Mooyoung I mean it wouldn't be competitive without the use of talents/cheats. I mean I hate Vrmmo series that feature that crap. But yeh, they don't have that many cheat-like abilities and they rise up using the power of plot armour.
Just imagine a cultivation world. Ok, you imagined it? What if all the people had the same amount of talent? That would be B.S because you would say they grow up the same. What if I tell you they can use resources, would you call it cheating? I mean there are protagonists in novels that have average talent that grow up to be big, e.g. Mortal's journey through Immortality and ISSTH (I am saying ISSTH because do you really think he would've survived at the beginning without his bloodline without the use of resources?) And both of them use cheats. There would be no interesting thing if there was nothing cheatish about the novel. I mean there is this original novel called Not a cultivator (IDK if he gets OP I only read like 3 chaps) and that novel bored me in three chaps. Unless there is a troll novel that is designed for the protagonist to be weak.