Recommendations Novel with deep story and good world building

After reading Lord of Mysteries, it is very hard to go back to other novels, especially chinese novels with 0 world building. I want a novel with interesting story and good world building. I am tired of novels with no description of the world or surroundings, and no lore; where the MC mindlessly kills foes and cultivates.

So generally:

1) A novel with good world building & story
2) Interesting characters
3) More than 400 chapters or 1k pages (whichever is greater).

Please do not recommend any cliche cultivation novels where the MC travels to the past and seeks revenge or smth. I swear, every chinese cultivation novel I picked up in the last two months has the exact same plot...

 

Reverend Insanity (almost as good as lotm need to read until chap 650+ though, if you quit in the middle you will not understand its greatness)
My House of Horrors
Trafford's trading club
Release that Witch
48 Hours a Day

 

I actually quite liked Legendary Mechanic for the world-building and plot. The main character is a little one-dimensionally focused on power though, but it was a surprisingly immersive plot and world.

 

Yeah, it is actually great, I only managed to get half way through, I may pick it up again in a few months tho!

 

Brilliant suggestions, I will start from 48 Hours a Day!

 

Forge of Destiny/Threads of Destiny
Cradle Series
Worm by Wildbow

 

Kingdom's Bloodline

 

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/14167/metaworld-chronicles - second chance, MC wakes up in an alternate history, magic modern world. Excellent world building as the author contrasts the methods, magic-tech, history, and locations of this magic modern Earth with what the MC remembers of the old tech-based, mundane Earth. Major story arcs are set in Sidney, Shanghai, and London, along with excursions to other locales. Shanghai has the university and tournament arcs where the MC gets her power ups. Also business empire building starts in Shanghai and the MC going big in London.

 

Kingdom's Bloodline +1
The Wandering Inn

 

+1 My House of Horrors. it's a gem.

 

If you like My House of Horrors, please do try out the new book by the same author
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/my-iyashikei-game/

 

LADY LIN’S FIRST-EVER JOURNEY TO IMMORTALITY
https://webnovelonline.com/novel/end6325995941558022123
~ Fmc is cultivator in modern time
~ fmc is good woman/girl (she is 28 eight years old but unmarried)
~ world building is very good :
- how cultivator live in modern time?
- why high level cultivator vanished in year 1000 ?, 1000 years ago
- why earth is described as an abandoned planet?
- unfinished babel tower and ancient China civil war at the same time? is there history manipulators? Why he/she/they try to do that?
- describe legend like tower Babylon, dragon palace at dongting lake, Bermuda triangle and manymore
- the setting is in real world, and tell us real deal like Burma/Myanmar stone gambling, Buddhism monk temple, rong county (city fmc live) and manymore
- characters?
Taoist Cultivators, Buddhism cultivators, demonic cultivator, vampires, ancient monsters, humanization plant nonster, special department for cultivators in china, some cultivator family hold power in national level.
Read this novel like read harry potter. Mysterious person become friend, friend betrayal, enemies and friends hold alliance against national threats, world level mysteries, political power and economic power of cultivators

 

I could recommend Reverend Insanity but I doubt you'd like it though it has the greatest world-building and an actual amazing lore and curiosity behind it.

 

Actually tried reading it (I think I stopped after around 1k pages), but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as most people seem to. I don't know tho, maybe it's just not my type of novel.

 

Fair.

 

Nightfall, path towards heaven and all of mao jies other novels. I personally not a fan of Lord of Mysteries and Reverend Insanity

 

The only xuanhuan novel i can recommend in good faith is “a record of a mortal journey to immortality”. It has the same basics of chinese cultivation novels, but MC is brilliant.

Neither a goody two shoes or arrogant. No instant power up, and he’s very aware of how weak he is. First 1/3 of the novel he keeps a really low profile, to the point of be almost paranoid, but with time he give himself more freedom.

Some early fighter could even be fought but caution is always first in his vocabulary.

The main point if the novel is coherence, MC has his foots on ground, and no absurd distortion of reality happens (as ATG example where a genocide without motive is praised as hero).

On level up systems, 2 novels have my love: Overlord and chrysalis.

Overlord start in the generic gamer bound inside his game, with an extra that the game world apparently overlap with another world.

Chrysalis is very interesting, MC reicarnate as a monster, a Giant Ant, and the story develop surprisingly well, of of my top ranked novels this one.

if a more indepth reading is preferable, then i suggest saxon chronicles of Bernard Crowell (it’s a serie of books, have problably 12 now, but i stopped on 10), but it’s historical and not fantasy.

 

Yes A record of Mortal's journey to immortality, Demon's dairy, Divine Throne of Primordial Blood, death scripture have just enough world building and different feel compared to the rest of cultivation novel. Er Gen's and IEt novel are above average digestible cultivation novels.

Recently read Legend of Swordsman and King of Gods, i seriously doubt Author's writing skill, the novels read like monologue without any worldbuilding. These novels make me appreciate what a true gem is, so sometimes i dive into cultivation junkyard

 

Surprisingly, amidst the comedy & strange "romantic but slightly inadequate" shenanigans, Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End has a lot of good world-building, particularly when it comes to the mysteries that weren't included in the video game the protagonist played with. Things like ancient gods, past civilizations, history of empires, secret organizations operating in the shadows, his own ancestors who awakened a strange power, etc.

The more he uncovers on the ancient past, the more interesting it gets.

 

Try Joy of Life and Life, Once Again(Slice of Life)