Discussion The 'Other Geniuses' In Wuxia Novels

Does anybody read these novels and eventually come to the conclusion, 'how are these other people even comparable to the MC?'.

A lot of times in these martial arts novels, the MC consistently accomplish great feats or gain leaps in strength through untold hardship OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Yet somehow some random famous disciple has equal feats just because of their cultivation level, not a merit of their accomplishments?
Honestly it's frustrating especially when people still underestimate the MC just because their strength is lower than usual. Like did they not see what the fuck he can do?

For example, I'm currently reading Once Upon A Time, There Was A Spirit Sword Mountain (great read).
1. The MC is a complete intellectual and outstanding tactician that has essentially no equal.
2. His only flaw is that his body is incompatible with the methods currently existing due to the lost of methods. Due to this flaw he had to circumvent by using an unorthodox method, causing him to rely on purely-defense.

Feats
1. He created a sect that's officially recognized and will be a potential contender for the most powerful of sects. He did this when he was at the 2nd stage of the hierarchy, and mostly because it was experimental.
2. No jokes, nobody can't fuck with him in strategy and planning. He's killed numerous powerhouses mainly through intellect and resource. Reminder that he's been handicap due to the stigma of his body.
3. Went to foreign a continent and was the main reason of collapsing the greatest power their. Not only that, he completely changed the political power. (From the church ruling the people, to the knights ruling the people).

Honestly this feat alone makes him incomparably to other disciple, because none of them is capable of replicating such a feat. Not even mentioning his other grandiose feats. Yet somehow the world diminishes most of these feats, just because 'the other geniuses from the different sects' are getting stronger. Even the muddle-headed elders and faction leaders all believe cultivation > feats. Feats are the truth, while cultivation is means to an end.

 

Nothing constructive to add (maybe farming nuffies), but it bothers me (maybe I'll eventually mature and feel otherwise) whenever I hear/see Xianxia/Xuanhuan referred to as Wuxia, because they're not the same in many ways - my gripe with dodge attempts to write in 古风 style for Xianxia/Xuanhuan, so it sounds akin to junior high school writing (literacy wise), unlike the majority of Wuxia.

Carry on.

 

One does not apply logic to enjoy fantasy novel.

 

They want the right now fighting force rather than later.
They think he used up all his juice doing those feats rather than the other "genius" who can perform more feats because they have that cultivation.
Also most of the other "geniuses" are from wealthy powerful family.
Also everyone in most cultivation world are against the mc, NO MATTER WHAT, because it gives the author more content when battling them;
ie.
-Chapter about mc training for them
-chapter about mc conflict with them
-chapter about mc and "genius" clashing generate buzz amongst crowds
-chapter about lackeys giving trouble to mc because he/she picks a fight with so called "genius"
-chapter about mc beating lackeys
-chapter about mc beating lackeys leak to everyone and creates a new buzz about conflict with genius.
-chapter about genius gives arrogant statement to mc
-chapter about mc fighting new lackeys
-Chapter about mc finally in a face off with genius
-chaper about them fighting ×3 chapters(at minimum)
-chapter mc finally beating genius
- another chapter about genius defeat news buzz
-repeat with different """""""genius""""""

This is the standard for semi major villains in an area/town/realm/city/kingdom and it repeats when he moves to a new etc...

 

the numbers don't really mean anything most of the time. it's just a way to pad word count, by giving the peanut gallery something slightly concrete to spout off about. the MC's are usually so powerful they can jump ranks/realms using abilities that, while strong, really shouldn't be at the "uncontested" level they appear to be, most of the time. so many of their cheat powers have origins based around their original owner (while supposedly being something of a genius of their time) being killed by people at or around their rank, while the MC's using that same power to utterly slaughter people that should be more akin to a god to him. the only times the MCs are able to "realistically" get sent packing is when they meet another super genius whose powers also don't add up or some super old guy that's just too strong to fight. of course, that only lasts a few days in most cases, as they're driven into the arms another powerup, and the powercreep continues.

same things show up VR games when it comes to stats, rarity, or difficulty. the MC's literally picking up gear that's unique, one of a kind, borderline hacks levels of powerups using knowledge nobody has or will have for months, if not years, in a game where even the lowest and most basic green/"magic" level of gear is considered a rarity at the time, and then they're just barely more powerful or capable than a person that may have years less experience, barely decent equipment that's still worse than the MC by a fair amount, and enough near cheat level trump cards of their own to more than put up a fight.

it's one of the reason i kind of prefer JP sword and magic based systems, so long as they don't get super hung up on grinding out skill levels (or talking about how great their food is, but that's another issue altogether). because there's so little focus on raw numbers within actual fights, the battles put a bit more emphasis on the characters' interactions, rather than the mathnerd's fantastical circlejerk of narration one would get from the peanut gallery. things have relatively well defined grades that are more or less adhered to. a fireball beats a fire arrow and mithril cuts iron. there's no "heart of the dao" nonsense that magically makes things superpowered because, against all odds, the MC finally came to realize that fire is hot and people die when you kill them. he puts an enchantment on a sword to make it really sharp and, lo' and behold, he has a sharper than normal sword. need a stronger sword? use a better metal. it's just that simple.

 

What I knew is the others genius always demanded to be slap in the face.
or
The MC always doing face slaping to another.

 

If something like logic were to exist for MCs, then there wouldn't be any silkpants.

This misunderstanding concept will live on for a long time.

 

IIRC, the sect keeps the MC's achievements under wraps so that he won't get targeted due to his weaknesses. And that's something that the MC wants too given his metagaming habits.

Honestly, I think this is the wrong novel to talk about because it's a comedic parody written with the intention of subverting tropes such as this. You seem to be missing the parody elements and reading it like the usual Xianxia novel.

 

Their intelligence gathering that in go past a country is superb and yet they don't know the main character heaven defying act.

 

but well. . . .

if you become a mayor of your town due to doing hardworking and stuffs here and there.
doesn't mean that you will be glorified in the country that is on the other side of the sea. . .

and I'm here for nuffies. . .

 

i have learned to go into reading CN with "op" mc that even if he wins its do to luck. we are to introled in the mc life and blinded by those feats to see he's not really that strong

 

SO he changed the government system of a country from one where it was ruled by a select group of elite that were connected by faith to a system where it is ruled by a select group of elite that are connected by blood instead

That's quite a change there

 

If the MC is intelligent and good at tactic, surely, he wants to be understimated to take advantages of the rivals carelessness. And why the MC is still understimated is that the story is all about cultivations, where everybody cultivated and compete in cultivation, not tactic. People admire others for how fast one cultivate, not how fast one can do math. Also, in front of true power, tactics and schemes worth nothing.

 

I said Wuxia because it's the origin term. Xianxia is a derivative born from the Wuxia genre, therefore the Wuxia is the parent or more general term as a whole.

 

It was just a point a reference used to solidify my argument. It's not a parody neither because the work is original and intended to promote a vivid and valuable story, those elements are just ingredients to enhance the taste of the novel. Therefore it is a proper xianxia novel.

 

That's what I'm saying. That feat alone, honestly who can really hang with a person like that.

 

Well this can be argued by saying;
1) Maybe his feats wasn't known by other because the thing he did was in another continent.
2) So the author may show that the MC is underestimated so that he will have more chance at winning and reasoning like "because we underestimated him" and such.
3) The author is too lazy to think it through.
4) The power level is too far from each other so they won't care. For instance if you have the absolute strength to kill all the mortals in said country A. And some said guy A have destroyed country A while using their plots and trickery. You wont care because you can just kill that country with the flip of your hand.
5) well I cant think of any more or I'm just making points to defend the writer. (I have a habit to fix plots that is too glaring or it might ruin my reading experience.)

 

The only novels where I love other geniuses are Mao Ni's (Nightfall and Way of Choices).In some regards some of them are better than the mc. They are not just hyped step-stones or grind-stones , they are they own unique persona.

Fang Xiang Also makes good character , but they feel less dynamic.

 

I was being sarcastic with my comment, In other words there was no change as the power was still controlled by a small group of elite . The only difference was that the first one was ruled by a caste of priests while the second was ruled by a caste of knights

 

Xianxia is just ...so difficult to do right, can so easily spiral out of control. It's almost bound to go wrong somewhere. The concepts of a hierarchy of worlds, immortality, fantastic beasts, ... Bigger bigger bigger ...

It being a parent genre historically doesn't make it an umbrella term today. Today, wuxia, xianxia and xuanhuan are defined differently, rightfully so. The differences are quite large. It's like saying, but hey it's all chinese fantasy right? Just look it up; I'd bet every definition you find makes the separation between the genres.

By the way, if we're talking about real wuxia, the geniuses are often more tolerable, and the powerlevels of the world don't switch every few hundred chapters. This, amongst other things, is why some people take offense at using the wuxia term for xianxia.