5/5 stars on Goodreads
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| Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by MoXiang Tong Xiu |
The English translation of Chinese boylove cultivation fantasy, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, is now complete with the fifth volume. It’s been a fun journey of friendship, betrayal, and love. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangi went through literal death before they were able to love in peace.
The last volume had the final battle with Jin Guangyao that takes the remaining of the story. We learn about his motives, which actually made him a slightly more sympathetic character, and also who set Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangi on the path of uncovering him, which offered a surprise. And we have the happy ending we’ve hoped for, although if that had been the ending of the book, it would’ve been slightly unsatisfactory with its briefness.
Luckily, we get more. The main story took about third of the special edition. The rest consisted of eight longish stories about the life of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangi in their happily ever after. They were fun and very smutty, as Lan Wangi turned out to be not only insatiable but also to possess a great stamina. There are also a couple of before stories, one about Jin Guangyao even. I loved reading how the two had a normal, if not entirely calm life.
There were some complaints about the quality of translation when the first volume came out. Even I noticed some odd word choices, but those were gone by the last volume. Nothing had been done to the narrative inconsistencies though, that likely stem from the original webstory form. Timeline was occasionally all over the place and characters repeated actions like sitting without standing up in between. But these were small things that didn’t bother me as much as they might have if the story hadn’t captivated me.
I’m not sad that this is the end. The short stories were perfect in showing how the two live happily ever after and that’s how I like to imagine them. I very likely often will.
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