I Shall Seal the Heavens is currently one of the most popular xianxia stories in China. It is about a failed young scholar named Meng Hao who gets forcibly recruited into a Sect of Immortal Cultivators. In the Cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and the law of the jungle prevails. Meng Hao must adapt to survive. And yet, he never forgets the Confucian and Daoist ideals that he grew up studying. This, coupled with his stubborn nature, set him on the path of a true hero. What does it mean to “Seal the Heavens?” This is a secret that you will have to uncover along with Meng Hao!
Born in Heilongjiang Province, Mudanjiang prefecture city.
Er Gen is a platinum author on Qidian who used his love for classical chinese myths as a foundation on which to build his webnovels. He has become a pillar of the xianxia genre, and his flagship novel, Renegade Immortal, placed within the top ranks of Qidian’s monthly recommendation charts for many months.
Where do we start? As usual with the bad, the pervy narration at the start of the novel, when Chu Yuyan had her clothes cut in several places, and how it was described over and over (nothing +18) but I know for a fact it turned off a writer friend of mine, he stopped reading the novel because of it, thinking it was going downhill, but that kind of description didn't continue for long, and the novel became crazy good, from the point of the blood immortal legacy until the end, I doubt there is any cultivation writer, who makes 900 pages of breathtaking events back to back like that, and that's why this novel wins 4 stars.
Meng Hao is becoming stronger and stronger, but in the world of cultivation, the gap between the different stages is huge, Meng Hao need to have at least 7 Dao Pillars before he can face a core formation cultivator, probably need even more, but I expect that's the least.
A lot of powers are at play in the background, the writer gives us hints about them, which reveals how advanced he is in knowing a lot of how his story will go already, long before he writers these chapters. It's next level stuff, boss level stuff
The magical relics keep on increasing, the innovation keeps on going, each time you think, okay now he won't be able to make newer relics, and he just makes them anyway.
I love that he kind of have allies, in Han Bei even though she is traitorous, Li Shiqi, Lu Fugui, Wang Youcai, and Chen Fan. He also has the Song clan looking out for him after the ghost woman threatened them, is she his mother? grandmother? is she in her way to ascendance? Is she the same person that threatened the black sieve sect in the last few pages? Who are the 30 chosen of the black sieve sect? and are they going for Meng Hao or whoever threatened them? Meng Hao has the rain dragon legacy, the blood immortal legacy, and the demon sealing legacy. He also has these relics The copper mirror 2 wooden swords Black net Black bow and arrow New shield The rattan vines The flying feather item? (Question mark here, because I think it got destroyed at one point) The lightning flag The blood mask The Goodluck charm. the autumn & spring tree. The Ultimate Vexation. The Jade time page. and in the last battle it seemed that he acquiesced 5 new glittering swords. He also got that amulet that can protect him from 1 nascent soul attack. He also got the cubic pearl from the marriage trial. I am pretty sure I must have forgotten other stuff, but this novel is super interesting. I finished the last 1000 pages of this novel in the last 20 days or so, while I started the novel back in June of this year, I actually finished it much faster, but yeah the initial 200 or 300 pages weren't interesting enough to make me stop all other novels to finish it.
"In the Cultivation world, respect is delivered to the powerful."
Meng Hao, the failed scholar turned spiritual cultivator, continues his quest to become the most powerful magical practitioner in the Southern Domain.
Shedding his old identity and values, Meng Hao is becoming someone even his old sect members do not recognize. By utilizing secret methods, he has created a source of power within himself that is an anathema to the will of the heavens.
But he no longer cares. Because even though these methods are forbidden, it has brought Meng Hao incredible power. And that, for now, is his ultimate goal.
Despite the epic storytelling potential of I Shall Seal the Heavens, my complaints with the last book continued in this one- the repetition, predictability, and the slow slide of the hero into deeper darkness rather than enlightenment.
I keep wondering if that isn't the point of these books, the idea that even the spiritually inclined among us can become corrupted in their search for power over themselves and others. If that is the case, Er Gen is taking readers there, but incredibly slowly.
The manner in which the author depicts women in this world is particularly troubling to this female reader. In addition to making the women all about their appearance, every one Meng Hao meets inevitably falls in love with him despite his egregious and sometimes abusive behavior. It definitively fails the Bechdel Test.
I think the most engaging characters in Cutting Into the Southern Domain aren't human. Readers are introduced to a ferocious spirit creature as well as a chatty mystical shape changer. The lightness they bring to the table doesn't offset the otherwise repetitive and depressing nature of the story, but they help.
I hope the next book moves out of the themes the author has fully explored in the first two book entries in the series. The world he has built is so fantastical and full of potential. It's just a shame it isn't a better story.
I enjoyed this volume more than the first, not because it's better, but because it becomes like a train crash where it's mesmerizing how bad it is. Observations in no particular order: - Meng Hao experienced some actual difficulties in the first book and I thought the reputation of this subgenre as cakewalks was exaggerated. Well, I was wrong, as in this book the vast majority of the time his opponents are laughably weaker than him and he just steamrolls one after another. - There was more continuity than expected, though without Deathblade's footnotes I would not have remembered some of the interchangeable antagonists had appeared before. - It's pretty funny how much more effort is put into Meng Hao's relationship with the random spirit dog than any of the other humans who are supposedly close friends, in love with him, etc. - The turn to comedy with Ultimate Vexation was strange. - Whew, the incel attitude is pretty dense once the story actually has a major female character. Wish we were back to the chapters where they were just called beautiful every few paragraphs. - Speaking of which, we had our first female character who wasn't described as beautiful! She's stupid and petty and dies almost immediately. - The fact that Meng Hao is infected by a poison to control him, but that poison actually makes him immune to all other poisons and more powerful and ruthless is legitimately hilarious.
Running into a common problem in every Er Gen book 2/part 2, namely that he writes 500ish pages where the protagonist never faces a true threat, being overwhelmingly more powerful than any of the minor antagonists he faces. When this is combined with the solitary journey of ISStH's protag there's not a lot left to entice the reader through this story of someone absolutely battering everything put in their way. It's no wonder than with A Will Eternal he moved into comedy to make this stretch more bearable.
There was nothing truly bad here but by the end I was tired enough of the book to move on to something different instead of proceeding straight to part 3.
The second grouping of chapters in the I Shall Seal the Heavens. After the fantastic end of the first book, I had no other option than to keep reading! In this book I felt that Meng Hao got a little overpowered, but it is ok since the settings in Er Gen fantastic world-building are so unconventional. So things are always interesting. With lots of arcs, each in a very unorthodox, strange and fantastic scenario, this is a full 5 stars book
Definitely one of the novels I would recommend reading! It's also the first I've ever finished reading since last year and I wow, I really enjoyed reading this.
The book was definitely an improvement on the first!! Some of the writing is still weak, and some of it is really lame, like writing that it all happened in an instance, or making the motivation of some characters hatred to be “the fat woman Li hated this character because she hates all beautiful people”.. or smth along those lines. I especially hate the trend of unsightly looking person equals evil and stupid person, and beautiful person equals smart and perfect. There’s also a strong focus on beauty for important female characters, it is rather poor in taste to do so.
But the world building is great! So many powerful beings and the main character develops nicely.
I hated how his heritage turned out to be powerful, I liked that he came from nothing and was changing the world. This was really disappointing.
Chapters 188 and 189 were the most I have laughed in a long time, I freaking loved it. They’re titled “love is priceless” and “all the enemies arrive” The first chapter is just rage baiting wang Tengfei and it was hilarious. The second chapter, we get a summary of all the people Meng Hao pissed off, and they all gather in one place, like really shows you how everything actually builds up.
Lastly, I think the characters of this book, when fleshed out, are very lovable. Sadly, most aren’t fleshed out.
Some dialogues I liked: “Meng Hao stood there the whole time, watching her disappear into the distance. A sense of departure filled him, and for a moment, he felt like he was back in the Reliance Sect when it was being disbanded. His path could only be tread by he himself. Perhaps his path would cross the paths of others, and that was well and good. But for the moment, he needed to walk alone.”
Excelente light novel, solo le falta un poco más de humor para hacerlo más ameno, pero los numerosos secundarios, las espectaculares batallas, los giros del argumento te tienen atrapado y deseando que el protagonista se vuelva más y más poderoso para disfrutar mientras limpia el suelo con sus enemigos junto antes de meterse en otro lío espectacular del que no sabes cómo va a salir. La cantidad de personajes y localizaciones es tan amplia que te asegura entretenimiento en las futuras entregas. 4.6/ 5
I am not sure what to say about this one. I like it, I read it quite quickly. There are a lot of confusing parts and legacies to keep track of, and somehow, Mang has ALL the legacies. He seems to get a bit wiser as the book progresses, but is realistically still a very bloodthirsty individual at times. This man has managed to piss off every damn Sect and Clan in this world of his! But the drama at the Song Clan gathering was worth it xD
Sure, Meng Hao has become a Mary-Sue but it's fun to watch him humiliate all those a**-holes. There are also elements that remind me of watching a perfect speed-run through a videogame. Meng Hao seems to be trying to hit all the power-ups, and catch all the Pokemon. It's fun.
Starts off a bit slow, but still decent..and then books 3-9 are absolutely phenomenal. I wasn' a fan of Book 10 as it suffers from the tepid melancholic finish typical of Er Gen books, but still one of the best in the genre.
Deathblade does a stellar job with the English tranlation too!
At the beginning I didn’t too much like the 1st book, especially the opening story which was not like other xianxia or wuxia. But after half of book 1 I started love it and getting addicted lol.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.
Loved the entire series! Anyone who is looking for a good story with plenty of character development and really good plot, I'd say this series is really good!
Honestly the series might not be for all. this comes off as a four-star read for me but when I think about the genre itself and how little I understand about it and from where it was originally written I have to give it a five. It did pull me in and pull me through for the most part. It was clean in terms of language, the translator would not allow a f-bomb to be translated instead it was fudge a few times. There's nothing really indecent but there is some scenes that can be traumatic. I feel this is a perfect for young adults and above.
This third person omniscient story has a great setting and book two builds on the foundations a book one quite well. The world building is an ongoing process that gives a story a certain depth will only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The characters that we get to see are a bit different from what we would experience in American fantasy and fiction or Western fantasy and fiction. Why not completely different I do feel that some of the values and what we idealize in general is a bit different for the audience's who are intended to read it. Our main protagonist for the most part keeps his emotions in check always with a calm cool face that never reacts. This is sort of repetitive but something that seems to be a selling point for the character.
I did find the entire story plot wise to be a bit meandering but everything the character did was to constantly push and strive for something. The story never got stagnant in this second offering. There is quite a bit of humor particularly concerning the ultimate vexation which I will not explain.
I have to say that I did enjoy it but I do think that some who are not the genre may not find it as pleasing. But if you're looking for a good cultivation fantasy novel this is a good series that is available on Kindle unlimited currently.
This is a copypasted review that regards the entire series. Be warned, because I Shall Seal the heavens is millions of words long, approximately 4 times the length of the Bible. The story of I Shall Seal the Heavens is crazy to those unfamiliar with the magic systems this genre uses.
It's pretty good. I give it a pass. Some parts toward the end involving The Big Bad Guy of the series are really weird, but everything else is great and I read through it just fine. Not much I can say about a 3-million-word-long story that I read several years ago.
Second read through: There are some very interesting elements and the story is clearly coming into itself but...
Meh. Action sequences are elongating and the author is starting to ramble a bit more. I know this gets better before it gets even worse which is all that kept me reading on. I most likely won't be able to read this series all at once. I should start planning other things to read in between...
Very enjoyable story. I like the OP nature of the MC. The cultivation techniques are interesting. I was kind of annoyed last book by all the pill popping for cultivation. This book explains the reason for that now. I’m definitely going to the next book.
This series so far has been non-stop action. Its like I'm watching kung fu theater when i was a kid as I'm reading. The characters are well thought out and it has funny moments this would've a great tv series. On to the next book.
Honestly one if my favorite cultivation books that I can't seem to put down. I really like how the books are really long and detailed yet they don't feel lackluster for it.