Cultivation is not measured by numbers alone — it is the gradual shedding of mortal weakness, the refinement of body and spirit, and the pursuit of harmony with heaven and earth. Each stage marks a profound transformation, both visible to others and felt within. While adventurers may think in terms of levels, cultivators see milestones of being.
Below are the twenty stages of cultivation, each corresponding to a level in your game. They serve as both narrative milestones and roleplay cues — how a character should feel, act, and be described as they ascend.
At this stage, the cultivator tempers the flesh. Qi cannot yet be fully commanded; instead, it seeps into muscle, bone, and blood, transforming the body into a vessel capable of holding greater power.
Level 1: Skin Tempering
The skin hardens; blows that once bruised now glance off. The cultivator’s aura begins to stir faintly, though it is weak and uneven. Outsiders may remark on their resilience or “unyielding look.”
Level 2: Muscle Training
Qi fuses with sinew. Movements grow sharper, swifter, more deliberate. The cultivator’s frame carries latent force, a coiled strength visible in every gesture.
Level 3: Bone Strengthening
Bones resonate faintly with Qi. Their strikes thud with unnatural weight, and their endurance exceeds ordinary men. The body may ache as impurities are pushed out — black blood, sweat that smells of iron.
Level 4: Blood Refinement
Qi merges with the bloodstream. Eyes sharpen, senses heighten; hunger and fatigue weigh less heavily. When wounded, their blood glimmers faintly under moonlight — a sign that vitality itself has been touched by Qi.
Now the cultivator awakens true Qi, circulating it through meridians for the first time. The body no longer trains alone — it becomes a vessel of energy.
Level 5: Qi Awakening
Meridians open like trickling streams. The cultivator feels energy surging with each breath, often accompanied by dizziness or fever. For the first time, strikes leave ripples in the air.
Level 6: Qi Circulation
Energy flows smoothly through the body’s network. Movements carry unnatural force; a palm strike may crack stone. The cultivator glows faintly in meditation, as if their breath carries light.
Level 7: Qi Expansion
The dantian deepens. Each breath draws in more of the world’s energy. Their presence grows oppressive, like standing near a storm. Small animals may avoid them instinctively.
Level 8: Elemental Affinity
At this stage, Qi aligns with heaven and earth. Some feel warmth and flames lick their veins, others flow cool like rivers, some immovable as stone. Elemental resonance reveals itself — sparks in the air, frost at the fingertips, a whisper of wind around their steps.
The cultivator stabilizes their Qi, laying the foundation for greater heights. Their essence now radiates unmistakably — no longer mistaken for common men.
Level 9: Dao Awakening
The cultivator discovers their Dao Heart — their philosophy, their truth. The sword becomes not just a weapon but an extension of will; fists become justice, shadows become home. From here, every technique will reflect this inner truth.
Level 10: Foundation Pillar
Qi flows steady and vast, like a river that cannot be blocked. The cultivator’s aura can be felt clearly — a pressure that unsettles mortals. Even without lifting a weapon, they command respect, for their presence alone declares: this one is on the path.
Here, Qi condenses into its purest form — the Golden Core. To reach this stage is to step beyond mortality, touching the border of legends.
Level 11: Golden Core
Qi crystallizes into a radiant core within the dantian. The cultivator’s body becomes a fortress; every breath resonates with power. To foes, their strikes seem inevitable, carrying an authority that cannot be denied.
Level 12: Core Resonance
The core harmonizes with heaven and earth. Their presence disturbs the natural world: storms gather during meditation, rivers ripple when they walk by, animals bow instinctively. The cultivator’s will echoes outward, shaping the world around them.
The spirit manifests. Qi no longer belongs only to the body — it projects outward, crossing the threshold into the immaterial.
Level 13: Nascent Projection
A small spirit-body forms within the Golden Core — a flickering soul-child. The cultivator can project their spirit in meditation, wandering unseen, peering into minds or across distances. Their eyes may glow faintly when their spirit stirs.
Level 14: Soul Blade
Qi and intent fuse. Every strike carries not only physical force but also the weight of spirit. Weapons sing when drawn; blows leave echoes in the soul of those struck. Even walls may remember the impression of their strike.
The cultivator transcends human boundaries. Heaven and earth no longer ignore their existence — instead, they respond.
Level 15: Heaven Resonance
The cultivator’s very presence stirs the world. Winds rise as they train, rain falls heavier when they grieve, and thunder growls when their anger flares. To lesser men, standing before them feels like facing a mountain.
Level 16: Immortal Step
The body moves as if unbound by mortal laws. Some step upon rivers without sinking, others vanish and reappear in the span of a blink. Distance bends to them, and the line between reality and legend begins to blur.
Few in history walk this path. At this stage, cultivators cease being men and begin becoming forces of nature.
Level 17: Domain of Dao
The cultivator’s Dao becomes reality itself. The swordsman may fill the battlefield with invisible blades; the fist cultivator radiates shockwaves with every breath; the healer’s aura mends wounds without touch. Their philosophy dominates their surroundings.
Level 18: World-Shaking Strike
Legends are written here. A single strike may split a mountain, part a river, or scar the earth for centuries. When they battle, the heavens tremble, for their intent rivals the will of nature itself.
The final stage. Mortality itself is a chain cast aside. These cultivators become living myths, embodying heaven’s law.
Level 19: Immortal Aura
Simply standing in their presence warps reality. Weaker men tremble, unable to breathe; beasts kneel unbidden. The air thickens, and silence falls, as if the world itself acknowledges their supremacy.
Level 20: Ascension
The cultivator faces a choice: to remain in the mortal world as an eternal legend, or to ascend into the realm of immortals. Some vanish into clouds, leaving only songs of their greatness. Others choose to stay, their names etched into the foundation of Jianghu forever.
Each Realm is Transformation: Body → Qi → Foundation → Core → Soul → Ascension → Transcendence → Immortality.
Each Level is a Breakthrough: Not just XP, but visions, storms, pain, and revelation.
Each Bottleneck is a Trial: At levels 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, breakthroughs become dangerous, often life-or-death struggles with one’s inner demons.
NPCs React: A Lv. 5 cultivator draws awe; a Lv. 12 cultivator shapes weather with presence; a Lv. 18 cultivator terrifies armies.
The World Responds: Higher stages stir heaven and earth — cultivation is not silent, it leaves ripples in the environment, legends written into stone and storm.