This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-03-23. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

yeah, only has one book this week, been busy catching up on older books.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc

**Practice the Dao of MTL to read these novels: **
 
 全民星海时代 (Era of the Star Ocean for All) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
(sci-fi, no harem, progression fantasy, no system, slow pace, family building)

The MC is in a world where he belongs to a human civilization that for some awakened few, they can infuse with a void energy space ship to explore and fight. The ship itself can be upgraded, and various components like main canon, armor, engine etc. etc. can also be individually changed and upgraded as well, so this leads to a lot of variation of ships and the power and abilities. This book is most focused on MC upgrading his ship and the components, it is fairly stats heavy, so it can get boring and watery at times for users wanting non-stop actions. I just check my brain at the door and enjoy the progression.

official Description:
This is an era of colossal starships and cosmic rivers, where the multiverse has shattered. Countless celestial fragments drift through the void, forming boundless and fractured starry seas.

Celestial Dao Soldiers, Mechanical Divine Avatars, Golden Colossi, Sorcerer Overlords...
A myriad of exotic civilizations rise and clash.

Stellar Artifacts, Genetic Serums, Exoskeletal Armor, Floating Continent Cores...
Priceless treasures scatter across the cosmos.

Void Energy Shuttles, Void Energy Skiffs, Void Energy Cruisers, Frigates, Battleships, Star Destroyers, Hyperdimensional Carriers...
A stratified hierarchy of Ember Warships dominates the stars.

Armed with a Transdimensional Bazaar, Song Chi brokers cross-galactic trades with trillions of starfaring species.

"What? Titanium Crystals are worthless in your star sector? I'll take them all! Damn it, these are strategic-grade resources!"
"You call this scrap metal? This is Primordial Alloy—the universal enhancer!"
"A 'plain ship cannon'? This is a golden-grade Star Annihilator! Hurry—I'm buying it!"

...

To conquer the fractured galaxies, one must first ignite the spark of the Ember Human Civilization.

Please Consider registering an account on qidian.com and support your favorite author, here is a How to Guide (with Video) on doing in under 2 minutes and it is totally free.

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-03-15. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

Follow me on X https://x.com/ChaosDrifter42 to see the ones that didn't make it on the list.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc

**Practice the Dao of MTL to read these novels: **
 
  跟偶像沾边的事你是一点不干啊！ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
  You are just not going to do anything related to been an idol !
  (Chinese Entertainment, modern, slice of life, pop star, no harem)
  
  MC has a system that grants him "career points" when he acts in accordance to the job title, like deliver food, or been a boxing champion. He can then use the points to level skills related to the job, like going from Profession chef level 1 to level 3 etc. etc.
  "Other idols go on variety shows, while my idol delivers packages."
"Other idols release albums, while my idol boxes."
Mogu scrolled through his fans' comments online and let out a helpless sigh.
"Do you think I don't want to? This crappy system has every profession imaginable, except anything related to being an idol!"
Years later, Mogu stood on the award stage, holding his first Best Actor trophy, tears streaming down his face: "You have no idea how much effort I put in to get this little golden statue!"
His fans chuckled.
"Oh, you sure put in the effort—you even won a Grand Slam in tennis! If only you had directed that effort in the right direction, you wouldn't have had to wait until today to win Best Actor!"

吞噬亿万丧尸，魔修的我无敌了 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
 Devouring Billions of Zombies, I, the demonic Cultivator is invincible !
 (modern, bloody, ruthless MC, cultivation, zombies, no system, no harem)

MC is a lowly apprentice in a demonic sect with his house about to be taken over by his evil sister-in-law and her lover. He can open doors to a modern world infested with zombies. thankfully the demonic cultivation technique allow him to devour the flesh and soul of zombies to get stronger. It is typical power up story. The author can be a bit wordy, but not too bad.

我的修仙过于温馨了 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Cultivation Journey is Too Heartwarming
(cultivation, no system , slice of life, no harem)
Xu Mo, having obtained the Dao Fruit of Longevity, planned to lay low in his sect until the late stages, eventually becoming its revered patriarch. He even devised a meticulous scheme to quietly take over the sect.

But to his surprise, the sect members turned out to be overwhelmingly kind and affectionate.

Xu Mo had always believed the cultivation world was a treacherous place, filled with schemes and deceit, viewing others as threats. Yet, he found himself cherished like a treasure by his fellow disciples.

Now, he’s thrown off balance—this wasn’t part of the plan! Since when did the cultivation world become so warm and fuzzy?

新手副本十万次，你管这叫稳健？
100,000 times in Tutorial Dungeon, you can this been steady ?

(Steady MC, invincible MC, no system, no harem, MMO, LitRPG, Tank)

In a parallel world, the alternate dimension known as the "Abyss" has merged with reality. Everyone can enter it, gain supernatural abilities, and live legendary lives.
Zhu Wujiang, fearing he might get crushed by an ant if he steps outside, chooses the tankiest class, the "Meat Shield," and awakens a unique, server-exclusive talent: Equal Treatment!
[Equal Treatment: Defeating any enemy unit grants +1 HP, with no upper limit!]
What? Killing a boss gives the same reward as killing a mob?
Screw bosses then! Zhu Wujiang decides to farm mobs in the beginner dungeon to stack his HP!
While others are fighting over bosses, he’s stacking HP.
While others are climbing the leaderboards and basking in glory, he’s stacking HP.
Even when everyone else has reached max level, he’s still stacking HP!
After farming the beginner dungeon 10,000 times, Zhu Wujiang is finally forced to ascend to the main city. Instantly, all players are left in awe—and darkness.
"Hey, why is your health bar black?!"
...
When the top-tier bosses gang up on him, yet his health bar doesn’t budge, and he casually takes screenshots to commemorate the moment, they finally understand the terror of an immortal tank.
Zhu Wujiang shrugs: "As a tank, isn’t it reasonable to have a little extra HP?"
What? You think I’m a coward?
How shallow. This is called being steady!
All I want do is quietly and steadily stack my HP.

Please Consider registering an account on qidian.com and support your favorite author, here is a How to Guide (with Video) on doing in under 2 minutes and it is totally free.

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-03-09. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

Follow me on X https://x.com/ChaosDrifter42 to see the ones that didn't make it on the list.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc

**Practice the Dao of MTL to read these novels: **
 
 我是超人 (I'm Superman) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
 (Modern, Sci-fi, ruthless MC, no system, no harem)
What would you do if you had the full power of superman. Super strength, indestructible body,
laser eye, fly. Would you actually act like the superman in the movie and go on the righteous path of selflessly guarding the earth against all evil ? Or would you be the evil itself ? This book is about the thought process of a normal person who suddenly gained the power of superman after exposure to radiation in a cave. One get to see the real thought process of someone with such power..... and what he does with it.

超凡觉醒，我能变身灭世级巨兽 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
 Supernatural Awakening, I can morph into Cataclysmic Behemoths
(no system, no harem, ProgFan, modern, high martial, giant monsters, ruthless MC)
MC's world is colliding with the monster world. If someone touches the energy or artifacts from the monster world, he/she has a 0.001% chance to awaken a super natural ability, otherwise he/she dies. MC happens to die in a ritual circle and completes a super rare ritual that grants him the ability to morph into a giant monster (an Ape as the first form) and can evolve the monster by devouring the body of slain monsters. Any improvement on his monster form also translates back into improvements on his human form, although at about 80% loss. so MC uses his monster form to slaughter and evolve in the monster world while also level up in the human world as well. It is pretty much progression Fantasy with many stats. Read if you like giant monster battles.

我的战略级天赋是小卖铺 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Strategical Talent is a convenient store
(no system, no harem, modern, high martial)
Yet another world been invaded by demons/monster, and everyone has to awaken some super natural abilities to fight the monsters. MC awoke a special system like ability where he can buy stuff from a convenient that grants various power ups like increased life force, super fast recovery, etc. etc. The items for sale are from his previous life on earth, like white rabbit candy. While they grant special enhancements, there are also side effects like pain, or the body heat up a lot. MC uses them to both help himself and his teammates to level up and better defeat the monsters. It is just fun to see the different strange effects/abilities from each item. Like a box of chocolate, you never know what the MC will get next time.

Please Consider registering an account on qidian.com and support your favorite author, here is a How to Guide (with Video) on doing in under 2 minutes and it is totally free.

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-03-01. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

Just finished watching Ne Zha 2 (哪吒 2), it was awesome, highly recommended !

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc

**Practice the Dao of MTL to read these novels: **
 
 这个刺客光明磊落 (The Upfront and Honorable Assassin) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
(MMO, progression, no harem, stats, Video Game)
MC is in a world where an MMO has invaded the real world, it randomly selects people to be players, and if you die it in the game, you are cut off from it. Everyone gets a special ability on first entering. MC gained the SSS (highest) ability, of "Upfront and Righteous ". This ability means that if MC performs his assassination attach in an upfront and righteous manner, then he'll have a 100% chance of instantly killing the target on first hit, regardless of the health and other conditions. This is very OP... except MC is an assassin, who is suppose to remain in the shadows, strikes the target from surprise and subterfuge. Anyways, MC uses this ability to advance his character, gaining great items and skills along way. It is very much a progression fantasy with some litRPG elements. Lots of stats on items and characters.

仙人就该是这样 (This is how Daoist Immortals should be) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
(no harem, modern, cultivation, ancient china, big brain, slice of life)
This is a new book by the author of LKQY (Lan Ke Chess Edge). And it has a same kind of vibe as that novel as the MC will be wondering the world and discovering the true Dao of Cultivation.
It starts in the modern world, where the son of a billionaire believe he is the destined one to bring cultivation back. As the Immortal Dao has been severed long ago, and there are no more Spirit energy in the current world to cultivate. so the son is trying to kill himself in the believe that doing so will cause him to isekai to the ancient time when cultivation was possible. One can imagine the stress it places on the Father. So the father, using all of his resources, devised a plan to setup a replica of an ancient village in the remote mountains of a nature preserve. He hired many people with multiple skills and scholars to design self-sufficient village so as to trick his son to believe that he actually transported back to ancient times, and hopefully, in time, he'll realize that cultivation is not real and thus stop seeking it anymore. MC is part of the plan, as the teach of the school in the village. Things were proceeding normally, until one day, a visitor from the ancient past showed up in the village.......

Please Consider registering an account on qidian.com and support your favorite author, here is a How to Guide (with Video) on doing in under 2 minutes and it is totally free.

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-02-23. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc

**Practice the Dao of MTL to read these novels: **

I was out traveling last week, so this is a combined two weeks post, enjoy.

诡异：快逃，他有概念级能力！ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
 The Twisted: Run Fast! He is got Concept Level Abilities !
 (harem, modern, ghosts, invincible MC, no isekai ,no system, gold finger)

MC's world has been invaded by the Elysium (ghost world). The humans are randomly picked to enter Elysium and has to finish missions in order to survive and level up.
MC has a gold finger where each time he goes on a mission, a "Conceptual level" Cheat is granted to him, such as:
"I'm your daddy": Whenever he says "I'm your daddy" to someone, that person will believe the MC is his/her father and act accordingly.
"Slant Mouth Dragon King": Whenever the MC is faced with a face slapping situation, if he performs a slant mount smirk, he'll be granted whatever tool/power that's needed to do the face slapping.
etc. etc. these cheats transcend logic and reality and thus are very very powerful. MC uses them to accomplish missions and level up his own strength from the rewards of finishing the mission with SS ratings. It is a fun, trashy, no brainer read with an over powered MC.
oh, and He has a harem with the female ghosts from the Elysium world, they are pretty much like humans, except maybe a bit colder on the inside ? (both figuratively and literally)

巫师：向群星进发 (Wizards: Advancing toward the stars) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
(magic, sci-fi, no harem. system)
This is Science through Magic. MC is in a wizard world with a system that grants him points whenever he educates someone. He can then level up his magic skills or knowledge with such points. It starts with MC just in a low magic planet where the highest magic is just one-Ring. MC with his system ends up as the first level 2 and unites the planet to start space exploration. the magic spells are like "manipulate chemical bonds" which grants MC ability to either break the chemical bonds of any material (human body included), or make new elements/materials, depending on his knowledge level. This is the first one I've seen where magic is been used for space exploration/colonization. So far it is fine. writing is ok, not much face slapping, just advancement through science and system.

发布仙界小蓝鸟，魔女直呼受不了 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Introducing twitter in Cultivation World, Witches Cry out "I can't take it anymore !"
(Cultivation, xianxia, Internet, harem, invincible MC)
Well, actually, MC didn't introduce twitter first, His first "app" is TikTok.
MC is in a very dry and boring cultivation world where everyone is obsessed with getting stronger and better, there are no entertainment, no fine dining, everyone wore the same kind of cloth. Everyday it is the same, sleep, eat, fight, cultivate, eat, sleep. MC is the king of the beast race which is about to be wiped out by the human cultivators. Thankfully, MC has a system, he can trade "emotional points" for cellphones and apps on such cellphones, So he sold the cellphones for very cheap to get it into the hands of as many cultivators as possible. and the first app on it is TikTok. He uses it to "corrupt" the human cultivators, enticing them with TikTok dances performed by girls from the fox race. Getting them to award these influencers with spirit stones. it is a fun one to read about cultivators salivating over foxy girls dancing, or posting videos of highly guarded pill refining techniques just to gain viewers and likes. etc. etc. The only thing is that much of the trope in it are actually related to stuff happening in DouYin (Chinese version of TikTok), although I think many concepts apply in apps like Instagram and TikTok.

从机甲坟场开始无限进化 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ Endless Evolution start at the Mech Grave Yard
(Sci-fi, Giant Mech, progression, no harem)
In an age where humanity harnesses the power of Mechas to enter the "Abyss paradise" hunting monsters for resources to forge unstoppable war machines...

MC, a transmigrator, finds himself gravely wounded upon arrival. His soul is torn from his body and imprisoned in a near-scrapped training Mecha. Forced to survive with a rusted metal frame and a broken physical form, his salvation comes in the form of an awakened Evolution Interface - allowing him to extract equipment, modules, energy, and genetic blueprints from fallen foes, evolving both his mecha and flesh in tandem.

[Ding~ Acquired Self-Healing Bio-Armor Module]
[Ding~ Acquired Titan-Class Energy Core]
[Ding~ Acquired Particle Disintegration Cannon]
[Ding~ Acquired Behemoth-Grade Life Energy]
[Ding~ Acquired Blade Tyrant Gene Sequence]

This is a pure progression novel with the MC constantly leveling up and getting new abilities/equipments. It is different from the usual xianxia, or xuanhuan as it is sci-fi based with giant Mechs. writing is not bad, pacing is ok, MC's power level goes up, but not too outragious.

仙庭星纪 (Star Annuals of the Court of the Immortals) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
(sci-fi, cultivation, no harem, modern technology, space exploration, system)
The world is a cultivation + modern technology, sure you can send a letter through a flying sword, but that's a lot more costly than just making a video phone-call. the cultivation government spans multiple stars and galaxies, and colonized multiple "primitive" worlds that had magic, or voodoo, or silicon life, but all are no match for the cultivators.

MC is in a small planet as a high school student, but he has a system where he can harvest power ups and skills from spirit plants. These include just pure spirit energy, or cultivation wonders, or high level artifacts. Thus enabling MC to become more powerful and advance in this vast galaxy.
I read mostly to see this colonizing cultivation based galaxy civilization, it is a different setup and I find it interesting.

魔女，我真不是深海古神！ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Witch, I'm really not the Ancient God of Deep Sea
 (Cthulhu, magic, horror, harem , steampunk, game)

Chen Qi unexpectedly transmigrated into New Sun, a steampunk apocalyptic game world, awakening with the monstrous talent "Abyssal Affinity". Ancient leviathans lurking in the ocean depths now regarded him as one of their own.

Though blessed with a monster's gifts, the transmigrator clung to his human principles, leveling up relentlessly to become a legendary monster hunter.

Since the deep sea creatures like him, MC can go to places no other human can, and thus get treasures and power ups reserved for only the best of the best. He can also utilize the powerful deep sea creatures by luring his enemy near them, and thus causing them to die.

Haven't read steam punk + Cthulhu in a while, go giving this a try. MC is definitely not a righteous person.

Please Consider registering an account on qidian.com and support your favorite author, here is a How to Guide (with Video) on doing in under 2 minutes and it is totally free.

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-02-08. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

Follow me on X https://x.com/ChaosDrifter42 to see the ones that didn't make it on the list.

**You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc

说好做免费游戏，怎么氪成首富了
 (Suppose to Make free games, How did you became the richest man through microtransactions )
 (Modern, Video Games, system, no harem)
The protagonist of this web novel is equipped with a unique system that rewards him with points whenever players spend money on micro transactions within his games. These points can then be used to purchase and replicate popular games from Earth. Leveraging this system, the main character creates free-to-play games but monetizes them through pay-to-win mechanics, a strategy that proves highly lucrative. The world he inhabits is one where gaming is dominated by either one-time purchase models or monthly subscription fees, leaving players entirely unfamiliar with the concept of free-to-play games. This creates a perfect environment for the protagonist—a former professional game designer from Earth—to innovate and capitalize on this untapped market. The story falls into the popular sub-genre of 'creating video games in another world,' a theme I find particularly engaging. Not only does it introduce me to new and intriguing games, but also evokes a sense of nostalgia when it references classic games I’ve enjoyed in the past.

美剧世界：从洛城巡警开始 (World of American TV: Starting from the Rookie)
 (urban, American TV, police, harem, system)
 
The protagonist begins his journey as a rookie officer in the American TV series The Rookie, taking on the role previously held by the character West. Equipped with a 'Detective Development System,' he earns points by performing police duties, which he can then use to enhance various skills, such as marksmanship or physical strength, among other abilities. The novel closely follows the events of the show’s first season, but with notable deviations, as the main character’s knowledge of the original plot drives him to alter certain outcomes—particularly in his efforts to save Zoe. Intriguingly, this story inspired me to start watching The Rookie, and I must say, it’s an excellent show that lives up to its reputation.

I have so much backlog of novels to keep up (as one can see from my weekly post) so I won't be adding too many new books.

Cultivate the Dao of MTL to see novels that hasn't been translated on novelupdate.

Please Consider registering an account on qidian.com and support your favorite author, here is a How to Guide (with Video) on doing in under 2 minutes and it is totally free.

https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/how-to-register-on-qidian-and-reward-your-favorite-author/

Most of the Chinese web novels, and many manhua based on them, comes from www.qidian.com. many authors publish their works on it and for lucky ones, their novel will get to VIP status and start earning them money through subscription and royalties.

These are just my rough calculation, please use only as a guideline:

TL;DR: Reward for the author (minimum 1 cent (USD) for one VIP chapters at 2000 words per chapter per subscriber)

To Support the author, either sign up on Qidian and use PayPal to buy the chapters, or add their books to your bookshelf and give them free daily votes.

See this Post here on how to Sign up in under 2 minutes:

https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/how-to-register-on-qidian-and-reward-your-favorite-author/

Now Details:

Author earnings:
The authors earn no money when they first start their work. Typically they'll write about twenty thousands words and depending on the reading stats (like how many readers added it to their shelf, how many user comments it gets, etc. etc.), the QiDian editors will walk with the author to "Get it on the shelf", meaning making the rest of the chapters VIP. This is where the author can start to earn money.

They get half the revenue from the subscription, and 1 cent per 1000 word as Royalties. So at the minimum, the author would get 14 cent (RMB) per subscriber for a chapter with 4000 words. Of course with established authors and continuous updates, the authors would earn a lot more (double or triple, or more) the revenue.

There are also other income streams like licensing for manhua/movie/TV adaptation, and there are also rewards for consistently publishing everyday for a month. But most author rely on subscription as their main income.

most of the information comes from this answer on qidian.com:
https://www.qidian.com/ask/qamkgjdtuiq

How to Support your favorite Authors:

The best way to support your favorite authors is to get on qidian.com and buy their chapters. this can be done with your phone number and PayPal.
See here on how to do that. (with pictures)

Pricing: (about $1.23 USD for 100 chapters at 2000 words per chapter)
It costs about 5 cent of RMB for 1000 Chinese characters, each chapter is typically 2-3 thousands characters, so it would cost about 10-15 cent RMB (which is about 2-3 cent USD) per chapter. Typical book could have 500-1000 or more chapters, and the first 50-100 chapters are typically free, so if you bought all the paid chapters, it would be around 40 RMB for a book with 1 million words, or about $6.15 USD. (assuming 1 USD is 6.5 RMB)

Other ways to support:
Of course, if you don't have the money, then simple register and add the book to your bookshelf, and cast your daily Recommendation Votes for the book is also a great way to support the author as it promotes the book and help it to show up in Qidian's official recommendation list which can be a big boon to the author.

Other benefits for reading on qidian.com:
Another benefits of reading on qidian.com are the in-line comments for the novel, these typically include pictures for the items and characters been discussed, and user comments that might explain things or are just funny meme s. Sometime they are more fun to read than the actual chapter......

Most Chinese web novels originates from www.qidian.com, which is the parent company of webnovel.com. If you are a fan of any Chinese web novels and would like to support the author, see below on how to sign up on www.qidian.com with your phone number (even non-chinese ones work), and either support the author by using PayPal to subscribe the paid chapters, or if you can't afford it, just show your appreciation with the Daily Recommendation Ticket for that novel.

see details of the cost and reward for author here :

https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/how-much-do-web-novel-authors-earn-on-qidian-and-how-to-support-them/

Here is the YouTube Video if you don't want to read:

What you'll need: a phone number that can receive SMS (you can get a free one by using app like TextFree), and a PayPal account if you want to subscribe.

First, Download and install the immersive translate plugin for the browser that you are using at www.immersivetranslate.com

Next, navigate to www.qidian.com , and then in immersive translate plugin options, pick "Use google translate," "Always translate this site", and "Show Translation only"

Click on the Register link on top Right corner:

This should take you to the registration page, if it is showing in Chinese, just use the plugin to translate to English.

Pick the your country (USA is named as American), and enter your phone number

Click on Get the Verification, and solve the CAPCHA by dragging the puzzle piece in place to match the missing part.

enter the SMS code, make up a new password (save it in a password manager somewhere), check the "I have read and agreed Policy " Box, and hit Register now, if everything goes well, it would show Registration successful.

Once logged in, you can then go to https://my.qidian.com to setup your nicknames, and use the Safety Center link to bind an email address for login. (using immersive translate to make it English of course)

In case the password log in failed, just disable immersive translate at the login screen and use the phone SMS login instead, make sure to click the small checkbox below.

Once you are in, to support your favorite author/book, just search the Chinese Title of the book (which you can get from novel update or other places) by copy/pasting it into the search bar on top.

Then Click on Book Details to go to the book page, and click on "Join the bookshelf" to add this book to your bookshelf(or reading list), and click on Free Trial Reading to start read it with google translate, if you are ok with MTL. Would also be best to click on "Interactive Voting",

and then "Recommended Ticket", and click on "Vote now". This will help promote the book and make it more likely to be recommended and show up on Qidian's official recommendation lists.

To subscribe to the paid chapters , navigate to the first VIP chapter and click on the subscription button at the bottom, you can either just subscribe to this particular chapter, or auto subscribe the chapter as you read it, or do the bulk subscription for all the chapters, it'll show you how many points it'll cost you, and then you can click on the "recharge" button to top up your points via PayPal. (Just as a reminder, it is about $11.5 USD for 6500 points)

Congrats ! Thank you for supporting your favorite authors !

Recently QiDian conducted a net survey for the top novels to be considered as "master pieces". It was quite controversial as initially books by 辰东(Chen Dong) such as "Perfect World", "Shrouding the Heavens" dominated the chart, 7 out of 10 books in the top 10 was by him. So his fans were gloating in various on-line community about it. This angered fans of Gu Zheng Ren, whose novel "Reverend Insanity" was banned and thus ineligible to participate. So they voted for his newest novel 仙工开物(Secrets of the Eternal Puppeteer) instead as a proxy for RI. Soon such news spread on TikTok and fans of other books like cuttlefish's LoTM also joined in. It just turned into such a farce that the final list was announced without much fanfare.

details here:
https://www.163.com/dy/article/JLDPRCA90526FP3N.html

I can't find the complete List anymore, only top 20.

Here are the Top 20 (in ascending order):

《仙工开物》-- Secrets of the Eternal Puppeteer
《遮天》-- Shrouding the Heavens
《神秘复苏》-- Terror Awakening
《完美世界》-- Perfect World
《斗破苍穹》-- Battle through the Heavens
《诡秘之主》-- Lord of the Mysteries
《凡人修仙传》-- Record of mortal's journey to Immortal
《神墓》-- Shen Mu
《道诡异仙》-- Dao of the Bizarre Immortal
《吞噬星空》-- Swallowed Stars
《大奉打更人》-- Dafeng's Night Squad
《轮回乐园》-- Reincarnation Paradise
《圣墟》-- The Sacred Ruins
《全职法师》-- Versatile Mage
《我真没想重生啊》-- I really didn't want to be reborn
《夜无疆》-- Endless Night
《仙逆》-- Renegade Immortal
《全职高手》-- The King's Avatar
《超神机械师》-- The Legendary Mechanic
《惊悚乐园》-- Thriller's Paradise

Qidian Also had list of 2024's 12 heavenly Kings, see details here:
https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/the-twelve-heavenly-kings-of-qidian-2024/

Each year, QiDian asks readers to vote for the 十二天王 (12 heavenly kings), ie. Best Authors of the year. Here are the results for 2024:

https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20241224A08IMU00

in no particular order:

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-02-01. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc
 
I'm native Chinese speaker so I read the raw from Qidian. you can try finding the English translation on NovelUpdate, LnCrawl or try places like ReadOMNI where Advanced LLM models are used for MTL that should be more understandable and consistent than google translate. OR you can use Chatgpt/QWEN/deepseek/Groq with the chrome plugin immersive translate (just sign up and get your own API key for the cloud LLMs)

当明星哪有飞升香 (When Stardom Pales Next to Ascension )
 (modern, Chinese entertainment, high EQ MC, slice of life, no harem)
MC is an extrovert with high EQ and savvy social skills. He'll succeed even without a cheat as he knows how to handle any social situation. read to be enlightened on how to handle conflicts, say the right things to defuse accusations, and dealing with unpleasant folks.
MC's grandpa turned into the Deity Literary Star, and will grant him incense points when people offers burning incense sticks to his painting. MC can then use the incense point to draw powerful artifacts, ability points, and other goodies. MC can also see the ability ranking of other people, so then he can be the best scout and trainer as he knows who is good at what. He later also gain an artifact that can be used to obliterate psychological demons like depression, ADHD, Schizophrenia. So he use it to help his students and other pop stars to gain money and influence.

人在2024，系统1979？ (I'm in 2024, but the system is in 1979)
 (slice of life, harem, modern world)
 If you have a system and it'll take you back to 1979 in two days, what'll you do ? What'll you bring ? What stupid and crazy acts will you do ? the MC sold his house, got rid of all his belongings, kissed three separate women, and sent risqué pictures to another 10 girls from his WeChat account. Imagine his shock and immense embarrassment when only the system itself traveled back to 1979 and he is still in 2024, thus the title. The system thinks he is in 1979, so gives him missions like "graduate from college, be the first to open private businesses, fly in a commercial airplane". Those can be hard to do in 1979 China but easily done in 2024. The rewards are also hit and misses, like 500 RMB can seem a lot in 1979, but isn't much in 2024. But due to nostalgia factors, many ordinary items from 1979 are now worth a lot more as collector's items. Just imagine getting a first edition Pokémon card in 2024. Especially since the MC can specify the exact specification of the rewards. Of course the first thing MC needs to do is do apologize to the three woman and avoid jail time. yes, the novel is haremish, but I think some of the female characters are more developed and not purely two dimensional dolls, unlike another book I've read where the MC is a bulldozer and pretty anything that's female and moves, he'll do it.
 
 亡灵法师：从领主开始超神 (Necromancer: Ascending to Divinity from Lordship)
 (medieval, kingdom building, science, no harem, no system)
 Yes, yet another novel where fantasy magic mix with modern science. MC is a necromancer that's using zombies as factory workers to make soap. The web of magic is also the internet + amazon, allowing wizards to communicate with each other and trade. It has a bit LoTM feel as MC starts as a lowly level one necromancer, but on the magic web, people think he is a legendary wizard.

成影帝了，系统才加载完 (Already won the Best Actor, then system finished loading)
 (Chinese entertainment, system, no harem, yet)
 yes, yet another system mixup novel. at 16 MC got a system that's suppose to help him become the best actor. But it took ten years to load. the MC is already a famous actor and considered as one of the Reel Emperors(an actor who has won Best Actor in a big film festival, like Cannes or Venice). Once system finished loading, it starts giving out missions fit for an aspiring actor, like getting a speaking role in a film, or star in a small time snack commercial, etc. etc. These would be embarrassing for MC since it is a big time actor, but he does it anyway, because the punishment for failing the mission is electrical shock. The rewards are mostly songs, films, and abilities like +1 to singing, or +2 to appearance. Fortunately, the missions still helps the MC's career and life , not to mention many actresses, although so far nothing has happened.

不！这个昏君也太难当了！ (No! Being a Useless Emperor Is Way Too Hard!)
 (kingdom building, scheming, system, harem, cultivation)
 MC is the emperor of most likely the ming dynasty. He has a system that'll grant him cultivation experiences and techniques when he make the nation go into disarray. Things like appointing an eunuch to be head of intelligence agency, or enacting non-sense policies. These will reduce the providence of the nation and thus make MC cultivate better. Of course most of his attempts seems to be bad at first, and then turned out to be good for the country. you know the tropes if you've read such kind of reversal novels before. The writing isn't bad, keep reading if you like these kind of things and ancient china.

I have so much backlog of novels to keep up (as one can see from my weekly post) so I won't be adding too many new books.

Thank you for everyone who participated in the 2024 LLM translation survey, here is the results.
https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/2024-llm-novel-translation-survey-results/

stay tuned for 2025.

his is what I'm reading the week of 2025-01-25. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc
 
I'm native Chinese speaker so I read the raw from Qidian. you can try finding the English translation on NovelUpdate, LnCrawl or try places like ReadOMNI where Advanced LLM models are used for MTL that should be more understandable and consistent than google translate. OR you can use Chatgpt/QWEN/Claude/Groq with the chrome plugin immersive translate (just sign up and get your own API key for the cloud LLMs)

宇宙无限食堂 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ (Endless Food Court of the Universe)
 (Multiverse, delicious food, rogue-like, slice of life, no harem, no system, aliens, urban)
 
 MC saved a silicon based life form that is the cook of the universe, named Wang. He and Wang first start as a street food vendor. Wang does the cooking, MC travels to different worlds to battler various creatures and gather ingredients. The first world he has a rogue-like system that grants him different blessings when he kills a monster. The second world makes him play a real life version of battle chess with Witches. The ingredients are like monster meats, or live vegetables (think plants from PvZ). Wang cooks it on earth and they sell it as a street vendor and later upgrades to restaurant. There are also world guardians on earth that acts as like Men in Black to make sure the aliens on earth do not blow their cover. So the food Wang makes are also delicacies for the resident aliens. The book combines cooking and battling together, with a dash of sci-fi, something new and different. so far so good.

导演多拍点，我胖虎爱看 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Director Make more !, I, fat tiger, Love to watch)
(Chinese entertainment, scheming, no harem, no system, cunning MC, modern)

MC is in a world like earth, 2015. He use to be the best public relations agent, but now he is a young director just out of University. So he made knock-off movies(think Asylum ) based on popular movies. The first one is "Wasp Hero" (spider man). He then used his public relation/marketing skills to pump off the movie and draw people in to watch. It is a fun read to see how the inside of entertainment industry work, even though it starts in China, the MC later will make films in US and other places. Most of the stuff are still related to Chinese entertainment, like the female leads are all Chinese stars like 杨幂 (Mini Yang), so if you are not into that, it might not be as interesting. The in-line user comments on qidian sometime are funnier than the text, not to mention the pictures......

从口水歌开始 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ (Start with Catchy Pop songs)
(Chinese entertainment, system, no harem, urban
MC is in a world like earth, early 2000. He starts as a newly graduate of the best music school in China. His girl friend of 3 years just left him to be with a fatty middle-aged VP of an entertainment company. Then he got a system that awards him catchy pop songs to sing, and at the same time, also awards him other songs to help other singers grow and be famous. The author use to write a lot of martial art, sci-fi, cultivation novels. This is his first urban one, The writing is better than normal urban entertainment novels. The choice of songs are also not the main popular ones from Jay that everyone uses. The setup is also a bit different in that most of the songs are actually granted to other singers as well.

兽医，抽象点好啊 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Vetenarian, good to be a bit abstract
 (System, slice of life, doctor, urban, streaming, no harem, funny)
Good news: MC has a system that aims to make him the best doctor !
Bad news: MC is a veterinarian.
MC is a second graduate student studying to be a veterinarian. He just entered into a streaming competition on TikTok as part of government's effort to promote veterinary. He was then granted a system that's trying to make him the best doctor(for human). His first case was a cow paralyzed after given birth. The system thinks the cow as a person, and so thinks it is about impossible to heal her. But this is easy for a veterinarian dealing with a cow. The system also grants MC medical scan abilities to help with diagnoses. From which he figured out that the owner of the cow has syphilis from hookers, and the daughter is secretly 6 weeks pregnant. All the folks watching the show was astonished how the MC can tell all that from just a glance. He later was granted master level suture skills, which he used on a cow, and all the medical students watching him was like "Oh my god, this veterinarian is doing perfect wound cleaning that even my teacher can't do ! I'm not worthy !". So it is a lot of MC treating animals, system thinks he is treating person, granting him skills for treating person, which he uses to treat animals and also person. It is much more funnier than what I describe.

I have so much backlog of novels to keep up (as one can see from my weekly post) so I won't be adding too many new books.

Thank you for everyone who participated in the 2024 LLM translation survey, here is the results.
https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/2024-llm-novel-translation-survey-results/

stay tuned for 2025.

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-01-18. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc
 
I'm native Chinese speaker so I read the raw from Qidian. you can try finding the English translation on NovelUpdate, LnCrawl or try places like ReadOMNI where Advanced LLM models are used for MTL that should be more understandable and consistent than google translate. OR you can use Chatgpt/QWEN/Claude/Groq with the chrome plugin immersive translate (just sign up and get your own API key for the cloud LLMs)

系统很抽象，还好我也是 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (The system is very abstract, thankfully so am I)
 (memes, system, slice of life, funny, no harem, urban world)
 
 ok, I think I've found the start of the "system in the wrong world" type of novels. the setup is that the system think the MC is in a different world than where the MC actually is. Like this one thinks MC is in a cultivation world as a sect disciple, and later thinks MC is the only male in an all female world, etc. etc. So the missions system has are accomplished very differently from what the system expects, Like the system ask the MC to kill 10 Demon Blood crows, and it turns out swapping down 10 blood sucking mosquitos are good enough. Or system asking the MC to personally infiltrate a brothel operated by the "Joint Happiness Sect" and destroy it. So he (a middle schooler) end up going to a massage parlor, getting the "special service", gathered evidence and phoned in the police for a bust. the rewards MC gets are somewhat useful, like improved memory, more Yang essence in the body, a few low level spirit stones, and some cultivation techniques. This novel is filled to the brim with memes, and inside jokes from various gaming forums that I won't get half of it unless I read the in-line comments. I just tend to skip over the ones that didn't sound fun. I'm not sure I'll continue on, as it makes me feel old.... and out of touch.... but so far there are enough interesting tidbits and funny stuff to make for an entertaining read. your experiences might very.

废土开发日记 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Wasteland Development Diary)
(no system, fall out, kingdom building, slow pace, no harem, sci-fi)
MC transgress into a world covered with the "dead sea". A kind of dense energy that preserves non-sentient things as if in a time capsule, but will absorb any living flesh. There are pockets of regular lands where humans barely survive. MC is special in that he is actually one the "dead sea" creatures, and he can control other creatures by feeding them energies from the sea. one thing good about the book is that it starts with MC already having some power, and he commands a battalion of crab warriors to help him. His goal is to cultivate the land and restart civilization again. It is kind of slow paced, read on if you like kingdom building.

高武末世：从不修炼开始变强 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
 (High Martial Apocalypse, Getting Stronger by never practice)
 (system, slow pace, high martial, no harem, lay flat)

MC has a system that awards point for "laying flat". It means don't be too hard on yourself, don't make too much effort to practice, don't be diligent, just let things be, go with the flow. The more MC does these things, the more points and abilities he get, and the more powerful he becomes. The world is a dangerous place with aliens and monsters threatening mankind's existence, so all the resources are concentrated on the martial warriors who can fight and defend man kind. There are a lot of un-intentional face slapping as teachers and higher martial lords want the MC to practice harder and get better, but he'll be doing laying flat stuff like playing chess, fishing, video games, and yet he'll keep getting stronger. Lot of reaction like" He didn't even attend a full day of class, yet he is now level 3 in mind cultivation !". Some readers might find the book offensive as it seems MC is getting the power without earning it through hard work, sweat, and pain. Which is kind of the point of the book. The power system has several layers like mind, bloodline, body, soul, weapon intent, etc. etc. and there are myriad of levels on top of each layers. Not a lot of fighting, just a lot of other people trying to get the MC to work hard, and MC instead doing fun stuff, and yet MC still power up faster than many others who practices 12 hours a day. I don't know why I keep reading it, I guess it is just different.

I have so much backlog of novels to keep up (as one can see from my weekly post) so I won't be adding too many new books.

If you've went this far, please also consider taking this AI translation Survey to help me find the best LLM model for MTL.

https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/2024-llm-translation-survey/

This is just for translating a page from a Chinese Web novel into English.

In 2023 I did a survey of novel translation quality with various LLMs, you can see the results here: https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/2023-llm-model-translation-survery-results/

I conducted a new one for 2024, see the detailed description of the survey here:
https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/2024-llm-translation-survey/

And now for the results of the 2024 survey. In total 50 netizens participated (Thanks a lot !)

Just to Compare, here is the Updated 2023 result:

here is the link to the whole result google sheet for 2024:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SVbt0FEjOCH7FtCs09zDT41CL7a5v-94ZptiZ1HZDaw/edit?usp=sharing

Some interesting findings:
LLM seems to have improved a lot in 2024, beating out even Human translations. They all beat google translate in 2024, maybe due to better prompting technique used ? There is hope that with a multi-agent approach + glossaries we'll truly be able to enjoy the Chinese Web novels.

Hopefully someone can take this as an inspiration and do a survey for Korean and Japanese light novels, and maybe translating to other languages like Tamil or Spanish. It is easy to do and completely free on Jotform.

Stay tuned for 2025 Survey with newer models, and I'll also be updating the survey through out the year as models are updated. Please watch for my posts and participate !

This is what I'm reading the week of 2025-01-11. I only included the ones I've added to my bookshelf to continuous reading.

You can see my previous reading lists Here: www.chaosdrifter.cc
 
I'm native Chinese speaker so I read the raw from Qidian. you can try finding the English translation on NovelUpdate, LnCrawl or try places like ReadOMNI where Advanced LLM models are used for MTL that should be more understandable and consistent than google translate. OR you can use Chatgpt/Gemini/Claude with the chrome plugin immersive translate (just sign up and get your own API key for the cloud LLMs)

从栽下菩提树开始成神 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Becoming a God: Starting by planting the Bodhi Tree )
 (no system, no romance, no harem, High Martial, modern world, multiverse)
 Imagine you are born with a rare genetic disease that inflict you with such severe pain as if your teeth are been pulled out one by one. Imagine such pain just happens randomly through the day, making it impossible to have a normal life. Imagine been the parents and having to decide wether your 1 year old son should suffer such fate, or be peacefully put out such misery without any moral judgement or legal consequences as it is sanctions by the government. and Now image you are the baby and your parents decided to keep you alive and now you've grown up to be 16 years old. and with the help of a medicine that controls the pain to only happen between 6am to 8am so you can have a "normal life" the rest of the day. that's the MC at the start of the novel. He has suffered through hell each day for the past 16 years, and finally he is been rewarded when he was given access to a rare Martial Visualization Map of "hell on earth". The more pain one overcame, the higher power one gets. Naturally MC gets the highest reward from the Map and plants a Bodhi tree and a small plot of lands surrounded by hell fire. This world is a modern world, but it is ruled by the High martial masters. and your mental abilities are just as powerful as the physical forces. The book is about how MC progress through the martial ladders to be the best, so read on if you like power progressions. He'll work hard for each progression. There isn't much other plots. still a good read, some philosophy stuff in it, and can be inspirational at times as well. I like the power system.
 
 这个明星太有节目效果了 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (This Star has so much entertainment Show Effect )
 (Chinese entertainment, urban, system, funny, unconventional)
 MC has a system that'll grant him things like "more charisma, +1 to piano, the ability to always hold attention, a card to boost the popularity of a movie, this popular song from earth" etc. etc. The rewards are earned when he surprises people with unexpected acts or answers. and he stars in a real life dating showing, so expect a lot of unexpected interactions. Like when he finished performing a very romantic song for his partner, and people were expecting him to propose, but he just recited the lines for the show's sponsors....... There are many events and people in it that has parallel in the real Chinese entertainment world, and the songs and other stuff are not the most popular and overused ones in such novels. So far it is different enough that kept me going.

这个领主过于忠诚了 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (This Lord is too Loyal)
(no system, medieval, magic, modern technology, revolution, kingdom building, no harem)
MC is a small lord in a world set in the dark middle ages. Lords and the nobels are corrupt and treat the peasants like dirt. Priests are corrupt as well, colluding with the lords to take all the money from the poor and embezzling donations. All in the name of the Divine Goddess who just want to help everyone. MC happens to be able to communicate with the Divine Goddess through a system like interface where she rewards him for helping the poor and destroying the corrupt aristocrats. The rewards from the system is that MC can ask the Goddess to perform miracle things, like making gun powder, or enhance his knowledge of steam engines, etc. etc. basically a gold finger that allows him to start an industry revolution. Read if you like watching a small lord slowly build up to be the king of the world, and the Pope.(The Loyal in the title refers to the MC's loyalty to the Goddess as in he is the true believer of the Goddess's mission to help everyone)

家父儒圣，系统非逼我做粗鄙武夫 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
 (Father is a Confucius Saint, System forces me to be a brute martial man)
 System, Confucius cultivation, High Martial power, scheming MC. no harem
MC is in an ancient world like Ming Dynasty. He is the second son of the governor of a state, and also a Confucius Saint. MC has a system that rewards him with Abilities, enhancements, artifacts, wonders, techniques whenever he levels up. But all the rewards are related to martial arts and not the Confucius Dao. So the MC then can dual advance both the Confucius track, and the martial art track, getting double rewards along the way. The book actually has a lot of plot twists and setups, MC is intelligent, but also brute force as well. Maybe a bit too much scheming for me.

穿甲弹不相信碳基怪物 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(Armor Piercing Round doesn't believe in carbon based monsters)
Post Apocalypse, sci-fi, military, no system, group
Imagine Fall out 4, but set in China. 4 elite special forces personnel found themselves transmigrated about 400 years later, to a world filled with monsters and human factions. Thankfully they still got their full military tactical weapons and gears, Like surveillance drones, Sniper Grenade launcher, rifles, pistols. And they are surprised to find archived military gears in deep buried vacuum depots that only the know how to use, as the knowledge had been lost. Again, I got lured in the by title. Most of the military equipment mentioned are Chinese made, and there are some cultural references to military memes. but over all, if you like military actions, it should still be enjoyable. Be noted that this is a new novel, so it only has like 20K words. Normally I would read such short books, but with the title, I just gotta see if it is any good.
spoiler alert They are about to detonate a tactical nuclear warhead in the latest chapter.

I have so much backlog of novels to keep up (as one can see from my weekly post) so I won't be adding too many new books.

If you've went this far, please also consider taking this AI translation Survey to help me find the best LLM model for MTL.

https://www.chaosdrifter.cc/2024-llm-translation-survey/