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Haoran World
The main stage of the story. Nine continents ruled by Confucian academies, Daoist sects and Buddhist temples, where reason, rites and personal cultivation all count as power.
Novel introduction
Sword of Coming: one boy's long road of asking his own heart
Jian Lai follows Chen Ping'an, a poor kiln apprentice from a small town, as he walks out into a vast world of sects, sages and swords. It is less a story about getting stronger than about deciding, again and again, what kind of person to be.
- Xianxia epic since 2017
- Over ten million words
- A hero who reasons before he fights
- Rooted in Confucian and Daoist thought
The world of Jian Lai
Four great worlds, nine continents, and a wall at the edge of everything.
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The Great Wall of Sword Qi
A wall of sword cultivators standing between the Haoran World and the Wilderness. Generations of swordsmen live and die there so the world behind them can stay ordinary.
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Three teachings, a hundred schools
Confucian scholars, Daoist priests, Buddhist monks and countless minor schools argue about what the Way is. The novel treats these debates as seriously as any battle.
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The ladder of cultivation
Cultivators climb from the lower five realms toward the upper five, but the book is clear that realm is not the same as character. Many of its most respected figures are not the strongest.
The people you will remember
A handful of figures who shape Chen Ping'an, and whom he shapes in return.
Chen Ping'an
An orphan from Muddy Bottle Lane who once fired pottery for a living. Stubborn, careful, and almost painfully honest, he keeps a ledger of every debt he owes and every kindness he receives.
Ning Yao
A sword prodigy from the Great Wall of Sword Qi. Fierce and direct, she is the person Chen Ping'an walks toward across an entire world.
Qi Jingchun
The quiet schoolmaster of the small town and a Confucian sage in disguise. His sacrifice at the start of the story sets the whole journey in motion.
A Liang
A wandering swordsman who claims his name simply means "kind". Carefree on the surface, he is one of the few people the young Chen Ping'an can lean on.
I, Chen Ping'an, have only one sword. It can move mountains, sever rivers, overturn seas, subdue demons, suppress devils, command gods, pluck stars, break cities and open the heavens.
Questions new readers ask
Who wrote Jian Lai and where is it published?+
Jian Lai (Sword of Coming) is written by Fenghuo Xi Zhuhou, the author of Snow Eagle Lord and other long-form xianxia novels. It has been serialised on the Zongheng platform since 2017.
Is it a typical cultivation story?+
Not quite. Fights exist, but most of the drama is about reasoning, promises and conscience. Chen Ping'an often wins by refusing to cut corners, and the novel spends real pages on how people ought to treat one another.
How long is it?+
Very long. The novel runs to more than ten million Chinese characters and is still ongoing, so readers usually treat it as a series of arcs rather than a single sitting.
Where should I start?+
From the first chapter in the small town of Lizhu. The early volumes are slow, but nearly every thread that pays off later is planted there.