Street Cultivation 2 is fascinating to me because it takes normal cultivation and turns it on it’s head.

Let me explain. So usually in Cultivation novels the goal is inner improvement, followed intrinsically by outer improvement. You channel your chi, you rank up, you face challenges to improve yourself. That’s the basic plot. There’s complications and people try and stop the characters from achieving this, in various ways and for numerous reasons, but the core point is that by improving yourself you can face any challenge that life throws at you.

Street Cultivation 2 takes a different approach. While Rick, the main character, does work on and improve himself it’s mostly in pursuit of a specific goal. Whereas in the first book there was the Underground Tournament and the fight with Mike to motivate him, now there’s the much more murky idea of how to improve himself and get a better job and place in society. As this is Cultivation by way of Capitalism the power you gain can be temporary. Invest it badly or in the wrong way and it could be useless or all slip away.

The characters continue to be their interesting and engaging selves. There’s some big developments and revelations. I particularly like how Rick reacts to them. He doesn’t back down from a challenge but when the world goes ‘Here’s a Quest’ he doesn’t let his main character status take over. He thinks about whether it’s a good thing for him to do and what effect it’ll have on him.

Honestly the most fitting thing I can say about this book is that it’s a very real and grounded novel. It picks up nicely from where the last one left off, the writing is humorous and well-paced and I had a lovely time reading it.