MarcGem

(Comment 1/2) On my 3rd reread and it's pretty funny that some people in the comments are missing the point entirely.... So I'll explain. Fang Yuan killed many people throughout the novel, but people didn't mind. Yet, so many are triggered at this chapter because it's a young, pretty girl with a good conscience, plus the vivid description of her death. What if it was Gu Yue Yao Ji (the grandmother) dying to the bear instead? I believe that a lot of people would suddenly not mind, and others would cheer her death. What if the author toned down on the description, saying, "Fang Yuan fed her to the bear", like how other cultivation novels brush off the deaths of entire clans/sects? Well, then even fewer people would care and there wouldn't be so much discussion on this single chapter, would there? People feel disturbed at Gu Yue Yao Le's death because they feel like she has more moral value than an old woman or man. We keep saying "all lives are equal" today but is that really the truth? Looking at the comments of this chapter compared to other chapters where FY does atrocities, plus everything happening in the real world, I feel that no one really believes that all human lives are equal. This selective empathy based on age, appearance, perceived innocence... they underscore an inherent bias in human nature. It exposes our hypocrisy.

No worries ! 1. I did not know about Daoism before reading these novels. My definition of Daoism has changed very frequently as I read more and more cultivation and xianxia works... After all, they're full of slaughter, violence, and harems hahaha. But after hundreds of novels, I think I know what it means. My definition (may be wrong idk) is: A way of life that people can follow to achieve a connection with nature and transcend into a higher being through a connection with a higher plane of existence, the Dao.I feel that a lot of novels do not really reflect the meaning of Daoism effectively. Here's examples of how they might incorporate or introduce Dao- Some of them have their MC drink poison and poison others to achieve the "Dao of poison", or kill others for the "Dao of slaughter."- Dao is mostly incorporated into cultivation itself, like drawing strength from nature (absorbing qi from the environment) and cultivating in serene settings. Or balancing violent energies to further their cultivation. - Striving to reach a higher plane of existence (and eventually immortality). Increasing in cultivation, essentially.- Having inner demons or heart demons which are obstacles to a calm state of mind- Contemplation. The MC rambles about Dao and enlightenment. But most times it just has a lot of grand words that frankly, don't make sense. Eg. Sword strikes with the force of fate, shattering illusions of reality. Within chaos, the silent whisper of Dao beckons. I feel that only one novel so far has been very clear in explaining the Dao in relation to its fictional universe and our society. Yet it has probably mentioned the word "Dao" only a handful of times. The novel is Reverend Insanity. It excels at outlining the relationship between man and heaven, exploring themes such as fate, morality, sacrifice, duality, power, etc. Most importantly it does so in a logical way that makes sense. I guess that's one of the reasons why it's touted as the best cultivation novel lol2. I come from a religious background, so maybe Dao can be equated to God? After all they're both a higher, transcendental reality. Both Daoism and Catholicism encourages a deeper understanding of this reality, and to align your life with its principles. Both have an emphasis on inner growth, detachment from material desires, balance and harmony. All in all, I believe that Daoism is quite similar to my culture. 3. Ah I'm planning a cultivation novel so I believe I have a good idea about those. I haven't researched about them tho, I'm just basing it off my reading experience. Tho I'm not incorporating the 5 elements. Anyway, here's what I think they are...Yin and Yang: Opposing forces of nature. Hot and cold, light and darkness etc. Men have more Yang energy with a little bit of yin, women the opposite. Like the Yin Yang symbol.Five elements: Wood represents growth, earth for stability etc. That's kind of all I know lolQi: Basically life force or energy, a fundamental thing that flows through all existence. The balance of Qi is crucial for wellbeing. Most cultivation novels utilise Qi so the majority of ppl should know what it is. Yin and Yang are also explained a lot, typically having to do with dual cultivation practices lol, or opposing energies such as a flower with intense flame qi growing next to a cold lake. But five elements are rarely explained. They're present in a lot of novels but they appear in those fancy phrases that don't make sense haha4. Reading cultivation novels definitely can pique interest in Chinese culture due to how different it is to their own, and serve as gateways to learning more about Chinese culture. But personally, I dread reading about how authors incorporate Chinese culture bc most cultivation novels only do it for the sake of including it, and not for the sake of creating a good story. But I think if I hadn't already read hundreds of novels, I'd find it quite novel and interesting as legitimate world-building, and not a copy paste setting that authors use.5. I use Reddit! There's lots of communities out there that revolves around Xianxia! I'm only in one though: Progression Fantasy. Subreddits are a very good place to gather opinions and material for your research! I kind of forgot to recommend it to you hahah. Because commenting individual people on webnovel is kind of low-reward compared to creating posts. If the subreddit has enough people, you can receive hundreds of comments in a day!

Hi Joey, sorry for the late reply, I don't use WN often anymore. I'll share my thoughts if that'll help you!Target audience: Webnovel's audience tends towards teenagers as seen with the quality of the most popular novels. The grammar is at most early-highschool level, and many authors do not plan that far into their story. Their contracts (if they signed) stipulate that they have to dish out 2 chapters a day, and this means that most novels do not have much direction past a certain number of chapters. (authors, at that point, have exceeded their planning and simply make things up to fulfil the contract, and the novel drops in quality.) This is my observation from many many hours and 6 yrs of reading on WN hahahaEase of reading: However, the nature of web novels do pose some advantages. With the simple grammar and prose, it does not take much effort to read. One can drone out while reading a webnovel and still be able to follow the plot. Some people aren't looking for intellectual works and well-written stories.. they are simply here to enjoy a short burst of dopamine from MC's face-slapping people. That's why I'm here, and I see it as a sort of guilty pleasure haha. Accessibility: Webnovel makes it easy for anyone to become an author with a global audience without the need for traditional publishing avenues. So the vast majority of works you'll find here are pretty much subpar/ the honest work of a dreamer still in middle/high school who have been inspired by other Webnovel authors. As for readers... Well, WN is mobile-friendly and I think that's a big part of it.Popularity of top works However, popularity on this platform is directly correlated to how many chapters one can dish out. The more chapters, the more popular one becomes. So even if some novels are not that good, they can become popular if they are determined and consistent, releasing every single day for months on end. This system works well because it contributes to addictive reading habits (oh I know this very well), but it also appeals to readers who enjoy the anticipation of waiting for the next chapter. This system of more chapters more popularity also means that very well-written novels with fewer chapters get buried. (Like the novel we're commenting under), though this can also be attributed to Webnovel's audience, which are typically teens. Note that some novels are good but become subpar because they are forced to come out with chapters due to their contract. (I have a lot to say about the contracts, but I don't think it has to do with your research lol. I'm an author but I don't want to be linked to this account)Community interaction I believe this also plays a good role in WN's popularity. People can engage in discussion in every single sentence of a novel (you can comment on every sentence). Reviews are also interactive, but a bit less since authors can delete any review that they don't like. So in some novels with biased authors, you can't trust reviews at all. Diverse content and limited content Another thing I wanna talk abt is the genre of novels. Although there is a lot of diversity among the novels, usually only the common tropes become popular. Vampires, princesses, cultivation, face-slapping, comedy, you know it. There is a certain level of homogeneity in the top rankings, and also in the algorithmic promotion. But it's not entirely a bad thing. It just shows that these are genres that the readers like. My issue is that some niche genres or themes do not receive attention, and the top rankings becomes an echo chamber/spiral - Eg I Read cultivation, comedy, bc it's popular, then more cultivation and comedy (so it encourages the same types of novels to gain popularity)That's all I have to say for now... I'll probs write a thesis like this! 1. I'll start by introducing the concept of webnovels and their significance in modern literature and digital culture2. Evolution of online book platforms and advancement of technology that resulted in web novels3. How Chinese novels are adapted to international readers (eg. Translation, adaptation)4. Factors of international appeal such as what I stated above: Target audience, ease of reading, accessibility, etc5. Challenges and limitations (I stated a lot lmao it kind of became a vent). Anyway u can include cultural misrepresentation, nationalism, and authenticity. 6. Social impact. (Yea I also vented about this lol). U can also write about the implications of subpar novels becoming insanely popular around the international platform/community, how it will affect cultural understanding etc. 7. Improvements/ future prospects.What if artificial intelligence was used to help budding authors write? How about turning webnovels into audiobooks using AI? There's alot to write about lolHope I helped you with your thesis, good luck!

Every few months I come back to this novel...

Writing quality 2/5- If I'm guessing, author's first language isn't English. Lots of mistakes everywhere in general. Story development 2/5- Very 'go with the flow' -esque. It's just not interesting. Story is 'told' and not 'shown'. Character design 2/5 - MC makes some smart moves from time to time. Though there's not much substance to him or the side characters. Side characters are dumb, MC is overpowered, and they worship the MC. MC also makes some bad decisions with no good reason. World background 3/5 - Maybe the saving grace of this novel. Personally, I like cultivation backgrounds, so I'm rating this a bit higher. Otherwise, it would be a 2.5/5 for the low level of originality. Author needs to step up his game and learn how to describe landscapes.

Love how he just forgets about the girl 🤣

Ironic

Try Reverend Insanity, it's the best cultivation novel on this site. Nothing ever comes close

Incredibly boring... there was one exciting event though, and it had to do with the stairs. Story is otherwise based on MC hiding his cultivation and becoming stronger and defeating enemies who underestimates him. Okay that's fine its cliche as heck, but MC always hides and is an insane loner. There's no excitement, no soul in this novel. Also author talks about MC watering a plant and vegetative egg for 300 chapters. Literally zero development on that after 300 chapters. He only notes that the life force of the egg and plant had become weak or recovered every few chapters. Taking care of these 2 vegetables has become a 'hobby' of the MC that the author can cover a hundred words per chapter with, yet adds nothing to the story development.

lol blatant promoting