Cultivation Is a Game: A Xianxia LitRPG

Cultivation Is a Game, Book 1

By: Kalzara

Narrated by: Jason Vu

A xianxia fan finds himself swept into a system-run world—and he's about to learn there's a rather harsh difference between fantasy and reality....

One minute, Kai was in his element: surrounded by piles of snacks and soda in a darkened room, blazing a trail of mayhem through an extended RPG video game session with his online cohorts. Sure, it wasn't exactly poppin' bottles of Cristal up in the club, but he was more than fine with it.

After taking down a particularly pesky high-ranking boss, however, Kai finds himself suddenly jolted out of his Earthly reality and cast into a realm he's only ever read about. A world of skills and levels, cultivators and spellcasters, in which the life force known as Qi means everything. In short, a world where Kai can kick some serious ass.

But even as he grows in power and heroic ambition, Kai comes to realize the consequences of playing this game could be all too real. And not only for himself and his loyal friends but for the entire world . . .

The first volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than a million views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

Tropes include: rags to riches, from a boy to a man, secret identity, fight to survive, and every man for himself.

©2025 Kalzara (P)2025 Podium Audio

Mid but listenable.

I’ll get the next one, but there’s almost nothing about this book that sets it apart from the rest of the average books in this genre. It’s a good way to pass the time and its faults aren’t obnoxious. Worth the credit if your cue is full of uncertain choices like mine is.

Turtle soup.

The overall story is fair enough. It’s definitely going to be a series that I’ll only pick up on super sales.
This being said, I wish they’d turn the side character into turtle soup. The turtle is one of the most annoying characters I’ve come across.
My other main complaint is the obsessive idolization from the other side character. It leads to some terrible dialogue.

good story, one annoying side character

Kai's clever strategies and the vivid world of qi make for a gripping underdog tale, though early pacing can drag. The story balances crunchy game mechanics with themes of ethics and growth, keeping you hooked through sect rivalries and demonic system twists. while I mostly enjoyed the story, one particular character mad it a painful listen an I skipped through its dialogue

Gamers, Cultivation, and a Lot of Heart

This was a fun read. It blends isekai, system mechanics, and cultivation into one energetic package, and I enjoyed it from the first chapter to the last. The main character is transported to a new world, and as a hardcore gamer, he brings all his gamer instincts with him. I appreciated the references and meta-awareness. Early on, though, I worried he’d treat the world too much like a game and start using people as NPCs. Thankfully, he grows past that and begins to accept the world as real, which made the character arc much more satisfying.

There are plenty of enjoyable side adventures, and the system itself adds personality with its pop-up notifications and progression tracking. It’s especially entertaining that the protagonist interprets everything through the lens of being the “main character” in a story or game—using that logic to predict upcoming events. It’s a clever twist on the genre that kept things feeling fresh.

The narrator, Jason Vu, did a fine job bringing the story to life.

Not bad for the first book

Not bad. Unfortunately, it came across as a young adult book with a very simplistic plot and very corny dialogue. At this point, I’m not sure if I’m going to continue to read this series, but it has a lot of potential.