Does anyone else think of Nietzsche when reading RI

Discussion

I'm only on chapter 400, but I can't help but draw parallels every other chapter. Take this quote from RI: "“These fools are everywhere, restrained by emotions and morals, they deserve to be stupidly manipulated by rules. What’s sadder is that when they see others not being restrained, they would jump out and criticise, trying to impart these morals to the people, not allowing others to have more freedom than them. In this process, they would even enjoy this ridiculous moral superiority and bliss."

Its extremely similar to this quote in "On the Genealogy of Morals" about slave morality: "the wretched are alone the good; the poor, the weak, the lowly, are alone the good; the suffering, the needy, the sick, the loathsome, are the only ones who are pious, the only ones who are blessed, for them alone is salvation—but you, on the other hand, you aristocrats, you men of power, you are to all eternity the evil, the horrible, the covetous, the insatiate, the godless; eternally also shall you be the unblessed, the cursed, the damned!"

Most of the side characters we see represent slave (righteous path) and master (demonic path) morality, and Fang Yuan's interaction with them show how he has transcended both. He's an embodiment of the Ubermensch, an ideal human who has transcended traditional values, and created their own meaning. For Fang Yuan, this is the path towards true immortality. By doing so he is able to live fully, not fearing death yet passionate about life (you can see this attitude towards life in his grand quotes), and is wholly unconstrained by traditional values (love, glory, etc).

This perfection is what separates him from other anti-villains/edgy masterminds in media (like Ayokanji). Reading RI as a digestible, simplified version of Nietszche's philosophy, told through xianxia format, has made it an enjoyable read so far. If you enjoy RI I recommend reading Nietzsche's work too (like Fang Yuan, there are Nietzsche larpers everywhere, I only recommend reading the original works and using reliable sources like free uni lectures as secondary reading).

Posted Jun 10, 2026, 4:27 PM UTC

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