The First Law of Cultivation: A Xianxia Progression Fantasy (Qi=MC^2, Book 1)

Great writing, editing, and progression; I'm looking forward to the next in the series! I'm glad I found this after the second had already been released! :)

The story line is fun and original. The writing style is unique. Reading this book makes you constantly want to read more and more and not put the book down. Kind of strange in a good way. I did not expect the book to be this good, but it is.

There are spelling mistakes and words used erroneously (like hoard and horde swapping for each other several times).But this book is worth it.At the risk of spoiling it I have to say this is one of the most satisfying pieces of foreshadowing I've read in years. I didn't see it coming, but when it hit, I could see all the little pointers and clues.I extremely rarely get surprised by plot unless there hadn't been any clues whatsoever (aka not a plot twist, just lazy writing) and I am impressed.The story is reminiscent of Beware of Chicken and Path of Ascension and I love the world building and attention to detail.This is a book that pairs well with a good cup of oolong tea, perhaps a mooncake (or Twinkie) and a cat in your lap.I'm def getting the sequel.

I was pretty surprised at how quickly I demolished this book. From start to finish I really enjoyed this book.The characters were really likeable and the pacing was great. I always enjoy a book where I'm surprised by how much ground gets covered w/o feeling like it was rushed.The strongest trait this book/series has going for it is the character work that is going on. The MC has his own unique set of problems that he is fighting with, but shockingly the "side" characters also have well laid out problems that they are dealing with as well. Everyone's problems all feel legitimate and relatable in some fashion. There is a wide cast of characters and I don't feel like the author will be throwing anyone away within the story any time soon; which is a plus. I will note though, there is a fairly OBVIOUS harem forming around the MC, but there isn't any weird sexual tensions going on...yet.The magic/cultivation in this series is both kind of standard but I think it also brings something that is different. There is definitely enough there that it's presence in the story adds a bit salt/flavor to the rest of the book and helps bring it up more.I will say the series is fairly "self-aware" in pointing out [cultivation] tropes and making fun of them. Luckily it doesn't tend to then stumble right into them.The biggest and most GLARING flaw with this book though is the copy editing -- it's atrocious. It was fine at the very start of the book but as time went on more spelling errors started to crop up and it got to a point where some words were just flat out missing from a sentence (ie: the sentence became ungrammatical). This will leave you having to fill-in/guess what the sentence means. The writing is still solid and doesn't read like a badly translated book, or anything like that, but it was definitely jarring to go from a good start to a problematic end (in terms of copy editing). If these issues don't get under your skin, then I would just ignore this point of mine. I think what is in this book is good enough to completely overlook this issue.Even with the some of the worst copy-editing I've seen in a while in progression fantasy on KU; I'm still giving this a 5/5. It left me feeling great and it was a really enjoyable story with awesome characters so far. I already threw book 2 on my wish list so I remember to pick it up when it comes out.

Love how it manage to capture many important points of the Chinese sects. I kinda ship the rat boy with him! It was the best chapters!

Snarky humor, great character and (of course) excellent cultivation. A few misspelled or misused words but none of the ( he,she,they,it ) problems from poor translation. A comfortable read. Definitely buying the sequels.

Not gonna lie I wasn’t expecting much from this book. I’ve just been in a reading slump lately and it seemed every book I started was destined to be ass. And I continued to think that for the first half of this book. Especially because I thought this book had one of my biggest pet peeves in isekai’s where they have someone reincarnate into another world and then they never mention it again. I hate when the author doesn’t touch on the characters previous life, family, or personality just using the fact that the MC was suddenly in another world as an intriguing hook. but in this case it was actually a huge plot twist that I really liked. It was really long but didn’t over explain things. And the main character very cool and OP at the end. Can’t wait for book two

The short version is that this is what you would get if you took beware of chicken and made the main character terminally curious. Or if peter parker were a cultivator. Especially since associatimg with lu jie has made most everyone's lives worse. For a book that wants to move away from xianxia tropes this book really relies on them and invokes them a lot, but thats really gives it stronger structure and more familiar touchstones to rely on. I would say the most frustrating part is the lack of precision in the scientific study of chi, we never learn what the first law of cultivation is, only "the du.ality of chi" which os a description.of wht the law should explain or demarcate, not an actual content.Very enjoyable, still could use work, good read while you wait for more beware of chicken.

I found the story unique and very interesting and look forward to seeing the next installment of this series of books and

Interesting and engaging. I liked the characters, their growth and different backgrounds. Looks like this first book prepared a fertile foundation for the next adventure.

Good characters, good story and humor. More slice of life than action but thoroughly entertaining and wholesome.Waiting for book 2.

A good and enjoyable cultivation story with a twist on the genre. I'll be looking forward to more from the author.Looking forward more on Science and fiction from author

In the beginning I struggled with getting bogged down in the amount of information about the technical aspects of Ju Lie's alchemy and almost gave up but I'm very glad I pushed through as this turned out to be a wonderful book.The MC was great, the side characters well fleshed out and I loved the spirit companions. It had some of the best world building I've come across in ages.On to the next book.