This is one of those “not for everyone” type books. If you enjoy very slow-paced wuxia stories with a subtle tang of fantasy, this is for you.

Long Wu Ying is a son of a rice farmer, a peasant who has only a rudimentary understanding of cultivation. After being conscripted into the army, fate and circumstances provide an opportunity for him to join a cultivation sect. Will his humble upbringing hold him back from clawing up the ranks in-between coddled nobles and embittered elders?

Not much happens in this book, to be honest, and I wouldn’t blame folks for finding it boring. I find the plodding pace of it kind of relaxing, and I can’t help but root for Wu Ying’s success even if he has the personality of a crumpled paper bag.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much here to set this book apart from other cultivation-type stories, and for that, plus a rather dry writing style, I need to give this a three.

Massive kudos to Travis Baldree (the guy who wrote Legends & Lattes) for doing a spectacular audiobook reading for this.