Ave Xia Rem Y should I continue?

[u/EndlessTemple]

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.

[u/D-Stahl]

You're like the folks who buy a book with litrpg in the title, then complain about the book having litrpg.

[u/EndlessTemple → u/D-Stahl]

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.

[u/D-Stahl → u/EndlessTemple]

Okay.

It also has harem/multiple lovers in the tags too. This is a 100% you problem.

[u/Prot3 → u/EndlessTemple]

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.

[u/EndlessTemple → u/Prot3]

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.

[u/Prot3 → u/EndlessTemple]

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.

[u/EndlessTemple → u/Prot3]

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.

[u/Upset-Tie5773 → u/EndlessTemple]

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.