This Young Master Is Not Cannon Fodder
D.C. Haenlien & Fuyu Dust
On the surface, Xi Tianyi was the only son of Sword Empress Xi of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the number one expert in the Huang Realm. His birth was noble, his status exalted. But the truth was that Xi Tianyi was actually a reincarnated man from a world known as Earth. On Earth, he was no one special, but with his new life, Xi Tianyi aims to reign invincible: past, present, and future. Among his goals was to travel back to Earth and reunite with his family. However, as Xi Tianyi proceeds further on his Immortal path, he discovers that rather than the protagonist, why does he seem more like the cannon fodder villain? A cultivation progression fantasy that flips the young-master villain trope.
Progression: Explicit, central xianxia cultivation progression verified via Goodreads reviews and tags. System is realm/stage-based immortal cultivation: protagonist Xi Tianyi reincarnates as the son of a Sword Empress in the Huang Realm and advances along the Immortal path through distinct cultivation stages and realms. Reviews confirm 'all he does is cultivate and improve through the stages - there is rarely any conflict' and 'really interesting story with cultivation and world building' and 'blends Chinese tropes with crazy personality types ... zenith of world building' with tags cultivation, progression, isekai, overpowered-mc. Advancement is measured by breakthroughs in cultivation stage/realm, Qi-based power escalation, and immortal sect hierarchy where birth is noble but power must be earned through cultivation, not stat points. The narrative is driven by cultivation progress and the question of whether Tianyi is protagonist or cannon fodder villain, making structured advancement the engine of plot.
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