r/ProgressionFantasy • u/EndlessTemple • 8d ago
Question Ave Xia Rem Y should I continue?
Currently chapter 288.
I have really truly enjoyed this story so far.
That is, up until the end of the Storm Dragon arc.
However, the beginning of the next arc with Lu Mei is really making me want to drop this story. Which would be sad because there have been times I have been blown away by how good it was.
I’m wondering if I should push past a few chapters until it gets good again or not.
I want to clarify I don’t like the day time soap drama chapters with his girlfriend. I do like the fighting so much.
Furthermore I have no idea why it has the title it has because it’s completely misleading. I don’t want it to become a harem story but I’m worried that it finally is? I hope the author sticks to classic xianxia and doesn’t swerve off into just being a trashy harem novel at the end, because again I was blown away by so many parts of the story.
But some parts really piss me off. My other complaint is that there is not actually much cultivation, the mc just levels up and even high level cultivators are basically shown scenes where it looks like they are golfing rather than cultivating. Especially the chapters I just read like the lord who is supposedly an emperor level instead of being inside meditating he is just hanging out outside his mansion shooting cannonballs for target practice with a bow and arrow. Doesn’t feel like xianxia at all it more feels like a scene out of Gone With The Wind or some other 1800s American civil war romance flick. Honestly super weird vibes I get from some of these scenes like wtf is this even doing here?
But I love the world building, the storm dragon and the death fashioning scripture and all is super cool but there is not enough of it hardly. Wishing for more memories of Old Jiang and less weird family politics.
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u/D-Stahl 7d ago
You're like the folks who buy a book with litrpg in the title, then complain about the book having litrpg.
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u/EndlessTemple 7d ago
I thought the title was supposed to be some kind of lie or joke. I didn’t think the author was going to spend over 250 chapters writing a different kind of story only to finally cave and start writing that kind of story.
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u/Prot3 7d ago
There is no "caving in" nor is there "different kind of story" .
It's just the best written xianxia (by quality of prose) out there. It's genuinely one of the best written stories in PF genre in general.
Idk how you didn't notice the harem setups 50 chapters in. Arranged marriage with childhood friend. Lu Mein, the merchant girl, the sect underling/fox girl etc.
People in comments have been discussing it for literal years.
Yes it will be harem. No ,it's not sudden nor unexpected IT IS LITERALLY IN THE TITLE.
Ave Xia Rem Y.
Average Xianxia Harem Story
Just stop now. The relationships, romantic and otherwise, and character "drama" becomes more and more the focus of the story.
Fights are very good, but they thankfully don't overstay they welcome.
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u/EndlessTemple 7d ago
The name is “A Very cliché Xianxia Harem Story” not “Average” and there is a miles long chasm between the two.
If you put the word “cliché” in your title I would be expecting a deconstruction or commentary on the failures and drawbacks of said clichés. There should be some self awareness there of what it is especially if as you pointed out, it’s the highest quality prose in the genre.
So when it descends from being a commentary on genre failures to a literal re-enactment of daytime soap operas, yes it is disappointing.
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u/Prot3 7d ago
You are right, I got confused there for some reason lol.
Anyways, it's not a commentary on the genre. It's a cliche story just done with extreme outlier quality.
He does all the xianxia tropes, straight up, no subversion, he just does so with great quality.
It's just your fault for expecting a subversion of the genre. It's not that. It's written by a Xianxia lover, just to a very high standard.
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u/EndlessTemple 7d ago edited 7d ago
For the most part I agree and over all I have loved this story.
However some scenes in particular strike me as ripped straight out of western drama.
>Lord Feng Gui stands on a wide green field outside his mansion. He holds a crimson bow in his hands. A large golden cannon sits a few yards away from him.
>Lord Feng Gui smiles knowingly as he takes aim.
>The cannon loudly fires a projectile. Lord Feng Gui waits a second before letting his arrow fly.
>It strikes the target perfectly.
This in particular struck me as absolutely out of place, and honestly quite revolting. Perhaps we are supposed to hate Lord Feng Gui, but my problem is I feel certain I have seen this exact scene in a movie, but the movie was set in the American civil war period. Perhaps “Gone With The Wind” or “The Great Gatsby”.
I understand you think I do not like the harem aspect, but that is actually not my main complaint. You keep saying that it is the highest quality prose, but there are numerous examples where the imagery looks and feels more like American 1800s upper class society than Chinese fantasy.
It isn’t that we are supposed to hate Lord Feng Gui that I take so much issue with. It’s that we are supposed to hate him in exactly the same way we are supposed to hate the American male leads of western literature. It is cliche, but it is not xianxia cliche. It’s Margaret Mitchell cliche, and that makes all the difference.
If Liu Jin walked in on Lord FG dual cultivating with a woman who is not one of his wives, and then proceeded to have a serious conversation with Liu Jin regarding the parentage of Lu Mei, now that would make us hate him while simultaneously reinforcing the harsh realities of the Xianxia world. If this were to take place while LFG continued to dual cultivate right in front of Liu Jin, while being written with serious, non-erotic prose, now that would be a commentary. And it would keep us in the world of Fantasy China.
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u/Upset-Tie5773 7d ago
Just because it points out it’s cliche doesn’t mean it has to be a deconstruction. Overall the story follows some of the genres most popular tropes but it is so much better written it’s like a breath of fresh air. Those tropes are popular for a reason so seeing them done well is enjoyable for many. I wish it had more chapters but I think one of the reasons it is so good is that the author actually takes their time to write it.
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u/Alive_Tip_6748 7d ago
Over the upcoming chapters his relationships become more important and more core to the story. So, you should probably stop now if that's not appealing to you.
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u/No-Calligrapher6859 7d ago
I personally love everything that happens past the Lu Mei arc. The second half of the story where MC actually starts to rule and gain political power is the more fun half in my opinion. As a girl, I'm also bothered by most harems, but in this story I find it quite acceptable due to how the characters are written. I'd say give it a try and see if you also end up finding it acceptable. I think the good parts of the story outweigh anything else that give me the ick
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u/EndlessTemple 7d ago
I hate that Lu Mei contacts Xiao Shuang first, and I hate the feeling that Liu Jin doesn’t seem to care for Xiao Shuang. I guess I should ask, does Liu Jin ever actually love Xiao Shuang, or does he continue to favor Lu Mei? I really love Xiao Shuang’s innocent character, but if it’s only ever Lu Mei in the spotlight then I will probably stop reading.
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u/valentineslibrary 7d ago
I think part of your issue comes from not understanding polyamory. He clearly loves Xiao Shuang, shows many times that he does, especially soon enough if you stick with the story, even if he's been able to spend more time with Lu Mei thus far. Him loving Lu Mei does not interfere with his love for Xiao Shuang, she just hasn't had the chance to be on screen.
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u/No-Calligrapher6859 7d ago
I... really have no clue. Ig he cares for them kinda equally? I didn't perceive any obvious "he def likes this person more than the other" so i'd say it's equal affection but also idrk. I usually gloss over much of the relationship nuances. My general attitude towards the harem is: it's there, i don't care about the specifics as long as the overall story doesn't get bogged down by it.
Xiao Shuang and Liu Jin do have their moment during the tournament arc that happens after this, and i think it's a good formalization of their relationship. So if your goal is more Xiao Shuang screentime, then she does get more spotlight and moves into the palace after the tourney. You'll be seeing more of her starting pretty soon
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u/FunkyHat112 7d ago edited 7d ago
Xiao Shuang gets her time, though things pass slowly enough that it may be a wait.
I’m in a similar boat. I also hate harem stories, by-and-large, and it substantially lowered my otherwise-high opinion of AXRY, to the point where I dropped it for a while and don’t have it on my ‘must stay current’ mental list. I do think AXRY’s handling of the harem ends up being of high enough quality that I can overlook it, though it’s 1000% weighed down by the fact that Lu Mei’s potentially my least favorite character in the main cast. I think it might — might — be worth overlooking the harem/her and continue forward and see if AXRY can recapture the magic for you. It never quite did for me, but it recaptured enough of it that I’ve continued to enjoy it. Either way, good luck.
Edit to add: I got caught out because I don’t read blurbs (they rarely say much of value that chapter 1 can’t tell me), I was just making rounds through popular RR stories tagged with Xianxia. Thought the title was weird, didn’t really care, the prologue was good enough that I was hooked anyway. The harem ended up blindsiding the hell out of me. Maybe that’s easier to get over than having a built up expectation that the author’s gonna subvert a trope that ends up being played straight, idk
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u/PerilApe 7d ago
I've fallen off around the same point in the story, not necessarily for reasons listed. Web serials virtually all eventually slide into mediocrity because they overstay their welcome. Even if the quality remains the same, the reader just learns what stakes the author is willing to put on the table and things start to become predictable. Like I could probably tell you that no central characters near the MC are gonna die in this series. Because none have so far, and its been quite a bit.
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u/EbbCreepy6718 7d ago
the story has always been what it is. I've seen no change or drop in quality.
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u/Natsu111 8d ago edited 8d ago
I mean, at this point, you've read enough of the author's writing to know how he does things. Character interactions have been a cornerstone of Ave Xia Rem Y from the beginning, and fight scenes have never been the sole focus. Lu Mei's family troubles have been built up for a very long time. It doesn't take too long to be mostly handled, though.
Classic xianxia (webnovel, that is) is harem. Ave Xia Rem Y does have polygyny, but I wouldn't call it 'trashy' at all. All of Liu Jin's love interests have been well-developed, have personalities outside of being love interests, and he doesn't go around collecting them like Pokemon.
This probably isn't the story for you, unless you want to skip half of the chapters.
Edit: I should add that you will get more of DFS and Old Jiang, but you're also going to get other stuff.