I enjoyed this manhua. However, I can say with confidence that it's definitely not a masterpiece. Here are the reasons:
- MC has evil intent but circumstances always intervene so that his evil plans fail. He wants to kill innocent people but fails due to accidental happenings. Example:
He lied to Ning'er and used her as bait, knowing full well that his plan, if successful, would result in her death. The only reason she even survived was because his plan failed. Somehow this is played off as him just being pragmatic. I don't understand why anyone would trust him after seeing that. Oh also he turns into a good guy later which is ridiculous. A guy who has been a ruthless, callous, cold-blooded sociopath suddenly turns into a goody-2-shoes after being "moved" by a girl? Bull-fucking-shit. That literally never happens. The "heart magic" was some ridiculous plot contrivance to begin with, but later on he just does a full heel-face turn and becomes a good guy. WTF.
- Deus ex machinas.
In the second and third areas there were so many moments where he was about to get straight up murdered, and this godlike being just swoops in and saves his party from getting annihilated. The identity of this mysterious godlike being is not revealed. So a literal God pretty much.
- The MC is actually pretty hot-headed at various moments, saying things like "I'm a demonic cultivator! I will never back down! I've already died once so I'm not afraid of dying again!". So basically, an idiot MC. Problem is that most of the time he acts like a rational, cool-headed guy too, which is how he's described by other characters. So there is this jarring incongruence between how he acts most of the time (cool-headed, rational, calculating) and how he acts in dramatic moments (hot-blooded, loyal, idealistic, spiteful).
I find it odd that the MC is somehow supposed to be this genius manipulator but also fails to see that his adopted child was plotting to betray him. Also lots of moments in this manhua where the MC is completely clueless to the people around him. Like when
Ning told him to not kill her pursuers that should have been a pretty big clue that something was up, I feel.
And the MC's motivations are just...all over the place. At the beginning it was revenge, now it's about making the Luo family great again, then it's about "becoming stronger", etc. All just feels very inauthentic. Can't really see any good reason for the MC to change his motivations at the drop of the hat like that.
So, all in all, definitely not a masterpiece. I mean you can probably guess from the first chapter which is the most generic opening chapter ever for a xuanhuan (MC finds super-OP book, gets attacked by everyone, betrayed by his closest companions etc).
Well, I still enjoy it though. I just read chapter 118 and I really liked it.
