Forge of Destiny, Volume 3

Destiny Cycle #3

by Yrsillar

Advancement has come quickly to Ling Qi. With help from strong allies and connections her foe has been defeated. The enemies of the alliance she has helped to build have surrendered. Her talent no longer goes unnoticed in the Celestial Empire, casting new eyes on her path. Those like her are accounted for a title of nobility is within her reach, a prize with implications that will stretch over her now long life. Looming over it all is the end of year tournament, the last barrier between her and the Inner Sect, with all its resources and lessons. How will she face another opportunity to rise even further from the hard-scrabble streets and alleys of Tonghou?

Inspired by ancient folklore, modern martial arts, and Xianxia, Forge of Destiny cultivates a world both fantastic in setting yet familiar in the humanity of its inhabitants. Don't miss this third installment of one of the most popular titles on Royal Roads - with over 7 million reads!

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Litrpg, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

615 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes:

The active sequences of the serial are better than the passive talk at reader portions. Not a big fan of the random POV changes to other characters/spirits. Overall plot progression was easy to figure out. The choices made were not a surprise to me & in keeping with the MC.

[Atlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one! To be honest I time out of the battles a bit, they go on for too long, but I love the slice of life type style for Ling Qi.

We got the power up, the tournament, the mother, the friendships and Baronness Ling Qi!!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I quite enjoyed this, particularly the characters (though they act in no way like 14-15 year olds lol). It was interesting watching Ling Qi act as the retainer for Renxiang - I honestly expected her to go the sect route to maintain some independence, but I like the story potential in allying with the Cais. She may come to regret it though - Renxiang seems alright, but her mom seems like a piece of work, and clearly is the one who has total control over Renxiang. It is nice having such a pragmatic main character though - she doesn't have connections and personal power, so to get what she wants in life she has to make nice, and do all the bowing and scraping and pay attention to etiquette and etc. instead of being aggressive/insolent for no benefit. And she gets a lot better at it! I don't know, I guess I appreciated the realism (for whatever that word is worth in fantastical settings).

Otherwise, it was simply enjoyable to watch Qi's life, progress, missions, building a relationship with her mom and maintaining relationships with her friends, etc. The tournament was also a lot of fun, even if the results of pretty much all the match-ups were extremely obvious. It was also kind of nice that while Ling Qi is quite powerful and growing quickly, she is behind the actual powers at the tournament and doesn't magically win. I'm looking forward to seeing what the inner sect (and continuing sect politics) is like in the next book.

[Morgan’s novel tea 🐝📚🐞 · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can *really* tell when the author thinks certain scenes are important, because some of the battle scenes are so short and non-descriptive, whereas the ones that actually “matter” are satisfying and draw you in! At first I thought it was just the writing style, and the book being more character-driven than plot-driven, but upon reflection you can 100% tell how the author has (probably subconsciously) assigned importance to the various scenes by the way they’re written.

This made it hard to stay sucked into the book at times, because things weren’t as “hard hitting” as I wanted them to be. For example (no spoilers) whenever Ling Qi is having her first battle at the end of year tournament, the ending of it is so abrupt that I had to rewind and listen several times. It just wasn’t a satisfying fight compared to other battles at the end of year tournament, so I can obviously tell which one mattered based on how the author wrote the scene.

The book and series as a whole has several slow parts, but I have grown to care about the characters and am very intrigued by the magic system so alas, I shall keep reading.

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually liked this series a decent amount. Levelling up and a miniature recreation of the empire-wide politics being played out at magic school.

The first three books are free on KU, then in a badly signposted jump, it swaps to a different series name which seems to be a direct continuation of the story. But these ones you have to pay for, and once I read through the synopsis which indicated the plot was moving away from the secondary characters I actually liked to become a different sort of story entirely, I wasn't motivated enough to pick them up. They probably are worth it though, I was just short on time and the series didn't grab me enough, they're the sort of thing I'd keep reading if I could get them from the library.

[Andrés Pérez Camarasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same, for the better and the worst.

I've enjoyed the story so far, but I think here is where I steep down.
The trilogy of books is in reality a huge book cut three times, spanning only the first year of the story.
Having so much detail is cool, but the world feels so huge and alive to be trap in so small place at all times.
Adiccionally, the main plot sin is that it has no surprise, everything plays as you might expect. The story is enjoyable still, but the shine is lost a little.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable book, although I’m left scratching my head a bit about the structure of what is going on here. What I thought was a trilogy which I just finished is or isn’t one I’m not sure. it’s a three book series but it’s part of a further larger series of apparently nine books. Regardless I’d enjoyed this first three of nine and I will continue onto book 4 which is actually book one of the other six books or should I say six so far?
And yes, I still feel like I was reading a video game

[William Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

the battle flute rises

A lot of training and cultivating capped off with a tournament. Pretty brutal final rounds, and all female from the semifinals on.

This is, again, more of a day-by-day story than a traditional novel. Not so much written as a serial, simply not cyclical, and not having a specific theme or mystery.

I will buy the next book.

[Devin Driggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best in the series so far, and this is an excellent conclusion to the first "full book". The magic just keeps getting less like "standard cultivation", and although the culture remains focused on the suppression of knowledge, and people still don't care, the MC does seem to be maturing, and less active in her suppression.

[XR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving that MC, Ling Qi isn't Over Powered. She's going through her progress in a logical and believable timeline. The fact she didn't win the Trials overall made me want to invest in the story line all the more. I look forward to how she and her Lady progress overall.

[michael hooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Fast paced page turner with lots of action and interesting plot lines. I have enjoyed every book in the series and can't wait for the next one

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

No real mystery in this book. It was like a long vignette in a time of a young cultivators life. Still a great magical world. Will keep reading this.

[Ben Mcpeake · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Rodrigo Bahiense · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great end of Arc!

I'm still very impressed with the story's pace and excellent character growth.

[Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Recommended!

https://fanfiaddict.com/review-forge-...

[Tushaar · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 10%.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry!

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cold night that comes before her brilliant dawn.

What an epic book three. Everything is building up to the end of year tournament that we’ve all been waiting for. And each fight was intense.

The fight between Ling Qi and Sun Liling was everything I wanted it to be. Qi gave it her all. And even if she didn’t win, she definitely made sure Sun Liling didn’t feel happy with her own win.

And the fight between Bai Meizhen and Sun Liling was *chefs kiss*. I mean bravo. I exceptional writing. Our Ling Qi has been rubbing off on some of the insults Meizhen let out and I was here for it.

The fight scene between the two high level cultivators as a demonstration of the heights the sect students can reach was brilliant. The imagery was eerie and powerful for each individual. Capturing their personalities perfectly.

I enjoyed the new spirit bonds introduced. Loved all the training. Loved the character growth of Ling Qi as she decides on what path of loyalty she wants to take for her future. And the new relationship and bond she develops from that is written very well. Ling Qi and the person she follows are definitely very complementary in their power I feel, in almost a poetic sense.

I’m excited to see what happens now as they go into their second year at the sect. How relationships change. What advancements they make.

Onto book four!

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end of the year tournament is rapidly approaching. Ling Qi has to deal with some loose ends of her past, most importantly her mother, while continuing growing her power and strengthening her bonds with her friends. Much like earlier volumes, this book is a slice-of-life cultivation novel, a slow burn plot that spends a lot of attention on the day to day life. The characters are likeable and well developed, and the world while brutal is not as over-the-top so as is common in cultivation novels. The action is descriptive and interesting, although I am not an overly big fan of tournaments this one was not bad if only because it was not as drawn out as is common with tournaments. Still, it is a slow burn, needing three 600 page books to deal with 1 year of Ling Qi's life. Personally I enjoyed it, but it is not for everybody.

[Jaylon · Rating 4 out of 5]

looking forward to the rest of the series, so enjoyable to read

2nd read- glad to have finished this first section of 3 book during this re read. still want to read the remaining two books lol. shouldn't be too long.

[Brewergnome · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

Continues to be excellent!