I've read most of the top rated, but these types of long, drawn out stories have to be my favorite. I'm not into time loops yet but perhaps that will change soon enough. I've attempted to pick up some classics like Savage Divinity, Defiance of the Fall, and He Who Fights With Monsters, but some quick reviews told me that it wasn't a good move. So I'm at this point now where I want to get into more LitRPG and Xianxia, but I just can't find any stories that fit the bill.

Your thread topic cut off a bit there.  What's that last one? 

He Who Fights With Monsters is actually very good, but only works if you can click with the MC's personality. I'd suggest giving it a try before dismissing it. I ignored it for many years because of the reviews, only to find out that I didn't actually mind Jason's personality. He's annoying, but in a way I find endearing rather than infuriating. 

Another old classic I've recently found is Randidly Ghosthound, which was... not great in its original form, but has emerged like a phoenix with its revised and edited version to be something actually pretty fun.

Couldn't get into Defiance of the Fall at all, was bored.

I think those are the only big progressions I've read recently, all KU now though.

luda305 Wrote: Your thread topic cut off a bit there.  What's that last one?

The Last Orellan



The top of the page shows it even if the title truncates it.

Have you read Chrysalis? Guy gets reincarnated as an ant, goes on to found an ant nation. It's pretty good. Short chapters, but there are a ton of them.

I'd also recommend World Apocalypse Online, although as a translated work, it's not on this site - you'll have to google it up. It's not a VRMMO novel, more a back in time/system/cultivation kinda mishmash.

I can also second He Who Fights with Monsters, the MC is great, it's a wild ride and probably my favorite LitRPG series on Royal Road. Do yourself a favor and give it a try--most of the negative reviews run completely contrary to my own opinion.

Other recs you should give a shot:

Infinite Realm is really good storytelling with an epic scope. Cultivation + LitRPG in one system and it works really well.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/27325/infinite-realm-monsters-legends

Path of Ascension is a fantasy cultivation series and it's compelling and inventive. Not at all like most cultivation novels. Very progression fantasy.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40920/the-path-of-ascension

Mark of the Fool is a magic academy book and it's lovely and has very frequent updates.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/41618/mark-of-the-fool-a-progression-fantasy

Forge of Destiny is a cultivation book that tries to be realistic. It's a very solid genre staple if you like cultivation.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21188/forge-of-destiny

Metaworld Chronicles is pretty divisive, like He Who Fights with Monsters, but if you like the main character it's an epic read of an alternate earth with magic that tries to think about all the ways magic would impact society.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/14167/metaworld-chronicles

And if you want a necromancer OP MC time loop story, I'd recommend the book in my signature below (it's mine if you couldn't guess). Book 1 of the series is actually going off Royal Road for Amazon in 1-2 days so it's kinda bad timing but the first book reads quickly, so it wouldn't be hard to finish in a day or so if it piqued your interest.

I'll add a few:

• Arcane Emperor (LitRPG | Isekai): Loved it. It's what got me into LitRPG and Royal Road in the first place. The class system is kinda unique and the MC's past is actually interesting. Since we all know how much people on RR love characters who 'earn' what they get, it might be a good one for you. The MC is trying to walk through a wall (yes, he starts out as a Mage in our world) and accidentally creates a spell that lets him travel across dimensions, but it takes a bunch of chapters until he actually learns how to use it. It's dropped.
• Automage Adventures (LitRPG | Supernatural): Spotted it a few months back. It's kind of interesting if you can get behind the fact that the MC doesn't have much say in what happens to him. He kinda does, but from the other reviews, I assume that it seems like he has no agency. He's also special before the System Apocalypse happens so I guess you're seeing a theme here, but that just boils down to a slightly better health factor. That said, it's also dropped (another trend that I'd rather see less). Technically pending a re-write but more or less dropped.
• Those Who Aspired To Become Gods (LitRPG | Isekai): Adding the link below because it's hard to find. It's about Loki choosing a champion to Isekai, but probably not the one you think of the moment it comes up. It's actually a cool LitRPG that also dropped sigh. Has only like 40 chapters but don't be fooled. Every chapter is massive. 38 chapters and 700k words, which is an average of 18k per chapter. Need I say more?
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/2058/those-who-aspired-to-become-gods-a-darker-fairy

And on top of that, shameless promotion: I'm writing a Xianxia as well that tries to deviate from the norm with an MC that isn't really perfect nor impressive (compared to the more impressive characters). It's basically a guy that's intent on becoming Immortal, no matter what, which is actually a nigh-impossible feat as far as anyone is aware, even the so-called Immortals. You can find the link in the signature. And the MC could be called chill compared to most Xianxia MCs.

Xanalourum Wrote: I'll add a few:

• Arcane Emperor (LitRPG | Isekai): Loved it. It's what got me into LitRPG and Royal Road in the first place. The class system is kinda unique and the MC's past is actually interesting. Since we all know how much people on RR love characters who 'earn' what they get, it might be a good one for you. The MC is trying to walk through a wall (yes, he starts out as a Mage in our world) and accidentally creates a spell that lets him travel across dimensions, but it takes a bunch of chapters until he actually learns how to use it. It's dropped.
• Automage Adventures (LitRPG | Supernatural): Spotted it a few months back. It's kind of interesting if you can get behind the fact that the MC doesn't have much say in what happens to him. He kinda does, but from the other reviews, I assume that it seems like he has no agency. He's also special before the System Apocalypse happens so I guess you're seeing a theme here, but that just boils down to a slightly better health factor. That said, it's also dropped (another trend that I'd rather see less). Technically pending a re-write but more or less dropped.
• Those Who Aspired To Become Gods (LitRPG | Isekai): Adding the link below because it's hard to find. It's about Loki choosing a champion to Isekai, but probably not the one you think of the moment it comes up. It's actually a cool LitRPG that also dropped sigh. Has only like 40 chapters but don't be fooled. Every chapter is massive. 38 chapters and 700k words, which is an average of 18k per chapter. Need I say more?
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/2058/those-who-aspired-to-become-gods-a-darker-fairy

And on top of that, shameless promotion: I'm writing a Xianxia as well that tries to deviate from the norm with an MC that isn't really perfect nor impressive (compared to the more impressive characters). It's basically a guy that's intent on becoming Immortal, no matter what, which is actually a nigh-impossible feat as far as anyone is aware, even the so-called Immortals. You can find the link in the signature. And the MC could be called chill compared to most Xianxia MCs.

Wow, haven't thought of or heard about "Those Who Aspired to Become Gods" for a long time. It was one of the first stories that I read when I started reading here in 2016 (That makes me feel old now). I literally can remember nothing about the storyline though, so I might go back and reread it now. (:  

Along the lines of old RR classics that have now dropped from the front pages for the most part (I just looked through my history some):

• Books by the author: Scottf14 https://www.royalroad.com/profile/4958/fictions. I think they are all dropped, but he has a few good, big word count stories, and you can find more of him on amazon nowadays: https://www.amazon.com/Scottie-Futch/e/B00NCSEN28%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share.
• Luck Locker: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/13267/luck-lockyer. I honestly couldn't explain this one well, but I remember enjoying it and it was well written isekai if I remember right.
• The Emerilia Series: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/8262/emerilia. This has migrated to Amazon, but it is still one of my favorites that has originated from RR.
• If you somehow managed to be on this site and never see or be recommended yet; Books by Andur: https://www.royalroad.com/profile/3091/fictions. Not sure if these are what you are looking for with progression fantasy, since most of his MCs are strong at the beginning and just keep getting stronger (I would label it more power fantasy than progression, but there is progression).
• 100 Luck and the Dragon Tamer Skill!:  The style of this one isn't everyone's favorite, but it is a story I enjoyed a lot and it is mostly progression fantasy.

Mark of the fool is another great progression fantasy. It's not gamelit or Lit-RPG, but it uses it's magic system well and the main character is pretty intelligent and driven.

Hi, a non-Lit-RPG but progression Fantasy novel:  Children of Nemeah (epic progression fantasy) | Royal Road

MC develops a shapeshifting ability but it's limited by his knowledge of the human body (which is middle-aged knowledge in this case) so he has to carefully progress in mastering his power. 

Thanks guys for all the recs! I'm having trouble getting to them all because there's just so darn many and I'm also glad that no one has commented on my typo yet. LOL