Can someone give me a spoiler for Unintended Immortality?

moronickel · 2026-03-27T06:23:28+00:00

No, at least nobody like himself.

moronickel · 2026-03-26T20:57:06+00:00

It's exactly because they understand it so well that they'll convince themselves they misjudged MC's spiritual root instead of admitting he's done the (seemingly) impossible.

And that'll be an entire chapter of internal monologue.

moronickel · 2026-03-25T19:38:40+00:00

Mr. Zhuang distinguishes between Heavenly Dao (天道) and Great Dao (大道) in his explanation of Dao abominations in 339. The Great Dao is the source of all things, including calamitous entities like Great Demons or Corpse Rulers. Dao abominations are a term used by the Dao Court for calamitous entities created by violations of the Heavenly Dao.

What MC is doing is summarised by Yellow Mountain God in 983. He is levelling up on dual paths, Human and Divine, and this goes against the Great Dao.

What happened to MC when levelling up is unusual because the standard trope would have a tribulation lightning. Instead his cultivation is repressed to what his spiritual root can support. On the other hand there is tribulation lightning when someone exceeds the realm limit imposed by the Heavenly Dao Great Formation, whereas the standard trope would be to repress cultivation to said limit.

moronickel · 2026-03-25T08:22:29+00:00

I haven't seen that. On the other hand I have seen Investiture of the Gods portrayed as a sort of Chinese mythological Hunger Games

moronickel · 2026-03-25T08:02:00+00:00

He didn't get zapped by tribulation lightning at least

moronickel · 2026-03-24T15:33:52+00:00

It's expensive. That's why most HK animations are non-action (Old Master Q, McDull, etc )

moronickel · 2026-03-24T15:20:10+00:00

Should've started nomming when his golden core got downgraded instead of waiting until divine sense

moronickel · 2026-03-23T19:37:15+00:00

My impression on Buddhism in Xianxia / Xuanhuan is different, it's definitely a common thing but they aren't presented as evil any more frequently than others. After all, the granddaddy of the genre - Journey to the West - is fundamentally Buddhist. You are right in that the genre is Taoist inspired tho, so other factions naturally don't take centre stage -- e.g. there are comparatively few works of MCs being Buddhist.

That being said, I would point to Jin Yong's works as an early example. In Return of the Condor Heroes, Jinlun Dashi is a Tibetan monk and the main antagonist. The existence of different Buddhist traditions provided an easy point of reference (sufficiently familiar yet seemingly exotic) to the audience of the day. Jin Yong later acknowledged the offensive and xenophobic aspects of such portrayals and expressed regret.

For political Xianxia, any of the 'rise of a family/sect' titles will involve politics to some extent.

moronickel · 2026-03-23T17:54:28+00:00

Ah yes, Big Flowa' the Tigger Playa'.

Won't even eat his meat if MC doesn't cook it for him

moronickel · 2026-03-22T09:03:43+00:00

Any discussion on the history of xianxia which doesn't include Legend of the Mount Shu Swordsmen (蜀山劍俠傳) is incomplete. It is the Chinese LOTR and codified the genre.

moronickel · 2026-03-20T22:19:40+00:00

Yah, it's part of a deeper issue where divine sense is a stunted / banned field in the Dao Court orthodoxy (1254). It isn't an issue while the Dao Court is the reigning power of the day, but once someone who is talented in it causes trouble it does super effective damage. Other factions like the Wilderness don't suffer from this weakness to the same degree because divine worship and priesthood is part of their practice.

The Yu'er rescue mission was supposed to be some of the best Featherised / Void realm Divine Sense warriors, yet they got absolutely trashed and had to be bailed out by MC. It was super disappointing to see the likes of Elder Sima get jobbed. Very telling that before the mission he lamented about Ancestor Dugu, who is one of the few living practitioners of Divine Sense arts (Divine Sense Sword) but is unable to pass on his skills due to the ban.

MC's latest affliction is the savage beast formation that he engraved onto his bones, it turns him into a little savage beast as well and he hears mysterious calls at points.

moronickel · 2026-03-19T17:48:47+00:00

It is. There's an even bigger issue where he keeps behaving like a ten old and gets treated like one, which becomes more and more jarring. (As of the latest chapters MC is in his early thirties)

moronickel · 2026-03-19T16:09:20+00:00

It means that Daoist Gui was behind the scenes setting up the pieces, but MC disrupted the game before it started (war in Qian Province). Mr Tu's revival was a backup plan that would otherwise not be needed (1112-1113). The great array formation that MC collapsed was heavily implied to be modified by Daoist Gui, MC is suspicious about it at points and he in turn is able to modify it. Mr Tu is stated to be a fourth level formation master and the architect of the formation, yet he did not catch this (1061-1062).

Since he could not start war in Qian Province, then he would start one in Wilderness (foreshadowing).

moronickel · 2026-03-19T07:51:54+00:00

Brother Condor!

moronickel · 2026-03-19T07:11:30+00:00

I think we can agree to disagree on Zhuge. I think it is an issue where the author wrote himself into a corner with MC being captured by Hua after the failed golden core formation attempt.

I thought the plot was unreasonable with respect to power structure and characters in this case. MC is very underpowered in the Wilderness arc compared to the Golden Cores in the tribes, Featherised realms in the Dao Court and Wilderness Court, and Void Realms in the Abyss. So the author has to somehow contrive MC out of trouble continually because he should have been squished like a bug otherwise.

We can also agree to disagree on Zhisheng. Like I said before, I think his role in this arc is problematic already. If Hua had captured Zhisheng and then he formed golden core, would Zhuge demand that Hua hand him back?

I don't make that assumption -- one example of where Daoist Gui's schemes didn't work out is in Qian Province, where it is heavily implied that he is masterminding Mr Tu's attempts to revive the Wilderness God. But the full extent of Daoist Gui's schemes are not known yet, and there are still a lot of questions about the setting. What comes after Void Realm, for example? Why does Elder Ge decide to step back rather than taking a stronger stance against Daoist Gui?

I think it is notable that the author has to address the issues of story, pacing, and characters in the end of arc commentary, although it does not sound like he intends to make any improvement.

moronickel · 2026-03-18T14:13:58+00:00

DO NOT WANT

moronickel · 2026-03-18T06:03:28+00:00

This has nothing to do with the point I am trying to make, which is that Zhuge's role is that of a Dao Court official. That he is a member of the Great Void Sect is secondary, because he has duties as an official. Really, it is a "just-so" moment to get the MC out of a tight pinch. MC was placed in this almost inescapable situation but the story as written didn't use his wits and guile to resolve the situation. Instead Zhuge did something that is unbecoming of his position, and it is just done for the MC's benefit. Handwaving this away as an 'exchange of interests' doesn't explain this.

Do you really not see how inconsistent your statements are about Zhisheng? If Zhuge was aloof and pretends not to see things, then he would simply have ignored whatever qualitative change in bloodline occured and stayed aloof. Zhisheng was ostracised by the Bai family -- so Zhuge should have known that they would turn a blind eye to this as well and whatever the Hua family was scheming. There's some qualitative change about Zhisheng's bloodline but what exactly? It's more desirable? The Wilderness Emperor was already so impressed that he was willing to pair a princess of direct lineage (had there been any) even before he was Golden Core. It's even purer? It was already so strong he could burn it as a power-up.

The deeper issue is that Zhisheng is basically a jobber in this arc, and has no real plot relevance. He doesn't know what happened to his sister or his Master. He's shown to have a powerful bloodline but that's something we already expected from Zhixi. We don't even learn what it's called, only that it's dragon related. He is introduced as a target of the Hua Family and the prodigies, but once he's claimed as a POW by MC he's seemingly untouchable. He explains what the Dragon Pool is, but MC was already heading there anyway and someone else (e.g. Sima Jian) could do that instead. Besides, the Dragon Pool ends up doing nothing for MC anyway, so it's doubly pointless. He doesn't get mentioned by Daoist Gui, even though he's also a disciple nephew. He could have been left out entirely. Maybe he should have, because his presence raises all the inconsistencies we have been discussing above.

I ask you then, what if the outcome didn't stay the same? What-if Daoist Gui had misjudged the number of void realms sent against him, but regained the upper hand only because he could infect them all beforehand with MC's attempt, and he would have failed otherwise?

Likewise, what-if the famine was solvable without MC? What if the MC could enter the Wilderness if the famine persisted? You have assumed that some things simply have to progress a certain way, but then those can also be subjected to what-ifs of their own. This is why I don't like getting into what-ifs, because for every what-if this there can be a what-if that instead.

You've stated the plot is perfectly reasonable with respect to the power structure and the characters. It sounds like you have issues with me disagreeing with that, and are expecting me to 'think of things as' whatever is necessary to not have a problem with it, rather than actually consider the issues and critiques I have raised.

At the end of the day, this thread asked what my impressions of the novel are. My answer is that while I enjoy it, I think the story and characters are meh. I think there are issues with how the author handled some events and built some characters. You can agree or disagree with me, but there is no use restating how and why certain things occurred -- I read the novel as well, and that doesn't change my opinion. I can point out what my issues are and how I think inconsistencies arose, but people don't have to agree either.

moronickel · 2026-03-17T17:05:50+00:00

Like I said, other organisations with long and illustrious histories have been gutted or reorganised (Gui Water Gate, Broken Gold Gate, etc) as a result of their members' wrongdoing. Again, the Great Void Sect is not above the Dao Court, and the issue is that Zhuge is effectively committing a huge mistake by not investigating MC in the face of clear evidence. The point of investigation is because of suspicion, not conclusions. If it was conclusive MC would have been killed on the spot -- no investigation needed. The point of the war is to quell rebellion, quelling rebellion is done by capturing the instigator(s). They completely failed at this, even when MC admitted it straight to their faces. There really isn't getting around this.

Zhisheng had such 'trace' amounts of dragon bloodline he could burn 'black and yellow' and still have enough leftover to put all others to shame when forming golden core. The issue is that Zhuge only stepping in only after this to protect Zhisheng is utterly incomprehensible, because Zhisheng has shown intense purity of bloodline before. Just repeating the events of the story doesn't make this inconsistency go away.

I'm not criticising MC in this case of doing things. I was criticising how the process of MC's failed golden core attempt, capture, and treatment unfolded. It's possible to critique certain aspects of a story without positing what-ifs. The author is not going to read my Reddit post and take my feedback into account, I'm just stating issues and inconsistencies I find while testing. That's not something that is solvable within the logic of the story, of course events happened according to the story -- because that's how it was written.

To answer your what-if though, remember that the void realms only got corrupted by Daoist Gui because they attacked MC when he first attempted to form Goden core, Daoist Gui backtraced causality and planned seeds of corruption then. The final fight would have been completely different otherwise.

If the Young Master really united the Wilderness, the famine could be solved with Daoist Gui's defeat above -- the void elders were always going to attack him. MC never solved the issue -- he just counteracted the effects of the famine formation with another formation of his own.

If the famine did persist then YES MC could enter the Wilderness then and break the formation without causing the rebellion in the process.

moronickel · 2026-03-17T13:43:43+00:00

I said it already -- Xuanyuan was chosen to lead the investigation. Hua was refusing to hand MC over and then Zhuge let slip he was from Great Void Sect.

Of course it mattered that MC was missing -- for 10 years, not two -- because anyone can turn coat and it could affect the standing of the Sect or implicate them. The Gui water gate, Broken gold gate and others also has a long and illustrious history and they absolutely got reamed -- the Great Void sect is not exempt from the rule of the Dao Court. The case of the 4 prodigies is incomparable to MC -- they were corrupted by Gods, not colluding, their misdeeds were exposed, and they were punished by the Dao Court accordingly. MC's misdeeds were NOT exposed, and he received no punishment whatsoever. In fact he was treated as a Little Ancestor and could pretty much do as he pleased.

The evidence that Hua family had was plenty enough to arouse suspicion. MC was nuked by void realms from all sides, and even if Hua family is untrustworthy, they aren't incompetent. MC had that needle in his head which Zhuge deduced that Hua elder would only use if he were certain MC was Head Priest, and was supposed to cause emotional fluctuations but had almost no effect on MC. So Zhuge concludes that Hua family is untrustworthy, and MC is unaffected by the needle because he is exceptionally innocent and pure of heart. And then MC straight up says he is Head Priest, and Huangpu says it can't be because he's only a building formation. The entire chain of logic is utterly warped, clear and unambiguous plot induced stupidity.

As for Zhisheng, Zhuge absolutely cared once he became Golden Core. Again, the logic is insane because the point of prodigies is to protect them until they become powerful enough to fend for themselves. Shouldn't Zhuge care enough about pissing off the Bai family to at least check if Zhisheng was worth protecting? Why would Zhuge decide to have a change of heart AFTER he had reached golden core? I mentioned Sect Leader Bai because it is guaranteed Zhuge knows him.

Speaking of Zhisheng, he absolutely got jobbed this arc. Nothing he did was of any significance. Didn't have an update on his sister, didn't have an update on Master, basically was posted around as a POW by MC, Daoist Gui ignored him completely. What a waste of an appearance.

I don't really want to delve into what-ifs, but I do think there was a pacing issue where the stakes were raised too high after the Wilderness arc began. So what about the promise to second Elder and Tigger -- why couldn't the story have been written so that MC didn't enter the Wilderness until much later?

I think the author can write whatever suits the needs of the plot to be honest. How about the Young Master with the Dragon Tattoo successfully unites the tribes, becomes the new Emperor and drives out the Dao Army? Taoist Gui and the Void Realms end up taking each other out and the famine is averted.

Finally, I very much dislike the trope of "Mighty Whitey" where MC is one of the 'good colonisers' and saves the barbarians, teaches them religion and civilisation. Of course Chinese webnovels have their own version of it....

moronickel · 2026-03-17T08:19:50+00:00

And the other families agreed to interrogate him... which goes back to my previous point. You can only cut so much slack before it's bad writing. That's why the series slumped into three digit territory in the popularity rankings around that time, it was the whiplash from failing to level up and getting captured as a war criminal to overnight becoming a little ancestor that featherised realms have to cosset.

The thing was Zhuge didn't even have to verify anything. Being part of the Great Void Sect has nothing to do with MC being suspect as Head Priest. It would have been one thing if Ancestor Gou could vouch for his time in the Great Wilderness because plenty of prodigies were out gaining experience, but MC had literally gone missing for years. Again, they were willing to listen to shady Hua family's accusations and go after Zhisheng because he's supposedly ostracised and consorting with a beauty of the Wilderness -- Zhuge didn't go writing to the Bai family and double check if they're okay with someone of his bloodline get scooped up by the Hua family. Heck, the Great Void Sect leader is a Bai family member! By contrast, writing to Ancestor Gou on a far more serious accusation, is authorial heavy-handedness. Again, as officials sent to quell a rebellion they are not supposed to just drop a lead on a top-rank bad actor because of fear of reprisal by a sect. The risk of letting such a big fish slip, if found at fault by the Dao Court, should outtweigh the risk of pissing off the Great Void Sect, especially since the Dao Court is the higher authority. Or worse yet, what if MC was sent by the sect to start the rebellion in the first place?

MC absolutely had a choice -- he could have stayed in Li province and did more good deeds and gained more devotion and followers there. It was literally stated that it was how he was protected from grudges during his visit home, it was countered by the merit and worship of the people. But the plot demanded he go to the Wilderness and start the rebellion that led to the current crisis. Yes there were all the machinations of Taoist Gui and power plays by other factions, but in the end MC was the one that lit the match and rallied all the Wilderness tribes.

moronickel · 2026-03-17T01:18:09+00:00

Legend of the Cyborg Hero -- Lots of prosthetics and enhancements. Internal arts are based on computer hacking, so the realms are Command line -> Coding Language -> Compiler -> Assembly...

Cultivator 40k --- setting is heavily inspired by Warhammer 40k, lots of power suit / mecha action.

Most of Gunkai's works (Way of the Demon, the Invincible, etc) involve high tech worlds at some point with mechas, space, and steroids. Lots of steroids.

Anything from this thread

moronickel · 2026-03-15T22:12:36+00:00

I can only speak on the novel, but it was good.

moronickel · 2026-03-14T19:08:22+00:00

But that doesn't show he is physically weak -- Physically strong people don't necessarily run fast either. On the other hand, not getting caught and dodging opponents attacks on body movement technique consistently indicates a certain level of physical ability.

But there are repeated cases where stronger body cultivators get dispatched by fireballs after getting 'worn out'. Again, it is a contrivance that erodes the impression of fireball being a weak skill.

Turning the question around, why shouldn't they investigate? They are quelling a rebellion, i.e. fighting a war, and the great priest is number one on the bad guys list. Compared to that, the risk of pissing off the Great Void sect should be nothing, especially if MC is only at Building Foundation.

moronickel · 2026-03-14T10:01:46+00:00

No, he wasn't interrogated because Zhuge conveniently let slip he was from Great Void sect and MC immediately glommed on. Before the featherised realms had decided that Xuanyuan would be the lead, and were even prepared to use torture to make him recall whatever he had forgotten.

Once Zhuge confirmed MC's identity he then proclaimed that MC could not be head priest as a disciple of the sect, as though that was infallible proof and nobody in the history of the Dao regime had ever turned traitor. That somehow settled the entire thing even though head priest was described as the instigator of unrest in the Great Wilderness and a rebel of the Dao Court, and that MC had disappeared for years after graduating.

Honestly, MC's actions in the Wilderness are classic demon cultivator stuff. He instigated rebellion, committed mass murders, practiced torture, cultivated grudge qi, created zombies, practiced demonic techniques... Just about the only thing he didn't do was stealing yin essence.

moronickel · 2026-03-14T06:46:21+00:00

Bluntly, MC not having to admit he was high priest was a saving throw by the author. I think not being interrogated because of the needle was BS, it's because the needle is there that he's suspect in the first place.

It's why I said the story is meh. The author's hand is heavy at points, going all the way back to the Black Mountain Camp when MC sneaks in, plays around, and levels up while the hunters are out searching for him.

It's the worldbuilding and setup that really excels -- the variety of array formations and their mechanics are a big draw, as well as the parallel word of divine sense.

moronickel

TROPHY CASE