The Jade Shadows Must Die [Cultivation LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Everywhere, people use the System. But Rix has a tiny speck of something else. Something called ‘qi’.

Rix has one goal in life: to kill the eight criminals who murdered his family. But his targets aren’t just ordinary mortals. They’re Martial Souls — warriors of legend fueled by mana, with System-granted techniques and mastery of weapons that can challenge the heavens themselves.

As far as the System is concerned, Rix isn’t special. No martial foundation. No corporate techniques. No god-tier potential. Just a list and a grudge. To exact his revenge, he needs power. Real power. And there’s only one place he knows that will give it to him. Spiritlock Prison — a place where even low-tier nobodies can become monsters. If they survive.

The plan’s simple: get locked up, dive into a dungeon crawling with entropy-spawned horrors, and pray he doesn’t get torn in half on day one. His odds? Laughable. His stats? Rock bottom. But deep down, Rix has a tiny speck of something no one else does.

Something the System forgot.

Something called ‘qi.’

TWO chapters a week on Tuesday/Friday

What to expect:

- A few chapters to build to the action, but once we get there, the pace ramps up- Detailed, kinetic fight scenes- Weak to strong to OP MC, but at a measured pace. Rix starts weak and works hard to get stronger.- A fresh combination of LitRPG and cultivation that won’t turn into entire chapters of meditation- A smart, morally grey MC who makes mostly good choices, but isn’t a total logic robot or murderhobo- Third person POV almost exclusively focused on MC- Group dynamics and elements of found family as the story progresses- No harem

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: Andykay

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 2,896
Views: 521,894

What readers say about The Jade Shadows Must Die [Cultivation LitRPG]

“Real talk the last month or so all the riding stars on Royal Road have kinda been mid. Used to be so full of heavy hitters. Finally getting some good ones back on the list and this one is my favorite by far. How was your day today and I will be there in a f…”
JakeThePlugRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The beginning of this story is very strong. You can tell that the author has put a lot of thought into creating this world. From the tidbits that we've gotten so far, it's a very interesting world and power system. And so far, there hasn't been any point wh…”
KewaiiiRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

JakeThePlugRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Real talk the last month or so all the riding stars on Royal Road have kinda been mid. Used to be so full of heavy hitters. Finally getting some good ones back on the list and this one is my favorite by far.
How was your day today and I will be there in a few minutes to get the login info for the phone number for the phone number for the phone number for the phone number for the phone number for the phone number for the phone number for the phone number for the phone
KewaiiiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The beginning of this story is very strong. You can tell that the author has put a lot of thought into creating this world. From the tidbits that we've gotten so far, it's a very interesting world and power system. And so far, there hasn't been any point where it feels like it's just info-dumping.
The main plot starts very simple. MC wants revenge from some people, and the first guy is in this prison. But there are other people as well he wants to kill and as the story goes on, it can become as complex as the author wants. The flexibility is there.
Now since this is the very beginning of the story, all I can say is there's a lot of potential in this one. I hope it continues the way it's going and fully live upto its potential.
Also, I hope that the MC's ace of having qi becomes more than just an few seconds worth of power. And that he actually goes through the whole cultivation shebang, the foundation forming, the cores and the nascent souls, or something similar.
Overall, it's a very promising start. From what has been shown of the world, it's super interesting. My only critique is that there weren't more chapters for me to binge through.
RedBlitzenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The first two chapters (or thereabouts) are a more effective blurb than any summary I remember on this site. Including its own. By the time I'd gotten 2 chapters in I felt I had a solid idea of 1. The specific situation we're in 2. The general situation of the relevant wider world 3. The numerous disadvantages we have (with more to be soon/immediately discovered!) 4. The singular significant advantage we have (with the implied promise that we will see it grow a LOT).
I don't remember the last time I found a story ANYWHERE that had a start that was THAT strong AND that clear. Maybe in a graphic novel/comic or a movie/show, but certainly not in print! I was certainly hooked. It wasn't until chapter 47(!) that I was able to pull myself away long enough to write a review and let me tell you, this is the first time I've felt strongly enough to write a review in MONTHS!
I could probably spend a couple hours praising one part of this story or another but then I wouldn't be spending that time reading it! So far my only concern with JSMD is how long I'll have to wait for a new chapter to post once I catch up. I might seriously have found another Patreon to subscribe to and I probably can't afford to be subscribed to the ones I already have!
In conclusion, Andykay's JSMD has (so far) accomplished what TheFirstDefier's Defiance of the Fall failed to do. Make a LitRPG style system work in a (hinted to be) interstellar scale Cultivation setting.
(To be fair I too greatly enjoyed DotF at first. I wasn't until about book 12 that I dropped the story. I'm willing to try it again later so don't hate me for saying it failed to do one specific thing that, let's face it, probably wasn't really a focus of the story in the first place.)
SLit23Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is going to be a story to really look forward to! The grammar is solid, the use of language appropriate, and despite the darker tone, the MC doesn’t seem like he’s going to turn into the usual edgelord that seems to define most revenge stories.
We’re being introduced to the system alongside the MC, without anything that feels like a boring info dump. It’s weaved into the rest of the story wonderfully, as is the mystery of the little fragment of power he managed to scrape together before incarceration. Can’t wait to see how things develop!
lanboyoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
System or cultivation? Why not both? I assume this is weak to strong because otherwise it is weak to dead pretty soon.
MC is hungry for revenge enough to put himself in the worst prison to get stronger. Pretty soon we will find out whom is locked up with who.
Just read it already.
200 words is cray cray. Not sure my resume is 200 words. This is like freshman English. I picked the topic and I am dying. Screw it I’m unchecking advanced review.
sikijaxsonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Even in its early chapters, Spiritlock shows incredible promise. The worldbuilding is sharp and immersive, with a power system that feels both fresh and full of potential. The blend of LitRPG and cultivation is handled beautifully. No info-dumps, no filler, just a gripping, well-paced dive into a brutal and fascinating world.
Rix is a protagonist you can’t help but root for. He’s smart, driven, and walking a razor’s edge between justice and vengeance. The mysterious qi, something the System forgot?, adds a thrilling layer of depth, and I’m genuinely excited to see how that evolves as the story unfolds.
Huge kudos to the author for crafting such a compelling beginning. If this is just the start, I can’t wait to see where it goes next. Absolutely one to watch!
mm1palmerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Enjoying the story. It does a good job of keeping things interesting by giving tidbits of backstory over time rather than a potentially boring long prologue.
The protagonist grows slowly in power. No sudden power-up just to get to more powerful opponents. And the growth isn't a simple picking of new powers at certain levels, and they appear fully formed. The protagonist still has to work at understanding, developing, and integrating his new abilities.
VinzVegaRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
I like it.. kinda.
Style and Grammar are great.
Overarching story is great.
Where it falls flat for me is the whole system vs cultivation juxtaposition. It falls in the well trodden path of "the system limits and controls you" "cultivation is the only path forward". Simply not a fan of that. Either make it one or the other or let them work together equally. Otherwise why have the system at all... it server no real purpose. At some point the cultivation will just completly overshadow the system.
Characters are good. Powerups are not really that logical honestly.
He is in there a few weeks and allready as strong or stronger than basically everyone else (expect a few at the top) who works in teams and should kill him by looking at him. They have been doing this for months or years sometimes and he... just kills a few of them with basically no effort and not even really using his mcguffin.
Pacing is weird. It feels good but then you realize that essentially nothing happend... at all..
Overall it is a ok book. I just cannot get over the well beaten dead horse of "cultivation is better than the useless system"
kmuRoyal Road
★★ 2.0
From the start it was nothing but introspective dialogue it went on and on, the story was almost forgotten from the explanation of everything. If the story started from the beginning I could have over looked it but it did not all was given was bits and pieces nothing that could build empathy to the main character without that I can not read a book!!
MonioDRoyal Road
★ 0.5
At the beginning MC was interesting and his motivation was alright, he is extremely weak and has no aptitude for the system but has control over different energy.
HE got only one thing going for him and now he has a sidekick who is 10x stronger than him in every aspect and on top of that she also gains control over the energy and everything becomes dull after that. The mc is not special anymore on top of it he is weak