Does anyone have any good cultivation novels where the MC doesn't start with a Cheat? In most cultivation novels, the MC's live turns around when they get a system, or a unique heavenly treasure, or the soul of a powerful cultivator to guide them. I'm looking for a novel where the MC doesn't have a cheat for the beginning portion of the novel, they can gain it later, but I'd like to just see a novel where the MC relies fully on himself at the beginning. The only novel I can think of that's like this is Desolate Era, he does start with the Nuwa Painting but that's only a soul cultivation technique that mainly is only responsible for a small part of his battle prowess and allowing him to dual wield easily.
Don't look down on the news painting plus he was reborn with it with a so called strong will because he laid in a bed most of his life.
How about Cultivation Chat Group the mc doesn't have any cheat in the beginning if i remember it correctly
Nightfall. Ning que practically crawl his way through survival. Even as a Reincarnator, he practically wasn't given anything. Not even a body decent enough to cultivate or a super atttactive face. So it took tens of chapters before he even start cultivating cause you know, no talent or outside guidance. Solve eveeything one step at a time until he got a super huge backer, then everything change like when the fire nation attack.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, i dont remember him having a cheat, he did have that green bottle but last i remember it didnt really olay that much of a major role but hen again i also didnt reach thst far... well he also isnt even a Reincarnator or transmigrator so no advantage there! Renegade Immortal, wang lin had the heaven defying bead but most of he time it was really just him grinding away, st most it sped up time for him but after that it didnt appear as often
A Will Eternal : His fear of death is his motivation, which brings him further than anyone else. I wouldn´t call this a cheat.
Most xianxia cultivator are cheater in some ways. Their first turning point to became cultivator was by founding heavenly items or techniques that allow them to cultivate to such degree that they can go toe to toe with talented people. -Wang Lin from Xian Ni, he is a mortal who's really suck in cultivate Qi Gathering, it's almost impossible for him to cultivate without help from Heavenly Bead spring water. Glad in mid story Heavenly Bead didn't used frequently anymore, there's another another criteria to breakthough to the next level and that's Comprehension, it was in this field that Wang Lin talent shine, he was clever person who honed his intelect through thousand years live, battle, and death experiences, especially his loved ones. -Su Ming from Beseech The Devil (or Pursuith of the Truth if you want), he's a youngster who can't cultivate because he can't receive mnemonic chant from statue of his Barbarian tribe, that because he's not born from that tribe and he's not a Barbarian either. It was Black Stone that allow him to deceived the statue to gain mnemonic chant so he can cultivate and deceived many others, that Black Stone also open gate to a room that have alchemy receipes of heavenly pills that allow him to attain high level in pill concoction skill. -Meng Hao from ISSTH, he's what you call a destiny child, he's very blessed since childhood, it's just that he didn't remember or forgotten his past. His cheat item is a multiplier mirror that allow him to multiplier almost everything from pills,materials, even spiritual artifacts. -Han Li from A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, he's a boy who does have a bit talent in immortal cultivation (a person who have spirit root is rare to be found in mortal communites) but it was a Small Bottle that help him raise countless spiritual plants and allow him practice pill concoction skill. Han Li is an addict pill-popper who eat medicines like candies because without those pills his cultivation wouldl be slow and almost impossible to upgrade. -Zhang Xiaofan from Zhu Xian, he's not very bright kid almost innocence (and pretty dense), he was trained in both top prestige arts, because that dual cultivation arts and his mediocre talent that his cultivation is slow, it was when he found Tian Shu hevanly tome that his cultivation become synergy and skyrocketed. -Bai Xiaochun from A Will Eternal, he have Mysterious Turtle Wok that have ability to enchant item, artifact and pill into high grade. - and many more examples, almost xianxia even wuxia also have cheat item, just take a look at Condor Heroes Trilogy. I didn't say that those cheat items are bad, it's just without those items MC will not became what they are today. With those items they side stepped the so called talent and beat countless genius. From billion upon billion souls in their world only them can become Transcendence level existence, they are very blessed by author with luck and thick plot armor.
True!! Ning Que maybe is a transmigrator from modern world, but it's never helped him in his cultivation. heck! even the fact that he is from another world barely mentioned, coz it's almost useless. Okay, maybe he also has unique treasure like his black umbrella, but it just helps him in fights, and even with it he still got beaten up.
Max Level Newbie maybe? He's got a system, but so do a bunch of other people. It's a bit of a mix between western fantasy and xianxia though. World of Cultivation. He does eventually get a pocket grandpa, but it takes quite some time. +1 for Er Gen's stories. The chat group itself is a cheat really. It's almost like having multiple pocket grandpas. He also gets showered in cheats later, though he pays for each of them, one way or another
Well I agree that the chat group itself can be considered as a little cheat. Though if you really want to say what Song Shuhang greatest cheat in story then I must say it's his connection with many big shots in the series which he got with pain and blood.