Decaying World腐朽世界

am up to date with the MTL, here is a review with what i would have liked to know before i started reading:

1. cheat
he has a bloodseal on his hand with the ability to upgrade anything, if you read other novels of this author before you will notice that the author has a preference for the main characters golden finger. he uses the cheat to upgrade tools, like his sword, his cultivation technique, but also things like his sect, giving all disciples a buff. there really is no limit on what he can upgrade, it can be random but he can also guide the upgrade in a targeted direction. another perk is that he can appraise anything aslong as his cheat is available, it does have a countdown, depending on what he upgraded.

2. romance
no harem, there is a love interest but its not really very romantic. the romance is very much not a big focus in the story however, with usually 1 chapter of interaction before the woman leaves for months. shes also not a jade beauty, when shes introduced, she has half the skin of her face missing, fitting the eerie world setting, more to that next

the world and the MC
my english isnt good enough to describe the world in a good way, to make it short and direct: mist is spread outside of the cities, filled with monsters and trying to kill everyone. Mc lives in a city that is split into 3 parts, the powerful noble beings in the center, people in the inner disctrict and then the outer district. mc lives in the outer part, which is a lot smaller than the inner part, and very dangerous, as its closest to the mist outside. there are a few cities all with the same setup, but most of the world is covered with the mist.
Mc is from the modern world, but this is not important for the story other than that the body was a waste before Mc took over, and ofc Mc has the golden finger. Mc starts the story as a very careful person, trying not to gain attention and quietly becoming stronger. there is a point where he feels like hes strong enough, and he becomes very ruthless from that moment on. this is around ch 80 or so, not sure.

power system
theres multiple different power systems in this novel. one relies on innate talent to even start, martial arts can be cultivated by everyone but are usually less powerful, the strongest known path requires fusing with an artifact. MC starts with martial arts but uses his cheat to create a new path beyond any martial arts of this world

my opinion: this novel is great, its a pure power fantasy in a unique setting and the author tries to make all characters unique in their own way. Most focus is on the Mc, but side characters are not forgotten. the author wastes no time on boring details, and the Mc growth is pretty fast. ive been writing this for too long so i cant be bothered to write more

Omg!!! I can't believe it, but, the MC's father, is way cooler than the MC himself. They both started from scratch while the MC have his golden finger, still his father, in both authority and strength exceeded the MC by thousands of miles without any golden finger solely by his competence. I'm amazed.

Read till chapter 74, it was very good before but just as the mc got a bit of strength to protect himself he completely lost control of himself and became an incarnation of pride, spoiler ahead





1. Mc stops hiding his actual strength that will bring him danger as there are a lot of people stronger than him(his progress is impossible without some special treasure)
2. Starts killing people that have already surrendered (there was no Major fued between them )
3. Wants to get a organisation under his control so the first thing he does instead of challenging the sect leader is start a massacre
4. An evil looking old man threatens to kill his whole sect so he fights him and recruits him instead
Not to mention some normal points like not using his cheat effectively.

Unexpectedly, very good novel. Just know, that this is a Chinese cultivation novel, that the MC have real parents with functioning brains. Just this showcase that the author is a veteran and don't escape hard hurdles.


Excellent translation.
Excellent world building.

@ch50
So far - not bad at all. There are things that I could nitpick, but nothing that aggressively drags one out of the story.

Very good so far. I really hope the author doesn’t repeat the same mistakes he made in his previous novels. The protagonist is actually decent, neither an absolute Japanese-style cuck nor a hypocritical psychopath like the average Chinese person. I’ve read all the chapters on MTL and I’m pretty satisfied with how things are progressing.

Pretty good

This novel kind of suffers from the same problem that the authors other novels face. But I have to say the author is really good at pacing and keeping mystery. Where other novels give too much or too little information, this novel delivers the perfect amount of lore at the right time while not revealing everything as to keep the interest of the reader.

The world is mysterious and the author's pacing ability keeps it that way. Whenever a question is solved, a new one pops up. All puzzles fit together to make this world. In my opinion, in terms of mystery and keeping subtle horror, this novel, although not being among the best, is certainly among the great.

Now for the MC and the characters. Among the characters, few stand out, but none fall flat. Every character feels independent and alive. Unlike other novels .they don’t fade out nor revolve their entire life around the MC. The MC's dad is a good example.

The MC is very calm, too calm, to the extent he barely shows any emotions. Although we do get his monologues, it is hard to relate or root for the guy. At first, he is, effectively, true neutral, focusing on avoidance and escape rather than confrontation. After he attains a certain level of strength, he kind of becomes battle-crazed, and where my problem lies, he kind of begins to become a murder hobo. The only thing restricting him are the rules. The author tries to explain this by adding new greater dangers, making the MC more frantic for power and thus justifying drastic means. But still, the fights feel unnecessary; that’s the main issue. Otherwise it’s pretty good, and I plan to read further.

It’s 3.8-4/5; pretty good, worth spending time on, but unlikely to finish reading.

Where are the new chapters in MTL?