#liu yao

Finally touching Priest’s work again after a long time~

Note(s):

• (Very) long post ahead
• Contains spoiler
• This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience

Summary:

Born into a life of poverty, at ten years old Cheng Qian was sold by his parents to a shady cultivator for the price of a silver ingot. Following his new Master, he became the disciple of a sect—questionable and unheard of—the Fu Yao sect.

Here, his path on cultivation began alongside his laid-back Master, a narcissistic and overly pampered eldest shixiong, a troublemaking second shixiong, and a former beggar, good-for-nothing shidi.

Life was peaceful and ordinary for the teenagers, despite having difficulties to get along due to their contrasting personalities and background. However, following a rare trip down the mountain with their Master, their undisturbed days came to an abrupt end and their life was turned upside down.

Forced to grow up in the face of unprecedented and seemingly unending hardships, the young disciples of Fu Yao sect found themselves entangled in conflicts dating back to the days of their predecessors centuries ago.

Being lost and found, separated and reunited, they must thread on the arduous path to reestablish their tattered family and sect.

STORY: 7/10

A story packed full of adventure, familial bond, growth and struggles to protect what one holds dear.

Throughout the story, we are presented with chronicles of how their predecessors—the ones that still lived and the ones who had passed—attempted to achieve greatness, some even straight out defy the will of Heavens, and a journey of the young disciples of Fu Yao sect from being a bunch of naive kids to gaining immeasurable strength after being thrown into a sudden tribulation.

Some failed, some were successful. Some was able to find peace at the end of the road, while some others strayed into a twisted path and causing ruin to themselves.

One could say it is both a typical “shounen” and “Xianxia” story, but the plot is so condensed and detailed from start to finish with no holes and fillers, laying out the intense journey of the once innocent youths as they grew into a much more reliable version of themselves.

A few parts of the story, especially in the later half, might be lost or confusing to those unfamiliar with Xianxia genre in general, but overall I feel that the story is written and closed nicely.

The earlier part started out rather slowly, but it served as a good and detailed introduction of the characters, making their character development in the later part of the story more “visible” and ‘tangible".

It has a great plot twist towards the end. Albeit rather typical, the execution was very well-done and it certainly made for a good closing after all the conflicts spread from start to finish.

Regarding the true villain itself, perhaps I’m the one who missed a few plot points while reading. I feel that his motive for doing all the bad things he did has a rather awkward position. If he became the way he was because of the wish made by Fu Yao sect’s former leader, then it meant his motive was “created” by fate and was “forced” onto him. But if I’m not mistaken, that wish of Fu Yao sect’s former leader was in the end not granted at all, so not only the villain became the way he was on his own accord, Fu Yao sect’s former leader also ended up jeopardizing his entire sect, all over an unachievable wish.

And finally, although the story overall was great and not lacking in intensity, I feel that I personally am no longer capable of vibing with this type of story. Some people may rate “Liu Yao” with a 9/10, but I could only give it 7/10. It’s neither the story or the author’s fault; the fault seems to lie entirely with me. If I were about ten years younger, I might have been mindblown-ed reading this. Unfortunately, I seem to be too old to get excited over a story of youthful growth and adventure. :’))

CHARACTER: 8/10

Clear, detailed, and accurate portrayal of character growth from naive teenagers to adults tempered by hardships. It was truly refreshing to see them rise from children who could do nothing but swallow humiliations, to great figures that others didn’t dare mess with, all through their own efforts.

As youths who knew nothing of the world, they were suddenly separated from the only adult figure in their life and was forced to mature on their own. They went from being disconnected and not getting along to inseparable, then a tribulation caused some of them to be lost, until they were reunited again much, much later.

It’s like a classic RPG-kind of story and characters. Each of them have a unique personality, strength, and weaknesses, and together they complemented each other very well like a perfect house with all the fitting parts in the right place. Although they aren’t immediately likeable for me at the start, they have good dynamics and this was further enriched as the story progressed.

I also quite like the awkward, yet adorable development between Cheng Qian and Yan Zhengming. The way their feelings grew until it was reciprocated was true to their characters with not a single moment of being out of place.

TECHNICAL ASPECT: 8/10

Great pacing, not too fast and not too slow. It’s just perfectly right to serve this type of story from start to end, the ups and downs are presented very well.

Sometimes there could be too many descriptions or explanations in-between scenes and dialogues that disturbed the flow a little, but it isn’t too much of a flaw.

Also, good sense of humor as usually found in Priest’s narratives.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.6/10

A great story of familial bond, growth, love, struggles, all packed in an intense adventure. I already said this before, but it really is like looking back on the stories of some of the most classic RPGs out there, with all the epic battle spread throughout the plot.

Again, I feel that I am already a bit too old to be able to enjoy this youthful growth and adventure. Thus, if you see people giving a higher score for “Liu Yao” than this, don’t be surprised, this story actually deserved it).

To sum it up, for me, “Liu Yao” is a very well-written story that I will read only once (twice, at most), because finishing it was really that exhausting (yet fulfilling).

peripattie:

Amid the clouds, the vague figure of the celestial dragon from overseas clashed with the unbridled, most powerful sword cultivator of the generation, neither of them backing off.