This almost got a 5, but really bogged down at the end and ruined the flow.
The author is highly idiosyncratic, the writing tending to repetetive episodes of the MC realizing in the most verbose, scenery-chewing way that he has fucked up and is about to die. The villains are likewise scenery-chewing "You dare!" cultivation tropes even when they aren't cultivators.
Accordingly, this is rated on a curve, accounting for the particular "flavour" of the writing: i.e. I knew what I was getting into and still read it. It moved pretty well through most of it, but an (over) extended bolus of exposition in the last few chapters really needs to be edited down. Hell, the whole thing could stand a good copy edit. Still, it was long and held it together most of the way, so that merits a 4.