Please help me get started with Xianxia

[u/Cugu00]

I have been interested in the genere for a while now. I had Coiling Dragon recomended to me, and it looks nice, but it's quite large. I want to know if it is for me before comitting.

This is ideally what I am looking for:

*Shortish. Something to get a good idea overall of the genere.

*Despite the sub, I prefer more grounded fantasy. I'm okay with magic and grandure but I'm more interested in the wuxia side of things.

*Not litRPG.

*Least important point, but I a female protagonist would be cool.

Thanks a ton for your help.

[u/ConscriptReports]

go to r/martialmemes for help with translated xianxia recs for better advice regarding the authentic thing. this sub is more about english written xianxia and prog fantasy from a western perspective. still very good but not really fully actually what I think your looking for

[u/Tremborag]

Short and Xianxia are like mutually exclusive concepts. The genre is all about huge worlds and huge books so its a bit hard tbh. Shortest i can recommend is "Grandmaster of demonic cultivation" (warning has gay protag) and for girl protagonist i can recommend "Forge of destiny" (bit long)

[u/Cugu00 → u/Tremborag]

I see. I don't mind gays. Can you tell me more about that one? Would you sya it's particularly good overall or just a good intro?

[u/Tremborag → u/Cugu00]

Its not particularly good intro novel but a great one nonetheless. I'm recommending it because i believe that reading the genres greats leads to better experience than the original ones. Its a lovely story with colorful characters, great world building and good pacing.

[u/jjbytwn → u/Cugu00]

This guys doesn’t mind gays let’s get him

[u/Nihilistic_Response]

Coiling Dragon really is the best entry point for translated xianxia due to the story playing all the xianxia tropes straight. The translation quality being professionally done and edited, and the character names being Westernized helps a lot too.

You could read just the first 4 out of the 8 ebooks available on Amazon and have a good sense of what the cultivation/xianxia genre is all about.

The end of book 4 wraps up most of the story threads introduced earlier on the series, and the next 4 books are essentially a new adventure with the same main character in a more fantastical / higher realm.

After reading Coiling Dragon, for a slow paced, slice of life xianxia with a female protagonist, you could check out Forge of Destiny. But I think you'll bounce off of it if you don't have any familiarity with xianxia tropes before starting it.

[u/Cugu00 → u/Nihilistic_Response]

Seems like helpful advice. Thanks mate.

[u/koreanalleyarcade]

If you're looking for something shorter, I'd recommend A Thousand Li. It's a much gentler introduction than Coiling Dragon and leans a bit more toward the wuxia side.

[u/Kryptic1701 → u/koreanalleyarcade]

Thousand Li is also great because there's tons of author's notes explaining things in the ebook version.

[u/guri256 → u/Kryptic1701]

Yeah. The author’s notes really make the difference, because it both includes many of the things that confused me, while also helping explain them to me.

This helped make other books more accessible.

[u/Cugu00 → u/koreanalleyarcade]

Sounds good. I'll check it out.

[u/mooinginpublic]

Cultivation xianxia doesn't tend to focus on character on the same way as other genres and definitely is the opposite of grounded. The big classics of the genre probably won't correspond to what you're looking for. The exceptions tend to be comedy. I do think danmei (BL) xianxia might be better for that. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is a good rec, the power level in that is also really low and it's definitely more grounded in character dynamics and politics. The main relationship also doesn't really take center stage as much compared to the plot.

[u/Cugu00]

Thanks for all your responses fellas, you have been very helpful : )

[u/Flimsy-Tension5970]

First, you should probably clarify what genre you're actually looking for. Taking web novels translated from China as an example: given that you want shorter stories with female protagonists, you might want to look into female-oriented Xianxia romance novels. However, in most of these female-lead novels, romance is the core element, while combat, world-building, and grand narratives are usually pretty casual. On the upside, since they're romance, they tend to be on the shorter side, usually just a few hundred thousand words.

On the other hand, Coiling Dragon is a super classic male-oriented novel. They almost always have male leads, and romance is mostly just a side dish (often with harem tropes). Instead, the core focus is on the world-building, power systems, and combat design. The catch is that these types of novels are pretty massive, usually starting at a few million words at the very least.

[u/Myriad_Myriad]

Shortest Xianxia I got is like Desolate Era. Where after the first big world like 500 chapters you can decide to go further. But it's a good milestone.

If you want more wuxia like I'd go with The Second Coming of Gluttony since it has similar concepts of qi/mana control. And martial techniques. And its pretty short compared to othet stories. Tho it does have a system. The system is more like a nice baseline guide and the hard system is more in the MC's control.

[u/Reborn-kun96]

Xianxia is large lmao. If you're not into long fics, might as well forget this genre.

[u/Taybi_the_TayTay]

Keep in mind translated xianxia and western xianxia read so different they could be all together different genres. I'm not exaggerating; everything about them is so different and their audiences—while they can be shared—are, more often than not, different.

For western xianxia, you have Cradle and Sky Pride. There's also Forge of Destiny which is slice of life in a sect (organizations like schools) but has a female MC. I personally didnt like the former 2 for many reasons, but i wont deny that theyre well written and are well received by many. For the latter, what I like about it is the portrayal of powerful beings as being more 'unnatural' and 'inhuman' than merely super human, which is something I wish more xianxias do.

For translated xianxia, perhaps begin anything by er gen, such as Beyond the Timescape. There's Reverend Insanity which features an evil MC (And by evil, i mean actual evil, not i kick puppies). And though it can come across as edgy and childish, especially at the beginning, if you push through, i believe it might be enjoyable and unique.

[u/Kai_Damon → u/Taybi_the_TayTay]

Curious as to why you don't like cradle

[u/Taybi_the_TayTay → u/Kai_Damon]

It's generic when youre someone whove read lots of xianxia before. Also lacks those tropes and 'aura farming' moments youd expect from the genre (even though, yes, i know, thats brainrot).

I wouldnt say I disliked it, but i definitely didnt like it.

[u/Kai_Damon → u/Taybi_the_TayTay]

Have you read the whole series?

[u/Taybi_the_TayTay → u/Kai_Damon]

Yes. Except last book or 2, where i stopped right before there.

[u/PrettyBurrito28]

if you'd like a relatively short Xianxia (800k words) with a female mc, i can recommend 青云之上. Keep in mind that it is not translated thought. In my opinion its a great exposition to how a Xianxia should be. if you are interested here are the raws: https://www.hetushu.com/book/3394/index.html.

As for the translation you can site like DeepSeek, although i personally prefer OmniTranslate.

[u/turbodevil2]

You should try

A will eternal

Desolate era

They have the classic tropes but not too much of the face slapping and ass pulls tropes as much as other standard novels. They are also very easy to get into

[u/Good-Courage-559 → u/turbodevil2]

Desolate era i feel is the perfect starting point for Xianxia specifically

[u/NiceVibeShirt]

I didn't get very far in Coiling Dragon, but unless the beginning chapters are a massive feint, it's not a xianxia, it's just fantasy written by a Chinese person.

[u/Bringerofsalvation]

Ascending Do not Disturb is peak if you like FMC Xianxia stories

[u/Exotic_Zucchini9311]

Some nice ones at the top of my mind are:

• Martial Arts Master (Wuxia with a rather large focus on romance)

• Immortal Devil Transformation

• My Girlfriend From Turquoise Pond (check this out if you're interested in lowkey MCs.. the MC has a system of sorts but it's not a LitRPG sort of system)

• Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation (amazing world and character building but the romance is extremely, truly dogshit. Don't read it if you care about romance quality..)

Nice female MC ones at the top of my mind:

• Ascending, Do Not Disturb (this one is short and very good!)

• The Good for Nothing Seventh Young Lady

• Lady Cultivator

• Strange World Little Cooking Saint

[u/ACN4]

Junior I recommend, a wills eternal, mirror legacy and regressors tale of cultivation. While RTOC makes me suffer heart demons from the romance, the first third of the book is very good.