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Against the Gods #1
Red-Colored Calamity
Official Description
Wielding the sky poison pearl, receiving the blood of an evil god, cultivating the strength to oppose heaven, a lord overlooking the world!
Synopsis by Alyschu:
A boy is being chased by various people because he alone holds some kind of treasure. He jumps off a cliff to not let any of them have it and wakes up in the body of a boy with the same name in another world. Fortunately, he has kept the treasure he ran off with.
Wielding the sky poison pearl, receiving the blood of an evil god, cultivating the strength to oppose heaven, a lord overlooking the world!
Synopsis by Alyschu:
A boy is being chased by various people because he alone holds some kind of treasure. He jumps off a cliff to not let any of them have it and wakes up in the body of a boy with the same name in another world. Fortunately, he has kept the treasure he ran off with.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 5, 2016
Very long and detailed world building. Character development is excellent.
For a starter this book is excellent and the best part is its quite long.
For a starter this book is excellent and the best part is its quite long.
December 12, 2016
No wonder that ATG claimed the 1st rank for almost a long time until Tales of Demons and Gods toke it away (100% guarantee it's not gonna last forever). The shiver on my body and the shock I felt it inside my heart, it was one of a kind. In my entire 23 years I have NEVER seen the hair on my hands rise like it did when I read Chapter 34 (it lasts 30mins.). This specific chapter changed my entire view of Yun Che, the grudge he has in his heart, the anger in his eyes and the cursed aura that flew in his Profound Vein, are something out of the world.
When he had a duel with Xiao Leuocheng and that enormous Profound energy he released towards him, it made me think that the extinction of the name "Xiao" is just a matter of time, just that I can't wait when he'll come back to Xiao Clan and avenge them for all the humiliation and disdain they caused for him, his grandfather Xiao Lie and his little aunt Xiao Lingxi.
Finally, to be honest the only being in the entire novel I admire besides Yun Che is the 13 year old Jasmine, it's that I'm wondering in what realm is she? What exactly her profound energy? Where is she from? And what exactly is she? Hope in next 5 books everything become clear.
When he had a duel with Xiao Leuocheng and that enormous Profound energy he released towards him, it made me think that the extinction of the name "Xiao" is just a matter of time, just that I can't wait when he'll come back to Xiao Clan and avenge them for all the humiliation and disdain they caused for him, his grandfather Xiao Lie and his little aunt Xiao Lingxi.
Finally, to be honest the only being in the entire novel I admire besides Yun Che is the 13 year old Jasmine, it's that I'm wondering in what realm is she? What exactly her profound energy? Where is she from? And what exactly is she? Hope in next 5 books everything become clear.
January 29, 2021
I struggled to get to chapter 116 before deciding I had better things to do with my time. Personally, I did not like this book.
Story:
TOO MUCH DEUS EX MACHINA AND RANDOM CHANCE (and stupidity).
This is unbelievable. Within 40 chapters:
He gets into fights and had a trump card that we didn't know about. That is believable, since he planned on getting into the fight. Then he is about to be handed into the hands of the bad guys but then a benefactor from the shadows saves him at the last moment. Deus ex. And then he is doing some other plan but leaves his calling card for no reason and the bad guys happen to find it prematurely and come after him. Annoying stupidity and random chance. Then while running he is super dead but runs into his benefactor again and is saved. Deus ex. Then he is falling to his death but then concocts a magic pill and is totally okay. DEUS EX . Then he and the benefactor are trapped and gonna die but the benefactor was hiding strength this whole time. DEUS EX. Then the bad guys are allowed to live and tell their bosses who are coincidentally op. Random chance and stupidity. Then he stumbles into a super op inheritance in the middle of nowhere while not looking for it. Random chance. Then his benefactor is about to be killed but he gets the inheritance and even more and he is suddenly even more powerful just in time to mop the floor with the bad guys. DEUS EXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
At this point I stopped reading. I don't want to read about a story that revolves around meaningless dice rolls of the gods. I wish there was a real story here with meaningful characters, world, and plot, but all those things are rendered meaningless since things happen due to chance and not due to the characters, world, or anything that resembles a traditional, "proper" plot.
Rather slow. This story is not very concise when describing things, often going into what I would consider unnecessary details. Such details do not help the plot at all, nor build up the characters or world meaningfully. The saving grace here is that they skip all the training sequences, so at least there is that.
Lots of fighting. This is what many people seem to come to this genre for. Personally I am more interested in the growth of power rather than constant displays of its use, so the fighting is rather boring to me. It is not as boringly written as some books, which merely list moves and counter moves. However, it is not as masterfully done as Reverend Insanity's fights, which also manage to incorporate world building and character development for a truly engaging fight experience. In the end, I don't enjoy these fight scenes, but I also don't loath them as much as other books'.
Characters:
No comment. Doesn't even matter since God and his deus ex are apparently the only character that matters. The characters here are meaningless action figures for God.
World:
Who cares? This is best describes as the kiddie pool where God plays with deus ex and random chance.
Story:
TOO MUCH DEUS EX MACHINA AND RANDOM CHANCE (and stupidity).
This is unbelievable. Within 40 chapters:
He gets into fights and had a trump card that we didn't know about. That is believable, since he planned on getting into the fight. Then he is about to be handed into the hands of the bad guys but then a benefactor from the shadows saves him at the last moment. Deus ex. And then he is doing some other plan but leaves his calling card for no reason and the bad guys happen to find it prematurely and come after him. Annoying stupidity and random chance. Then while running he is super dead but runs into his benefactor again and is saved. Deus ex. Then he is falling to his death but then concocts a magic pill and is totally okay. DEUS EX . Then he and the benefactor are trapped and gonna die but the benefactor was hiding strength this whole time. DEUS EX. Then the bad guys are allowed to live and tell their bosses who are coincidentally op. Random chance and stupidity. Then he stumbles into a super op inheritance in the middle of nowhere while not looking for it. Random chance. Then his benefactor is about to be killed but he gets the inheritance and even more and he is suddenly even more powerful just in time to mop the floor with the bad guys. DEUS EXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
At this point I stopped reading. I don't want to read about a story that revolves around meaningless dice rolls of the gods. I wish there was a real story here with meaningful characters, world, and plot, but all those things are rendered meaningless since things happen due to chance and not due to the characters, world, or anything that resembles a traditional, "proper" plot.
Rather slow. This story is not very concise when describing things, often going into what I would consider unnecessary details. Such details do not help the plot at all, nor build up the characters or world meaningfully. The saving grace here is that they skip all the training sequences, so at least there is that.
Lots of fighting. This is what many people seem to come to this genre for. Personally I am more interested in the growth of power rather than constant displays of its use, so the fighting is rather boring to me. It is not as boringly written as some books, which merely list moves and counter moves. However, it is not as masterfully done as Reverend Insanity's fights, which also manage to incorporate world building and character development for a truly engaging fight experience. In the end, I don't enjoy these fight scenes, but I also don't loath them as much as other books'.
Characters:
No comment. Doesn't even matter since God and his deus ex are apparently the only character that matters. The characters here are meaningless action figures for God.
World:
Who cares? This is best describes as the kiddie pool where God plays with deus ex and random chance.
November 3, 2025
The start of this fantasy/cultivation "Xianxia" Asian Chinese novel series is so cliched that a lot like this one start the same way, use the same ideas/side characters and tropes in the same manner.
Author has no ethical values (dual-sense-of-justice/Rules for thee but never for me), is nonsensical, irrational, illogical. For instance, Yun Che Yun (Xiao Che) (main character) is "reincarnated" into the body of a 15 year old boy from the Xiao Clan (in a body snatching style, was not actually born into the other world/other person's body)(has both 100% memories/abilities and even "teleport"/"reincarnate"/"body-snatch" with the "swallowed" Sky-Poisoned Pearl" (from his previous life). Would it be possible to transfer both physical (pearl), mental (memories), spiritual (soul), to another world, into another body, of another person who is the same age at the exact moment they have "died"? Just probability alone would say that this is no longer "fantasy" but "completely impossible". This is not a multiple-reality (same world different circumstances/lives) but an infinite World with nobody (tacit) in charge of giving people "second chances" at life (so that they can succeed/OP/be undefeated) in their new lives, with zero common sense, compliance with logic, science, rational thought at all.
Yun Che (main character) has "deep family feelings: loyalty, love, etc." but no real relationship (no real reason DNA or otherwise to feel "loyalty/love/filial piety/etc." to any of the Grandpa's/Xiao aunt's (Little Aunt), etc. other characters in this novel because main character is a stranger to the supporting characters around him in two senses: 1) Was teleported/reincarnated into his new body (so no real relationship to the people around him) 2) Because main character (who died poison by his "older brother in the Xiao Clan" poisoned main character in the first chapter of this really long fantasy/cultivation web/light novel.
Author never really states a main theme or at least secondary story arcs (fall apart/plot holes) the moment one realizes that main character Yun Che Yun (Xiao Che) has no real reason to "restart his new life in this other world and other existence".
Can a main character (that had no capacity for cultivation) be overpowered without any martial arts training, real alchemical (physical/emotional/biological/experience based changes)? For instance, main character (& spirit sidekick) kill a legendary Flood Dragon (beginning of story) but do not eat the Dragon meat, or exploit the Legendary Dragon Materials (scales, teeth, meat, spirit stone, etc.)? Main Character fights with 3-4 students from other (Top 7 martial arts academies) on his first day at the Academy (New Moon Profound Palace) that his Brother-in-Law attends (without ever having any classes, or any training or knowing anyone at this new academy, except for his brother-in-law) and is able to defeat students from other academies that are 2-3-4-5 years older and 1-2-3-4-5 cultivation levels higher than someone who has not trained a single day in his "new reincarnated life"/or in his previous life either? In real life, an Olympic Athlete at the highest point of his training/physical capacity does not compete with a person (like the main character) who has never competed/dueled or trained a single day in his existence (both lives) and somehow "main character" wins? Can a baby beat a WWE Adult Wrestler? Never. Not possible ever. Story is structured (levels, system, etc.) but main character never really cultivates, works, sweats to deserve all the level-ups.
The "reasons for the duels/seeking "pointers" are weak if at all described and it's a Gargantuanly long series of absurd/surreal/imaginary/delusional fights where main character has no real martial arts training, no real Xianxia cultivation, never really attends any classes (but somehow belongs to an Academy/School), where main character never eats, never studies, never trains, never really attends but fights with everyone just so that the delusional/irrational/illogical author of this story, can state/write time and time again that main character is totally "Over-Powered" (OP) without any real Rule of Equivalent Exchange. Rule of Equivalent Exchange (if you are not familiar with it) states that for every action/thing one receives (level up for example) one needs to actually train, do the work, pay the cost of leveling up. There are no real costs in this entire web/light novel series. No responsibilities, no relation with real-effective-scientific-laws-etc. Nothing has evidence, there are no receipts and things just happen because the author writes them to happen. There is no point to this story except maybe to kill time and take up space (webnovel/light novel writers get ranked/paid by the amount of chapters in their novels, amount of likes, and length of their chapters/stories) kind of like Marx's value theory of Labor: that things like work should cost not by the effectiveness/efficiency/quality/merit of the work done, but by the amount of time taken by the people who supposedly "worked" (even if the thing sold is not completed, not functional or not compliant with specifications). If the "plumber/electrician" worked for 1000 hours but only got the house to burn down/flood entirely, it's not relevant. That worker needs to get paid for his time, not his results. These Troped Xianxia novels are structured in exactly the same manner. It doesn't matter why the main character was given a "second chance at another life", it doesn't matter if main character never trains, never studies, never eats/sleeps or is responsible for the consequences of his actions/omissions, what the author places all emphasis on is on the fighting, the OP of the main character, harem-trope, level-up without cultivation in a Xianxia cultivation novel, etc. until they become "God-Level beings". Would this then, be the main theme of a story like this one? No real work for the best possible results? No real merit/quality but you become the strongest/richest/most-liked/biggest-harem person in this other world? It's like winning the lottery without even having a ticket or knowing that the lottery you won existed, no?
If entertainment is the end-goal, can something that is repetitive (just changing the side character names) and repeating it hundreds/thousands of times be really entertaining? If cultivation (Xianxia) is the style/type of novel, then would this novel in particular be a "parody"/anti-Xianxia, since there is never really any training/merit/cultivation at all?
Author has no ethical values (dual-sense-of-justice/Rules for thee but never for me), is nonsensical, irrational, illogical. For instance, Yun Che Yun (Xiao Che) (main character) is "reincarnated" into the body of a 15 year old boy from the Xiao Clan (in a body snatching style, was not actually born into the other world/other person's body)(has both 100% memories/abilities and even "teleport"/"reincarnate"/"body-snatch" with the "swallowed" Sky-Poisoned Pearl" (from his previous life). Would it be possible to transfer both physical (pearl), mental (memories), spiritual (soul), to another world, into another body, of another person who is the same age at the exact moment they have "died"? Just probability alone would say that this is no longer "fantasy" but "completely impossible". This is not a multiple-reality (same world different circumstances/lives) but an infinite World with nobody (tacit) in charge of giving people "second chances" at life (so that they can succeed/OP/be undefeated) in their new lives, with zero common sense, compliance with logic, science, rational thought at all.
Yun Che (main character) has "deep family feelings: loyalty, love, etc." but no real relationship (no real reason DNA or otherwise to feel "loyalty/love/filial piety/etc." to any of the Grandpa's/Xiao aunt's (Little Aunt), etc. other characters in this novel because main character is a stranger to the supporting characters around him in two senses: 1) Was teleported/reincarnated into his new body (so no real relationship to the people around him) 2) Because main character (who died poison by his "older brother in the Xiao Clan" poisoned main character in the first chapter of this really long fantasy/cultivation web/light novel.
Author never really states a main theme or at least secondary story arcs (fall apart/plot holes) the moment one realizes that main character Yun Che Yun (Xiao Che) has no real reason to "restart his new life in this other world and other existence".
Can a main character (that had no capacity for cultivation) be overpowered without any martial arts training, real alchemical (physical/emotional/biological/experience based changes)? For instance, main character (& spirit sidekick) kill a legendary Flood Dragon (beginning of story) but do not eat the Dragon meat, or exploit the Legendary Dragon Materials (scales, teeth, meat, spirit stone, etc.)? Main Character fights with 3-4 students from other (Top 7 martial arts academies) on his first day at the Academy (New Moon Profound Palace) that his Brother-in-Law attends (without ever having any classes, or any training or knowing anyone at this new academy, except for his brother-in-law) and is able to defeat students from other academies that are 2-3-4-5 years older and 1-2-3-4-5 cultivation levels higher than someone who has not trained a single day in his "new reincarnated life"/or in his previous life either? In real life, an Olympic Athlete at the highest point of his training/physical capacity does not compete with a person (like the main character) who has never competed/dueled or trained a single day in his existence (both lives) and somehow "main character" wins? Can a baby beat a WWE Adult Wrestler? Never. Not possible ever. Story is structured (levels, system, etc.) but main character never really cultivates, works, sweats to deserve all the level-ups.
The "reasons for the duels/seeking "pointers" are weak if at all described and it's a Gargantuanly long series of absurd/surreal/imaginary/delusional fights where main character has no real martial arts training, no real Xianxia cultivation, never really attends any classes (but somehow belongs to an Academy/School), where main character never eats, never studies, never trains, never really attends but fights with everyone just so that the delusional/irrational/illogical author of this story, can state/write time and time again that main character is totally "Over-Powered" (OP) without any real Rule of Equivalent Exchange. Rule of Equivalent Exchange (if you are not familiar with it) states that for every action/thing one receives (level up for example) one needs to actually train, do the work, pay the cost of leveling up. There are no real costs in this entire web/light novel series. No responsibilities, no relation with real-effective-scientific-laws-etc. Nothing has evidence, there are no receipts and things just happen because the author writes them to happen. There is no point to this story except maybe to kill time and take up space (webnovel/light novel writers get ranked/paid by the amount of chapters in their novels, amount of likes, and length of their chapters/stories) kind of like Marx's value theory of Labor: that things like work should cost not by the effectiveness/efficiency/quality/merit of the work done, but by the amount of time taken by the people who supposedly "worked" (even if the thing sold is not completed, not functional or not compliant with specifications). If the "plumber/electrician" worked for 1000 hours but only got the house to burn down/flood entirely, it's not relevant. That worker needs to get paid for his time, not his results. These Troped Xianxia novels are structured in exactly the same manner. It doesn't matter why the main character was given a "second chance at another life", it doesn't matter if main character never trains, never studies, never eats/sleeps or is responsible for the consequences of his actions/omissions, what the author places all emphasis on is on the fighting, the OP of the main character, harem-trope, level-up without cultivation in a Xianxia cultivation novel, etc. until they become "God-Level beings". Would this then, be the main theme of a story like this one? No real work for the best possible results? No real merit/quality but you become the strongest/richest/most-liked/biggest-harem person in this other world? It's like winning the lottery without even having a ticket or knowing that the lottery you won existed, no?
If entertainment is the end-goal, can something that is repetitive (just changing the side character names) and repeating it hundreds/thousands of times be really entertaining? If cultivation (Xianxia) is the style/type of novel, then would this novel in particular be a "parody"/anti-Xianxia, since there is never really any training/merit/cultivation at all?
July 4, 2021
For me to have rated this novel so low when I just started reading (and being fascinated by) translated novels really shows how much this doesn’t suit my tastes.
I’m trying this again 2 1/2 years later, mostly out of curiosity. So far it’s bad, but still standard for these kind of action/word-padding novels. Nothing about this is at all interesting or unique enough to make this worth struggling through.
2019 rating: 2 stars
I’m trying this again 2 1/2 years later, mostly out of curiosity. So far it’s bad, but still standard for these kind of action/word-padding novels. Nothing about this is at all interesting or unique enough to make this worth struggling through.
2019 rating: 2 stars
March 16, 2024
At first I was puzzled as to what this fundamentally was, but eventually I decided that this is a harem anime wearing a cultivation story's robes. In the first book there's almost no cultivation and no real advancement, just an enormous amount of text dedicated to "comedy perversion" of the usual type. I understand this changes later, but like a harem anime, there's no actual sexuality, just a lot of adjacent tropes. It's pretty insufferable - I was going to read more of this for research but don't think I'll be able to.
I'm struggling to remember the last time I read a protagonist with no redeeming characteristics. Xiao/Yun Che is a weird creep in a way that seems almost intentional, like sniffing his fiance's blanket right in front of her. Technically he has his nonsense cheats, but he doesn't even use those until about the 17th chapter. It's easy to say this is deep in "Has the author ever spoken to a real woman?" territory, but more than that, the character interactions are incoherent unless you fully inhale the incel fumes.
Hypocrisy is normal in these webnovels, but this one is pretty laughable. The protagonist does almost nothing but sexually harass Xiao Qingyue, and at one point he outright says he would rape her if he could, then when Xiao Yulong comes around, it treats him as in any way noble. This is not a book for people who have ever self-reflected in their lives.
Honestly, I feel bad for the other xianxia books I rated one star, because this is so much worse. Those are Middle One Star Realm and this one is Early One Star Realm, I guess.
I'm struggling to remember the last time I read a protagonist with no redeeming characteristics. Xiao/Yun Che is a weird creep in a way that seems almost intentional, like sniffing his fiance's blanket right in front of her. Technically he has his nonsense cheats, but he doesn't even use those until about the 17th chapter. It's easy to say this is deep in "Has the author ever spoken to a real woman?" territory, but more than that, the character interactions are incoherent unless you fully inhale the incel fumes.
Hypocrisy is normal in these webnovels, but this one is pretty laughable. The protagonist does almost nothing but sexually harass Xiao Qingyue, and at one point he outright says he would rape her if he could, then when Xiao Yulong comes around, it treats him as in any way noble. This is not a book for people who have ever self-reflected in their lives.
Honestly, I feel bad for the other xianxia books I rated one star, because this is so much worse. Those are Middle One Star Realm and this one is Early One Star Realm, I guess.
January 29, 2025
This book frustrates me in ways I cannot describe. For starters, the main character gets out of every difficult situation through blind luck when death is assured. Not through planning or skill, but through random acts of blind luck. A few here or there is fine, a miracle through luck is one of the ways main characters get out of bad spots in books. But it is the only way this character gets out of bad situations. Not only this, but the main character is kind of a scumbag when it comes to the MANY female romantic interests, and getting a power boost by adding another women to his list of slept with women is ridiculous. He also cannot protect these people with his life, as it's always when one of them gets kidnapped or attacked that he progresses The plot and nearly dies. The power scaling is nonsense, the main character and idiot, I tried my best but I can't.
January 4, 2022
The story is entertainning, but the prose of the author is lacking. Plus he overuses some adjetives and rambles too much when it comes to describing people. He also reiterates too much info that was already mentioned in earlier chapters, but this comes with the territory, since it was originally a web novel. I also dislike the way situations keep reocurring in the same manner over and over again, but I don't dislike it overall.
May 7, 2024
This one and Martial Peak two cultivation novels that i’ve been thoroughly in love for a long time and similar to my favourite games/movies I feel the need to re-read them every few years to experience indescribable enjoyment once again.
June 23, 2017
The rating given is not a correct portrayal of the individual book's rating but as a general rating of the series as a whole.
Read
February 14, 2020I don't remember how far I got into this series. Ended up dropping it for a few reasons, one if which was due to some of the themes.
March 4, 2021
One of the best Xianxia novels. Binge read it in a day.
July 28, 2021
Its a great story with lots of twists and turns the mc goes through so many changes its awesome. The skills etc are cool
October 5, 2021
It was good but I actually enjoyed his Shura's Wrath more. Maybe because it is more of an explicitly game LitRPG story than this one. Still one of the best.
December 8, 2021
Just awesome
April 16, 2022
One of my favourite LN's of all time
August 10, 2024
Started off as a generic trash but I got really invested in the romance aspect and later on the plot fully came into it's own. Sadly the author dropped the novel before a real satisfying conclusion, I would love to see a proper ending someday.
October 20, 2025
I don't know how anyone manages to get through this story. The beginning chapters are so redundant. When people say Chinese webnovels are repetitive this is what they mean. We were told over 10 times in 4 chapters that the MC has a crippled profound vein. We get it author, we aren't going to forget something so important and we aren't going to forget it multiple times in a single chapter.
July 12, 2022
I read through Volume 14, the first 1400 chapters, over a few years. I patiently followed weekly as the author dropped a few chapters at a time. Starts out great. The book following community was (is) supportive and provided clarifications that could not be found on the Fandom wiki. Yun Che, the main character, has serious attitude issues and it adds to the plot line. His face slapping of the powerful is one of the best. Then, the author started making the character a little dumber and less bold. The fight scenes became predictable. I’m not sure if the ever changing Chinese censorship rules affected the writing style or author got tired at the three year point. But, the tone shifted after Volume 12 and the sexiness and uniqueness of the novel fizzled. Rumors said the author, a school teacher to young children, had to make a more G-rated novel in the later chapters after he became famous because his impressionable students all became aware of his fame. I’m not sure how much truth is in this, but, the novel became obviously less daring to push the limits after volume 12. This probably should be expected. I have read several
Add to that the unscheduled hiatuses of the author keeping readers waiting weeks for new chapters and it was not worth reading any longer.
Add to that the unscheduled hiatuses of the author keeping readers waiting weeks for new chapters and it was not worth reading any longer.
November 26, 2016
My current favorite light novel.. it's amazing to see how winning is always working for the main character.. and it's a perpetual sword sorcery with a coming to manhood story. The author has done good job
June 6, 2020
Another great novel about Martial Arts. Typical storyline where MC tried to become the best cultivator there is. Also harem is included in this Novel.
November 7, 2023
It is good. The latter part felt quite boring. The start is very intriguing and interesting.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews