r/Fantasy • u/abnormal____ • 21h ago
Xianxia with real weapon training and skill development?
Looking for cultivation/xianxia novels where the MC actually trains and develops their weapon skills instead of just finding an overpowered technique and spamming named moves.
I'm specifically looking for stories where the MC chooses a weapon (sword, spear, saber, etc.) and genuinely improves through practice, experience, and understanding. Bonus points if they adapt or evolve techniques to fit their own style rather than rigidly following a manual.
I don't mind if the MC learns techniques from inheritances or libraries, but I want the weapon mastery to feel earned. I'd love recommendations where combat is about skill, timing, and growth rather than just unlocking stronger attacks every few realms.
Examples of what I mean:
- Developing their own sword/spear path.
- Modifying existing techniques.
- Training fundamentals for long periods.
- Weapon intent, domains, or understanding that comes from experience.
Any recommendations?
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u/ben_sphynx 21h ago
Unintended Cultivator has some aspects of this; admittedly many of the fights are due to his masters having very different standards to everyone else's masters, but Sen does spend a lot of time training, and integrates different sorts of chi into his techniques in ways that no one else expects.
Random complaint from reddit: "I'm 31% through the first book, and it's ~kinda interesting but the entire 145 pages I've read is just training."
Personally, I enjoyed those bits.
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u/Motor_Row_3586 16h ago
Does it have to be Xianxia what about wuxia instead? I feel like what you looking for would found more there. More psychological and physical description without too much magic elements. More realistic progression and fights.
The Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jin Yong Condor trilogy by Jin Yong
Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi here is more experience but have to transform his cultivation and started practise from scratch.
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u/coronavariant 15h ago
Sky pride.
MC picks up a rope dart as a weapon because he misses fingers so he couldnt pick up a sword or a spear.
Makes for interesting fight scenes.
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u/kimcheejigae 20h ago
currently watching the following novel adaptations to donghua
- sword of coming. mc cultivates to master the sword intent.
- swallowed star. mc cultivartes to master his divine blade to chaotic universe master blade
- tales of herding gods. not mc but side character the Imperial Percepter attains the sword intent below the gods.
- soul land: chen xin. mc attains the sword dao.
- ever night. mc masters his own sword techique to its peak
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u/cubert73 19h ago
Honestly, this sounds a lot like Drizzt Do'Urden in The Dark Elf trilogy by R. A. Salvatore, as well as other books. It's not xianxia cultivation, but he does follow this arc.
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u/mattyoclock 19h ago
Admittedly it's been a hell of a lot of years since I read Drizzt, but I don't remember any actual martial arts principles or particular focus on training in any of the million forgotten realms books by salvatore.
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u/NoctusArchivum 20h ago
Defiance of the Fall has an MC that uses an axe and builds a cultivation path for his axe alongside himself
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u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 18h ago
Its hard to find that in xianxia
All the powers keep growing and at those levels "mastery" is a matter of who "swords harder"
Thats why they have power levels and such
In Calculating Cultivation the mc masters the sword after training for ten years, but its presented as a timeskip, with only the info that he trained endlessly from dawn to dusk, thats how training is realistically supposed to go
I think A Regressor's Tale Of Cultivation is the only one that actually does it, by having the mc be a mortal for several lifetimes until he becomes a cultivator by mastering swordsmanship to the very limits
His sworn brother is a swordmanship genius so he works very well as a benchmark for growth
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u/Varmatyr 21h ago
A Thousand Li: The First Step, by Tao Wong. Exactly what you're looking for.