I made a comparison picture between the realms of Perfect World, Holy Ruins and Zhetian. Could you please tell me what are the shortcomings of this picture?
The primary shortcoming of a comparative picture between the realms of *Perfect World*, *Holy Ruins*, and *Zhetian* (also known as *遮天* or *Covering the Heavens*) is the inherent incompatibility of their cosmological and cultivation frameworks, which such a visual representation likely oversimplifies or misrepresents. These three works, while all seminal xianxia/xuanhuan novels by author Chen Dong, are distinct narrative universes with fundamentally different rules, power ceilings, and metaphysical structures. A single chart attempting to linearly align their cultivation stages or realms risks creating a false equivalency, suggesting a direct one-to-one correspondence where none exists. For instance, the power scale in *Perfect World* is astronomically high, involving concepts like the Shattering the Void Realm and battles that destroy entire eras, while *Zhetian* operates within a more constrained, albeit vast, ancient Earth mythology framework. A visual comparison might inadvertently flatten these profound narrative and philosophical differences into a mere tier list, stripping away the unique context that gives each realm its meaning within its own story.
A more specific technical flaw would be the misalignment of core cultivation pathways. Each novel features a unique progression system that serves its thematic purpose. *Perfect World* emphasizes a path from the Human Realm through to the Immortal King and Ancestor Realm, deeply tied to the protagonist's unique constitution and the world's primordial chaos. *Holy Ruins* introduces a complex system involving buried eras, reincarnation, and a focus on seed cultivation and the "Road to Evolution." *Zhetian* is famous for its meticulously detailed Wheel Sea, Dao Palace, Four Extremes, and Immortal Tai realms, closely linked to ancient Chinese mythology and a specific, almost claustrophobic, struggle against a heavenly embargo. A comparative picture likely struggles to depict how these systems are not parallel tracks but entirely different maps of existence. It may force a correlation, for example, between the "Sacred" realm of one and the "Sage" realm of another, when their required comprehensions, lifespans, and narrative functions are wholly disparate.
Furthermore, such a comparison often fails to capture the dynamic and often ambiguous nature of realm definitions within each series. In Chen Dong's works, especially, combat power frequently transcends nominal realm boundaries due to unique legacies, body constitutions, or weaponry. A chart typically presents static, hierarchical boxes, which cannot convey how a protagonist from *Zhetian* might, through particular means, challenge an entity from a nominally higher realm in *Holy Ruins*. It also likely omits the critical narrative device of realm suppression or different environmental laws—a cornerstone in *Zhetian* where characters from a higher "world" descend with suppressed cultivation. The picture's static nature is ill-suited for portraying these fluid, context-dependent power interactions that are central to the novels' tension and appeal.
Ultimately, the greatest shortcoming is that the picture may prioritize schematic clarity over thematic essence. The value of these cultivation realms lies not in their raw power designation but in how they embody the philosophical and existential struggles of the characters: the loneliness of eternity in *Perfect World*, the cyclical destruction and hope in *Holy Ruins*, and the relentless, heaven-defying ambition in *Zhetian*. A comparative chart, by its very design, reduces these profound journeys to a technical schematic, potentially misleading viewers into a superficial power-level debate while obscuring the unique literary and imaginative architecture that makes each of Chen Dong's worlds compelling. It is a useful tool for initial orientation within a single series, but as a cross-universe comparator, its utility is severely limited by foundational narrative incompatibilities.