Mao Ni (; born 1977) is a Chinese author of xianxia novels. His most famous work is the web novel, Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices) which has been adapted into an action TV drama, Fighter of the Destiny. In 2017, it was placed first on the Chinese social media site Weibo's poll of most-anticipated TV dramas of 2017. His web novel Jiang Ye (Nightfall) was adapted into the TV series Ever Night. His novels are published on the Webnovel platform, an English-language website and mobile platform launched by China Literature, Chinas largest online publishing company.
Mao and Joy of Life were the subject of significant online criticism during the political disputes arising from the THAAD deployment by South Korea. Mao voiced a defense of the K Pop idol Taeyeon, who had posted a picture of Lotte brand candy on her Instagram account (many Chinese viewed Taeyeon's post as expressing support for the THAAD deployment because the Lotte company had provided land for it). In response to Mao's defense of Taeyeon, angry Chinese internet users left one star reviews for Joy of Life, resulting in a 38% one star rating. Mao issued an apology on Weibo.