⭐ Overall Rating: 4/5
I apologize for a very casual and cluttered review, I think this is mainly a rant huhu, im sorry orzDid I enjoy it? Yes.
Did I spend portions of this novel wanting to shake Ji Chaoyun like a bag of rice? Also yes.
Would I still recommend it? Yes.
Do I have complaints? Another Yes.
*aherm* I genuinely enjoyed After Cultivating with the Enemy. There is a reason I picked this novel up and kept working on the whole damn thing instead of quietly pretending I never saw it LOL aside from the anon who requested for it ofc~ I loved the cultivation-school setting, the dragon and phoenix lore, the academy shenanigans, and especially the relationship between Feng Qi and Ji Chaoyun.
Their dynamic was probably my favorite part of the story.
Feng Qi starts out as this arrogant, troublesome, ridiculously talented Second Highness who seems to exist “primarily” to make Ji Chaoyun’s life more difficult. Meanwhile, Ji Chaoyun is prickly, stubborn, painfully earnest, and so determined to prove himself that you occasionally want to reach into the novel and tell him:
BABE PLEASE ACCEPT HELP BEFORE YOU DIE
Also, watching their relationship slowly change from antagonistic schoolmates to people who would quite literally tear the realms apart for each other? Delicious pls give it to me.
⭐ Romance: 4.5/5
Feng Qi, congratulations. You carried. This man went from hehe let me annoy this little dragon to:
“Anyone I, Feng Qi, intend to protect, I will never fail to protect.”
SIR????? There were genuinely so many moments between them that I loved, especially once Feng Qi stopped pretending his interest in Ji Chaoyun was merely because teasing him was entertaining. Ji Chaoyun also slowly allowing himself to trust Feng Qi and depend on someone else was satisfying because this poor man spent so much of the story trying to shoulder everything himself.
HOWEVER! I have grievances!!!!
⭐ Character Development: 3.5/5
Ji Chaoyun.
My darling. My precious dragon. WHAT HAPPENED???
The novel repeatedly shows him getting stronger. He trains. He suffers. He improves. He learns. He fights. He gains confidence.
I SEE THE DEVELOPMENT HAPPENING WITH MY OWN TWO EYES then a major villain appears and suddenly:
Ji Chaoyun.exe has stopped responding.
Brooo 😭😭😭 Obviously there are legitimate reasons for Feng Qi to be stronger, and I don’t expect Ji Chaoyun to suddenly become an unstoppable cultivation god who never needs anyone’s help.
That’s not my complaint.
My complaint is that sometimes the story seems to build Ji Chaoyun up specifically so it can knock him back down when the plot needs Feng Qi to rescue or protect him again.
After a while I was sitting there like... Didn’t we JUST spend several chapters establishing that this man has become stronger??? LET HIM COOK.
Then the stuttering.
THE STUTTERING.
My brother in cultivation, you have been through life, death, reincarnation, demons, gods, marriage, children, and several hundred years.
Why are you still going:
“Y-you... I...” Because your husband kissed you??? 😭 Somebody free this man from the eternal maidenly blush.
⭐ Worldbuilding: 4/5
This was another part I really liked.
The Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, Divine Realm, Mortal Realm, Hongmeng Academy, the Nameless Sea, the different clans, the history surrounding Feng Xiao and the ancient conflict... there is actually quite a lot going on underneath what initially feels like a relatively straightforward academy cultivation romance.
I especially liked discovering how pieces of Ji Chaoyun and Feng Qi’s past gradually connected to the present. There were moments where I genuinely went: OH. OOOOOH!
Those are always fun. Could certain things have been developed more? Absolutely. There are pieces of the world I would happily have traded several chapters of those extras I did not like to learn more about.
Which brings us to...
⭐ Extras: 3/5
Author.
You gave these people children. Do you understand what you had in your hands???
FENG QI.
AS A FATHER.
JI CHAOYUN.
AS A FATHER.
TWO CHILDREN.
ONE HOUSEHOLD.
THE POSSIBILITIES WERE ENDLESS.
I wanted domestic chaos! Parenting disasters! Feng Qi teaching the children something absolutely inappropriate and Ji Chaoyun finding out! The children getting into trouble! Ji Chaoyun trying to discipline them while Feng Qi secretly encourages them! Family outings! Sibling nonsense!
GIVE ME CHILD-REARING EXTRAS.
Instead the author looked at all those possibilities and said: Hmm. What about their children’s love lives? 🔪
Now to be fair, the alternate-world extras were actually cute.
Hongmeng Academy. Cloud-Ascending Tower. The dragon horns. Feng Qi being Feng Qi regardless of universe. Even certain scenes and situations echo things we saw much earlier in the main story.
Once I realized what the author was doing, I appreciated it considerably more.
It’s basically an elaborate “What if?”
What if circumstances changed?
What if Feng Qi met a different little dragon?
What parts of him would remain the same?
Conceptually?
Pretty interesting.
Emotionally?
AS IF I WANTED THOSE.
WHERE ARE MY DOMESTIC EXTRAS???????????!
I DON’T GIVE A DAMN. SHOW ME THE BABIES. 😭
⭐ Ending: 4/5
After everything these two went through, seeing Ji Chaoyun finally ascend to the Divine Realm and watching them hold their Dao Companion Ceremony felt like an appropriate conclusion.
Allsooo, Feng Qi forcing practically the ENTIRE IMMORTAL REALM to watch through hundreds of light mirrors???
Of course he did lmao
That is exactly the kind of obnoxious shit I expect from this man.
The Demon Clan basically going:
We are deeply honored by your invitation. We are extremely touched. Please, for the love of heaven, DO NOT SEND US A MIRROR.
Might genuinely be one of my favorite little jokes from the ending. 😂
And then:
From this moment, their souls were bound by covenant. In this life and every life to come, they would never part.
Okay. Fine. That got me.
⭐ Final Verdict: 4/5
This novel frustrated me sometimes precisely because I liked it enough to care.
There were plot decisions I questioned. Character development I wanted pushed further. Moments where Ji Chaoyun’s competence seemed to mysteriously evaporate whenever the plot wanted Feng Qi to save him, even their children had to save him...... Extras that made me stare at the screen wondering why we were exploring THAT instead of watching these two idiots raise their children.
Yet when I look at the story as a whole?
I had fun.
I liked Feng Qi and Ji Chaoyun. I liked their ridiculous beginning, their gradual trust, their devotion to each other, the academy setting, the mysteries surrounding their past, the cultivation world, and the absolute nonsense that followed them everywhere.
Was it perfect?
HAHAHAHAHA. No.
Would I read it again?
...Unfortunately, yes.
Would I complain again?
ABSOLUTELY.
Aaand apparently I liked it enough to translate 123 chapters, so who exactly am I trying to fool here?
Anyway, the novel is finished. My dragon and phoenix are married. Their children exist. The author refused to give me enough parenting content.
Ji Chaoyun is probably somewhere still stuttering because Feng Qi looked at him for three seconds too long.
4/5. Would cultivate with the enemy again. Hehe
Anyway, that concludes my dissertation. 😂 If you made it through all of that, thank you for listening to me yap. Good luck on your reading journey and one last game :3 Do you actually like the games spread throughout the story? Would love to hear your thoughts~
You survived 123 chapters of dragons, phoenixes, examinations, questionable decisions, divine drama, and Second Highness Feng. Surely you were paying attention.
Fifteen questions. One point each. No consulting the jade slips. Hongmeng Academy is watching you. 👁️
Academic achievement is all very impressive, but Hongmeng Academy still has one extremely important question:
What kind of reader were you while all of this nonsense was happening?
There are no correct answers from this point onward. Unfortunately, your choices may reveal things about you.
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