Just read the novel then enjoy the adaptations afterwards
personally, reading the novel first then watching, reading the live action, animation and webtoon is kind of frustrating as they don’t include the little details that was mentioned in the novel. so i’d say save the novel for the last
Honestly... this might be an unpopular opinion because its famous and quite loved by everyone but don't start with the live action/drama, leave it for last... Messy, censored, removed and changed things, makes it seem longer than it is. In particular I wouldn't suggest it at all if it's your first time with c-dramas or xianxia/wuxia genre.
I would say to either start with the webtoon or the original novel. If you have the time and the concentration then I highly recommend the novel, of course since its the original its the best one! It's 100% worth it but it's a little lenghty and you might feel overwhelmed if it's your first time reading the genre and are not familiar with chinese names and titles... which is why I also suggested the webtoon. Considering you're here, you might be more familiar with webtoons so even if it has a lot of chapters, you're probably used to it and it will make it easier for you to follow to novel after since from what I remember the webtoon follows the novel closely.
So it really depends on how much time you're willing to "invest" and how familiar you are with the genre and chinese novels! No matter what you choose to read first though, I really really recommend the novel even if read it after. Personally I would say to do novel/webtoon -> drama -> animation
TY!!! will definitely drop by the bookstore and start with the novel ~ ty to the other replies too ~~~
Start with the donghua, its easier to digest, its fast paced but you'll be able to get a vision of what the settings would look like. And you'll appreciate the novel even more.
I do not like CQL personally , its so blue , bad cinematography really.
Basically donghua > novel > cdrama (optional)
Okay finally deciding to jump into the rabbit hole of MDZS but i don’t know where to like start like do i read the novel first, or the webtoon, watch the animation or the live action like there is so many content and i don’t know where to like start rn my knowledge of mdzs is like prob 5% i know a bit of stuff like they have a child or sumthing… so help me out hahaha