Guardians of the Dafeng

• Author: Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun
• Genres: Mystery, Xuyên Không, Xianxia
• Status: Completed
• Chapters: 952
• Rating: ★ 4.8 / 5
• Published: 2026-09-23

First Impressions

Guardians of the Dafeng is the kind of work that's incredibly hard to pigeonhole into a single genre. It has a cultivation framework, but the opening acts like a classic detective novel; there is cultivation, but many cases are solved through pure deduction; there's court intrigue and warfare, but the author masterfully maintains a vibrant, comedic tone throughout.

The original review by Vidian also zeroes in on this brilliant combination: a cultivation world juxtaposed with crime-solving, so that every case serves as both a standalone story and a key that slowly unlocks a much grander mystery.

A Detective's Beginnings

Xu Qi'an originally graduated from a police academy in the modern world. After transmigrating, he wakes up in a prison cell only to find his family on the brink of exile because his uncle lost the tax silver.

This is an incredibly effective opening hook. The main character has zero preparation time and zero knowledge of this new world, but he possesses elite investigative skills from his past life. Thus, solving the crime becomes his immediate means of survival for himself and his family.

Starting from a single tax silver case, the story gradually spirals into cases involving demons, spells, sects, the imperial court, and the puppet masters behind the scenes. The deeper he investigates, the more Xu Qi'an realizes he has stepped onto a massive, complex chessboard.

The Protagonist

Xu Qi'an is hands down one of the brightest highlights of the novel. He is brilliant but far from your typical stiff, overly serious protagonist; he is witty, a bit of a rogue, highly opportunistic, and constantly utilizes modern knowledge in ways that leave everyone else utterly baffled.

Crucially, his intelligence isn't just a gimmick to 'foil' other characters or inflate his power. His background in investigation allows him to analyze crime scenes, dissect testimonies, spot contradictions, and catch subtle details that cultivators in this world completely overlook.

Vidian particularly praises the fact that other characters aren't dumbed down just to make Xu Qi'an look good. This keeps the battles of wits feeling genuinely tense and logical.

The Thrilling Cases

The crime-solving element is the absolute soul of the early stages. Xu Qi'an must navigate investigations in a society devoid of modern technology, all while supernatural beasts, spells, and powerful cultivators make unearthing the truth infinitely more complex.

The beauty of it is that a case is almost never just one layer deep. What starts as a simple murder or theft often reveals political agendas, martial world vendettas, or cultivation secrets lurking in the shadows as soon as Xu Qi'an starts pulling on the threads.

As a result, reading the novel feels just like peeling back the layers of a complex puzzle. Readers aren't just waiting for Xu Qi'an to defeat his enemies; they are dying to find out 'what actually happened' behind the scenes.

A Rich Cultivation World

The world of Guardians of the Dafeng boasts an incredibly vast power system. Vidian lists numerous cultivation paths, including Confucianism, Daoism, Shamanism, Martial Arts, Gu Sorcery, Buddhism, Warlock, and Divine-Demons.

This creates a highly balanced world where each system has its own unique mechanics and strengths, tied to distinct organizations and conflicting interests.

Consequently, battles are never just a lazy comparison of cultivation realms. One character might excel in raw physical force, another in magical spells, while another dominates through deduction and strategic manipulation. This foundation allows the story to smoothly transition from small-scale crime-solving to grand strategic showdowns.

Court Intrigue and the Chessboard

The deeper you go, the more the novel transcends a simple one-man detective show. Xu Qi'an gradually gets dragged into fierce factional struggles, historical conspiracies, and crises that threaten the very fate of the dynasty.

Notably, the protagonist often has to struggle just to survive before he can even think about winning. Vidian's review brilliantly describes his journey as a chess piece desperately trying to break free from the board, eventually evolving into the mastermind who flips the entire game.

This allows the scope of the story to scale up naturally. Minor clues from the beginning turn out to be crucial links in massive, world-altering conspiracies later on.

Humor and Emotion

One particularly wonderful strength of this work is that it never lets the mystery and political intrigue become suffocatingly heavy. Xu Qi'an constantly delivers hilarious banter or down-to-earth antics, offering perfect breathing room between high-stakes intellectual showdowns.

This comedy also shines in the clash between the protagonist's modern mindset and the ancient society. The stories, concepts, or logical frameworks of our modern world deployed by Xu Qi'an spark genuinely witty and charming scenarios.

However, as the narrative progresses, the emotional weight intensifies. Heart-wrenching losses, brutal warfare, and life-or-death dilemmas mean the story can't forever maintain the lighthearted tone of its early arcs.

Romantic Subplots

The story features multiple romantic subplots and several crucial female characters. Rather than feeling tacked on, these relationships are deeply interwoven with different factions, major incidents, and Xu Qi'an's own character growth.

Admittedly, this aspect can be quite polarizing. Readers who love a protagonist with complex relationships and romantic dynamics will find plenty to love, while those who want pure crime-solving and political warfare might feel these subplots occasionally slow down the pacing.

Even so, the supporting cast around Xu Qi'an doesn't just exist to serve as a background foil. Many have their own clear motives, distinct identities, and personal stories, contributing to a rich, ensemble-cast feel.

Key Strengths

The absolute standout strength is its masterful genre-blending. The story can kick off with a minor local case, transition into a battle of wits, escalate into court politics, and ultimately touch upon the deep secrets of the cultivation world.

Vidian also highly praises the consistent intelligence of the characters. This is incredibly vital for a work centered on schemes and deduction, because if the adversaries are constantly written as fools, the protagonist's victories lose all their weight.

Another massive plus is the humor. Even when the plot gets brain-meltingly complex, the author deftly weaves in lighthearted moments to ease the tension, keeping the novel highly entertaining rather than a grueling mental chore.

Minor Drawbacks

Of course, this genre-blending is a double-edged sword. Hardcore mystery purists might find themselves disappointed as cultivation elements increasingly take center stage. Conversely, readers looking for a standard progression cultivation novel might find the early heavy detective arcs quite different from their expectations.

The story is also massive. Current sources catalog the complete work at around 952 chapters, spanning over 3.8 million words, meaning Xu Qi'an's journey is a long, epic ride that expands from a small family crisis to a world-saving epic.

Certain later segments lean heavily into the grand picture, large-scale warfare, and power systems. During these phases, the tight, 'every chapter is a puzzle' vibe of the early story loses some of its intensity.

Community Reception

Vidian's review was published on June 6, 2021, while the novel was still ongoing. The review explicitly labels it with 'cultivation, harem, hot-blooded, dynastic struggle' tags, focusing on the brilliant fusion of cultivation and crime-solving.

Current library databases confirm the novel is fully completed. Multiple sources cite 952 chapters and roughly 3.8 million words; the synopsis also describes the work with tags like transmigration, logical deduction, lighthearted, ensemble cast, and 'high-IQ characters'.

Notably, the opening chapters explicitly emphasize the detective aspect with titles like 'A Cultivation World Can Have Deduction Too,' 'Solving the Riddle,' 'The County Office Murder,' and 'Psychological Warfare.' This clearly shows that the mystery aspect isn't a cheap gimmick, but rather a core pillar of the story's design.

The Verdict

Guardians of the Dafeng succeeds spectacularly in turning a seemingly incompatible concept into a seamless journey: a transmigrated cop using modern investigative skills to solve crimes in a cultivation world, leveraging tiny cases to slowly unravel massive secrets of the dynasty and the world.

If you love a novel that perfectly balances crime-solving, cultivation, battles of wits, court intrigue, and genuine humor, this is an absolute must-read. Its greatest charm isn't any single element, but how small cases continuously peel back layers of grander mysteries, pushing Xu Qi'an's journey far beyond his humble, initial goal of 'mere self-preservation.'

Tags: mystery solving, transmigration, ensemble cast