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This definitely had one of the most interesting cultivation paths I've seen. The mystery behind how it all worked really drove the story forward. I do think everything after the original universe (and to some extent before that) suffered a lot from the crazy amount of power Cui Heng gained. He just completely outstripped everyone else and had no meaningful interactions with anyone. And, as for an overall flaw to the story, Cui Heng never faced anyone remotely close to his level of power. There was not a single time when he had to struggle. Heck, I don't think he ever even pulled out the Grotto Heaven, which was his absolute safe space even if someone was stronger than him. This led to all the fights being lacking in any real intensity.

My issue is that this is just such incompetent propaganda. It really acts if the entire audience is completely brainless, which is just insulting when much of the humor of this novel comes from the dramatic irony of us knowing how Pei Qian's stabbing himself in the foot before the actual consequences occur. That is, it requires a brain to "get" this novel, but it requires no brain to fall for this chapter.

Well, I guess one could say I got it right last chapter. I must admit I had not anticipated this level of shamelessness about China, though. Why does this have to happen in these novels? Authors can do so well for so long, and then all of a sudden, they've got to drop a huge chapter of propaganda to ruin it all. The worst part is that this stuff is patently false and not at all as much of a glowing praise as these authors think. Most Western countries acknowledge and try to atone for the colonialism and imperialism that defined their foreign policy for the past few centuries. Whether they succeed is a different matter. It's also not as if this is simply a Western thing. Exerting power through conquest is very much something that's happened universally in human history (if we look at certain countries' current actions, this becomes fairly obvious). Arguably, the very fact that we have come to see such actions as evil is a sign of progress. Finally, it's easy to spare someone of no threat. The true test of one's character is sparing someone of great threat. The former is the logical albeit callous choice. The latter, however, is necessary if we wish to not repeat the same mistakes as our ancestors. Going the "Chinese way" would have us destroying most aliens we come across if we ever become a space-faring species. We'll continue the carnage that has defined our existence. I must admit I find that highly concerning and would hope that our descendants know better.

That's definitely an interesting end to this Ender's Game-like movie. Unlike Ender, Qin Yi is an adult commander. Ender was so lonely, naive, and isolated that he came to love the Formics. Qin Yi wouldn't feel the same sympathy towards them that would make him help them. The rebirth as a Zerg does work really well as sequel bait. I'd imagine a sequel would involve him learning to appreciate the Zergs as their king. Making the enemy a sympathetic species could give the game some very interesting context. It'd be less of a real-time strategy game and more of a role-playing game where players decide the fates of both species based on which ones they feel deserve survival. At the very least, I feel very interested in the game now.

Qin Yi ultimately still betrayed the Zergs just because there's a chance they could be dangerous. We really are a species that cannot survive without stepping on everything around us. Heck, the speech about our Blue Planet was great and all, but we're the ones who've caused the most damage to it.

The difference is that Seeking the Flying Sword Path ended when the protagonist had reached the peak of his world, and the laws meant that he wouldn't go further to continue protecting it forever. There was no reason for him to become a Heavenly Dao Realm expert. It all ended because Qin Yun's story had ended. Meng Chuan will probably become an Eternal expert after this novel, and it sucks that we couldn't watch his journey right when things got interesting again.

It's even worse because this assumes so much knowledge on MOBAs, but it's using a fictional MOBA, so everything is just made-up BS. It takes absolutely no thought to make the Tengda team stronger since it's so arbitrary. A good esports novel like the King's Avatar is so thorough that even someone with no esports knowledge can follow it, and the incredible skills of the protagonists make absolute sense. This isn't that, and I've been bored ever since these chapters started.

Eighth Tribulation Eminences have some truly cool powers. The moment you think about them, they can sense you, and if you're too weak, you might just immediately die. I really wish we could see Meng Chuan's adventures as such a being.

Pei Qian keeps advertising the projects that don't earn money. It's like he wants them to start getting enough traction to make money.

Old Ma may be a slacker and a naive dullard, but he still gets better overall grades than Boss Pei.

Karma problems come from receiving favors. He's going to need to repay White Avian in the future. That said, saving White Avian's life should be enough to repay any karmic debts, and we already know Meng Chuan's going to do that once he learns about it and has the power to do so.

More chapters about the Archean Eon Realm (and painting) are all I want. Meng Chuan is actually fairly unique amongst Xianxia protagonists (the ones I'd consider heroic in any sense at least) in that he mostly refuses to give his loved ones resources to help them. His interactions with them thus are pretty interesting and revealing, far more so than just reading about him getting more powerful by sitting in a place randomly and cultivating for thousands of years. He's really defined by the war he was in for the first half of the novel, and it's great when we see more of that. This novel's called Archean Eon Art. While painting's been getting a bit of focus recently, though only marginally since we haven't gotten a chapter dedicated to his paintings in forever, the Archean Eon part just hasn't been involved at all. That's a real shame since when everything he treasures is safe, there are no real stakes. We know that Meng Chuan won't ever truly lose personally, so all the fights are just not that memorable. It's telling that I remember the tactics and events in the war far better than all the exploration he's done since leaving Archean Eon Realm, despite the latter being far more recent.

Top Seventh Tribulation Eminences know more than one Origins law. Half-Step Eighth Tribulation Eminences have already grasped the time law and just need to take a final step. Meng Chuan now knows two Origins laws: Chaos Hole and Heaven Splitting. He is a Top Seventh Tribulation Eminence.

Honestly, those are some really cool powers. It's a shame that this novel probably won't truly explore those concepts (partly because it's really hard to write believable conflict when one reaches such ridiculous levels of power). I feel like this is when we have the most potential to do cool things with the setting. It sucks that IET grew bored with this novel, and we're already close to the end (only ~40 chapters left).

It works when he's also using his karma system so that strong characters can kill off all avatars at once. This is the first novel from him with his karma concept that also has such serious protections that karma barely matters. I think the main issue isn't just the lack of action or suspense. It's the complete lack of important characters. His family has no relevance to the universe outside Archean Eon Realm, and he has no real friends in the outside world. Meng Chuan's a likable person, but he's not exactly the most interesting character ever written. A story can have no action or suspense, but it cannot have zero character interactions like this one has been for the majority of the past few hundred chapters. Heck, Liu Qiyue's revival was supposed to be a major thing, but she's probably spoken for less than a tenth of a chapter since her revival. Everyone besides Meng Chuan has been reduced to background padding.

The farmer's probably the Celestial Thearch, which means he's either the final villain or one of the last villains in the story since it doesn't seem like we'll be going past the Eternal stage.

LXY's terrible translation ruined it for me, but this does feel like a massive downgrade compared to his most recent novels. There's no exploration, and Meng Chuan's constantly by himself. Character interactions give a novel life, and this just doesn't have that. It would be okay for a character to be alone all the time if he or she were super interesting, but Meng Chuan's really flat. The most interesting parts of the novel were the painting bits, but it has been basically forgotten. Expanding the realm should be something massive, but Meng Chuan doesn't react like it is, and he's not painting about it like he had for other significant events in his life.

Also, there are literally no 8th Tribulation Eminences in this era from this universe, and the ones from outside aren't going to do something so troublesome for random juniors with no connection to them even if they could.

It might just be a formality thing. The Eternal Tower does not care about the majority of the cultivators in it; by reaching Sixth Tribulation Eminence, Meng Chuan has finally become a core member.

Eternal level experts can create and destroy an entire universe, and there is not a single one in Meng Chuan's home universe. Considering Eighth Tribulation Eminences are decently common in the history of the universe, it's probably likely possible for them to kill them through karma. Even if eternal experts can't, there's no place to hide from them.