Interesting... So far, we have seen a more philosophical and over the top story, but I feel like we are moving to the more action packed stage now.
Based on your review, I think you're missing a key piece of information: this is a traditional/old-school xianxia series. In traditional/old-school xianxia, usage of cultivation is rare and, when it is, it's secondary to the rest of the combat, so sticking more to the swords is what the genre dictates should be done. It's like icing on a cake; some authors use them and some don't. As for the pacing, while I find the descriptions being comparable to Huang Yi's tendencies as you pointed it, it's pretty standard pacing for a traditional/old-school xianxia based on other traditional/old-school xianxia series I've read. If the pacing is an issue, I think it's a genre issue for you. I chose not to license it back then because I figured the pacing would be too slow for an audience used to the pacing prevalent in modern xianxia, so I suppose I feels you.
Nah I realized that this was a more slow style thingy the moment I saw the revenge theme. It seemed like a long con. I honestly have no issues with the pacing at all, but I also know that my tastes don't allign with others. That is the reason I mentioned it in my review, because this is definitely two paced. So far, the pacing seems apt. However, if at a later point of time, there is not enough suspence/draw during the slow pace stages, then it might be problematic.
The two protagonists in this novel are similar yet different. They both are true to their ideals, and they both have the ability to attract the admiration of their enemies. Yet, while one walks a dark and treacherous path of revenge, the other walks an unknown path borne out of gratitude towards those he has lost. Poignant, profound, both are equally pragmatic. They both seek strength without prejudice, but they seek it for reasons miles apart. And yet they adore each other as brothers. This series is really a case study in character building using minimal screen presence. The reader actually has to actively ponder.
The review by kkgoh seems more negative than positive. Given that I watched the drama while waiting to binge read this. I find his criticisms unfair especially the whole "characters are re-introduced" . He called it pointless fillers but I accidentally chanced upon a chapter that pointed out that some characters sex is ambiguous so they will need to be reintroduced as female since they were masquerading as male. @Wu Jizun I really need to pick up Chinese reading so I can pick up on the double entendres and many other subtleties that easily get lost in translation
You're not reading Liang Yusheng, Jin Yong or Lee Taibai . I don't think there are as many that matter as you might think (I'm making assumptions about your reading choices). It might be prevalent with names or special terminology, but that's the extent of it. If you took the children's version of RoTK and compared it to most translated webnovels in the xuanhuan genre, you'd see how low the bar is. Edit: typo
From my experience proverbs or puns are usually poorly translated. RoTK is what novel by the way? I can think of books by a couple of authors lol
Puns, yeah, I sometimes have to rewrite chunks to work around them. We're getting better at proverbs - anecdotally. Still, unless you're messing with the likes of those 3 I mentioned, you're fairly safe. In Lee Taibai's case, he sometimes writes a phrase where each character comes from a different proverb, so you need to know what the separate proverbs are in order to understand what the phrase means, or he writes stuff that can be read backwards and diagonally... Try translating that... Jin Yong liked to do similar stuff, lol. Liang Yusheng liked to reference poems; sometimes, you'd need to understand the entire poem to understand the one line he used RoTK - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
I see. Makes a lot of sense. There is one proverb that skips my mind. It is about an official who mocked an incompetent king by using a play. The king surrounded power to the head eunuch or something. The head eunuch was corrupt. It involves a tree and indirectly chastising the king
I love these kinds of battles, where it feels like a game of chess. Because actions don't get properly scaled when it comes to cultivator fights. And just the powerful attack names mean nothing without this scale. The knowledge that any attack can have a weakness, and that multiple smaller attacks by a good team can beat any powerful attack, provides a wonderful power scaling.
I want to forget this novel again and read it again after some months...guess its time to look for a wall to headbutt