(Chinese) Wuxia / Xianxia novel tracker

Hero: Meng Hao

This is considered a classic xianxia novel. Meng Hao is a scholar who fails to gain employment because he is an orphan without the means to bribe the right people. While trying to clumsily help a couple of friends in mortal danger, his life suddenly takes a dramatic turn as he is kidnapped and taken to a rundown sect where he becomes a disciple and thus begins his life as a cultivator. As with most of Er Gen's novels, Meng Hao gets a major boost because he finds a super-powerful magical device which will help him in his cultivation. What sets this apart from other novels in the genre is the humour which is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny at times. The world building is also great as with most Er Gen works. The women are cardboard cutouts for the most part.

The translation is good and, from the sounds of it, will be edited further when an official ebook version of the translation is released.

Hero: Lin Ming

As with many of the other titles here, the hero discovers a magical item right at the beginning of the tale which turns a weak but earnest character into a legendary genius. The universe is well constructed, the writing is pretty good, and the translation is not distracting. No real comedy anywhere in the story and the female characters are (as usual) written in purely to gaze in reverence at the protagonist after being defeated by him. But things are not all smooth sailing for Lin Ming and there are some interesting twists here and there. Good read and the sequel, True Martial World, while not as well writting, wraps things up nicely.

Hero: Bai Xiaochun

Another Er Gen classic, the hero is a wastrel who does not want to lose his "poor little life" and live forever. It's a lot of the usual fare as Bai Xiaochun enters the cultivation world and becomes increasingly stronger until eventually, the entire universe is at his feet. Add in some decent humour and this becomes an enjoyable read.

The translation of most Er Gen works are above par.

Hero:Gu Yue Fang Yuan

The hero is a 500 year old mid-ranking cultivation expert albeit one who has followed the demonic path. When he is killed, he travels back in time and is reintegrated/reborn in his 15-year old body but with all his memories intact. Fang Yuan now has only one goal: to stand at the top of the cultivation world.

What sets this story apart is that Fang Yuan does not play the role of a nice guy. He is a cynic and is driven by his own selfish motives through and through which makes the plot rather refreshing. There are some excellent twists which spicen up the repetitive elements of the usual cultivation trope. Good translation. Still ongoing.

Hero: Leylin Farlier / Fang Ming

A scientist from the future is transmigrated to a new magical but medieval world with an AI chip integrated into his soul. His new host is a weakling and a playboy, but armed with his AI chip, he embarks on the path of becoming a warlock magus eventually becoming a god-level power. I'm writing this a couple of years after reading the novel. But I do remember that even though the writing is amateurish, I enjoyed the read. The AI chip gives the hero a seriously OP advantage but the world is not the usual cultivation world which makes for a pleasant change.

Ji Ning is a reincarnated earthling who is given a headstart on his new life due to his accumulated good karma. He is reborn into a cultivation universe with his memories intact and his past life no longer plays a role in the story. The tale itself mostly follows the standard cultivation trope and eventually explodes in terms of scope once Ji Ning leaves his planet. There are the usual plotholes and cardboard characters. The author's attempts at injecting humour and romance into the story also generally fall flat. But the story is a page turner and some arcs are particularly immersive.

The translation isn't the greatest but is miles better than Coiling Dragon (by the same author and translator).

Hero: Yu Yin

This is a pseudo-sequel to Martial World but it's probably safer to call it as being set in the same but alternate universe. As with Martial World, the story telling doesn't have any real comedic elements, but it chugs merrily along. The tropes can get repetitious, but the tie-ins with the "prequel" are interesting as are some of the other variations on what is much of the same theme. The writing is reasonably tight and the translation is above par.

Hero: Qin Lie

The hero is apparently an idiot but he is secretly a 'mixed-blood' alien with hidden superpowers. Besides the superpowers, he also has a secret overpowered device in his head that helps him every now and then. With this premise set, it's the usual cultivation fare with the usual plotholes, loose ends, harems, and stuff. However, it is still engaging and at one point, things become epic; the world building is also impressive with some interesting plotlines.

The translation is well above par and that makes this novel definitely worth picking up.

Hero: Roland Wimbledon

Earthling who's a mech engineer dies and is magically transplanted into the body of Roland Wimbledon, a good-for-nothing prince of a small medieval kingdom in another world. The story centres largely on how he brings about a technological revolution to create his own kingdom and unite humanity against alien races that are hellbent on decimating it. In this, he is aided by 'witches', humans with unique magical powers. The witches are, of course, women who are smitten by him.

Translation is slightly above average. The second half is rushed and the plot weakens as a result. Characters aren't really developed sufficiently and even the protagonist's attributes are handled lazily. That said, the idea of developing a medieval town into a city using modern engineering knowledge makes this a decent read.

Hero: Luo Feng

Cultivation trope in a refreshing sci-fi/kaiju setting. Earth has been attacked by a virus that triggers a bunch of mutations in all creatures. This leads to humanity being overrun by the animal kingdom until a cultivation system is discovered which helps humans unlock their inner powers. The first half of the books is kinda sci-fi after which it reverts to the usual cultivation tropes. The world building is pretty decent though. One of the best of I Eat Tomatoes' works.

The translation is above par until midway when a new translator comes in with a bunch of new terms. The terminology reverts after a bunch of chapters though.

Hero: Qin Yun

Teen sword prodigy returns home after years honing himself. He immediately rights many wrongs and then proceeds to become an OP sword immortal. Things soon start assuming epic proportions. Plot holes and cardboard characters as usual but a decent read and relatively short at 739 chapters. The translation wasn't too bad either.

Hero: Dong Bo Xue Ying

Xue Ying is a prince of a small barony who suddenly finds himself becoming baron at the age of 6 (or was it 9?) when his parents are captured. He is however left with an inheritance of cultivation techniques that he uses to rise step by step in the cultivation world in order to rescue his parents and protect his infant brother. Things then start taking epic proportions as he seeks to attain eternal life and therefore has to conquer Matryoshkan nesting universe after universe. It's quite a ride and a better version of Stellar Transformations by the same author. The hero doesn't have any cheats other than his OP comprehension ability; although he does have some character development, other characters, particularly the females, are cardboard cutouts as per usual.

The translation is decent in parts but largely average at best.

Hero: Qin Yu

Qin Yu is the 3rd son of a Duke in a small kingdom with no aptitude for magic. But he choose to train his body even though it apparently has no long term promise. He quickly becomes OP and the rest is the usual fare, but of much lower quality. The author isn't trying very hard at all and plot holes of stellar proportions abound. The version I read was machine translated for the most part. A human translator pops in at some point, but the quality doesn't improve too much. The story does get a little better eventually and some of the settings are imaginative. But I think I'd like my time back.

Hero: Nie Yan

Man dies but is then sent back into his teen self and gets a chance of a do-over armed with knowledge of the future. The do-over largely involves a VR game named Conviction where he is seriously OP. Fun read, decently translated and edited; there are plenty of holes and cheesy real-life plot threads. Villains are weak and there's very little conflict. Could have been scripted a lot better.

Hero: Shi Yan

Thrillseeker earthling has his soul transmigrated to a wuxia world and then embarks on his journey of cultivation. While the USP initially appeared to be the no-holds-barred free-spirited protagonist who will force himself (supposedly unconsciously) on women (who, of course, eventually like it), the story itself later develops in epicness. There are plenty of plot holes and cringeworthy passages as usual, but it's a decent enough read.

The translation is average and there are seriously glaring errors every few chapters. The editing is also par at best.

Hero: Wang Lin

Much like Er Gen's other tales, this one too begins with the hero discovering a magical artefact that aids his cultivation. The humour from his other stories is lacking in this one, but considering the amount of time since the last time I read Er Gen's work, it has still made for reasonably satisfactory reading thus far. Update: The quality drops as the tale goes on. Going by the postscript at the end, this was Er Gen's first major work, so it's understandable that it doesn't compare favourably with his other works.

The translation is average.

Hero: Mu Chen

A prince from a tiny clan has had a fall in reputation because of the mysterious dishonorable incident. He also happens to have a mysterious background as his mother from a mysterious but powerful family mysteriously left him behind in order to protect him. But she gives him a bloodline inheritance. From there on in, the quest is essentially to become increasingly OP in order to meet / rescue his mom. Oh and there is this mysterious race known as the Fiends who are threatening their part of the universe. Usual fare bereft of humour but the setting is interesting enough to make this a semi-decent read. There are two translations. Only one of them is passable.

Hero: Ye Xiu

No magic or weirdness here. Hero is a gaming genius who is froced to start from 0 once again. He uses his vast experience and knowledge to do so and is aided by a bunch of novices that he trains along the way. A credible setting, decent plot, good humour in places. However, at some point the reasonably fresh and funny bit start getting terribly repetitive and boring. Still, it's worth a read, I guess.

There's also an animated and live-action adapation in progress right now.

Hero: Xiao Yan

Genius kid is no longer a genius anymore. But this is because he's been wearing his mother's ring after her death and it's possessed by a spirit which is sucking his qi. It so happens that this spirit is an expert alchemist but seeing how strong Xiao Yan's soul is, he decides to team up with him and make him stronger. As for why his soul is so strong, it's because the hero was originally from Earth but his soul was suddenly transplanted into this body in another world. That's the only Earth reference in the story. After this, it's just a case of Xiao Yan becoming OP-er and OP-er and the story getting harem-ier and harem-ier. Setting aside the ridiculous pace of Xiao Yan's progress and the plot holes galore, this wasn't really a good read. The translation in the second half of the series has an annoying number of errors which makes matter worse. That said, this book has been made into a TV series.

The Great Ruler by the same author was a slightly better read.

Hero: Lin Feng

Hero is transplanted from earth and his soul is implanted into the body of a weakling in a wuxia universe. Low quality writing; low quality plots; poor translation at the beginning but gets better after a while. The protagonist gets really tiresome really quickly and every hundred chapters is essentially the same as the previous hundred. There are 2500 in all and they, sure as fuck, are not worth the plod. That said, there were a couple of twists that did surprise me in the 2500 chapters that the author drags this on for. But read only if you have exhausted better options.

There are a few loose ends that haven't been tied up. So there's a marathon sequel out there too by an entirely different author.

Hero: Nie Li

Cultivating genius reborn back in the past before a calamity strikes. It's an OK plot but the poor translation really comes in the way. Still ongoing. I've kinda dropped this title as of early 2020.

Hero:Feng Yu

Summary: A failed investor from 2017 got drunk and woke up in the 1980s. China is just opening up, and the economy is blooming. There is also the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the bursting of the Dot-com bubble and other financial crisis. He used his knowledge of the future and slowly build up his empire.

The 'empire building' is interesting for a few hundred chapters and then slowly starts getting obnoxiously silly and repetitious. After a certain point, this reads like it was written by a teenager jacking off while daydreaming on public transport. Infantile jingoism and xenophobia pervade through pretty much every chapter after a certain point in the story. Then there's the harem element along with some casual pedophilia thrown in.

The translator tries his level best to do a good job but is limited by his fluency in English which makes for an awkward read at times. The story is worth a read purely for the uniqueness of the plot as its centred around business and finance. But it gets tiresome around the Chapter 700 mark. I suppose it's also an interesting look into the mind of a chest-thumping sexually repressed Chinese man.

Hero: Lin Feng

This is diarrhoea masquerading as words. Avoid.

This is also not by the same author as the prequel and the translation is poor at best.

Hero: Ye Mo

The twist here is that the hero is reincarnated from a cultivating world into modern Earth where he restarts his pursuit of cultivation. After you get over this twist, the story is singularly cringeworthy and reads like an even worse adaptation of an already crappy Lee Childs (of Jack Reacher fame) novel. The world building does get better though even if the writing does not. However, note that the book is left unfinished apparently because the author had issues with the publisher.

The translation is surprisingly better than the usual fare for the most part. The editor/proofreader is blind though.

Hero: Zhang Xuan

A modern earthling and failed librarian is somehow reborn with a magical ability in his head: a library which allows him to read and parse books instantly and also identify and analyse anything he touches. This is a rather neat even if overpowered mechanic. The plot is rushed or at least seems so as Zhang Xuan turns from zero to hero in a matter of a couple of years and sometimes, a few hours. It is still trying as a read and the repetitive plots can get a little dull. However, the imaginative elements make up for it and the fact that most threads more or less end up being tied keeps the reader going. Some of the humour is laugh-out-loud worthy but can get cliched. While some of the less believable elements of the plot eventually kinda make sense, the devices used by the author to trigger events are often pathetically constructed. The novel suffers from the usual Chinese webnovel nonsense, but that is now a feature.

The translation is surprisingly above par. I first dropped this after struggling through around 150 chapters. But I picked it again after the translation was complete and I don't regret doing so.

Hero: Su Ming

Another novel by the generally excellent, Er Gen. The hero is an abandoned orphan being brought up in something along the lines of a barbarian tribe and enters the cultivation world. As with most Er Gen novels, he is aided by a mysterious artefact that he comes across thanks to a handy sidekick that I'm sure will evolve into a amazing being later on. However, what is refreshing is that the cultivation system is not the usual Qi condensation fare and is more similar to some of the demonic legacy fare. I'm also partial to 'pill god' tropes and this satisfies that itch too.

120 chapters in, it has been very entertaining. The translation has been excellent thus far.

Update after finishing the entire novel: The pill god trope unfortunately ends very quickly. After that it's all about cultivation and some inception-level illusion vs. reality shtick. But all in all, quite entertaining as these things go.

Hero: Fang Qi

Weird story where the transmigrated (?) hero gets a magical system in his head which allows him to set up an internet/gaming cafe in the cultivation world. Playing games also improves cultivation. It's a new angle and was reasonably interesting at first. But the characters are dull, the MC infallible, and the plot very repetitive. The only thing that keeps the story going is the games that are introduced every few chapters that might make the reader nostalgic. That said, there are some moments of humor that are quite well constructed.

The translation has been decent. I'm three-quarters of the way through and the end game is still a mystery.

Hero: Fang Yuan

By the same author as Warlock of the Magus World, it's also more of the same fare. The MC's soul has something of a diagnostic system that allows him to track his cultivation. While not as elaborate as the "AI Chip" in Warlock of the Magus World, as a trope, it largely functions similarly. The difference between the two lies in the cultivation systems of the worlds. Here, Fang Yuan becomes a Dream Master, a system that allows himself to manipulate people through dreams and materialise things from dreams. What's also interesting is the ability to traverse between realms via dreams which allows the author to build fresh worlds with fresh cultivation systems every 100 chapters or so. However, things get repetitive at one point especially as the hero is simply monotonous throughout, not unlike Leylin Farlier in WotMW.

The translation is largely above par. I've still not finished this novel. But I've tired of it and am taking a break.

Hero: Zhao Feng

Thus far, the MC is hit by lightning and a magical eyeball merges into his own eyeball and starts assimilating into his body. It allows him to cultivate quicker and provides him with an eidetic memory. As his cultivation progresses, so does the power of his eye, and, as is the case with most novels of this genre, the setting eventually moves from a rural backwater to epic galactic craziness.

Weak female characters, overpowered OP, etc. etc. This is well written but is largely standard fare with very few surprises or twists of note. The translation is above par. The ending is unfortunately rushed.

Hero: Jiang Chen

A prince transmigrates into the body of a ducal young master in a far off hinterland. In his past life, he was unable to cultivate the dao of martial arts due to a disability. Now, however, armed with the knowledge of his previous life, he has another chance at fulfilling his dream.

Largely standard fare, it makes for dull reading if you've read other similar stories. Although the plot, while generic, is reasonably well put together, the coming-of-age sections lack excitement; the banter, however, is pretty good. The female characters are typical cardboard cutouts with jade thighs, porcelain skin, and soft mounds. The ending is seriously rushed and the attempt to take the tale to an epic setting is hampered as a result.

The translation is above par. All in all it's not too bad, but read only if you have nothing else available.

Hero: Yu IlHan

Korean LN featuring an average university student who spends 1000 years alone on an Earth where time has stopped and essentially levels up on both his physical prowess and other essential knowledge. Once time flows again, Earth has turned into a world with magic and cultivation. The rest of humanity have attended a 10-year training course to acclimatise themselves with the change. IlHan missed out on this as he's intrinsically such a loner that even god forgot about him. Therefore, IlHan has to adjust to the situation himself; but his 1000 year solitude has made him seriously OP. Coupled with angels who are sympathetic to his plight, he becomes the most powerful cultivator on Earth who defends it against monsters and invaders from other realms.

Setting aside the unique premise, there's nothing serious or convuluted about this story but it's entertaining. The plot does thicken a little towards the end, but it's still only so-so in terms of quality. The harem trope is tiresome. The translation is just about par.

Hero: Fei / Alexander

Poor university student from China dies and is transmigrated into the body of a mentally retarded king in a tiny magical kingdom. He, of course, has a cheat: he can level up by going into a Diablo replica and completing levels. Moreoever, he can also take and bring items and characters from and to Diablo's Azeroth. Armed with such a cheat, the retard king becomes OP and goes up in the world.

It's been a fun read thus far. Female characters are the usual cutouts. The translation is mostly above average.

Final call: It gets hurried and weird in the end; but not too bad a finish, I guess. The quality of editing takes a marked drop midway through.

Hero: Ouyang Shuo / Qiyue Wuyi

Man playing an epic level MMORPG (involving the entire planet's population) is betrayed by a friend. But he somehow travels back in time to a few days prior to the launch of the game and, armed with all his knowledge, proceeds to kick-ass in the game. While he's OP, he is also a commoner going against aristocrats and cartels in a realistic game that might decide the future of humanity.

The translation is well above par. Decent read so far.

Hero: Shen Miao

This is like a Josei reincarnation plot with Shen Miao, an empress is betrayed by her near and dear ones but gets a chance at revenge when she is reborn into her past with all her memories intact. What follows is pretty interesting at first but tiresomely dull eventually. The sappy romantic angle might appeal to some, but not to me. The Ancient China socio-political setting, however, is rather intriguing.

Giving it a break at the moment esp. as the translation is largely horrendous.

Hero: Zuo Mo

Young man/teenager who's had his face changed and memories wipes gets a fresh start in a sword sect. What follows is his journey in the cultivation world. Unsurprisingly, he has a cheat that helps him make rapid progress.

The translation is above par. The story had some interesting elements and moments of innovative imagination but the plot eventually did not escalate well and the story was wrapped up far too quickly. The characters are not really all that fleshed out and have very little personal conflict. But it is nevertheless a decent read.

Hero: Xiao Chen

Guy transmigrates into a cultivation world and takes over the body of a genius-turned-failure who is also a young master of a once-glorious clan. He, of course, has a cheat as he is gifted with a legendary 'martial spirit'.

Hero: Ye Qingyu

Young lordling of a small noble house sees his parents being murdered; said parents tell him to mourn them until he's 14 before embarking on his martial arts journey but to keep practising their family breathing technique every day. Of course, this breathing technique is a legendary technique and something of a cheat. What follows is the usual story of poor guy from the country side showing the noble class who's boss. This trope is rinsed very often and repeated just as many times. The author also loses his own plot every now and then; however, some foreshadowing works very well.

The characters are the usual cardboard cutouts and the women jade-skinned with gorgeous thighs who all cream themselves every time Ye Qingyu coughs. The story does take on an epic scale eventually, but the story itself is not completely resolved in the end. There's a possibility that there'll be a sequel or already is as I've not read other novels by Mad Blade except Hail The King. One of the side characters in this novel is an 'Emperor of Azeroth'.

All in all, an alright read. Translation is about par.

Hero: Shi Feng / Ye Feng / Black Flame

Reincarnated gamer gets a chance to kick ass in a new SAO-like virtual reality game named God's Domain. He of course knows how to level quickly and get all the OP tools. This allows his really weak grassroots guild to take on the huge 'superguilds' backed by powerful realworld corporations with deep pockets and arrogant richboys. In other words, it's SAO in a Chinese LN and harem setting. A lot of rinse-and-repeat tropes of rich boys being arrogant with hero, and hero showing them who's boss. That said, the world and the game setting is well done and the pages keep turning themselves. However, after a certain point midway through, the number of plot holes becomes staggering and progress becomes dull.

Suddenly however, the author seems to have been told to wrap things up. So the hero who took 2300 chapters to get from tier 0 to tier 3, gets to tier 4 in 300 chapters, tier 5 in 250 chapters, and tier 6 in 50 chapters to finish things off. This is while incessantly talking about how difficult it is to level up after the initial levels. The plot also attempts to take on epic proportions in the latter stages but the reveals fall flat on their faces. It could have been really great, but unfortunately was hurried and full of holes.

It's still worth a pick-up if you like the SAO/game/virtual reality setting. There is no love angle though even with the many female players offering to warm the hero's bed. There are some glimpses of comedy. Translation is mostly above par.

Hero: Lu Li

Orphan from an impoverished family tries to earn a living as a VR gamer largely in order to save his young sister who is suffering from a life-threatening medical condition. He fails to save said sister and then is also betrayed in the game and in real life. But he experiences rebirth and is reborn just a few days before the VR game's debut. The game in question is called Dawn and is basically a word-for-word clone of World of Warcraft. Lu Li played the Druid class in his previous life and he chooses to be a thief in this one. Armed with foreknowledge, he is able to quickly develop an OP character and kicks ass everywhere. The David vs. Goliath trope makes its usual appearance with a poor guy with no background taking on huge gaming guilds etc. etc.

The plot is reasonably interesting and entertaining for a few hundred chapters. The author then seems to lose interest in maintaining it and the quality deteriorates rapidly. As someone unfamiliiar with WoW, I found the setting and attention to detail interesting; those who are familiar probably won't. Eventually, I ended up skipping most of the battle text and only following the actual plot. Even this, however, was rather trying. The novel is eventually wound up unsatisfactorily and hastily much to the reader's relief.

The translation is mostly above par. Worth a read if you're into WoW or litRPG, I suppose. Otherwise, give it a miss.

Hero: Zhang Tie / Elder Mushen / Qianji Immortal

Hero is an impoverished 15-year-old in a post-apocalyptic steampunk world where cultivation takes precedence over science. He chances upon an OP treasure (or two) that aids him in his cultivation and soon he is kicking ass everywhere, bedding virgins, and saving the day. The author doesn't care if plot holes are rife and Zhang Tie turns from a lvl 0 to a lvl 7 (something which takes people an entire lifetime) in a few months.

The translation starts of being reasonable in terms of quality; but a couple of hundred chapters later, there is a steep drop in editorial standards. I'm at around chapter 300 at the moment, and progress is becoming painful.

I've now completed the 2000-and-odd chapters. The translation quality improves a wee bit at some point, but it's largely still very poor. However, even though the hero is ridiculously overpowered, the story grows larger in scale and the corny sex scenes rarer in frequency. All in all, I found the tale quite imaginative and enjoyable. Give it a read if you can.

Hero: Klein Moretti / Zhou Mingrui

This is a refreshing departure from standard Chinese LN fare as it is set in a Western fantasy background. The hero is a Chinese transmigrator who takes over the body of Klein Moretti, a poor student who has mysteriously committed suicide. The transmigrated Klein somehow miraculously heals himself as he's got a relatively OP power. What follows is Klein's exploration of the world and its fantastical elements as he attempts to grow strong enough to transmigrate back to Earth.

While there have been a few weak spots and rather obvious plot elements, the overall delivery of the story has been remarkably well structured and cohesive. This has been helped a great deal by the translation which has been excellent thus far.

Hero: Lou Cheng

Lou Cheng is a kid from a poor family who, by working hard, has made it into a decent university. He is besotted with one of his school classmates, Yan Zheke, who comes from a family of martial artists. Seeing her join the Martial Arts club, Lou Cheng also decides to join. Of course, he soon gains access to a cheat when he discovers a "jindan" inside a fish; it is incorporated into his flabby nerd body and allows him to transform into a genius martial artist ...

By the author of the Lord of the Mysteries, this is more Shounen and set in something along the lines of the modern world albeit with some supernatural elements. What has set this apart from other stories of this ilk is the sappy romance angle as we have front row bedroom seats to Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke's slowly building relationship.

Thus far, the translation has been about par. Relatively speaking, the characters are far better developed than in other LNs. The fighting sequences are boring and repetitive. But 300 chapters in, I'm still turning the pages with a degree of expectation.

Heroine: Shen Yanxiao

14-year-old with a 4-year-old mind dies but is taken over by a transmigrator from the 24th century who happens to be a genius thief. What follows is pretty much the usual, but executed in a very amateurish manner. The world-building is actually not too bad, but the plots feel like they were woven by the afore mentioned 4-year-old mind. But I speed-read through it all. I recommend against picking this up. That said, this might be one of the rare works that might improve if adapted to a manga/anime.

There are two different translations out there. One is pathetic while the other is decent.

Heroine: Jun Wu Xie

Spoiled 14-year old brat die but is taken over by a transmigrated soul who was a genius doctor in another universe. She the proceeds to take revenge on the original body's behalf, then finds more revenge oppotunities every few chapters. If you're familiar with this author's other work, 'the good for nothing seventh lady', writing plots is not the author's strongpoint. The world is vaguely interesting but could have been so much better. The characters and plots would also have been so much better in more competent hands. I speed-read through around 3500 chapters of this dross. Avoid picking this up, but it might be OK if there's a manga/anime adaptation.

Hero: Wang Baole

Wang Baole is a rotund kid who dreams of becoming the president of Earth's Federation. The story begins with him trying to enter a prestigious cultivation school. He's aided by a cheat, a mask which contains the spirit of an expert who gives him an OP advantage over his peers. The tale begins in Earth, then moves to the moon, then Mars, and later, the Sun! It then grows even more epic as the plot takes you out of the solar system.

Even though the novel is incomplete, I couldn't resist starting to read this. As with many of Er Gen's other works, the comedic element is strong in this one and it's been a long time since I've laughed out loud while reading such light novels :) The fact that it is set on Earth is new and refreshing for Er Gen. While there are plenty of questionable plot holes in the storyline, it's generally well written and decently translated. Highly recommended as of chapter 900 or so. No updates to the translation efforts in a while.

Hero: Angele Rio

Hero is a 20 year old earthling (from the future) who is transmigrated into the body of the recently deceased noble princeling, Angele Rio. His AI biochip from his past life also migrates with him and provides him with an OP cheat in this new cultivation world.

The book starts off as a poor facsimile of Warlock of the Magus World. The writing is average at best and, every 100 chapters or so, has a significantly below par plot device which is unfortunate. The same can also be said for the translation. That said, some of the imagination in the book is very good (or adapted from sources that I'm unfamiliar with). That alone makes this worth the read. The end is rushed and underwhelming. Hopefully the author's subsequent books are better.

Hero: Shao Xuan

Modern Chinese guy with an interest in archaeology stumbles across a relic in a dig and magically finds himself transported to a world set in what seems like the Stone Age. The aforementioned relic is a cheat that gives him OP powers in the cultivation system of this world. What follows is Xuanhuan meets Tarzan meets Turok.

The translation is around par except for sections around the 300 mark which are sub-par MTL-based efforts. The writing and world-building is imaginative and refreshing. However, the character building is not. There is also very little conflict; it's all smooth-sailing OPness for Shao Xuan. The ending is abrupt and underwhelming. However, I'd still recommend giving this a read purely for the setting and the departure from the standard cultivation system.

Hero: Qing Shui

Man transmigrates into a cultivation world into the body of Qing Shui, a weak child who is unable to cultivate. Wonder upon wonders, he chances upon a cheat and thereupon grows OP. His journey takes him from a small hick town to traverse the vast continents of this world as he becomes stronger and stronger.

Much of the same standard fare here albeit with a far more liberal dose of ecchi/borderline hentai. This is largely because the more sex he has, the more OP he becomes. The quality of plot deteriorates after a few hundred chapters as the author confuses himself. The story is dragged on for 1500 more chapters and ends in a rushed manner.

The translation was decent initially and then becomes a mixed bag. Read if really bored and/or horny. Be also warned: his harem has 20+ wimmen.

Hero: Lin Dong

No isekai here. But the hero is an early teen. very weak of course, who discovers a treasure which is a cheat that can refine just about anything into a pill. This allows him to become OP and right any and all perceived wrongs in typical Wuxia style.

Translation is average. This is also an anime. Ongoing read.

Hero: Mo Wuji

TCM biologist dies and his soul transmigrates into the body of a mad abandoned princeling in a cultivation world. After regaining his sanity, he becomes a pill god, and somehow, a fighter, and proceeds to become OP once he starts cultivating in a technique pooh-poohed by everybody else. What follows is the usual fare.

Translation is above average. The proofreading is below. The pages still keep turning even if there's nothing particularly remarkable happening. The world-building is reasonably imaginative however there are plotholes galore. The last 200 chapters are rather hurried in comparison to the rest of the series. The ending is not too bad, but nevertheless, a tad abrupt. It's significantly better than the author's other work, Strongest Abandoned Son.

Hero: Tang San

Young Tang San has spent all his life in the legendary Tang Sect and is still only an outer disciple. Unable to restrain himself, he breaks into the inner sect and learns all the secret techniques within. Once his thirst has been slaked, he voluntarily pays the price for his crime and kills himself by jumping off a cliff. He dies and is reincarnated into a new world with his memories intact. The new world has a different cultivation system but Tang San makes up for the regrets of his previous life by cultivating earnestly using both the knowledge of his past life as well as the techniques of his new one. The new world is known as Douluo Dalu.

It's a page turner but formulaic. But this is understandable as this is one of the earlier Xianxia novels as it's dated to 2008. It's relatively short but the chapters are nice and long. While there are some holes in the plot, on the whole, it's actually pretty tight and satisfying.

The translation is above par. There's also an ongoing donghua/anime for this title. It is also known as Soul Land.

Hero: Huo Yuhao

Bastard princeling with an apparently weak ability leaves home at the age of 10 to better himself so as to seek revenge for his dead mother. He somehow manages to get a super OP power which allows him to relentlessly kick ass. The story ties in to Douluo Dalu 1 and is set 10,000 years later.

The translation is good. The story is pretty much boiletplate and endlessly repetitive. His girlfriend keeps going missing/dying/in a coma for much of the story and Yuhao has to keep reuniting with her. The plot holes are planet-sized. The imagination, however, is quite good and I still managed to read through it all. Most of the side characters have detailed backstories and threads are usually well tied up.

The translation is above par. But I can only suggest that you read this once you have taken a long break after reading part 1.

Heroine: Zhang Yansheng

A rebirth story where a rich young girl wastes her life after her mother dies and is eventually killed herself at the age of 21/22. She is then reborn back in time to when she was 16 and can reset her life armed as she is with knowledge of the future as well as being 6 years more mature. While the tale starts rather promisingly, it soon loses focus and quickly dwindles into a lip-service of a plot. The author himself decides to wrap up the story quickly. Oh, did I mention that she also has "super-strength" for some reason when she is reborn?

Translation is basically corrected MTL and is poorly proofed. It's still readable though.

Hero: Zhang Ye

Zhang Ye is a freshly minted graduate looking for work. His dream is to become a celebrity and he suddenly finds that the world around him has change drastically and he now has a ring around his finger which allows him to access a game interface. The interface is based on a lottery system which allows him to unlock treasure chests with various rewards that can help him in his quest to fulfil his dream of becoming a celebrity. The more famous he becomes, the more rewards he can get. This includes Matrix-like skill loading as well as stat increase and game cheats.

For those who are (like me) unfamiliar with a lot of modern Chinese culture, the plot is rather novel and fun. Zhang Ye's qualifications is that of a broadcast host, so you're essentially delving into the world of Chinese radio and television. There's a "levelling-up" angle to the plot to as he grows more powerful as he becomes more famous. The author however doesn't care about plot holes. He's only interested in the adrenalin pay-off when the hero outdoes his rivals. The author and hero are also, as with most of these Chinese authors/novels, extremely and self-admittedly jingoistic. The book is replete with anti-Korea, anti-Japan, anti-America, anti-everybody but China drivel and is also critical of all languages but Chinese, loathes Chinese people who like any culture but theirs etc. And of course, the author/hero's idea of true Chinese people is that they are Han Chinese :S

All that said, some of the humour in this book comes across very well and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. There are also plenty of literary and cultural references which are interesting. Much of this is aided by the excellent work by the translator. They've worked really hard to get all the references right and have also linked to sites and videos of the original works.

In summary, if you can withstand the ridiculous xenophobia and jingoism of the author as well as set aside any critical expectations of the plot, this is actually a fun read for the first 500 chapters. The next 500 chapters swing from lame to hilarious while the last set of chapters swing from lame to downright pathetic.

Hero: Myne / Urano Mototsu

Librarian/bookworm/nerd dies and is reincarnated and transmigrated into a new world. She is reborn into the body of a very young illiterate peasant girl named Myne with no access to books etc. The world is a feudal magical fantasy world albeit one where books are not common. Thus begins Myne's journey to bring books into this world so she can revert to being a bookworm.

The plot isn't the most reliable but the world building is fun.

Hero: Han Sen / Dollar

Weakling discovers a cheat that allows him to become OP. Then it turns out that weakling actually has a background - missing father, mysterious grandfather etc. The world setting is very interesting: kaiju + xuanhuan + sci/fi which takes on epic proportions. The imagination is amazing at times and even if there is a lot of repetition, the change in settings keep things fresh. Some of the mechanics are very innovative. While the character development is poor the humour is quite funny at times.

Translation is well above par in terms of grammar and proof-reading. Read till the mid 2000s and taking a break from the tiresome "God" mechanic.

Hero: Long Yi

Writing this a couple of years after reading this relatively short novel. What I remember is that while the harem and (very sus) ero aspects can be more than a little trying, the world building is good. The ending is rushed, but all in all, it's a decent read.

Hero: Han Xiao

Hero is transmigrated into a game he's very familiar with and also gets to start from the very beginning armed with a ton of foreknowledge. He then proceeds to become seriously OP and then proceeds to become even stronger in methodical robotic fashion. What is interesting though is the intersection between the real world and the game world as while the OP is now an in-game character, he interacts with real-world gamers. The world building is also rather fun as is the sci-fi trope. The ending is reasonable. None of the characters have any extra dimensions, but you've become used to that by now, haven't you?

I can't remember the quality of the translation, but I believe that it was above par. Worth the read.

Hero Han Li

Mediocre student chances upon a treasure which allows him to embark on a grand adventure. This books covers most of the standard tropes and structures of a xianxia. Halfway through at the moment.

Translations starts off very well in terms of quality, but faces a serious drop after around a 1000 chapters.

Hero: Ryder Flynn

I don't believe that this is a Chinese novel at all. I picked it up by mistake and it fits into the reincarnation genre; so here it is. The hero is a gamer and gets a do-over when he's reincarnated a few days prior to the SAO-like VR game's launch. He then proceeds to become OP in the game. The interesting bit though is that he can also level up IRL thanks to an overarching plot device. Said plot line is actually quite interesting and pretty epic. However, the poor writing and plot construction ruins the read utterly.

So, from the looks of it, this is an original work in English. This makes the errors and language issues rather dismaying. The random porn introduced every 100 chapters is also poorly done. That said, I speed-read it all purely to see wtf the author was going to do. Read only if you have nothing else to do.

Hero: Zhou Wen

On post-apocalyptic Earth, Zhou Wen is an ordinary boy in a modern cultivation world. He however inherits a phone that allows him to grind real-world content in a virtual game thus making things risk-free. Moreover he accidentally obtains a powerful technique that, thanks to his gamer perseverance, he is able to cultivate. He slowly and steadily becomes OP. The story slowly but surely turns epic. While there are some obvious flags that are handled rather clumsily, some of the twists are well done. Character development is par at best and, as usual, the female characters are poorly put together.

Translation is above par. This was a fun read but too many loose threads and an open ending leave things a tad unsatisfactory in the end.

Hero: Jiang Chen

Loser suddenly gets his hands on a device that allows him to travel inter-dimensionally. The other dimension is a parallel earth, albeit an post-apocalyptic one a couple of centuries into the future. The parallel dimension suffers from a lack of safe food and resources while his own dimension lacks the technology of the future. A convenient storage space allows Jiang Chen to take advantage by transporting goods between the two and soon grow OP in both dimensions. Another thing he grows is a harem in both worlds :S Cue in some more fantastic elements and epic universal-scale villains that will affect both dimensions, and the story soon grows to crazy proportions.

Translation has thus far been above par. Unfortunately the non-consensual and underage scenes in the novel make it unpalatable. The Chinese jingoism is also pathetic. Not recommended.

Hero: Wang Chong

Guy's transmigrated to an alternate medieval China. In it, he faffs about and while he becomes strong, he doesn't become strong enough. He then dies and is then reincarnated back into the same world at the same time as his transmigration. This time he's got some OP tools at his beck and call. Armed with foreknowledge, he proceeds to become seriously OP. Lots of detail, intrigue and scope with this one. However, there are far too many plot holes and substandard mechanics being used. Seemingly important characters suddenly vanish into thin air while villains are parachuted in at the snap of a finger.

Translation is mostly excellent. A decent read if you can avoid being infuriated by the plot holes and the manufactured plot devices.

Hero: Mukhoda

Hero is whisked away from earth into a fantasy setting where he, rather than being magic or strength-based superpowers, is given a unique power of being able to buy things from an online supermarket on Earth. What follows is him becoming OP due to being able to tempt locals with food from Earth. Three of the locals become his familiars and they are so OP that the hero waltz through everything. There is hardly any conflict in this tale and it, thus far, has worked like a slice of life novel. There is however a larger plot-line that advance once every volume or so.

I'm reading the official translation which is very good. The story itself, not so much. If you don't binge it, it might work out for some.

Heroine: Zhao Lanxiang

Lady gets another chance at life when she is reborn back into her 17 year old self with foreknowledge of the future. It so happens that she is reborn into the mid-1970s just when China was about to embrace capitalism. She then proceeds to correct the wrongs in her past life. To start with, she ensures that she does not end up marrying her former first husband. Instead, she goes to the village of her former second husband as part of a mandatory "farm-experience" program in vogue in the 1970s. Her purpose is to manipulate events so that her second husband also does not make the same mistakes as in his past life. She also takes the time to fall in love with him once again, now as a young man.

While this is a josei romance rebirth novel, around 70% of it is mostly about Lanxiang cooking food. The novel is relatively short and, if you can excuse its rather soap-operatic nature at times, is a decent read. The translation is a mixed bag and largely suffers from a lack of a decent editor and non-existent proof-reading.

Bai Fumei is quite similar to Back to the Sixties: Farm, Get Wealthy & Raise the Cubs.

Heroine: Lin Qing He

A novel buff dreams of soon being transmigrated into the body of a side-character in a novel set in the Chinese 1960s. She is given an OP personal space where she can put anything from modern times. She is aware of the poverty-ridden situation she is going to be transmigrated to, and therefore fills her space with lots of basic necessities. When she goes to sleep and then awakens, she finds herself in the expected village setting armed with foreknowledge of the plot in the novel. She is now the mother of three small heretofore mistreated children and the wife of a soon-to-be-discharged army officer. What follows is the story of how the side-character becomes the lead and turns things around in a time of great upheaval.

For someone unfamiliar with Chinese society in the 60s and 70s, this was a great read. Translation was average.

Hero: Seol Jihu

Modern Earth is connected to another world which is under attack. Earthlings are chosen to enter the other world through a corporatised system where they can become powerful and live large in a medieval fantasy setting albeit with a mission to save the new world. One of these transmigrated earthlings dies and his last request is to get to go back in time for a do-over. This is our hero who goes back in time to Earth where is has supernatural powers which he abuses by gambling heavily. When the powers fail him, he gets a chance to go to the other world as an escape and finally unearths his old memories and goes about saving the world.

The setting is great and the flawed character is well fleshed out. But besides that this is just an OP hero with a harem cultivation novel with some weird sexual fetishising thrown into the mix. While it is lauded as being amazing, I thought that it was just passable. The plot holes are numerous and the humour often falls flat. There's also a token black guy who plays the role of a buffoon ... That said, some settings and other imaginative elements are really fun. So it's definitely worth a read if you like the genre.

Hero: Tang Wulin

Another novel in the Douluo Dalu series. It's very run-of-the-mill Douluo Dalu. The primary conflict in a lovestory between Wulin and his OP crush is pathetically plotted which basically means that the entire story is pathetically plotted. That said, the world building is still very good and the tie-ins with the previous editions as well as protagonists is rather good.

Worth the read if you like the Douluo universe. Translation is at par. Writing is below par.

Hero: Qin Wentian

Hero is an adopted young master of a minor clan in a minor part of a minor world. He however has broken meridians but has good knowledge and trains his body well. His fiancee turns out to be a bitch and ditches him once her own prospects turn better. Cue the face slapping as hero is secretly super-OP and is actually the son of the most powerful warrior in the universe. But he's been placed in this minor world for his own safety (through obscurity) and has to climb his way up through the cultivation world. Throw in a couple of OP pets and "no.1 beauty in town"s and you get the standard harem+cultivation plot.

Translation is at par. The plot gets repetitive and most situations are terribly contrived. But that's a standard feature, isn't it? The world-building is interesting but flawed. Same author as Peerless Martial World, but AGM is probably of slightly better quality.

Hero: Cloudhawk

Post-apocalyptic Earth. Scrawny teen discovers powerful artefact that makes him OP and allows him to rise from the dregs of society to the apex. Fun world and nice character building too. The women are disappointing as usual, but still written a little better than most of the other novels in this list. It's also a little unusual that virtually all characters are "grey" rather than black or white. The writer gets a little philosophical (perhaps a little too much) in this approach largely exploring the tenet that "the end justifies the means".

Translation is about par. It could have been better if the grammar issues were not so annoying. Translator also likes to make up English/Western equivalents to many character names and then forgets about them a bunch of chapters later.

Still reading.

Hero: Lee Shin Woo

Salaryman transported to another world as a hero tasked with purifying it of its undead curse. Much like a game, he's given the option of choosing a superpower and like a Monkey's Paw ends up being reincarnated as an undead skeleton himself, except rather OP. He finds himself teaming up with a horse who is also an undead skeleton. Thus begins his story of powering up as he cultivates and gains new powers & artefacts and slowly takes over the world. He also competes against other heroes some of whom are villains. Thrown in a lot of harem and game elements and this becomes something of a page turner.

Translation: Above par. This is a relatively short read and there are some well put together and humorous sub-plots which make this a fun novel to pick up. The world building is pretty good but not too comprehensive. Usual plot holes and cardboard characters are around as well.

Hero: Zhou Weiqing

A little prince of a small kingdom with broken meridians has a miraculous encounter that makes him suddenly OP. He then proceeds on the journey to rule the world. Some face-slapping for his fiancee who thinks he's trash. Some strong lady in the tiny army of his tiny kingdom whom he accidentally ravishes turns out to be a princess of a super-strong kingdom. And she has sisters. And they're triplets. And they all become his. As do a few other ladies. All this while he accomplishes some additional face-slapping.

The pages however keep turning. This is set in the Douluo Dalu universe, but the world building is quite different. A reasonably good read with decent translation albeit with regular errors.

Hero: Yu Xiaocao

A 30-year old lady dies but is transmigrated into the body of a recently deceased 8 year old in a poor family in an alternate world resembling medieval China. The transmigration is apparently due to her picking up an odd relic when she was younger. Said relic has tremendous properties that makes her OP in this backwards world.

This is basically like a shoujo novel but in an interesting setting. Much like Farming in the 60s and Bai Fumei, a lot of "joint family" relationships and village dynamics are key elements. There's plenty of face-slapping thanks to a cardboard cutout evil stepmother. There's also a mix of a farming and cooking aspect which are key to the protagonist's development along with some (quite unnecessary) magical elements. Quite unexpectedly, there are other transmigrators in this world. But by this point, the novel has turned into a rather mushy romance novel. There's also some good humour sprinkled in between.

It's been a while since I read this. But IIRC, the translation was good and detailed. It's definitely worth a read if you like reading about village life and coming of age stories.

Hero: Richard Archeron

No transmigration or rebirth here. Hero is a half-breed who is the son of a demon and an elf shaman with a tragic past. Rather than ancient China or a Chinese setting, the world is more European. The world building is excellent as we follow Richard as he becomes a Rune-crafter as well as a mage and warrior and slowly but surely becomes stronger and stronger. The god system with the sacrifice mechanic is particularly intriguing as are the planes and teleport mechanics. There is some good quality character building initially but that soon falls away. There are elements of harem as well which is also half-assed.

Good read. Good translation. But around 2/3 of the way through, the author decides to end the series early and start hurrying things along. Lots of threads are left untied, characters forgotten, and sub-plots ignored. The ending is alright, but unsatisfactory. Still worth a read for the world building.

Hero: Ye Xiao

Bedridden man dies and is reborn in a parallel world which is similar to his albeit with cultivation. His new body is supposedly not fit for cultivation, but he somehow gets an OP soul that helps him kick ass repeatedly and monotonously throughout the book. The world building is not bad actually and some of the humour is actually LOL worthy. Things get repetitious (as usual) as the story goes on. Things also get rather epic, but at this point, the author seems to have an editor breathing down his neck asking him to wrap things up as the final third of the novel is crazy-rushed.

Still worth a read if you have nothing else in your list. Translation is at par.

Hero: Lu Ze

Man is reborn 2000 years in the future when mankind has become a star-faring civilization and has also discovered cultivation. He is reborn into the body of a weak teenager, but has an OP hack which is the title of the novel, a pocket hunting dimension. In said dimension, he can cultivate as much as he wants with no fear of dying. He becomes strong overnight and then it's the usual face-slapping and harem business. The world building is interesting while the characters are typically one-dimensional. The formula is also repeated endlessly. But it's still something of a page turner.

Translation is at par. However the author loses interest (or is forced to do so) in the last third of the book and the end is hurried and unsatisfactory. A number of threads are left untied.

Hero: Ye Futien

Teen hero with a mysterious background stuck in a remote corner of a cultivation world suddenly unlocks his powers and then proceeds to become OP. He is faithful to his girl but also has a harem that his girl encourages. He also has an OP power, a divine tree for a life spirit. He then proceeds to travel the increasingly powerful realms to discover who he is while also indulging in routine face-slapping.

No real surprises with the plot or with the character building, but it's a good ride nonetheless. And as per usual, with so many characters being introduces throughout the tale, a lot of a them are randomly dropped. This includes a lot of heroines and even the wife of one of the main characters. Translation is at par.

Hero: Meng Qi

By the author of Lord of Mysteries, adult hero transmigrates into a cultivation world and into the body of an early teen just as said teen is being admitted into Shaolin. Hero's transmigration is possibly linked to a Buddhist charm that he has around his neck. As he cultivates at Shaolin, the same charm gives him the opportunity to be part of the 'samsara' system, a stargate-like portal system that lets him take on missions in various 'samsaras' (worlds) with various cultivation systems etc. With this cheat, Meng Qi slowly becomes stronger and stronger.

The story can be a little meandering at times but largely kept me interested. Until chapter 777, that is, which is when human translation ended and machine translation became the only option available. That is where I stopped reading.

Hero: Shang Jianyao

From the author of Lord of Mysteries, EAI sees a post-apocalyptic world which has been divided into multiple factions who all believe in the new age gods known as Kalendaria. The hero is a member of such a faction who wants to go out in the world to search for his missing father and "to save all humanity". He joins an adventure team led by Jiang Baimian, a young scientist, and explores the world and its various factions as they try to figure out why the world ending catastrophe took place. Unbeknownst to many, Shang Jianyao, who many consider weird, has "awakened", unlocked a level of higher consciousness that gives him certain powers. This makes both him and his team powerful and unlocks access to the higher echelons of the power brokers of the new world.

The world building is fantastic. The character building is great. The comedy is well written. It's also not too long. The end is a little hurried, but this was thoroughly enjoyable. Translation was great and I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Hero: Lin Xi

Hero is transmigrated into a new magical world into the body of a teenager and son of a shop keeper in a remote little town. He is, of course, blessed with a superpower, the ability to turn back time for up to 10 minutes. With this power, he joins a magic school and begins his journey into cultivation. Incidentally, the school he joins was founded by another transmigrator who leaves him a message in Chinese, a script no one else in this world can read.

Some nice world building, but plagued by poor plot flow. Lin Xi, who wants to be low key and simply enjoy this world, essentially becomes the face of his school and, in many ways, its leader, in a matter of a few months. He is also noticed by the higher powers in the land in the same time. This is with him not knowing anything about cultivation at all. The character building for some of the other characters is, relatively speaking, pretty good. But motivation, in general, is poorly outlined. It's worth the read if you've exhausted other options. Translation is above par.

Hero: Roland something

Reading now

Hero: Ye Yuan

An upper world genius alchemist is betrayed and killed by his brother but is reincarnated in the lower world in the body of a trash son of a low level alchemist. Thus begins his journey of revenge that spans 4 different upper worlds and epic storylines. This time around, Ye Yuan will not just concentrate on alchemy but also be a martial arts genius, a formation genius, a poisons genius etc. The story is full of the usual face-slapping and repeated plots. Women come and go. Sworn brothers come and then are suddenly dropped altogether. There are 3000+ chapters to fill after all.

Middling quality of translation. Sub-par storyline. But semi-decent world building. If you do want to check this out, only do so if you're prepared to either speed read this or read no more than 10 chapters a day. Only for fans.

Hero: Lu Yuan

Apparently, this is a fan fiction. The premise is nice. Online game eventually merges with reality and Earth is overrun by OP characters from the game. Lu Yuan dies to one of these OP characters but is reborn a few minutes before the game first launched in 2071. He, of course, retains all his memories and sets off to become OP himself in order to protect humanity in the future.

Too fast-paced and cuts too many corners. Mysterious lady characters is needlessly mysterious.

Still reading. Not looking good though.

Hero: Yan Zhaoge

Young man from Earth is suddenly transmigrated into a cultivation universe. After many years, he is killed and then reincarnated/migrated into the body of a young master of a relatively notable clan in a lesser world. However, he has all his memories from his previous migrated life where he was working in a martial arts library. Therefore he is able to rise meteorically within this lesser world before the story line leaves the lesser world for a greater world and then gets even more epic.

Repetitious but nice world creation. Worth a read although characters are dull as usual. The hero is a little too OP as well. Story also has a good finish compared to many other entries in this list.

Translation was above par.

Hero: Song Shuhang

University student is mistakenly added to an online chat group which turns out to be a chat group for cultivators in the modern world. He initially lurks and believes that the chat group was for "weebs" playing make-believe. But his initial derision and scepticism is soon overridden and he finds himself embarking on a cultivation journey himself.

I'm only in the first third of the series. But this story has provided many laughs. Recommended for those who have actually read many wuxia/xianxia novels.

Translation is above par.

Hero: Sung Jin-Woo

The anime does a decent job of the book. Magic and dungeons have been introduced to Earth and hunters specialise in tackling monsters that can crossover using "gates". The hero, a weakling with very little ability, sacrifices himself but suddenly finds himself part of a program where he can level his skills up like a game. Of course, we later find out that his Dad is not some unknown either.

The series is comparatively short and is reasonably well-rounded, but could have certainly been fleshed out some more. A good read with the stories that are part of the epilogue helping tied threads off nicely. Read the official translation which was great.

Hero: Ricardo

An underachieving economics major from Earth transmigrates into a fantasy feudal world into the body of a young boy. He is adopted by a minor merchant and then proceeds to apply his knowledge of economics and business to this new world. He starts off small by introducing the concept of apiculture to cultivate honey which allows the family company to get a foothold in the highly factionalised world of mercantilism. Ricardo also enrols in an academy within the capital in order to understand the world better and to build contacts. This where he chances upon Princess Alfina who is a seer. Alfina foretells disaster but nobody believes her except for Ricardo.

All of this is in the first two volumes of the story. I mistakenly assumed that the entire novel had been translated. But that is not the case. Even though the writing isn't the greatest, I am looking forward to reading this in its entirety.

A rather unique aspect of this novel is that while sword and sorcery exist in the new world, Ricardo can wield neither. All he has is his knowledge and acumen.

Hero: Sasaki

Sasaki, a middle-aged salaryman, yearns for some companionship and decides to get a pet. He chances upon a "Java sparrow" which just so happens to be a reincarnated wizard from another world. The pet, Peeps, enables him to travel between the two worlds and he begins an adventure as a merchant ferrying goods between the two worlds. Peeps uses Sasaki's body as a conduit while casting spells and this enables Sasaki to also wield magic. This, however, opens a new world up to him as it is revealed that "psychics", people with superpowers, exist on earth and are controlled by the government. He is coerced into joining a government department that regulates psychics in Japan which complicates his already adventurous life.

Started reading this after watching S1 of the anime. It's reasonably entertaining with both modern day politics and fantasy-world politics at play. Some of the loli-references are off-putting. But it's a decent read otherwise.

Official translation is well above par.

Hero: Kim Sae-Jin

Malnourished young adult eking by in a meagre existence suddenly develops a "trait" which gives him the power to turn into one of 3 different types of monster: an orc, a goblin, or a wolf. The catch is that he can only remain human for 45 minutes a day unless he levels up. What follows is his levelling journey, the fusion of his various monster traits, him becoming OP, making money, getting the women etc. Then things become even more epic as there's a world-ending cataclysm coming and only Sae-Jin can stop it. There's also a reason why he developed his trait which ties in with all the epic stuff. All this in 174 (rather longish) chapters.

Setting all this in the modern world with the Internet etc. makes this an interesting read. However, the writing is shoddy as is the world building. There is also an annoying harem element and brief bursts of jingoism that is yawn-worthy. Translation is alright. Worth a quick read seeing as to how short the series is and if you enjoy urban fantasy.

Hero: Zhou Yuan

The prince of a small kingdom is unable to cultivate. This is because his magnificent "destiny" was stolen by treacherous supports of his family. But his family's ancestral lands offers him a solution. He meets a master who cures his illness, but in return, he needs to guard a girl of his own age. What follows is his journey of cultivation and routine face-slapping. Thing soon turn epic.

By the author of Battle Through The Heavens. Translation is good. The plot gets repetitive and some threads are not properly tied off. But it was mostly a satisfactory read.

Hero: Meng Chuan

Meng Chuan is the young master of a minor family in a minor corner of a minor prefecture in a martial world which is under siege by demons from another world. His mother was killed by demons in front of his eyes and he is driven by a thirst for revenge. While he is talented, he is not a genius. But he is diligent and approaches his cultivation systematically. Furthermore, his first love is painting and he channels all his emotions into his painting which nurtures his soul. This leads him to quickly break the shackles and become a talented sabre-wielder. What follows is his rise in the world as he looks to enter the Archaean Eon Sect, the sect at the forefront of the clash against the demons. This quickly turn galaxy-level epic.

I Eat Tomatoes' works generally tend to be uninterested in romance, humour, and excessive face-slapping. They instead concentrate on world building and cultivation. This is something I find enjoyable although the lack of character development is unfortunate. The novel is a page turner but will probably not be as memorable as some of IET's other releases.

Translation was above par.

Hero: Xue Yan / Jiang Yue

Full title: Farming in the Mountains: Max Level Jiaojiao Is Three Years Old

A woman soldier (Jiang Yue) from a post-apocalyptic (and modern) future is transmigrated into an impoverished village of a kingdom in a feudalistic world. Moreover, she is reborn in the body of a 3-year old child albeit with her full physical power and a magical "space" that has a seed bank and land where she can grow anything really quickly. Her parents in this new world are dead and relatives abuse her, so she leaves this family, but is soon adopted into a new family in a neighbouring village.

Now this new family has a 7-year old boy (Xue Yan) who just so happens to also be reborn, albeit in the same world. They soon realise that both of them have been reborn and team up to change the future that Xue Yan has knowledge of and protect their family. Things also soon turn epic as Jiang Yue's space develops new features.

I found the multiple rebirths good fun and the world building quite imaginative. This is primarily a romance in a fantasy setting. The writing is mediocre and requires a suspension of disbelief that can be tiring. Furthermore, the amount of filler chapters can also grate on your nerves. There are entire chapters dedicated to inane topics that have little to do with the plot. It is nevertheless an OK read.

Translation is below par.

Hero: Su Zimo

Scholar who can't cultivate refuses to bow to an immortal for which he is punished. Fortunately for him, the his beloved horse steps in to save him instead. He vows revenge. He is given a chance at it by a mysterious guest at his home who gives him the ability to cultivate. He can now also choose to cultivate both demonic arts as well as human arts. What follows is a lot of face-slapping and crazy adventuring. Then things start getting epic and then epic-er and then epic-est.

The writing isn't the greatest esp. conflict set-ups. Things also tend to get repetitive (it is 3380 chapters long!) and the mild harem element is a little boring. However, the world building and the long-term plot construction is very good. The series seems to get a lot of flack. But it a page turner and a good read. One of the unique aspects (at least to me) of the novel was the use of clones.

Translation was generally good and above par in comparison to some of the other works here. Recommended read.

Hero: Li Yao

Hero is a junk yard dog with an knack for repairing things. He wants to enrol in a school so that he can begin his journey of cultivation. He has a stroke of fortune when a soul of a legendary weapon-smith tries to take over his body, but is instead subdued by him. And of course, this is because Li Yao has a secret of his own. What follows is an absolute epic story that traverses multiple galaxies with Li Yao simply becoming stronger and stronger. This of course also means that the story tends to get repetitive. That said, some of the characters are well put together and many twists came as a surprise even to a jaded reader like myself.

I'm taking a break from the story for the time being. But this is definitely worth the read.

Hero: Feng Bujue

Hero is an impoverished writer who buys a game cabin to play a newly released immersive virtual game called "Thriller Paradise". It's SAO-like game where your consciousness is transported into the game except, in this game, the players are challenged to complete certain scenarios mostly inspired by horror. If the player gets too scared, they are forcibly disconnected from the scenario. Luckily for the protagonist, he has a mysterious illness which has resulted in him unable to feel fear. Coupled with photographic memory and encyclopaedic pop-culture knowledge, he is able to ace the game. However, things are not as they seem due to the presence of "anomalies" in the virtual world whose power seems to be boundless. Additionally, the real world also seems to have secrets not known to the lay-humans.

This has been a really fun read. While Bujue is OP, the different scenarios ensure that the plot retains some freshness every time. However, the translation stops at around the 300 chapter mark and the machine-translation after is really bad. Furthermore, like many Chinese, the author is something of a racist and ruins an otherwise good novel.