I have only read issth and awe but I pick issth. It has good balance between seriousness and comedy, I heard ri is great but heavy. IMO a novel over 1k chap need to have a good dose of comedy but not too much so issth fits the bill .
I've read RI, ISSTH and AWE. I must say Meng Hao (ISSTH) is a balance character, he's as ruthless as Wang Lin and as shameless as Bai Xiaochun. ISSTH's ending felt more complete without any loose end. While both RI and AWE's ending were a bit cryptic and it felt like and 'open-ended' ending, their story was engaging and was well deserved investment on the time spent reading. I haven't finished reading Pursuit of the truth but from what i gathered so far is it slow-paced story and less engaging than the others, of course this is simply my opinion. A World Worth Protecting felt like a modern-xianxia knockoff of AWE. The MC is as shameless as Bai Xiaochun. Against the Heaven was dropped by the author, as such I've never read a page of it.
To me, ISSTH is his only good novel, long term. I've read most of his translated novels to at least chapter 200. Like what the guy before me said, ISSTH feels complete. AWWP for me, turned to shit after he started having sex with his first girl. He already had a girl before her that he loved and she loved him back (I think her name was Bunny), so it's pretty much NTR to me. Also, he barely knew the girl he fucked, they had 1 near-death experience in a cave and some conversations here and there, but that's it. Other than that, the protagonist is really shameless, which helps with the comedy, but sometimes it goes too far. Pursuit of the Truth, I'd say, wasn't bad. But the truth of the world left me thinking "wtf" and I quit. I've heard of A Will Eternal, but never bothered reading it. I probably will soon. I won't be expecting the ending to be good though. The truth of Renegade Immortal's world also put me off somewhat at the end. Ah, looks like I've never read Against Heaven, I'll check that out sometime later. Edit: Looks like Against Heaven only has 12 Chapters and was last translated in 2016, no wonder I've never heard of it.
I think Er Gen is actually trying to stay true to his root in the romance development? RI ended with 3 women eventhough he proclaimed that his first wife is the only girl in MC's heart ISSTH is better as MC stay with 1 wife, while also creating an ending in which reader can interpret that Chu Yuyan is also getting a position AWE is becoming more like RI, but the Author tone it down with creating a funny MC so most of the encounter and interaction with his harem can be created with funny situation and from your description about AWWP, it is more imminent that Er Gen style won't match my preference
The 3 girls in RI had better reasons to hook up with the mc though imo. Except for Mu Bingmei. She had a 1 night stand with the mc and ended up getting pregnant, smh. She's also indifferent and uncaring like the girl in AWWP the mc had sex with. I think the author might've just copied and pasted Mu Bingmei onto AWWP, lol. But she had potential to be the best romantic partner. Also, the girl in AWWP doesn't love the MC, she just wanted to get away from her fiance and one day showed up in Wang Baole's room, then had sex pretty much everyday for a couple months. Idk if any romantic feelings developed after that, probably did, but I dropped it.
WTF that type of girl is the worst though I don't even know that any MC with brain will let themselves get into that mess except if their brain is replaced by dick
I would rate them in this order from the best to the worse: Pursuit of the Truth - I consider this novel to be the best cultivation novel in terms of an actual plot. I also felt Su Ming to be somewhat relatable, unlike most CN protagonist. Cultivation and power system was way more interesting and unique than a standard sword, lightning, fire or spear cultivation, nameless manuals and god level inheritances at the first training spots and similar cliche. Loved how Su Ming's own live was incorporated into the power system. It had, some of the most epic and emotional moments and what I consider to be the best ending in CN I have ever read and I read hundreds of them. Though, it did have that misleading beginning that Er Gen is famous for and it may have been to heavy for many people who are used to that OPed and lucky MCs. Renegade Immortal - this novel was rough, however, I found it enjoyable. ISSTH - while it did have quite a lot of good parts and things about it, I personally found that most of them felt as a copy of the 2 novels listed above. AWE - honestly, I didn't like it. When I read a cultivation novel I want a good plot, interesting MC and power system. However, AWE was lacking in all of them. The only good thing about it can be pretty much summarized as crazy alchemy, but even that got boring after author has repeated that same aphrodisiac pill joke over and over again. In this novel, it felt that author has dropped the things that made his novel good. AWWP - this one basically feels as a generic trash novel and maybe even worse than that. Haven't read the last one
The thing I struggle with reading in Renegade Immortal is that it made me so pissed off too many times. People hate on AWE because it wasnt dark enough but honestly I found it a breath of fresh air amongst the has-to-be-brutal trend of any novel, even western fantasies. In xianxia/wuxia, there's so much horrible injustice occuring for the sake of revenge arcs that occurs, and I dont know how ppl dont get tired. (Real life is harsh thats why, ok well I'm reading to escape). I loved AWE for still having ruthlessness, great action and adventure, and even a lot of creepy horror segments, while still keeping the tone frequently optimistic A Will Eternal was the most enjoyable for me. The humor was better than any other and it was really refreshing, BXC was the silliest character who always came through as a badass at the end. Meng Hao makes ISSTH a really close second for me. Great mix of the shamelessness in bxc and then the ruthlessness of Wang Lin. And then of course Meat Jelly and Lord Fifth!