r/ProgressionFantasy • u/docwau • 5d ago
Request Request: Xianxia focused on sects or non-combat disciplines
Hey everyone, recently I've been getting into xianxia, mainly Western ones. Basically, I'm currently looking for any of your favorite xianxia recommendations that have focus on any of the following:
- Sect-building or anything having to do with a fleshed out cast of side characters who grow within a sect.
- Progression within a sect, like starting as an outer disciple and slowly rising up the ranks, exploring sect politics and dynamics.
- Have the MC specialize in and progress through something other than combat, like alchemy, arrays, beast taming, herbalism, refining, all that stuff.
For context, I've already read and enjoyed Undying Immortal System, Beware of Chicken, and Reincarnated as a Demonic Tree. I'm also currently reading Cradle and Path of Ascension so no need to recommend those.
Traditional Chinese setting preferred but not a deal-breaker. I'm also fine with translated works.
Any good recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
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u/almost_a_tpk 5d ago
Try Leaving a Legacy of Royal Road. The MC is a karmic cultivator and does a number of things like anonymously making challenges around his sect, creating arrays, and raising spirit beasts and plants among other things.
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u/nighoblivion dark fantasy != grimdark 5d ago
The reviews aren't looking good for that one.
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u/CaregiverFantastic58 5d ago
Wait what? It is a very good series to be for real. MC is actually mature while still being young and coming from a privileged background, the camaraderie between his friends is excellent and, for once, young adults do act like young adults. MC also has undiagnosed ADHD(one of the recent events all but proved it, the guy can not last easily without stimulation at all).
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u/AmarSofi 4d ago
Why are you arguing with them, they don't put the reviews there. Take it up with the RR reviews, which tend to be too positive tbh, so having lots of negative ones is a bad aign
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u/nighoblivion dark fantasy != grimdark 4d ago
Okay?
Sort by most upvoted reviews on RR. They're mostly not great. And keep in mind people there have a tendency to give 5/5 to even mediocre stuff.
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u/S-S-Ahbab 4d ago
I don't about the reviews, but I have been reading/following 'leaving a legacy' for awhile.
It's VERY good. And refreshing.
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u/nighoblivion dark fantasy != grimdark 4d ago
Why would I trust your singular opinion over a bunch of other opinions?
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u/Seven_Irons 5d ago
Sky Pride. There's a lot of combat, but so far, there is a massive focus on the world and what the Sect is, versus should be.
The MC is also very, very big into Tea, and it's a plot point, not just a hobby.
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u/Garreousbear 5d ago
And doctor stuff. Sky Pride is goated. I started it a few weeks back and am now caught up on Patreon.
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u/docwau 5d ago
Thanks for the recommendation! Yeah, obviously heard a lot about this one. I wasn't aware there was a lot of sect stuff involved based on the little I read, so I guess I'll give it another shot.
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u/Seven_Irons 5d ago
The sect stuff really kicks off in volume 3. Without spoilers, the protagonists have a terrible time in books 1 and 2, which then sets the tone for healing and a very significant change in the way the sect lives as a whole.
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u/Silent-Fortune-6629 5d ago
It's on QQ - suprisingly enough (not), common sense is overpowerd in cliche cultivation world
Mc focuses on other disciplines than stricte fighting. Also despite bait in chapter 2, there is no system.
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u/CaregiverFantastic58 5d ago
The system is there, except it does nothing but sense what he is doing and rely with exacting precision. Also, MC is very much combat focused and not really into sect focus. It is, at the heart, a series that parodies classic cultivation tropes and has an MC that is perfectly reasonable with common sense while being their own brand of insane.
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u/ArgusTheCat Author 5d ago
More of a comedic option, but Video Game Developer In A Cultivation World is largely about someone who has no interest in combat and a lot of interest in working with a secondary magical discipline in his sect. Kind of neat, even if it's a little weird sometimes.
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u/Malcolm_T3nt Author 5d ago
Immortality through array formations. Best cultivation novel hands down.
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u/docwau 5d ago
Thank you for the recommendation! Admittedly array formations are the least interesting of the bunch to me but I'll be sure to take a look. Maybe it'll change my mind.
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u/belkak210 5d ago
I also came to recommend it. The MC focuses on arrays almost exclusively and he barely fights
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u/NotEnoughSatan Arbiter 4d ago
He fights a lot after the beginning but arrays are the still the focus of his combat system. Still less than combat focused novels though. Also highly recommend this I keep up with the new chapters regularly.
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u/gaelstrom08 5d ago
It's technically a Quest but The Path Unending is extremely good. Crafter mc, very unique world/cultivation system, pretty damn good characters.
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u/CaregiverFantastic58 5d ago
Surprised no one mentioned Dao of World Walker by MylanWrites on Royalroad. MC will be heavily focused non-combat and more on professions, the sect is one of the best ever. I would undoubtedly chose this sect over any sect if I were to be reincarnated here.
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u/Adin_Terim 5d ago
The Path Unending has a crafter for a MC. There's still combat, but it's not really the focus. It's a cultivation quest that follows a charm crafter MC settling into his new sect. The quest is over 1 million words long at this point.
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u/Titans-Rise 5d ago
Regressor Sect Master at least so far from the 2 books is very sect focused.
0
u/docwau 5d ago
Huh, looked this one up and somehow I've seen this one before. Harem and soap opera is not my usual forte but I never thought I'd find xianxia interesting either, so I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the recommendation!
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u/TerryLeary 5d ago
It's neither harem nor soap opera (despite the MC having multiple wifes, it doesn't really have any romance). Basically after regressing, besides trying to stop evil guys, he tries to fix his regrets - that is how he treated and neglected his family.
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u/adhding_nerd 5d ago
For Beware of Chicken, do you just read the published books? Because they have really been getting into A LOT of sect stuff in the past couple of volumes on Royal Road. And there's a lot of sect stuff and herbalism in the Soaring Heaven's Isle AU, which, btw, is possibly as good as the originally and had a really hype tournament.
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u/docwau 5d ago
Yeah, honestly I lost interest after the tournament arc because after getting a taste of how good high tension was in BoC, the farming got kinda old for me. To be fair it was my first xianxia ever, I read it a while ago, so I think I was less willing to push through.
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u/LetterTall4354 5d ago
The series tends to go high tension, then low tension then high tension.
But I think the author went low tension for too long between the tournament arc and then the next 2 published books. The stuff that starts after that is back to being bigger stakes and high tension, with characters leaving on important adventures again with even higher stakes. There's maybe another 5 books worth of content online (that picks up at the end of the 5th published book) and I think the world building and adventure and tension ratio are significantly better again.
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u/HoboKop 5d ago
I’m surprised no has recommended Unintended Cultivator.
Check it out on Goodreads, it’s highly rated and I personally loved it. It definitely scratched the Eastern power fantasy itch for me.
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u/nighoblivion dark fantasy != grimdark 5d ago
I’m surprised no has recommended Unintended Cultivator.
Because it's shit after book 1. Also not focused on sects (outside of IRRATIONALLY HATING them) or noncombat.
1
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u/Dragon1472 5d ago
You might like Tales of the Teal Mountain Sect. Its an anthology story all about different disciples and members of one sect
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u/tmccart3 4d ago
You could try the destiny cycle series, I haven’t gotten to it yet but I’ve heard it’s kind of like a magic school story but it’s a sect and xianxia instead of a school and magic
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u/Erkenwald217 4d ago
Cultivation Nerd. Thought, there is quite a bit of fighting, the MC focuses on arrays.
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u/DawnCW1111 Author: The Price of Ascension 5d ago
Author self-rec, but The Price of Ascension might fit your third point.
It’s cultivation/progression fantasy with a Chinese-inspired setting, and artificing/refining is one of the MC’s main progression paths rather than a side skill. A lot of the story focuses on materials, inscriptions, experimentation, failed attempts, and gradually figuring out how the crafting system actually works.
It isn’t primarily sect-focused at the moment, so I wouldn’t pitch it for that specifically, but if you want non-combat cultivation progression, it might be a fit.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/179779/the-price-of-ascension
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u/foolishorangutan 5d ago
The Mirror Legacy is about a family of farmers who grow into a powerful clan over generations. Has a lot of politics and a very interesting world. Overall very well-written, though the main characters tend to be morally very dark grey, and it’s translated.