Lord of the Nine Provinces

Such a good book deserves a small appreciation.

Internal strife within a family is the lowest form of conflict. I don't know why most authors like to write about internal strife, but a family rife with internal conflict is doomed to perish; it can never prosper. History has proven this many times. Moreover, internal strife is a darker aspect than unity and is less desirable. Competition is acceptable, but this kind of life-or-death infighting is simply irrational.

This plot is realistic, but it's not very interesting. It's exactly the same trope as those fantasy novels: A strange background, parents gone, either being hunted down or unable to return. Born a genius, suddenly becoming a useless person, frequently beaten and scolded, disliked by elders. A childhood betrothal, the girl always reneges, publicly humiliated, vowing revenge.

In a small family, the eldest son is talented, the second son is not, and there's also a half-brother. If the eldest son is of sound mind, he'll definitely try to win over the second son and suppress the half-brother. What kind of fool would target a half-brother, especially one with poor talent and no chance of inheriting the family headship? Are you sure you're not writing about a fool?

I've read many novels about martial arts techniques, internal energy cultivation methods, and so on, with countless levels. It seems that once you've mastered the earlier levels, without access to the later levels, you can't continue cultivating. This puzzles me.

Why is it that the main characters, who are brothers, are like enemies, while the villains, whose brothers are harmonious and fight alongside the protagonist, all end up dying? Don't you find that strange?

I read a dozen or so chapters, but I couldn't continue. It might have been okay ten years ago, but now it's just so-so.

I think this book is quite good. The protagonist, despite being at a lower level, can defeat a fourth-level martial artist who surpasses both the second and third levels of the Acquired and Innate realms, even though he is only at the first level of Qi Refining. Therefore, he is arguably the strongest fighter in history.

I read the first chapter, but didn't finish it, so there's no point in continuing. The protagonist's family is always embroiled in constant infighting and life-or-death struggles, while the villain's family, even if they're complete idiots, will swarm in when trouble comes, attacking servants and getting back at their masters, and beating up the younger and older members.

Is the protagonist a transmigrator or a native? Why is he acting like a dog? His native father doesn't like him, his native older brother doesn't like him, yet the protagonist still wants to compete with his older brother for family status and resources. Does the protagonist have some kind of cheat ability?