History Literature / FengshenYanyi

Variously titled ''Fengshen Yanyi'' or ''Fengshen Bang'' in Chinese, ''Hōshin Engi'' in Japanese, and ''Investiture of the Gods'' or ''Creation of the Gods '' in English, this novel is a heavily mythologized account of the overthrow of the UsefulNotes/ShangDynasty by the UsefulNotes/ZhouDynasty in the 11th Century BC. Also, just like ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' and ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', [[{{Doorstopper}} it contains 100 chapters]].

* ''Manga/SoulHunter''

* BladeOnAStick:
** The ''fangtianji'' (Squared Heaven Halbeard), a long spear with a crescent blade attached to the side, like an axe on a western halberd, is used by several characters, such as [[WarriorPrince Sun Quanzhong]], [[ActionDad Li Jing]], [[EliteFour one of the Mo Brothers]] and [[FaceHeelTurn Prince Yin Hong]], Crown Prince [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Yin Jiao]] and many other generals.
** Spear users include the defiant Marquis Su Hu (whose lance is called "Fire Dragon Lance") and many other generals and warriors, such as [[DefectorFromDecadence Huang Feihu]], [[FrontlineGeneral Nangong Kuo]] and [[CombatPragmatist Deng Jiugong]]. Paopei spears do exist, two notable examples being Nezha's [[FlamingSword Fire-Tipped Lance]] and [[EyeScream Yang Ren]]'s [[ShockAndAwe Flying Lightning Spear]].
** The ''dao'' (glaive) weapon is seen used by a handful of characters, such as [[DarkIsEvil Hong Jin]] (wields a weapon called "Crescent Moon Glaive"), Yang Jiang/Erlang (the "Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Glaive, a bladed trident) and possibly [[TheCaligula King Zhou]] himself, who wields one described as the "General-beheading Sword" (as the term ''Dadao'', great saber, can refer to both large curved swords and glaive-like polearms).
** Halfway through the book, Huang Feihu encounters three neutral warriors who eventually decide to join him on the battlefield: the first wields a several feet long trident, the second wields an eight-faced bronze hammer with a very long handle and the last one wields a silvery polearm with a set of five sharp claws on the head, like a rake.

* ThisWasHisTrueForm: Many immortal used to be animals who attained intelligence and magic skills through exposure to taoist scripts or have been exposed to the essence of Yin and Yang for a long period of time. As a result, they'll usually assume their true animal form when slain: the first examples in the novel are the Third Dragon Prince Ao Bing (who, upon being slain by Nezha, turns back into a Dragon) and Lady Shiji (who's burnt to death by Taiyi Zhenren and all that's left of her is a misshapen rough rock).

* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Many Immortals have mastered the power to obtain a monstrous battle form with three faces and six arms, which they often use to wield multiple Fabao/Paopei (the magic taoist instruments) at once, such as [[SyntheticPlague Lu Yue]], [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Yin Jiao]] and [[PlayingWithFire Luo Shuan]]. The iconic Prince Nezha goes one step further and can sprout eight arms (two for his lance, two for the Yin-Yang Swords and one each for the bracelet, damask, fire trap and golden tile), though since his swords aren't well known he's usually depicted with six arms. Minor antagonist [[IAmAHumanitarian Ma Yuan]] has a magic ability which allows him to sprout a third, extensible arm from his back, which he uses to manhandle his opponents and [[AndShowsItToYou rip their hearts out of their chests]].

* ArcVillain: Once the military expedition against Xiqi start, the heroes find themselves facing a long series of antagonists, usually the leaders of the expedition aided by powerful generals and taoists. Among them, we have Zhang Guifeng, Grand Tutor Wen Zhong, Princes Yin Hong and Yin Jiao, Patriarch Tongtian and finally King Zhou.

* AdaptationalHeroism: ''Nezha''. Many recaps about his story (even on Wikipedia) recount how he heroically killed the Yaksha and the Dragon Prince Ao Bing to save some kids they wanted to sacrifice. In the novel proper, Ao Guang was simply minding his own business in his court, Nezha accidentally caused a quake by washing his Fabao in the water and when confronted by the Yaksha and Ao Bing he rudely provoked them into a fight and killed them. When Ao Guang tried to denounce him to the Heavens, Nezha was made invisible by his master and ambushed the Dragon God, beating him into submission. While he eventually kills himself to save his family, he does so knowing very well that the Will of Heaven still needs him and thus he will be given a new body.

* WeaponOfChoice: All over the place: normal warriors and generals usually rely on spears, glaives and axes, while nearly all Immortals carry straight swords or, rarely, ridged maces.

* ShapeShifterShowdown: Near the end of the novel the heroes are confronted by the seven evil monsters of Baishan, a gang of animals turned monster. To defeat three of them, Yang Jian (a young Erlang Shen) uses his power of transformation to turn himself into an animal suitable for subduing the opponent: he turns into a winged, sharp-pinced centipede to kill Chang Hao (a snake monster), then into a large rooster to kill Wu Long (a centipede monster) and finally into a tiger to maul Yang Xian (an ibex monster).

Variously titled ''Fengshen Yanyi'' or ''Fengshen Bang'' in Chinese, ''Hōshin Engi'' in Japanese, and ''Investiture of the Gods'' or ''Creation of the Gods '' in English, this novel is a heavily mythologized account of the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty by the Zhou Dynasty in the 11th Century BC. Also, just like ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' and ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', [[{{Doorstopper}} it contains 100 chapters]].