Super mid novel. It's not exactly bad, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters. Aside from the MC, every other character feels painfully one-dimensional. And even the MC, while technically not flat, is incredibly dull. He doesn’t feel like a real person—more like an NPC trying and failing to act stoic, ending up just lifeless instead. I might’ve kept reading if the monsters were better, but they’re basically knockoff Pokémon—and not in a good way. They’re all super gimmicky. I prefer my monsters to feel more like savage beasts, something raw and powerful, not glorified pets. His turtle was okay, but the others? One is literally a duck cosplaying as a pirate, and another is a sword-wielding dog—something I’ve already seen done in another beast-taming novel I didn’t enjoy for the exact same reason. I want brutal, primal monsters, not circus acts. Like another reviewer mentioned, there's no real tension or stakes in the story. No clear goal, no hook, just stuff happening. And the arcs are painfully generic—things like survival on an island or a mission-based academy. I've read this kind of setup way too many times, and it’s lost all appeal. Honestly, I got so bored that I started copying chapters into Gemini just to get a summary and move on.

I just can’t fucking stand the elf priestess the MC recruited. She’s so goddamn insufferable, I honestly started questioning who the fuck is supposed to be in charge—her or the MC. Because from the way things are written, it feels like he’s the one bending over backwards to serve her, not the other way around. I’m calling them “employer” and “employee” instead of god and believer because this isn’t even a proper fantasy setting—this is just some half-assed game dev sim wearing a cheap god-cosplay skin. The author didn’t even try to integrate the premise; it’s like he’s just pulling random bullshit out of his ass and calling it worldbuilding. Who the fuck is supposed to care when most of it is a lazy copy-paste of what happens in popular game just made into text with characters reacting to it. And holy shit, I hate this elf character. It’s been a long time since a character pissed me off this badly. She’s not some genius or prodigy—she’s a goddamn cheater. She’s the kind of player who relies on aimbots, wallhacks, and cheat engines to get through a game, then struts around like she’s some kind of tactical genius. It’s pathetic. And if you needed more proof that the author did zero research and half-assed the entire premise, just look at how completely ignorant he is of actual game development. He clearly doesn’t even know what dev tools, QA testing, or playtesting are. And worse, there’s zero effort to blend any of this into a fantasy setting. Why the fuck are there “glitches” in something made by a literal god? This isn’t a buggy engine, it’s supposed to be divine power. But nope—just throw in some modern gamer lingo, slap it on a fantasy world, and call it a day. Characters talk about “games” like it’s a known concept in-universe, which makes no goddamn sense. The worldbuilding is a complete fucking disaster.

At best, this novel is a decent time-pass — the kind you pick up when there's nothing else to read. Don’t expect a deep or intricate plot. It’s like fast food: quick to consume but leaves you feeling like you wasted your time afterward. At worst, it becomes incredibly boring, especially after the first long simulation. Even though the main character has unlimited simulation chances, it barely matters — each simulation is so drawn out that by chapter 100, he’s only on his third or fourth one. Unlike other simulation novels that move briskly through multiple lives or scenarios, this one drags a single simulation out for dozens of chapters, often told in detached third-person narration that reads more like a summary than an engaging story. After the first simulation, it becomes clear that the author plans to stretch the story as much as possible. For example, the MC cultivates each realm nine times to improve his foundation, which makes sense in theory but slows the pace to a crawl and makes it hard to track his actual power level, especially since he’s often portrayed as about two realms stronger than others at his level. I eventually stopped trying to understand the cultivation system or techniques, since the novel doesn’t bother explaining how anything works anyway. After the initial revenge arc against the martial hall, the story throws in makeshift villains to give the MC something to do. The conflicts feel forced — there’s no real reason for him to go up against the duke or the officials behind the martial hall; it all just exists to keep the plot moving. The romance suffers too. While the first simulation had some cliché but mildly interesting romantic elements, it quickly devolved into awkward, unnecessary, and forced interactions. The MC suddenly starts acting out of character, getting involved with the female lead for no reason or showing off techniques gained from past simulations, even when those techniques have no real purpose.

It's a decent read, but it could have been much better if the author had taken inspiration from Bleach rather than copying it outright. Instead of just using the concept of Zanpakutō, the novel directly lifts powers from the Bleach universe—even replicating entire swords and, in some cases, whole characters. This really holds the story back, because no matter how well it's copied, it’ll always feel like a weaker version of the original. It would’ve been far more impactful if the author had created new swords with unique abilities and original users, using the idea of soul-bound weapons as a foundation instead of just reusing what already exists. I also didn’t enjoy the whole “behind-the-scenes” protagonist angle. That kind of MC isn’t my cup of tea unless their disguise or manipulation is handled in a genuinely impressive way. it might change in the future but it's hard to really judge a novel that only has 50 chapters. You can’t tell yet if it’s going to improve or if it’ll fall apart and go the same generic route most Chinese web novels take. So I’m giving it 4 stars for now, though honestly, it feels more like a 3-star read at this point.

This novel feels like a carbon copy of countless other cultivation/martial arts stories. It’s the same recycled formula: one-dimensional villains who are evil just for the sake of it, seemingly incapable of a single intelligent thought. The typical sect struggles and faction infighting are all present, but completely lacking in nuance. Characters openly state their hostility toward the MC without even pretending to have deeper motives or basic intrigue—once again, another example of how shallow and predictable many of these stories have become. Sometimes it feels like these authors need to step outside, interact with real people, and realize that human beings aren’t NPCs. Real personalities aren’t this single-minded or brain-dead. The biggest disappointment is how poorly the MC uses his cheat. With the power he has, he could have secluded himself in the forest or stayed home cultivating for a few years, reaching a high realm safely. Even a child could see that this would be a smarter use of his advantage. But no—this world is so wrapped in plot armor that the MC can blindly charge into danger and come out unscathed, because apparently all enemies are conveniently incompetent. There’s never a moment where he’s truly at risk or makes a mistake; he’s always right, always favored. At the start, the MC being an old man actually seemed like a fresh take. But of course, that angle is barely explored. He either turns young again or behaves in a way that makes his age irrelevant. No one even questions how a bun-seller suddenly becomes a martial master overnight—it's just brushed aside like everything else that requires basic logic or realism. I picked up this novel hoping the MC would use his cheat in a clever, strategic way. Instead, it’s just another generic xianxia with no real surprises or depth. A total letdown.

It was interesting at first—really—but somewhere along the line, the entire world decided to revolve around the MC like he’s the sun and everyone else is a potato. Apparently, no other human in this story is capable of basic reasoning unless the MC spoon-feeds them. I read up to chapter 100 hoping things might evolve naturally... but nope, the story clings to this painfully artificial "MC-saves-everything" formula like a bad shounen trope on steroids. You’d think in a world where Pokémon suddenly appear, more people would start figuring things out independently, right? Maybe some trainers here and there, some trial-and-error discoveries? But no, the author seems convinced that the MC is the sole functional brain cell in a world of rocks. Literal rocks. as always, only the MC and the CCP seem to have any clue what’s going on, while foreigners exist solely to mock the MC and look stupid doing it. Subtle. I went in expecting some organic world-building—where the existence of Pokémon reshapes society, people adapt, and the MC perhaps leads by example. What I got instead was a self-absorbed power fantasy that assumes the reader enjoys watching the MC solve every problem while everyone else struggles to spell "Pikachu." And no, the MC isn’t even that smart. He goes to fight legendary Pokémon with the intellect of a toddler chasing fireworks, then forces his Growlithe to evolve with a Fire Stone that not worst part the motress was leaving but MC just keeps attacking it which end up with use of fire stone Also, the story leans more into slice-of-life side quests—like finding stolen jewelry or inventing new ways to waste potential with Fire Stones—than any real overarching plot or meaningful development. I didn’t sign up for 1000 chapters of glorified fetch quests. I came to see how the world changes with Pokémon in it. This? This is everything but that. GPT would have written better plot than this.

The story is good, but it's way too slow for my taste. It takes nearly 100 chapters just for the main character to even start cultivating, and for the concepts of cultivation and immortality to be revealed. If it follows the standard progression of cultivation levels, this could easily stretch to 3000–4000 chapters—unless the author suddenly speeds things up, which would hurt the quality in a different way. Another concern is that the novel has just started, so there's no telling if the writing quality will hold up. I’ve read many promising xianxia novels that completely fall apart around chapter 300 or 400, often rehashing the same generic tropes. This story would’ve been far more engaging if the cultivation and immortal elements were introduced earlier. Instead, it spends too much time on village politics, martial arts squabbles, and cliché conflicts with young masters and clans. Personally, when I read xianxia, I’m here for the cultivation, magic, and world-building—not drawn-out petty drama in a random village.