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
Story7
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.
It's really fixed that Meng Hao will be alone in the plot until he meets his family, which might happen in the 5th book. His mother statement was:
?You must walk your 'path alone'. Perhaps one day, you will find your way to us, and then you?ll understand everything?. If you can?t make it, then mother will wait for you to be reincarnated in the yellow springs of the underworld.?
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.
The comment of Meng Hao's Mother is probably the best to simplify what I'm trying to say
"This kid has always been a player?. He just can?t help but make girls like him.?
Characters6.5
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.
Enjoyment7.5
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.
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