This one grinds you down the same way it grinds Wang Lin down, and that's the point. He shows up at the sect trials with mediocre spiritual roots, gets laughed at by kids born with talent and money, and passes anyway on stubbornness alone, while back home his farmer parents have already sold everything they own to get him there. The show never lets you forget those parents, which is why the word ant lands like a curse instead of a metaphor. Situ Nan's voice rattling around in his head is half mentor, half warning label about what cultivators actually become. And when Wang Lin finally starts winning, the wins are cold, calculated and a little frightening, because the boy who bowed to everyone learned exactly what bowing costs. A hundred and eighty episodes is not bloat here, it's the weight of a life.

Wang Lin is a clever boy from the countryside whose parents dream that he will one day do great things, even though the rest of the family keeps them at a distance. When an unexpected chance to pursue immortality comes his way, he learns that his natural aptitude is mediocre at best. Driven by his own heart and believing the Way lies within humanity, he takes up cultivation anyway. Through many ups and downs he relies on his sharp wits, climbing step by step until his own efforts make his name known across the cultivation world. The long-running ONA adapts Er Gen's novel as an action fantasy adventure with a strong dramatic streak.