomness at the end (turtle in space) made me dropped it. No, I'm not kidding. There is a huge turtle in space."

A giant turtle holding a whole continent. Now this is unheardof! Unfathomable and utterly ridiculous. Author must be pulling everything out of his ass. You will notice my sarcasm here, if you're familiar with the World Turtle. It is indended.

So I beg of you. And I don't do this usually. Please ignore these ignorant opinions, and at least make your own opinion by reading this novel.

This is by far the best Xianxia on my reading list.

... Last updated on July 5th, 2016, 8:10am