Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel

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What compounded his annoyance was Shen Yu’s new hobby—recording crystals.The old man had overheard Jin talking to Yun Ren about recording their journey for them… and promptly decided to clear Mengde’s Crystal Emporium out of every remaining Recording Pane. The answer had surprised him. Summer's Sky saw mostly through his eyes, which was the twinge he noticed, and the sword saw the “aura” of things. A slow, simple, fulfilling life in a place where nothing exciting or out of the ordinary ever happens...right?

This webnovel stands out not for having a cool idea on how to deconstruct a setting (he takes the piss out of the xianxia genre, deservedly) but for spinning a touching, character-focused story out of that. Indeed I have! Even you won’t be able to find flaw with this, fox boy!” The old man paused dramatically, then projected the image for all of them to see.

A slow, simple, fulfilling life in a place where nothing exciting or out of the ordinary ever happens…right? The sword rattled happily as Yun Ren sat down beside it, staring up at the colours woven with illusions. For more info, see our welcome post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/v3zz32/welcome_to_rprogressionfantasy/ Gou shook his head. “I don’t think I’m ready. Jin’s been showing me all the stuff he has to do for this place, and he has people to handle finances. I can grow Gold Grade Rice, but I’m not ready for all the rest, not yet. I… don’t think I can just jump into getting my own place, yanno?” There shall be challenges, of that I have no doubt—but I believe we shall each prove the equal to whatever task may await us,” Bi De replied confidently to his companions. “Just beyond that rise… a whole new world awaits us.”

Gou Ren shrugged. “I can afford it. I got my cut of the cash for the harvest. It's shitloads of money… more than I kind of know what to do with.” That, and we started finding my kludge solutions, as we started pulling off siding. I had just kind of… trusted in Qi keeping probably a bit too many things together. They would have held with constant maintenance! It was called the Stone Gate. An impressive, foreboding sight, with the roaring crash of the thundering rapids occasionally defeated by the wind screaming through the Howling Fang Mountains, an interplay that produced a haunting melody. When he finally reached the sect, he was labelled as a mediocre talent, and was relegated to performing petty tasks around the sect, like watering spiritual herbs. They’re pretty great, aren’t they?” Yun Ren asked, tapping at the wonderful leather pouch that held the flat pane of crystal Yun Ren cherished. “But they’re pretty pricey too, yanno? And the ones that can record more than just static images are way more expensive.”And then he had recorded every embarrassing moment from their training with a bright smile on his face. At least this recording wasn’t of Bi De trussed up like a roast after he had failed to notice Nezan slipping alcohol into his food. Thus, they had climbed the side of the mountains, been hounded ferociously by corporeal illusions, and Bi De was pushed to the limit by an Old Monster. It recoiled. It was vindicated in its distrust. The other dared to offer them tainted energy, the energy that hurt it! It fled from the other, and rejected it's touch. It fled deep, and dispersed, ready for another bout of pain. Which put Yun Ren firmly on the bottom of the pole. Oh, they were being nice about it, but he knew he wasn’t as good as them. He likely never would be. The sword wasn’t his passion. Even if he may never be as good a fighter as Tigu or Xiulan, he did want to learn something of swordsmanship. He would at least be able to defend himself. He had his own plans, after all.

But what kept me going, and made me laugh out loud way more than usual (enough for Melissa to remark on), were the farm friends. Big D the rooster is fun, sure, but Chunky stole my heart and Tigger shouldered her way in somehow as well. Essentially, Jin creates a farmily with his sapient, cultivator critters and they are a delight. Add finding a fine lady to love and appreciative neighbors and I was all-in before I was even halfway through the novel. And… well , I like it here. Jin is cool with me hanging around, and Meimei is too. I’ve got my own house already, and even if I’m not the Master of my own land yet, it’s still a good place to live.” Gou Ren had been using Jin’s recording crystal more, especially when they had carved all the gourds. From Tigu’s unsettlingly lifelike one, to Chun Ke’s gourd with a crooked smile. But mostly, he seemed to be sneaking recordings of Xianghua and Bowu. Yun Ren paused at the mention of Biyu, the crystal carver he was courting. An image of the woman’s beautiful eyes popped into his head.

That was the way it had always been. Torment and nothingness, for a thousand, thousand cycles. So long, it had forgotten. But the pain. The pain it remembered. The sharpness of it had faded, but it still remained-- that dull, dull ache. I took a breath and refocused on my task. Qi poured out of my body as I worked, as it always did. It saturated the wood, and the saw, and the earth, and it made me feel like I was connected to everything at once.

It's a little difficult to split the style from the story and characters. The novel has multiple viewpoints and organically switches between them. Each perspective is unique enough that it would be (relatively) easy to guess whose eyes we're peering through without the author's help. Mostly, this tool is used to show the perspectives of Jin, his disciples, the mortals around him, and the people who have not gotten used to his antics. De un tiempo a esta parte ha empezado a proliferar un genero, el xianxia, basado en las interpretaciones más fantasiosas de ciertos mitos y leyendas chinos, en contraste al wuxia, el genero en el que se engloban la mayor parte de películas de artes marciales como Tigre y Dragón y similares. También han empezado a verse historias, sobre todo en diversas paginas de Internet, sobre personajes del mundo real que acaban en estos mundos fantásticos de artes marciales y aventuras épicas.

With Bowu looking up at Gou and Xianghua at his side… Yun Ren’s little brother didn’t look so little anymore. His face was lit up in a way Yun had never seen. The trio looked like a family. He was getting a bit worried. Yun Ren would have to go up north and bug the old bastard if he stayed snoozing for too long. To combat this, the fox-faced man had started critiquing Shen Yu’s recordings. And the implication that Shen Yu wasn’t as good as a boy at recording images had sparked Shen Yu’s spirit.