Ask Not About the Three-Foot Blade

The writing is quite good, the female lead is also quite good, and the male lead isn't a bad person, but I feel uncomfortable after reading for a while. Why is that? The following is my personal opinion, focusing only on the first 10% of the content. Discussion and corrections are welcome. The opening gives the female protagonist a significant advantage: her excellent swordsmanship, resilience, and defiance of fate, which helps readers develop a favorable impression of her. But she was immediately dealt a huge blow when the Longquan Sword refused to acknowledge her. For the female protagonist, this was a sign of growth, but for the reader, it was painful because the reader was on the female protagonist's side, and this story wasn't written for a male audience. Meanwhile, the male protagonist was being recognized, and the reader, sharing the same perspective as the female protagonist, couldn't see anything about him that warranted recognition. This pain in the reader translated into a negative impression of the male protagonist, ranging from disapproval to disgust. The subsequent short plot didn't quickly express this emotion, meaning it didn't significantly change the reader's perception of the male lead enough to erase the negative impression. Instead, it gave the male lead some highlights, while the female lead only experienced some changes in mindset (becoming more mature), without substantially changing her predicament. The readers are female readers, so the female protagonist can have a romantic storyline, may be weak or not very strong in the early stages, may stumble and fall, and may not be very mature. However, the female protagonist constantly faces setbacks and suppression, showing no real growth and no hope of resolving her predicament. Even the male protagonist becomes one of her newly encountered obstacles. I'm not saying the male lead is bad, but he didn't demonstrate enough qualities in the storylines related to the female lead to gain the readers' approval (of course, "readers" here refers only to myself). In conclusion, if the female lead is consistently unhappy, and the readers are consistently unhappy, then there's a problem, and it can't be explained away simply as a "slow burn." Works are meant to be read. Since the main perspective is the female protagonist, and it's not a male-oriented novel, the author should consider the readers while ensuring the writing is logical. Negative emotions should have an outlet, not just be resolved through playful fights. Readers aren't the female protagonist; they're not reading to be frustrated. Finally, I'm not writing all this to criticize the author; it's just that as a reader who has long enjoyed stories told from the female protagonist's perspective, I hope there will be more and more good works.

The female lead is so weak, it's not a female-centric drama at all, I'm dropping it. And the dialogue between the female and male leads is so idiotic. All the spotlight is on the male lead; the Longquan sword recognizes him as its master, he's of noble birth and exceptionally talented, while the female lead has nothing, and her efforts are useless 😮‍💨. This is more like a male-centric drama!

This story is about childhood sweethearts growing up together. The plot is relatively slow-paced. Since growth is involved, there won't be a protagonist who is strong and perfect from the beginning. A character's strength should not be determined by their initial power and background. I want to write stories about imperfect people becoming strong enough. I hope everyone enjoys reading it.

This is a male-centric drama, right? The male lead gets all the spotlight, I'm dropping it.

I haven't started reading it yet, but female readers of cultivation novels generally prefer strong characters and dislike male protagonists being overshadowed. In female-centric cultivation novels, the romantic relationships between the male and female leads are often difficult to balance, so the male lead is usually relegated to the background.

If you enjoy novels that aren't overly Mary Sue-ish, overly privileged, or overly formulaic, and that you can read word for word, this is a great choice. It's a bit strange that the novel's quality shouldn't warrant such low rankings and subscriptions; perhaps it's due to certain comments. Despite these comments potentially impacting subscriptions, the author has maintained composure and continued writing. From another perspective, perhaps it's precisely because of this that the author has preserved their creative vision and freedom.

It's really good; the character design, plot development, and detailed descriptions are all excellent.

Keep it up! Although some plot points still need polishing, the female lead's perseverance, ruthlessness, persistence, and values ​​regarding family and friendship are very positive. I still quite like this kind of story. I've read too many stories with "golden fingers" (advantageous characters) these days, and I'm getting tired of them.

Please update! It's so well-written, why isn't there an update yet?

It's so rare to see such a proper fantasy novel on Qidian.com. Reading the first few chapters felt like rereading a classic martial arts/fantasy novel from over a decade ago. The meticulously laid-out background, the gradually unfolding plot, and the gently narrated story were incredibly moving. There were no cheat codes or overly exciting climaxes, yet I was immediately engrossed, and several hours had passed before I looked up again. This is a good story, but unfortunately, the current market doesn't like this kind of story, so the author may need to make some choices. I've read about half of it so far, and I'll wait and see what choices the author makes later on.