I recommend Cultivation Chat Group as well. It is a comedy, so it will not be as typical as some of the other novels you might have read. PS: Senior White is the best character IMO.
i watched the trailer, cant believe they put in the side story too and the characters (humans) look good and i love the way she say "nai wa"
Hahaha just like you said, a lot of cultivation story are like that, and it could get annoying sometimes. It's a bit different in Cultivation Chat Group though. It's a comedy so the cultivation system might not be as detailed as others. Not to mention it's set in modern world where cultivator has adapted to technologies and modern life even while stays hidden. So it often throws off the usual cultivation cliches. Like you mentioned, in case of cultivation technique or whatnot, mc is not the only special one, other people are doing it too and they get exactly what they trained for. No one is overly special in cultivating including mc. In fact, a lot of the technique that mc recieved are more ordinary than he expected. not as mystical as he imagined Lol.
Hahaha well, it's mostly just the comedy and misunderstanding and stuff, they're really well done. And the cultivation won't start immediately since mc is just ordinary human at first, so don't be surprised. Hope you like it. Oh, there is a drawback though.....it's now on qidian with premium!
Would you like to try Monster Soul Online? I can't say that MC is without luck because his initial phase of becoming stronger is indeed rely on luck (or rather, on plots.) However, that's only the case for the first 1-40 chapters. After that, you'll see that he is getting stronger by effort. Both in body and mind. It really shows in the story. For the record, this is a novel that I translated. The number of chapter is still low and not yet to reach that phase. lol. I still hope that you will find it enjoyable to read though.
Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan Checks most of your conditions ->Mc is decent strong at the start but due to sheer training and control of his body, he becomes hella op ->He steals his opponent's techniques by observing them (pure skill no cheats) ->Weakest Magic (F-Rank) ->Plus nice Character Growth too...
I think that Hero of Darkness (I can‘t link sry) is something that fits a lot of your criteria. MC only really has one Love interest and it is notr even that serious, he has some cheat skils because of the direction the novel is leading (reincarnated after Sui*ide and gets to choose some abilities). The only real fast power up he gets is at the beginning where he has some luck but also used his Brain. The MC is well established and the Author explains why he did certain thing at the end of each Ark. As said before he doesn‘t start form zero, but he is far from being the most powerful (it takes him over 500 chapters to reach a moderate amount of power). He can fight against oponents above his grname ade but that hasen‘t really happend yet directle (he outsmarted some old dudes). The Mc is smart not omnipotent, he needed to learn some lessons and also uses his brain before every encounter (he is still humen after all and still makes mistakes, but he doesn‘t really repeat them). There are some time skips but only because the Author can‘t really write just the training where he uses his skill 5000 times. As far as I am aware he is a first time Author but apart from a few plot mistakes and some bad writing in the begining it is an awesome read.
What about Warlock of the Magus World? There' also the Mortal Immortal ( I think that was the title...)
HSSB is a parody and an excellent suggestion, for what you asked. MC got isekaied to another word and then reincarnate. I will not speak of his second life, but his 3 life is in the role of what should be the antagonist young master of the true MC of his world. That novel will pick most MC stereotypes, like luck of heavens, Reincarnator, regress time life and etc… and throw it to the MC solve. Still, Yan Zaoghe is a bit overpowered so you may want to drop it. The most fitting novel to all your criterias is A Record of a Mortal Journey through Immortality. Han Li, apart of the plot armor in the form of a godly item he found at the begin of the novel, fit all the other requirements you made, and even his plot armor is used with caution to not raise profile.
There are only three novels that I know that are a 100% match for the thread Chinese: 1.Romance of Dragons and Snakes - This is pure, gritty wuxia in which the MC is only OP for the final 10% of the novel, the rest is just training and fighting. The dude literally walks barefoot across China for a year just for comprehension. 2.Martial Arts Master - Also pure(-ish) wuxia, actually reads like a sports novel whith MC preparing for state-level and club level martial arts tournaments and is full of training. The MC is not OP at all, even till the climax of the story. Nothing at all in this one which is even close to a cultivation novel cliche. Western: Stormlight Archive - Gritty western progression fantasy with a HUGE following, highly recommended