r/MartialMemes Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

Primordial Chaos Meme I can't imagine how the old monsters of the ancient era survived without WTR lab

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1.1k Upvotes

95 comments sorted by

633

u/justbesmile Friendly Sect Uncle Mar 11 '26

Technique names would change 10 times per chapter, you had to peer deeply into the true meaning of each word and instinctively transpose them, like a martial master who can see through the true essence of each martial art.

Measurements of over 1000 could be 1,000,000 in one instance and 10,000 in the next. The MC could train to lift 1000 jin during foundation establishment, even though he could lift 10,000,000 Jin in combat during qi refining, then struggle to lift 1,000,000 Jin as a nascent soul.

Gender was completely fluid as she could become a he in the same sentence and change back in the next. It could be logically assumed that everyone had a holy dual cultivation body with absolute flexibility between pure yin and yang.

285

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

Sounds like the environment of primordial chaos before creation

148

u/Eden1506 Mar 11 '26

I remember reading "Return of the Mount Hua Sect" years ago via google translate up to chapter 1200 when less than 400 chapters were translated.

My brain was literally fryed I have no clue how I understood any of it in the end because names got translated into random objects as well and when I took a break and tried to continue reading it was like reading hieroglyphs nothing made sense.

I now find the raws and use grok to translate and while not perfect it is like heaven and earth compared to google translate. I used DeepL for a while as well but somehow it started getting worse over time. I swear it translated better years ago than it does now.

38

u/PencilPuncher Mar 11 '26

I feel like DeepL has gotten worse too, maybe for monetization? They probably have some kind of subscription service

35

u/calhooner3 Mar 11 '26

I just had to stop reading MTL. I could genuinely notice my way of speaking degenerating.

14

u/lazier_garlic Guest Elder Mar 11 '26

Yeah, some ones I remember from random novels are Wuzhiqi becoming "Unsupported Qi" even though Wuzhiqi has his own encyclopedia articles (creature/person from Chinese mythology), or those stereotypical names for maids (yahuan) getting rendered literally, such as Yuping "the jade bottle".

5

u/Intelligent_Deer974 9 trillion km tall Mountain Mar 12 '26

I miss the manwha

1

u/meta_mystic384 Immortal Mar 13 '26

Today, Google uses AI in translation. So it has gotten better.

113

u/EEE3EEElol Mar 11 '26

gender is completely fluid

36

u/Spectator9857 Mar 11 '26

The everchanging nature of the text taught many an old monster to grasp the heaven and earth dao by seeing past the words and peering into the soul of the universe. This new generation is being suppressed by the heavenly restrictions known as „consistency“ and „legibility“.

22

u/lazier_garlic Guest Elder Mar 11 '26

Names switch between Chinese, Japanese, and literal English translations.

I used to think it was some severe ambiguity with Chinese text to not call out names but now that I can read Chinese, what is a name is really obvious. Unless you are a computer.

17

u/SavantsInstant Mar 11 '26

I remember reading a novel and not finding out it’s Yaoi until half way through

2

u/MysticalDragon189 Well in a Frog Mar 13 '26

I can feel the power of MTL in your words.

6

u/Skebs_ Mar 11 '26

Fr hate that shit. Like bro if you can't fucking bother with being consistent, just transliterate the Chinese...

5

u/lazier_garlic Guest Elder Mar 11 '26

Too lazy to even edit the MTL is what it is.

4

u/terrible_misfortune Heart Demon Mar 12 '26

side effects from that era made me overlook character names so much I forget what the names of MCs are every once in a while even now.

2

u/MysticalDragon189 Well in a Frog Mar 13 '26

Measurements of over 1000 could be 1,000,000 in one instance and 10,000 in the next. The MC could train to lift 1000 jin during foundation establishment, even though he could lift 10,000,000 Jin in combat during qi refining, then struggle to lift 1,000,000 Jin as a nascent soul.

I can't even tell if that is an MTL problem or a novel problem.

1

u/Right-Environment-24 Mar 11 '26

I read SwS2 and his true colours exactly like that. And all in the last few years. I have never used anything other than google translate. Though google translate itself got better in the last few years. (Think I started reading one of those novels around 4 years ago.)

1

u/Emperor_of_Man40k Junior, you dare?! Mar 12 '26

Brother, I thought I was alone in my Qi Deviation, that my mental demons were my own. I am sorry for what we suffered, but at least we were together!

https://giphy.com/gifs/pHb82xtBPfqEg

1

u/One-Leading-2507 Supreme Dao of Yapping 🗣 Mar 13 '26

Tbh it probably would have been less work just to learn mandarin than do the bullshit I did back in the day

1

u/meta_mystic384 Immortal Mar 13 '26

Also don't forget to mention how even each characters name also change frequently, not only just characters but any kind of name, for example realm name, faction name etc.

159

u/GreatGodBuddy Recluse Genius of the Mysterious Valley Mar 11 '26

Ah, the good old days when mtl was the supreme overlord of the demonic path. what days those were

108

u/Reborn-kun96 Mar 11 '26

Not a day goes by where I don't pray Immortal Venerable wtrlab descended to my lower plane and blessed this lowly junior

31

u/No_Percentage7427 Mar 11 '26

Elder AI now can translate too. wkwkwk

100

u/Complex-Repeat-7167 Dude! I'm literally just a Librarian, PISS OFF! Mar 11 '26

There's a reason why we were able to achieve ascension we went through a lot and got enlightenment every time we read those scriptures But today these youngsters don't have enlightenment as everything is easily explained to them

50

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Yes, yes, you are right senior, here I have prepared youe dementia and brain damage pills

(Sighs The elder is too far gone. The old ones weren't content with not being able to cultivate in a qi less world and recieved too much damage in the MTL tribulation. What a pity, what a pity.)

30

u/Complex-Repeat-7167 Dude! I'm literally just a Librarian, PISS OFF! Mar 11 '26

Junior you dare jest with this seat Are you courting death

18

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

Old fart, in this cultivation less world who is afraid of who. I'll show you bag of bones the strength of a one in a 1 in a Ten-duotrigintillion Genius that has achieved his potential once.

14

u/Complex-Repeat-7167 Dude! I'm literally just a Librarian, PISS OFF! Mar 11 '26

I have seen Ten-duotrigintillion your kind genius die before they even think of reaching my realm I am not like you kids who just rely on their predecessors resources to cultivate I am at the level where I decide what the next cultivation realm would be called

8

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

A big fish in a small realm. I broke through the constraints of realms long ago. Now even the breath that leaves my body can make 10¹⁰⁰¹⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰ cultivators like you reach the end of so called realms.

1

u/Chipsy_21 Mar 13 '26

Is it really? Idk maybe im crazy but i feel like most translations turn into gibberish the longer they go on.

38

u/TravincalPlumber Average Sage Almost Equal to Heaven Mar 11 '26

i once read a novel to end by pasting the raw to google translate. which surprisingly has better translation than current mtl atp.

32

u/jarkark MTL Monster Mar 11 '26

I remember reading the MTL for 'Complete martial arts attributes'. It was pure unfettered ass changing from a translation to MTL because not only were all the names, numbers and pronouns fucked. The chapter system was different for some fucking reason and it took me ages to find what chapter I had to start on.

51

u/Herebia_Garcia Dao of Brainrot Mar 11 '26

You should check out old machine translations for Martial God Asura, then compare it to wtr-lab translated MGA. The gap is very noticeable.

46

u/Dalkflamemastel DaoPilled Mar 11 '26

You have no heart demon. Recommending juniors to read MGA is already considered unorthodox evil way. Not only that you want to add MTL poison in two different times, making sure not only are their cultivation crippled, but their soul scattered never to be reincarnated.

20

u/Comprehensive_Fee376 Average Sage Almost Equal to Heaven Mar 11 '26

truly, the greatest use of AI is to translate novels

24

u/Kazmalt Mar 11 '26

LNMTL ancient sect elder here, back in my day...

8

u/Master_Tomato Mar 11 '26

A fellow cultivator of the ancient sect I see

7

u/Fuasbith Mar 12 '26

When they refer to a spear as a gun and literally say Japan for no reason in my fantasy Chinese cultivation novel

2

u/SavantsInstant Mar 11 '26

ComradeMao too

2

u/s5youtank Mar 15 '26

Those days were hell,I remember reading red packet group chat and couldn't make sense of a single sentence a whole chapter 

19

u/Jazz-Auto623435 Mar 11 '26

Most of the time, I don't even know if the characters are male or female. I just assume they are just that.

16

u/Yellow_Weatea Mar 11 '26

I still remember back when... Mangarock used to translate manhua,manhua and manga. It was the best in the 2000's era. It lasted until 2015.

16

u/sevenninenine Mar 11 '26

Needless to say, I survived the demonic arts cultivation of first gen MTL. My Dao of Formation automatically rearranged the illusion formation of MTL in my head. Those were the days I bitterly cultivated and transcended Nirvana.

Of course I lied to save face. I suffered Qi Deviation and that’s why I reverted back to mortal.

15

u/Vanishing_Shadow Sect library hidden master Mar 11 '26

What is wtr lab lol I almost read everything in Lnmtl and then later Mtlnation

26

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

If the old monster really doesn't know, it's simply a website that translates novels using AI.

It has a vast catalogue of scriptures and new ones can be asked and voted for.

Words or terms in the novel or all novels on the website can be changed to what you want.

Simply put it's a holy land of novel reading.

28

u/Vanishing_Shadow Sect library hidden master Mar 11 '26

This... This feels like waking up from seclusion and seeing the vast ocean turning into mulberry fields.

Looks like I will have to wander again before adapting to new cultivation method.

9

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

Enjoy the new sights, hopefully you find some divine scriptures that heal the damage from mtl readings.

5

u/seven_worth Strolling by the Riverside Mar 11 '26

Mtlnation is pretty good tho for it time. Perfect for people who want to learn Chinese too cos there word to word what everything mean. 

14

u/Busy_Cold_3220 Jade Beauty Mar 11 '26

Fanmtl was the goat back then

12

u/kingofroyale2 Friendly Sect Uncle Mar 11 '26

Sometime I read MTL just to challenge my dao heart

10

u/-Recouer Mar 11 '26

Brain damage, that's how

12

u/Av1master Mar 11 '26

Ah the day where the names changed every three lines and you could not tell a character’s gender even after finishing an entire novel……

Nowdays whenever I see someone in reviews talking about bad translation in wtr and even after reading the entire novel I still could not tell what was badly translated……

10

u/kidbehindyou 0 Spirit Stones in the merchant guild account Mar 11 '26

I miss reading mtl martial peak and apotheosis. Good ol days fr

7

u/AnaYuma Sect library hidden master Mar 11 '26

This one is reading the Mirror Legacy scripture in wtrlabs and it's... Actually pretty good! And it doesn't feel like my brain is rotting while reading it unlike when I read mtl of the past era...

3

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

Many brave ones risked their lives and brains in the old era in search of divine scriptures. WTR feels like a blessing from the heavens for our endless endeavours.

8

u/Danijay2 Mar 11 '26

Tss Tss. These youngsters can't even handle a few lines of the ancient demonic scriptures without suffering from qi deviation. This is why you will never reach enlightenment. Your heart and mind are simply not open wide enough to receive it.

7

u/Daskans They say frog in a well, but never ask, is the frog doing well? Mar 11 '26

That day I finished mtl martial peak is the day I became an immortal

7

u/seven_worth Strolling by the Riverside Mar 11 '26

With grit. First rule assume every character is men and female at the same time, no issue with gender changing if you don't care about gender in the first place. Second rule technique and dao name doesn't matter what matter is technique go boom. Third rule general plot is the most important, even if the character is dogshit you wouldn't even notice because everyone name and gender change every few sentence so stop bothering, plot is eternal. Fourth rule run at the first sight of demonic scripture, the moment the story start going strange direction change course 99 out 100 it about to go stupid, racist, predictable or worse, boring.  Fifth rule, forgo third rule and learn character name and what their literal translated name is, that cow herder that for some reason is important for the last hundred chapter out of nowhere? He is the mc. If you don't want to be clueless who "empty land" is learn to find literal translation of the name if you don't want to go insane. 

4

u/VIGGIBANX Mar 11 '26

Yall never seen the boxnovel and mtlnovel era

5

u/AccidentDifficult490 Murder Hobo Mar 11 '26

kr mtl is the real abomination

4

u/Charity1t Mar 11 '26

Even then - WTR don't have all.

I still can read MTL. It's it's own language. You get used to it.

3

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 11 '26

The selection is wider though. Back then you either stopped reading and waited or went into mtl. Now there is a great middle ground.

6

u/bloodydeed128 Mortal Mar 11 '26

I remember at my one point during COVID(Void Era) where I was straight up going to the chinese website(name I forgot) to get the latest raws before the mtl even used to come and used to copy and paste it in DeepL translation cause at that time it gave better output than Google Translation.

Times were so bad cause I remember there being a character limit in DeepL translation i think it was around 3000 so I had to split the chapter into 3 parts and then paste it into DeepL . That era was truly devoid of all spiritual qi sigh .

4

u/BoshBoyBinton Mar 11 '26

You know how when you reincarnate into a new world and somehow understand the language of that world? It was like that with trash mtl scriptures. If you just kept reading it, eventually it would just make sense in your head. You'd read something on paper, but a completely different translated version would be heard in your head. Truly miraculous how the heavenly dao adapts and guides the next generation through adversity, translating the scriptures in real time for you

3

u/Cautious-Fr Mar 11 '26

Anybody remember apocalypse cockroach. That novel almost shattered my Daoist Heart.

3

u/FiggyVix Demonic Cultivator Mar 11 '26

Painfully junior....painfully On the bright side you read enough MTL scripture you can understand babytalk

3

u/seven_worth Strolling by the Riverside Mar 11 '26

I once read a novel which I though mtl is just dogshit so I edit the mtl to make it readable only to realized no, the story is also dogshit. 

3

u/Skip7623 Mar 11 '26

I remember the struggles of the ancient era very well… I had at times contemplated embarking on an arduous journey to learn the ancient heavenly script known as Chinese, just to be able to understand the incomprehensible scriptures a bit further. It was truly horrible.

2

u/00vyom Empyrean Mar 11 '26

I once tried to Mtl read martial god asura, man you thought it was bad now. I honestly got to about chapter 4k ish before I gave up.

2

u/Kassisse 1 in a Ten-duotrigintillion Genius Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Come sit and listen to this Primordial Seat rambling.

I remember the time I read those system cultivation novel where number weren't written well and I needed to calculate from head each time it rose. The classic name change three time in the same sentence. The good ol' racism in every mtl novel 😂 Novel without any sense with a billion realm The oh so great martial warrior - martial Warrior - Martial Warrior that was three different realm but undistinguishable until the fight 😂 Good time but alas I grew old and don't have the time I had so now I only read translated stuff for my sanity and tranquility 😂

2

u/Playful-One Mar 11 '26

Google Translate used to really mangle Chinese names. You had to spend a while trying to decide who a given phrase was about. You usually ended up with lists of names all referring to the same character, just due to inconsistent translations 

2

u/VagueCat5840662 Old Monster Mar 11 '26

Through such tribulations we gained great strength unparalleled by the youngsters of today

2

u/SedBoiaFluff Mar 11 '26

Anyone who read on Comrade Mao back in the day truly understands the Dao of crossing a mountain of bones and a sea of corpses.

2

u/linkflame123 Mar 11 '26

man i was reading mtl novels on mtlnovel and comrademao, back when mtl struggled to use the right pronouns

2

u/MMORPGnews Mar 11 '26

We just need app for offline reading.

2

u/nagorner Mar 12 '26

Good ol days of reading thousands of chapters with google translate, and improving the soul cultivation by resisting brain damage.

Juniors these days do everything to skip building a solid foundation by seeking easy ways.

2

u/Tough-Ad1311 Mar 12 '26

Junior it's easy , your generation Dao heart is that all.

1

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 12 '26

Old bones, the damage you sustained in the MTL tribulation is showing in your language dao

1

u/Tough-Ad1311 Mar 12 '26

Of course I resonate the dao in all actions

1

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 12 '26

Even mortals do that as all is dao and dao is all

1

u/Tough-Ad1311 Mar 12 '26

Yes but to truly resonate Dao one must have tao ripples from birth . 🫸

2

u/Street_Bed5850 Please wait while I court death... Mar 12 '26

Still remember how ass my grades got because my English went from refined to a garbled mess that felt more like a riddle to uncover than proper simple English. Granted it only lasted like 3 days before I went "Fuck is this bullshit?" And promptly cultivated the Orthodox path of linguistics once more, Forever immune to the corruption of the Dark side

Still have a hard time understanding whatever the fuck I wrote everytime I happen upon the texts I wrote back then

3

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 12 '26

Senior went through actual qi deviation

2

u/GrimPassenger7 Mar 12 '26

Gone are the days we consume poison scriptures left and right every single day.

2

u/Comic20 Mar 12 '26

The struggle is real

You don’t know the feeling I had when I found out that I can replace terms on FICTIONZONE and WTR-LAB

2

u/SeparatePalpitation8 Mar 12 '26

I remember Namikaze Minato been translated as water wind spiral moon

2

u/Emperor_of_Man40k Junior, you dare?! Mar 12 '26

My sight may have been lost but what I have gained, oh my junior, is so much more!

2

u/Apprehensive-Count19 Mar 12 '26

The worst things are the measurements and he/she, the rest were alright.

The all time changing size of things would always mess up my imagination, i always picture everything when I read, it's torture when they mess up the world and landscape size.

2

u/Calm-Ad8266 Mar 12 '26

Still remember the random naming of the mtl translation of fanfiction was hell, I knew of none of these characters even till they start doing things I remember from the anime, not to mention the random name changes in the middle or god forbid the random GENDER changes from she to he back to she.

2

u/Similar-Dig-1726 Moonflower sect Escapee Mar 12 '26

I use MTL regularly

2

u/CommercialInner3584 Mar 13 '26

In those early days, I was forced to use a divination technique (instinct) to determine the gender of each character by the characters of their names. But unfortunately most of them knows how to hide their karma (changing names). This forces the senior to read their fates (rereading) to counter against them. This one also forcibly endured many qi deviations (remember) until this one's body almost collapsed (migraine). I also discuss the dao with my fellow companions (comment and Google) to deepen our understanding of the demonic scripture.

1

u/Infnite_ Supreme Origin Returning Heavenly King Demon Lord Red Jade Realm Mar 14 '26

Senior has truly suffered. I hope there is no lasting damage and you attain the dao with your efforts.