Once, ancient China was brimming with magic...but three hundred years ago, the Spiritual Qi of the Heavens and Earth dried up in the Silence of All Magic. Hundreds of years with no spiritual qi have allowed resentment to build unchecked, and it's only a matter of time before calamity descends and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction. Once-powerful exorcists have done their best to preserve their legacy in the centuries since, but now only one remains: Chen Xing, now tasked with venturing out into the war-torn world to prevent the impending apocalypse.

Chen Xing's sole magical ability is the heart lamp, a supernatural light source that's supposed to guide him to the destined Protector who will fight at his side. The heart lamp picks Xiang Shu, a mysterious stranger with no interest in being a hero--but fate has other plans for them both. A terrifying conspiracy looms over the Divine Land, and whether Xiang Shu likes it or not, Chen Xing may be his only hope of thwarting the impending darkness.

Dinghai Fusheng Record has story by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and art by 苍顾行, with English translation byMOON, ELESTREA, ZRYUU. Published by Seven Seas (May 20, 2025).

Lauren Orsini
Rating:

CAN't fight a necromancer without getting in at least one witty quip? Have you accidentally solved one of Kongming's acclaimed military stratagems so you could visit a hot guy's house? Ever wondered what kind of misunderstanding could possibly result if you named your dog after your boyfriend, when your boyfriend is also an influential military leader? Mo Dao Zu Shi meets Monty Python—or that's what I thought until I got about halfway through this BL wuxia novel. It's got its funny parts, sure, but also content warnings for major character and animal deaths. A fantasy version of 4th century China where the two main differences are 1) gay marriage is about to become legal and 2) zombies are real, this is a dense read that assumes plenty of Chinese historical knowledge on the part of the reader. With copious footnotes to fill me in on the more esoteric historical references, it wasn't my lack of knowledge that kept me from predicting when this novel was going to switch from wacky shenanigans to serious drama and then back again.

Chen Xing is a wisecracking uke necromancer who may as well be Wei Wuxian with the serial number filed off. Xiang Shu is a cold but alluring martial artist who is 7 feet tall with a canonically large penis, as the book makes sure to describe. Also possessing a nine-inch penis is second male lead Feng Qianyi, who claims to be a wandering martial artist but, like Xiang Shu, has a Secret Plot-critical identity. The trio end up traveling together while fighting zombies, adopting a dog, leading a rebellion, attempting to outsmart scheming palace officials, and exploring a bizarro mirror world… you know, typical bro stuff. Throughout their adventures, it's hard to know whether I should laugh or cry. When a villain ties up Chen Xing and Xiang Shu in a terrifying life or death situation, Chen Xing is more concerned about the fact that Xiang Shu popped a boner against his back. Meanwhile, the funny dog subplot ends, quite upsettingly, with a dead dog. Just when I think I'm gearing up for a laugh it's the opposite, and vice versa.

I've read about a dozen danmei wuxia novels now, and I still am not familiar enough with their tropes to consider them easy reads. It's like if I were a person who had only seen a handful of shows set in American high schools, and assumed words like “jock” and “nerd” were made up by the author. I don't know if Chen Xing's “heart lamp” is a regular cultivator thing, if the role of the “martial god” is an established trope, or if the major plot point of trying to restore magic to China before Chen Xing's fated death at age 20 is original or derivative. I really enjoyed how off-the-wall some parts of Dinghai Fusheng Records were, but then I'd get sidetracked by the more serious, twisty bits. It felt like a comedy and a tragedy mashed together, and I never could tell when it was going to switch from one to the other.