Paragon of Sin - Reviews

One of the best cultivation novels I've ever read, at least top 5 of all time for sure.

The characters are extremely well written. The Mc can be seen as the "rich young master" of the novel, but an extremely smart and charismatic one.
The novel is well aware of the tropes inside it's genre, and plays really well within them.
Every character has a personality of its own, and makes their own decisions based on their personality.

Let's not even talk about the world building and cultivation realms, everything is well explained and has a reason, not just the same a to b increases qi by a billion fold.

While reviewing this, I come to realize that this is probably top 3 of all time.

Just like before, I'll be brief and to the point. (Curse 140 Word Count).

To all those reading, will read, thinking of leaving a review, comment, power stone, or reply to my comments, I thank YOU for being apart of this! Let's move forward, strongly and with anticipation for the future.

For some reason I can't comment so I'll say it here. Briliant!
Another incredible story that has me pumped and really interested. After reading hundreds of cultivation novels and getting bored to death by a lot of them I find this one a breath of new air. The character is really intriguing and is more in line with the "Young masters" of other novels. But his intelligence makes you feel like he is gonna stay, a bit like history's strongest senior brother in his demeanour. I am expecting even more. Well done!

if you're here for harem or romance don't read this throughout the novel it feels like ntr, most of his harem members are like someone else

There are good aspects of this novel and then there are bad as well, though the bad will start to heavily tilt the balance of the scale after a few hundred chapters. The writing quality and/ or translation is the highlight of this novel, the author has taken the time to pack in information, as well as constant world building into the story in addition to the lengthy chapters. The author is also a little more creative with the cultivation system and while, it does not venture off too much from your typical system, the author is more in-depth with explanations as well as giving each minor realm its own unique, innovative touch. Each minor realm of the cultivation system has a reason to exist and slowly, but surely builds a logical foundation over time that ties into the power the cultivation system grants each character. There are also unique elements to the story that I find creative and fun, such as the various side characters that are parodies of your typical Xiaxia protagonist or the constant countdown towards the MC's doom that pushes his cultivation vs. the typical "I want power over my own fate" trope.

If I had to summarize the bad, it would have to be that the novel is directionless, slow pacing and in relation to that, too much filler. The author has, without a doubt, thought out their power system. After that though, is where the novel loses a lot of readers because it gives the feeling that the author had a great idea for the power system but didn't have much in terms of story and plotting, constructing a weak and mediocre story around a solid foundation. There is too much filler and you end up reading thick, convoluted chapters that does not push the needle forward much in the grand scheme of things, spending upward of 30 to 50 chapters to stretch stuff out. There is not much progress with the MC in terms of cultivation and while the beginning of the novel makes you believe that you know what kind of character he is, he will then later mellow out and become quite generic and quite frankly, cowardly. I would argue that this novel is more about the MC building up a faction + kingdom building in all honesty, which isn't something I was expecting this novel to turn into if you were to compare the beginning of the novel to now.

I really liked the first 800 chapters but now the author is just trying to meet the word count and writing a lot of unnecessary stuff which honestly doesn't help the story much. Well without all that it's a pretty decent story for passing time

I wanted to ask something about one of the FMCs, because I stopped reading for quite a while and it was mostly because of some spoilers I read about her.

When I was reading, Na Xinyi was quite the annoying character as a whole. She seemed like a stuck up b**** and I couldn't read further, because it seemed like the MC cared for her too much. Then I read somewhere that the author's gf/wife is actually named Na Xinyi and she was going to be like a top FMC in the novel.

I don't want to know if she has changed. I just want to know if the MC still shows much affection towards her? Even changing this character for the 'better' won't erase her annoying past and the information on the wiki seems to be old, I imagine there might be other stuff involving her.

This is a good novel. It has it's ups and downs but it's overshadowed by all the good things it has to offer. I don't know what kind of person you are author but god bless you. You are among those few people who rather than writing a trash loser mc who was weak at first and later became stronger because of a lucky encounter chose to write a truly talented mc. I mean why does an mc need to be weak and trash at first? And later that same trash became strong because of a lucky encounter rather than hard work. It gives of such a chosen one vibe. And I f*ck*ng loathe it. But the mc of paragon of sins was talented and hard working from the beginning. Yes he did have lucky encounters but that doesn't change the fact that he was already talented. It only boosted his growth. And for that I respect the author. One of the best mc's I have come across.

I thought this was a chinese novel but the writing doesn't seem like those typical chinese novel at all. Is the author american?

His name is "Kevinascending"
He writes in English and u can check wn for further shenanigans

Here's a different type of traditional wuxia/cultivation novel for you. If I could describe it in a sentence, then it would be; "a brutal, grimdark cultivation novel." There's no empathy and it accurately portrays the harsh, competitive environment, where everyone climbs a mountain of bodies in order to fight for resources and get stronger. Everything makes "sense" and the actions of the MC is logical - though brutal at times.

The MC is, what you would call, a "villainous" MC, and the reason for the apostrophe is due to the fact that his actions are sometimes necessary, but it also displays his arrogance and dominance as a talent. You really get a feel for his character in the first chapter, and I'll insert a warning here, it can be *very* jarring. You read it, and then think, "No way can this be the MC. He's a total dick." But because he's a dick and not a spineless, dickless MC, unlike many other traditional wuxia novels, it's refreshing - but in a dark and twisted way. Spoiler here; in the first intro, he had just forced a girl of a rival sect to oral sex, and killed her lover in front her, and then killed her once done. Though the oral part is not mentioned explicitly, it can be deducted, and because the story starts of with the females point of view/backstory, it really portrays the harshness and lack of empathy the MC has. You then keep reading, thinking, "no way is this the MC", and then he comes across another character, with MC vibes and you think, "Yes! Finally the 'real' mc and this scumbag gets his justice." But, (un)fortunately, no.
This type of twists and turn keeps you reading, slowly getting addicted to the no-nonsense MC, where you slowly get to learn more about him, and his circumstances. With this slow reveal, you unconsciously begin to accept him, root for him, and accept his brutal ways. His lack of empathy in this competitive wuxia workd becomes his strength and makes him "cool." And as if to contrast this, you also slowly begin to realise how deeply flawed other wuxia novels are - they say that it's competitive, but none of their characters in their story takes the same measures. Think about it, if your life is constantly on the ropes, would you have time to go left and right to conquer beauties or spare you rivals? No! You'd use every means at your disposal to gain strength, plot against your rivals/enemies, and further you agenda.

This brings me to the second point; the side characters. They are pretty well sculpted, with their own agenda, ideals, and background. As of now, not much is known, but the MC's flashback unveils a larger story and gives more depth to the side characters. If you think the MC's a dick? Wait till you meet enemy/***** nr. 1 - it's damn near chilling what she does to gain strength.
There's no right or wrong in this world, only who's weaker or stronger. Might makes right - and in this novel, it does so in the most brutal, no-nonsense, unfiltered kind of way. Dark pleasures, anyone?
As of chapter 18, we've been introduced to some superficial side characters, and a few prominent ones - we're still learning more and more of the plot and MC, but not much has been revealed.

This brings me to the story progression, I can see that the author is taking the long route; slowly building the characters, their relations, and unveiling a bit of the world a chapter at a time. We don't know why the character wants to become strong or why he's cultivating, though a little has been hinted at his meagre family background that could potentially have plot relevance. As of chapter 18, MC is just a ruthless, overbearing, and prideful mc, but the plot is slowly starting.
I find this good, as you need time to adjust to the new paradigm mentality and the circumstances of the MC, and I'm eagerly reading to uncover more about the MC, and thus stumble upon the overarching plot in due time.

Lastly, this is a pretty new story, so I'm cautious about predicting update stability. (cont. In comments).

Novel is a Huge let down there is such a miss leading intro, for some reason the MC starts off as like a ruthless killer but then he just changes into neutral good and it’s super boring