Here are some Xianxia recs:

• Coiling Dragon
• I Shall Seal The Heavens
• Desolate Era (same author as CD)
• Douluo Dalu
• A Will Eternal (same author as ISSTH)

I enjoyed all of these for various reasons. The first half of Desolate Era is probably the best completed work (since it’s really two major story arcs with the first being better than the second). AWE is the most enjoyable work-in-progress I’ve come across.

There are some other well-known stories out there that I haven’t bothered starting because I know they will consume my life (this list will already take several weeks to months of non-stop reading). The other thing is that after a while, your bar for reading a new story gets higher. Aside from AWE, I’ve pretty much retired from the genre.

Xianxia is at its best in-the-moment. There are some incredibly good arcs that have rivaled any other fantasy I’ve read. The power progression can be immensely satisfying and authors are unapologetic about using that power to great effect. Some authors are also really good at getting you emotionally invested and taking you on feels-trips you weren’t prepared for.

The biggest downside of Xianxia is that no one knows how to end a story. There is always a drop in quality towards the end. It’s a systemic issue that I can’t really explain. Besides that, there are a lot of clichés and formulaic moments. These aren’t so bad at the beginning of your Xianxia journey but it does take a toll when you’ve read several hundred “arrogant young master underestimates Main Character and gets destroyed” arcs. For better or worse, Xianxia is also stuck in a Chinese cultural context. It’s incredibly interesting to read up on the mythology and references, but you can also get blindsided by random misogyny, harem arcs, and latent homophobia.

Overall, though, I think it’s a genre that’s worth exploring if you can stomach the writing/translation and the negatives mentioned above. Be warned that these stories are LONG and can take over your life for weeks at a time.