A weak soul must not cultivate. Madness consumes the weak of mind.Eternal servitude awaits the weak of heart.
Su Fang arrives in a realm of cultivation unprepared—no skills, no knowledge, and no backing. Like everyone else in this new world, he is given a blessing from the Heavenly Dao to help him succeed, but Su Fang's blessing isn't power over the elements or mastery of profound arts. No, it takes a brutal lesson to teach him that he’s been ‘blessed’ with repetition.
Every time he dies, he returns to the moment of his arrival. The young cultivator uses each reset to grind skills, refine his inner essence, and empower his very soul, using only the memories of countless failures. Each death is another lesson, each life another chance. Yet the world is ruthless, and time alone won’t be enough for Su Fang to make his mark; especially when every reset washes away not only his mistakes, but his triumphs.
In a land where even the strong perish, his fate is he’s an immortal destined to die. Over and over.
I read about 62% of the book then had to stop. The premise was interesting, but it got progressively worse as the book progressed. The MC is not likable. All he does is cultivate and practice alchemy. He doesn’t have friends or romantic relationships. There is very little tension after the first quarter of the book. No real antagonists, just practice and more practice.
Read it on Royal Road. It's good, but a little frustrating by how the MC just isn't using the full potential of his power. It gets better in the next books and there is some kind of explanation about his inaptitude. Not explicitly stated, but somewhat implied. Overall I'm still following the story live on Royal Road and will be buying the books to support the author.
A continuous cycle of failure and dying. Being mentally manipulated and used by others. An extremely slow advancement to have 90% of it ripped away. What an incredibly chilly cultivation novel. The only thing you can hope is may be in the next novel things get better. That is if you’re willing to continue reading this series after such a miserable first book. Hopefully starting at the bottom, the only direction you can go is up.
The protagonist basically does nothing from page one to when he finally finds out why he keeps getting reborn. He builds no relationships nor does actually take any action to change his circumstances or even investigate why he keeps being reborn. The writing is readable but the protagonist is two dimensional and robotic.
This book was a recommendation for me. I can definitely see why as it is somewhat similar to my normal fair when it comes to reading for entertainment. Let me explain a little bit. We've got a main character who supposedly dies trying to save his sister. We know nothing about the sister or what kind of trouble she was in and neither does our main character. You see he's in a bit of a groundhog situation. He's died so many times that has worn the details off of his first life. Now there was an offer and he did agree to it. When I was being introduced to the story I figured that he would simply be going from world to world or realm to Realm every time he died. I wasn't expecting the same people in the same town in the same building repeating ad nauseam. To be fair that's just a healthy chunk of the beginning of the story. We do get a few timelines where are main character makes different choices and actually makes it into his old age before dying and we start again. I've got no idea now that I'm at the ending of the story where exactly the story supposed to be going. We never really get a good look at the wider world. I will say that this is the first story that I've read by this author and halfway through I switched over to the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job and a familiar with his past performances. Seriously I've never seen the guy do a bad job. That was really the highlight of the book. I will say though that now that I'm at the end I am somewhat interested in what happens next. I will say that it's fortunate that the sequel is supposed to be out in Just 2 weeks. If it had been longer than that, and to be honest that may be too long in and of itself, I probably wouldn't be returning for the sequel. I don't particularly care for Cliffhangers although I suppose this is an exactly a cliffhanger and I suppose it is better to have middling feelings about a story then outright hate it. Our main character dies a lot and horribly. It's just this last one where he gets to do it with a bunch of supporting characters. I don't necessarily consider it any kind of a spoiler as it's a groundhog situation and he resets every time he dies. Honestly if you've ever read a book along those lines then you're more or less know what you're in for. The only question is how brutal it's going to be and whether or not there's any redeeming features. At this point I would say it's to be determined.
This book has not released on Amazon yet, but I have been reading it on Royal Road. I am pretty sure that I will buy the book on Kindle as a thank you to the author for the posts on R.R.
I am giving the book max stars, even though I am not happy with everything the author has done. The primary reason for my rating is that the author writes a pretty smart story. Not every move of the protagonist is a good one, but there is a rational/logical reason for what happens.
That is so bloody refreshing! So many indy writers don't have a plot or a bible before they hit the keyboard. Many just "wing it", and promptly write themselves into a corner. The next thing that you learn is that the novel that you kinda' dug, is suddenly on hiatus. Nice ideas, poor execution.
This book/series has probably gone farther than 90% of the works on R.R., and the story still makes sense. The story has serious continuity unlike so many others in this genre.
Personally, I think that the main character is too nice and altruistic. But, he is not a complete, thumb sucking idiot. So, there is that. Heh! :-) *The protagonist is getting dangerously close to singing Kumbaya in later books/chapters, but he does not stare into his belly button when someone tries to kill him. Don't you hate it when characters do that?*
There's something addictive about this story. It's like watching a video of someone building a house solo (with no experience) while narrating every option and frustration. I'm a little surprised that I didn't get fed-up with the slow pace and monotone plot.
The protagonist is a tad bland. Su Fang occasionally gets angry and frustrated but that's about it. The magic/progression system is classic Wuxia with the same gate-kept cultivation manuals preventing students from advancing at their own pace. For the most part, Su Fang accepts these restrictions, knowing his regression gift will eventually overcome all barriers.
One deviation from the norm, which I appreciated, the sect that Su Fang spent the most time in has rules against violence of all kinds. So, from that point forward, there was a pleasant lack of bullying.
This sounds like a negative review, but it's not. I was engaged throughout and will be reading the next book in this series. So long as Su Fang keeps fighting the good fight, and making progress, I suspect I'll continue reading.
Like the cultivation process in this book, building a proper foundation for a book series isn't always a fast process. This book takes its time to build out the rules of the world especially regarding cultivation and advancement. It literally takes lifetimes in this pursuit as this book follows Re:Zero and Groundhog Day in the way the MC dies and resets to a set checkpoint using his knowledge of the previous lives and the "system currency" to advance in better ways in the future.
This book is heavily focused on inner monologue. The MC is isolated for most of the book with his own thoughts and musings about the cultivation process. This makes Daniel Wisniewski a perfect narrator. He gives off 1985 Dune vibes with the way he narrates the inner monologue of the MC.
Overall, this is a great first entry for a series. I look forward to seeing how the world expands and grows now that the foundation is built.
Interesting premise, bad execution and dumb MC. 12h into an audiobook is too long to feel like it's just the start of the book with all the basic questions/info dumps and powerless MC that is in a time loop but is too sorry for himself to do anything about it.
If you want to look at how a good way this is done, then Stubborn Skillgrinder does it 5x better. It's way faster, which I'd slow down, but this one is just boring.
The world is much darker but the MC slowly figures out how to improve, then it's betrayal, or arrogant young masters, but he always ends up being deferential to w.e sect he's choosing to let abuse him this time around. There's a little hope that he improves, then he finds out something that invalidates what he knew, knows his mind is being messed with, but does nothing to change that. Lives to 90 a few times already, still suck.
This book was really interesting and has some amazing world building but you have to get to about 20% of the way through the book to even realize it's potential. That first 20% isn't a slog, it's just not anything special and for some readers something they have read countless times.
Once you get past that the book is interesting beyond all belief. The main character seems to emulate what a person would try and do going through multiple lives. Now there is a caveot here, most everyone would break after a few lives and not have this motivation or interest. Most would also want people or love which this character doesn't seek out and in the love department actively avoids. I will add that my last statement makes it appear as if there are women or men interested in him and this is completely false.
The end of the book is slow and heavy on the cultivation and how it actually works This leads it to become dull but still the world building and overall story carry the book.
The starting few chapters were full of mystery and surprises as the main character Fang has to navigate not only a new world but also adjust to the System he had been given. At first it seemed like Fang got the wrong end of a deal, but with every new information revealed, he got better at handling the new circumstances and even begin to thrive after settling at a profession he enjoys.
Like many cultivation settings, this series started in a remote location and a clan that hardly had anything positive to write about. That served as a good contrast when Fang eventually found his way to other places. Of course, the larger continent remained much of a mystery even by the end of this book.
Overall, a highly enjoyable book for those who like crafting stories and intricate worldbuilding.
if you like alchemy, time loop stories, very little action you will like this book
This is a time loop story about an alchemist if you like time loops, you will like the story, the story centers much on the alchemist building his cultivation and learning how to create pills. There’s very little action in this book, a lot of intrigue and political machinations. If you like this type of book, you will enjoy the story. If you are action oriented, you will not. I decided to give this book a try because I do like some time loop stories but this wasn’t one of them. I’m still giving it four stars because of its premise and I actually read it to the end.
Repetitive and boring. Goes into too much detail for mechanics that are ultimately irrelevant to the story and quickly forgotten. The story itself is just one long training montage with a very low payout.
It needs a lot faster pace, MC needs goals and to show tangible practical progress. Creating one pill just to make another pill and be exploited by one group just to progress to being exploited by another is plain boring and excruciatingly monotonous when this is all the book has.
This whole book story should be squished into no more than 20-30% of a book and move onto the MC actually doing something, progressing, taking action and succeeding in his strength and goals.
Started reading it while it was on Royal Road, and still follow the chapter releases to this day. Rereading the first book after the Amazon launch reminded me of why I loved the story so much. The story takes a unique approach to a cultivation world, and we get to see the main character struggle and fumble several times before he finally gets his feet under him, and his time looping power doesn't feel like a get out of jail free card.
An odd story. The main character receives a “gift” that reincarnates him at the same point each time he dies. By the end of the book, he has died uncountable times and learned from each experience. Mostly he uses the experience to continue improving along his path. It doesn’t feel like there is a primary enemy he is fighting, other than knowledge itself.
It was a bit rough to get through. The beginning was absolutely painful. It seemed almost like the author just wanted to piss on the main character for the heck of it but, then transitioned to something a bit more grindy. That tempo carried through the rest of the book. It's a slow burn, but nothing that gave me goosebumps for major displays of power. Action seemed to pick up towards the end but who knows. It's book 1 so we'll see.
Isekai, timeloop, wuxia/xianxia series. Does non of the isekai tropes, some of the time loop, and a good part of the wuxia/xianxia ones. Oh and it's litrpg, but that part is only just a system shop. The book has actually some content to it. So 4/5 wuxia/xianxia stars to it, because that's what it's main stroke is.
Time loop plus LitRPG cultivation with crafting in the mix. Count me in!
I really enjoyed this. I like these sort of stories that have a non-generic “system” with cool quirks and nuances that have to be explored and revealed over time. I also like that the MC isn’t OP and is rather under powered at first. It was interesting to see how he strategized to overcome hurdles in interesting ways.
Amazing book. If you want a good book of cultivation, this is the book you need to read. It's easy enough for those who never read cultivation novels, and not so ditactic to bore to death those who is well versed in this genre.
This was a bit different. It's litrpg and a time loop all rolled into one. Surprisingly, it does both really well. I'm looking forward to the next one.
I didn't absolutely love it, it wasn't bad though. The credits being granted after every life was a bit annoying because I would have liked to see him make progress quicker instead of having to die every time.
Combines many of the things I like in a fantasy story: progression, challenge, time loops, and not written poorly. Had some errors here and there, but nothing too confusing. Looking forward to the next.
I’m used to the progressive Litrpg and get bored with the accelerated progression type. This is a slow burn. The world view slowly builds. The character is interesting in their reactions. Overall once get through the slow burn chapters it is addictive.
The way Su Fang grew, despite various conflicts was amazing. His thought process as he made various decisions made me interested in the story pretty quickly, like around 20% of the book. The rest of the book was superb.
I enjoyed this series more than I thought I would. The MCs growth is very very grindy, so be warned. It is slow paced and goes into a lot of detail regarding alchemy. That being said, if you enjoy that like I do, you will love this book.
This book does not disappoint when it comes to Alchemy! There is definitely so monotonous points in the story with the alchemy, but the stakes and new lives break it up and keep you wanting more! Overall, this was a good start and can’t wait to read more!
This was a wonderful book. I love time loop/death loop stories. I love cultivation stories. And I love OP MC’s. And while the MC certainly can persist he’s never yet that OP.
Not what I expected. However it turned out to be very interesting. I got a lot of mileage out of his mindset. I've always been ride or die, so reading how a guy just trying to get along was fascinating for me. Epilogue was pretty good