Weeks 1-5, Short Review
Review of Smelting
Okay, now we're getting into the quest proper! I decided to split this off from the tests even though I had to restrain myself from reading further (I did read a bunch on the plane but I was re-reading earlier today in more detail). For people who don't remember what actually happened in these weeks: After having acquired the acquaintanceship of her roommate Bai Meizhen, Ling Qi commences her journey into becoming a cultivator. Over the next few weeks she gains a study-mate (Li Suyin) encounters a boy who's a bit of a fucking dick (Fan Yu) and eventually creates a team with Han Jian and Gu Xiulan, who appears to be an especially smiley young psychopath-in-training.
Or, maybe not! I have heard some things about Xianxia. Most of them were not good. Ridiculous power escalation, blood feuds that cause mass slaughter of entire clans when the main character sneezes in the wrong direction, and sociopathic tendencies. But although I can definitely tell that there is something up with most everyone in these few weeks, their hangups are very...normal?
Ling Qi's insecurity shines most obviously in her interaction with Han Jian. When Yu berates her and generally treats her like shit, it seems that what really troubles Qi is Jian's reaction, as if he can't quite bring himself to disagree with Yu. This sets up what is probably one of the most realistic interactions, bitterly so, in the quest so far- Qi confronting Jian over feeling like he's treating her like a charity case or that there's some kind of catch. It is really nice that despite her determination, despite her ambition and her drive to be a cultivator, Qi still has these very human and basic worries that you don't see in most quests or fiction on SV. Everyone is wary of each other, everyone is at arm's length. It's not
tense, not quite, but it's a cold situation, where everyone knows that their peers are their competitors. Qi feels most safest and most comfortable, most able to not worry about the motives of the person she's interacting with, only when she is with Meizhen. But I have a feeling that Meizhen has her own reasons to host Qi, given that we are increasingly learning her serpentine past and just how powerful she is compared to Qi. Or she's just a lonely girl who likes company and Qi is the kind of person who can give it without much judgment or concerns about reputation (The Bai appear to inspire deep fear in the other students, such Suyin).
Suyin just makes me feel bad. I suspect from her notes that she is more insightful and sharp than she lets on, but like Qi she suffers from insecurity and anxiety not helped by their academic environment. I'm going to guess that Jian is being genuinely nice, but that Qi was also something of a "do-good" thing for him. He clearly doesn't lack for friends. Then again, Qi is a pretty pleasant person to be around when she tries, and her nervousness is probably a better quality than the false politeness many of the noble cultivator students have. She ought to stop being so hard on herself!
I mentioned I wasn't really sure about cultivation before and these few chapters give us some basic background on it. It's exposition, of course, but at least it's doled out in a way that makes sense. Like a lesson plan, as the character progresses and learns, we do, but never about anything that we don't need to. I suspect that an enormous amount of background planning went into this, because Yrs is careful to keep his cards just close enough to his chest to suggest more without dumping information on you. There are many different kinds of cultivation, but we don't need to know much about them. The thing about meridians is pretty cool, though I assume that it's at least partly drawn from common Xianxia tropes of how cultivation works. I also like the basic acknowledgement and sense of the system in the empire, that cultivators basically form a wall against superhuman invaders from the outside, and if that wall is breached, the interior does not get off easy. It's a detail that adds some
grounding to a world where so much is fantastical and where apparently foxes and snakes sometimes can't help themselves.
Also funny to see the way that pills and stones are used- as a supply that all students have or wish to attain, and which it is better to have more of, but which is barred behind moral and academic gates (stealing from other students, being the best in the class). This seems like a sharp contrast from the stories of manic pillpopping I have heard from other Xianxia.
So far, I'm not really sure where things will go! There is a lot of setup taking place, there's basic boundaries and limits laying ahead of us. I suppose I'll note two things before I finish off this part of the review.
The first is that it is very obvious that this is a quest. I don't mean this in a bad way, but that Yrs has focused, especially as the weeks move on, to have people manage the various aspects of Qi's growth, choosing her powers, and so on. And it is very obvious that Yrs has put a lot of work into this. I'm not sure how much he had planned when he started, but as with setting details it's obvious that he is not making these mechanics up as he goes. For all the complaints I hear later on about how there's number bloat and things get confusing as hell, which is fair, I do have to appreciate how he has made it possible for both number crunchers and narrative lovers to enjoy the quest in equal measure.
The second is that I have a feeling that the speech of Elder Su about the dangers of unrestrained lust for power is not really just a speech in universe- it's a loud and clear announcement by Yrs that this is a story that will cleave to certain themes of the genre, but it sure as hell isn't going to rip its heart out in the process. A common critique of Xianxia from the outside is that it's all the same- that in the end all the differing story beats and starts become irrelevant in the race to reach the pinnacle of heaven. And you can see that strain here- how students struggle to form friendships and build trust with people who they, in the back of their mind, know they may end up fighting. But despite that, there are ways to the top that do not involve sociopathic madness. Perhaps the best contribution so far of Forge of Destiny is imagining a world of these immortals, of these students racing to be immortals, but letting them still be students, still teenagers who fluster when they see enormously buff teachers and struggle with their own human fears as they strive for immortal ambition.
Now let's see how many such dreams Zhou's tests will crush :3
