Not entirely MC's fault but he's super restricted by this system to do this and that and all he wants is to have his dang freedom. He's drained at this point. And the ML's aren't all super scummy either. It's not black and white here. Just want to go through them:

The worst here is XD, the demon lord guy. I don't care much for him, he's the s*um in the plot, especially in the beginning.

I actually feel bad for the junior brother, MYY (?), because I think he's a tsundere. He didn't exactly do anything that crosses any line. MC is even a little mean to him in his head because anything good he did to MYY is only because the system made him do it and not willingly.

And lastly, I FELT SO BAD FOR the pavilion sect? That other sect young master GLY. He was a gentleman. He was good, he was NICE. He crossed the line in MC's book for asking MC to give some blood to save his senior brother's life but he was never at the point asking MC to give up his life because he had a PLAN to save both lives. And to be clear, MC was under the suspicion of being the one who harmed the senior brother at this point even though GLY himself didn't believe it. And also, the day that senior was harmed, MC was nearby and could have gone over but system prevented him from doing so (so not his fault but the circumstances weren't good). And also, in exchange for this, MC also made a trade with GLY so in a sense he got something out of it (so MC was actually using GLY too) but he held like a grudge out of this even though GLY risked himself to look for the alternative cure (example ignoring GLY even though he came back and fainted). There's more to this part but even with this bare bones bit, I felt bad for all of them, like victims of the situation.

XD gets one of the biggest retaliation and plot twists midway that I was not expecting, well-deserving of being the biggest s*um of the book.

I just want to say GLY suffered the most (Was it necessary?) in the story.

Yes, the one that suffered the most. Thank goodness if not I would have flipped a table. Also, his plot point about the taking blood was wrapped very well later in the book. I can see MC fully forgives (though in the first place I still don't feel he was fully at fault) him as compared to the rest. (Other than MYY who also didn't really do anything but didn't win the race too)

The MC does a good job of putting on a front but with context clues, you can see how he suffers for what has happened to him and for the others later on. It’s just that “all have”has given him another perspective and he can understand the how and why of what has happened. I guess he’s like super intuitive when it comes to himself. You see this with how rapidly he realizes that he is biased towards the ML. I cried a lot when he stabbed himself and Xiao Du died lol because he was so upset he had to do that to what was a sweet memory of a brother!

Does anyone else think the the ML would have been the second ML in another story? Lol

One of the MLs in particular is written off by the MC from the beginning of the novel and no matter what he does the MC won't change his mind... like after you already hate someone no matter how many revelations you find out about them after or how many sacrifices they make for you, it's like..: whatever, just looking at you makes me uncomfortable so I don't really care. Also you're the one who got me in this mess in the first place so I don't feel touched at all. Which does make sense.

The final pairing is the one that makes the most sense.. the one who's actions are the most forgivable... he's the most upstanding, respectful, supportive and non yandere of the MLs which again makes sense because we all love a yandere in a novel but in real life nobody would actually ever fall in love with someone who tries to possess you or control your movements. And MC is, once again, a regular dude without any extra heroic attributes really.

The final ML is the most likeable of the MLs for sure so even if you read without knowing the final pairing I don't think you'd end up on the wrong ship.

I only have one major gripe that prevented my enjoyment later on in the novel and it's kind of a personal thing that may not bother others.

The first one is what I stated I like about it already... the fact that MC is so normal. But I also don't like it somewhat hahaha. I guess I understand it and find him empathetic. But it is kind of hard to watch him being so so cruel to one of the MLs (although he deserves it). I guess I'm used to MCs that are more forgiving/above it but this MC is not like that. He just wants what he wants (to be free) and cannot change his feelings towards someone just because they've repented so hard. Like I said I understand it for sure and I don't think he's wrong.. but damn it was hard to read some of his actions against one of the MLs (although again I can understand it and I'm not saying it wasn't deserved).

Towards another one of the MLs that really didn't do much to him he was also... in my opinion... unnecessarily heartless for a while. It didn't really fit in with my preferred MC type I guess. Again my personal feelings, some people probably love this attitude.

The other major gripe I have is the MC is not dense when it comes to regular things (like he's reasonably good at tricking others, acting and seeing through other peoples tricks, not like super intelligent or crafty but definitely not dumb) EXCEPT he is unable to tell that ANY of the MLs have genuine feelings for him even when it is so goddamn obvious. I hate hearing his internal dialogue trying to explain away the MLs actions and this type of thing goes on for way longer than necessary and it makes me roll my eyes and disconnect from the novel because it seems illogical.

Like I said I do not need the MC to respond to their feelings... I respect his choice not to like them (although I dont enjoy it as a dramatic choice) but at least goddamn acknowledge it/realize it, which thankfully he eventually does.

So the novel for me is: awesome in the beginning, a bit draggy in the middle, awesome towards the end again.

XD, especially. And he totally deserves it! What the hell is with the mentality of

"I found my brother!!! NOW I'm gonna keep him by my side"

"oh no, I got the wrong person, he's not my brother, is he refundable? no?"

"actually I don't want to return him, so I'm going to use him and put him in great danger"

"wait actually he is the brother I'm looking for!"

step 1 again: "I found my brother!!! NOW I'm gonna keep him by my side"

......................

And he somehow hopes MC and him will be able to return to being good brothers.

I wanted to personally transmigrate, but then MC actually got a perfect revenge on him, by killing him. Wah, that was so shocking. Well, he doesn't really die, he gets resurrected, but it was a fair price.

I will also give special mention to the Yunjian characters (except for baby GLY). Seriously, I can't say enough about these guys... they were so purely hate-able. GH, LWL, Y-something, sigh, really so happy to see them get what they deserve.

If you managed to guess it from the first 20 or so chapters, you're probably right: it's GLY, a.k.a Gu Louyin.

He's a pretty standard cold and stoic type, (think Lan Wangji-like) jade beauty. I do like him though, he has an appropriate sense of priorities. It is explained that actually he didn't at all want to take MC's blood, he was relatively more fine with letting his senior brother pass away instead of MC. However, he was forced to.

Well the option he was given was either they rip out MC's heart or take his blood, so he just took MC's blood while desperately searching for the cure to his senior brother's poisoning.

I also appreciate that he doesn't restrict MC or become extremely possessive. It's also nice to see him supporting the MC, so sweet.

poisoned him betrayed him forced him to get in bed with someone he didn't know and who was an obsessed stalker

There was a part near the end where the Demon Lord was refusing to recognize anyone else as worthy of MC's love because they all did unforgivable things to him and I was just thinking... HELL NO! Nothing compared to you! The shidi was just a brat and annoying. GLY was honorable and polite the entire time and did his very best to protect MC from his father. Demon Lord on the other hand poisoned MC with an irremovable gu that would with an aphrodisiac stronger than any omega in heat. He sent his brother to get r*ped and used as a dao companion of their enemy. There's no comparison, demon lord treated MC the worst! Gu Louyin was undeniably the best man and I'm glad he got the beauty at the end.

5/5 stars. I think this might be my favorite web novel of all time. The writing was so easy to read and enjoyable -- reading this book was genuinely a good time, even at moments where the plot lagged. That was probably the only issue I had. There were times where the plot was missing interesting events or dragged on. I wished specifically that the MC's identity had been revealed earlier on and felt that the whole "soul mirror" discovery on the ML's part was unnecessary. But, that's just my personal opinion.

When it comes to the MC, he's perfect. Everything he does is on his own terms, rather than allowing himself to be forced into things. He doesn't let any of the male lead candidates push him into a relationship he doesn't want, and when he does choose someone, it's when he himself truly grows feelings for them. He's independent and honestly, would have lived a well-off life on his own with his own abilities.

Still, he does end up with the ML who arguably hurt him the least. It's true the ML undeniably hurt and betrayed the MC and I felt that played a very large part in their relationship. There was no immediate forgiveness -- both ended up suffering from it. I liked that, it felt like the MC and the ML were both really realistic. And, it was also cool to see how much the ML adored and valued the MC, to the point where he sacrificed his health and his cultivation (two very important things in xianxia novels!).

It's not perfect, but I definitely would reread and strongly recommend!