Inner Cauldron

The Inner Cauldron of a Xiandao cultivator is a measure of how much 'extra' Max Qi he has and can get by cultivating for long periods of time, even when normal cultivation progress is paused at a breakthrough. Inner Cauldron is the name of this value in the Qi Shaping and Core Shaping stages. At Golden Core or later, it turns into Anima Conversion, see below. Its value is preserved through cultivation stages. 
==Viewing the Inner Cauldron==
The value can be viewed by opening a character's Cultivation screen ('X' hotkey) and holding the mouse over the center of the silhouette, where low stage cultivators will have a word like "Empty" or "Sparse" and high stage cultivators will have the word "Quality" and a golden ring. 
The maximum value of Inner Cauldron is determined by a cultivator's innate Potential at the time of becoming an Inner Disciple, which in turn is mostly determined by young age and high Five Attributes. Post-natal Potential from law skills, and other modifiers does not increase Cauldron size. 
The Inner Cauldron will display a series of stats that look like this: 
*Inner Cauldron Limit: 4057
*Refinement Qi: 2126/4057
*Phase: Medium
This indicates that the character is currently getting +2126 Max Qi from having cultivated to fill Inner Cauldron, and can get at most +4057. The Phase indicates how much it has slowed down from filling. Max Qi bonuses from refining your Cauldron are added as a flat bonus to the Max Qi calculation and are not affected by Max Qi % increases. 
==Inner Cauldron Size==
The Inner Cauldron is very slow to fill up, and as it fills up, the filling rate slows down even further. While it's nice to have more Max Qi when preparing for a Golden Core breakthrough, it can take several years of game-time to fill it up all the way for a few thousand qi, so it is not recommended to focus on this until you can get a Cultivation Speed Bonus of at least +1000%. (Stack law skills, talismans, sect Branches, eat Spirit Stones / Spirit Crystals, etc.) 
The Inner Cauldron's size depends on the Cultivator's Innate Potential stat, and is equal to the Potential multiplied by 500. It can also be increased by 500 with the "Landscape Evolution" Manual from Law of Nimbus ConquestDLC. The maximum possible Inner Cauldron size for premade characters with 14 Age is 5,143 after learning the manual. Characters with lower Age values can have higher values for Inner Cauldron, although appear significantly less commonly than averageXiaWorld.NpcPropertyMgr.RandomAgeSexAndName.
==Filling the Inner Cauldron==
The rate at which the Inner Cauldron fills depends on a variety of factorsXiaWorld.NpcPractice.DoPracticeXiaWorld.NpcPractice.AddPractice. 
===Fullness of Inner Cauldron===
The percentage of the Inner Cauldron affects the rate of filling, as well as the Stamina consumptionXiaWorld.NpcPractice.GetDingLuLevel.
Percentage	Stage 	Fill Speed
0-24% 	0 (Empty) 	3
25-49% 	1 (Sparse) 	2
50-74% 	2 (Medium) 	1
75%-99% 	3 (Full) 	0.5
100% 	4 (Bursting)	0
Every second while cultivating (regardless of whether a bottleneck has been reached), 0.005 Stamina (multiplied by the Fill Speed above and the Cultivation Speed Bonus) is consumed. For each 2 points of Stamina consumedXiaWorld.NeedBase.set_Value, the Inner Cauldron is incremented by 0.1*Total Potential. 
For example, a Cultivator at Empty stage, with a Cultivation Speed Bonus of 900% and 10 Potential, will consume 0.005*(9+1)*3=0.15 Stamina per second (90 per day), and receive 0.075 points of Inner Cauldron Max Qi (45 per day). 
Therefore, when filling the Inner Cauldron, to keep Stamina sufficient despite the high drain rate, it is recommended to eat items and learn Manuals that increase Stamina Acquisition Rate as well as Food Consumption Bonus. Examples of helpful items include Ginseng Pill, Stamina Pill, and Resin Essence Powder. 
To keep Food from running out while doing this, Manuals and Talismans that increase Qi Absorption Efficiency can be learned, and items such as Qi Fasting Pill and Fasting Pill can be consumed.
===Anima Conversion===
Inner Cauldron refinement points carry over to Golden Core and Primordial Spirit stages, where they are known as Anima Conversion. The Anima Conversion number is uncapped and can be increased indefinitely by cultivating for long enough. The same rules apply: it's extremely slow and does not benefit from Max Qi % bonuses. It's often better to just eat a Sun Pill or learn a +Max Qi skill via the manual pavilion, or find some other source if the Max Qi is that important to you at a high cultivation stage. Anima Conversion works exactly like Inner Cauldron, with the Fill Speed set at 1.
==References==
Category:Max Qi
Category:Game Mechanics
Category:Xiandao Cultivation