historical danmei i read (and would recommend)

«One by one, he had been forgetting things while in the Yellow Springs, and only remembered Yun Weisi. “It is not pity,” Jiufang Changming sighed. Pity was not something one would never forget no matter how hard their life got, and was not something one would be reluctant to let go of in the face of danger» — Chapter 140. «For Yun Weisi, he was the light, the only Dao» — Chapter 133. My absolute No.1 martial arts danmei with amazing characters, world-building, and plot.  As stated in the summary, the protagonist is one of the world's best masters who throughout his life tried all the possible cultivation paths (we love a multipotentialite icon) and raised four disciples who all went on their separate journeys. After an unfortunate event that led to a breach of evil spirits, and the protagonist losing almost all his memories and cultivation, he found himself wandering around a dangerous wasteland for 50 years. The book starts with him exiting the wasteland and ending up on grounds of his tyrant third disciple's sect in search of his trusty sword. After a not-so-joyful reunion with his ex-disciple, he sets off to find his first disciple (and ML) who supposedly has his sword.  He enters a formation (pls the world-building is exceptional; this formation is something similar to a parallel universe with multiple levels, some similar to the real world, some very distant and hostile) which holds the world from another evil spirits’ breakage and is guarded by none other than the protagonist's first disciple. After reuniting (and having some hard time remembering each other) they start unraveling the secret scheme behind the accident that led to the creation of this formation and many other events that are all intertwined.  Even though the protagonist is really strong, and in the final chapters even reaches immortality (which depicted very nicely and not the regular “really strong guy that hangs out with the rest of the pantheon” — not gonna spoil this one for you hehe), it doesn't feel overpowered since he progresses slowly, regaining his power throughout the story. In conjunction with the general scale of events it feels very natural. It's an amazing, amazing read, heavy on technical terms in Taoism and Buddhism, with a well-thought plot that connects all the dots and makes use of every single detail (Chekhov's gun was tired of shooting xdd). I must point out that romance here is by no means the most important thing, yet the interactions between the main couple are very tender and emotionally charged, gradually revealing their shared past. Also can't help but mention the phenomenal supporting characters. They all have their backstories that led them to where they are in the story, and feel incredibly deep and alive. As the story progresses, they make a significant impact on the plot alongside the protagonists.  Something that made me very emotional is the relationship between the protagonist and his students. Despite the fact that they are not in any way perfect or obedient, and didn't necessarily choose to follow their mentor's path, they all hold a special place in his heart, and never once he doubted that they will grow to be outstanding people in their own way. Additionally, I want to highlight the importance that female characters hold in this book. There are many female characters that greatly influence the story and are as important and prominent as the male cast, which I highly value.  This has to be my favorite of all the Meng Xi Shi novels (I have read 4 besides this one), and it's a pity that it's the least popular among them all. Hope me yapping for 600 words straight convinced you to read this masterpiece.

I'm not done yet with this one but TRUST its soo good. A very realistic depiction of cultivation. If I had to imagine how would xianxia genre work in real life it would be this novel (in this matter it reminds me a lot of Sha Po Lang/Stars of Chaos).