"Beware of Chicken" by casualfarmer (series; 2022-)

**In which our main character walks away from the power and the Taoist magic and the drama in order to live a simple life as a farmer.  Hilarity ensues**

A quick glossary of terms, I'll wave down below when the actual review starts, if you already know them.  Basically, if the sentence, "the main character isekais into a xianxia cultivation world, but then decides to turn it into an iyashikei instead," makes sense to you, skip below.  If it doesn't, I mean, yeah, that's fair.  Thus, a quick glossary:

• Isekai (異世界) refers to subgenre in which the main character is transported to another world.  The term is Japanese, and it's a very popular genre in manga and anime (to the point that these days, a lot of people complain about oversaturation).  That said, it's not particularly rare in Western literature as well, although the term "portal fantasy" is more common--"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "The Wizard of Oz", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and "The Matrix" would all absolutely count as isekai or portal fantasy stories
  
  It's worth noting, however, that one element that is fairly common in Japanese isekai stories and less common in Western portal fantasy is the idea of the main character using knowledge from our contemporary world to aid him or her in the new one--generally because the new world is one of magic and fantasy, but science and technology from the real world can help and the main character uses this to become a hero.  On the other hand, neither Alice nor Dorothy nor Neo particularly benefit from their knowledge of the real world.  So while not unique, this does feel like a solidly Japanese flair to the subgenre

• Xianxia Cultivation (仙俠修炼) is a subgenre of Chinese fantasy, in which main characters seek to achieve enlightenment (heavily influenced by both Taoist and Buddhist philosophy).  As they "cultivate" to climb the ranks of enlightenment, they gain mystical powers such as flight, super strength, etc.  They then of course use these powers to fight demons, each other, and so on ("Mo Dao Zu Shi", aka "The Tale of Jin Ling's Uncles" was a particularly great recent example)
  You might be noting that this actually sounds very similar to the Western LitRPG subgenere.  You are correct
  You might also be saying this sounds a lot like Kung Fu or Wuxia, and you're not wrong, there's definitely some Venn diagraming there.  The defining feature of Xianxia, however, is the focus on inner cultivation--philosophy and metaphysics are what grant our characters their mystical powers.  Cuz, sure
  One rule of thumb:  If you see people training to develop martial arts techniques but they still seem reasonably constrained by the rules of physics, you probably isekai-ed into a Kung Fu novel; if you see people training to develop martial arts techniques that don't particularly care about the laws of physics, you probably isekai-ed into a Wuxia novel; if you see people training to master inner strength and purity of spirit, and said cultivation allowed them to break the laws of physics, you probably isekai-ed into a Xianxia novel
  One even simpler rule of thumb:  If there's no flying, you probably isekai-ed into a Kung Fu novel; if people fly with their swords pointed in front of them, you're probably in a Wuxia novel; if people fly by standing on their swords, you're probably in a Xianxia novel.  I don't make the rules, but those are the rules

• Iyashikei (癒し系) is a subgenre of Japanese media, which I've seen translated as "slow anime" or "ambient literature".  The defining feature is a deliberate choice to reject conflict and action in the narrative, and simply be comfortable.  "My Neighbor Totoro" is the iconic example of this subgenre, and "Midnight Diner", one of my all-time favorite shows, would be another.  The point of the work is not to revel in excitement or conflict, but simply to be an experience worth enjoying
  One Western analogue, of course, is probably the "cozy fantasy" subgenre that's going through a massive renaissance right now.  Travis Baldree's "Legends & Lattes" seems to have jumpstarted it, but make no mistake, this genre has been around for a while.  That's a subject for another post, though
  There is, however, within this subgenre an even smaller subset where the main character deliberately chooses to walk away from a more exciting life.  The retired soldier or criminal is a common trope here, and it can be played seriously ("Violet Evergarden" comes to mind) or for laughs ("The Way of the Househusband", for example) but the deliberate choice to walk away from excitement in favor of simplicity makes, at times, for some delightful stories.  And that seems like the perfect place to end this glossary

::waves:: ok everyone, we can start the review now!  Sorry for the long preamble

So yes, this is about a young man named Jin who is transported from the real world (well, Canada, so close enough) to a Xianxia Cultivation world.  He's genre-savvy, he grew up reading these novels, he knows these stories of dueling masters and awesome sect rivalries and the arduous path towards the heavens as each man and woman seeks to ascend . . . and he knows he wants none of that.  That sounds way too stressful.  So he peaces out to go to the middle of nowhere and start a farm

On this farm, he uses his cultivation powers (and his knowledge from our world of things like crop rotation and pasteurization) to become the best farmer ever.  And it's great.  He tills the land, fells the trees, diverts the waters, and creates a perfect little plot.  He enjoys watching his chicken dance upon the fencepost

And that's where this series becomes truly great--when it switches to the perspective of his chicken, whom Jin has named Big D.  Jin has no idea tht Big D has awakened and become sentient  And while Jin knows he's in a Xianxia novel and wants no part of that, Big D is fully on board with the ascent towards heaven

And so we get our chapters from Jin's perspective, where he wonders about how he's going to lay out his rice paddies . . . and then we switch to Big D's perspective, where he meditates on the lessons his Great Master is teaching him and seeks to internalize this wisdom so that he can improve his cultivation and protect "The Great Fa Ram".  Xianxia as a genre tends towards melodrama.  Hell, it almost requires it.  The author clearly grew up on these novels, because he hits the notes and language and the cliches perfectly and absolutely hilariously, and has no hesitation expanding them across the other animals at the farm.  From a chapter told from the perspective of the farm's cat:

Her prey collapsed as its leg finally failed on it. It lay there, in pain, but relishing its escape. She descended before it, her breathing unhurried. The look of pure terror upon the faces of the wicked were a balm to her soul. The rat cowered. The rat begged. The rat pleaded.

‘If the heavens wished for you to live, then you would have not met me.’

I love this series for a number of reasons.  First of all, I spent so much of my time reading this book just cracking the fuck up.  The contrast between the chapters from Jin's perspective and his animals is truly fantastic and unique and hilarious

But.  Honestly?  The biggest reason I loved these books is because the core of this series really is just a wonderfully inclusive and comforting story.  All Jin wants to do is create something peaceful and happy in his little corner of the world.  In Book 2, some broken and scarred souls end up at his doorstep, and he takes them in.  In one scene, he chats with one of them and suggests some work he can do to help around the farm:

Is this to be our payment to you, for staying under your roof ?’

The man looked at him closely. “If you want to think of it as a debt being repaid … then that’s what it is. But I always found that doing something helps when I feel lost.”

With his every action, Jin seeks to reject the ideals of Xianxia cultivators, who seek improvement and personal gain at the expense of all else.  One of the other characters is a classic "Young Mistress" of one of the sects, who was told repeatedly by her father that true cultivation requires she "face the heavens alone".  With everything he does, Jin tries to convince her otherwise, show her that she doesn't need to face her challenges alone.  And it is truly heartwarming, throughout these books, to watch all the serious Xianxia heroes around him realize that he might be right:

In the past, she would have scoffed. To give up on the path of defiance, to choose to be mortal? Was not their goal in life to ascend? To strive for the heavens? And yet . . . What was the point of striving to reach the heavens when you could make one upon the earth?

We get to experience the joys of simply being content with what you have and the people around you and the land beneath you.  And yes, it's all wrapped in the same kind of action-heavy Xianxia that I grew up enjoying (spoiler alert:  "My first thought was incredulous and hysterical; of course the tournament arc always goes to shit."), which is the perfect package.  But in the end, I love this series because I would be very happy to go live on The Great Fa Ram

I loved these books

“If my words have aided you, then it is all worth it,” he said. “The Great Master and the Healing Sage say knowledge unshared is worthless! We give to each other and are repaid in kind, no?”