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Destiny Cycle #2
Forge of Destiny, Volume 2
Awoken as an Immortal, Ling Qi must contend with her peers on the mountain now that the great truce enforced by the Elders of the Sect is no longer in effect. In an Outer Sect increasingly falling into two camps, her friendships have made where she stands clear. To continue climbing the steep mountain of cultivation and maintain the friendships and allies she had gathered to her side, she must strive like never before. But it soon becomes clear that there is someone watching her from the shadows...someone with an unhealthy interest in her advancement. Enemies lie in full sight and out of reach as well. Now comes the test of the foundation she built in her early months at the Sect. Will it be enough to support her through the turbulent Outer Sect? Inspired by ancient folklore, modern martial arts, and Xianxia, Forge of Destiny cultivates a world both fantastic in setting yet familiar in the humanity of its inhabitants.
569 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 6, 2021
52 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 22, 2023
Notes:
The serial is a slice of life cultivation story vs action/other packed tale. There's a good bit of abstract descriptions given for some of the cultivation processes & that will be a turn-off for anyone that likes concrete images.
As a slice of life type, not a bad story to follow & has entertaining elements as a popcorn read.
The serial is a slice of life cultivation story vs action/other packed tale. There's a good bit of abstract descriptions given for some of the cultivation processes & that will be a turn-off for anyone that likes concrete images.
As a slice of life type, not a bad story to follow & has entertaining elements as a popcorn read.
June 22, 2022
Fun but pretty long at 21 hrs audiobook. Surprise Ling Qi didn't hit the 3rd realm
July 9, 2025
I really enjoyed how the novel deconstructs the xianxia tropes, but the end of volume 2 (Chapter 165-6), will probably make me drop the series.
This is as our protagonist makes an eternal oath to her feudal liege (that will affect the entirety of the rest of the story) with the reasoning that... Eh it was the best offer on the table? And this storyline defining choice amongst 4 offers is made within 2 pages... There is only reasonable reasons for rejecting the 2 offers (getting married to a clan, and going independent), while the choice between staying in the sect where she would be backed by an elder and remain relatively independent, and swearing eternal alliegance to a feudal lord is that... She won't be able to make a family in the sect, and her liege will be able to offer her better resources. Putting aside whether the first claim is true as she has created most of her spirit and human family in the sect, she makes this eternal pledge at 14 when she is still largely ignorant. Furthermore, the story doesn't even take into account all the contributions Xin has made to her efforts, while Cai's help was... What exactly? Helping her send a legal letter? The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth really. Let us also put aside for the moment that as soon as she becomes a vassal, she picks up an ominous looking robe that is connected with her liege's? You know, the robe that has ominous red eyes and is worn by the daughter of an -apparently- omnipresent being? Aside from not being the route I preferred (I will explain why below), this is a gaping internal reasoning hole/polthole, made all the more aggravating by the fact that the protagonist arrived at the choice after a supposedly rational process of selection. Compounding on the above, is the fact that this is THE most consequencial decision Qing Li makes for herself (eternal fealty) and thus for the story.
On another note: honestly, I feel the entirety of her discussions with her future liege are really stumbling as they revolve around vague philosophical sounding one liners crossed with pop-psychology (discussing the ominous sounding need of the liege's mother for order), but her liege is one of the 'good nobles' in the story (however self-contradictory that may sound).
I just can't be asked to read a story framed in a way where our protagonist is tied to a character that I don't care for, and is constantly harangued and surrounded by the least interesting aspect of the story: the nobility! Aka the 'political' / 'philosophical' aspects of the story that the noble plotlines inject. These become more prominent due the Qi Ling's choice in these chapters, and while I love a story that rebuffs the genre expectations by rejecting the xianxia tropes and focusing on the political, I frankly have no patience for the customs of the nobility, their pseudo-intellectual mumbojumbo that tries to pass off as politics/ philosophy, or the stumbling (or even well done) attempts at 'empire building'. This is not for some ridiculous reason like 'the book doesn't align with my politics' or because I think I am so much better at storytelling than the author (I am not obviously). Quite simply, as mentioned before, the chapters dealing with politics/philosophy (usually involving cai, be it the council meetings or the impromptu debates) are the worst ones/ most boring ones. Furthermore I cannot say I was impressed by the author's grasp on politics, or their reasoning when the noble characters are discussing politics/ philosophy with Ling Qi, as they usually resort to vague statements, based on a vague morality which is in turn arbitrarily determined by superficial discussion of abstract concepts like 'order'. The social chapters be it with the spirits or friends we're the absolute best, αnd her adventures are also fun! I am always up to picking up a story that has hundreds of chapters, as long as it respects my limited time. People claim that Cai and Qing get closer as the novel progresses and they become extremely close friends/ their positions become equal (and Cai grows on you). I do not have the time to waste on a politics/ nobility based story, when the author's previous political chapters have been lacking, with the vague hope that at some point the eternal vassal and lord will become friends.
I am genuinely quite sad/ miffed cause I thought I had finally found the one good/ not ridiculous cultivation story, and now I will be probably dropping it. Oh well...
P.S. i might have been more charitable, but the author gets no browny points as Ling Qi did not get together with Bai Meizhen. Despite me shipping the two, it would have been fine if the story wasn't at all romantically inclined and it explored friendship dynamics, and it is completely fine that Ling Qi is not gay(maybe preferable given how the author messed up with the lake scene), but the reconciliation between the two was masterfully written, and I felt like Bai Meizhen was the only person Ling Qi truly connected with (aside from maybe a spirit) so I am still sad (EVEN MORE SAD CAUSE THE BAI FAMILY SOUNDS WAY MORE INTERESTING THAN THE CHOICE QING LI ACTUALLY MADE! But maybe then the story would become more trope-y? Well who knows, such a shame about the story overall, I was really enjoying it D:)
This is as our protagonist makes an eternal oath to her feudal liege (that will affect the entirety of the rest of the story) with the reasoning that... Eh it was the best offer on the table? And this storyline defining choice amongst 4 offers is made within 2 pages... There is only reasonable reasons for rejecting the 2 offers (getting married to a clan, and going independent), while the choice between staying in the sect where she would be backed by an elder and remain relatively independent, and swearing eternal alliegance to a feudal lord is that... She won't be able to make a family in the sect, and her liege will be able to offer her better resources. Putting aside whether the first claim is true as she has created most of her spirit and human family in the sect, she makes this eternal pledge at 14 when she is still largely ignorant. Furthermore, the story doesn't even take into account all the contributions Xin has made to her efforts, while Cai's help was... What exactly? Helping her send a legal letter? The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth really. Let us also put aside for the moment that as soon as she becomes a vassal, she picks up an ominous looking robe that is connected with her liege's? You know, the robe that has ominous red eyes and is worn by the daughter of an -apparently- omnipresent being? Aside from not being the route I preferred (I will explain why below), this is a gaping internal reasoning hole/polthole, made all the more aggravating by the fact that the protagonist arrived at the choice after a supposedly rational process of selection. Compounding on the above, is the fact that this is THE most consequencial decision Qing Li makes for herself (eternal fealty) and thus for the story.
On another note: honestly, I feel the entirety of her discussions with her future liege are really stumbling as they revolve around vague philosophical sounding one liners crossed with pop-psychology (discussing the ominous sounding need of the liege's mother for order), but her liege is one of the 'good nobles' in the story (however self-contradictory that may sound).
I just can't be asked to read a story framed in a way where our protagonist is tied to a character that I don't care for, and is constantly harangued and surrounded by the least interesting aspect of the story: the nobility! Aka the 'political' / 'philosophical' aspects of the story that the noble plotlines inject. These become more prominent due the Qi Ling's choice in these chapters, and while I love a story that rebuffs the genre expectations by rejecting the xianxia tropes and focusing on the political, I frankly have no patience for the customs of the nobility, their pseudo-intellectual mumbojumbo that tries to pass off as politics/ philosophy, or the stumbling (or even well done) attempts at 'empire building'. This is not for some ridiculous reason like 'the book doesn't align with my politics' or because I think I am so much better at storytelling than the author (I am not obviously). Quite simply, as mentioned before, the chapters dealing with politics/philosophy (usually involving cai, be it the council meetings or the impromptu debates) are the worst ones/ most boring ones. Furthermore I cannot say I was impressed by the author's grasp on politics, or their reasoning when the noble characters are discussing politics/ philosophy with Ling Qi, as they usually resort to vague statements, based on a vague morality which is in turn arbitrarily determined by superficial discussion of abstract concepts like 'order'. The social chapters be it with the spirits or friends we're the absolute best, αnd her adventures are also fun! I am always up to picking up a story that has hundreds of chapters, as long as it respects my limited time. People claim that Cai and Qing get closer as the novel progresses and they become extremely close friends/ their positions become equal (and Cai grows on you). I do not have the time to waste on a politics/ nobility based story, when the author's previous political chapters have been lacking, with the vague hope that at some point the eternal vassal and lord will become friends.
I am genuinely quite sad/ miffed cause I thought I had finally found the one good/ not ridiculous cultivation story, and now I will be probably dropping it. Oh well...
P.S. i might have been more charitable, but the author gets no browny points as Ling Qi did not get together with Bai Meizhen. Despite me shipping the two, it would have been fine if the story wasn't at all romantically inclined and it explored friendship dynamics, and it is completely fine that Ling Qi is not gay(maybe preferable given how the author messed up with the lake scene), but the reconciliation between the two was masterfully written, and I felt like Bai Meizhen was the only person Ling Qi truly connected with (aside from maybe a spirit) so I am still sad (EVEN MORE SAD CAUSE THE BAI FAMILY SOUNDS WAY MORE INTERESTING THAN THE CHOICE QING LI ACTUALLY MADE! But maybe then the story would become more trope-y? Well who knows, such a shame about the story overall, I was really enjoying it D:)
May 24, 2022
While it was my hope that the story would gain some depth after the introduction story elements from book one, it fel flat...HARD. This books is a lot more of the same "MC does A, goes B...repeat" Bit of training, some fighting, training, talking, training....there is not much happening at all and this is annoying me to no end. I was very hopeful with all the positive reviews, but alas...
September 11, 2025
We continue Ling Qi’s story of her first year in the sect. And it was great. Another well written book.
Ling Qi grows in both strength and personality in book two. She develops her arts, furthers her political skills, and works hard in maintaining her friendships. And I enjoyed it all.
There is the continued power struggle post Sun Lilings failed attempt at overthrowing the pseudo government that has been formed in the sect. The drama is everything I could want. We have slimy and frustrating antagonists (who I love to hate), spying and investigations, epic fights and stressful encounters.
My favourite thing of this series is how well the characters are written. Majority of characters are young, and they act appropriately to their age and the station in which they’re raised. But their character growth never stagnates. They grow. They grow in ways that make sense specific to their individual selves. And it makes it all the more satisfying or stressful. It’s very easy to connect to near any character because they are so well fleshed out.
Side note: Zhengui ‘the Precious’ is my child and I love them.
Once again the Interlude chapter were fantastic. Sprinkled in just the right amount.
However book to does have one slight thing missing for me. And that’s the sense of an overarching ‘goal’ the story is approaching. The first book was leading to the protections in the sect being dropped and the consequences that followed. And we know throughout this book that book three will be about the lead up to the end of year tournament and the competition drama that will surely follow. But book two didn’t have that. Which didn’t make it a bad read. I enjoyed my way the whole way through. But at times it did feel Ling Qi was too easily distracted moving from interest to interest without any reason or purpose behind it.
That’s not to say nothing happened throughout book two. Plenty did. Plenty of it awesome. But it just felt like it wasn’t its own individual book, rather just more of book one. Which once again isn’t a bad thing because I loved book one.
I’m excited for the tournament. Excited to see how everyone grows. And learn more about the inner sect.
Onto book three!
Ling Qi grows in both strength and personality in book two. She develops her arts, furthers her political skills, and works hard in maintaining her friendships. And I enjoyed it all.
There is the continued power struggle post Sun Lilings failed attempt at overthrowing the pseudo government that has been formed in the sect. The drama is everything I could want. We have slimy and frustrating antagonists (who I love to hate), spying and investigations, epic fights and stressful encounters.
My favourite thing of this series is how well the characters are written. Majority of characters are young, and they act appropriately to their age and the station in which they’re raised. But their character growth never stagnates. They grow. They grow in ways that make sense specific to their individual selves. And it makes it all the more satisfying or stressful. It’s very easy to connect to near any character because they are so well fleshed out.
Side note: Zhengui ‘the Precious’ is my child and I love them.
Once again the Interlude chapter were fantastic. Sprinkled in just the right amount.
However book to does have one slight thing missing for me. And that’s the sense of an overarching ‘goal’ the story is approaching. The first book was leading to the protections in the sect being dropped and the consequences that followed. And we know throughout this book that book three will be about the lead up to the end of year tournament and the competition drama that will surely follow. But book two didn’t have that. Which didn’t make it a bad read. I enjoyed my way the whole way through. But at times it did feel Ling Qi was too easily distracted moving from interest to interest without any reason or purpose behind it.
That’s not to say nothing happened throughout book two. Plenty did. Plenty of it awesome. But it just felt like it wasn’t its own individual book, rather just more of book one. Which once again isn’t a bad thing because I loved book one.
I’m excited for the tournament. Excited to see how everyone grows. And learn more about the inner sect.
Onto book three!
May 19, 2024
I had similar thoughts as the first volume - I really like the main character overall, and generally like her friends but don't have super strong feelings for them outside of Bai (who I both like and feel kind of bad for) and maybe Cai (who I'm more intrigued by for future potential than anything). So I enjoyed that a large chunk of this book was Ling Qi growing, learning stuff, fighting/going on stealth missions, and checking in on her friends. Also her spirit serpent-turtle thing is adorable. I was mildly surprised she didn't get to third realm, but I presume that will happen before the tournament in the next book.
This wrapped up the whole conflict of 'rebels' against Cai's self-imposed rule/authority, with Sun Liling surrendering the battle to focus more on the (as she perceives) more important tournament at the end of the year. I did like the touching on themes of pursuing freedom (at potential cost of loneliness) versus maintaining connections with people (at potential cost of some freedom) as she thought about potential futures, and the questions through Xiulan about how much of the cost of pursuit of power is worth it. But for the most part it was more a breezy, enjoyable read that I quite enjoyed even if it didn't make me think too much.
This wrapped up the whole conflict of 'rebels' against Cai's self-imposed rule/authority, with Sun Liling surrendering the battle to focus more on the (as she perceives) more important tournament at the end of the year. I did like the touching on themes of pursuing freedom (at potential cost of loneliness) versus maintaining connections with people (at potential cost of some freedom) as she thought about potential futures, and the questions through Xiulan about how much of the cost of pursuit of power is worth it. But for the most part it was more a breezy, enjoyable read that I quite enjoyed even if it didn't make me think too much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2021
Serviceable cultivation novel
But it was clearly written as a serial. There isn’t a strong narrative arc to hold the whole thing together.
It did have a lot of tasty cultivation concepts and scenes, not to mention spirit beasts. Tutoring from seniors, missions, pills and formations, fighting…it was all there.
Grammar was decent. A few missteps (I don’t think “forgoed” is a word; try ‘forewent’) (oh, and a spirit beast coming out of the MC’s soul would ‘materialize’, not “dematerialize”), but nothing that really hurt the flow.
Not entirely sure I will continue reading the series. I want more narrative force, more direction and drive.
But it was clearly written as a serial. There isn’t a strong narrative arc to hold the whole thing together.
It did have a lot of tasty cultivation concepts and scenes, not to mention spirit beasts. Tutoring from seniors, missions, pills and formations, fighting…it was all there.
Grammar was decent. A few missteps (I don’t think “forgoed” is a word; try ‘forewent’) (oh, and a spirit beast coming out of the MC’s soul would ‘materialize’, not “dematerialize”), but nothing that really hurt the flow.
Not entirely sure I will continue reading the series. I want more narrative force, more direction and drive.
November 13, 2024
And now, with Pokemons!
This series is like a videogame about oriental Harry Potter, and now they have magical pets!
Still very enjoyable.
Love the characters and their evolution.
This is really not a second book but the second half of the first book, still in the first year of training.
Because in the first part they said they had to work 8 years after graduating, I thought that was were the story was going. But it seems the trilogy might be all about the first year. I'm not against just feels odd having all those hints about a huge worldbuilding and just seen this bit.
Will continue the story nevertheless, is very enjoyable so far.
This series is like a videogame about oriental Harry Potter, and now they have magical pets!
Still very enjoyable.
Love the characters and their evolution.
This is really not a second book but the second half of the first book, still in the first year of training.
Because in the first part they said they had to work 8 years after graduating, I thought that was were the story was going. But it seems the trilogy might be all about the first year. I'm not against just feels odd having all those hints about a huge worldbuilding and just seen this bit.
Will continue the story nevertheless, is very enjoyable so far.
September 2, 2021
Very good. Not overly stimulating and action packed as some other good cultivator/game-lit novels might be, but the relations between caharacters, their growth and the phasing of the story is very satisfying. I'm very much a fan at this point, I'm also very curious how the story continues. I really enjoy the imagination of Yrsillar, the skills, and the world paint a vivid picture, and the language used is excellent.
July 12, 2022
A step up from the first book in my opinion. The magic starts growing much more interesting (not just generic cultivation). My primary complaint remains, however. The entire culture containing the book remains centered on suppressing information, and none of the characters in the book seem to see anything wrong with that (or even consider it).
March 31, 2024
on reread, the lack of the quest mechanic can make reading this as a story simple feel a bit disjointed and insufficiently cohesive, along with making Ling Qi's personality feel a bit inconsistent. However, the strong character writing generally and the fact that the inconsistency from the questors was typically because of genuine confusion around optimization blunts the impact of those flaws.
July 9, 2021
Very nice
Fast paced page turner with a lot of action and plot twist can't wait for book three. Highly recommend this series
Fast paced page turner with a lot of action and plot twist can't wait for book three. Highly recommend this series
July 12, 2021
Great cast and twists
December 5, 2021
Compared to the first book in the series, this book seemed a lot more unfocused and meandering. Still interesting enough to read but certain parts seemed unnecessarily drawn out.
November 7, 2022
Great book. Recommended!
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-forge-...
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-forge-...
December 25, 2022
another enjoyable installment!
This series continues to exceeded my expectations. I will be directly moving onto the next
These words are compulsory. volume.
This series continues to exceeded my expectations. I will be directly moving onto the next
These words are compulsory. volume.
May 7, 2023
I don't usually go for cultivation novels, but Beware Of Chicken at least gave me another view as how things might go. This series so far is quite a lot of fun.
February 6, 2024
Another great entry!
March 26, 2025
Slow going but it's to be expected as Ling Qi trains. Her friendships are growing stronger and that I love to see!
March 20, 2023
One of the better cultivations novels out there, likeable people without the usual almost unbelievable callous violence that is part of the genre. I have been reading it on Royal Road, buying the novel to support the author.
May 10, 2024
Very enjoyable
2nd read- still fun
2nd read- still fun
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews