(no subject)

[skygiants]

larryhammer recommended me the cnovel Ascending, Do Not Disturb, a rom-com which the the author accurately describes as 'a relaxed cultivation novel.'

The heroine, Kong Hou, is the princess of an overthrown dynasty who's survived to be kept around by the current dynasty as a combination mascot and chew toy -- this however is only sort of relevant as she almost immediately performs a chance act of kindness that results in her getting adopted as a disciple by a passing cultivation master, brought back to his sect in the cultivation world, and revealed as an unprecedented cultivation prodigy.

None of this is particularly surprising to Kong Hou, whose favorite books all go more or less exactly like this - except for the fact that the books also tend to involve rivalries, jealousy, trials and suffering, and none of that is relevant here because Splendid Cloud Sect is the chillest sect that's ever been. Their primary sect value is work-life balance! Everyone else makes fun of them because they're constantly getting distracted on the way to important cultivation competitions to admire the scenery and eat a good meal and they simply could not care less! Their only political ambition is to form an alliance with the tiny sect that is known for its cooking-based cultivation, which they have been ardently and unsuccessfully courting for many years in a full-on sect/sect romantic comedy [this is my favorite subplot of the book].

In short, life in Splendid Cloud Sect is pretty good, but eventually one must leave the nest to have some adventures in order for one's cultivation to blossom. Fortunately for Kong Hou, immediately upon leaving the nest she bumps into an extremely powerful, extremely serious, extremely socially inexperienced dreamboat who has done nothing but study the blade for centuries and is now on quest with his bodyguard to collect a series of incredibly rare magical ingredients in the hopes of curing his tragically fatal case of cultivation burnout.

Despite their opposite personalities and sect backgrounds, Kong Hou and Huan Zhong get on like a house on fire -- Huan Zhong teaches Kong Hou valuable cultivation skills! Kong Hou teaches Huan Zhong about work-life balance! -- and spend the next hundred chapters or so bouncing around the cultivation world fighting evil, tripping over incredibly rare magical ingredients, and deeply confusing everyone around them by how much they like each other. This includes both of their sects, who keep sending each other apologetic gifts for the fact that their disciples have ended up babysitting each other, as well as Huan Zhong's extremely long-suffering bodyguard, who is very devoted to Huan Zhong but nonetheless wishes he had slightly less of a front-row ticket to this charming slow-burn romance.

(As a heads-up, Kong Hou is 16 for most of the book and Huan Zhong, as has been mentioned, has been studying the blade for several hundred years, so, you know. The relationship dynamics are mostly a pretty balanced clueless prodigy 4 clueless prodigy, and Kong Hou does go through some major timeskips before the endgame, but be aware if that's a hard turn-off.)

I enjoyed this very much and it was almost exactly the right length -- by the time I was 130 chapters in or so I was starting to hit the point when I could sense that I might get a little tired of Kong Hou and Huan Zhong being the best at everything they did, but by that point the end was so close that it didn't really have time to bug me, and I really did enjoy the overall ending message that it's less important to obsess over achieving perfection and ascending to the next world than to make sure you enjoy yourself in this one! what's so special up there, anyway?

Comments

[sovay]

Their only political ambition is to form an alliance with the tiny sect that is known for its cooking-based cultivation, which they have been ardently and unsuccessfully courting for many years in a full-on sect/sect romantic comedy [this is my favorite subplot of the book].

That is delightful.

[skygiants]

Other people can focus on recruiting the best fighters if they want, all Splendid Cloud Sect wants is to eat the absolute best food every day and only Five Flavors Manor can fulfill this dream of their heart! But alas, Five Flavors Manor does not understand their passion and only thinks that all Splendid Cloud Sect's disciples are weirdly intense ....

[jiggit]

Oh, this sounds perfect, I'm going to add this to my list.

[skygiants]

It's really very charming! Everyone's just here to have a good time and occasionally come to new realizations about their path and place in the universe!

[sheliak]

But does Splendid Cloud Sect ever win the heart of the cooking sect?

[skygiants]

For this very reason is Kong Hou's name recorded in the annals of those who have done the greatest service to Splendid Cloud Sect!

[osprey_archer]

YES clearly the MOST important service that could be rendered.

[happydork]

Their only political ambition is to form an alliance with the tiny sect that is known for its cooking-based cultivation, which they have been ardently and unsuccessfully courting for many years

That's the kind of gritty, realistic political drama I can get behind!

[skygiants]

Five Flavors Manor is convinced that no major sect will ever want to ally with them because their specialty is not very useful for combat, also their leader once accidentally insulted the cooking of Splendid Cloud Sect 😳 it was very embarrassing 😳 surely Splendid Cloud Sect will never want anything to do with them now; meanwhile Splendid Cloud Sect is like "😤 WE MUST PROVE OURSELVES WORTHY OF FIVE FLAVORS MANOR --"

[kate_nepveu]

I could go for this...

[skygiants]

It is indeed a very relaxing cultivation novel read!

[larryhammer]

Oh yay, you liked it. I thought you would, but ya never know.

Five Flavors Manor is my favorite subplot too, though I'm also very fond of Kong Hou's relationship with Talented Author's novels.

[skygiants]

I did, thank you again for recommending it!

I also enjoyed Team Rocket's constantly thwarted schemes to oust Splendid Cloud Sect, but I think my other favorite subplot was actually the more serious bit when Kong Hou goes back to the mortal world to sort out their plague problem -- I really liked her willingness to take responsibility for the fact that her dad was a bad king.

[larryhammer]

Heh. Yeah, they totally are Team Rocket, aren't they.

I appreciated that return to the mortal world as well. It happened at exactly the right point, too -- the plot was remarkably well-structured for a webnovel, both in terms of the balance of threads and the pacing of their weaving.

[estrevan]

I’ve just started reading this - on a whim, it’s my first cnovel - and it feels like the translator may not be catching all the irony? Not in a bad way, since it comes through well enough anyway, but it’s interesting how readings differ

[skygiants]

lol yes, the translator notes are EXTREMELY earnest in ways that the story perhaps does not support ... but it does seem to have been a fun project for them in any case so I guess that's fine? (& I hope you enjoy it as your first cnovel!)

[estrevan]

Oh, it’s absolutely fine - I just wanted to calibrate my reading, really, since I’m new to the form. And I’m enjoying it in a relaxed way, which seems entirely appropriate. Thanks for the review!

[geckoholic]

That sounds really fun. /perks up with interest