REVIEW: Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi, Vol. 4 (book) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, translated by Suika & Lianyin Pengie, illustrated by Marina Privalova

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is a fantasy danmei (Chinese m/m) series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Here we have more flashbacks, this time to the period after the Sunshot Campaign. The Wen Clan has nearly been wiped out, and its remnants are being cruelly mistreated by the Jin Clan. Wei Wuxian, who has calmed down considerably since volume 3, is helping Wen Qing find her beloved little brother Wen Ning and ends up establishing a new home for the remnants of the Wen Clan at the Burial Mounds, the very place where Wen Chao once left him to die.

This volume completes the story of Wei Wuxian's downfall and then jumps back to the present. Wei Wuxian's identity has been revealed and he is believed to be responsible for a horde of fierce corpses. Pretty much everyone except Lan Wangji and some of the junior cultivators wants to kill him. However, some undeniable and shocking truths finally come to light.

As a whole, I'd still say that Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is my least favorite of MXTX's series. The overall story structure could be better, and there are so many characters that not even Seven Seas' character and name guide could always help me keep things straight. That said, this volume was good. So good that I need to review it now, the day I finished it, so that I can start volume 5 without fear of mixing up events and revelations.

This volume took the previous three volumes' worth of story threads and characters and tied it all together, sometimes in surprising ways. There were at least a couple revelations that made me gasp aloud. Even though I knew it was coming, the full story of how Jin Ling became an orphan was heart-crushing, and I now feel somewhat bad for some of my prior assumptions about Wei Wuxian. But only somewhat, because his killing spree in the previous volume was pretty intense.

The story of his time as the Yiling Patriarch was more touching than I expected, and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had some really wonderful bittersweet moments. And I think my soul left my body for a moment during one particular revelation at Lotus Pier. WEI WUXIAN. 

I wasn't sure if this was going to be structured like SVSSS, with the last volume reserved entirely for side stories. FYI, even if the final volume includes some side stories, the main story doesn't conclude with this volume. There's still a villain to be faced. Also, Wei Wuxian messed up, and Lan Wangji and I need him to fix things.

I think this volume might have convinced me to give the live action show another go - I know it won't follow the books exactly (uh, definitely not), but surely it will give me Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and A-Yuan having a meal together while A-Yuan plays with toys a stoic Lan Wangji bought him?

Now, off to start volume 5.

Extras:

Character & name guide, glossary, two full-color illustrations, and black-and-white illustrations throughout.