Let's say there is five characters in a Xianxia (cultivation) novel. All five of them gain access to the same typical 'Main Character Treasure' that many novels introduce in such novels. Four of these characters are the kind of characters that are born extraordinary, anywhere in the world. True geniuses that display abnormal talent as soon as they start cultivating. The fifth character is seemingly an ordinary character with no visible talent, and he doesn't see himself as anything other than ordinary. Basically the typical main character in most xianxia, they don't really display any special talent, often they're even weaker than average until their treasure completely reforms them. In what ways could you think of to construct the fifth character, so despite all five of them having access to the same treasure, the fifth character somehow manages to surpass the other four geniuses? The treasure would be something like an inheritance that would give you access to high-level techniques, information and help your with your cultivation and comprehension.
5th character works harder, builds his foundation techniques so it’s more powerful than the geniuses foundation techniques, he could have a talent to sense a little bit of laws or whatnot. Or you could make him a hard working alchemist who’ll pop drugs to cultivate.
Ideally, even the four geniuses should be just as hardworking. Let's add that these 5 characters are all competing against eachother to become the strongest. The treasure will aid with cultivation so that it sort of takes the place of an alchemist. The talent the four of them have would typically help them pick up things faster like learning techniques or mastering them. I'm more looking for a quality, personality or a unique talent that is more important than cultivation talent and can translate into improved combat power when it's developed enough. Sort of how in Emperor's Domination the Dao Heart is the most important even though it's not necessarily a talent, though it's not applicable here because as competitors, I'd want all five characters to have a strong 'Dao Heart'. That is indeed one way, but in this scenario it would only help at the start but not by the end. And ideally I'd want to keep family strength out of it and focus more on the characters themselves.
How about inserting some kind of "mixed blood" in the fifth character? The fifth character is diligent and works hard but during his training or something , it accidentally awaken the " mixed blood " in them, giving them a power. It grows stronger according to the cultivation level of the person. It says that the "awakening" will help it having access to more qualities as long it keeps working hard maintaining the level.
He builds his own corporation. uses his subordinates. others are brawns and brains, but fifth brains wise uses in a very untraditional way irrespective of era to build his own corporation
Just do what all the other cultivation authors do: Have him luckily meet a powerful teacher, also luckily find all sorts of treasures and cultivation resources without trying, and don't forget to have him pick up beauties so he can get into conflicts with various young masters and get their resources after beating them too.
So let's get few things straight. 1. 5 cultivators get same treasure. 2. All except one have innate talent and are hardworking. 3. Last one who is ordinary, is main character. 4. You need a new idea not overused idea to make sure he stays ahead in game. 5. You also want to make MC depend only on himself rather than family. Few thoughts I have are 1. Make the main lead lazy. Lazy people are Most efficient in finding ways to do something faster. They are more innovative and creative. 2. You can have the treasure be filled with special conditions as such the treasure are specifically made for ordinary cultivators but later was more used by excellent cultivators. 3. Hard work over smart work. While others are blindly hard working make MC understand the mechanism deeply and thus make him learn it faster and easier.
Talent alone doesn't guarantee success in real life, and the same is true in a novel. I suspect that the OP is going about this situation backwards because the how of the protagonist overcoming his opposition is unimportant compared to the what story the writer is trying to tell? Is this supposed to be a story the protagonist succeeding through hard work? Through cleverness? Though dogheaded stubbornness? Through social connections? Through luck? Through charisma? If it's one of these, then just tell that story. It's a lot easier to figure out the general story concept and then using your imagination to find a way to make that work rather than to figure out the mechanics first and then devise the story concept afterwards. It's possible to make just about anything work; even really dumb ideas - the protagonist gets super strong because he has a lot of body hair! Go the other way around and the writer can end up with a story he doesn't even want to tell.
The 5th has a stronger bond to the artifact. It's not "I use it", but "I cooperate with it, we are one in battle." If the others are geniuses, then there is a certain degree of deepness that they could put into understanding their treasures, they only want to use it to become more powerful. Given that they do everything 99%, just to pass with flying colors, but the remaining 1% is not known to them as they think that they have achieved the top. The treasures were just found, so their stories should only be found in legends or something (those can't be trusted very much) If he is avarage then his humility might help him resonate more with the treausre on a deeper level. His luck will help him find it, or his instict (if you choose instict you may be able to get in some reincarnating troupe) Additional edit: Because the MC's treasure can be humble itself. Always being used by the people for generations, but none could understand it, it was just a tool for use in their eyes. As times went by it simply gave up on communicating, its shine faded a little, so becasue of this it suffered a great crack with its previous owner. Because the MC knows what it's like to be seen as a tool (people who were seen as tool were either loyal to the bone to the strong or too weak to even count as humans and these people were mostly cowards or weaklings), so he resonates with the treasure. Becoming a temporary or permanent user is crucial here, in my opinion. (You could use a scene here where they killed the MC for the treasure on some crowded occasion, but even with his death it wouldn't drop.) Spoiler: Possible routes He gets outcasted, becasue these treasures were usually for the masses, now there are only 4 left that can be given for the next users, but the one who got the treasure permanently is a nobody. The MC would resurrect after some day on a carriage carrying corpses, then the MC will scare the driver to near death. MC immediately resurrects and scares everyone In the end, the Mc is proclaimed a wastrel, but he will try to know more about the treasure. From going to temples, where the treasures often appeared, to finding ruins that lead to the history of the treasures. P.S.: If you could give more pecifications about the treasure it would be helpful. (Weapon? Artifact? What kind?)
It is illogical for an average person to outperform a talented person given they have the access to the same amount of resources and put in the same amount of effort. By definition, someone with talent will do better than someone without talent. If you are willing to blur the lines on what is "average", then the fifth character can be somewhat cunning. He can approach the other characters and propose an alliance. The others are more likely to work together with him because he is the weakest party and less likely to betray (or more easy to destroy afterwards). Otherwise, perhaps his very nature of being average helps him blend into the background. While everyone else is showing off their talents and making themselves targets, he manages to stay under the radar and away from conflict. If the story is not about the 5 destroying each other but about cooperation, then maybe have the fifth character be more approachable. The geniuses can like him because of his "unique" (non-genius) viewpoint. Regular people are more willing to befriend him because he is just a regular guy as well.
It may hurt the characterization of the fifth character, but you could have the 5th character crutch on the super special item the most. Like, it works the same for everyone, but they first 4 tend to use it in simplistic 1-note ways without truly delving into the mechanics on how it works. The 5th character knows he's shittier than the others, and this is the 1 thing that makes him equal, so he becomes a specialist in using the item and can use it in ways the others can't match. The other 4 have their attention split on the thing that makes them "unique" that's not the item, so they understand why something is amazing, but they can't do more with it because their know-how is lacking and they rely on someone to teach them how to use it or personalize it that doesn't mesh well with the item but the item is so good that it boosts them too. The MC relies on the pure strength of the item and can bring out the full specs of it. Basically the item for the other 4 boost them, but the MC boosts the item. This relies on the item to be super busted to the point where only the experience of the 5th MC using it lets him surpass the other 4. You could easily explain it away about how the most skilled swordsmaster cannot beat a gunman with a machine gun in an open field.