>>96072502

For what it's worth, a lot of the more recent novels are derivative. They're the equivalent of what those awful LitRPG novels are to fantasy novels. For instance, a really old martial arts novel that was adapted into 'Secret Battles of His Majesty' had a monk who tried to learn a martial art that would let him assassinate the king. He manages to, after tremendous suffering.

It turns out that the ultimate martial art gives him a single month to live. He storms the capital, battles his master (who sided with the Emperor) to near-death, and they agree to fight together to kill the tyrant. When they burst into his room, they're both promptly killed by his (formerly unseen) bodyguard, a sexy female martial artist held back for just this eventuality. The series ends with their deaths and his ascension to the throne, whereupon he rules harshly but justly for fifty years.