The Sacred Ruins

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

To rise from defeat; to revive amidst the dissipation.

As the vast oceans turn to dust and the thunder and lightning fade away,

That strand of spiritual mist once again approaches our great world.

With the shackles that bound our world now severed—

A whole new world of mystery and wonder awaits,

As we turn the corner…

——

The Sacred Ruins is a story set in a post-apocalyptic world. A world that has recovered to a state that is roughly equal to our own world in terms of technology and culture, although its ancient history remains largely unknown. The story begins during the post-graduation trip of our protagonist, where he discovers some ancient ruins and witnesses “the great change”, an upheaval that changed everything. The changing earth not only brought about new, unexplored landscape but also sparked the evolution of all organisms. Plants and animals started gaining sentience and some humans obtained unimaginable powers. The legends, myths, and tales of old seemed to have suddenly come to life as the earth entered a new era where beasts and men formed factions, explored new lands and ultimately struggled for supremacy.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Holy Ruins
Shèng Xū
Thánh Khư
TSR
圣墟
Related Series
Perfect World (Shared Universe)
Shrouding the Heavens (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
A Will Eternal (1)
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation (1)
I Shall Seal the Heavens (1)
Perfect World (1)
Shrouding the Heavens (1)
The Desolate Era (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels that I have read 2
  2. Running List
  3. Novel to waste your life
  4. list for friends and strangers
  5. Well received Chi ML novels

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/08/17 Webnovel c123
09/06/17 Webnovel c122
09/06/17 Webnovel c121
09/04/17 Webnovel c120
09/03/17 Webnovel c119
09/02/17 Webnovel c118
09/01/17 Webnovel c117
08/30/17 Webnovel c116
08/29/17 Webnovel c115
08/29/17 Webnovel c113
08/27/17 Webnovel c114
08/27/17 Webnovel c112
08/26/17 Webnovel c111
08/26/17 Webnovel c110
08/25/17 Webnovel c109
Go to Page...
Go to Page...
Review
25 Reviews


Trent
Trent
May 19, 2017
Status: --
Wtf. So grandiloquent. It's just like the summary, where the attempt at poetry replaces useful information and obscures the actual story. This web novel is the result of someone trying to do "high" literature but having a misconception about what that is. Whether it's the author or the translator showing off, or both, it's not appreciated; the word count is wasted on verbose and flowery description instead of reasonably paced plot progression, which the novel tries to make up for by skipping explanations about things that actually matter.

I can't even laugh, because lots of the word choices are poor or entirely wrong, so I guess the translator's just putting everything through a thesaurus without necessarily understanding words' definitions or connotations. It's the kind of thing that would-be intelligent readers praise, but it only hurts readability. At the same time, simple grammar's often messed up; how about studying the basics of English language first? Meanwhile, the author/translator cripples POV by constantly using passive voice and meandering third-person.

Who knows, maybe the story that's buried underneath all the ridiculous prose is good, but why should each reader have to pick apart every sentence and mentally substitute better terms to appreciate it? This thing's like an expired microwavable dinner that a cook showers with spices to dress up the taste, then places on china to try to convince its eaters that no, it's actually fancy, and if they dislike it then it's because they're not real gourmets, so they should shut up and pretend to enjoy it or everyone will think that they're hillbillies.
87 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
strixflash
strixflash
Mar 18, 2017
Status: c650
Upto date with raws! Now the waiting!

(I don't think I have ever read a novel more funnier than Sacred Ruins. The comedy is far better than A Will Eternal and others. The s*ave Trading arc and Land of Reincarnation is the proof).

The novel has everything we love in Chinese novels: Great humor, epic face-smacking and great action along with superb world building. But the best part is that the novel has actual plot unlike many other novels!!

The comedy is gold. We have protagonist swindling others, funny... more>> blind dates, starring role in movies, animals trying to become technologically advanced while failing epically... The humor is also served with face-smacking. You would love the alien 'trafficking' part ;)

The story is set in modern world which is undergoing mutation. The novel retain its modern elements even though the world is turning into something archaic and desolate.

Chen Dong never disappoints when it comes to world building. The mysteries are well laid out. The adventures are both exciting and funny.

It's currently my favorite novel so I would definitely recommend it to you. <<less
32 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
tides
tides
Apr 11, 2018
Status: c900
The other reviews are extremely misleading.

this novel isn't bad but it isn't good either. The author is trying to write a mystery novel but doesn't do it well, leaving you wondering what the heck you are actually reading. Alot of reviews are telling you that this is the 'most hilarious' novel ever but that is not true. There is actually also no mystery here at all, just that the world was damaged and it's slowly recovering which is what caused the "Apocalypse".

some people talk about how the selling and auctioning... more>> of enemies is hilarious, but it's really not THAT funny as he essentially captures them and ransoms them back. There is almost zero bidding going on after the first chapter and it becomes more of a ransom exchange for the majority of the plot.

not to mention that the translation are not even near the funny arcs yet so there is zero "funny" chapters right now.

if you can power through the first 70 chapters or so, you will understand a little bit regarding what is going on, and the MC powerup/fighting arcs start. The fighting also occurs non-stop and it becomes tiring to read after 400-500 chapters as nothing else ever happens. He becomes so strong that he just beats everyone who comes even if they are 2 realms higher and all sorts of people from all over the universe arrives which later becomes a plot hole as they are not supposed to.

The first 70 chapters are written in such a way that you will have no clue what you are reading, what is going on and it is completely boring as the characters themselves are also trying to figure out what the heck is happening, and the only thing happening in the first 70 chapters is a bunch of people fighting and killing each other for fruits, and the MC obtaining a breathing method that makes him stronger than the publicly acknowledged no.1 mutant in 2 weeks (?).

this is also not a cultivation novel but an evolution novel, where the vast majority of people have to eat fruits and "evolve" their body into stronger realms. This also lengthens their lifespan but it is not immortal cultivation or seeking the dao.

would I recommend this to someone else? The answer is clearly no.

there are many other novels that are better to introduce to someone else.

but would I continue reading this? Probably yes right now because alot of the questions are answered and it's purely a "beat em all" novel right now. <<less
25 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Stark3
Stark3
Jul 11, 2017
Status: c510
The Sacred Ruins read very closely like Chen Dong's other novels : there's a grand beginning (similar to Shrouding the Heavens), where the author provides a very visual description of how events started. Not a lot of action, but it is here that the author tries to provide an air of mystery as to the whole thing; also where most of the plot is built, foreshadowing is planted, etc.

After that veneer of a plot at the beginning though and an initial interesting concept, it eventually devolves to a very generic... more>> xianxia experience. There's little here that isn't your usual set of tropes - the audience that is almost always present and has nothing to do but claim that MC can't be able to do X because of Y, but eventually be amazed when MC pulls through; treasures and power-ups that just fall into the MCs grasp; the people he has to beat up just because of "face", etc. etc. The author also recycles a character trope he introduced in Perfect World - the MC cooks and eats his opponents because of the energy present in their bodies (this becomes a persistent running joke, replacing the one where he's a rascal to the women he encounters, because they are no longer on the same level as him)

People would say that, hey, that's what xianxia is. But again, there's more trope and repetition than story telling going on. Better xianxia works at least provide a better ratio of story vs cookie cutter stuff.

There's so little in the way of development here that I can say that the situation the MC is in here at ch510 where I am now is little different from where he was at ch 200 or earlier : there are a whole lot of people / beings in the same cultivation level or higher than him who wants to beat him up because of his arrogance or because he dares to defy their race / clan. Especially at these later chapters, it's just wave and wave of enemies that are after him...

Anyway, I can't say this work is awful : it's an ok representative of its genre. It's something you can happily (and mindlessly) binge read. But it doesn't provide its own voice and story enough for it to be more than average. <<less
21 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
asgard22
asgard22
Oct 29, 2017
Status: --
first review, had to write something. usually I dont bother writing review because I'm....... lazy. That said, this novel is not too bad. has a bit of slice of life pacing in the beginning to set up the story and build the world. and then things start rolling later through the story.

Overall good novel. I didnt find it as comedic/wasnt laughing at all unlike other novels I read such as AWE, man that novel always brings a smirk to my face.

Now on to the bad. IF UR WONDERING WHY THIS... more>> NOVEL HAS A RATING OF 3.8 but is top ranked on China's qidian rankings, well it has nothing to do with the story for the most part. I imagine, most of the reviewers leaving low scores is because the translation/translator (mike??) and the editor (chrissy??) is...... literal donkey shit. Now god bless their souls that someone is willing to translate it to english so im not gonna get too critical on it but the translation is dog shit. Its literal shit/poop/feces thats been wrapped up all nicely with a ribbon, and then mike/chrissy went ahead and sprayed some febreeze on it to get rid of the sh*t smell, and then offered that final translation to the general public.

Unfortunately for them, no matter how much you try to make literal poop/shit/feces look pretty, at the end of the day its still sh*t and no sane people is going to enjoy reading through this sh*t translation.

Now I know I sound way too critical, but i'am holding myself back, I wished I could just unleash a torrent of whiny complaints but thats not my intention with this review. If you disregard everything I say, then at least look at the result/facts, theres a reason why this novel has a 3.8 rating on novelupdates and its not cuz of the story.

The review by the username "Trent" summarizes the way I feel about this novel's translation.
*coughTLDR* good novel but translation quality sucks big donkey..... that it takes away the enjoyment of reading this novel *cough* <<less
15 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
synaptic
synaptic
Mar 11, 2017
Status: c30
This is a tentative review.

Currently I would give this 4.5/5, it's got a few things in particular going for it. The first and most important is the pervasive sense of strangeness that fills the story. It's very easy to feel how alien everything happening around the MC is. This has the highest potential of any cultivation story I've read including my personal favorites A Will Eternal and Five Way Heaven (though the latter is not very far in its translation). I hope the author does not let down the great... more>> work he's done setting the tone and building the sense of mystery and wonder present in what I've read so far. The second is that, as of yet, this does not seem to be a level up style character progression. I don't mind that sort of plot device at all; it can be an easy way for the reader to track where the MC stands relative to important figures in the story, and it is appropriate lore-wise for many stories. But it just wouldn't fit here without a major tone shift or a different way of presenting it than the ningmai/jindan or qi condensation/foundation establishment shit.

Dock half a point for the slow introduction, which is also very wordy, that takes too long to get you hyped up, as well as a personal pet peeve: when people have seen like the eighth f*cking worldview smashing thing in a day, at least a good portion would realize that clearly things are different for good, and it's time to start thinking about how to deal with it rather than be constantly astonished/afraid/in denial. Really, at least some people would care more about surviving than being all "woe is me" about it. Thankfully the MC has an appropriate attitude.

Side note, I like the foreshadowing about the ex and her family, very interested to see that plot point brought up in the future. <<less
13 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
raifan
raifan
Apr 24, 2017
Status: c42
The start of the novel is boring. Doesn't grab your attention at all. What's worse, the author doesn't describe who the MC is or what he is doing. He seems to be running in the desert, so I expected him to be some type of cultivator or something, but much later it seems he was just a regular human. All you know about the MC is that he separated from some "goddess". The term was in quotes, so I wasn't even sure if the goddess was a female, statue or... more>> some spirit. Still, up to now, I am not really quite sure what his objective was in beginning. I saw some reviewers comparing the author to Er Gen, so I decided to continue.

Story gets better around chapter 6, it seems to have some direction. Still the author seems to forget what he/she wrote. More annoying is the current enemy is s*upid and the dialogue between the 2 is childish. But we are to believe that she (current enemy) has the power to command 100s of people to move.

The good, is that there are some funny parts with the cow and the story is at a place where it has grabbed my attention and I want to know what happens next. So with that I'll give it 3 stars. <<less
8 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
SinsI
SinsI
Apr 18, 2017
Status: --
The story completely lacks some basic required information about MC and the world he is supposed to be in.

Who is he? How does he look like? What does he do? Where is he from? How did he come to be in this desert? What is he doing there? Does he have food and water? It feels like it was ripped out of the middle of some other novel, losing all the necessary context, so it is very hard to get into it.

The author is also EXTREMELY fond of absolutely excessive... more>> visual descriptions of things - with barely any action happening. This makes it very hard to distinguish something that is actually important to the plot from some random unnecessarily phenomena, making the story advance at a snail pace at one time - and run like a cheetah at another. <<less
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Heartless
Heartless
Oct 23, 2018
Status: --
This had so much potential...

I actually really enjoyed this story when I first started reading it. However, after a certain point the story devolves into a loop.

The "story" simply seems to be the MC faceslapping his enemies in front of the constantly awed audience. And someone always seem to be filming every situation around the MC and posting it online, so more of the audience can be shocked.

And for some reason ALL of his enemies seem to do nothing else in their lives than to spend it in front of... more>> their social-media device waiting for the next post. This includes the beast-kings and aliens... sitting on a satellite and only appearing in front of the MC to slaughter him every time he runs out of enemies on earth.

His track-record is killing all his enemies (except those that survive only to plot against him and die at a later time), yet he seems to be "tr*sh" 90% of the time and therefore everyone underestimates him and loses. After which he becomes all of the audience's hero (for at least some sentences, after which he is tr*sh compared to the next foe).

I'm really disappointed, this had quite the potential, everything seemed kinda mysterous and the inhabitants seemed worried about the world's future. Then comes the breaking point, where seemingly EVERYONE apperently already knew what was going to happen and EVERY major company/institute/gang/random group have some connection to either beast kings or aliens since a ****** long time ago.

Nothing in the story seems exciting anymore, the "plot" is very predictable - just with a new enemy party the MC gets to faceslap.

Was 4.5/5 stars before everything went downhill

and is 1.5/5 stars now <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
omgitsaray
omgitsaray
Feb 03, 2018
Status: c32
I kinda agree with asgard22's review, the translation and editing is a bit weird to read. There's a lot of Pong! sound effects instead of your usual Bang! Guns going off sound is clonk! And word choice has me baffled. Instead of saying someone wailed in pain, they used ululated... I had to google that to figure what it meant. Riven one's clothes instead of using tear? Google again. Onus instead of burden, google again. I could keep going... The difficult part of reading this is you get good sentences... more>> suddenly mixed with broken English, i.e. "Killing you just means is like swatting another fly to me."

Now for the novel itself, I tried really hard reading the beginning but the 20 chapters of describing the new changes to the world could have been done in 2. I skimmed most of it and felt like I didn't miss a thing. Just a simple call to another person would have a whole paragraph describing the current night sky, temperature, swaying of leaves etc. I will keep plodding along and will update this if the novel gets interesting. <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
NaM
NaM
Mar 24, 2017
Status: c28
A GREAT novel written by a GREAT author..

[Warning! This review was a review composed of Half Rant Half Review]

This novel was written by "Chen Dong" the same author of Perfect World, Shrouding the Heavens and World of Immortals. Which for me were great works. his writing style was not much worse when compared with Er Gen. They are both great at character and world building (Er Gen with immortal Civilization feel while Chen Dong with Archaic Civilization feel). Thats why im a bit sadden seeing them overall rated as (PW=3.9... more>> STH=4 WOW= 3.4). It kinda frustrate me when some s*upid c*nts instantly rate his novels with 1-2 stars just because their undeveloped brains can't bear the slow development and malfunction only at chapter 50 below

Are you perhaps from the Legendary Race of MUSCLE BRAINS?!

Anyway! Into the topic.

Story was set in a post-apocalyptic earth. The land was ravaged by countless wars till it finally turn into a wasteland. A wasteland filled with countless unexplored phenomenon and unknown mystery. And within this novel we have an MC with a personality (not someone who only has KILL! KILL! KILL!! In his brain or a SmartAss who can only notice the OBVIOUS) with all that fact (post apocalyptic world and mysterious mc) you can already discern that this novel will have a slow development and slow world building.. Things will gradually be revealed, Mysterys are slowly being unfold. We the readers were slowly being grabbed and unnoticely being engrossed (with my previous experience with his past works. They are honestly engrossing) while slowly being hugged by countless foreshadows and hopefully not some childish tricks but with genuine schemes. Btw that yellow Ox is killing me hahaha

(With all that said. I think this novel has great potential and a novel that was not written "Half-heartedly".

I recommend this to those who had read chen dongs previous works and patient readers who were tired with the usual xianxia/xuanhuan stuff) <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ieatp-ssy
ieatp-ssy
Oct 15, 2018
Status: c410
I have to admit I'm a sucker for a post-apocalyptic sort of story. And this one does start out precisely like that.

And then it devolves into the typical CN-novel super-acute good fortune heaped on one person, which is then the typical trope for every other Qidian-published novels. But, seeing how I started reading, I continued. And then, the story evolved again, into something not-quite-excellent, but much better than what initially met the eye.

The plot is simple: earth is going through an apocalyptic event, where animals evolve, and some humans, too.... more>> Our MC gets a stroke of initial good luck, and more and more are heaped unto him, in this new world. If I tell you any more than that, it would ruin the story. Go with me, here.

And now, the review:

First, this is a novel with a comedic tone, and heavily influenced by Japanese anime, meaning some of the jokes don't translate well into English, and the ones that do are less ROFL and more chuckle-chuckle, here and there. On the other hand, the version I'm reading is the cheaply-translated version on Qidian International, so it could just be due to the bad translation.

Second, if you commit to reading to chapter 400, or so, you'll get a pleasant surprise. The initial bit of good luck our MC found randomly on a mountain that felt like super contrived on the initial read has more meaning. As it turned out, as history (of the story, itself) is unveiled, there is a reason that bit of good luck is located there, and not totally random.

In fact, I can tell you that everything in the first 200 chapters that will feel totally random and contrived happening to the MC will make more sense, later on. Even side characters that are contrived makes sense once you get to chapter 400, or so.

My advice is not to read this if you're hungry for comedy, as comedy is an art, and no work of comedy translated in a linear fashion will read as being that funny, to you. But, if you're easily satisfied with a few chuckles here and there, and enjoy a good -- but light -- adventure story, this might be for you. Despite the usual graphic violence of CN webnovels, this one feels like it's aimed to younger audiences. More the One Piece and Fairy Tail set, rather than the more cerebral FLCL kind of humour.

It's good for a light read. It's worth more than 3 stars, but less than 4. Unfortunately, novelupdates doesn't allow partial stars ratings from individuals, or this novel would be a solid 3.5 from me.

Enjoy! <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Eternalnightking
Eternalnight
Sep 30, 2017
Status: c76
The story and setup is good. But the MC is an idiot. He says the world is getting stronger and he needs to get stronger and when he is given the opportunity he randomly gives it to other. The author says he is generous even a bloody idiot won't give them to anyone at least he will try one fruit but the MC didn't even take one. MC is an idiot who know what's going on but he won't take the chance given to him.
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
AeonicI
AeonicI
Jun 05, 2017
Status: --
The first part of the story is well-made. It is full of description that you actually have an idea of what is being talked about. It is rich and colourful yet it gives an air of mystery. It grabs your attention as it evokes curiousity. It is impeccable. But, it devolves into a generic xianxia in the later chapters. Certain scenes are similar like a broken recorder. They are repeatedly used that it gets boring.

What is worse is the use of words, although sophisticated, does not flow well in a... more>> sentence. It feels as if the translator/editor copied from the thesaurus and pasted it. The story is popular for a reason and I hope the translator and editor understand this. <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Drunk Moon Resident Scholar
Drunk Moon R
Mar 07, 2018
Status: c279
The first few chapters are an incredibly poor hook to the story but if you persevere past them this is a really good novel. This is one of the few xianxia that actually make me laugh.

I suppose you could compare the feel of the story to the start of swallowed star but funnier while maybe not being quite as epic.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
bludvein
bludvein
Jul 04, 2017
Status: --
This was an incredibly unique read among the increasing heap of predictable huanhuan/xian xia that we get nowadays. The translator really doesn't do it justice in carrying some of the humor over, but I'm not about to downrate it because QI can't get someone to do a good job.

Anyway, this story has a slow start but the MC is hilarious. He's basically a small rogue specialized in humiliating the arrogant young master archetype in interesting ways. He has none of the expected mannerisms of their martial culture, and instead of... more>> adapting to others he forces others to adapt to himself. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
JetonS
JetonS
Apr 23, 2017
Status: c41
The beginning was slow and unteresting, I almost dropped at the chapter 5, but now I'm glad I didn't. This Novel is a pure gem, it just gets better and better as the story drags on, you should at least read up to chapter 20 before you decide to drop or not. The author really knows how to write original stories, instead of a plain Xianxia where the MC is overpowered from the start and has uncountable females running behind him, in The Sacred Ruin, the MC is logical and... more>> uses his head, he is neither arrogant nor conceited. There are some scenes where you just can't help but leak a small grin. In short, this Novel is funny, exciting and the world building is intriguing, I totally recommend this one. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Night Ghost
Nighterfield
Apr 22, 2017
Status: --
Edit Below

Another work from chen dong. As usual Chen dong loves putting some foreshadowing at the beginning, especially MC's background and his girlfriend. And I saw a review that complained about it. Guys it is part of foreshadowing. I understand many xianxia/xuanhuan where the author never explain mc's background. But we are talking about chen dong here. His other novels (divine grave/shen mu, world of immortal) also have the same foreshadowing.

... more>> Give this novel a try

~Edit~

this is you typical and usual xianxia with arrogant young master and some face slappings. It is hard for me to continue where I left since I hate arrogant young master who never learns his lesson. But the comedy is gold <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Steelkite
Steelkite
Apr 13, 2023
Status: --
This has to be one of THE dumbest novels I've ever had the displeasure of reading.

The protagonist early on meet a calf (yep, as in a baby cow), and that calf seems to be "enlightened". It has human level intelligence, it sits cross-legged (somehow) to meditate, likes to practice boxing, and loves to use cellphones. Oh, and it's a real a**hole! Seriously, its personality is genuinely obnoxious.

Then, the protagonist learns from said calf both a "breathing technique" and a "boxing technique", and he magically becomes overpowered. And that "breathing technique"... more>> is so magical, that it makes him basically indestructible.

The entire premise is genuinely idiotic. Especially about animals become somehow "enlightened" not just intelligent. Also, it doesn't exactly help when the author treats genocidal heretics as if they are somehow superhumans. And he doesn't even treat it as a myth, but as accepted facts.

And of course, it wouldn't be a Chinese novel without a dose of moronic nationalism. :facepalm:

The translation was really annoying, as others reviews have mentioned. It's too wordy, and picks odd words or terms just for the sake of being fancy. And I wish that translators would learn that crap like "PUFF" "PONG" "DONG" "ONG" doesn't add a damn thing to story. FFS, stop translating sound effects!

I tried to put up with this idiotic novel, but I couldn't continue. I felt my brain cells were at a serious risk of dying off if I continued any further...

I'm seriously wondering if the author was high when he wrote this story. <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
oli0202
oli0202
Jun 21, 2018
Status: c139
The one thing that this novel does any different than other novels is the modern times angle

This mostly results in cellphones being a thing and most fights being recorded so that the author can put in some internet chat and praise the MC, so it's like any other novel but now its internet comments instead of audience comments. You can expect a paragraph of these type of reactions every chapter. Guns and helicopters and jets and nukes and missiles and all this makes an appearance but it seems to be... more>> mostly used to show how amazing characters are

The villains in this are terribly done, so far not a single one has been memorable. There seems to be 2 types of them in this novel, 1 is the slightly stronger than MC so that he can be pressured to grow stronger and author can progress the story and 2 is the arrogant young noble types that are only there to show how amazing and brave our MC is.

MC has a decent personality at the start but it gets worse as the story goes on. Still better than most MC characters.

I could write more about this but this is really just an average xianxia novel, not terrible, not great and ok to pass the time with <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Leave a Review (Guidelines)
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.