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且试天下 [Qie Shi Tian Xia]
Legend has it that two experts left a half-finished chess game on the hilltop of eastern dynasty’s number one mountain called “King Mountain”. A few sentences are left on the board at a time when the eastern dynasty is experiencing turmoil, chaos and instability.
A woman dressed in a simple white robe like the snowy moon, praised as having “unsurpassable grace,” also happens to be one who acts and speaks freely, wild like the wind, such a person is praised and respected by the rest of the martial arts world (wulin). How is she to be “Carefree as the Wind” in such a wrecked and chaotic time?
A man who is completely opposite, dressed by the dark moon. He is graceful and honorable, kind and tolerant. This kind of person that the rest of the martial arts world (wulin) admires and submits to. In such a chaotic time where morals are loose, what kind of benignity can he accomplish?
A prince, born into exaltedness. His martial arts (wugong) is matchless, he is proud and strong, ambitious, and said to have the “arrogance of a King”. In this ever chaotic world, how will he accomplish his dominancy?
A noble princess who is beautiful and glamorous. With an ambitious and calculating heart, how she manoeuvres her way to reign supreme in the dangerous palace harem?
A world well-known intelligent princess who is good at martial arts. How in the face of national crisis, she guards her country and people in this troubled times?
A reclusive and mysterious prince who is well loved by his people. In such troubled times, will he live in seclusion or step out?
Home and country, how to counterbalance?
Love and hate, how to define clearly?
Gratitude and revenge, how to repay?
Beauty and world, which is more important?
In this troubled times, there are many talented men. The chess game on the hilltop is between two people but to rule supreme in the world, only one person is needed!
A woman dressed in a simple white robe like the snowy moon, praised as having “unsurpassable grace,” also happens to be one who acts and speaks freely, wild like the wind, such a person is praised and respected by the rest of the martial arts world (wulin). How is she to be “Carefree as the Wind” in such a wrecked and chaotic time?
A man who is completely opposite, dressed by the dark moon. He is graceful and honorable, kind and tolerant. This kind of person that the rest of the martial arts world (wulin) admires and submits to. In such a chaotic time where morals are loose, what kind of benignity can he accomplish?
A prince, born into exaltedness. His martial arts (wugong) is matchless, he is proud and strong, ambitious, and said to have the “arrogance of a King”. In this ever chaotic world, how will he accomplish his dominancy?
A noble princess who is beautiful and glamorous. With an ambitious and calculating heart, how she manoeuvres her way to reign supreme in the dangerous palace harem?
A world well-known intelligent princess who is good at martial arts. How in the face of national crisis, she guards her country and people in this troubled times?
A reclusive and mysterious prince who is well loved by his people. In such troubled times, will he live in seclusion or step out?
Home and country, how to counterbalance?
Love and hate, how to define clearly?
Gratitude and revenge, how to repay?
Beauty and world, which is more important?
In this troubled times, there are many talented men. The chess game on the hilltop is between two people but to rule supreme in the world, only one person is needed!
- GenresChina
Web Novel
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 25, 2022
First things first, I can’t comment on the writing because I read a fan translation. I also don’t wanna go deep into the quality of the translation because I’m just glad someone spent their time doing it, and I was able to read it pretty quickly. There were times I was confused because both the main leads alter egos names are Feng Xi, and I sometimes I couldn’t differentiate whom the author was talking about. There were other such small hiccups but otherwise, I had an easy reading experience.
I liked that we get more of the history of the empire in the novel and also travel to more than the 3 kingdoms shown in the drama. There was also a lot of war in the book and the author does a good job depicting the strategic prowesses of each of the characters, as well as the heartbreak that comes with losing people while fighting. The book also had way less court intrigue and more of the war and I guess that was a drawback for me, because I’m not that much into reading about war and it’s immediate aftermath. But we also get deep into the heads of the characters and understand their feelings and motivations better, which is always a plus – especially Bai FengXi whom we get to know the best in the novel. The extensive cast of characters are also well fleshed out in the book and that’s one of it’s major strengths. Even if some of the characters have a small presence, they are very memorable and I fell in love with so many of them. I also enjoyed the little flashbacks into the relationship of BeiFengHeiXi in the past decade – it was a lovely insight into how they came to be so close to each other. But there is also a kind of tension in their relationship – it’s not always love and roses – and it adds so much drama to the story. The heartbreaking moments in the book also made me very emotional because I was attached to all the characters and and didn’t wanna lose any of them. Ultimately, I found it to have a much more satisfactory ending – not only because it was’t rushed but also because we got closure for most, if not all characters and I liked finishing off the story that way. However, the one thing I will takeway from this book is that despite not having any actual antagonist in the story, the author manages to create a plot which has tensions and conflicts and gives each character due respect.
I liked that we get more of the history of the empire in the novel and also travel to more than the 3 kingdoms shown in the drama. There was also a lot of war in the book and the author does a good job depicting the strategic prowesses of each of the characters, as well as the heartbreak that comes with losing people while fighting. The book also had way less court intrigue and more of the war and I guess that was a drawback for me, because I’m not that much into reading about war and it’s immediate aftermath. But we also get deep into the heads of the characters and understand their feelings and motivations better, which is always a plus – especially Bai FengXi whom we get to know the best in the novel. The extensive cast of characters are also well fleshed out in the book and that’s one of it’s major strengths. Even if some of the characters have a small presence, they are very memorable and I fell in love with so many of them. I also enjoyed the little flashbacks into the relationship of BeiFengHeiXi in the past decade – it was a lovely insight into how they came to be so close to each other. But there is also a kind of tension in their relationship – it’s not always love and roses – and it adds so much drama to the story. The heartbreaking moments in the book also made me very emotional because I was attached to all the characters and and didn’t wanna lose any of them. Ultimately, I found it to have a much more satisfactory ending – not only because it was’t rushed but also because we got closure for most, if not all characters and I liked finishing off the story that way. However, the one thing I will takeway from this book is that despite not having any actual antagonist in the story, the author manages to create a plot which has tensions and conflicts and gives each character due respect.
June 3, 2022
I have mixed thoughts about this novel. I started reading it because I was watching the drama with Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi and really enjoyed that, and once I realized it was based on a novel that was fully translated, I knew I had to give the novel a try.
However, I quickly realized the drama and the novel are hugely different, and as a huge fan of the romance in the drama, I was very disappointed with how it played out in the novel.
**Warning: Spoilers Ahead for both the novel and the drama series**
Continuing with the romance, there was a lot less of it, and until the very end of the story, Feng Xiyun / Bai Fengxi is on guard against Feng Lanxi / Hei Fengxi, which was sad to see. As I was reading, I kept wondering when the mutual romance was going to start, and sadly it wasn't until the very end, when FLX uses his own life to save FXY, that she fully sets down her reservations and they become a loving couple. At one point, she's wary of him because he arrived late with his Moyu army and as a result, two of her beloved generals died defending her. And he's wary of her because she had a hidden army of 50,000 cavalry that showed up out of nowhere. It didn't help there was an annoying military advisor and general by FLX's side called Ren Chuanyu who completely distrusted FXY and kept giving advice or taking actions to keep her down.
The lack of romance was a point that constantly frustrated me and greatly impacted my enjoyment of the story. There was a scene near the end with FLX and Feng Qiwu where she gives him a bowl of homemade noodles for the new year, and he's so touched he almost asks her to be his concubine (this is just me guessing since he was cut off before he could finish this sentence), and I was so annoyed that this scene was happening with the wrong girl so close to the end.
Also, I'm still not sure I really understand who Jiu Wei is and why the Jiuluo clan is so important. It's only explained briefly, and all I really know about the Jiuluo clan is that they all have extra magical powers. But why does Jiu Wei and Jiurong (the general who sacrificed himself to save FXY) have magical powers, but FXY, who also is a descendent of the Jiuluo clan, not have any? This whole plot point doesn't make any sense to me.
I'll list out some of the major differences between the book and drama other than the romance, which I've already talked about. These differences didn't bother me at all, but I did find myself surprised by some of the liberties the scriptwriters took with the drama:
-I feel like at least half the drama was around political intrigue between FLX and his younger brother and the empress, but there was none of that in the novel. When it starts, he's already the accepted crown prince and there's only one brief incident of him dealing with his backstabbing family. Though if this is the case, I'm not sure how he had so much freedom to wander around the jianghu for 10 years... at least the drama tries to address this by saying he pretended to be ill
-FXY has her own harem going on in the book... lots of men keep falling for her. This is shown to some extent in the drama but it's much more obvious in the book. Even the guy she briefly saves at the very beginning of the story (the Gale General / Yan Yingzhou) has a thing for her after spending a short 2 days together in the cave. And Yu Wuyuan and Huang Chao both keep pining after her too lol
-The Princess of Youzhou isn't as scheming in the book. Also, she was set on marrying Hei Fengxi because she really liked him, until he walked away from the meal where her dad the king is supposed to announce her betrothed
-Feng Qiwu is a random dancer and musician FLX picks up in the midst of his travels instead of a loyal minister
-The drama makes a whole thing about the Duanhuan (Soultaker) Sect, but they don't play a huge role in the novel. Nor is Yu Wuyuan the ultimate bad guy in the novel; he's a legitimately good guy who's there to help Huang Chao become the new emperor
-The person behind the murder of the Han family is different. It's indirectly the king of Youzhou in the book, who only wanted the medicine prescriptions out of greed, instead of it being the master plan of the Duanhuan Sect to gain medicines for their rebel army
I read the translations on Wattpad. There were a lot of typos and grammatical mistakes (I assume it was an edited MTL) so I was a bit confused at times when the incorrect names or pronouns were used. It really doesn't help that both the main characters have Fengxi as a nickname, sometimes Fengxi was used for both of them together and those scenes were always confusing to follow.
However, I quickly realized the drama and the novel are hugely different, and as a huge fan of the romance in the drama, I was very disappointed with how it played out in the novel.
**Warning: Spoilers Ahead for both the novel and the drama series**
Continuing with the romance, there was a lot less of it, and until the very end of the story, Feng Xiyun / Bai Fengxi is on guard against Feng Lanxi / Hei Fengxi, which was sad to see. As I was reading, I kept wondering when the mutual romance was going to start, and sadly it wasn't until the very end, when FLX uses his own life to save FXY, that she fully sets down her reservations and they become a loving couple. At one point, she's wary of him because he arrived late with his Moyu army and as a result, two of her beloved generals died defending her. And he's wary of her because she had a hidden army of 50,000 cavalry that showed up out of nowhere. It didn't help there was an annoying military advisor and general by FLX's side called Ren Chuanyu who completely distrusted FXY and kept giving advice or taking actions to keep her down.
The lack of romance was a point that constantly frustrated me and greatly impacted my enjoyment of the story. There was a scene near the end with FLX and Feng Qiwu where she gives him a bowl of homemade noodles for the new year, and he's so touched he almost asks her to be his concubine (this is just me guessing since he was cut off before he could finish this sentence), and I was so annoyed that this scene was happening with the wrong girl so close to the end.
Also, I'm still not sure I really understand who Jiu Wei is and why the Jiuluo clan is so important. It's only explained briefly, and all I really know about the Jiuluo clan is that they all have extra magical powers. But why does Jiu Wei and Jiurong (the general who sacrificed himself to save FXY) have magical powers, but FXY, who also is a descendent of the Jiuluo clan, not have any? This whole plot point doesn't make any sense to me.
I'll list out some of the major differences between the book and drama other than the romance, which I've already talked about. These differences didn't bother me at all, but I did find myself surprised by some of the liberties the scriptwriters took with the drama:
-I feel like at least half the drama was around political intrigue between FLX and his younger brother and the empress, but there was none of that in the novel. When it starts, he's already the accepted crown prince and there's only one brief incident of him dealing with his backstabbing family. Though if this is the case, I'm not sure how he had so much freedom to wander around the jianghu for 10 years... at least the drama tries to address this by saying he pretended to be ill
-FXY has her own harem going on in the book... lots of men keep falling for her. This is shown to some extent in the drama but it's much more obvious in the book. Even the guy she briefly saves at the very beginning of the story (the Gale General / Yan Yingzhou) has a thing for her after spending a short 2 days together in the cave. And Yu Wuyuan and Huang Chao both keep pining after her too lol
-The Princess of Youzhou isn't as scheming in the book. Also, she was set on marrying Hei Fengxi because she really liked him, until he walked away from the meal where her dad the king is supposed to announce her betrothed
-Feng Qiwu is a random dancer and musician FLX picks up in the midst of his travels instead of a loyal minister
-The drama makes a whole thing about the Duanhuan (Soultaker) Sect, but they don't play a huge role in the novel. Nor is Yu Wuyuan the ultimate bad guy in the novel; he's a legitimately good guy who's there to help Huang Chao become the new emperor
-The person behind the murder of the Han family is different. It's indirectly the king of Youzhou in the book, who only wanted the medicine prescriptions out of greed, instead of it being the master plan of the Duanhuan Sect to gain medicines for their rebel army
I read the translations on Wattpad. There were a lot of typos and grammatical mistakes (I assume it was an edited MTL) so I was a bit confused at times when the incorrect names or pronouns were used. It really doesn't help that both the main characters have Fengxi as a nickname, sometimes Fengxi was used for both of them together and those scenes were always confusing to follow.
November 7, 2022
disclaimer: I am not rating this based on the writing as it was fan translated
I picked this up because I really likeed the drama but the last 10 episodes were so rushed. So when I heard that the novel actually covered the events in the last 10 episodes properly, I flounced over here to satisfy my curiosity.
The entire yongzhou arc was drama-only (probably to give yang yang's pretty face more screen time). While the politics were not bad, I kept feeling like I was waiting for the actual plot to happen because it's called who rules the world NOT who rules yongzhou. The actual plot aka what the novel covered is so much more interesting because I am a sucker for military strategy hijinks
The characters themselves were also very different. Hai Fengxi is more scheming and calculative while bai fengxi is much more wary and ruthless. Together they had a very interesting dynamic as there was a lot of distrust and misunderstanding to work through. Sadly, the way that they got over it was rather abrupt at the end
The way that certain scenes were handled was also questionable. This doesn't have to do with the language but the way that the scenes were executed. Seemingly important events or character interactions got glossed over or not written at all and I was like ???
Nonetheless I liked that the novel gave us more detail on the characters' backstories and how they built their reputation in the martial world, especially since the drama barely showed us bai fengxi's backstory
I picked this up because I really likeed the drama but the last 10 episodes were so rushed. So when I heard that the novel actually covered the events in the last 10 episodes properly, I flounced over here to satisfy my curiosity.
The entire yongzhou arc was drama-only (probably to give yang yang's pretty face more screen time). While the politics were not bad, I kept feeling like I was waiting for the actual plot to happen because it's called who rules the world NOT who rules yongzhou. The actual plot aka what the novel covered is so much more interesting because I am a sucker for military strategy hijinks
The characters themselves were also very different. Hai Fengxi is more scheming and calculative while bai fengxi is much more wary and ruthless. Together they had a very interesting dynamic as there was a lot of distrust and misunderstanding to work through. Sadly, the way that they got over it was rather abrupt at the end
The way that certain scenes were handled was also questionable. This doesn't have to do with the language but the way that the scenes were executed. Seemingly important events or character interactions got glossed over or not written at all and I was like ???
Nonetheless I liked that the novel gave us more detail on the characters' backstories and how they built their reputation in the martial world, especially since the drama barely showed us bai fengxi's backstory
July 20, 2022
3.5/5. for me the show was better in some ways but i liked that bai fengxi was more prominent in the novel. also i’m always such a huge fan of like ppl wandering the jianghu so i like the ending of this and the show. bc it’s something i ALWAYS want ppl to do in novels but they never do.
July 26, 2022
3.75
Reading a translation makes it super confusing and I am maybe too dumb for war strategy and stuff... but this made me feel things. Lots of things. Kinda went a little feral. I would legit die for Bai Feng Hei Xi. The relationship dynamic? 10/10
Reading a translation makes it super confusing and I am maybe too dumb for war strategy and stuff... but this made me feel things. Lots of things. Kinda went a little feral. I would legit die for Bai Feng Hei Xi. The relationship dynamic? 10/10
September 12, 2022
Read while the drama aired
January 4, 2024
OKAY. So I read the translated ~version(s) and I even listened to the first 9 chapters of the audiobook and maybe I'll listen to the full audiobook later - I'm not entirely sure how many chapters there are; for the text it seemed there were more than 50 - nearly 60?
And I loved the book so much more than the show - and I liked the show other than some weak points.
I ... also wonder low key why the show... it seems really YY's team TRULY had stuff majorly shifted.
Anyway I thought Yan Yingzhou's part was like ... omfg. *fans self*
In tiny part I'm ... it seemed like the version I finished reading/the translated version was SUPER complete, but I also saw someone said in the end HC actually did turn the mountain into a lake for BFX ... but I don't recall seeing it/reading it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
... I'm glad he died lonely though. Asshole.
... the book's YWY is SO different from the show - lololol in the show I H A T E him - lol in my selective rewatch any time I couldn't avoid him/didn't ff through because he was with BF-HX I was swearing at the screen ... lol the show wrongs him so much - he's entirely good in the book.
I think YY was cast well/matches the book character well ... and ZLS can play the BFX ... but imo she doesn't stand up to the FXY side. Ah well.
I do love the romance in the show - it satisfied my romance loving and craving heart.
The book ... there are only the BAREST hints of it.
Though it does have some moments of jealousy from HFX which I loved.
The show also makes him out to be much nicer than he was - he's much more calculating in the book, which makes BFX's reaction in the 1st 1-2 episodes more realistic instead of her totally misreading him.
I loved the glimpses into their jianghu interactions too though would have loved more. I was entirely bored by most /nearly all the battle things, but even in the book it was more plot necessary than the WTFery of the show.
Every character had a part/was necessary - lol even though a bunch of them I was like :X "wait who?"
Like just HFX/LX and BFX/XY have six main generals each. AND THEN LX/HFX has those secret servants/guards/whatever. [I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THEM!]
Would love to see this one formally translated and yup - I'd re-read the whole thing again. Again again!
It makes me so happy that both the book AND the drama are so good <3
And it makes me happy the book is even better than the drama. Although the drama wins hand over fist in terms of romance <3
Reading this book made me so happy and it's been quite some time since all I did was just read.
And this book is pretty damn long.
[Sure I probably extra liked it cuz I enjoyed the show and watched it 2-3x already (the other times selectively) ... and I wanted/needed to know "WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED."]
12/7/23 => audiobook re-read [1/4/24 - lol OBVIOUSLY this wasn't a hoopla thing - link was here https://ting55.com/book/93]
And I loved the book so much more than the show - and I liked the show other than some weak points.
I ... also wonder low key why the show... it seems really YY's team TRULY had stuff majorly shifted.
Anyway I thought Yan Yingzhou's part was like ... omfg. *fans self*
In tiny part I'm ... it seemed like the version I finished reading/the translated version was SUPER complete, but I also saw someone said in the end HC actually did turn the mountain into a lake for BFX ... but I don't recall seeing it/reading it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
... I'm glad he died lonely though. Asshole.
... the book's YWY is SO different from the show - lololol in the show I H A T E him - lol in my selective rewatch any time I couldn't avoid him/didn't ff through because he was with BF-HX I was swearing at the screen ... lol the show wrongs him so much - he's entirely good in the book.
I think YY was cast well/matches the book character well ... and ZLS can play the BFX ... but imo she doesn't stand up to the FXY side. Ah well.
I do love the romance in the show - it satisfied my romance loving and craving heart.
The book ... there are only the BAREST hints of it.
Though it does have some moments of jealousy from HFX which I loved.
The show also makes him out to be much nicer than he was - he's much more calculating in the book, which makes BFX's reaction in the 1st 1-2 episodes more realistic instead of her totally misreading him.
I loved the glimpses into their jianghu interactions too though would have loved more. I was entirely bored by most /nearly all the battle things, but even in the book it was more plot necessary than the WTFery of the show.
Every character had a part/was necessary - lol even though a bunch of them I was like :X "wait who?"
Like just HFX/LX and BFX/XY have six main generals each. AND THEN LX/HFX has those secret servants/guards/whatever. [I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THEM!]
Would love to see this one formally translated and yup - I'd re-read the whole thing again. Again again!
It makes me so happy that both the book AND the drama are so good <3
And it makes me happy the book is even better than the drama. Although the drama wins hand over fist in terms of romance <3
Reading this book made me so happy and it's been quite some time since all I did was just read.
And this book is pretty damn long.
[Sure I probably extra liked it cuz I enjoyed the show and watched it 2-3x already (the other times selectively) ... and I wanted/needed to know "WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED."]
12/7/23 => audiobook re-read [1/4/24 - lol OBVIOUSLY this wasn't a hoopla thing - link was here https://ting55.com/book/93]
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