karmic_daoist usually there are no consequences. if original author/copyright holder notices you, he will send you cease&desist or DMCA takedown. if you comply there will be no further actions. if you dont comply then it can further escalate and you can be brought to court for copyright infringement. but considering those proceedings are very expensive, usually it is not worth it, so they will bring DMCA takedown to your server provider of which 90% will comply and remove content/ban you.
also webnovel is doing lots of plagiarizing from non qidian novels where they change part of the novel and it becomes "new" novel. when comparing it side by side you see same story, but one has story flow and logic (no matter how flawed it is), while other is missing half explanations and has numerous inconsistencies. is it legal? i really couldnt tell cause of numerous reasons. it is definitely in gray zone and i would say immoral.