renegnade immortal becomes a generic powerup novel

generic is generic

The heaven defying orb was the only reason he got past the early stage, then as far as I remember, every time it activates after that, it gave him pretty big advantages; this isn't including the literal spirit advisor he gets that helps him with cultivation and gives him cultivation techniques. Undeniably generic.

20 years for qi condensation then zooming past everyone else later on, the 20 years is so insignificant when the rest of his progress is ungodly fast. Blah, Blah, Blah, he's so talented, how is he that young, etc. Generic.

The motivation he has is the sum of a bunch of bland interactions with a boring damsel in distress, yeah you see this trope a lot. The 'work' he puts in is just a glorified power up where it goes "oh that's how" then it gives him some rare thing, or like in a lot of them he's just plain lucky and gets it straight up. Generic.

The standard overpowered protagonist trope comes into play when you realize that other characters in the series are literally millions of years old and he doesn't even have anything on that in terms of age, yet they are so much weaker than him and can't really compare since he's 'special' in his experiences/comprehension of the world. Characters have existed for that long and are cultivators, so they know what they are doing at least, yet they don't have anything on the MC who's only been around for an extremely small fraction of that time.

In a system of comprehension, how the fuck do they go by? Does time not flow for them? Do they exist in a vacuum, and an arbitrary number is just given out about their age? Generic bullshit all around. Just because it's written well and it's appeasing to read doesn't mean it isn't generic. Also, comprehension doesn't mean much in the series, it's just glorified cultivation where the MC just gets a stronger body, more qi, etc. Heck, you have items that literally boost your cultivation and thus make you stronger. If comprehension really mattered that much, it'd be absolute, and Wang Lin wouldn't be able to simply jump levels to fight higher cultivation opponents. Unless... the cultivation levels are just 'more power hurr durr'...?

Take two authors of varying skill levels and have them write a story about a boy that pulls out a sword from a stone, does this, does that, etc. It looks different, and one is clearly better, but it doesn't get rid of the fact that both of the stories use strikingly similar elements.

Here we have: extremely talented protagonist, super cultivation tool, spirit advisor, lucky protagonist, strong battle power, aphrodisiac event, big power ups (not really gradual, happens instantaneously), and also the bigger fish trope. Basically a standard xianxia novel.

Renegade Immortal initially appears to be devoid of those tropes, but as the chapters grow more and more, it becomes obvious how generic the story is, with a bunch of arcs where the protagonist smoothly goes through them, gets a clean power up, and then just moves on to another well that's outside of the well he was initially in.

same shit different day, generic

 

Hello, it's Shillgor here.
I've often talked about RI chapters to be:
0-100 decent
100-150 gets better, good
150-250 great
250-500 amazing
500- 1650+ the best goddamn xianxia you've read
The truth is, I almost agree with you. That is because the struggle of Wang Lin vs personified-"Heavens" has been the core theme of the story, and as you can see from the defeat of the 7colored's (which, to some extent, were revealed to *be* that personification), that struggle has mostly ended. Hence, this is more of a "wrap-up" stage for the novel, and at this point I pretty much don't use my brain anymore while reading it [1700+ chapters] because, for me, the climax has already taken place.

I didn't like the Li Guang bow parts much either, although I'd still call it "the best xianxia" upto the time he leaves the CW, because even with its many flaws, it has a morally upstanding MC who isn't a hypocrite, no trash-wife issues, arcs that are written from one heart and read by another (mortal + dream arcs being most notable in this regard), great spell descriptions (upto a certain point, at least), great set-up of the world, etc.

And I truly believe reading 100-200 chapters before it gets good is much better than reading 400 chapters each of 15 other xianxia that turn out to be rapey harem trash.

 

It's not the things that novels do similarly that make them generic, it's the things they do differently that make them not generic.

 

What the poster above said.
Ze Tian Zi starts with a marriage trope. The mc's way faster than everyone else. There is a beast girl side chick. And most things can be deconstructed as above. If you're picking it apart like that, everything else can be picked out in the same way also.
Though in my opinion, a good story doesn't necessarily have to be free of tropes, if it uses them well, we get a good story. Is Renegade Immortal flawless, No. Is it one of the best Xianxia novel, Yes.
Also, the Mortal arcs are the best arcs in his novels.

Feels like you don't like Xianxias in general.

 

You seem like the "I'm superior because I'm aware print literature is better quality than webnovels" trope yourself, honestly.

 

The Mortal Arc and Dao Comprehension Arc is the best innovation to ever graze the Xianxia scene, to be honest. It's still one of the most unique cultivation novels for me.

 

Aye... here we go. I could also add that side characters are bound to get sidelined due to their utter and complete lack in the ability to keep up with the MC. This gets more and more problematic as we approach the endgame since by then we have seen it all and so much boring shit to boot because side characters just aren't worth developing due to the eventual power creep. This is mostly a scaling issue. I'm not calling Er Gen's works genric and mediocre without a reason.

 

Talking about endgame and such while dropping it at 600 and saying you "purged it all from memory"....seems legit. Side characters are developed, and said characters stay around till till at least where I'm at, i.e. 1700. And not only that, but they become important plot points and some involved in intricate plot twists.
And as I said in my comment above, that is not a criteria to call all his works that. I still fail to see any good objective point here, no offense but feels like reading a hater's comment tbh. What you're doing is also association fallacy.

That or as I said in the first page, the standards are as high as Burj Khalifa here.

Also, calling an "above average" work mediocre is inherently paradoxical. Which further supports my suspicion above...

 

@letmeusefilter.
Seems like you're not reading my replies at all.....whatever man. If at this point we disregard objectivity, points already made void, then you do you.
I am just flabbergasted by the selective memory at play here. Just like how you also conveniently forgot that as one of the relatively earliest Xianxias it's RI that set those "generic" stuff, that said "literal spirit advisor" was here for elss than the quarter of the novel, that the number of times he used the beat can be counted on one hand (regardless of the advantages it brings), that he's one of the rare MC to really use blood, sweat and wits to get what he wants instead of pies falling from the sky, that Ri is one of the very rare depictions of a realistic cultivation world, with its schemes, backstabs, etc.
Your points not making any sense aside, d-did you just say Comprehension doesn't mean much?!! D-did you really just...oh boy.
But it's pointless at this point, you're rehashing previously countered points....
I also agree with @Drum-Wielding Panda .

Anyway gotta go.

 

I think that's the problem that comes with the genre... Have you ever read a xianxia without those problems? Just curious, maybe you have

 

If there's one thing any Xianxia cannot avoid, it's power creep.

 

er gen fanboys lol

ignored most of everything I typed and move on, failing to address them

yes I said comprehension doesn't mean much as cultivation in the series and if you read my explanation or at least understood it, you would see my reasoning

my second post elaborates, and again if you read my explanation, then you would realize that
your doctor example fails to do anything because I'm not just pointing out one thing

 

Are we reading the same novel? When did WL become extremely talented?

The protagonist is really unlucky. Every other encounter with Grandpa resulted in a tragedy. I don't remember any aphrodisiac scene so source I guess.

You are oversimplifying too much and misled the novel to be generic, which of course anyone can do to any novel.

 

Calling me a fanaboy when you proceeded to ignore counterarguments to actual objective points and statements is extremely hypocritical of you, and shows enough of your attitude for me to label you as a troll or a hater.
Said "points you made ignored" were literally answered by me before you even posted that comment, as well as by others. So you're fooling no one by saying that.
And it seems you didn't understand my exemple at all. The point was that it's meaningless to see what's similar when comparing novels to see which are "better", the point is to see where they differ. This point was again brought up by others after me, but as expected you proceeded to ignore them and went on and on with the same debunked argument process. If I use your logic, I can turn any renown original works and masterpieces into "generic" works.
And again, if you're expecting me to answer points already answered, then as I said I won't feed the Troll any longer.
Heck, if this thread was a "Change my mind" type of thread, or "I'm open to suggestions" then why not, but it is not the former and as you already shown very much not the latter. Hence the very purpose of this thread is filled with bad faith, as these types of threads will just devolve into chaos eventually. If you're here to show that you think Ri is generic, then congratulations you succeeded, the purpose of this thread is hence done.
Also check your definition of fanaboy, fanboys are fanatically supporting their favorite works but I'm literally the only one here (alongside one my fellow readers) who presented objective arguments supporting his claim. But you do you man, I won't mind being called that, since with me being a male and a fan if we take fanboy literally that is indeed my case

 

Yeah, you read an actual novel, no the mess RI is. Lucky protagonist is true, and he is outcultivating just about everyone despite being in a shithole. Talented applies as well.
Arguin against Er Gen fanboys is quite pointless however, the rubber wall is strong.

 

it's like this guy hasn't even read the second post after the first list I gave
I went over his counterarguments and "objective points" there, lots of them are addressed

renegade immortal is generic, it has nice writing in the way it goes about it, but fails to break the standard xianxia mold
no matter how you put it, it's gonna be the same xianxia formula with an overpowered protagonist going to the top with his extRemE tAlenT, with some treasure or secret power every step along the way

must be tough to see that with all the subpar novels around

 

What is the purpose of this thread tho? Is it just to bait people? Why not just say all xianxias are the same instead of mentioning renegade immortal specifically?

 

Looks at OP making a thread criticizing a wuxiaworld novel.. oh the pain coming your way.. how naive

 

And there he goes, ignoring what I said again. I already told you 3+ times that we have to see what's different, not what's similar. I also explained thrice where and why it breaks the "Xianxia mold", but bias is scary.
And to those calling names, you're just proving your toxicity, at least we give arguments. Even letmeusefilter is trying to give actual reasons, while a certain person dosen't even try and still try to call names, while dragging all arguments under the "fanboy" tag. That's the definition of a troll and hater, fam. Whatever.

Again, the novel cannot be generic when :
-It truly focuses on the Dao part, as a Xianxia should, unlike 99% of other Xianxias.
-Has depth, comprehension, not just blind powering up. Isn't the generic "Eat -> grow stronger -> eat -> level up -> collect women", it truly explores characters, and to grow stronger you're not blindly leveling up, but you should comprehend, discover yourself, etc. And no, it is true comprehension. The only reason MC could fight higher leveled cultivators is because of the quality of what he comprehended, because he chose the hard way to do so (and not Joss Flames), and because he also cultivates another Path with his original body, via the Inheritance of the Ancient Ones. I don't see how this voids the fact that Comprehension is a vital part of the cultivation system. Without comprehension you're literally stuck in Nascent Soul till you die in the first place. As for "items", then duh what happens when you, as a very high leveled cultivator infuses your comprehension and Essences into an item? It obviously becomes an item able to affect people of that level. Please use some semblance of logic.
-Also focuses on a theme "Mortality vs Immortality", the MC isn't a robot who's all "This Daddy is X!", he has emotions, he fights against the Heavens to preserve said emotions.
-Truly delves on the concept and consequences of what it is to be a Cultivator.
-Has well written characters, plot twists and points that span over thousands of chapters, ultimately unraveling in a climax of emotions later on.
-No "Muh Jade Beauty!", "Muh City toppling world destroyign beauty!"!, "muh Young Masterz"
-No arc is filler, and all either tie to the plot or the MC's state of mind and comprehension.
-Aside from the very very beginning, dosen't use his "cheat" nearly as much as other MCs.
-MC struggled for the whole early part of Ri, was weak and had to use wits, traps and schemes to get to his end instead of just "I'm stronk cuz MC!".
-Way more relatistic cultivation world when people actually think, backstab, scheme instead of the usual "pies falling from the sky" stuff.
-"Random" side characters tie to the plot much later, and are involved in plot twists.
-Deep philosphical and emotional arcs

And for the fifth time, Xianxia being similar in aspects do not void nor undermine where it is different.

From the plethora of Xianxias I read, those that showed that can be counted on one hand (and a half). Everyone has their own opinions, you can say you don't like Ri and I'll say you do you, but calling it "generic" is from a logic standpoint inherently wrong. That's the only thing I'm arguing here.

Sigh, this is a waste of time really. This is not even a "Ri was good till here but then became shit starting from here" type of convo, where we could have some semblance of a constructive civilized discussion, this is literally a person dumping his opinion and expecting something. I'm honestly a fool to keep at this......

 

Tbh, just ignore them man. This is pathetic.