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Reverend Insanity
Humans are the spirit of all living beings, Gu are the essence of Heaven and Earth.
With his Three Fundamental Views* unrighteous, a demon is reborn.
Former days are but an old dream, an identical name made anew.
A story about a time traveller who constantly keeps on being reborn.
A unique world that grows, cultivates, and uses Gu.
The Spring Autumn Cicada, Moonlight Gu, Liquor worm, All-Encompassing Golden Light Worm, Fine Black Hair Gu, Hope Gu…
And a peerless great demon that freely acts to his heart’s content.
—–
Gu is a legendary venomous insect, often used in black magic practices. It can take on the form of several insects, usually snakes, crickets, worms etc.
* = one’s world view, values of worth and philosophy on life
With his Three Fundamental Views* unrighteous, a demon is reborn.
Former days are but an old dream, an identical name made anew.
A story about a time traveller who constantly keeps on being reborn.
A unique world that grows, cultivates, and uses Gu.
The Spring Autumn Cicada, Moonlight Gu, Liquor worm, All-Encompassing Golden Light Worm, Fine Black Hair Gu, Hope Gu…
And a peerless great demon that freely acts to his heart’s content.
—–
Gu is a legendary venomous insect, often used in black magic practices. It can take on the form of several insects, usually snakes, crickets, worms etc.
* = one’s world view, values of worth and philosophy on life
1568 pages, ebook
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
October 5, 2022
Pretty decent. The fanbase though... filled with edgelords and out of touch from reality mofos
Currently Reading
February 20, 2026if i read at least two chapters per day... i will finish this in three years... it's about 20,000 regular-sized pages on my laptop... and 40,000 pages with my extra-large font size... this BETTER blow my mind. (and will most likely be a slow read in the background because i cannot commit to reading only something of this size and nothing else 😭🙏.)
September 29, 2021
Fang Yuan is a demon in the truest sense, he does not care for anything but his own benefits and goals. He does not discriminate nor will he judge, as long as you're useful that is. Fang Yuan will use anyone and anything, commit the worst of atrocities or even be a saint if it helps him reach his main goal. The goal in question being Immortality, the one thing not a single venerable from the past could achieve.
Reverend Insanity is set in a world where the supernatural is just a natural occurrence, Gu worms create all kinds mysterious effects; and the "Power system" of this story is not focusing on the strength of the Gu worms but more on the way they are used, this creates a balance in which no enemies are weak and no enemies are strong when fighting on the same level.
The creativity of the power system is so amazing, an infinite amount of Gu worms exist all with their unique uses and the combinations of the Gu worms create infinite possibilities. Gu worms don't even always have to be used to fight, and thus Gu masters don't have to fight at all if they don't wish to. In Reverend Insanity there are many chapters dedicated to developing land, producing something to trade on the market, or simply establishing connections with others. To Fang Yuan combat and combat strength is not the method to obtain his goal, it is but a tool for negotiation and obtaining benefits.
The Gu worms are based on different paths of nature, the simpler path like fire, water, earth; and also some paths that will make you think more about the way the world works like luck path, heaven path, and human path. Also the way fate is described as multiple different outcomes that can be only very slightly be influenced by luck will make you think about the characters in different ways, and you might even change sides if you are convinced by the arguments that both sides have in the major conflict of this story.
The world building of Reverend Insanity is amazing, it depicts a society in which the strong rule over the weak in clans and sects. The power struggle between and in clans is amazing and realistic, accurately describing the corrupt nature of humans in positions of power. The further you progress into this quite savage but beautiful world, the more you will come to understand the intricacy of its interorganizational relations.
The world is split up into multiple regions each with their own way of life and culture. The Northern region is defined by a more primitive way of life in which the strong feed on the weak and there is a constant conflict between tribes. The Eastern region is abundant with resources and the people living there are living comfortable lives, because of the resources many geniuses bloom. The Western region is a huge desert where people live a harsh life living of off the few oases. The Southern region is a region average in resources and habitability, the people live in clans and there are few major conflicts. The Central region is a safe place ruled by sects where geniuses are handpicked from the population to make the sects prosper. (This is the most basic explanation, it is way more detailed than this.)
Even though Fang Yuan is the main character, that doesn't mean that all the others are side characters. It seems as though every character that is described in the story has some kind of actually meaningful connection to the plot, be it very direct or something that you'll find out in a few hundred chapters later. Reverend Insanity tells the story of Fang Yuan through many peoples eyes, the eyes of a heartbroken girl thirsting for revenge, the eyes of a girl not from this world saddened by her fate, the eyes of a man filled with ambition, the eyes of a man trying to fix his past mistakes, the eyes of a rival wanting to see how it will end, the eyes of a man looking at the back of his brother, and many more perspectives are telling the story of this atrocious demon.
There is a lot of character development in this story, especially in the quasi-protagonists (they are not true protagonists, but I do not really consider them side characters). The characters experience the world changing due to the influence of the great demon and it shapes their characters, makes them gather their resolve, and sparks their ambitions.
This story has sadly been cancelled by the Chinese government because it comments on many aspects of society and the human nature. Even though the story is not completed it is one of the best ones I have ever read. So if you like intelligent protagonists not bound by common sense or morals, do give it a read.
Reverend Insanity is set in a world where the supernatural is just a natural occurrence, Gu worms create all kinds mysterious effects; and the "Power system" of this story is not focusing on the strength of the Gu worms but more on the way they are used, this creates a balance in which no enemies are weak and no enemies are strong when fighting on the same level.
The creativity of the power system is so amazing, an infinite amount of Gu worms exist all with their unique uses and the combinations of the Gu worms create infinite possibilities. Gu worms don't even always have to be used to fight, and thus Gu masters don't have to fight at all if they don't wish to. In Reverend Insanity there are many chapters dedicated to developing land, producing something to trade on the market, or simply establishing connections with others. To Fang Yuan combat and combat strength is not the method to obtain his goal, it is but a tool for negotiation and obtaining benefits.
The Gu worms are based on different paths of nature, the simpler path like fire, water, earth; and also some paths that will make you think more about the way the world works like luck path, heaven path, and human path. Also the way fate is described as multiple different outcomes that can be only very slightly be influenced by luck will make you think about the characters in different ways, and you might even change sides if you are convinced by the arguments that both sides have in the major conflict of this story.
The world building of Reverend Insanity is amazing, it depicts a society in which the strong rule over the weak in clans and sects. The power struggle between and in clans is amazing and realistic, accurately describing the corrupt nature of humans in positions of power. The further you progress into this quite savage but beautiful world, the more you will come to understand the intricacy of its interorganizational relations.
The world is split up into multiple regions each with their own way of life and culture. The Northern region is defined by a more primitive way of life in which the strong feed on the weak and there is a constant conflict between tribes. The Eastern region is abundant with resources and the people living there are living comfortable lives, because of the resources many geniuses bloom. The Western region is a huge desert where people live a harsh life living of off the few oases. The Southern region is a region average in resources and habitability, the people live in clans and there are few major conflicts. The Central region is a safe place ruled by sects where geniuses are handpicked from the population to make the sects prosper. (This is the most basic explanation, it is way more detailed than this.)
Even though Fang Yuan is the main character, that doesn't mean that all the others are side characters. It seems as though every character that is described in the story has some kind of actually meaningful connection to the plot, be it very direct or something that you'll find out in a few hundred chapters later. Reverend Insanity tells the story of Fang Yuan through many peoples eyes, the eyes of a heartbroken girl thirsting for revenge, the eyes of a girl not from this world saddened by her fate, the eyes of a man filled with ambition, the eyes of a man trying to fix his past mistakes, the eyes of a rival wanting to see how it will end, the eyes of a man looking at the back of his brother, and many more perspectives are telling the story of this atrocious demon.
There is a lot of character development in this story, especially in the quasi-protagonists (they are not true protagonists, but I do not really consider them side characters). The characters experience the world changing due to the influence of the great demon and it shapes their characters, makes them gather their resolve, and sparks their ambitions.
This story has sadly been cancelled by the Chinese government because it comments on many aspects of society and the human nature. Even though the story is not completed it is one of the best ones I have ever read. So if you like intelligent protagonists not bound by common sense or morals, do give it a read.
September 9, 2022
Hype.
I had once grieved, gradually, I became able to withstand everything. I had once rejoiced, gradually, I became unmoved by the world. And now! All I have left is an expressionless face, my gaze is as tough as a monolith, only perseverance remains in my heart
I had once grieved, gradually, I became able to withstand everything. I had once rejoiced, gradually, I became unmoved by the world. And now! All I have left is an expressionless face, my gaze is as tough as a monolith, only perseverance remains in my heart
July 17, 2024
Pokemon for edgelord middle school incel boys.
The sociopathic protagonist goes around wantonly murdering innocent children, protected by plot armor from the results of all his moronic actions.
Everyone else in the world is described as a dim-witted hypocrite while the author goes to great lengths to justify the cartoonishly evil actions of the main character with the moral narcissism you'd find in the diary of a friendless teenage boy.
The sociopathic protagonist goes around wantonly murdering innocent children, protected by plot armor from the results of all his moronic actions.
Everyone else in the world is described as a dim-witted hypocrite while the author goes to great lengths to justify the cartoonishly evil actions of the main character with the moral narcissism you'd find in the diary of a friendless teenage boy.
October 8, 2023
I could dedicate a whole day to trying to write about my appreciation for Reverend Insanity, and it still wouldn't come out right, I still wouldn't do it justice, it still wouldn't be enough.
Want to Read
August 7, 2025They told me the mmc is absolutely insane as fuck and I love those type of characters very much.
July 1, 2022
4 stars because there are boring arcs!
And sometimes the author made the mc do something just for the sake of being evil and not for the plot.
Also, I really hate it when the mc starts killing innocent people but then let his enemies go because his enemies got good backgrounds and it'll be troublesome to kill them and face the vengeance of their clan.
But when he got stronger and got the ability to purge the clan, he'll not do it coz he thinks that it'll not benefit him. And he doesn't care about them since he's now strong, everyone below him are just like ants in his eyes.
But he kills good and precious people since they're easy to bully and they dun have strong background. 😑😭
I really hate it when he killed my fave character who's been loyal to him all the time.
And let those people who betrayed him scot free.
The thing is, he doesn't care about vengeance. When people betrays him and if he thinks that the person is still useful to him, he'll let him go and act like nothing happened.
Whenever he says 'I'll pay you back' whenever he's betrayed, he's just merely acting. This is to scheme against his enemies and made them think that they got him. But the truth is, he doesn't really care. And he believed that if someone can successfully kill him or betray him, it's his fault. And he'll never feel anything towards the dude who betrayed him.
I think this is a good trait. But, as a reader, it really irritates me to see his past enemies getting stronger and stronger. Like, i dun wanna see them anymore! Just pls kill these hypocrites! But sadly, Fang Yuan wont do it.
But overall, this is a good novel. The world building, the cultivation system is unique, well developed characters, smart mc, and smart antagonists!
The mc is not a good person. He's the first evil mc I've read but i dun hate him. Tho i hate some of his actions and decisions but that doesn't mean that this isn't an enjoyable novel.
It's an amazing novel and i enjoyed it a lot!
And sometimes the author made the mc do something just for the sake of being evil and not for the plot.
Also, I really hate it when the mc starts killing innocent people but then let his enemies go because his enemies got good backgrounds and it'll be troublesome to kill them and face the vengeance of their clan.
But when he got stronger and got the ability to purge the clan, he'll not do it coz he thinks that it'll not benefit him. And he doesn't care about them since he's now strong, everyone below him are just like ants in his eyes.
But he kills good and precious people since they're easy to bully and they dun have strong background. 😑😭
I really hate it when he killed my fave character who's been loyal to him all the time.
And let those people who betrayed him scot free.
The thing is, he doesn't care about vengeance. When people betrays him and if he thinks that the person is still useful to him, he'll let him go and act like nothing happened.
Whenever he says 'I'll pay you back' whenever he's betrayed, he's just merely acting. This is to scheme against his enemies and made them think that they got him. But the truth is, he doesn't really care. And he believed that if someone can successfully kill him or betray him, it's his fault. And he'll never feel anything towards the dude who betrayed him.
I think this is a good trait. But, as a reader, it really irritates me to see his past enemies getting stronger and stronger. Like, i dun wanna see them anymore! Just pls kill these hypocrites! But sadly, Fang Yuan wont do it.
But overall, this is a good novel. The world building, the cultivation system is unique, well developed characters, smart mc, and smart antagonists!
The mc is not a good person. He's the first evil mc I've read but i dun hate him. Tho i hate some of his actions and decisions but that doesn't mean that this isn't an enjoyable novel.
It's an amazing novel and i enjoyed it a lot!
January 2, 2024
all I can say is the author is a bloody genius for writing a whole world
June 6, 2022
رواية جميلة جداً بها دروس حياتية كثيرة لكنها متطرفة من العديد من النواحي لهذا لا أنصح بها واذا اردت متابعتها لا أنصحك ان تأخذ كلام البطل ككلام لأنك ستتطرف ربما للأسوأ لهذا مُنعت من الصين لأن بها كلام يصف حكومة الصين مباشرةً وهذا من شأنه ان يؤدي الى تغير الأشخاص الذين قرأو الرواية الى اشخاص "معتلين اجتماعياً" مع كل الأسف الروايات التي مثلها قليلة وستضل تحفة بالنسبة لي لكني لا أجرؤ على متابعتها لأني عانيت بسببها وخرجت عن واقعي لفترة طويلة الى ان ادركت هي سبب معاناتي فكنت اقارن نفسي مع البطل وتصرفاتي ايضًا.. هذا جعلني ارى إني تافهه وكلما تحاول ان اصبح مثل البطل اصبح أسوأ لأني لست عجوز عمره 500 عام لهذا اعاني عندما اقارن او اُقلد الى ان ادركت انني مثل فانغ تشنغ شخص عادي تماما ليس لديه خبرات او اي من هذا الهراء وانا انا لن اتمكن من تحصيل خبراته بتقليد تصرفاته اعيد انها رواية عظيمة وبها حكم كثيرة لكن لأانصحك بأتباع نظرة البطل في هذه الحياة لأنها لن تؤدي إلى الى معاناتك
December 26, 2024
Masterpiece.
November 8, 2025
Simply one of the best things I've ever read m so complex and profound and vividly described. Especially the MC, basically it's me, the perfect representation of human will to fight against heaven.
April 3, 2026
This review only concerns volume 1, which I have read so far. Saying it gets better later on is none of my concern. If one day I read volume 2, I will just edit this one to fit them both.
I read this out of curiosity to see how a cultivation web novel is. I thought I would have the best possible experience by picking one that is regarded as the "epitome" of a cultivation novel.
I guess I should have stayed curious...
TL;DR: Awful experience. Terrible introduction. Zero redeeming qualities. The characters are nothing more than caricatures. The prose and narrative feel amateurish and abysmal. There is no real world-building, and the power system is so soft that you could probably find a Gu capable of turning shit into gold, which the author unfortunately didn't find.
Cough, cough. Reverend Insanity is a story about a Chinese scholar who is transmigrated into a new world of cultivation and supernatural elements. However, we don’t follow him from that moment; instead, we meet him 500 years later. The novel begins with Fang Yuan (FY)—the protagonist—being surrounded by dozens of cultivators who have been chasing him because he possesses a powerful Gu (essentially a Pokémon-like creature that grants unique abilities) called the Spring Autumn Cicada (SAC), which allows him to go back in time while retaining all his memories and experiences. You can probably guess what happens next.
FY returns to when he was 15 years old, carrying 500 years of knowledge with him. The translator warns readers that the protagonist is evil and only cares about his own benefit. This, in itself, isn’t a problem, as evil protagonists can be well-written. However, that isn’t the case here. FY is meant to be a static character (which is understandable), since he supposedly already underwent character development in his first life. Given his 500 years of experience, you would expect him to behave accordingly. Instead, he often acts like a 15-year-old, which made me question whether he somehow lost those experiences during the SAC activation.
He comes across as a stereotypical chuunibyou, sneering at his peers and elders, calling them stupid, and delivering lines that sound like they were pulled from a Wattpad mafia fanfic or cringey “dark psychology” videos. In short, he fails to embody what the story claims he is.
The narrative also tries to present him as cunning and intelligent, but this is achieved by making every other character around him unbelievably incompetent and stupid. His opponents consistently underestimate him, and even after he pulls off absurd feats, they dismiss them as mere luck. This doesn’t happen once or twice, but it’s a recurring pattern. While you might excuse this behavior from teenagers, it becomes unacceptable when it comes to clan elders who should possess far greater experience and awareness.
As for the supporting cast, they are all disappointing, flat, exaggerated caricatures with no meaningful depth. His uncle and aunt, the clan elders, WOMEN (will be addressed later), and most other characters feel one-dimensional. The closest things to actual characters are Fang Zheng (FY’s brother) and Ruo Nan. Fang Zheng can be summed up as a naive kid who constantly tries to surpass FY, only to be repeatedly humiliated. Ruo Nan, on the other hand, shows a brief spark of potential. For once, someone raises the issue of how mortals are treated, essentially as worthless, disposable beings who can be killed without consequence just for breathing the same air as cultivators. Unfortunately, this is barely explored.
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PLOT. We follow FY after his return to the past as he searches for an ancient cultivator’s legacy to improve his strength. This is where a chain of coincidences begins, one that steadily eroded my enjoyment of the story and made me hate this volume more and more. We are repeatedly told that FY is a cunning schemer, yet the sheer number of convenient, lucky occurrences he benefits from is absurd. It completely breaks immersion and makes it feel like what he gets is unearned. What’s worse is that these events aren’t even treated as unusual or abnormal by FY within the story.
We got, for example:
- He obtains the Liquor Gu right when he is on the verge of giving up. The only credit I can give is that he actually spent a significant amount of primeval stones (the in-world currency) on wine to make it happen.
- When the caravan investigates FY for the murder, he has no idea which Gu they will use. Luckily, they just happen to choose one that must be placed inside his aperture (the Bamboo Gentleman), allowing him to counter it using the SAC.
- The academy’s test for the year is to collect boar tusks. How convenient that FY has already been hunting boars and has a stash of tusks prepared in advance. Mind you, it's different from the one in his first life.
- Of the three map markings he is searching for, he just so happens to stumble upon the treehouse used by the demonic Gu Master. Even better, the man conveniently left behind a portrait of Fang Yuan, making it immediately obvious what is going on. (Hilarious ikr?)
- When he needs bitter wine for the Four Flavours Gu, he conveniently obtains it after dealing with the Rank 5 Toad Gu, which also randomly appears at the perfect time.
- Every Gu within the ancient cultivator’s inheritance happens to be exactly what FY needs at that moment. Not a single one is irrelevant or useless.
- Throughout every fusion process in this volume, he never loses an important Gu that he cannot replace, despite that being a known risk of fusion.
- While fighting Bai Ning Bing (BNB) and using the Plunder Gu to steal his Gu worms, he conveniently acquires a Rank 2 Red Steel Relic Gu (which allows instant advancement of realms at Rank 2). This makes little sense, as BNB has long been Rank 3 and has no reason to still possess it.
- Just as FY and the entire clan are cornered and about to be wiped out by a thunder lycan (essentially an intelligent wolf), the Rank 5 Divine Investigator Tie Xue Leng suddenly appears to save them despite having missed his expected arrival by over a year.
- When FY attempts to dig past a dead end in the Gu Yue ancestor’s cave, he conveniently discovers the ancient cultivator’s Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider Gu, which allows him to escape.
- Immediately after losing the Thunderwings Gu and needing a movement-type replacement, he just so happens to find the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider again to conveniently fill that exact gap.
- Near the end of the volume, the probability of the SAC successfully sending him back in time is stated to be only 10%, yet it works perfectly.
These are far from the only examples. There are many other instances of contrived coincidences affecting both FY and other characters, such as:
- During Ruo Nan’s investigation, she needs to locate the Xiong clan. We are told they were wiped out by the wolf tide—yet in the very next line, they suddenly appear.
- Sky Lord Crane coincidentally discovers the location of Gu Yue’s first head in a world described as being seven to eight times larger than Earth.
I also have to address how forced the investigation at the end felt, particularly how it was handled by Ruo Nan. She often came to absurd conclusions that seemed impossible to reach through actual reasoning unless the author deliberately bent the logic to get her there. It triggered my trypophobia with the number of plot holes it had. The amount of logical leaps required to make the investigation work was staggering.
NOW THE WORLD. Wait what world?
POWER SYSTEM. Well, you've got Gu. They can do anything you can think of and more. They appear as the plot needs them to appear; FY needs a recon Gu, so he gets Earth Communication. He needs to increase his cultivation so he gets Red Steel Relic. It's ridiculously soft that you can find anything possible (being soft isn't a complaint).
PHILOSOPHY. What philosophy? If you had never read any philosophical book, then maybe you will find this interesting? There is only one moment where I liked it, and that is probably just me overthinking, given the quality of the volume. FY uses Buddha as a parallel in one of the chapters, which is odd if you think of who FY is. But later it's shown as an inversion of him. As we know FY goal is immortality (an unchanging state) while Buddhism preaches about impermanence. The Buddha accepts the impermanence of the universe, while FY seeks the opposite, which is unchanging immortality. That's why he drew the parallel.
Now, returning to an earlier point: the way women are written in this story is deeply questionable. The level of misogyny present is, frankly, shocking. Before anyone argues that this is simply a reflection of a cultivation world or a patriarchal setting, I want to clarify that I initially gave the author the benefit of the doubt. I considered the possibility that he was attempting to portray the flaws of such a society. However, the misogyny feels so embedded in the narrative itself that this interpretation becomes difficult to sustain. It was so normalized, too.
There's a distinct difference between portraying misogyny and being misogynistic, and this story leans to the latter. Across 199 chapters, there are barely half a dozen women with any relevance: Shen Cui, the aunt, Mo Yan, Yao Ji and her granddaughter, and Ruo Nan.
Of these, the first two can immediately be discounted as stereotypical; one is a gold-digging seductress, while the other is a nagging harridan who gets mocked and beaten by her husband (and left unnamed while he gets one).
Mo Yan... Well, she, too, can be discounted as stereotypical. She existed for one arc, got humbled, then returned out of nowhere as a marriage option for FY. Yao Ji is just there as one of the named elders who also existed in one arc and had lost in the worst way. Her granddaughter’s sole narrative purpose is even worse. She exists merely as a means for FY to advance to Rank 3 by feeding her to a bear, in a scene that is described in a disturbingly sexualized manner.
Ruo Nan is the only female character who receives any meaningful development, yet even she is not exempt from this treatment. For example:
To put this into context, her father merely states that “my daughter is 80% as capable as I am and will bring justice.” However, Gu Yue Bo immediately reframes this in terms of gender. Instead of recognizing her as a competent investigator, he reduces his praise to her being “on par with males,” emphasizing her “elegant disposition” and her status as a “hero’s daughter.”
This framing strips her of individual merit and instead defines her through gender and lineage. What makes it worse is that this attitude is treated as completely normal within the narrative. No character questions it, and it is never meaningfully challenged.
Excluding all that, the way women are described is a stare-worthy thing. When the students attack FY for bullying them, it's mentioned that the girls don't get involved. When a male and female students are scolded for the same thing, you can guess who's the one who cries. It is a choice to specifically mention that the girl is crying but not the boy, and it's not like it adds anything to the plot. Probably adds nothing to the boy and girl characters if they don't have their own arcs. And it probably wasn't some deeper criticism of society causing these different gender roles. So why is it there? Probably just because the author went 'oh girl? Must be crying'
Women are also painted as gold-diggers who'll choose lovers based only on reputation/strength and leave them for the same, such a thing doesn't happen the other way around. When women die, there's a description along the lines of "they used to be pretty but now their corpse is ugly".
Yao Ji's granddaughter's body got a creepy and sexual description during the bear scene, as I said earlier.
Jumping to another issue. The prose and writing style. Everything about the writing sucked. Random switches in perspective, sudden transitions between scenes, unnecessary descriptions, frequent and boring simile use, misspellings, repetition, renaming terms randomly (ex: Illusory Moon to Illusionary Moon), awkward dialogue, and MORE. At times, even the descriptions fail to align with Fang Yuan’s established character, breaking immersion further. The narration itself is inconsistent, frequently jumping between an omniscient and a limited perspective without clear intent or structure.
No one gets to tell me it's better in Chinese. This is an English review; I read it in English, and I couldn't care less since I can't read Chinese.
Now it's time for my naked truth: THIS VOLUME SUCKS ASS. Although it is full of ridiculous moments, the most ridiculous thing is that it took me 2000 pages to realize how shit this was. Forgive me if the review is chaotic cuz I am not going back to edit it. I pasted some of my old notes and others of a friend who shared similar thoughts to mine. (Thanks, Fae, your thread helped me organize my thoughts better)
I hope I didn't forget anything
I read this out of curiosity to see how a cultivation web novel is. I thought I would have the best possible experience by picking one that is regarded as the "epitome" of a cultivation novel.
TL;DR: Awful experience. Terrible introduction. Zero redeeming qualities. The characters are nothing more than caricatures. The prose and narrative feel amateurish and abysmal. There is no real world-building, and the power system is so soft that you could probably find a Gu capable of turning shit into gold, which the author unfortunately didn't find.
Cough, cough. Reverend Insanity is a story about a Chinese scholar who is transmigrated into a new world of cultivation and supernatural elements. However, we don’t follow him from that moment; instead, we meet him 500 years later. The novel begins with Fang Yuan (FY)—the protagonist—being surrounded by dozens of cultivators who have been chasing him because he possesses a powerful Gu (essentially a Pokémon-like creature that grants unique abilities) called the Spring Autumn Cicada (SAC), which allows him to go back in time while retaining all his memories and experiences. You can probably guess what happens next.
FY returns to when he was 15 years old, carrying 500 years of knowledge with him. The translator warns readers that the protagonist is evil and only cares about his own benefit. This, in itself, isn’t a problem, as evil protagonists can be well-written. However, that isn’t the case here. FY is meant to be a static character (which is understandable), since he supposedly already underwent character development in his first life. Given his 500 years of experience, you would expect him to behave accordingly. Instead, he often acts like a 15-year-old, which made me question whether he somehow lost those experiences during the SAC activation.
He comes across as a stereotypical chuunibyou, sneering at his peers and elders, calling them stupid, and delivering lines that sound like they were pulled from a Wattpad mafia fanfic or cringey “dark psychology” videos. In short, he fails to embody what the story claims he is.
The narrative also tries to present him as cunning and intelligent, but this is achieved by making every other character around him unbelievably incompetent and stupid. His opponents consistently underestimate him, and even after he pulls off absurd feats, they dismiss them as mere luck. This doesn’t happen once or twice, but it’s a recurring pattern. While you might excuse this behavior from teenagers, it becomes unacceptable when it comes to clan elders who should possess far greater experience and awareness.
As for the supporting cast, they are all disappointing, flat, exaggerated caricatures with no meaningful depth. His uncle and aunt, the clan elders, WOMEN (will be addressed later), and most other characters feel one-dimensional. The closest things to actual characters are Fang Zheng (FY’s brother) and Ruo Nan. Fang Zheng can be summed up as a naive kid who constantly tries to surpass FY, only to be repeatedly humiliated. Ruo Nan, on the other hand, shows a brief spark of potential. For once, someone raises the issue of how mortals are treated, essentially as worthless, disposable beings who can be killed without consequence just for breathing the same air as cultivators. Unfortunately, this is barely explored.
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PLOT. We follow FY after his return to the past as he searches for an ancient cultivator’s legacy to improve his strength. This is where a chain of coincidences begins, one that steadily eroded my enjoyment of the story and made me hate this volume more and more. We are repeatedly told that FY is a cunning schemer, yet the sheer number of convenient, lucky occurrences he benefits from is absurd. It completely breaks immersion and makes it feel like what he gets is unearned. What’s worse is that these events aren’t even treated as unusual or abnormal by FY within the story.
We got, for example:
- He obtains the Liquor Gu right when he is on the verge of giving up. The only credit I can give is that he actually spent a significant amount of primeval stones (the in-world currency) on wine to make it happen.
- When the caravan investigates FY for the murder, he has no idea which Gu they will use. Luckily, they just happen to choose one that must be placed inside his aperture (the Bamboo Gentleman), allowing him to counter it using the SAC.
- The academy’s test for the year is to collect boar tusks. How convenient that FY has already been hunting boars and has a stash of tusks prepared in advance. Mind you, it's different from the one in his first life.
- Of the three map markings he is searching for, he just so happens to stumble upon the treehouse used by the demonic Gu Master. Even better, the man conveniently left behind a portrait of Fang Yuan, making it immediately obvious what is going on. (Hilarious ikr?)
- When he needs bitter wine for the Four Flavours Gu, he conveniently obtains it after dealing with the Rank 5 Toad Gu, which also randomly appears at the perfect time.
- Every Gu within the ancient cultivator’s inheritance happens to be exactly what FY needs at that moment. Not a single one is irrelevant or useless.
- Throughout every fusion process in this volume, he never loses an important Gu that he cannot replace, despite that being a known risk of fusion.
- While fighting Bai Ning Bing (BNB) and using the Plunder Gu to steal his Gu worms, he conveniently acquires a Rank 2 Red Steel Relic Gu (which allows instant advancement of realms at Rank 2). This makes little sense, as BNB has long been Rank 3 and has no reason to still possess it.
- Just as FY and the entire clan are cornered and about to be wiped out by a thunder lycan (essentially an intelligent wolf), the Rank 5 Divine Investigator Tie Xue Leng suddenly appears to save them despite having missed his expected arrival by over a year.
- When FY attempts to dig past a dead end in the Gu Yue ancestor’s cave, he conveniently discovers the ancient cultivator’s Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider Gu, which allows him to escape.
- Immediately after losing the Thunderwings Gu and needing a movement-type replacement, he just so happens to find the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider again to conveniently fill that exact gap.
- Near the end of the volume, the probability of the SAC successfully sending him back in time is stated to be only 10%, yet it works perfectly.
These are far from the only examples. There are many other instances of contrived coincidences affecting both FY and other characters, such as:
- During Ruo Nan’s investigation, she needs to locate the Xiong clan. We are told they were wiped out by the wolf tide—yet in the very next line, they suddenly appear.
- Sky Lord Crane coincidentally discovers the location of Gu Yue’s first head in a world described as being seven to eight times larger than Earth.
I also have to address how forced the investigation at the end felt, particularly how it was handled by Ruo Nan. She often came to absurd conclusions that seemed impossible to reach through actual reasoning unless the author deliberately bent the logic to get her there. It triggered my trypophobia with the number of plot holes it had. The amount of logical leaps required to make the investigation work was staggering.
NOW THE WORLD. Wait what world?
POWER SYSTEM. Well, you've got Gu. They can do anything you can think of and more. They appear as the plot needs them to appear; FY needs a recon Gu, so he gets Earth Communication. He needs to increase his cultivation so he gets Red Steel Relic. It's ridiculously soft that you can find anything possible (being soft isn't a complaint).
PHILOSOPHY. What philosophy? If you had never read any philosophical book, then maybe you will find this interesting? There is only one moment where I liked it, and that is probably just me overthinking, given the quality of the volume. FY uses Buddha as a parallel in one of the chapters, which is odd if you think of who FY is. But later it's shown as an inversion of him. As we know FY goal is immortality (an unchanging state) while Buddhism preaches about impermanence. The Buddha accepts the impermanence of the universe, while FY seeks the opposite, which is unchanging immortality. That's why he drew the parallel.
Now, returning to an earlier point: the way women are written in this story is deeply questionable. The level of misogyny present is, frankly, shocking. Before anyone argues that this is simply a reflection of a cultivation world or a patriarchal setting, I want to clarify that I initially gave the author the benefit of the doubt. I considered the possibility that he was attempting to portray the flaws of such a society. However, the misogyny feels so embedded in the narrative itself that this interpretation becomes difficult to sustain. It was so normalized, too.
There's a distinct difference between portraying misogyny and being misogynistic, and this story leans to the latter. Across 199 chapters, there are barely half a dozen women with any relevance: Shen Cui, the aunt, Mo Yan, Yao Ji and her granddaughter, and Ruo Nan.
Of these, the first two can immediately be discounted as stereotypical; one is a gold-digging seductress, while the other is a nagging harridan who gets mocked and beaten by her husband (and left unnamed while he gets one).
Mo Yan... Well, she, too, can be discounted as stereotypical. She existed for one arc, got humbled, then returned out of nowhere as a marriage option for FY. Yao Ji is just there as one of the named elders who also existed in one arc and had lost in the worst way. Her granddaughter’s sole narrative purpose is even worse. She exists merely as a means for FY to advance to Rank 3 by feeding her to a bear, in a scene that is described in a disturbingly sexualized manner.
Ruo Nan is the only female character who receives any meaningful development, yet even she is not exempt from this treatment. For example:
“Of course, of course.” Gu Yue Bo quickly cupped his fists, “Young heroines are on par with males; such an elegant disposition and the child of a hero, there is no reason for me to worry. Please come to the village and let us feast upon your arrival.”
To put this into context, her father merely states that “my daughter is 80% as capable as I am and will bring justice.” However, Gu Yue Bo immediately reframes this in terms of gender. Instead of recognizing her as a competent investigator, he reduces his praise to her being “on par with males,” emphasizing her “elegant disposition” and her status as a “hero’s daughter.”
This framing strips her of individual merit and instead defines her through gender and lineage. What makes it worse is that this attitude is treated as completely normal within the narrative. No character questions it, and it is never meaningfully challenged.
Excluding all that, the way women are described is a stare-worthy thing. When the students attack FY for bullying them, it's mentioned that the girls don't get involved. When a male and female students are scolded for the same thing, you can guess who's the one who cries. It is a choice to specifically mention that the girl is crying but not the boy, and it's not like it adds anything to the plot. Probably adds nothing to the boy and girl characters if they don't have their own arcs. And it probably wasn't some deeper criticism of society causing these different gender roles. So why is it there? Probably just because the author went 'oh girl? Must be crying'
Women are also painted as gold-diggers who'll choose lovers based only on reputation/strength and leave them for the same, such a thing doesn't happen the other way around. When women die, there's a description along the lines of "they used to be pretty but now their corpse is ugly".
Yao Ji's granddaughter's body got a creepy and sexual description during the bear scene, as I said earlier.
Jumping to another issue. The prose and writing style. Everything about the writing sucked. Random switches in perspective, sudden transitions between scenes, unnecessary descriptions, frequent and boring simile use, misspellings, repetition, renaming terms randomly (ex: Illusory Moon to Illusionary Moon), awkward dialogue, and MORE. At times, even the descriptions fail to align with Fang Yuan’s established character, breaking immersion further. The narration itself is inconsistent, frequently jumping between an omniscient and a limited perspective without clear intent or structure.
No one gets to tell me it's better in Chinese. This is an English review; I read it in English, and I couldn't care less since I can't read Chinese.
Now it's time for my naked truth: THIS VOLUME SUCKS ASS. Although it is full of ridiculous moments, the most ridiculous thing is that it took me 2000 pages to realize how shit this was. Forgive me if the review is chaotic cuz I am not going back to edit it. I pasted some of my old notes and others of a friend who shared similar thoughts to mine. (Thanks, Fae, your thread helped me organize my thoughts better)
April 23, 2021
World hating idealistic mc who spurns humanity and embraces the “demonic”. Could be interesting, if by demonic the author meant demonic and not isolated. This mc is his own worst enemy, purposely creating enemies because he’s too pretentious to want (or even playact being) friends. He is a big baby with trust issues and even with knowledge of the future he needs deus ex machina to survive.
- Dropped Ch 334
- Dropped Ch 334
December 17, 2024
Greatest ever. Nothing has come close to this
March 21, 2025
Absolute cinema
April 15, 2021
This book is my favorite book of all time.
I was betrayed by goodreads, and my review has, for some reason, disappeared.
This is a very sad state of affairs, since it was my longest and most detailed, making it a proper essay.
Characters: 6/5 Glorious
World: 5/5 the best of the best
Story: 5/5 top notch
characters
Every character is a smart human being, even the side ones. Their motivations and reasonings are explored in the story in an organic and interesting way. The main character still manages to outsmart everyone, which really lets you feel his smartness, since even you were outsmarted. The whole thing reads like the last chapter of a detective novel. Great
World:
I'm too sad that my last review got deleted to write much.
Anyway, the world has perfect information. We know everything that the main character takes into account. It's great. The world is great.
Story:
Last chapter of a detective novel. Perfect foreshadowing for every scheme. Constant scheming. Great
I was betrayed by goodreads, and my review has, for some reason, disappeared.
This is a very sad state of affairs, since it was my longest and most detailed, making it a proper essay.
Characters: 6/5 Glorious
World: 5/5 the best of the best
Story: 5/5 top notch
characters
Every character is a smart human being, even the side ones. Their motivations and reasonings are explored in the story in an organic and interesting way. The main character still manages to outsmart everyone, which really lets you feel his smartness, since even you were outsmarted. The whole thing reads like the last chapter of a detective novel. Great
World:
I'm too sad that my last review got deleted to write much.
Anyway, the world has perfect information. We know everything that the main character takes into account. It's great. The world is great.
Story:
Last chapter of a detective novel. Perfect foreshadowing for every scheme. Constant scheming. Great
October 5, 2025
I actually loved the book, but since it was abruptly halted (apparently because of some political issues that were talked about in it, tho I'm not entirely sure) I was sadly trapped in the worst kind of cliffhanger of my life. Which is why I did not give it a higher rating.
But I must say, the book is kind of brutal compared to others in the fantasy category. It can be "boring" for those who enjoy seeing the protagonist struggle mentally, because this one is evil. He's not shackled by morality like many MC's, and he certainly has no issues in making any situation into an opportunity/advantage for himself. Even if he has to betray and sacrifice others (which is honestly kind of refreshing because he's not prone to make stupid decisions for other people's sake).
But I must say, the book is kind of brutal compared to others in the fantasy category. It can be "boring" for those who enjoy seeing the protagonist struggle mentally, because this one is evil. He's not shackled by morality like many MC's, and he certainly has no issues in making any situation into an opportunity/advantage for himself. Even if he has to betray and sacrifice others (which is honestly kind of refreshing because he's not prone to make stupid decisions for other people's sake).
Read
January 22, 2026dropped.
i just can't stand a person who's willing to kill everyone and sacrifice them because he thinks he knows the best meaning of life , only because he lived for 500 years, okay yes , you lived long but that doesn't mean that you are mature, cruelty is not mature you know.
i just can't stand a person who's willing to kill everyone and sacrifice them because he thinks he knows the best meaning of life , only because he lived for 500 years, okay yes , you lived long but that doesn't mean that you are mature, cruelty is not mature you know.
April 9, 2025
fang yuan is EVIL, this is fun.
December 20, 2025
Honest Rating: 7/10
Refine Gu. Refine Human. Refine Heaven. The entirety of the story can be summed up by these three sentences.
Fang Yuan is a transmigrator and a reincarnator. What follows him is more than 500 years of knowledge from both Earth and his previous life. Then, with the help of God's will (aka plot armor), he is able to turn the tides around with the spring autumn cicada.
The settings listed above is anything but unique. There is no lack of cunning and cruel protagonists in the cultivation genre. That being said, however, the novel stands out for two reasons.
One, the Gu world itself does not reject evil. Most cultivation novels smuggle in the promise of a moral conscience that rewards righteousness. But in this world, as long as one holds immense power, be it physically or psychologically, morality is just a discardable tool. Fate uses the world as a chessboard and controls all living beings like straw dogs. Most characters and factions in the Gu world are undesirable people.
Two, Fang Yuan does not experience character development. I relish that about it. Disregarding his first life, Fang Yuan has never been changed. He consistently stays true to his imperfect self. There is a reason for the subject title. Insanity. Even a rock would be dappled by raindrops overtime, yet Fang Yuan perseveres against the changing world. That is the reverence to insanity.
The being said, it is boring to write about a character who cannot be changed. Fang Yuan’s overwhelming rationality and egoism causes him to lose. And in order to make up for his loss, the author must rely heavily on the spring autumn cicada, which weakens Fang Yuan's self-value. As for Fang Yuan's moral views, that is another topic I must address.
What are but the function following why. Fang Yuan's "why" is immortality. He will do anything to achieve that goal. Thus, it is no surprise that many people find Fang Yuan's actions and logic disgusting. And that is a good thing. The author himself, in my opinion, finds resonance with Fang Yuan's character and subconsciously stretches the facts to explain his cruelness. Fang Yuan's moral self is better resisted in the real world, and readers should also avoid applying the morals of the real world to understand the Gu world.
This novel is not "good" conventionally, but it is a successful experiment. Most people here argues whether he is a likeable character or not. I can't give you an objective answer. Read with a light heart.
On that note, I am limited by my own level of consciousness. What I consider as true is only part of the whole truth and part of an insignificant opinion. The same is appliable to everything.
Refine Gu. Refine Human. Refine Heaven. The entirety of the story can be summed up by these three sentences.
Fang Yuan is a transmigrator and a reincarnator. What follows him is more than 500 years of knowledge from both Earth and his previous life. Then, with the help of God's will (aka plot armor), he is able to turn the tides around with the spring autumn cicada.
The settings listed above is anything but unique. There is no lack of cunning and cruel protagonists in the cultivation genre. That being said, however, the novel stands out for two reasons.
One, the Gu world itself does not reject evil. Most cultivation novels smuggle in the promise of a moral conscience that rewards righteousness. But in this world, as long as one holds immense power, be it physically or psychologically, morality is just a discardable tool. Fate uses the world as a chessboard and controls all living beings like straw dogs. Most characters and factions in the Gu world are undesirable people.
Two, Fang Yuan does not experience character development. I relish that about it. Disregarding his first life, Fang Yuan has never been changed. He consistently stays true to his imperfect self. There is a reason for the subject title. Insanity. Even a rock would be dappled by raindrops overtime, yet Fang Yuan perseveres against the changing world. That is the reverence to insanity.
The being said, it is boring to write about a character who cannot be changed. Fang Yuan’s overwhelming rationality and egoism causes him to lose. And in order to make up for his loss, the author must rely heavily on the spring autumn cicada, which weakens Fang Yuan's self-value. As for Fang Yuan's moral views, that is another topic I must address.
What are but the function following why. Fang Yuan's "why" is immortality. He will do anything to achieve that goal. Thus, it is no surprise that many people find Fang Yuan's actions and logic disgusting. And that is a good thing. The author himself, in my opinion, finds resonance with Fang Yuan's character and subconsciously stretches the facts to explain his cruelness. Fang Yuan's moral self is better resisted in the real world, and readers should also avoid applying the morals of the real world to understand the Gu world.
This novel is not "good" conventionally, but it is a successful experiment. Most people here argues whether he is a likeable character or not. I can't give you an objective answer. Read with a light heart.
On that note, I am limited by my own level of consciousness. What I consider as true is only part of the whole truth and part of an insignificant opinion. The same is appliable to everything.
July 30, 2025
Review – Reverend Insanity
Reverend Insanity is a dark and brilliant cultivation novel with a ruthless main character, Fang Yuan, who defies all moral norms. The story explores deep themes like power, survival, and destiny through a unique system based on Gu insects. It's intense, unpredictable, and full of strategy.
Perfect for readers who enjoy morally gray characters and complex world-building.
Reverend Insanity is a dark and brilliant cultivation novel with a ruthless main character, Fang Yuan, who defies all moral norms. The story explores deep themes like power, survival, and destiny through a unique system based on Gu insects. It's intense, unpredictable, and full of strategy.
Perfect for readers who enjoy morally gray characters and complex world-building.
Read
August 1, 2025one of the best web novels I've ever read, if not the best. interesting worldbuilding, awesome philosophy, interesting protagonist, good side characters and most of all, an amazing plot.
July 22, 2025
Amazing. Would not recommend this book to anyone unless they actually read action with lots of action. There is a lot of death.
April 4, 2025
Decent, but I guess great for those who are shallow-minded. Also, I really agree with that one comment about mentioning how the author describes the scene in pedophilic detail and then name-dropping Buddha to justify Fang Yuan. very edgy, and that part when he mentions to the readers that everything will change from now on is typa shit. Hahaha, cornball. But I'm enjoying his adventure so far. This rating might get lower or higher depending on whether I continue reading and if I am satisfied with the story.
August 6, 2025
read this a while ago it was disgusting he is the epitomy of edge lord he murders Innocent people for no reason but to grow like 0.5% stronger and the description of kids/teenagers is so pedophilic even as a 14 year old I could tell the author was a creep I couldn't finish it because of how boring disgusting and weird it was
February 28, 2026
The best cultivation novel I have read. It has the usual webnovel flaws, but what is great , is absolutely fantastic. Other than Lord of The Mysteries and Shadow Slave, nothing has come close to this for me. Hope we will get a continuation of this sometime🙏🏼🙏🏼
January 18, 2025
very well written. very evil mc. very poetic in a sense. gets four stars only because of the fan base.
June 23, 2025
A read that can change your worldview. The protagonist is an extremist, but nonetheless there's something to learn from his perspective.
RI never fails to deliver.
RI never fails to deliver.
April 4, 2025
my first ever web novel,
I read ri at the lowest point in my life and it unironically changed my life. It shifted my perspective. I think everyone should totally read it!!
I read ri at the lowest point in my life and it unironically changed my life. It shifted my perspective. I think everyone should totally read it!!
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