The Heartbell Record of Withering and Flourishing

Name: The Heartbell Record of Withering and Flourishing
Author: Ting Yan Sheng

心钟枯荣录

by Ting Yan Sheng (听砚生)

Status: Ongoing
Length: 198k Words
Genre: Eastern Fantasy
Subgenre: Traditional Eastern Fantasy
Updated: 3mo ago
Source: Fanqie

Request a translation

Refreshed 20h ago

Translated by GPT-6 Luna

Report

Synopsis

[Good-for-nothing's rise + a golden finger that borrows laws at a price + intertwined hidden and open storylines + overturning the old order that devours people + fiery happy ending] [Boy with a Withered Bell × The Eye Above | Play the pig to eat the tiger, every step a peril] In the eyes of outsiders, Shen Yan is a good-for-nothing with no hope of survival. When he was five, a fine bell, the kind seen only once in a century, inexplicably withered and died. For eleven years, its laws remained severed. He couldn't condense a single law pattern, and even his fiancée publicly broke off their engagement. Those whose bells ring are noble; those whose bells wither are lowly. Everyone says this is all his life will ever amount to. Only Shen Yan knows that someone lives inside the rusty bell his grandfather left behind. He doesn't dare let anyone else hear the old voice inside the bell. He doesn't dare use even a trace of the borrowed laws in front of others. And most of all, he fears that each time he borrows their power, another inch of his bell's lifespan, never to grow back, will be lost. At night, the same nightmare always jolts him awake: when he was five, an indistinct hand reached into his chest and twisted that fine bell into a dry well. At the end of the dream, the hand still hangs steadily at the highest point among the clouds, looking down on all living beings. Then, on the night his engagement was broken off, the rusty bell that had lain silent for eleven years rang for the first time. Even a withered bell can ring, and even a worthless man can turn the world upside down. Using the bell everyone takes for a dead object, he'll climb inch by inch back to the heights that trampled him into the mud. He'll reclaim the half of his heart-bell that belongs to him, and personally expose the man-eating old case that ground countless people down until their bells withered. TIPS: 1. A good-for-nothing from the start rises by borrowing laws. His golden finger comes with an irreversible cost, so this isn't an invincible-protagonist story. 2. Highlights: play the pig to eat the tiger, solve mysteries, overturn the old order. The hidden and open storylines intertwine, with plenty of foreshadowing. 3. Multiple women stand alongside the protagonist; the romance is gradual and restrained, not a harem fantasy.

Stats

What these numbers mean →

98Chapters

2Reads

78Reads · all time

In booklists 33

Explore more →

Looking for Traditional Fantasy You Can Read All Night

1.2kBooks30.3MViews18hUpdated

Looking for an Eastern Xianxia Novel Like This!

Looking for books like *Working Stiff in Reality! I Transmigrated into Cultivation and Evolved!* A new cultivation novel with a smart protagonist, no female lead, no cheat, and no divine artifacts.

222Books42.2kViews1dUpdated

Great Eastern Fantasy Novels

Looking for something like *Ling Xian Chuanqi: Lin Yan Zhuan*. Eastern fantasy and cultivation, but it’s just too short.

54Books4.6kViews1dUpdated

Traditional Eastern Xianxia Novels

At least three million words. Ideally, the cultivation levels should be Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Tribulation Transcendence, Great Ascension, and Immortal Ascension, followed by True Immortal and then godhood or something, with room to advance further.

589Books4.1MViews1dUpdated

Traditional Fantasy Novels

Traditional fantasy novels that make you think.

77Books29.7kViews1dUpdated

I’m Really into Traditional Fantasy Lately. Any Recommendations?

Looking for books like Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Traditional xuanhuan rated 9.0 or higher.

161Books48.8kViews2dUpdated

What Are Some Good Modern Eastern Xianxia Novels?

Looking for books similar to A Regular Office Drone! I Transmigrated to a Cultivation World and Evolved!

286Books90.9kViews2dUpdated

I've Recently Gotten Into Traditional Xuanhuan. I Wonder If I'll Finish These in My Lifetime

841Books9.3MViews2dUpdated

Traditional Fantasy With a Genius Protagonist, No Mindless Plot

616Books5.1MViews2dUpdated

Has My Fantasy Genre Really Fallen Off?

Please recommend some high-quality fantasy novels. It's been ages since I've seen a great traditional Eastern fantasy novel. Save me from having nothing to read!

1.2kBooks12.6MViews2dUpdated

Any High-Quality Traditional Eastern Fantasy?

915Books13.3MViews3dUpdated

🍅 Fantasy and Xianxia Are Finally Separate! Looking for Great Eastern-Style Xianxia

I'd like to read books similar to Zhuan Tian. Eastern cultivation fantasy has a new category! Looking for a great book I won't be able to put down!

203Books32.3kViews3dUpdated

Are There No Traditional Eastern Cultivation Fantasy Stories Like This?

I'm looking for books like *The Record of Heavenly Treasures and Mystic Powers*. I can't find any good traditional Eastern fantasy or xianxia novels lately. I don't like Systems, transmigration, or romance. I want to follow the protagonist as they grow, overcome hardships, and gradually become stronger. I've only found one decent one recently.

542Books15.8kViews3dUpdated

Has Traditional Fantasy Really Fallen Off? I Still Haven’t Found a Good One.

I'm tired of the new-style fantasy novels. I miss the old-fashioned, traditional kind. A golden finger is fine, but no System. Rebirth is fine, but no transmigration. Preferably no female lead or just one, and the protagonist should work hard on his own and ultimately succeed.

803Books15MViews3dUpdated

True Traditional High Fantasy, Masterpieces Only, No Wish-Fulfillment Novels!

I'd like books similar to *Legends of the Seven Realms*.

288Books586.9kViews4dUpdated

Looking for Top-Rated Classic Traditional Xuanhuan Novels

Looking for classic, high-rated traditional fantasy novels with polished writing. Completed novels only, please. Nothing too far-fetched; sound logic is all I ask!

186Books208.3kViews4dUpdated

Any Books About Transmigrating into a Traditional Xuanhuan World?

Are there any classic transmigration or traditional fantasy novels? I genuinely can't get into the books coming out now. I click on one, read a few pages, and drop it. Are there really no good stories left?

279Books39kViews6dUpdated

Traditional Fantasy: Classic Masterpieces, Not Recent Mindless Power Fantasies

553Books3.2MViews7dUpdated

Traditional Fantasy, Come Recommend Some Good Ones

Looking for traditional fantasy. Nothing where the protagonist is constantly humiliated and looked down on. Ideally, there’s an old master figure.

525Books1.7MViews8dUpdated

Looking for Traditional Xuanhuan: No System, No Wild Ideas

784Books474.5kViews9dUpdated

The Xianxia Story You've Reread 800 Times

An original plot, romances spanning several lifetimes, both sweet and angsty, with a powerful male and female lead who are made for each other. They trust each other, and misunderstandings are cleared up within a few chapters. No heavenly laws standing in their way, and no powerful second female lead who's in love with the male lead. Completed, not too long, and it doesn't have to be xianxia.

338Books525.6kViews11dUpdated