Killing Zen

Among the many cultivation novels about devouring treasures and leveling up, what makes Killing Zen worth reading is its self-contained realm system: the six Buddhist consciousnesses expanded into a ladder of cultivation—eye consciousness first opening the way, ear consciousness returning to simplicity, nose consciousness suddenly penetrating, tongue consciousness entering the hall, body consciousness mastering a hundred schools, mind consciousness resonating with heaven and man—stretching all the way to alaya consciousness. The names sound serene, but in combat they are fierce and clean, which gives the title "Killing Zen" a certain dark edge. The author, Xiao Se Lang, is from Nanjing and has written on Qidian since 2007; this book is his rare attempt at a long cultivation novel, pushed forward at a hundred thousand characters a month and finished in eleven months. He admits the results were poor and the ending rushed, but the main line never falls apart. The protagonist Zhuo Zhiyuan is driven from path-sweeping boy into the Ten-Thousand-Mile Abyss, then devours treasures and forges his body; his growth logic is clear, and supporting characters such as Mo Xun, Old Man Chen and Yue Xiaocai each have their own positions and schemes, so the reading is never dull. Readers who like traditional cultivation settings and the "play the pig to eat the tiger plus fortuitous encounters" style can take it as a solidly paced old-school web novel with an interesting setting.