Fighting to be Kind in a Cultivation World

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Aren't you tired of the typical cultivation story, where an isekai'd person comes into the world and becomes a brutal or selfish person? I know I am. So instead of being fully changed by the world, I want this protagonist to stick to their beliefs and help to change the world (and people) for the better. There will still be main character development and tests of those beliefs, but I want them to maintain that aspect.

Brief Synopsis:American is thrown into a typical Xuanhuan cultivation world where the masses of the people are typically sacrificed for the abilities of the few. This is meant to be an alternate take on how protagonists approach these worlds. Main character comes into the world w/ scanning, healing, and monster taming abilities. Respectful, polyam relationships.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2020
Author: Jaredman92

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.8/ 5.0
Followers: 1,126
Views: 1,959,017

Chapters(422 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

42offsideRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of my favorite RR stories. The characters feel more like real people than all but a few other stories. It's definitely a slower place than most, with the focus on people trying to help each other, and overcome their problems and trying circumstances.
Just finishing rereading the backlog for the third time, and noticed that I hadn't with a review for this excellent story yet, so I'm fixing that.
What to expect:
Yes this is an Isekai, and James's background isn't as important as far as the specifics. There is no introduction of groundbreaking anything in this dirty. This new world isn't lacking in anything major, and the even the culture of this new world is tested add something that just is, not so much something to fix as something that needs to be adapted to and changed (if that's possible) from the inside, one relationship at a time.
Grammar is almost perfect, I (and I'm extraordinarily picky about it) notice about one error every other chapter or so.
The challenges in this story come from all sides, and the exploration of how horrible this world is remains a major theme. (I'd say it's almost as bad as ours) our MC gets to be aware of more of it that he really should be able to, and has to deal with all the heavy decisions and responsibilities that coffee along with that.
Sexual scenes pretty much don't exist, but there is a lot of sexual tension and beautiful people. Both physically and personality.
Expect tender moments, crying over hard times, and lots of struggles.
LilZomRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
There is so much this story has made me think about. The ruthlessness of all it inhabitants, the criminalization of the demihumans, and even the idea of fairness. A lot of this was interesting to read about but is marred by our protags thoughts and actions in the setting. A unbending altruist (unless a man is a involved) he bumbles his way forcing his beliefs and opinions on the people around him though some are good, others are just incompatible.
He receives a skill set with great potential and he squanders it. He knows that it can and will help,within a scope, but his fears of pain and dedication stop him from pushing them to the max. The protag just seems to be more of a thought then a person, like adding a cowboy to a Harry Potter movie it feels disgruntled and wrong. James doesn't fit his own story. He act’s like a altruist when he wants too, women and children always seems to be the priority to him while men usually are either evil or ignored. He has saved some men but only after seeing children in the same predicament that he would turn back. James isn’t likable for me but some of the female cast are pretty cool honestly if they were the mc it could be lit.
Plus he just seems like a token black dude and as a black dude I find it insulting.
zmikezRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Something odd to point out I have my review set at 5 stars but when I scroll down and look it shows 4? Odd
So. I have absolutely no idea why this is 3 stars. Grammar is good, story is good. The only problem I have is it's a cultivation novel and there's been no cultivation, not even an introduction really.
Slow paced story aside this novel is great. I'm not gonna lie and say saving yourself for someone is something anyone outside of religion does but personal conviction given to the character by the author is their area.
It kills me that decent stories get 3 stars and stories that are so unbelievably bad that I cant continue after 15 chapters get roughly the same score.
Any story that I can binge read for 50+ chapters and still want to read more deserves 5 stars in my book.
While most of his problems are self-created, I believe it's a realistic depiction of how someone would act and react, in fact, I think the guy in the story would be in the top 80% of the population. Anyone who has ever had any job that involves dealing with people KNOWS that the majority of the human population are idiots.
Think back, how many people have done things they know or have been told is stupid yet they do it anyways? Everyone knows a bunch of them, the people where the only way it sinks in is if it's repeatedly bashed into their heads.
It's delusional to think that people will always use every tool they have to the best effect without a bunch of pre-planning and thinking about it. You've played online games, how many people on shooters will run into a well defended campers corridor with guns a blazing dieing repeatedly over and over again instead of throwing a grenade? I understand you want a genius with your OP but the guy is a normal guy with a few cheats that he hasn't gotten used to using.
The problem is that he's trying to follow his conscience instead of being a heartless bastard. So his want to do good wars, and sometimes wins out with doing a smart play, it's like when your bud
knutnputnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This story can seem like many things when you start it. I know I went into the story with assumptions and hopes about what the story would be like. The story has not delivered upon my expectations. Instead it has become something different from any sort of isekai, or cultivation story I've read. This world is dangerous to the point where so far pretty much the only nice people the MC met was in the very beginning. The story is very slow but as the story progresses at least there is a decent amount of history behind the MC's actions.
As fas as I can tell so far the story is about an MC who wants to help people. He gets incredible healing powers with a system that kind of disappears. The powers remain but not the system. The world he is in however is not interested in kind people. And anyone helping anyone is taboo of the highest order. As such the MC is going to find himself in huge shitstorms for the smallest act of kindness. By trying to hide his healing powers to stay safe he heals using alchemy. Which creates huge trouble as well so the MC does not have an easy road. Some of the reviews on this story rants about the MC being op in the start, far from it. He has amazing healing abilities and pretty good offensive abilities through taming but against cultivators it's far from enough to make a difference. This is a dark place and the MC will have a hell of a hard time.
I have my gripes with this story for sure but the goods far outweigh the bads. And my. Feelings stem from judging the story based on previous stories I've read. And I've realised that this story is so different from anything I've really read that it's hard to accurately compare to other stories.
That said I have followed this story since it's beginning and I am still following it. I'm looking forward to see where the author can take it!
Give it a read. If you don't like it, then don't keep going but if you do, maybe make a quick little review saying why and then keep reading ☺️
jessicaroyaleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Cultivation story with a little more moral introspection than most. Story follows a 'woke' 20something from America who shows up in cultivation land. On one level, adventure story of the guy trying to get by, on another an attempt to deconstruct how a society wth that kind of culture contrasts to ours.
Introspection of MC flirts over into angst a couple of times.Tends towards a level of naivete that gives a YA feel, definitely white hats and black hats, no real room for grey. As cultural commentary, it tends towards a very simplistic cultural relativity at the same time as it espouses some classic western absolutism, which felt kind of weird. I'm not sure all the subtext was intentional.
As an adventure story MC is overpowered from the beginnng so you don't get that growth aspect a lot of cultvation novels focus on. You still get to see him refine those powers, and the world building is great. Character growth is mostly based on attitudinal changes.
Most of the characters are well developed, or developing as of 4/9/21, but it feels a little odd this far into the story pretty much only 1 male main character, the protagonist, has been introduced. Yet they are fleshed out well enough you kind of have to stop to think about it before you notice.
StillnessRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
If cultivation stories are your thing, this might be one if the rare good ones. Obviously this story is trying to break from the mold. I think this premise has a lot of potential, both in that being kind will make the main character friends and going against the grain of the world will make him enemies.
The writing quality so far has been decent. So far, the main character is trying to get his feet underneath him from being inserted in the world and find a way to make it through life without get shanked. Though, I find it a bit odd that everyone he has met so far has told him how he will be taken advantage of, yet most of the people he has met are kind and helpful, granted he is kind and helpful to them first.
I've one major concern as the story goes forward and that is the system the MC is given. To my knowledge, no one else in the world has access the the system and it gives him three major cheat ablities. We'll see how it gets handled. It's a cultivation world afterall, so there is always going to be a person more powerful than the MC who wants them dead for having something they can't have.
RoderickRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I've read a few chapters and I can say that the novel is pretty good and written well, but the mc constant impulsive decisions is kind of not right for him when he's already pretty old. But I really like the start of the novel and explanation or his abilities without making the apper mysterious
EoxdmnRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Nice take on the cultivation story, decent story over all. I like that the author avoids the common acceptance of the cruelty and brutality that happens is most of these stories, but leans too hard the opposite direction. characters are decently fleshed out and what little of the world we have been shown is well built. Down side is that it's slow paced and the MC is very naive.
AliceHealerRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
C/W: child abuse, prostitution, sexual abuse. disturbing imagery
1. The author makes these problems part of the world without going too deep, instead exploring how our hero tries to navigate the trauma his friends have.
2. The author claims this is a "harem" story. Although the interpersonal relationships show this will most likely be a respectful polyam story rather than the drivel.
3. The protagonist is spongebob, unkillable heal spam but can't deal damage in return.
4. If you read the tags you'll know 3 doesn't matter because this is not an action story. The conflicts are based around ethical solutions to difficult situations.
5. Now heres the cinch to whether you'll enjoy this or not. Many readers get frustrated when the protag makes the same "mistakes" and gets "punushed" for it over and over. The difference here is, at least in my opinion, he's completely justified. The protagonist is an altruist who can't stand not helping people to his detriment. As a fellow altruist who believes all life is precious I can respect his decision even after mc recognises it's a mistake he'll have to make. People who prefer mcs who grow numb...
Why are you reading this?
BisasterRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Was fun until mind control was introduced. It was already looking like it was turning into a misery fic, what with the MC constantly getting shit on for everything, but mind control changed the tone of the story. It's hand waved away in the latest chapter but that just shows that the minute inclusion of mind reading is already bringing the fic down by having to waste time filling plot holes.
Considering that a low level gang leader has access to mind raping powers, whatever form they may take, it's safe to say that any cultivator and their mother should have access to even better versions, constantly using it on each other and especially the non cultivators. If they don't then it's a plothole of massive proprotions since cultivators aren't know for their impulse control or morality. In the case that it's against the "law" and the mind control gets you hunted down, people wouldn't use it so freely like it happened with the gang leader. Either the "law" is polite fiction and everybody does it or it's another plothole. All of this ignoring the loss of agency that will be a repeating theme for some time or the paranoia that should form for the MC or even society in general. The fact that the MC decided to use his special power's less after realizing he got mind fucked is beyond me, unless he's already compromised, thus loss of agency. Mind rape just brings the quality of any fic down unless it's the central theme of it, even then I find it shit but at least it's appropriate.
From what I can get from an AN, the whole mind control bullshit is there so there can be some drama later on. That and the author seems to think that mind control is somehow a staple of xianxia.
I'll give it 3 and 1/2 stars for what could have been but I honestly don't recomend reading if mind fuckery is not your thing. It will either inevitably swallow up the fic or the plot holes will be so huge that the titanic can sink in them.