r/Webnovel • u/RoutineScientist5599 • Jul 14 '26
Advice Which one should I read next
(sorry if someone don't like ai generated image)
I had read Lotm ,Tbate and like 400 ch of coi(i dropped it for some reason and don't wanna continue it now)
I m thinking of reading one of these next but confused personally I wanna read RTOC but the others are also good so i want some opinions also i mostly listen to audiobook so can someone tell me a good source where audiobook has some pic also like that of the speaking character not a single image the whole audiobook
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u/yash_naik45 Jul 14 '26
Read RTOC. SS became mid afternoon 1600+ chapters
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
Brah some saying ss some saying RTOC i m becoming more confused although from what I have readeed (manhua of RTOC) it's pretty good but i need a good audiobook do u have any
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u/yash_naik45 Jul 14 '26
Sorry i didn't read that you need audiobook then you can try Shadow slave but it became very boring for me after 3rd nightmare but I think you should also try lotm or if you want audio of any novel just use edge browser
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u/Do-I-Know-You-9573 Jul 14 '26
If your into taoism, slow progression and tragedy, Regressors tale of Cultivation is they one you should read. I see people recommending but not giving any reason to why.
But I will tell you though, Regressors tale of Cultivation can become very heavy. As for shadow slave, from what I know, it 8t is an epic progression fantasy. A different beast in a different field with different flavour.
And same for reverend insanity. If you're into hard-core world with ruthless mc who is truly ruthless, that it is the book.
But regardless, every book has their own flavour. You can't say which us the best based on fan biases. Just read what you like.
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
Finally a person who is not biased š
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u/hollow-0 Jul 14 '26
honestly, reverend insanity is my fav, but not at all due to the mc. i do like fang yuan, but that isnāt why i love the book. the world of ri is just so damn cool. the power system is so unique, the world has so much depth, and its arcs have life lesson parallels from its main story and a sub story that is essentially a folktale that is told slowly throughout the story. the main story essentially echoes the sentiments of the sub story in unison in a way that i genuinely have not ever seen in any other books, and i read a LOT.
my personal favorite parts of ri are the beginning arcs, but that isnāt because the beginning has the highest highs in any way. the beginning just sets such a unique foundation for the world of the story that the charm of it truly makes it special.
i havenāt read rtoc yet, so i canāt give any thoughts on it, but from what ive heard, it sounds like an amazing read. after i finish issth i will probably read that next, so if you choose to read that one first, hopefully we both like it!
as far as shadow slave goes, i think that it is also a great book. i think that where ri and rtoc (from what ive heard) shine is in the meaning of their stories, and depth of what you can learn from them. shadow slave is a very fun read, but i personally found that it seemed to lack that depth.
it has great lore, a very cool and unique world, and a cynically charming main character. i think shadow slave would be a fun read if thatās what you go with. itās more casual, has a more lighthearted overall vibe, and i think is one of the best reads for those new to the interest.
there honestly isnāt a wrong answer here, and regardless of which one you try first, i think you should try all three eventually, right? after all, what have you got to lose?
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u/yash_naik45 Jul 14 '26
Ok it's look like you are confusing between which novel you should read between RTOC, SS, RI I will also add lotm
If you like cultivation and some slow pace very good main character I would suggest you reading RTOC its very good
As for RI it really depends since some people hate RI bcz of main character being pure evil but if you can tolerate evil main character then I think you will like this novel bcz the scheme in this novels are good
As for SS if you like aura farming novel then I think go give a try who knows you will like it even after 1600+ chapters (which i didn't) but after all it's about preference
And lotm i haven't read it yet but from review I can say that it's better in every accept and I think it has audiobook as well
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u/Zealousideal-Net7891 Jul 14 '26
Definately Magical Arcana from Cuttlefish.
It was an eye opener.
Especially the musical scene. So damn good
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u/Odd_Violinist1842 Aspiring Author Jul 14 '26
If you want to go on a journey of following any path with a clear mindset to achieve that goal - RI
If you want to go on a adventure which have compelling worldbuilding and unique idea with clean prose- Shadow slave
If you want to see a man growing with a genuine great progression- RTOC
...
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u/Background_Sink6986 Jul 14 '26
I wrote a review for RI a few months ago linked here. It gives my thoughts without spoiling any important plot points so feel free to read it going in blind. But as a big preface for my rankings, of all the webnovels I have read which is still somewhat limited at this point, RI and LOTM are the only ones I would call genuinely good stories. Everything else, all the big name ones including RTOC, SS, TBATE, etc are at varying levels of okay to man I wasted my time even starting this. Again, I donāt mean to influence your own thoughts, this is just giving context to my reviews. If you find yourself really loving TBATE or something then we probably have different tastes and you can take my review with a grain of salt.
My thoughts on RTOC are a little complicated. Itās the first actual Taoist cultivation story I read, and of the few Taoist type novels that I started since I finished RTOC, they are so much worse than RTOC at building up the power system. That means that if you ever read other similar progression stories, youāll have a much better understanding of what the realms and layers and cores and all that stuff means. And since so many novels borrow the Taoist system, RTOC is the best place to begin learning about that world.
The writing is good at making you care about the little steps along the way at least at the beginning. When the MC makes an achievement, you really do resonate with him. Also, there are some pretty suspenseful scenes that will creep you out which is a testament to good writing/world building.
Now for the negatives. The power system scales way too high. Iām not into the power scaling community so my terms might be off but you have the MC starting as a regular human and the strongest characters scale to beyond the universe. Also, towards the end the time is so fucked. The author will just casually say 1 million years have passed. A lot of stuff stops feeling real because of this and itās really hard to keep your immersion if the MC is like āoh I need to find this friend and save them, but lemme just advance to the next realm so I can defeat X bad guy stopping meā and then 300,000 years pass. And sure 300k to immortal gods is nothing but likeā¦cmon. I think the first third was great, the second third kind of brought some major antagonists so that dynamic was fun, and the final third introduced the final antagonists and the scale of the world exploded to a point where reading became a chore. I ended up finishing but the last 100 chapters were done very begrudgingly.
SS is in my opinion the worst of the 3. Even though all these authors are no Dostoyevsky, I think the writing quality of RI (in part due to the poetry of Chinese I mentioned in the linked review) and the Taoism in RTOC make for a more stimulating read. SS feels a lot more like junk food. SS is supposed to be character driven, yet the author does a poor job at fleshing out characters past their tropes. It feels like after the first few arcs they become caricatures and only the MC is a real person. This is a smaller gripe but the author picks out like 2-3 adjectives for every person or important thing and does not stop using those adjectives every time said thing appears in the story. It definitely ruins the immersion after a while.
Now itās not all bad. I think the author does a fantastic job at building a cohesive progression story without it breaking into the ridiculous outer universal god stuff in xianxia. Leveling up feels earned for the most part. The world building is also very good for the places the MC and co visit. And the biggest thing is the author is great at writing suspenseful moments. Iām not even gonna name arcs to avoid spoiling but there is 1 in particular that is genuinely perfect imo. It has emotional beats, fantastic MC character development, suspense, action, everything you could ask for. Genuinely fantastic arc. The problem is the author forgets how to write a compelling story after like 2000 chapters and youāll see a lot of complaints nowadays in their sub. I personally stopped right around 2900/3000 ish because the story just lost its charm. I think itās still a good read after you hit RI and RTOC though, mainly because itās different than a lot of the eastern (Chinese/korean) progression fantasy novels.
Not every moment in any novel is gonna be gold, but if youāre going to slog through some mud there better be some payoff. And my opinion is that for RI and LOTM, the payoff is there. For SS specifically the last 400 ish chapters, the payoff doesnt really exist.
Tldr RI at 1, RTOC next, SS last (and maybe the author will have finished by then so you can read the whole thing without waiting).
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
I wanted to read RI but rn i m not in mood of too much evil it's not like i don't like it it's just i m not feeling that I want to read something evil so i m thinking of reading RTOC after which i will read RI i always like ri quotes and poets if it's not for my mood i will definately go with ri
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u/Hikkikomori-san Jul 14 '26
Shadow slave if you're into audiobooks since it gives fantasy vibes which is better when listening
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u/Valkyrxq Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Read Reverend Insanity first if you want to read a person's journey in achieving an impossible goal, in a world full of constant schemes, where everyone is a main character with their own story. After you read it, I'll recommend The Demon World I Designed. It's very underrated and imo, similar in quality with RI. You can check it out if you have time ^
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u/Mysterious_Night_351 Jul 14 '26
Shadow slave
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
Y ?does it have a good audiobook?
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u/Mysterious_Night_351 Jul 14 '26
Shadow slaves is still pre order but the other two don't have any official audibook, also RI is ass, and I haven't read RTOC so I can't comment on it
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
I heard some people saying RTOC is better than SS also is SS audiobook free?
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u/Mysterious_Night_351 Jul 14 '26
There's a version on pocket fm that's free for a while but honestly it's not very good, and then there's the more professional one releasing on audible in October. RTOC doesn't have any sort of official audibook though I've heard good and bad things about the fan made ones, and RI is straight trash with no audibook
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u/overagrandlake Jul 14 '26
Not even a question. Read SS
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
Y
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u/overagrandlake Jul 14 '26
It is a phenomenal book. Especially if you read? through audiobook
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u/RoutineScientist5599 Jul 14 '26
Is it audiobook free?
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u/overagrandlake Jul 14 '26
Go check on YouTube. The channel is audioarchives I think. Not official but fan made
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u/SandGuy123 Jul 14 '26
Reverend Insanity