there is a love interest, but she only appears from time to time, she isn't annoyingly cliche either and there is progress on their relationship that happens slowly, and she helps him quite a bit when she appears. MC generally goes around doing his own thing and doesn't take her with him because of safety reasons and needing to cultivate. sometimes we also aren't sure if they will stay together or not, so there is some tension in the air that makes it a bit interesting.
i wouldn't consider her presence something that makes this unreadable. although, you may find others reason for that, that isn't her. like sometimes it is quite confusing tbf. but i believe it is worth a read if you have some free time and has been around reading similar fictions like this.
Is there romance in this?? If there is is it bad?? I havent read it yet cuz I dont want to waste my time if it is bad