So, for those who don't know what Xianxia is, it's a Chinese genre that... well, I'm sure you all know Wuxia. If Wuxia is Batman, Xianxia is Superman. It takes all the tropes and turns them up to eleven. It's apparently very popular, especially as a target for isekai stories. Unfortunately it appears that about ninety percent of Xianxia protagonists are, well, total jackoffs.
For a take on the subject that's not going to turn your stomach, I suggest Yrsillar's "Forge of Destiny". It started as a quest on SpaceBattles and has moved on from there.
Our Heroine, Ling Qi, is a commoner street rat and petty thief. She also, apparently, has a talent for developing her qi, which gets noticed by a passing Imperial Minister. Said Minister arranges for her to get admitted to one of the many martial-arts-qi-developing-ancient-chinese-kung-fu-wizard Sects that are the primary setting of most Xianxia stories. Arriving there she finds herself in the company of wealthy noble kids who generally have years of experience with this stuff already while she's a raw beginner. And regarded as something of a small-town hick by most of them. It doesn't help that her roommate is regarded by most of the rest as the local incarnation of Kodachi Kuno.
So off she goes to work her butt off "cultivating" her qi, learning to be an ancient-chinese-kung-fu-wizard, and trying her best not to get casually killed off by offending the wrong noble. (She doesn't quite manage the second half of that last...) And, just maybe, eventually, figure out this whole 'romance' thing. If the world doesn't get destroyed first.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21188/...of-destiny
For a take on the subject that's not going to turn your stomach, I suggest Yrsillar's "Forge of Destiny". It started as a quest on SpaceBattles and has moved on from there.
Our Heroine, Ling Qi, is a commoner street rat and petty thief. She also, apparently, has a talent for developing her qi, which gets noticed by a passing Imperial Minister. Said Minister arranges for her to get admitted to one of the many martial-arts-qi-developing-ancient-chinese-kung-fu-wizard Sects that are the primary setting of most Xianxia stories. Arriving there she finds herself in the company of wealthy noble kids who generally have years of experience with this stuff already while she's a raw beginner. And regarded as something of a small-town hick by most of them. It doesn't help that her roommate is regarded by most of the rest as the local incarnation of Kodachi Kuno.
So off she goes to work her butt off "cultivating" her qi, learning to be an ancient-chinese-kung-fu-wizard, and trying her best not to get casually killed off by offending the wrong noble. (She doesn't quite manage the second half of that last...) And, just maybe, eventually, figure out this whole 'romance' thing. If the world doesn't get destroyed first.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21188/...of-destiny