The Azure Mountain青山

Qingshan

Green Mountain

Read till: the arc to pardon Bai Li got over (I don't remember the chapter number). I read the mtl version. It was a fairly decent translation.
Review:
the novel is made just to make the protagonist suffer. the protagonist is just that miserable. the insane amount of effort he has to spend to get progress in cultivation is easily achieved by some supporting character in a day or a week . It also goes downhill as the story progresses; I agree that there are moments of excitement and plot progresses well, but overall the plot goes downhill because of how much the protagonist has to suffer.

Seeing him constantly grovel before the king is very frustrating. I have read a lot of novels with court intrigue and political scheming and know one should take a step back and suffer humiliation if it achieves your goal but I don't know why this is just so frustrating to read. If I have to describe it, it would be like you want to breathe but are not able to. It is just suffocating and gets even more so as the story progresses.

There are a lot of things I liked in the novel. There are also a lot I didn't. One can clearly see that the author is experimenting with the new writing style. The book primarily reads like a movie or a well made play. The author has acknowledged that he was in talks to make this into a live action adaptation. But this is also where he misses. The writing style is such that we can't know what the protagonist is thinking. This also makes his choices so difficult to accept. He makes decisions that are just so irrational.. After the Bai Li saga was over, I had to drop it. I also did so because the book was not completed and I did not want to wait daily to read all that. I could have endured the torture if I read it all in one go had the book been completed.

You may try it if you want to, I am not one to decide for you.
This was just me venting all my frustrations at the book and for the massive amount of time I spent reading it.

#panic# 693 chapter skipped in mtl!

I've reached the current figures, damn! I'll have to let them accumulate for another 2 years.

#panic# in MTL the latest update chapter 693 to 737 has just copied previous chapters.

It's ok, but the characters are written a bit too childishly/predictably. Anytime the protagonist gets something new to continue progressing his cultivation the author goes into another spy subplot and greatly delays the story. The translation doesn't make it any better, either. I'm at around chapter 140 but unsure whether or not to continue.

I dropped this novel after 160 chapters. After the protagonist loses the pressure of survival, there is very little to grip me. I don’t like the protagonist’s personality much; I know that he is a traumatized kid and loses his purpose in life after coming to the new world, but I still dislike the lack of agency on his part. Finally, the main reason I dropped it: the characters. While they are well-written, they feel like they are from a shonen manga. There are overly idyllic friendships and power-ups in crisis moments. Later, the protagonist is made to be unconcerned by worldly matters, even though his cultivation requires him to be concerned by them, so that doesn't make sense to me. To summarize, I dropped it because a number of the novel's characteristics are against my tastes.

ch. 66
rating aroung 7/10
This looks like a very good novel, but it's kinda tiring to read because: 1. there is always narrative tension from the plot not a moment of respite; 2. author goes hard on the show don't tell, the explanations follow always after the scenes happened. 3. author sometimes uses 1st person narration for side characters.

MC is genius level smart and always takes initiative. But it feels like there is always a dangerous situation which tests his luck and he never seems to get unlucky and die, which seems a bit unrealistic.

Anyway, if you can push through it this novel is a rewarding read.

#panic# in the mtl chapters 613 614 are missing. Look up the last two chapters

I usually don’t like asking others for help, but I really hate romance. So when a book is tagged NO ROMANCE while also having a strong love interest, that’s a bit of a problem for me. I can already see the romantic subplot, but I’m not sure whether the Death of Loved Ones tag changes that situation. So my question is: does Bai Li die, and if so, does it happen soon?

What an absolute Gem of a novel!!! The political intrigue is so well crafted... It has become one of my favourite works on this site... So good.

Some chapters I missing in MTL. But you can read it there.