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.
"His name is Meng Hao," said Bai Yunlai quietly. "Have you heard of him? Recently, everybody in the Southern Domain has been talking about him."
In The Honor of Violet Fate, former scholar turned cultivator Meng Hao continues his efforts to become one of the most powerful magic users of his era.
He has made the decision to learn alchemy because of the unfortunate ingestion of a highly toxic magical plant which is slowly killing him. If he can learn everything there is to know about how to create medicinal pills, maybe he can concoct a cure before it's too late.
Every cultivator knows the most talented alchemists can be found in the highly selective and secretive Violet Fate Sect.
"His true goal in joining the Violet Fate Sect was to become a novitiate of Grandmaster Pill Demon and study the most powerful Dao of alchemy in the entire Southern Domain. Then he would create his own branch of alchemic arts."
The concerns I had in the last two books were mitigated somewhat in this entry in the series because of the introduction of alchemy to Meng Hao's cultivation. He finally has some time to stay in one place and have a break from continual attacks from other magic users, which had a lot to do with the repetitious nature of the other books.
That's not to say that there isn't some monotony. It may be due to translation issues, but some phrases are used over and over again. It reminds me of passages from Homer or other stories that were originally transmitted through live storytellers. I imagine that if you read this story aloud, it might have a hypnotic quality to it through the repetition.
But I wasn't reading aloud and it doesn't really work.
"It felt like being slapped across the face, like having a dagger plunged into his chest. As an alchemist, all of it was a direct attack on him."
It's still annoying that all of the women in this world are in love with Meng Hoa like in the previous books. However, there seems to be a major love interest developing and the passages where they interact are actually quite touching.
"She wasn't sure when it had happened, but Meng Hao's figure had at some point become deeply ingrained into her; he was now a part of her very heart, a part that would never leave her."
The romantic in me likes that very much.
The more I read I Shall Seal the Heavens, the more I realize that I am not the intended audience. This fantasy is more about spiritual cultivation and competition, than the relationships between the characters or character development. The fighting and acquisition of magical items is more important than the embodiment of spiritual virtues or enlightenment.
But even knowing all of that, I still want to know what Meng Hoa is going to get up to next. So I'm going to press on!
This is where Er Gen's ability to tie in some philosophical theories really shine and "elevate" this from the usual xianxia crowd. Might still be all nonsense but I appreciate the emotions and thoughts evoked from me.
A cultivation fantasy that pulls you through for the most part.
This third person omniscient story is appropriate for young adults and above. as a third book of the series The world building, plot lines, and story structure as a whole is pretty amazing. There's a lot of stuff for the author to keep track of and in my head I'm wondering as I'm reading if certain things will appear or be brought up because they haven't been for a certain like the time yet in this book. Then the author keeps true to his story pulling out things that for the careful reader would feel like a reward. There is very little language in fact the translators use fudge a few times.
What is funny about this story is how the author keeps your attention without there being a whole lot of action in the first part of the book particularly. of course by action I mean the martial arts fighting and stuff that was full in the first two books. In this third the conflict is more on an intellectual level as the heroes mind is put to the test as he pushes his abilities in different new ways.
As per usual with the genre the hero of the cultivation world will constantly continually find new abilities and gain talents to be able to just barely make it it seems. Of course that is a trope for most such fantasies. Nonetheless while the character does feel a bit cold at times and we do not see a real death in the first two books it feels for pages on in in this one there was quite a bit of emotion attached to the character. In a way you see someone who has been consistently put in the fire and having to fight allowed to have peace while pushing other parts of his life. Of course it would be entirely boring if all it was was him studying throughout the entire book and that does not occur. There is plenty of action and a thrilling filled up to the end that feels very satisfying.
I do feel that some of the fight scenes kind of get a little repetitive in terms of everyone constantly coughing up blood but I think that's part of the genre or a trope at least for some of the fights. I also think that some of the story elements of the story might be lost in translation but at the same time it is a poignant story at times.
I just keep wanting to read more and more and I'm really grateful this is a Kindle unlimited and I'm highly considering adding it to my library.
I believe it’s 10/10. It’s a masterpiece that you have to read. The first around 50 chapters are a little slow, but it just takes time for world building and to develop a care for the characters.
I really enjoyed this book, and though I enjoyed the previous books as much, this one felt more consistent as a plot? And honestly, so much content is packed in there. I feel like I have been with the character through a major arc of his life, and so much was reset by the end of the book. Although I did hate how his cultivation base was restored so easily without consequence, immoral!
Now that he’s on the run again, we have come full circle. Even though I have been unwilling to rate the series very highly, I totally love it and I haven’t stopped reading.
Let’s see, I’m also very excited for the next book, I’m obsessed with this idea of banners. The banner of Ji must fall, the tower must burn, summon the troops!
I will not live under the same sky as Ji!
I also found this dialogue to be an interesting commentary on creative work: / Meng Hao looked back at Chen Jiaxi, his expression the same as ever. His tone light, he began, “When a painter observes millions of mountains, then paints one, perhaps his painting contains the essence of the mountains he observed. However, the mountain he paints… is not real. It emerges from his imagination, and is what he believes a mountain to be. In truth, he has already forgotten the first mountain he ever saw, because he has seen too many. He has also forgotten the feeling he experienced when he gazed at that first mountain’s peak.
“Millions of streams fuse together to become a great and boundless river. But that river… is no longer the stream it once was. It is the amalgamation of many waters, fused together and indistinguishable. That first tiny stream which dreamed of being a river is now dead, killed by the very process it desired.
“The process of his pursuit causes the painter to forget that first mountain, and because of that, the very reason he wished to paint a mountain in the first place. The process of becoming a river causes the stream to lose itself. Its will is diluted as it becomes a river, and then it is gone.” As he spoke, Meng Hao’s voice grew louder.
“This is my third question. By fusing many schools of thought, you lose yourself. You think you have benefited, but in reality, you have no path of your own. If you have no ideal of your own to adhere to, then you have observed millions of mountains, but forgotten why you wanted to paint a mountain to begin with!
“Without principles of your own to stick to, then you are a stream that has become a river. However, such a river has no soul! That, is true death!” Meng Hao flicked his wide sleeve. His words poured into Chen Jiaxi’s ears and sent his mind spinning.
“As Cultivators, we must adhere to our own set of principles. As alchemists, we must adhere to our own Dao of alchemy. Acquaintances and other schools of thought can bolster or support our confidence. But we must never allow the process of the search to result in losing our own ideal.
“If the heart is unyielding, nothing can ever supersede it. This type of heart may seem as if it contains transformations, but in reality, is stable, a foundation. From beginning to end, it will never disappear. It will always exist. An unchangeable heart!” Meng Hao’s powerful words shook the square. Chen Jiaxi’s face twisted, and without even thinking about it, he retreated a few paces. His eyes shone with confusion.
“If your heart yields, how can you create anything lasting?!” Meng Hao continued. “Grandmaster Chen, you do not possess a resolute heart. Do you truly have the confidence to mention other schools of thought? Do you have the courage to boast shamelessly of blending together your own path? Do you truly dare to speak to me of the Dao of alchemy?” /
I didn't intend to return to this so soon, but my interlibrary loans are not coming in and I'm running out of other books. In any case, the first half of this was the most hilarious yet, but the second half wore me down.
This entire book is based on the Meng Hao being able to perfectly transform himself into another person, an ability he's just... given randomly by the meat jelly? It's not the most ridiculous thing that's happened, but it stands out for its sheer laziness. Also, the poison he was given for no reason continues to be absurdly beneficial for him.
What made this book funny was the turn to alchemy, which really emphasized how indifferent the author is to the substance of anything, just using it all as fuel to flatter the protagonist. There are so many elements that are laughably thin: the "Pill Blacklist" is an interesting idea, but it's only used on a random villain introduced that chapter and everyone praises him for being so impulsive.
This book made it painfully clear the author is incapable of writing an interesting contest. Everything follows the same formula: the characters interact with elements we don't understand and the result is measured according to some scale (points, steps, money, etc). There's never anything clever or any strategy, the author just declares that Meng Hao got way more "points" than the others and tons of random NPCs show up to pant, gasp, and talk about how amazing it is.
This series has always been repetitive in a substantive sense, but in this volume I felt it became especially repetitive on a sentence-by-sentence level. There were multiple times that a paragraph said something, then the next paragraph just repeated the same information in a slightly different way.
Usually the author just uses the word "beautiful" any time a woman appears, but then out of nowhere: "Chu Yuyan glared viciously at Meng Hao for a moment. Then she turned her supple waist and flexed her long legs. As she turned, her robe pulled tight around her firm rear end, which Meng Hao couldn't help but notice." This moment isn't notable, in terms of plot or romance or anything, she's just turning around.
Despite the protagonist being substantially more powerful than before, most villains of this book are WEAKER than the last ones. Before it was absurdly easy, but now he's like an adult kicking toddlers, except the narrative praises him for being so amazing and decisive.
Late in the book there are finally battles where Meng Hao has to work, but they just emphasized how unsatisfying I find this story's structure and foreshadowing. Why does he win/survive? Because some of the treasures among the many he's collected are exactly what he needs. Nothing is ever given proper weight or part of strategizing, they're all just MacGuffins that sit in his bag of holding until the author decides they're important for a battle.
Alright, I am going to put the fact that Mang Hao is the luckiest guy on this an any other Earth aside. I actually like the personal growth we have in this book. He laid down his proverbial sword and fully immersed himself into the world and studying of alchemy, and I love that. Shows his human side and who he truly is as a person, a scholar. Yes, he craves power but he does not crave it for wrong reasons, for world domination or the opportunity to oppress others, he searches for his own path within it. He makes a realization during the Violet Furnace Lord Trial which I think is very interesting and actually quite relatable. We do not need to choose a single path, for our true path may not yet be revealed. You choose based on what you are presented with and try and do the best with it. I think it is a good thought to have in mind. I will say that the final battle with Nascent Soul cultivators seems.... incredible to say the least, but I am glad we got to see the puppy again, even if it was just for a moment. I am more interested in the development of the story and his character than I am in the battle scenes themselves so this book was quite pleasing to me. I look forward to understanding the green mark, as well as Mang Hao's connection to the female immortal who saved him. There was talk of his bloodline with the immortal who gave him his legacy, I hope to get to know more about that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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!
Genial, a otro nivel de todo lo que estoy leyendo. Divertido, emocionante, con tramas antiguas que vuelven, con moralinas, con batallas espectaculares, con sorpresas.... Lo peor es que el traductor se ha quedado parado después del tercer libro. MUY recomendable está serie.
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!
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.
Hard to definitely declare this as the best, but if any other books in this series can compete its solely because of the emotional payoff that comes from being so deep into the series. For only the third book to be able to bring so much satisfaction truly marks it as only of, if not the, best in the series.
Honestly, this book has helped me get through this 2020-21 COVID-19 quarantine. Absolutely love it. There are so many good characters, fight scenes and world building. Incredible
I would have never believed that I would have enjoyed a book that was predominantly about alchemy so much. The created cultivation system is very well thought out and fun to learn about. The main character is pretty OP at everything but that is how I like it.
I liked how this book took time to learn a craft and cultivate at the same time. Also towards the end of the book we get back to the training and epic fights which is a much welcomed part of the story.
Too much fun! The violet furnace lord trials just kept getting better and better. The showdown at the rebirth cave is about as rip snortin' swashbuckling fun as you'll find anywhere. How does someone even come up with all this?!?!?! Truly made my day!
Intense and very world building. There is just WAY too much to go over for a simple review but I can definitely say that this book is great and is a must read. You will not be disappointed I promise.
This is a big arc in the story formed by smaller arcs, probably the best book this far in the series, I particularly did like the two last short arcs. The ending is really great! 5 full stars!