Bizarre Fate: An Urban Crime Xianxia (Stand Cultivation)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Luca is a seventeen-year-old delinquent who just needs one roll lucky roll of the dice to strike it big to drag his family outta Southside hell and into the life of a highroller.

He can’t trust anyone in the Brass Kings, especially not that asshole lieutenant that’s been breathing down his neck for the better part of a year. Without more power, wealth, or allies, he’ll just be another street rat.

Only he’s been saddled with an ability little better than a coin flip in a city with immortals and sects that rule above all. He’ll push past it all–and join those at the top.

Hope you guys enjoy this fiction, it's a mix of Urban Fantasy and Xianxia, and I'm excited to launch it.I drew inspiration from Jade City, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Godfather, Tokyo Revengers, and the Cradle.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2022
Author: Zach Skye

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 587
Views: 251,755

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

molson5972Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far I have really enjoyed this series. I like that the characters feel real and relatable. MC is a uneducated street kid who really doesn't have anything going for him. All he has is his luck and family. The cultivation system is pretty seemlessly used in the story. Some people are lucky to be born with a gift that they can grow. The poor are kept on a leash by giving them crumbs to grow their power. People who are extra strong, shoot fire, very fast, are the norm. The idea of gang bangers and thugs who can tear up a city block is really powerful. I really want to see how MC's luck power will grow and where his journey leads. There is that epic universe shaking power potential hinted by their being people who end up god level, and I'm excited for it. I feel the slums and even this planet is just the tip of the iceberg. I want to see MC stumbling his way to be a top tier power and potentially leading humanity. I have read plenty of wuxia, LitRPG, Western Fantasy. And I have not seen a story like this with a magic system like the one in this world. My fingers are crossed that this series can keep its momentum and there will be a satisfying ending to this story.
BananalloyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
To preface, there are a lot of strong emotions you'll feel reading this. And damn if it makes this hard to write up without pouring those all over potential readers. But people should absolutely give this slower paced story a try. Slow by this site's standards that is. It's an amazing urban cultivation story with an author that likes posting Jojo memes... If that's not enough already then I don't think anything will convince you.
Style:
Amazing all throughout. Whether the gang dynamics, the italian styled family, cultivation sects, or just the protagonists belligerent attitude, they all blend together excellently. There's lore about the world throughout, constantly showing how cultivation has always affected the world, but by far a favourite is the italian family motifs throughout. Of course, the 'family' applies to some mafias throughout the city, but the extent of their involvement for now is limited as is the protagonist.
Story:
Rather slow by RR standards, but not bad in any way. Motives and plot move along constantly, with the protagonist being a driving force for many of them all the time. To summarise its entirety without spoilers, it's highly compelling. The attitudes all make sense and work as expected, now the only problem is that it leads you to constantly want to see how things progress because you want things to change. Waiting for that ticking timebomb to finally explode and the story to flip on its head...
Grammar:
I don't like being picky about grammer, and typos generally aren't worth fussing over. In my reading I found everything flowed ideally, and nothing really broke me from reading due to an incorrect word or improperly written sentence. An easy 5 stars for this category.
Character:
Gotta remain unbiased... Right. A highly notable thing is that characters feel relatable in most aspects. Whether the protagonist, his family, the gang, or other powers, I can't say anyone acts out of place for their reasons.
Very quickly, there's a character whose
Blorgh the muppetRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
the rating is fairly apt. its not for everyone. Its an excellent piece of work dont get me wrong just look at my rating
But our character is a massive fuck up, very few redeeming qualities and quite frustrating to read. But even early on he shows he has some straight up great qualities, even buried beneath the self loathing and self deception. Hes in a tough spot, with shitty people around him and as the story progresses that changes too and we see his heart of gold shine through
yeah thats what makes his horrible act aceptable, hes got a heart of gold. But only the heart, otherwise pretty much a massive prick i wouldnt spit on if he was on fire and thats what might turn you off. He struggles with himself and his inability to change, much like a reader will. Its what makes the story great to me but might be a turn off for others.
i havent even spoken about the fascinating world being established cause it takes a back seat. this is character driven but it is genuinely stellar writing, no info dumps and yet you still get all the info about the world and our guys place in it. great read
The WintererRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Honestly this is an amazing story. It's engaging, well written and has a unique take on the usual cultivation tropes. The different aspects of the story all work together to create a really amazing story with heaps of potential, whether that be the family situation of Luca, the gangs which he's involved in, or even his gambling and cultivation itself, all of these different details work together to build this fantastic story. I can't wait for more
TranscendencyyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A very nice reinterpretation of the genre. Interesting characters so far, a fun world building, nice fights with powers aplenty. Who'd ever thought of mafia cultivators? Amazing, for real. Give it a try!
I am very excited to see what comes next in the tale of Luca, the Immortal of Gambling!
WeavervaleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall 5/5
Zack Skye brought me into this great new world with a bang. I started reading it and woof. Bravo.
Grammar 5/5
The grammar here is great, and I wasn't held back by anything about that.
Story 5/5
So for about three minutes there I was certain that I was gambling myself which is how far I was drawn into the story. The thing that I like to see here is the overall okay, can I determine which character is which perhaps with dialogue only and then, do ther thing that they do... is that thing something that characterizes who they are, their drive, their indomitable spirit? Or their domitable spirit who knows. In other words, I want fleshed out characters and in two chapters I was brought into a world that felt alive.
Character 5/5
The main character? Sounds like a greaser, and without doing a lot of telling, the author "shows" us his inner thoughts and then builds on that.
Lemme give an example of HOW TO SHOW character:(from chapter 4)
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He froze—yanked back as I grabbed him by the collar. ‘Naw, hold on a minute.” I shook my head, little dumbass should have more common sense. I checked my phone. 7:12 am. Yeah, enough time. I swapped the phone for my comb—after I’d just put it away too—a dab of the gel also stashed in my pocket. Alex’s eyes went wide as he struggled, but there was no escape. Even a quick and nimble runt like him stood no chance when I got serious.
But he got tricky, scrambling out of his school jacket, then he dashed towards the backdoor. Nope, that wasn’t happening. I slammed a palm on my arm, grinning. A streak of blue lightning burst forth from the point of contact—numbness flooded the skin. One of Alex’s books fell from his half-open bag as I chased. My foot accidentally kicked it.
The hardback book tumbled through the air, soaring Alex’s back knee. He yelped, the unexpected pressure throwing off his stride and causing him to sprawl across the ground. I dashed forward, grabbing him by the arm, and heft
Willingly_IgnantRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This was a blast. I came back here to reread it. It didn't overstay its welcome & ended well enough to read it again. That's just my opinion though.
I am The Willingly Ignant, & even I must meet the 50 word requirement to post this, as will you dear future reader after enjoying this.
All seriousness, I'm reading this like it's playing in a GTO Onizuka style animation, & I'm lovin it. Da duh da da da~ McDonald's jingle
lscashRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Honestly this was different, the lore and backgroung of a cultivation city was a fun experience. Personally I loved the mc, he started off completely different from any other protagonist I'd ever read. His personality and morals are quite frankly unlikeable when faced with in reality but was able to give a more genuine experience to my read. Plus the character development was executed spectaculary. Would definetly recommend.
Daoist EnigmaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's fresh. Now no idea is truly hundred percent unique, but what I mean by when I say fresh is more the approach the novel takes, the approach in world building, and the overall fun factor--- makes it for a very enjoyable experience that stands out from the rest. If you're a binge reader, this is one novel that's gonna stay with you and you'll definitely want more chapters.
InkBladeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Call me biased as a JJBA fan, but this story manages to combine proper systems together to create a unique story that stands on its own as an excellent character driven narrative.
It's style is very solid, as this author definetly knows when to drive plot and when to play up the details. This makes this book flow very well and makes it easily understood. It relies on simple description to draw detailed images in a manner that never takes away from the front action.
Where most novels in this genre get lost in the sauce of power scaling and cultivation, this novel certainly doesn't. Even with a complex power system this novel remains very story focused and succinct. No 20 chapter cultivation sessions to waste time. In terms of content, the plot is creative and interesting. It certainly doesn't stray from the darker aspects of Gang activity, and maintains a very consistent tone. There's always stakes, and this makes it never feel like there's nothing happening.
Grammar is fine, would say there's nothing major here.
Characters are the real star of this story. Each one remains interesting, and there's no strawmen for plot. If they are named, they will be important in some way for the plot. All of the main cast have their own personalities that interact in a fun way, and all of the villains make sense. Really does a great job emulating the character style of Araki.
Overall this is a unique and very fun story to read. Lots of plotlines are left open for a sequel, so I hope we can see a second book in this series soon!
TLDR: I love it. I WANT MORE 🤣