Is the Demon Venerable in seclusion to study cultivation manuals… or read romance novels?
Demonic sect leader, Wenren E, accidentally stumbles upon a romance novel featuring tragedy and plot holes. Most importantly, it seems to mirror his own world. In the novel, he is destined to die for the sake of a woman he doesn’t care about, driving his subordinate Yin Hanjiang’s descent into madness and destruction. First of all… Why?! None of it makes sense to him, and he isn’t about to let it happen either. Armed with this forbidden knowledge, he decides to rewrite his own story—starting by saving Yin Hanjiang.
As they journey through bloodied battlefields, snowy wastelands, and illusionary realms, their bond deepens, shaped by loyalty, sacrifice, and something far more dangerous: love. With demonic cultivation threatening his soul and an ancient Blood Demon rising once more, Wenren E must face the past that broke him, the future that awaits him, and the man who would follow him into hell. Can a man forged in blood learn to choose love over fate?
Excellent and fun deconstructed xianxia novel (like Tai Sui ). I enjoyed reading this so much more as a physical book (and a buddy read with Laura!) than a web novel. The cover, dust jacket, interior art, chapter art, and edges were all very nice but the exposed spine felt vulnerable and delicate. I know there were complaints about the art chosen for vol. 1 cover (Yin Hanjiang as a child) but personally I’m unbothered by that 😂 I didn’t even realize they changed the title from Devil to Demon.
-Demonic sect POV -Comedic undertones -Xianxia definitions/explanations that would be helpful for new-to-danmei readers -Really fun female characters -Slow burn but so sweet and satisfying -Enjoyable character development
Like others have said in their reviews, it just feels like a refreshing take. Deconstructing the purpose of cultivation and the ultimate goal of cultivators vs what they really are doing and who they really are vultures of the spiritual energy who claim to be helping the common people but just trying to gain power and immortality for themselves. The righteous sects are just as greedy as the demonic cultivators but more devious with motives hidden behind their good deeds. The fact that the world enjoyed 10 years of peace and growth during the cultivation war….
If you liked this novel, give Tai Sui a try. It’s not danmei, but it’s one of the best xianxia novels I have ever read.
On a reread: -Loved Yin Hanjiang’s character so much more -Immediately more engaged in the story and the characters (it was a slow start for me the first time) -Laughed so much more at Wenren E, Shu Yanyan, Qiu Congxue, etc -Appreciated the little moments when Wenren E started paying close attention to Yin Hangjiang
preordered in january and it came yesterday so starting my reread hehe........ my favorite danmei of all time, top three favorite webnovel of all time second only to orv for me. i cant believe i forgot how good this is fawkkkkk this is my 4th reread. somexcited for the rest of the volumes i already have vol 2 preordered
wenre e <3 yin hanjiang <3 shu yanyan <3 qiu congxue <3 baili qingmiao <3 youre all so dear to me
Please be a good translation, please be a good translation, please be a good translation 🙏🙏🙏
I really liked this book when I read the fan translation and I really want to get this, but I've been hearing some iffy things about this publishing group's first book release so I'm nervous.
This book is a beautiful mess and I love the awareness of so many of the characters that the situations they're finding themselves in is absurd.
When I first heard about this, I want told any plot details and therefore, I wasn't sure what to think. This was a blind buy, and I started reading completely blind as well. I think that was for the best, as this is similar in meta-comedy narrative and time to SVSSS, which I adore. Even if the plot is wild, the characters are endearing and I adore them. I really hope Haitang Books releases the next volume in English soon, I want more of this delightful absurdity.
I really thought I was going to like this more than I did. I'm hoping that things pick up more in the second book, because there is so much promise. I'm not even sure what's wrong, and I wonder if it's that Cyan Wings and I just don't click in terms of writing style. I like the characters, the setting is fun, the plot is fun. This pretty much only leaves the writing.
I found myself just not getting absorbed into this story like I normally do. I found it easy to be pulled away and had to remind myself to come back and finish this book over the course of about a week. My normal reading rate for a book like this is about 48 hours maximum. I felt like I wasn't experiencing any of the action, but rather being told about it later, like reading an academic historical account. It's not so much the much-argued Western ideal of "show don't tell" but that the story feels very passive, as though Wenren E isn't truly involved in anything that's going on because he knows everything that's going to happen. Perhaps that's a complication of the plot that's difficult to write in an exciting way for me, I'm not sure.
Anyways - the characters are fantastic. They are objectively very funny, which is why it's such a shame to me that I never find myself laughing or smiling while reading, as I do with Peerless or the fish danmei. It has the potential to be one of the funniest danmei, but again, there's something off for me. I really enjoy the side characters, which are often a mark of a good story for me. Wenren E is something of an unreliable narrator, as you only get hints of his attraction to the love interest via his actions, not his inner thoughts, which makes it fun to look for the hints along the way and wonder what else our MC is leaving out.
The plot and world are quite interesting, martial arts sects, etc. I wish there was a little more description of the outside because I can't picture the world very well. Instead it's like we hop from interior place to interior place and the connection between feels grey and featureless. Overall I haven't read anything with quite this exact plot, it's something of a reverse transmitigation story? Rather than someone from the future entering another world, the outer world communicates to someone living in the alternate world. I feel like this is likely another trope, but I haven't encountered it yet so it winds up being quite fresh.
As this is Haitang, it bears mentioning that the editing in this volume is significantly better than their previous publications, and I hope things are looking up. However, it is also almost identical to fan tl edition so it's not like anyone had to change much. The quality of the edition is very good, I personally love all the extra details.
Demon Venerable Also Wants to Know is one of the most unique cultivation novels I’ve read so far. Instead of following the traditional hero, we’re following Wenren E, the Demon Venerable, who discovers a book detailing his own fate and the story surrounding him. Watching him question the story, the people around him, and why everybody keeps doing the most ridiculous things possible is both hilarious and surprisingly engaging.
The cast is honestly a collection of absolute lunatics. We have Baili Qingmiao, who is a dummy and somehow manages to make the worst decisions imaginable, He Wenzhao, who spends most of the novel proving why he is the worst, Yin Hanjiang, the most loyal simp in cultivation history, and Shu Yanyan, who may or may not be plotting everyone’s downfall at any given moment. Somehow, all of these personalities come together to create a story that is funny, chaotic, and incredibly entertaining.
What I wasn’t expecting was how invested I would become in the characters. Beneath all the comedy and absurdity, there is genuine character growth and a fascinating exploration of fate, free will, and whether people can break away from the roles that have been assigned to them.
The twist involving He Wenzhao completely caught me off guard and changed how I viewed parts of the story. I won’t spoil it, but it left me with even more questions and made me even more excited to continue the series.
By the end, I was completely hooked. The humor landed, the characters were memorable, and the story managed to surprise me multiple times. I finished this volume immediately wanting the next one and am already anxious to see what happens in Volume 2.
If the rest of the series is this good, I’ll gladly be collecting every volume.
for this price point the editing mistakes and inconsistency in whether to keep names in pinyin or translate them (like 紫灵阁 appeared as both ziling pavilion and amethyst spirit pavilion and that's sadly not the only example and it literally doesn't make sense, the editor should've caught all instances like this...) proved very annoying and resulted in an unsatisfying read