Amazing Blog #2: Xianxia, wuxia and xuanhuan

[samsempere]

Good day cultivators,

We regret the delay, but the second post of Amazing Blog is finally here! As we promised, today we’re deepening in the complex world of Chinese fantasy literature. You’d probably notice that we always mention xianxia novels as one of our main inspirations to create Amazing Cultivation Simulator, because that’s the name of a well-known literary subgenre where the magic of cultivation takes its place. But there are two extra genres that you should know due to their proximity to xianxia fiction: they’re called wuxia and xuanhuan.

If you remember what we told you in Amazing Blog #1, cultivation is about common men and women training their bodies, minds, and souls to deserve eternal life. Commonly, xianxia novels and series introduce us to the life of someone who aims to reach immortality for personal issues. It’s frequently related to a conflict from the past or the wish of becoming stronger than a rival. Sometimes the main character was an immensely powerful cultivator, but death struck him/her and now he/she comes back in a new body by the will of another person: a friend, a lover, a disciple…

But it’s not just about personal reasons. Cultivators also protect the balance between good and evil forces in the world of the living ones, no matter if they follow the rules of Daoism strictly or find their path through demonic cultivation. Among their duties, some disciples must join their masters to hunt those monsters and bad spirits that threaten to break the peace on Earth and harm humankind, as you can see on The master of demonic cultivation TV series.

Wuxia heroes also protect others from a lot of dangers but, frequently, the main conflict comes from political struggles related to the destiny of the world and/or their most powerful families. They’re regular humans who achieve superpowers through martial arts training and meditation. These protagonists usually don’t serve a lord or belong to wealthy families, so they learn from a lone master or small groups of warrior monks. This genre has been super popular in Western countries for a long time and we’re familiarized with it thanks to fictions like Avatar: The last airbender or House of flying daggers (Shi mian mai fu), a Chinese movie from Yimou Zhang.

Last but not least, we have to talk about xuanhuan stories! Probably, this is the less-known genre of the three mentioned. Its name means literally “dark” or “mysterious fantasy” and revolves around magic without any Daoist symbology. A great example is the novel Martial God Asura. Sometimes, they take place in the present time or the future of non-traditional societies (Book of Yaoguai), and also with very different main characters (The magic chef of ice and fire).

How many titles do you know of each genre? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in a comment or via social media. Don’t forget to visit the store page and join our conversation:
• Twitter
• Facebook[www.facebook.com]
• Also, you can join our community on Discord[discord.gg]!

[ahnkra]

Awesome to read this and learn so much! Honestly Ive been a fan of self improvement/empowement fantasy and sci fi for as long as I can remember. DBZ, Avatar are the two closest to this games ideas that I raved over when they were still in production. Also from western culture, you can look at the myths of Avalon / King Arthur and see similarities. The Seers on the Isle were definetly practicing cultivation of one sort or another, always trying to ensure the survival and betterment of their chosen political affiliations, or plotting against those that found their disfavor, and lets face it Excalibur is probably the Wests greatest known Relic unless you turn to Christianity in which case it would be a toss up between the Holy Grail, and True Piece(s) of the Cross (all of which also gets mixed into Arthurian legends and stories.)
Thanks for making this game and sharing such wonderful and amazing culture with us Westeners, and for asking us for our thoughts on it!

[Halfshell]

I never thought about the Avatar: The Last Air Bender being Wuxia but it fits well. It does hint at the possibility of more with the mechanics of the Avatar but the show never actually took that step.

@ahnkra: There are quite a few novels that mix Eastern and Western tropes, two good ones off the top of my head are The Book Eating Magician and Monarch of Evernight. In the former, everything starts off based around magic and theres even a region of the world practicing more traditional cultivation funnily enough. In the latter, its more based around the concepts of dark, light and void as well as balance between different and same elements. Its also one of the few novels with guns and vampires. Lastly, the Teng Sect novels have some Western inspiration such as psionics but not as much as the last two. Just thought you might be interested given the talk of similarities between magic and cultivation because others have made similar connections in literature.

[ahnkra]

@ Halfshell cat Cool! thanks for the recommendations. I had thought of another anime/cartoon (Im of an older generation so not sure when to apply which tag to what lol) that I watched some of on Crunchy Roll I think it was with my BF at the time, that involved an interesting cross between eastern and western Ideas, but for the life of me couldnt remember what it was called. Anyway in it theres some kind of war held all the time where mages are vying to get i think the Grail, and fight each other summoning Spirits that are / were actually Heroes themselves from the past. Even had Arthur and Excalibur in it (but for whatever reason they made Arthur a girl, I know i was like WTF?) It was very imaginative to say the least. But I think I preffer this games take on world setting and cultivation. I guess I just enjoy it more when its a setting thats somewhere else cool and magical, rather than somehow here on earth and just hidden from the masses.

[Halfshell]

Sounds like Magi, although I believe Arthur is male in that. Maybe it was Shaman King? But I don't remember an Arthur in that. Well, suffice to say theres quite a few anime that fit the tags: summoning spirits, holy grail and magic but those are the two that come to mind. Edit: Nevermind, seems to be the Fate anime series.

[The Karma Kat]

Zhu Xian is my fav Xianxia novel, have you read?

[Vindo]

for those interested in start reading Xianxia/Xuanhuan novels, some of the good Xianxia/Xuanhuan novels for beginner are:

- A Will Eternal
- I Shall Seal The Heavens
- Doulou Dalu
- Against the Gods
- Coiling Dragon

take your picks!

[champdewayne]

The Cradle series it's what got me hooked on the genre.

[Foefaller]

Pretty much my entire knowledge of this genre prior to this game comes from the bits and pieces that show up in Journey to The West.

Which I'm pretty sure is kinda like saying my entire knowledge of Norse Mythology comes from the bits and pieces that show up in Lord of the Rings...

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by Vindo:

for those interested in start reading Xianxia/Xuanhuan novels, some of the good Xianxia/Xuanhuan novels for beginner are:

- A Will Eternal
- I Shall Seal The Heavens
- Doulou Dalu
- Against the Gods
- Coiling Dragon

take your picks!

Personally I prefer Desolate Era to Coiling Dragon (same author) but the translation for Coiling Dragon is really good! Doulou Dalu is also the starting book of the Tang Sect series and that is one of the best series I have ever read, East or West. It spans 4 books and I'll rightly stop myself there for fear of the slightest spoiler!

[White Glint]

This is literally my first exposure to this sort of mythology. Loving it and might try check out some translated works now. Came for the superficial resemblance to rimworld, stayed for autistic grind towards getting the best golden core I could.

Still need to restart and actually engage with the story now that I know what I'm doing, and build towards having a sect of cultivators that can take on foes stronger than a flood dragon.

[Discede]

Originally posted by Halfshell cat:

Originally posted by Vindo:

for those interested in start reading Xianxia/Xuanhuan novels, some of the good Xianxia/Xuanhuan novels for beginner are:

- A Will Eternal
- I Shall Seal The Heavens
- Doulou Dalu
- Against the Gods
- Coiling Dragon

take your picks!

Personally I prefer Desolate Era to Coiling Dragon (same author) but the translation for Coiling Dragon is really good! Doulou Dalu is also the starting book of the Tang Sect series and that is one of the best series I have ever read, East or West. It spans 4 books and I'll rightly stop myself there for fear of the slightest spoiler!

I started with Swallowed Star, which then gripped me into these type of series 5+ years ago. From that I went in this order, due to waiting for translations (alot of back and forths kinda, also bless your souls Translators.);

Coiling Dragon (ended up reading this to completion first then read the following)
Stellar Transformations ( the comraderie!)
Desolate Era (really immersive realm/s, well atleast I found it thoroughly enjoyable)
I Shall Seal The Heavens ( Ke Yunhai best Dad ever.)
Against the Gods ( up to chapter 500ish, it didn't hook me like the others)
Martial God Asura ( up to 800 then dropped, same as above)
Martial World ( need to finish this at somepoint, been holding off
True Martial World (Same as above)
Nine Cauldrons ( need to finish)
Legend of Xue Ying ( Need to finish)
Emperor's Domination ( Must finish)
Dragon Marked War God ( junk food version of this genre, not that greatest, but can be addictive)
Perfect World ( Must finish)
Er Gen's work ( must read them all)

The list goes on. currently trying to accomplish something similar to History's Number One Founder with my playthroughs, so far not going so great xD But i'm trying!!

[Just good enough]

Originally posted by Discede:

Originally posted by Halfshell cat:

Personally I prefer Desolate Era to Coiling Dragon (same author) but the translation for Coiling Dragon is really good! Doulou Dalu is also the starting book of the Tang Sect series and that is one of the best series I have ever read, East or West. It spans 4 books and I'll rightly stop myself there for fear of the slightest spoiler!

I started with Swallowed Star, which then gripped me into these type of series 5+ years ago. From that I went in this order, due to waiting for translations (alot of back and forths kinda, also bless your souls Translators.);

Coiling Dragon (ended up reading this to completion first then read the following)
Stellar Transformations ( the comraderie!)
Desolate Era (really immersive realm/s, well atleast I found it thoroughly enjoyable)
I Shall Seal The Heavens ( Ke Yunhai best Dad ever.)
Against the Gods ( up to chapter 500ish, it didn't hook me like the others)
Martial God Asura ( up to 800 then dropped, same as above)
Martial World ( need to finish this at somepoint, been holding off
True Martial World (Same as above)
Nine Cauldrons ( need to finish)
Legend of Xue Ying ( Need to finish)
Emperor's Domination ( Must finish)
Dragon Marked War God ( junk food version of this genre, not that greatest, but can be addictive)
Perfect World ( Must finish)
Er Gen's work ( must read them all)

The list goes on. currently trying to accomplish something similar to History's Number One Founder with my playthroughs, so far not going so great xD But i'm trying!!

If you are new to the genre pehaps start with versatile mage as it is about western magic which is achieved trough cultivation, perhaps a good start to not get overhelmed by the "deeper" novels of the genre.

alternatively there seems to be this sub-genre where cultivation actually finds place in the modern world wich might also be good for people new to chinese mythologie to learn one new thing at a time.

Also here are 2 recommondations if you want to have a change from the usual novels as they can become sometimes repetitive:

-Reverend insanity( a xianxia but the mc is on the evil side of the cultivation world with quite a few mind games in between which makes for an interesting change of perspective)

-libary of havens path(basicly the mc can "see" the flaws of everything that he touches or is written in books he touches, focuses a lot on the side aspects of the cultivation world like artifact-forging, alchemie, beast-taming and so on.)

I'd also like to mention some novels that I think deserve more attention

-otherworldly evil monarch (contrary to the the title the mc isn't realy evil and instead cares about his friends and familie but is ruthless to his enemies and always follows what he thinks is right. Most characters are realistic and go beyond to just 2 quirks, the novel realy excells in character design and interaction.)

-and now probably my favorite so far:
Immortal and martial dual cultivation( one of the "deep" novels i mentioned earlier).( Goes deep into cultivation, it is actually described in detail (instead of just beeing like: and now 2 weeks go by and mc reaches level x), preparation for tribulations, diferent kinds of cultivation paths etc.. Has good world building as well as good plot twists that make sense and the mc actually has challenges instead of just being the greatest in everything because why not.)

- heavenly jewel change( nothing why it would stand out in particular but well written and an overall enjoyable ride with everyting that is needed for a good story.

[Discede]

Originally posted by dragon_2002:

Originally posted by Discede:

I started with Swallowed Star, which then gripped me into these type of series 5+ years ago. From that I went in this order, due to waiting for translations (alot of back and forths kinda, also bless your souls Translators.);

Coiling Dragon (ended up reading this to completion first then read the following)
Stellar Transformations ( the comraderie!)
Desolate Era (really immersive realm/s, well atleast I found it thoroughly enjoyable)
I Shall Seal The Heavens ( Ke Yunhai best Dad ever.)
Against the Gods ( up to chapter 500ish, it didn't hook me like the others)
Martial God Asura ( up to 800 then dropped, same as above)
Martial World ( need to finish this at somepoint, been holding off
True Martial World (Same as above)
Nine Cauldrons ( need to finish)
Legend of Xue Ying ( Need to finish)
Emperor's Domination ( Must finish)
Dragon Marked War God ( junk food version of this genre, not that greatest, but can be addictive)
Perfect World ( Must finish)
Er Gen's work ( must read them all)

The list goes on. currently trying to accomplish something similar to History's Number One Founder with my playthroughs, so far not going so great xD But i'm trying!!

If you are new to the genre pehaps start with versatile mage as it is about western magic which is achieved trough cultivation, perhaps a good start to not get overhelmed by the "deeper" novels of the genre.

alternatively there seems to be this sub-genre where cultivation actually finds place in the modern world wich might also be good for people new to chinese mythologie to learn one new thing at a time.

Also here are 2 recommondations if you want to have a change from the usual novels as they can become sometimes repetitive:

-Reverend insanity( a xianxia but the mc is on the evil side of the cultivation world with quite a few mind games in between which makes for an interesting change of perspective)

-libary of havens path(basicly the mc can "see" the flaws of everything that he touches or is written in books he touches, focuses a lot on the side aspects of the cultivation world like artifact-forging, alchemie, beast-taming and so on.)

I'd also like to mention some novels that I think deserve more attention

-otherworldly evil monarch (contrary to the the title the mc isn't realy evil and instead cares about his friends and familie but is ruthless to his enemies and always follows what he thinks is right. Most characters are realistic and go beyond to just 2 quirks, the novel realy excells in character design and interaction.)

-and now probably my favorite so far:
Immortal and martial dual cultivation( one of the "deep" novels i mentioned earlier).( Goes deep into cultivation, it is actually described in detail (instead of just beeing like: and now 2 weeks go by and mc reaches level x), preparation for tribulations, diferent kinds of cultivation paths etc.. Has good world building as well as good plot twists that make sense and the mc actually has challenges instead of just being the greatest in everything because why not.)

- heavenly jewel change( nothing why it would stand out in particular but well written and an overall enjoyable ride with everyting that is needed for a good story.

Nice suggestions there! Reverend Insanity is on the 'To Read' list. Whilst Library of Heaven's path was a hilariously entertaining read, it did not pull me in as good as History's number one founder.

Heavenly Jewel change i got up to chapter 300 ish, but I didn't end up getting invested in it, I said before, I've read quite a few, I just didn't list them as it would be an incredibly long list haha.

As for Otherworldly Evil Monarch, I have read that, but I ended up dropping it due to reasons. I have read some of that author's other works as well and after a few hunder chapters, I found those protagonists not as interesting over time.

[andy]

Dragon-marked-war-god

[Paper Ragdoll]

Thanks to the pandemic, I've picked up this game and starting watching a ton of CDrama's, including all the Xianxia, Wuxia and Xuanhuan type tv series.
The Untamed and Word of Honor are high on my list, also Joy of Life, Handsome Siblings, Love and Redemption, Ancient Detective...