The genre of the craddle series is known as 修仙（path to legend）in China. Will Wight not only borrowed the world building from oriental mystery but also a significant portion of the narrative structure and plot arch from 修仙 fiction.
Western critics may think this kind of fast food fiction is trashy compared to classics like wheel of the fortune. However, just like Big mac took over the world, this one may be so bold as to predict 修仙 genre is also going to take over the fantasy fiction because the competitive market of the Chinese fiction literature produced so many damn good ideas and plots during the past decade. Much like the scared valley did not know their jade is child play in the wilds, western fiction did not fully realize what kind of additive french fries a cut throat writing competiton for a billion people is capable of.
The unsouled tastes like a dish of general tsao’s chicken. It is not quite the real deal but is good enough for western culture.