The Legend of the Devil

The Legend of the Devil is an urban supernatural novel by the web author Xia Xie. It was serialized on Qidian from March 1, 2018, and completed on October 15 of the same year, running to about 1.1 million Chinese characters in 336 chapters (including two extras), plus a concluding chapter titled Reincarnation. The story is set in an invented world called "Planet." The author borrows some of Earth's structure but explicitly states that this planet is not Earth. In this world, the Eastern system of qi-refining and cultivation coexists with the Western system of supernatural powers, and alongside humans, all manner of demons, ghosts, and monsters are active. The story centers on a protagonist born with a spirit-seeing eye who has been able to see ghosts since childhood. Because of this gift he is abandoned by his parents and raised by his grandfather, in whose company he encounters all kinds of ghostly beings and thereby sets out on the path of cultivation. After finishing middle school, he receives an invitation from Union University, enters a completely new environment, begins to encounter both Eastern and Western cultivation systems at once, and gradually comes into contact with the demons, ghosts, and various factions hidden behind everyday life. As his cultivation and knowledge grow, he uncovers, step by step, the secrets buried in this world. Readers sum up the overall tone as "light": the author's prose is witty and the pacing brisk, blending supernatural powers, cultivation, campus life, and paranormal elements into one. The opening has a certain paranormal-thriller feel, after which it shifts to a power-fantasy route that runs daily life and adventure in parallel. Some readers find its setup and structure somewhat like "a Harry Potter of the East," and the clash of Eastern and Western cultivation systems is one of its main draws.