Hi. Xin definitely doesn't "blow off" what happened. Trauma responses don't come immediately like in Hollywood movies. My experience as a therapist is enough to claim that Xin is reacting realistically. He breaks down slower and over time. Lei's slang is urban, modern and dirty. The analogue of this in modern English is the way he speaks (at least the best I could come up with. Xin is also weirded out by the way he speaks). In terms of prose and grammar needing improvement - yeah, I agree. If you have any specific examples - please provide them and I'll improve.
Hi, it's in the comments of the chapter.
>These guys are also supposed to be degenerates. Are they? Xin decides not to risk his life fighting a horde of qi active animals, never means he's a sociopath. There's also gratitude involved, as Lei saved his life. The criticism of too much dialogue might be valid, thank you.
My personal experience as a therapist (and a human) shows there is a subset of people acting in exactly this manner when stressed. Not sure what else to say, Lei's behaviour is certainly not usual, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they're unrealistic. I guess you're seeing that both of these guys have a certain approach to handling stress in conflict, and a similar one at that.
Please pay attention. Even the mc notes the pronunciation is weird.
yay wholesome rapist cannibal animal companion who wants to destroy your soul!
"Xin! What are you even saying?! This is stupid! Where would you be without me? Not just my abilities, but the motivation I gave you! The lust for battle, the urge to keep going, the hunger to become a better person! How can you discard this all, after all we went through, together? A wise man knows to let go, forget our quarrels and let's become friends! It's the smartest choice! If you let me live, I'll have no means of overtaking your soul. But if you try to refine me, you know how fierce I can get!"
Action · Denion
I promise Xin's fighting and cultivation style will evolve, that's for sure.
This will be elaborated on. As cultivation levels progress, the cultivation itself becomes more complex and multifaceted. When I said this novel is more complex than earlier chapters might hint, I meant it.
Xin spent three more days meditating. He kept hunting, slowly consuming spirit leaves and training physically, but mostly focused on soul exchange. Absorbing the tiger's soul essence, he also donated his own soul essence for the totem to absorb. Given that a human's soul regenerates faster and is much more malleable, it was a good way to break an already weakened totem's resistance. It was a draining process, at times leaving Xin feeling like a human qi drained ghoul, but he persevered.
Action · Denion
Thank you! I am sitting on a backlog of chapters, but I want to finish writing the current arc (2 more chapters, so ~2 more days) before I start editing and posting them. Really appreciate your power stones, they motivate me to keep writing. Come join the discord if you want to discuss something or ask questions. https://discord.gg/Nvj7yPJr4q
Another moment that I forgot to mention - "xianxia world" is your idea of other xianxia books. This isn't Song China or a classic cultivation world, it is stated in the first sentence in the novel to be a very specific place (and its lore is unusual, even the century the "main" world is in is only hinted at originally).
As Heavens Divide
Action · Denion