Im looking for a story that was well thought out, and the author obviously put some thought into it. I would prefer it to not have a harem, but I’d be fine with it if it was given a good reason ie Release that Witch. Some examples are Dungeon Defense, black iron glory, and obviously RtW because I mentioned it earlier.
*Lurks* A distressing amount of these stories involve bad-to morally ambiguous characters (i.e. Not completely bad characters, but still pretty bad)
Because most settings feature unrealistic characters. The settings are strong eats weak, but the goodie two shoes hero still outdoes everybody? Thats not realistic. While characters like Leylin make a lot of sense. I second Monarch of Evernight and add City of Sins to the list. I highly recommend both but the later has a harem (a pretty good one tho, as far harems are concerned).
In terms of expansive lore/world building and kind of logical cultivation system that feel similar to RtW and WMW only these come to mind: World of Cultivators Forty Millenium of Cultivation Most other webnovels I think focus either too much on the narrow interests of protagonist and situations they face and/or are too sloppy in the cultivation systems and world building
I Shall Seal the Heavens - So many foreshadowed details cropping up in that story. And great turns of plot that were seed hundreds of chapters ago. Plus watching watching gentle Meng Hao become a complete badass feels earned. Cause we saw his early growing pains and all the hardships he had to go through to build his ruthless edge. Mother of Learning - Such a well planned original story. The first four chapters setup so many details that payoff throughout the rest of the story. And watching the MC grow and change as he repeats these months of his life is amazing.
Atelier Tanaka Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi ~ Sokushi Mahou to Skill Copy no Choetsu Heal Kami Sumeragi Yuusha no Eiyuutan 《Ryokou Tan》 Skill Taker’s World Domination ~ Building a Slave Harem from Scratch Sekai ga Death Game ni Natta no de Tanoshii desu not really my cup of tea. but hope you enjoy!