Applied Cultivation (Previously Data-Driven Daoist) [Xianxia LitRPG Progression]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

They called him trash—until he put the Dao under the microscope. When demons slaughter his new family, computer scientist Johan—now reborn as Yu Han—survives by pure wit. He gains access to the mysterious system that all cultivators use to defy the heavens. The Dao. But it won’t be enough. Betrayed, stripped of everything but his clothes and a worthless booklet, his only way to live is to join the prestigious immortal sect recruiting new disciples. But before he can even step into the sect, he slaps the faces of two powerful young masters. Yu Han should have no path forward. But in his past life, he wasn't just any academic—he was a corporate warfare consultant who wrote not only scientific papers but obituaries, treating business rivals like failed hypotheses to be mercilessly eliminated. Trash talent? He'll prototype his own. Death feuds with young masters? Mere bugs to debug. No money? Just another optimisation problem. Watch this blood-thirsty fatty sprint toward immortality, bringing algorithms to sword fights and treating cultivation like a hostile takeover! First though, he needs to lose some weight. Start Reading from Chapter 1 What to expect: - Weak to Strong. Poor to Rich. Fat to Fit! - Earned progression through blood, sweat, grit, and lots of devious planning - Xianxia with a LitRPG twist. All cultivators have access to the system. It isn't the MC's unique cheat - No Harem - Third Person POV - Anti-social to found family MC dynamics - Warning: Sensitive Content. It's NOTa grim dark story. But there will be dark elements (there are a few hard chapters near the beginning of the story, and before chapter 40). [Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]

Information

Status
Ongoing
Year
2026
Author
CatVI

Tags

LITRPGACTIONFANTASYADVENTUREANTI-HERO LEADMARTIAL ARTSSTRONG LEADGAMELITMALE LEADPORTAL FANTASY / ISEKAIMYSTERYSTRATEGYCULTIVATIONPROGRESSIONWUXIARULING CLASS

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.3/ 5.0
Followers
6,818
Views
2,034,017

Chapters(129 total)

What readers say about Applied Cultivation (Previously Data-Driven Daoist) [Xianxia LitRPG Progression]

  • “An entertaining read that follows all the tropes, but uses them in fun and interesting ways to craft an entirely different story. I like the characters because they are fleshed out, plus their banter and relationships are fun and interesting. The story so f…”
    LoidThaneadRoyal Road5.0 / 5
  • “Great progression story so far. It stays entertaining while not being fighting focused and does a great job of avoiding repetitive scenarios/tropes. Read it, read it, read it. If the name made you curious there a real good chance you'll enjoy it as long as…”
    Mostly LurkingRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

  • LoidThaneadRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    An entertaining read that follows all the tropes, but uses them in fun and interesting ways to craft an entirely different story.
    I like the characters because they are fleshed out, plus their banter and relationships are fun and interesting.
    The story so far, while it contains tragic events, seems to focus mostly on the MC's journey to become stronger, as well as a better person.
  • Mostly LurkingRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Great progression story so far. It stays entertaining while not being fighting focused and does a great job of avoiding repetitive scenarios/tropes.
    Read it, read it, read it. If the name made you curious there a real good chance you'll enjoy it as long as you aren't looking for a completely lawful good MC. Not that he's evil, just self interested.
  • Beastmonarch01Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This is an amazing cultivation novel. It's a bit slow ok it's really slow but it does not chance the fact how good it is and I hope that the other gets back to writing it more often as it has so much potential. I first found this novel on an random site but after a while i decided to come here to support the writer.
  • AigiRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    The author's blurb outlines what to expect from the novel, and that's what you get - no bait and switch. Prose is fine, protagonist is written to be cold at the start, but there's plenty of room for growth. I hope that the novel eventually developed some humorous moments - I'm not that far in yet.
  • Asura101Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    The Whole world has a litRPG approach no OP cheat just the MC getting by with wits and transmigration knowledge.
    Well written. A fun read bringing back some of the fun for cultivation worlds.  relationships in the world make sense. Still some idiot villains but not crazy, a bit of a more realistic taste.
  • BlueGreenRedRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This story is interesting so far. The MC is a fun read, and the other characters are written well and interesting.  Even though the premise is 'data driven ' the parts about data don't really require any background and are entertaining.
    No grammatical issues, which I like because too many mistakes can take you out of the story.
    I'll try to put in some negative points. The way the MC was an unlikeable person in his last life is hard for me to believe. However the character development of his becoming better is starting to be enjoyable.
    There's a rather extreme section about 10 chapters in however the author has put a warning in as of this review. It's actually interesting to read the authors thoughts on that section and they try to be transparent about their reasoning.  I'm just now seeing some of the character development that nadir sets up,.and while I don't YET personally think it is justified, as of the time of this review the story is nowhere near finished.  So I have high expectations.
    The world building is lovely, I'm really enjoying the views the author gives us of the world, the creatures, the ecosystem, and the society, and how the cultivation system sits in it.
    Overall I highly recommend this.
  • Conscript ReportingRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Overall Score: 5/5
    Another new, excellent story by CatVI, one that focuses more on inner character development and thoughts of a prick who sees himself as the victim constantly; in this case, he as a victim of isekai is one, but moving on, it will be interesting to see how he grows to take responsibility for his actions and social inabilities. If there's one reason to read this story, it's how well the author writes the characters' interactions and makes everyone in the story feel authentic, as well as the author's ability to make exciting power systems and sometimes dao pondering moments. Hopefully, they will expand on this ability to create a fascinating world. Still, of the four chapters already uploaded as of the time this review was written, I'm fairly certain that they will absolutely succeed at making it great.
    Style: 5/5
    The author writes concisely and at a good pace, moving the plot along sufficiently to make one constantly wonder what will happen next without making your neck break and have no time to ponder the implications of a fast-paced story. They are great at setting up scenes that you can perfectly envision in your mind.
    Grammar: 5/5
    There's nothing to complain about here; it's been exceptional so far to my eyes, but I'm not someone too picky about that in general, as I'm from the MTL sects. So full marks there.
    Story: 5/5
    So far, the story is doing a great job of immersing us in the MC's plunge into the deep end of being isekai'd. He has a pretty unique bloodline of clams, average cultivation talent, and is going to a cultivation sect, so I'm extremely curious how the author is going to make his character work hard and optimise his abilities to succeed and build his own place in the world. So far, we know little of the greater world and the rest of the power scaling, but I'm quite certain that based on the author's previous work that it is going to be heavily political within the sects internal struggles and their competition with other competing s
  • Daoist SukucuRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Good story so far, i leiel the interaction , maybe little bit power for our MC and his bloodline power , not to overpower but keep up with the other character, niu niu is good, want to hear about the sister family hope she is alright, i dont know what to write anymore thank you
  • BigreaderRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Well this is an interesting transmigrating story in that the character doesn't seem to merely inherit the memories of the person whose body he now possesses but also seems to have been mixed mentally and emotionally with that person so he doesn't reliably act as who he thinks he is or is the person who is native but a mixture of both and they are two very opposite characters both physically and emotionally so it is an interesting way seeing them developed and react in ways that one or the other would not expect to act in this new world. Basically ruthless guy from Earth who's fit an intelligent and got the emotional intelligence of an ants gets mixed with short fat guy who wears his heart on the sleeve is a decent person and then struggles to survive all the cultivator stuff
  • Puzzle_eggRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Characters are flawed and complex, but are still eminently functional and themselves.Great balance of mystery and reveal. Which is good as the whole premise is that the MC is super smart and will figure out wft is actually going on with the world and will make exceptionally good decisions as a result. That pattern of set-up and payoff (with high action, adventurous stakes) has been well established and consistently delivered on so far, so I believe that the answers to the deeper questions exist, and will be delivered in a similarly entertaining way.Traumatic depictions have been deployed in the interest of establishing holistic, eminently human characters and relational dynamics.  No slasher vibes here. Content warning [moderate] nevertheless. (Honestly I would hardly have noticed if discussion hadn't been in the author notes.)I'm interested to see more of the characterization of the transmigrated half of the MC's personality pay off, but I'm more relieved that airing his personal issues isn't taking priority over him operating well in survival mode. Full marks.Really just hoping this project is seen through to end game. It's exactly the sort of content I wish I was self-discipline enough to produce myself.If you want tasty Xianxia adventure with a little more nutrition and crunch, give it a try.

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