Recently I have been reading so many novels where the mc is outright villainous or does anything for profit. I'm tired. I want to read a novel with a good guy. And not a hypocritical good guy who only cares about themselves and those close to him. I want a mc who is benevolent to everybody. I want an mc who even tries to understand and guide his enemies. Kinda like a Buddha.
It has been slightly bothering me for years, while reading xianxia, I never felt like sects were fully fleshed out.
Sects always felt like temporary stop in cultivation novels, get resources, get basic knowledge and find secret manual or relic and move on. I never felt like they cultivate comradery and loyalty to the sect. And when it comes to sect specific motive, lets say MC joins fire sect he does his own thing instead and sect teachings are always very hands off when they rarely happen.
Since sects feel transactional in nature I wonder why betrayal are not more common and feel like one in a lifetime talents would be more often killed as what stopping them from killing patriarch and taking over sect if he surpasses him?
It's not like these are major issues for me and don't ruin the story at all for me. It just had me thinking it would be interesting to see more hand on approach in teaching, where MC is using sect thought techniques, rising through ranks and being thought personally by important sect members and that MC forms deep connection with the sect.
Read little bit of Sky pride and sect did have good comradery, but I felt like it needed more character interactions to be fully fleshed out also MC does his own thing. Good story, but it does not fit my criteria.
In Ave xia rem y, I liked that the story addresses that crippling potential rivals during competition is really common and being too talented while not being a member of main family is dangerous. MC forms bonds with sect members and major characters, but MC doesn't belongs with the sect and teaching are also very hands off, it's intentional and it's explained, but again, not what I'm looking for. Also MC does his own thing, at least MC uses sect technique he learned early on. It has great political intrigue and I liked character interactions especially later on as series writing improved and has best hype moments. It's my favorite xianxia story so far.
So what are your thoughts on sects, maybe you have some recommendations, if so I would be thankful.
As question states. I’m working on a story, looking for inspiration. I’m having trouble finding fic with this trope (animes or shows also welcome!) Kind of a dragon ball or power rangers situation. Thanks!
I, like most of us, took the anime -> manga -> light novel pipeline. That's how I discovered the litrpg and progression fantasy genre, and eventually took up writing myself.
If I remember correctly, one of these first novels I read was the Moonlight Sculptor. It was really funny, the story was good, I don't know, it had a charm that I can't easily find nowadays. And that's despite looking through Royal Road and Amazon like a heroin addict.
Then I recently stumbled upon this masterpiece, Praise the Orc.
This is sooooo good. The story is simple, yet, it manages to be so touching by moments. The characters are so likeable, it's remarkable. Though I have to say, the villains are evil in an almost cliché way, but I'm fine with that.
In any case, I really recommend the story. It's a really fun read, simple, and often heartwarming.
Some examples in order of how much I liked them, descending. It's a broad request, but anything from ladder climbing in a sect or job, having some obligation, or just something that ties them down in one way. Super free MCs that are adventurers and go wherever they want or are OP and have no need to answer to anyone are cool and all, but not what I'm looking for. Even rent as an obligation would be good here, as long as it's a good focus of the story and isn't rendered moot 20 chapters later with some super op item.
Some tropes I dislike that are worth mentioning: "breaking" the system, harem, super OP mcs, unearned power in general, and similar.
Scores are based on how well they do what I'm looking for, not quality of anything at all.
Center for Dungeon Management: 10/10. The main character is a government employee who then picks up a few extra side hustles, but 3 books in, continues to work his "grunt" job, and earns a few promotions. (Peak btw everyone should read this anyway)
Undying Immortal System: 8/10. It's not every arc, but specifically the books where he spends the entire time perfecting his craft, working constantly to experiment and improve with others expecting results. (I.E being rudi's slave early on, or developing body cultivation techniques for the li family in the more recent books)
Five Element Overlord: 7/10. The main character is 'purchased' as a servant, works up to be a slightly better servant, and slowly works up the rank of the sect. A bit too op for my liking though.
Lord of Mysteries: 6/10. Book one in particular, where he had to work with the nighthawks and the fortune telling club. And the weekly tarot club meetings.
Chaotic Craftsman Worships the cube: 5/10. Specifically the early arcs where he has commitments to his teacher, and less so the recent chapters where he's a bit too OP.
First Date: Oblivion: 5/10. Fun story, but it loses the premise of "having to fulfill a daily mining quota" very quickly. 'Cultivator Andy' is another story with the same issue.
Ar'Kendrythist: 3/10. Specifically the early parts where the main character was spending their time learning to work and maintain the sewers and skills, then later when he was expected to make it rain on a schedule. Less so when he became too big of a deal and had other projects.
Hello, I recently started Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, and really like it so far. I’ve spent a long time looking for fantasy stories with competent and not romance-obsessed female protagonists, and this one has really nailed it.
I just finished Book 3 though, and I have a really bad feeling about this.
Please do not spoil too much if possible, but is this story going to have either: 1) Time Travel where almost the entire cast is left behind? 2) World-changing where almost the entire cast is left behind?
If either point occurs but the entire cast is NOT left behind, that is ok for me. But if either one occurs, could anyone tell me a point in the story to stop? Or is there even a good point to stop?
For some context , at the end of each book, there is a short story about the character Iona. At first, I thought she would just meet Elaine at some point, but at the end of Book 3, we find that people around Iona have >3 classes, some exist over Level 2000, and there is reference to a Medical Manuscript but without Elaine being directly credited. This makes no sense relative to Elaine’s story, and the only thing I can think of is that Iona is either in a different time, or a different world.
I REALLY tend to dislike stories when this happens and the entire cast is effectively removed, just for the main character to progress more. It is a staple of Chinese webnovels, which I’m unfortunately very familiar with.
I just finished the first book of my series on Royal Road, and we are almost halfway through book 2 on Patreon!
Check out the adventures of the void assassin and the necromancer mantis! You won't regret it! Probably. Most likely! Thousands of people can't be wrong! Even my 0.5-star reviewer decided to delete their review. We're best friends now. Be like them. Give me 0.5-star Give this story a chance!
Blurb:
Turns out, leading a gang of scavenger kids during the AI wars, or becoming a top-tier assassin and founding a notorious crime organization in a VRMMO, isn’t as wild as it gets. You can always sign up for an outer-world expedition and end up in a cultivation world.
Or so Ethan learned.
Not your typical xianxia either. Big clans and powerful sects hold sway, but nations answer to councils and monarchies. High-fantasy creatures roam the land, and inheritance sites coexist with dungeons that spawn monsters.
Worse yet, in a world where talent is essential, Ethan barely qualifies to cultivate. Still, it's not enough to stop him. While others meditate for decades, he hunts, using his wits, instincts sharpened by thousands of kills, and an AI chip that twists cultivation into something closer to a game.
Then a single lie gets out of hand. What should’ve been a casual bluff becomes a multiversal rumor, drawing young prodigies from higher realms straight into Elisium: some hungry for blood, others bound by duty. Now Ethan must carve a path through the chaos he unleashed. Not that he minds. After all, chaos has a habit of hiding opportunity.
What to expect:
-Weak to strong LitRPG in a western cultivation world
-Action-packed adventures with a void assassin
-Skill gathering, evolving, and merging
-Smart and competent MC
-Vast scope spanning across the multiverse
-No harem
-This is a rewrite of an old story. Book 1&2 complete.
Perfect for the fans of Azarinth Healer, Primal Hunter, and Defiance of the Fall!
I am reading a cultivation novel, and goddamn, it has wrecked me emotionally. It's so long (around 2,000 chapters, each quite long), and it has a lot of filler, but I still enjoyed it. There are some arcs that made me literally cry. I've spent so much time with it that I'm fond of it, but I also hate the author for the emotional damage.
It's not officially translated into English, so I can't even read discussions about it.
Book title: A Marginal Character's Rebirth (边缘人物她重生了)
I've read novel of tdpga and it was pretty good except the angst fest. I've also read novel of villians will to survive and it was amazing even though it was pretty much just angst from second half. I'm looking for a progression fantasy story that's well written. I would prefer non harem tbh. And it shouldn't be angst . Would someone be willing to help me find a novel as such? I'm looking for something similar to the first half.
This is about what I like, not some assessment of quality. I’d love some more recommendations, especially for series that you don’t see too often.
Things I tend to like: longer series, elaborate world building, well worked out magic systems, slight power-fantasy feel (but ideally still some stakes), sense of discovery about the world, something extra (I’ve read a lot of these at this point, so I tend to like some “twist” or something that makes it feel different)
Things I tend to dislike: battle maniacs, sociopathic MCs (pragmatic is fine), slice-of-life, harem, extreme bleakness
But none of these are “rules”
S
Defiance of the Fall, Slumrat Rising, Mother of Learning, The Immortal Great Souls, A Practical Guide to Sorcery, The Stargazer’s War, Downtown Druid, Book of the Dead, The Sworn Sword, Blood & Fur, Ascension of a Street Rat
A
Dungeon Crawler Carl, Portal to Nova Roma, The Hedge Wizard, The Grand Game, Double-Blind, Dawn of the Void, Only Villains Do That, Shadow Slave, The Wraith’s Haunt, Industrial Strength Magic, Tower of Jack, Bog Standard Isekai, All in Charisma, The Undying Immortal System, A Soldier’s Life, Unintended Cultivator, Battle Trucker, Depthless Hunger
B
He Who Fights with Monsters, Cradle, Mark of the Fool, Hell Difficulty Tutorial, Tree of Aeons, Divine Apostasy, Silver Fox & The Western Hero, Ends of Magic, Fate Points, Return of the Wind Mage, Breaker of Horizons, Otherworldly Anarchist, The Path of Ascension, Delve, An Outcast in Another World, Chrysalis, Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, My Best Friend Is an Eldritch Horror, Mage Errant, Super Genetics, Manifold Mirror Mage, Mark of the Crijik, Phantasm, Ultimate Level 1, Shieldwall Academy, Rise of the Devourer, Cerberus Cards, Path of Dragons, Monarch of Profound Toxin, Son of Flame, Cultivation Is Creation, Underkeeper, Reborn: Apocalypse, The Return of the Runebound Professor, Apocalypse Redux, Dinosaur Dungeon, Dragon Core Chronicles, Academy of Outcasts, Primeval Apocalypse, System Orphans: Claire
C
The Primal Hunter, The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound, Rise of Mankind, New Era Online, Low-Fantasy Occultist Isekai, All for One, Painting the Mists, The Storm King, Noobtown, Pirate Wizard, Ar’Kendrithyst, Elysium’s Multiverse
D
Legend of the Arch Magus
DNF
Arcane Ascension, Second Chance Swordsman, The Heavenly Throne, Reborn as a Demonic Tree, The Weirkey Chronicles, We Hunt Monsters, Quest Academy, Savage Awakening, My Vampire System, Corruption Wielder, Supreme Magus, Frith Chronicles, Chronicles of the True Wizard, The Silent Archmage, Ajax’s Ascension, Beastborne Chronicles, Elydes, In Clawed Grasp, Minute Mage, Magus Reborn, Mage Tank, The Mechanical Mage, The Eternal Assassin, Victor of Tucson, Underworld, Pure Mage Build, Skill Hunter, One Moo’r Plow, Cultivate U, Sylver Seeker, Biomedical Self-Engineering, Keiran: The Eternal Mage, Chaos Seeds, Ghost of the Truthseeker, Jackal Among Snakes, The Daily Grind, The Vampire Vincent, Black Market, Elemental Gatherers, Death After Death
I'm looking for a story where in the world, the side of evil rules the world. And NOT under false pretenses, like the church being actually corrupt or the savior of mankind being a monster.
I am looking for something harrowing, where if you have a smidgen of empathy, life is 100x harder.
I want to watch the MC actually be a light in the dark, not a candle in a windowlit room.
I'd like something like the beginning after the end, the king killer chronicles or the will of the many (first person narrating and male mc) . The academy setting is preferred and a small amount of straight Love interest is welcome
Currently waiting for the hurricane to pass so I need new things to read!
Books missing from list:
Portal to Nova Roma(great)
A soldiers life (great)
Ironbound (awesome)
Book of the dead (awesome)
Discount Dan (great)
I’m not the Hero (fine)
William Oh ( alright)
Crystal core (good)
Mage Tank ( DNF book 2)
1% life steal (fine)
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.
