After 300+ chapters of The Overlord of Puluo, I still have no idea what’s happening
I have read a lot of cultivation novels over the years, and I realized that most cultivation systems eventually start to blur together. A while ago, I started translating The Overlord of Puluo (PULUO). It was one of the novels mentioned in this post discussing Chinese webnovel genres under Fantasy (Qihuan), and it was also reviewed in this other post.
----Just some ramblings you can skip. Scroll to bottom for ratings----
Before this, I was translating Young Noble Be Monster Slaying, and honestly, translating that felt like going on fun monster-hunting adventures with very lovable characters. I love even the evil characters.
YNS does have mysteries, but the story still feels more like a traditional xianxia novel. The cultivation framework is familiar in a good way. Sects, immortal cultivation, tournaments, missions, monster hunts… it uses those classic elements really well. The chemistry and banter are also great, so it’s just a very fun novel to read.
The Overlord of Puluo, on the other hand, feels very different from YNS and many other cultivation novels I have read. Recently, while translating and reading it, I have found myself constantly stopping just to think, "What the hell is happening?" I am confused, but I want to read more because what the hell is happening?
The worldbuilding itself feels incredibly unique, and the cultivation paths are strangely tied to people’s lifestyles and ways of thinking. There are Wanderlust Cultivators, Homebound Cultivators, Gourmandism Cultivators, Love Cultivators, Calculation Cultivators, and many others. Each path changes how people live, travel, fight, and even see the world around them.
YNS was a comedy novel. PULUO has comedy too, but the comedy feels completely different from YNS. YNS comedy feels playful and adventurous. PULUO’s comedy feels chaotic, bizarre, and sometimes like the world is barely holding itself together. A lot of the humor comes from how absurd the setting itself is. What I really like is that even after reading more than 300 chapters, I still feel like I don’t fully understand the world yet. There’s always this feeling that something bigger is hidden underneath everything.
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So far, my rough ratings for PULUO would probably be:
Character rating: 7/10
The characters in Puluo feel stranger, and more unpredictable rather than simply charming. Aside from the MC, I really can't predict who's important and who might die in the next few chapters. I think the first novel I translated, Young Noble Be Monster Slaying (YNS), has stronger characters chemistry overall. The YNS characters feel more immediately alive and lovable.
Worldbuilding rating: 10/10
The world in PULUO is very unique. It’s one of the few novels where the world constantly gives the feeling that something is “off,” with peculiar territories, strange creatures, and weird rules that make even ordinary places feel mysterious and unpredictable. What I also really like is that the world feels massive while still remaining very detailed. Even after hundreds of chapters, it still feels like there is so much left to explore. The cultivation paths are also deeply tied to lifestyles and mentalities rather than simply combat abilities. Wanderlust Cultivators, Dream Cultivators, Homebound Cultivators, and other cultivation paths genuinely shape how characters think and live. There are lands filled with peculiar people, lands of medicine, lands where people rarely leave their homes, lands known for incredible craftsmen, and many other strange territories. Honestly, it sometimes feels a bit like reading The Magic Faraway Tree. The MC’s actions constantly lead him into ever-changing, surreal lands that can be delightful, peculiar, or dangerous.
Plot rating so far: 8/10
What I really like about the plot is how it slowly grows bigger and bigger without feeling forced. The story starts with Li Banfeng getting caught in a murder setup, but later expands into strange territories, weird cultivation paths, powerful factions, dream worlds, and the mysteries of the Inner Provinces.
The mystery is probably the strongest part for me. The story constantly feels like something is "off," but it rarely explains everything immediately. A lot of the fun comes from slowly learning how the world works together with the MC. I also like that many small details introduced early on become important much later in the story. It makes the world feel planned instead of random. The story also keeps changing settings and problems, so it rarely feels repetitive. One arc might focus on survival, another on business wars, another on strange villages or dream-related mysteries. There’s also a major mystery in the story that I am still waiting to fully understand. But even while trying to figure that out, the journey itself still feels interesting because there is always something unpredictable happening. The only downside is that I am really not sure what the MC's goal is as of now.
And that's the end of my review for PULUO. If you are reading it right now, let me know if you agree with my thoughts so far. And if you haven't read it yet, hope you liked this review!