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Cultivation Nerd #2
Cultivation Nerd 2: A Xianxia Progression Fantasy
The world of cultivation is brutal, unforgiving, and often rigged in favor of the talented. But sometimes, sheer intelligence is the deadliest weapon of all.
Being a cultivation nerd with mediocre talent in a sect full of geniuses is tough. But when the world descends into chaos, Liu Feng, a cautious bookworm, finds that reading books might just be the best defense.
Winter has arrived, bringing inevitable disaster to the Blazing Sun Sect. Monstrous beasts hungry for human flesh storm the territories. Liu Feng, with merely average talent (53 Spiritual Root branches), finds himself thrust into a bloody war, forcing him to ally with the maniacal and ruthlessly effective genius, Song Song.
Driven by survival instinct alone, Liu Feng must navigate the politics of the inner sect and ascend rapidly just to stay alive.
Book 2 on Liu Feng's quest to surpass all limits and defy the heavens, shattering the arrogance of all young masters on his way. It's perfect for fans of Unintended Cultivator, Cradle, and The First Law of Cultivation!
Being a cultivation nerd with mediocre talent in a sect full of geniuses is tough. But when the world descends into chaos, Liu Feng, a cautious bookworm, finds that reading books might just be the best defense.
Winter has arrived, bringing inevitable disaster to the Blazing Sun Sect. Monstrous beasts hungry for human flesh storm the territories. Liu Feng, with merely average talent (53 Spiritual Root branches), finds himself thrust into a bloody war, forcing him to ally with the maniacal and ruthlessly effective genius, Song Song.
Driven by survival instinct alone, Liu Feng must navigate the politics of the inner sect and ascend rapidly just to stay alive.
Book 2 on Liu Feng's quest to surpass all limits and defy the heavens, shattering the arrogance of all young masters on his way. It's perfect for fans of Unintended Cultivator, Cradle, and The First Law of Cultivation!
- GenresFantasy
596 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 17, 2025
275 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 29, 2025
So in the first book most of the horrible stuff takes place behind the scenes. In this book it is a lot more explicit and honestly, I didn't enjoy that. I thought the tone changed a lot and it wasn't what I was expecting from the series. It's fine but it's not for me any more.
January 13, 2026
Needs an continuity editor. BADLY.
If the author doesn’t care about contradicting themselves, or their characters why should we?
Character traits, subplots, conversations, characters knowledge. All of it is forgotten for the next quippy dopamine cool thing. The stories own frame work is a mess and forgotten about. The kids teacher doesn’t remember he write a book. Or conversations about the third floor owl creature. Even the main characters constantly contradicts himself paragraph to paragraph. In both his thoughts, morals and actions.
This writing is just all over the place. Book 1 was fun and intriguing, book 2 went off the rails in soo many ways.
If the author doesn’t care about contradicting themselves, or their characters why should we?
Character traits, subplots, conversations, characters knowledge. All of it is forgotten for the next quippy dopamine cool thing. The stories own frame work is a mess and forgotten about. The kids teacher doesn’t remember he write a book. Or conversations about the third floor owl creature. Even the main characters constantly contradicts himself paragraph to paragraph. In both his thoughts, morals and actions.
This writing is just all over the place. Book 1 was fun and intriguing, book 2 went off the rails in soo many ways.
February 7, 2026
Why ruin your own story? Why go back on everything that made it unique and change everything the fans liked about your character? If you wanted to write some generic Xianxia book about unjustified progress, stupid power-ups, and an unrealistic, unexplained ability to always fight stronger opponents, then why not just start it off that way?
I don’t understand why an author would do this. If your first book is well-liked and successful, why would you ruin everything the fans liked about it in the sequel? Having your main character point out clichés and then becoming a cliché does not make a unique story.
You turned something that could have been special into another generic "soon-to-be OP" main character pretending to be an underdog, while being the center of every interaction and managing to fight above his weight class because of "reasons."
Congratulations, you f'd your own story. GG.
I don’t understand why an author would do this. If your first book is well-liked and successful, why would you ruin everything the fans liked about it in the sequel? Having your main character point out clichés and then becoming a cliché does not make a unique story.
You turned something that could have been special into another generic "soon-to-be OP" main character pretending to be an underdog, while being the center of every interaction and managing to fight above his weight class because of "reasons."
Congratulations, you f'd your own story. GG.
December 17, 2025
Great
I’ve read the story on Royal Road, and I bought the book so I could support the author in a small way. Honestly, if you enjoyed the first one, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy the second.
I like this unique take with the main character in the world of cultivation, and the way he tackles his problems. He is a very much an intellectual at his core, but one who knows how to make deadly use of the knowledge he has access to.
Overall, many cultivation stories run for 6000 chapters, 3000 chapters, and so on, and I don’t think this story will have that problem. It definitely has a potential to be long, but I feel like the storytelling itself is pretty efficient, very entertaining, and it makes you want more.
So if someone is actually reading this review, give the second book a chance, because if you enjoyed the first one, this one will be up your alley.
I’ve read the story on Royal Road, and I bought the book so I could support the author in a small way. Honestly, if you enjoyed the first one, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy the second.
I like this unique take with the main character in the world of cultivation, and the way he tackles his problems. He is a very much an intellectual at his core, but one who knows how to make deadly use of the knowledge he has access to.
Overall, many cultivation stories run for 6000 chapters, 3000 chapters, and so on, and I don’t think this story will have that problem. It definitely has a potential to be long, but I feel like the storytelling itself is pretty efficient, very entertaining, and it makes you want more.
So if someone is actually reading this review, give the second book a chance, because if you enjoyed the first one, this one will be up your alley.
December 18, 2025
How is it BETTER than the 1st???
I haven't written a review in a bit, but hoo boy. This is a top tier progression fantasy novel. It uses the classic tropes as plot devices, it has main characters who would be traditionally considered evil, and its such an interesting world and story. Its better than the first and that was already in the 9.3/10 realm for me. Definitely top new series for progression fantasy for me this year, and overall in the top 5 for series this year. I can't wait for the next one!
I haven't written a review in a bit, but hoo boy. This is a top tier progression fantasy novel. It uses the classic tropes as plot devices, it has main characters who would be traditionally considered evil, and its such an interesting world and story. Its better than the first and that was already in the 9.3/10 realm for me. Definitely top new series for progression fantasy for me this year, and overall in the top 5 for series this year. I can't wait for the next one!
January 29, 2026
Lost 2 stars for NOT writing a Recap.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.Lost 2 stars for NOT writing a Recap.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.Lost 2 stars for NOT writing a Recap.
I think every reader needs to start doing this to force authors to write a quick Recap chapter, which readers can skip if they remember, and those who don't won't stop reading the series.
December 21, 2025
MC is slowly integrating into the harsh world of Cultivators; instead of injecting his modern views, he has become a realist who takes actions that necessitate the events he's thrown into.
The drudgery of cultivation is there, and it's good that the author lessened it.
The pacing, action, and world-building are there, which is good!
Overall, a solid 4.5/5!
The drudgery of cultivation is there, and it's good that the author lessened it.
The pacing, action, and world-building are there, which is good!
Overall, a solid 4.5/5!
January 2, 2026
A serious step down. You need an editor to deal with the excessive run-on sentences. It honestly felt like poorly set-up writing. Each fight was just a "I have this and this and this and this." The author constantly needs to tell us why xyz happens. Honestly, if a shelf were on a wall, the author would give us a lengthy explanation as to why.
January 7, 2026
An improvement over book 1. I feel the author is getting a better handle on the conflict between the idealism of the protagonist from Earth and the hard reality of the viciously brutal fantasy world. I enjoyed the humor of two different major characters thinking about each other "I've got to avoid him, he's obviously the protagonist and getting in his way will never turn out well for me."
February 7, 2026
Another solid book in this series. Again, the love for xianxia bleeds through. Was easy to pick this book back up and know what was going on without a recap, as the world feels unique enough and the main characters are different enough. Song Song is a complete lunatic, and our MC is saner but not much better
May 5, 2026
dnf. low quality writing. I suspect there was some over-reliance on AI for assistance with the prose. Lots of contradictory statements indicative of AI mess. Needs a lot and I mean a lot of work. Also, too much plot armor given by the MC recognizing protagonist characters and comedically trying to avoid them.
December 20, 2025
Pretty good, 3.5/5 rounded up to 4
It's getting to be a little too "This is my Azula Fan Fiction" to me, but I'll probably still read book 3 and see if the author can pull out of it.
It's getting to be a little too "This is my Azula Fan Fiction" to me, but I'll probably still read book 3 and see if the author can pull out of it.
December 21, 2025
Exciting
The book flows as you read it in a captivating mixture of action and clan politics with a bit of cultivation. I appreciate how the book does not get so detailed my eyes glaze over. Fun read.
The book flows as you read it in a captivating mixture of action and clan politics with a bit of cultivation. I appreciate how the book does not get so detailed my eyes glaze over. Fun read.
December 30, 2025
Atypical
This series is all about avoiding being caught up in Xianxia tropes. An Isekai with enough brains to realize that the nail that sticks out gets hammered hardest. Enjoy the fun you get out of the tropes without participating in them. Enjoy.
This series is all about avoiding being caught up in Xianxia tropes. An Isekai with enough brains to realize that the nail that sticks out gets hammered hardest. Enjoy the fun you get out of the tropes without participating in them. Enjoy.
December 31, 2025
entertaining read
This book was decent. Definitely some good elements in there. That said, it felt like it was a bit all over the place at times. The Ye A plot is completely uninteresting.
This book was decent. Definitely some good elements in there. That said, it felt like it was a bit all over the place at times. The Ye A plot is completely uninteresting.
December 31, 2025
It's good
It's good. I loved how the tropes of usual xianxia were portrayed here. Conflicts arose, mc has more things to identify, learn and improve along with his increasing friendship with song song. The turtle is an added bonus as well.
It's good. I loved how the tropes of usual xianxia were portrayed here. Conflicts arose, mc has more things to identify, learn and improve along with his increasing friendship with song song. The turtle is an added bonus as well.
December 26, 2025
This series is scratching an itch. There's nothing particularly original about it but it is hitting a note that resonates with my psyche.
January 8, 2026
Fanfreakingtastic!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
February 7, 2026
very fun
If you enjoyed the first book, you’re really gonna enjoy this, ml has accepted that he’s gonna have to stop avoiding trouble to get his curiosity fulfilled
If you enjoyed the first book, you’re really gonna enjoy this, ml has accepted that he’s gonna have to stop avoiding trouble to get his curiosity fulfilled
March 31, 2026
audio speed reading
I enjoy the story, world development, and character growth. I had to slow down the audio, the guy barely paused to end a sentence.
I enjoy the story, world development, and character growth. I had to slow down the audio, the guy barely paused to end a sentence.
April 21, 2026
I really enjoyed it. It does have some mature content and can get a bit darker so definitely for people in their upper teens or older.
April 24, 2026
House arrest!
Liked the author's name and all the deadly little plots and new spells. The monsters are entertainment by surprise and scary.
Liked the author's name and all the deadly little plots and new spells. The monsters are entertainment by surprise and scary.
May 5, 2026
4⭐️ for book
1⭐️ for ending. Seriously WTF. It’s like the author just quit mid thought. I’m so irritated I don’t know if I want to read the next book (if there is one) or just walk away. Grrr
1⭐️ for ending. Seriously WTF. It’s like the author just quit mid thought. I’m so irritated I don’t know if I want to read the next book (if there is one) or just walk away. Grrr
February 19, 2026
Good action and character development! While things grow, and the main characters views are altered due to experience, the goals remain the same! I was impressed!
January 7, 2026
did finish
What happened? The writing quality went down markedly. The attempt at faulkneresque writing was there, but the author did not quite pulled it off successfully.
What happened? The writing quality went down markedly. The attempt at faulkneresque writing was there, but the author did not quite pulled it off successfully.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews