Godmaking

Godmaking is a long Eastern fantasy novel by the web novelist Cang Tian Bai He (real name Lu Xiaoning), serialized on Qidian from March 23, 2012 to May 26, 2013, totaling about 3.1 million Chinese characters and now complete. The story follows the young Ying Chengfeng and is built around the core premise that "intelligence is spirituality, spirituality is intelligence—with intelligence, all things are possible": in a otherworld grounded in spiritual energy, spirit patterns, and spirit artifacts, the youth embarks on an unconventional path of cultivation through his interaction with an artificial intelligence. Beginning with his family and mountain village, the tale gradually unfolds through layers of apprenticeship, the Spirit Path Holy Hall trials, sect tests, exploration of the Legacy Tower, and the War of a Hundred Domains, with detailed worldbuilding around spirit arts such as spirit infusion, spirit capture, and spirit gathering, as well as spirit artifact forging. The work continues the author's signature leveling-up style—brisk in pace and tightly systematized—as the protagonist rises step by step in a world of powerful rivals through wit and ingenuity. Note that the web serial was never formally published in simplified Chinese print; the paper editions available on the market are mostly volume-by-volume sets from Taiwan's Nine Star Culture, divided into short installments, so readers should take care to distinguish the volumes when buying.