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Offering Salted Fish To Master
Liao Tingyan, a new disciple who had just started and had the lowest rank, got to be near the terrifying great master of Gengchen Xianfu, which caused a lot of discussions.
Shimei Liao, How did you do it?
Liao Tingyan: … By relying on the instinct of salted fish?
(Salted fish: people who have no intention of doing anything.)
Shimei Liao, How did you do it?
Liao Tingyan: … By relying on the instinct of salted fish?
(Salted fish: people who have no intention of doing anything.)
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First published January 1, 2020
15 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 17, 2023
No ha estado mal, pero me ha parecido demasiado op el ml
July 21, 2023
3.5 stars
I'd read this purely for the fact that it might get turned into a drama and that the lead might be Zhao Lusi 🤣
I'd read this purely for the fact that it might get turned into a drama and that the lead might be Zhao Lusi 🤣
April 18, 2024
This was so cute!! Loved it.
September 28, 2025
people were right when they said that the book was better than the drama. people were also right when they said that liao tingyan just slept and ate all the time. they were also right when they said that sima jiao is much more stronger in the novel (he doesn't spit blood like he did in the drama—he's always on the verge of dying in the drama lol). i prefer the storyline here cause why did i have to go through all that pain when it doesn't even exist in this novel? i just don't prefer liao tingyan here, atleast in the drama she did still try to get involved.
can't believe i finished this, i will miss sima jiao again so bad
can't believe i finished this, i will miss sima jiao again so bad
August 11, 2024
4/5 🌟
I loved how the main character was portrayed; it was very refreshing. I also enjoyed the dynamic between her and Sima Jiao. It was hilarious.
What lost me a bit was the lifetimes. I won't say much due to spoilers, but it felt very sudden and rushed each time. I also feel the author didn't capture the emotions that should have been involved with scenes that heavy. Idk, maybe that's just me.
Anyways, overall it was very entertaining!
I loved how the main character was portrayed; it was very refreshing. I also enjoyed the dynamic between her and Sima Jiao. It was hilarious.
What lost me a bit was the lifetimes. I won't say much due to spoilers, but it felt very sudden and rushed each time. I also feel the author didn't capture the emotions that should have been involved with scenes that heavy. Idk, maybe that's just me.
Anyways, overall it was very entertaining!
February 5, 2026
Short and easy to read cultivation novel featuring a transmigrated FL who has no clue what's going on after her transmigration and decides to live a salted fish life in this new world.
The FL transmigrates as a character called Luo Tingyan, a newly joined disciple to the Gengchen Immortal Mansion sect with little potential and weak cultivation. However, along with all other female disciples, she's required to participate in the selection for disciples to serve the Ancestral Master of the sect (i.e. the ML) after he emerges from seclusion. She shows up to the selection, and to her surprise, is actually chosen as one of the 100 disciples.
All of the other female disciples have their own reasons and calculations for serving the ML, whose name is Sima Jiao, and only the FL is there just to chill and relax. All of this is quickly ferreted out by the ML, who has the ability to make anyone speak the truth. This leads to some hilarious exchanges between the FL and ML:
His gaze grew colder. Excellent acting. Too excellent. He raised a finger to her forehead.
“Why have you come here?”
Her lips moved against her will. “To adjust my sleep schedule and relax my mind and body.”
…A vacation.
Her mind screamed. This isn’t me! This is some kind of truth-compelling cheat skill! Fantasy worlds are broken!
Sima Jiao had expected an assassination plot. Instead—naps. He asked again. She answered the same.
Unshakable.
He leaned in, murderous aura spilling like smoke. “For instance—right now, without grievance or reason, I want to kill you. How does that feel?”
Her lips betrayed her again: “That’s fine. I can’t defeat you anyway.”
Oh god, why did I say that? At least let me beg!
He raised his hand. She braced for death. Then, abruptly, he lowered it.
“You want me to kill you, but I don’t feel like it.”
…An angsty teenager. He was acting like an angsty teenager.
Instead of killing her, he said, “From now on, you will come to attend me.”
She died a little inside. But no one could refuse the Ancestral Master. In the workplace of life and death, she was just another corporate drone. The boss demanded; she obeyed.
But because of her salted fish attitude, she passes the ML's test and is allowed to serve him, whereas most of the other female disciples who have other intentions aren't so lucky and fall victim to the ML's cruel and murderous nature.
As they spend more time together, the FL slowly realizes the ML isn't as cruel as everyone thinks and treats her well, even treating her poison. Meanwhile, the ML keeps sparing her because she's able to calm him down and help him sleep better and also she treats him like a normal person rather than being scared of him all the time. Case in point:
Tonight his skull throbbed with the same splitting pain that always came before bloodlust. That was why he had come—seeking to kill, to release the pressure. But standing by her bedside, watching her sleep without stirring, the boiling urge had ebbed. Remembering how he had once slept well beside her in the Central Tower, he lay down.
He had expected terror, trembling, maybe even desperate attempts at flattery or seduction. He had not expected her to yawn, cover him with a quilt, and drift back into slumber as though his presence was ordinary.
**Warning: Spoilers Ahead**
The story itself isn't particularly exciting. Essentially it's about how they travel around as the ML gets revenge on the families that previously wronged him. Meanwhile, the leaders of the cultivation world are terrified of him and want to take him down through any means, so that forces our main couple to travel around incognito to avoid being recognized. This leads to some interesting situations, like in one case where they're posing as a pair of siblings but got caught kissing XP
As with any cultivation novel, there are multiple time skips, one when the ML thought the FL had been killed by his enemies and goes full blown demonic, and another one when the ML is killed and his soul is reborn. I thought the last part of the story, where the ML's soul is reborn into the body of a mortal emperor, was pretty random. I wasn't sure where the author was taking the story, but they ended it pretty abruptly in this last arc and I was taken by surprise.
Overall I thought this story was just okay. My favorite parts were at the beginning when the ML and FL first start interacting and she's forced to reveal her hilarious thoughts to him. After the romance is established I was much less invested in the story, but at least it was a quick read.
I was surprised this story was picked up for a drama adaptation (the drama is called When Destiny Brings the Demon featuring Arthur Chen and Wang Yinglu). After finishing the novel, I immediately tried watching a couple episodes of the drama but didn't like it as much.
The FL transmigrates as a character called Luo Tingyan, a newly joined disciple to the Gengchen Immortal Mansion sect with little potential and weak cultivation. However, along with all other female disciples, she's required to participate in the selection for disciples to serve the Ancestral Master of the sect (i.e. the ML) after he emerges from seclusion. She shows up to the selection, and to her surprise, is actually chosen as one of the 100 disciples.
All of the other female disciples have their own reasons and calculations for serving the ML, whose name is Sima Jiao, and only the FL is there just to chill and relax. All of this is quickly ferreted out by the ML, who has the ability to make anyone speak the truth. This leads to some hilarious exchanges between the FL and ML:
His gaze grew colder. Excellent acting. Too excellent. He raised a finger to her forehead.
“Why have you come here?”
Her lips moved against her will. “To adjust my sleep schedule and relax my mind and body.”
…A vacation.
Her mind screamed. This isn’t me! This is some kind of truth-compelling cheat skill! Fantasy worlds are broken!
Sima Jiao had expected an assassination plot. Instead—naps. He asked again. She answered the same.
Unshakable.
He leaned in, murderous aura spilling like smoke. “For instance—right now, without grievance or reason, I want to kill you. How does that feel?”
Her lips betrayed her again: “That’s fine. I can’t defeat you anyway.”
Oh god, why did I say that? At least let me beg!
He raised his hand. She braced for death. Then, abruptly, he lowered it.
“You want me to kill you, but I don’t feel like it.”
…An angsty teenager. He was acting like an angsty teenager.
Instead of killing her, he said, “From now on, you will come to attend me.”
She died a little inside. But no one could refuse the Ancestral Master. In the workplace of life and death, she was just another corporate drone. The boss demanded; she obeyed.
But because of her salted fish attitude, she passes the ML's test and is allowed to serve him, whereas most of the other female disciples who have other intentions aren't so lucky and fall victim to the ML's cruel and murderous nature.
As they spend more time together, the FL slowly realizes the ML isn't as cruel as everyone thinks and treats her well, even treating her poison. Meanwhile, the ML keeps sparing her because she's able to calm him down and help him sleep better and also she treats him like a normal person rather than being scared of him all the time. Case in point:
Tonight his skull throbbed with the same splitting pain that always came before bloodlust. That was why he had come—seeking to kill, to release the pressure. But standing by her bedside, watching her sleep without stirring, the boiling urge had ebbed. Remembering how he had once slept well beside her in the Central Tower, he lay down.
He had expected terror, trembling, maybe even desperate attempts at flattery or seduction. He had not expected her to yawn, cover him with a quilt, and drift back into slumber as though his presence was ordinary.
**Warning: Spoilers Ahead**
The story itself isn't particularly exciting. Essentially it's about how they travel around as the ML gets revenge on the families that previously wronged him. Meanwhile, the leaders of the cultivation world are terrified of him and want to take him down through any means, so that forces our main couple to travel around incognito to avoid being recognized. This leads to some interesting situations, like in one case where they're posing as a pair of siblings but got caught kissing XP
As with any cultivation novel, there are multiple time skips, one when the ML thought the FL had been killed by his enemies and goes full blown demonic, and another one when the ML is killed and his soul is reborn. I thought the last part of the story, where the ML's soul is reborn into the body of a mortal emperor, was pretty random. I wasn't sure where the author was taking the story, but they ended it pretty abruptly in this last arc and I was taken by surprise.
Overall I thought this story was just okay. My favorite parts were at the beginning when the ML and FL first start interacting and she's forced to reveal her hilarious thoughts to him. After the romance is established I was much less invested in the story, but at least it was a quick read.
I was surprised this story was picked up for a drama adaptation (the drama is called When Destiny Brings the Demon featuring Arthur Chen and Wang Yinglu). After finishing the novel, I immediately tried watching a couple episodes of the drama but didn't like it as much.
August 19, 2022
not terrible but not the best. it was really short like only 164 chapters and the chapters were also short. so it was a very quick read. i rly liked that the ml was a villain it’s kind of rare to have such a psycho ml. but the fact that the novel had not just 1 but 2 whole amnesia plots really made me annoyed. like i prob won’t ever read this again. but it wasn’t something i regret spending time on.
December 24, 2023
It's a fun short read with a happy ending. The translation has longer chapters numbers compared to the original because they splot it differently.
The characters remind me a lot of Apocalypse Arrival/Let The Villain Go.
The characters remind me a lot of Apocalypse Arrival/Let The Villain Go.
August 29, 2025
This book is amazing. The author really understands tropes and story structure on a meta level. The female lead is my favourite ever, totally lazy, unmotivated, and just wants a vacation. So relatable. Also, she's intelligent! I want to read everything by this author now.
October 31, 2025
This was hilarious!!
Honestly, this novel has no plot and probably deserves 3 to 4 stars, but if I rate this accordingly to my enjoyment?? 5 stars fall short.
Moreover, I admire the FL's capacity to sleep even in the middle of a battlefield! This girl doesn't know insomnia.
Honestly, this novel has no plot and probably deserves 3 to 4 stars, but if I rate this accordingly to my enjoyment?? 5 stars fall short.
Moreover, I admire the FL's capacity to sleep even in the middle of a battlefield! This girl doesn't know insomnia.
Read
September 16, 2023Dnf，可能哪天突然兴趣再看吧，看到男主为女主杀了哪个神仙女儿，惹怒众神，龚俊准备拍这本小说男主啦！有套路化的情节，不能吸引读者一口气读完。听说作者大大抑郁症退圈了。前面还行哈哈哈哈哈哈作者意淫女主爽文，舒服享受躺赢的咸鱼生活
March 26, 2025
2.5 stars
May 26, 2025
It's now 4/3/24 ... and I think the drama just finished/wrapped filming? 🤞 I hope it's good!
ANYWAY apparently I have a huge soft spot for lazy slacker FLs. LOL *this* one was basically "hashtag: goals" for me. Hilarious how her "try to fade into the background" was basically her life saving talisman.
I did feel ML's rebirth and all that followed was a bit rushed and just slapped together ... legit can't particularly remember the ending, like I remember there were all those assassins sent after him but then 🤷🏻♀️ so I just dropped this from 4 stars to 3 stars cuz I liked it but mostly only the ~beginning stuff to me was memorable - all the shit from when she lost her memory on was also just ... enh. [She ... I think? Maybe? Did? Recover her memory?]
So oops :X
I know in part the "problem" is me binge reading, but it also totally wasn't memorable and like I said was rushed and not fully developed so.
C++
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
[Offering Salted Fish to Master]
C15 😹☠️ so ridiculous. In part it’s “being too smart will only bring harm to yourself especially when there is someone more intelligent & powerful around.” But her being a salted fish is her golden finger here.
C26… pretty sure her poison was already cured, yes? Which 💪💯
C27 omfg 😱😅😹☠️ the riyu flowers - and uh glad she picked an elixir one. This hopefully will definitely cure the poison issue?
C28 O.O dude O.o that Sima clan is fucked. So ML is the last of his line… his parents were twins(?) and at one point they wanted his mom to reproduce with him once he was grown?! *shudders* WTAF yo.
C45 😹☠️❤️ ML observing FL going to meet that blackmailer/controller then face palming at how clueless she is. Truly being a slightly sassy salted fish is the way for her to survive. 💯
C48 😹☠️ her turning into an otter
😱 c56 he’s going to die soon?! No!
C63-64 😱😅 paired cultivation whatever she’s about to become his ~wife?! O.o
C64-65 waitwaitwaitwaitwait did they have sex?!?!? Damn you censorship *shakes fist at heavens*
C69 😹☠️ him teaching her ways to use/manipulate the 5 elements to kill people 🫠
C73 awww him giving her the spell book ❤️❤️❤️
C80 omg he brought her a bull demon couple 😹☠️ (and the special fish) lol 💯 (and yeah they’re definitely facing sex but alas all off page…)
C88 awww he got her a cache of defensive weapons ❤️
C92 😱 he tore thunder apart. His poor fingers! Also so she passed the 9x9 tribulation and is now immortal?
I hope she can heal him. Curious as to how (if) they’ll show this scene in the drama…
C108 wtf this jump to the demon city and Shi Yan (and did FL truly die?!)
C109 oh ShiYan is FL who was saved but washed of her ~memories. COME ON MEET ML AGAIN!
C122 awww he’s so sweet to her & even had cultivators make her sweet medicine pills! ❤️
C124 the rings so cute! ❤️
C130 … why… would FL’s former “shifu”’s derpy disciples call ML, her “Dao companion” “shidi” wtf ML can’t possibly look younger than her (or them).
C134 lol FL’s bestie HongLuo has been reborn & with tonics & elixirs she’s now 4-5; hilarious she’s a little adult.
C135… why is ML killing demon generals? I mean not that he needs a reason but… usually he has one?
C136 awww his spiritual palace is even more sad and tortured and barren 💔
C137 😱😅 the snake has acquired human form and is their “son”… 🫠
C138 - that was fast, killing off a bunch of demons, ML talking over the demon world, FL getting her own city & becoming a city lord & the last sentence btw 7 year jump.
C141 WTH has he been doing and he’s going to die and refining the fire and his (golden blood?) seems ominous and I DO NOT LIKE!
C142 why didn’t she preserve his spirit or take it?! 😫😫😫😭😭😭 and he just… died just like that?!
C143 💪💯 he’s been rebirthed as an emperor of some country! But 😱 mortal!
C146 lol her humoring bebby 16 yo him
C162 wait what he already had a lightning/thunder tribulation?! And spirit fire?! What? And did he REALLY regain all his memories?!
C164 lol what so now they just go around burning anyone who annoys them alive?! 😱😅😱
C166 🤷🏻♀️ that weird sci-do futuristic life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ANYWAY apparently I have a huge soft spot for lazy slacker FLs. LOL *this* one was basically "hashtag: goals" for me. Hilarious how her "try to fade into the background" was basically her life saving talisman.
I did feel ML's rebirth and all that followed was a bit rushed and just slapped together ... legit can't particularly remember the ending, like I remember there were all those assassins sent after him but then 🤷🏻♀️ so I just dropped this from 4 stars to 3 stars cuz I liked it but mostly only the ~beginning stuff to me was memorable - all the shit from when she lost her memory on was also just ... enh. [She ... I think? Maybe? Did? Recover her memory?]
So oops :X
I know in part the "problem" is me binge reading, but it also totally wasn't memorable and like I said was rushed and not fully developed so.
C++
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
[Offering Salted Fish to Master]
C15 😹☠️ so ridiculous. In part it’s “being too smart will only bring harm to yourself especially when there is someone more intelligent & powerful around.” But her being a salted fish is her golden finger here.
C26… pretty sure her poison was already cured, yes? Which 💪💯
C27 omfg 😱😅😹☠️ the riyu flowers - and uh glad she picked an elixir one. This hopefully will definitely cure the poison issue?
C28 O.O dude O.o that Sima clan is fucked. So ML is the last of his line… his parents were twins(?) and at one point they wanted his mom to reproduce with him once he was grown?! *shudders* WTAF yo.
C45 😹☠️❤️ ML observing FL going to meet that blackmailer/controller then face palming at how clueless she is. Truly being a slightly sassy salted fish is the way for her to survive. 💯
C48 😹☠️ her turning into an otter
😱 c56 he’s going to die soon?! No!
C63-64 😱😅 paired cultivation whatever she’s about to become his ~wife?! O.o
C64-65 waitwaitwaitwaitwait did they have sex?!?!? Damn you censorship *shakes fist at heavens*
C69 😹☠️ him teaching her ways to use/manipulate the 5 elements to kill people 🫠
C73 awww him giving her the spell book ❤️❤️❤️
C80 omg he brought her a bull demon couple 😹☠️ (and the special fish) lol 💯 (and yeah they’re definitely facing sex but alas all off page…)
C88 awww he got her a cache of defensive weapons ❤️
C92 😱 he tore thunder apart. His poor fingers! Also so she passed the 9x9 tribulation and is now immortal?
I hope she can heal him. Curious as to how (if) they’ll show this scene in the drama…
C108 wtf this jump to the demon city and Shi Yan (and did FL truly die?!)
C109 oh ShiYan is FL who was saved but washed of her ~memories. COME ON MEET ML AGAIN!
C122 awww he’s so sweet to her & even had cultivators make her sweet medicine pills! ❤️
C124 the rings so cute! ❤️
C130 … why… would FL’s former “shifu”’s derpy disciples call ML, her “Dao companion” “shidi” wtf ML can’t possibly look younger than her (or them).
C134 lol FL’s bestie HongLuo has been reborn & with tonics & elixirs she’s now 4-5; hilarious she’s a little adult.
C135… why is ML killing demon generals? I mean not that he needs a reason but… usually he has one?
C136 awww his spiritual palace is even more sad and tortured and barren 💔
C137 😱😅 the snake has acquired human form and is their “son”… 🫠
C138 - that was fast, killing off a bunch of demons, ML talking over the demon world, FL getting her own city & becoming a city lord & the last sentence btw 7 year jump.
C141 WTH has he been doing and he’s going to die and refining the fire and his (golden blood?) seems ominous and I DO NOT LIKE!
C142 why didn’t she preserve his spirit or take it?! 😫😫😫😭😭😭 and he just… died just like that?!
C143 💪💯 he’s been rebirthed as an emperor of some country! But 😱 mortal!
C146 lol her humoring bebby 16 yo him
C162 wait what he already had a lightning/thunder tribulation?! And spirit fire?! What? And did he REALLY regain all his memories?!
C164 lol what so now they just go around burning anyone who annoys them alive?! 😱😅😱
C166 🤷🏻♀️ that weird sci-do futuristic life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2026
English title: Offering Salted Fish to Master
The translation I read... wasn't the best, so my comprehension of the story might be a bit off.
This was a fun read. By all means, this should had been a dramatic story about the ML enacting revenge... but the addition of MC into the mix changed it into black comedy, mostly due to her reactions.
in some parts the flow of the story was a bit strange, as the ML went around preparing his revenge, MC was left behind to be a salted fish. So not only was she a passive character, she's also left in the dark (just like the reader). So you get the feeling of getting dragged around and reading about stuff just... happening. Because the reader wasn't involved in what's happening, interestingly it created that feeling of "I'm just a passerby", in sync with the MC.
I have no complaint about the romance, it felt like it's something that would happen naturally regardless, given how much time MC spent next to the ML.
Plot... there's really no intrigue because ML was so OP that he solved everything by himself.
I still liked this story, not overly complicated but entertaining.
The translation I read... wasn't the best, so my comprehension of the story might be a bit off.
This was a fun read. By all means, this should had been a dramatic story about the ML enacting revenge... but the addition of MC into the mix changed it into black comedy, mostly due to her reactions.
in some parts the flow of the story was a bit strange, as the ML went around preparing his revenge, MC was left behind to be a salted fish. So not only was she a passive character, she's also left in the dark (just like the reader). So you get the feeling of getting dragged around and reading about stuff just... happening. Because the reader wasn't involved in what's happening, interestingly it created that feeling of "I'm just a passerby", in sync with the MC.
I have no complaint about the romance, it felt like it's something that would happen naturally regardless, given how much time MC spent next to the ML.
Plot... there's really no intrigue because ML was so OP that he solved everything by himself.
I still liked this story, not overly complicated but entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews