4/5 solely for the first two arcs of the novel. Actually, I would give the first two arcs 5/5 and must read status.

But after that, the novel suffers from webnovel syndrome, aka make random stuff up to satisfy daily release schedule. After the first two arcs, it becomes a bog standard xianxia cultivation novel with all the tired tropes and little semblance of coherent plot along with all the word salad items and techniques you can ever want.

As for the first two arcs, I can't say enough good things about... more>> it. The author really flexes his writing skills. The dialogue is great. The characters are great. There is a lot of Chinese philosophy baked into as well so it is a very interesting read. The plot is also well-paced and keeps you turning pages until the resolution is ultimately reached with a very satisfying ending. 5/5

But it kind of falls apart after that. Its a pity. If the author had more time to plan and prepare for the follow-on storylines, it could have been a masterpiece. He is one of the best xianxia writers just in terms of skill. Instead, it turns into your average webnovel and we're all tired of that after 1000x of the same over and over. <<less

I recommend this novel, because the character growth of the MC is top notch for the genre. You start off reading about a kid on the run, then him becoming a student servant so he can go to immortal school, from there you see him repay debts and defeat his pursuers all while trying to stand out at the school. After many adventures and struggles, you see him rise to the top of his class, officially joining the sect and making a name for himself.

There’s romance, no harem, plenty of... more>> action, and a lot of planning and schemes. I will say however, there’s a lot of plot armor, especially later. I really enjoyed the slice of life stuff, as it’s a breath of fresh air compared to the typical immortal hiding in a cave. All the characters grow and while some characters get abandoned, it’s more of a gradual process than the typical xianxia.

What I didn’t like and why I’m stopping at 500ish. I don’t like the two bodies plotline at all. Favorite characters from the first 300 chapters disappear completely. The plot shifts to areas outside the school/sect too much. The MC seems to have that issue of too many abilities and artifacts. The romance is pretty bad.

And the biggest reason would be the MC never loses or has a major setback. It’s a bit too ridiculous at this point. <<less

One of the better ones in the world of xianxia novel.

When I realized that this novel is older than dtpb (divine throne of primordial blood- same author) that I read first, I laughed becase this one is clearly superior to dtpb, and it's 15 years old at the time of this review, truly interesting, I started reading xianxia on 2012 or something, and my earliest novel was Panlong, that happened to be released in the same year as this novel, and if I would say, this one is the superior... more>> novel. Good interactions between characters interesting MC that uses a lot of fun schemes (naturally some of them wont hold under tight scrutiny, but it's still fun), and the writing style that's more restrained and more emotionally controlled (from author self righteous opinion) if I were to compare it with dtpb.

The weakness of this novel is mostly info dumps, some of them are important, some of them are not, but what bad is that all of them are inappropriately verbose. The other weakness will be sudden change in MC demeanor, I'll call this zero destiny self insert random bout, it's not that bad in this novel (at least in the current number of chapters that im reading), but im fastening my seatbelt and getting ready for a crash knowing I am reading zero destiny novel. This is an early review however, might change slightly, or even greatly as more chapters get translated, I mean he managed to ruin dtpb near the end, as this is his earlier work, it might be possible for it to fall earlier. As of 400 ish chapter, I'd say the novel still holds it's charm, but author random bout of MC character draft change really pisses me off, I guess he really need to make MC do something illogical to keep the plot going. Some people said it's readable until 200, but then again the opinions are always to each their own. I'll recommend it as must try to read, and you can just drop it if you find it unsatisfactory later on, as the translation is still ongoing, I'll probably will just follow it as it goes, hopefully it doesn't really piss me off like dtpb and I can finish. <<less

Why my review matters: 7+ years reading novels, I've read most CN on NU. At this stage, very few novels can keep me interested, this is one of them.

It's different from most novels, MC has brains, straightforward romance, other characters are not just shells.

Novel is slow, true - but each chapter is interesting - you mustn't skim it. Only the beginning feels a bit werid/idiotic - but improves real fast.

If you machine translate MW, ATG etc., I can understand, but this novel is something I won't recommend you MTL, as... more>> u need to understand it properly - not just grasp the general plot.

That's my review at 409, let's see how this goes. <<less

Honestly shocked by some of the other low reviews - Aspiring to the Immortal Path (AIP) is one of the best "traditional" cultivation light novels I've read. This is partly due to the excellent translation that's been provided. The main reason that AIP (as of chapter 373) is so well written is because it resolves many of the classical cultivation light novel problems.

The classical problems with cultivation light novels are:

a) one dimensional villains (young masters/1000+ years old elders with the mentality of a 15 year old)

b) poorly written side... more>> characters (all accomplished women are jade beauties who fall in love with main character (MC) because he's powerful, followers that are discarded after 1 arc, etc)

c) unrealistic and irrational MC (MCs who fight 2 cultivation levels higher than their own without em)., which makes power level meaningless.

AIP isn't a light novel where the MC jumps cultivation realms just by breathing or relies on serendipitous opportunities, he employs schemes and takes risks for his opportunities. The MC actually adapts to the cultivation world (becomes more decisive and ruthless) as the plot progresses. Antagonists actually have rationale causes for their actions and know when to hold back. Side character have their own unique personalities, and they're not discarded without cause. Finally, the fights are believable. The two closest comparison with AIP are Divine Throne of Primordial Blood and Reverend Insanity.

My one qualm about AIP happens later in the story:

Spoiler

The MC develops a clone which ends up opening quite a few problematic plot points.

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A very refreshing start with a real smart MC. The world was also interesting but after a while, it started to go downhill, especially when the MC sometimes does such random moves that makes a perfect situation 1000% more troublesome. These IQ fluctuating moments are way too glaring when u compare to the earlier parts, not sure if I can continue reading, but if u can accept this flaw, you'll enjoy the novel.

This is a slow pace one. Actually, I read this novel because of its author. Divine Throne of Primordial Blood was one of my favorite. And Zero Dynasty doesn't fail me this time too.

Although novel is extremely slow pace and too much theories in techniques, it is worth to read. And it also focuses on side characters unlike other cultivation novels. Most importantly there are not much cheat codes except transmigration.

I have read a lot of chinese xianxia and let me tell you now that this is a quality piece.

The translation is excellent, and up to par to proper english novels, no issues whatsoever with grammar and just writing quality in general.

The story itself is excellent, everything that happens makes sense and you don't feel like stuff just springs up out of nowhere, when something crazy happens it feels like it's a natural progression and expectation from the world that was built beforehand.

Character interaction is done properly, there are few... more>> novels I can compare when it comes to how characters outside of the protagonist have their own motivations, aspirations, their own thought processes and ambitions. Their personalities are distinct and human. And the same goes for the protagonist, he's not just mindless cultivation machines that pursues a goal singleminded. He lives his life, acts when he should act and knows when things are outside of his control.

The world itself is very enjoyable, it's not the same old rehashed qi cultivation, foundation establishment, golden core progression, the author has built a cultivation society from the scratch up, progression feels natural, every level has a purpose which if not properly excavated affects you long term. And you feel this with the way the protagonist experiences each stage properly.

Outside of that you can tell that the Author put great thought and love into everything, they created this as a work of love and not just as a piece to make money with. This is writing whose goal is to become a piece of your heart.

I've read thousands of novels Chinese and otherwise, this is one I would put at the top. <<less