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But wait, there's more!
Okay, lets be realistic, videogames don't end at the endgame. They end in NG+ (newgame+). And Xianxia novels provide this mechanic too. If you read a novel and the MC actually reaches immortality, you'll usually find that they ascend to a higher realm (aka move to another dimension or realm) where other immortals resid...
Do I recommend any Xianxia's in particular?
I don't tend to recommend Xianxias tbh. But you may recognise some of r/progressionfantasy's favourites are actually in the Xianxia genre. For example, Cradle. And of course who can forget the other recommended Xianxia, Cradle. When you've finished it, I recommend a healthy dose of re-reading Cradle. I joke, but in all...
End notes? But I want more!
Xianxia is a very fun genre. There's no doubt about it. I can't even begin to describe all the tropes and specific occurrences in the genre, but I can tell you that you won't regret getting into it. There are entire worlds out there crafted by amazing authors that are just ripe for exploration, and my small write-up do...
Wonder? Joy? Gold? Treasure? All these and more can be found in the depths of the pages of Xianxia novels. Just be careful, because once you're in there...
You may never come out!
Ps: Cradle is worth it.
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Comments Section
u/enrook avatar
enrook
3y ago
We also need an introduction to Not Xianxia.
There are two main categories of Not Xianxia that folks are often calling xianxia. The first is martial arts stories: wuxia. Wuxia, literally meaning something like "martial heroes", is about people who go around doing martial arts stuff: they learn new techniques, compete in events, spar with other martial artists, ri...
Wuxia and xianxia are closely related; the immortals you see in a xianxia novel usually also learn martial arts, compete in tournaments and do lots of this other stuff too. And the Daoist hermit who uses strange techniques is a stock character in wuxia. But the main difference is that wuxia stars idealized versions of ...
A classic wuxia series is Legend of the Condor Heroes. Actually, in many ways Dragon Ball is a wuxia series set in the modern day.
The second category of Not Xianxia is Chinese progression fantasy that, well, isn't xianxia. (My understanding is that this is usually called xuanhuan, but I don't have a deep understanding of the term.) Xianxia was hugely influential in the Chinese web serial scene, so you see a lot of series that blend elements of xi...
Apparently Deathblade has a book on Kindle Unlimited explaining this subject in detail. Deathblade translated a lot of classic xianxia, so he knows his stuff, probably a lot better than me.
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i_dont_wanna_sign_up
3y ago
You are correct, Xuanhuan is a good label for progression fantasy that isn't strictly Xianxia. Of course, there are a lot of mixing of concepts now.
I wouldn't really label Dragonball as Wuxia though. Maybe the early arcs could just barely fit, but certainly not by adult Goku arcs. Journey to the West itself is a Chinese mythological fiction that sees Sun Wukong fight gods and demons, so it's much closer to Xianxia really.
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u/billymike420 avatar
billymike420
3y ago
Highly recommend u/deathbladesjz 's book. It's a great primer for the genre.
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u/deathbladesjz avatar
deathbladesjz
3y ago
Thanks for the shoutout. Hopefully my book provides some good insights!
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shamanProgrammer
3y ago
I've always seen Wuxia MCs as the mortals in a Xianxia world. The MCs in Xianxia wants to obtain power from some reason and that can't be found just practicing martial arts.
In LitRPG terms, Wuxia MCs are the High Level Non-Boss NPCs in a video game while Xianxia MCs are the player characters/avatars.
In anime terms:
Wuxia is Part 1 Rock Lee, who can't use chakra(Qi) but relies on martial arts.
Xianxia is Part 1 Naruto who is the reincarnated spirit son of an old hermit who ascended and can tap into the Dao of Bonds to turn enemies to allies.
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hachiman
3y ago
Pardon me, fellow Naruto fan, but Rock Lee can use Chakra, he cant mold it to perform anything except taijutsu technique. The 8 gates explicitly up the amount of chakra he can push thru his body.
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shamanProgrammer
3y ago
True, he does have it as it's in his DNA thanks to Hagoromo, he just can't mold it like normal.
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u/Aggressive_Elk_2563 avatar
Aggressive_Elk_2563
2y ago
They're similar since Rock Lee and Wuxia characters have Qi/chakra but they take the martial art superpower route.
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u/Toa29 avatar