Fist of the Fire God (Old)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Ever since it was discovered that he couldn't cultivate, Darian Wind Dance has been ostracized by his clan. At best they ignore him, and at worst they treat him with contempt and disdain. One fateful day, after being beaten and left in the middle of the woods, Darian encounters a cat spirit beast who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is given the chance to inherit an Immortal's legacy, a chance that most cultivators would kill for. When he says yes, despite the risks, Darian becomes a cultivator and starts down his path towards immortality.

However, the further he travels along this path, the more he realizes that things he had taken for granted aren't as true as he previously believed. He discovers secrets related to his origin, and learns that there is an existing connection between him and the Immortal whose legacy he inherited. More than that, he discovers that there is a darkness lurking within the depths of his soul. If he isn't careful, that darkness may very well consume him.

Just a fair warning, this one is a slow-burning, character-driven story.

New chapters will be published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Link to theDiscord

Cover art by garren_glazion

Information

Status: Cancelled
Year: 2023
Author: hearthshope

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 333
Views: 137,807

Chapters(58 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(9)

RattlerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
To often I have see cultivation books go from training session to fight while self absorbed in their own progress. The mc doesn't dash from power up to power up to fight the world ending big bad he met in chapter three. Instead this a story of how the mc reacts the mysteries that surround him in an organic fashion. I feel that the twists in the story are not always subtle, I would say the are original and enjoyable. Looking forward to more chapters to come.
alelisandeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm not used to give reviews so I'll just state what I liked.
The characters feel fleshed out and behave in a realistic manner. Some motivations are yet to be revealed, but we do have some hints so I'm hopefull.
The protagonist starts weak and we can see some of the mental impact of his situation on his personality. Yet he seem to have enough self awereness and his growth feels organic.
The rest of the cast apear to have their own personalities and goals that don't revolve around the main character.
The naming of the mc and some of his family is bit similar and that makes it a bit dificult to remember who is who. I guess thats the only negative I've noticed so far, but the reason for it is realistic even if inconvenient.
I can't comment on the grammar as english is my 3rd lenguage, but I didn't notice any issues on that front.
Overall its a very enjoyable read so far.
Thank you autor.
Aurum CorvusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So, what do I like about this story?
1. The author has clearly thought a good amount about their story. It looks like there is a plan, and that gives me hope.
2. Our protagonist isn't perfect, but he is still good. That makes him a believable hero. Also his flaws doesn't reach the level of "annoying" for me, not to mention that the protagonist (a) has reasons for his flaws and (b) is overcoming his flaws at a visible rate. The author is not burying character development behind a lot of chapters.
3. Other characters are also not perfect, but they are believable. The one character I was somewhat worried about had her behavior explained in chapter 21, and the author had dropped some foreshadowing in earlier chapters. Also on this note, dialogue for all the characters is also very well written.
4. Finally, the story on a technical level is solid. No annoying grammar issues, or glaring misspellings. I'm not good enough to whether it's perfect, but it is at least very good.
In conclusion, great start, solid story, and it will be one of the ones I keep up on regularly.
Blyg998Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a typical xianxia "crippled MC becomes strong suddenly and leaves his village to make his way in the world". It's excecuted very well, with believable characters and good prose.
Style:
What you see is what you get. It's a cultivation novel. The style is very typical for the genre.
Story:
Very fun story so far. At the current point in the story, the main character has just figured out all of the secrets surrounding his situation. The next arc is already set up and seems like it will be fun to read.
Grammar:
Grammar is excellent. Semi-frequent misuse of commas, but even most native english speakers won't notice unless they write professionally.
Character:
This is where the book is strongest right now. The characters behave logically and their motivations and feelings make sense for their individual scenarios. In particular, the relationships between the main character and his friends are one of the best parts of the story. As the main character grows more powerful, his ties to his friends will inevitably change.
Great book. Better than almost all of the rest of Rising Stars right now, although to be fair Royalroad is kind of inclined towards murdohobo litRPG stories.
Radriel7Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a story that nails the basics of the genre and is poised to exceed the usual expectations. You can also feel that the author hates when tropes derail world-building and everything seems to stay very consistent within itself.
Weak MC is given the chance to defy their fate of being unable to cultivate, but lots of foreshadowing tells you pretty early on that there is more than meets the eye here and the world feels pretty well described, too, instead of existing just to provide the next obstacle in the story.
Flamewolf56Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
love how the under dog that has to deal with being bully and scorned show with hard work he can become what he want's and found love.also now all those that put him down come's crawling to him wanting his help.wonderful story with many twists and turns and his aunt is a powerful cat spirt. a boy that's alone and has nothing but a name .if you like adventure then you will like this
amethyst strikerRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Once upon a time, there was a boy who lives within a small clan from the furthest outskirts of nine province continent. In a world where the strong rules over the weak, how can a boy with crippled meridians survive?
No, his name is not Xiao Yan or Lin Fan.
And no, he does not have a girlfriend but he is bullied every day.
The world building, character interactions and writing quality are all excellent however, the issue for me is the plot.
I can overlook the overused tropes like blocked meridians, fortuitous encounter, defeating someone two realms above his level or whatever restaurant slapping spree that may come but it is not entertaining enough.
There is something going on that's for sure but I just don't feel any progression and I'm not asking for epic plots. The other minor issue is power level explanation.
NewbageRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
TL;DR: Very Compelling plot. Excellent world building. Mostly likeable characters. Blessedly free of anything resembling a system. Just be aware that there is not nearly as much action or progression as the title would suggest. See spoiler below for an idea of how much action this story contains:
42 chapters in:
Number of fights where the MC was actually in real danger: 0
Number of fights against beasts where the MC believed he was in real danger (but wasn't really because he had a hidden guardian): 1
Number of fights against people where the MC believed he was in real danger: 0
Number of fights the MC has been in overall: less than 5
Style
Excellent overall. Author took the xianxia tropes and worldbuilding and made it their own. Pacing is good. Very few alt-Povs to distract from following the MC, and what alt-povs there were are compelling enough that even someone who like generally hates alt-POV's didn't feel the need to skim or skip them.
Grammar
No issues other than occasional typos here and there. Not overly verbose. Not overly simplistic. Perfectly servicable.
Story
Interesting enough to make you look forward to reading the next chapter. Only very minor instances of melodrama or contrivance to drive it forward at points. For the most part flows organically, and has a good number of twists and reveals. The main issue is that:
the MC is never in any real danger because he has an overwhelming number of absolute powerhouses either secretly watching over him or outright at his beck and call. There is no antagonistic force in the entire story that even remotely approaches the power of just one of these guardians. And he has a handful of them.
Given that, the author should be commended for coming up with challenges and conflicts for the MC that are nonetheless very compelling. They just don't involve danger to anything other than feelings and/or relationships.
Character
Likeable characters overall. I particularly like how there are shades of grey to various character
Mr. MochiRoyal Road
★★ 2.0
It’s difficult to be nice to this story. After 17 chapters however, it’s pretty easy to see issues.
In no order:
The plot is thin-woven. There’s a lack of uncertainty here, because the MC lacks agency. The author lets the audience see EVERYTHING, so the events feel really contrived, to the point you may as well be reading a walkthrough than reading a story.
The MC is spoon fed training, solutions and resources. You can’t really empathize with him, because he has servants, friends, parental figures, and wealth. Outside a bully with minor superpowers, he’s living a dream life. Even system stories don’t handhold this much.
Great reveals and decade long secrets are thrown at the audience without care. There’s not enough build up, not enough drama or tension for these secrets to be impactful.
The action scene was terribly mundane and unexciting. A story about a guy picking berries off a bush feels more visceral and emotional than the paragraph or two about the MC’s first kill. Yikes. Furthermore, there’s more detail about the cultivation process and training than what it’s actually used for!
The typical tropes are utilized in an uninspired way, similar to the other cultivation stories. There’s no innovation, no personality or special touch.
The characters interactions are bad, especially at heated, high emotional moments. Characters sound the same and react similarly. Emotions don’t feel intense. It makes for dull reading.
This might be a tad harsh, but there’s nothing redeeming about the plot. There’s no magical feel here, no real “unknown”. The premise of the story, is explained and solved so quickly that it blows the mind. The info dumps are generic fare, and after you see the combat, you quickly realize how irrelevant most of it was.
I’ll give it a few more chapters, but at 17, I lack the expectations and excitement that made me click.
Edit: The supporting cast take over the story. Because that’s what the author thinks should happen when you read a cultivation story