This book is several notches above the typical cultivation-type novel; the characters are well-defined and the struggle with fairly deep philosophical issues. Our MC succeeds, mostly without winning, but it’s satisfying nonetheless.
The only slight ding I’d give the novel is that it wasn’t quite clear what sort of training the Sages of the Underpass provided. The book mostly glossed over that, nor did it spend much time on the martial arts; my guess is the author isn’t much into that sort of thing. Not that it matters to the story, though.