Cultivation

**Cultivation** (修炼 xiūliàn) (修真 xiūzhēn) (修仙 xiūxiān) – the process of improving health, increasing longevity, and growing powerful. In the novel, this is accomplished by cultivating True Essence and training in martial & mystical arts. Usually, the ultimate goal of cultivation is to become an Immortal or attain godhood.

Beyond the Divine Realm, cultivation is not only limited to True Essence, but also using other forms of energy such as Astral Essence and Spirit Essence. These three energies are the primary energies cultivated by martial artists. As such, they are the foundation of cultivation in the 33 Heavens and is the basis for all life.

**Ranks / Levels / Layers** (级 jí) (层 céng) – a common way to quantify martial power or the progress made in cultivation. In many cases (although not all) where these are used:

* There are 9 ranks/levels/layers to each stage of cultivation, with rank 1 being the start and rank 9 being the peak. After breaking through to the next stage, the practitioner starts at rank 1 of that new stage. The number “9” symbolizes the Nine Heavens, as well as rebirth.
* Another set of commonly used terms are Early-stage (初期), Middle-stage (中期), Late-stage (后期) & Peak (巅峰). For example, someone might be a “late-stage Revolving Core expert” or they could be at “the peak of the Divine Sea stage”.
* A half step to \_\_ (半步\_\_境) – refers to someone who’s infinitely close to breaking through to the next stage of cultivation, but hasn’t achieved it yet. In other words, one foot is planted on the next level while the other is still stuck at the current level. For example, someone who’s “a half step to Houtian” is still technically at the Pulse Condensation stage, but they’re only a hair’s breadth away from Houtian.

## Introduction

*Essence, energy, and soul* were the three treasures that comprised a human being, the life vigor of an individual. Essence was vitality, power of the bloodline, the very basis of the mortal body. Energy was origin energy and the dantian’s true essence. The soul was the primordial spirit, the marriage of spirit and will.

The mortal body, inner world, and soul were the three most important parts of a martial cultivator. When a martial artist practiced martial arts, it was to enhance and temper these three parts; that was the ultimate manifestation of a martial artist’s cultivation.

### **Combat Prowess**

In the world of martial arts, ***cultivation was the most important factor in a martial artist’s combat prowess***, but it was not the only factor. Martial skills, fighting instincts, combat skills, field experience, the degree of true essence thickness, all of these could affect one’s combat ability, therefore one could fight one above their cultivation realm.

But, to a martial artist, their **cultivation was the fundamental basis for all**. If they could not improve their cultivation, then whatever your combat power really was, it would not matter.

Moreover, to a martial artist, their lives were inextricably linked to their cultivation. Meaning ***absolute strength*** through cultivation was a ***true ultimatum of martial arts***.

### **Potential**

***However, this wasn’t an absolute in martial arts***. A genius’ cultivation wasn’t necessarily better the faster it progressed. During the process of cultivation, if one desperately impacted towards the next realm they could certainly quickly rise in cultivation realms. But, their combat prowess might not be too amazing and their foundation could be unsteady.

During the cultivation process, if one was enlightened on all sorts of Laws and perceived many Concepts, and also even dual cultivated, then it would be difficult to rise in cultivation realms rapidly. But this wasn’t truly a problem. Since a cultivator with an extremely solid foundation was paving the road to divinity! Thus, a martial artist in this aspect would have unimaginable future achievements!

But in the end, key to higher cultivation was through one's will power and determination. Only when a martial artist had the drive to seek lucky chances and defy the world rule would it be possible to gain immortality, no matter how faint.

Those that walked down the road of martial arts were most respected and admired characters with great ambition and drive. Only they had the ability to become heroes of the land!

To a true martial artist, what they feared was not being weak in the present. Rather, what they feared was not being able to find a goal, and not being able to see what direction to go in. If they could see a bright future waiting for them ahead, they would courageously soldier onwards even if it meant untold misery and incomparable danger. They would continue with all their heart and soul, seeking out ever higher limits!

## Martial Cultivators

Cultivation in the martial world is filled with endless dangers and perils. Cultivators would need to fight for lucky chances and stand against the Heavenly Dao. Martial artist would need incredible will and spirit to survive the solitude of closed door cultivation. This was the hardships that came along with seeking greater things in life in the martial world.

The majority would die prematurely during adventures while seeking lucky chances, many would seek the riches and beauties of the world, some would live out their lives and leave behind their legacies, and only a few would surpass their boundaries and go farther in their martial path. There were innumerable destinies in this boundless universe, all of which having different samsaras and realities that make up the existence of all lives. This was the fate of all martial cultivators in the world. The road of martial arts was a constant struggle against the heavens.

### **Foundation**

The road of martial arts was like this: As long as one’s foundation was solid enough, then every breakthrough would bring immeasurable progress and strength at astronomical speeds.

Lin Ming’s philosophy was…

In order to lay a foundation, it must be laid in the most complete and solid manner.

In order to break through a boundary, it must be go through a perfect breakthrough!

But what the martial road brings is extended longevity which all martial artists yearn for.

This was one of the most fascinating aspects of following the martial path, in that one could extend their youth. Cultivation is not just expanding lifespan, but **slowing down aging process** c993

Those that cultivated martial arts were not willing to resign themselves to the ebb of time. As years passed, their life force and strength would be slowly sucked away. Even though they had the ability to move mountains and sunder seas, they finally couldn’t escape the slow changes of destiny.

Often, a martial artist would constantly seek out lucky chances, passing through layers upon layers of dangers to climb to a higher peak of martial arts. What drove them was not just peeping at the wonders of the Heavenly Dao Laws, but also to obtain longer youth and longer life.

Even an Empyrean was unable to achieve that faint and illusory immortality that existed in legends. As for whether one could even achieve immortality through the martial path and surpass the scope of the Heavenly Dao, that had always been an enigma.

The path of cultivating the martial arts was to clash against the will of the heavens, remove oneself from the cycle of Samsara and eternally remain within the world.

There had been so many extremely gifted geniuses and top talents in the world, but ultimately none of them were able to struggle against the vast heavens…

The Great Dao was boundless and the heavens and earth were heartless. Ancient beauties that could bring the downfall of the worlds, goddesses of peerless grace and talent, even someone like this couldn’t escape the fate of becoming nothing but bones. As for those ancient rulers of a hundred races, those peerless proud sons of heaven, in the end they too turned to dust, their bones scattered in the wind.

No matter how powerful a person, no matter how powerful a race, when they were placed in the endless river of time they were nothing more than a tiny wave. When they rose up they shined in blinding brilliance, but soon, they quickly vanished into the never-ending stream, leaving nothing behind.

This was also the reason why so many martial artists were unwilling to turn to ash, the reason they continued to climb up and seek out the road to eternal life. However, no one had ever succeeded.

This was destiny, the final fate that no one could avoid…

### **Limitations**

A martial artist’s body could hold only a limited amount of true essence and energy.

* For a Houtian and Xiantian Realm martial artist, they could only store true essence in their dantian.
* For a Revolving Core martial artist, their revolving core crystal nucleus could compress true essence, so they naturally surpassed Houtian and Xiantian Realm martial artists.
* As for Life Destruction martial artists, their entire body would transform into a spirit physique that would allow them to store true essence all throughout their bodies.
* After reaching the Divine Sea, one could open their own inner world and store true essence within that world as well as gather the power of a world from within themselves.

Every boundary was distinct in its unique characteristics.

But regardless of how one cultivated, there was a common point between all of them. That was that the body was used to store this energy. Once one lost their body, they would also lose the ability to move true essence as well as the power of the world. For instance, even though Mo Eversnow once was a heaven-gifted genius who had been at the half-step World King boundary, after she perished and all that was left over was her soul form, it became impossible for her to move true essence. She could only rely on her understandings of Laws and her battle spirit to fight.

To an essence gathering system martial artist, the power of the world and the power of true essence were their everything. Once they lost the ability to move energy, it was the same as a bird having lots its wings. Their combat strength would only be the tiniest fraction of what it once was.

Unless one dual cultivated, then only through auxiliary transcendent divine mights could a martial artist increase the amount of true essence they could use.

## Cultivation Path

Note: entirely based on Lin Ming's martial road, experiences and ideal breakthroughs (Essence Gathering System). They are a detailed descriptions of the lower to higher boundaries of cultivation, breakthroughs and strength gauge.

### **Intro**

At the formation of the universe, what happened was that all of the grandmist energy gathered into a singularity. This singularity constantly absorbed energy, compressing it over and over again, and when that energy reached the limit it would erupt!

After erupting, the energy would cool down, forming space, time, yin and yang, the five elements, and finally evolving into all of life.

This was the so-called great eruption of the universe. The Divine Realm’s 3000 great worlds and the lower realm’s billion boundless worlds, all of these were formed after this explosion. And before this explosion, neither time nor space existed.

And a martial artist’s cultivation process was similar to this great eruption.

The human body was a small universe!

The evolution of the human body could be reflected in the great universe.

### **Pulse Condensation**

From the Pulse Condensation realm, that process symbolized the true beginning of the essence gathering system.
At this boundary, a martial artist formed their meridians and could draw in heaven and earth origin energy through their acupoints.
When a cultivator opens the channel of the meridians for true essence to enter will one achieve Pulse Condensation and to most mortal cultivators, the pulse condensation stage is a huge bottleneck, for it greatly increases the speed in which true essence is absorbed compared to the previous boundaries. An example is how true essence if only flows inside the organs and bones, it would just be like a carriage running into shallow seas and swamps: it would just be mired there. However, if true essence penetrates into the meridians and flows there, then it would be unimpeded like a fast horse in the open field. There was simply no comparison between them.
To an essence gathering martial artist, the Pulse Condensation realm was the start of their road of martial arts. Without anywhere else to go, a martial artist’s true essence would flow through their meridians and into their dantian. In preparation for Houtian, a martial artist would need to open the dantian and constantly accumulate energy inside it.
### **Houtian**

When one’s origin energy reached a certain degree, it would gather in their lower abdomen and form a dantian. Afterwards, true essence would gather in their dantian and form streams there; this was the Houtian realm.
Houtian Realm, also known as the Pre-Celestial stage, is the start of cultivating the Essence Gathering System. Only when both the meridians and the dantian truly connect with each other will one step into the Pre-Celestial stage.
After a martial reached the Houtian realm, that was the time they opened their dantian and would begin to train it. During the Houtian realm, one’s true essence would be a mess without any organization to it, so their reserves of true essence would be extremely limited.
The ideal breakthrough is when one let's true essence overflow until it reaches the dantian, making it a more stable foundation.
### **Xiantian**

Then, true essence would condense into a cyclone, bringing with it the rules of revolution; this was the Xiantian realm.
Once the true essence within the dantian condensed into a cyclone, there would then be order. The total amount of true essence would increase and it would also become much easier to control. In forming a vortex and an organized system inside the dantian will one achieve Xiantian Realm.
From the disorderly inner energy of the Houtian realm, it would become orderly at the Xiantian realm.
It is said that at Xiantian will one revert back to the state of being born and even buy in the pure Xiantian air as food without satiating oneself with Houtian food for weeks. Hence, the amount of true essence formed and bought will be more greater and more organized. It is also known as Post-Celestial Stage.
In a mortal world, the Xiantian Realm could be considered the peak level. Having the ability to move the wind and rain as they please, enjoying an existence even kings yearn for.
### **Revolving Core**

Then above that, when the vortex condensed into a core, that was the Revolving Core realm.
At the Revolving Core realm, true essence would finally compress into a revolving core crystal nucleus. This crystal nucleus would continually grow, compress, and then grow again and again, energy would converge, just like the energy that gathered before the eruption of the universe.
At this stage, a Martial Artist's dantian will condense crystals made from concentrated levels of true essence that will gather and constantly spin like a tornado at the very center of the dantian, forming a revolving crystal core with their true essence increasing by a large margin compared to the previous boundary.
During this time, their total true essence quantity would rise several times. Hence, one's dantian is at the part where it is already copying the Great Heavenly Dao's system, forming a miniature universe inside oneself.
A martial artist with a deep foundation could even form a black hole revolving core, which was a very dense and compressed crystal core.
### **Life Destruction**

#### **Introduction**

When that core shattered and was remade, that was the Life Destruction realm. However, the laws of Life Destruction applied to all parts of the body, dantian, and soul; these parts would be destroyed and refined again and again in order to achieve true Life Destruction.
The highest levels of Life Destruction were divided into nine stages. The first three stages reformed the spirit body, the second three stages reformed the core, and the last three stages reformed the divine soul.
During the first three stages of Life Destruction, there would be no changes in the dantian. Rather, a martial artist’s physical body would transform into a spirit body and they would gain the characteristic of saving true essence in their flesh. This would again cause the total quantity of true essence within them to increase by several times.
Afterwards, the revolving core crystal nucleus would have to undergo nine baptisms of Life Destruction, preparing the martial artist’s body for the final Nine Divine Shifts:
Martial Artists at **Life Destruction** will build up their body, essence, and soul during these stages. The most perfect path to cross Life Destruction was divided into nine stages. The first three stages rebuilt the mortal body, the second three stages shattered and recast the Revolving Core, and the last three stages of Life Destruction reformed the soul.
The final goal was to reach the 9th stage of Life Destruction, only by being baptized by the world laws at the 9th would a martial artist truly be reborn.
During the stages of Life Destruction, a martial artist’s physical body would transform into a spirit body and they would gain the characteristic of saving true essence in their flesh. This would again cause the total quantity of true essence within them to increase by several times.
#### **To Seek 'Ninefall'**

In seeking Ninefall, the path is divided into three stages of three. They are called – essence, energy, and soul!
* Essence meant the physical form and blood essence. The first three stages cultivated ‘essence’, meaning they decomposed the mortal body to form a spirit body.
* Energy was origin energy and true essence. When others said to concentrate energy into the dantian, that was because the dantian contained ‘energy’. The second three stages of Life Destruction cultivated this ‘energy’. That was to shatter the dantian and reform the Revolving Core!
* Soul meant divine soul. The final three stages where about the soul and this was also the most mysterious process.

Essence, energy, and soul were the basis of all life, and also the basis of every martial artists’ martial path. The three were the most fundamental aspects of martial arts. In order to seek Ninefall, one had to cultivate essence, energy, and soul to perfection before stepping into the Divine Sea realm, otherwise it would be extremely difficult to have great success in the future.
#### 4th -6th stage of Life Destruction

From the third stage of Life Destruction to the sixth stage of Life Destruction, that was to shatter the Revolving Core and then reform it. Although it wasn’t a large boundary, it was actually greater than a small boundary.
After crossing six stages of Life Destruction, one could rely on their own strength to reach the Divine Sea. But the last three stages pertained to the future strength of a martial artist and how far they would be able to walk on their path of martial arts. The more formidable a soul was, the more energy it was able to manipulate. The soul was also related to the will; it was the carrier of the battle spirit. If one’s soul wasn’t powerful, their potential was limited.
#### 7th to 8th stage of Life Destruction

The seventh and eighth stages of Life Destruction were the start of tempering the soul! It was basically reforming the soul and the spiritual sea. No matter what sort of activity it was, anything that involved the soul was extremely risky!
At the last three stages of Life Destruction, the soul would decompose but the will would not. When the soul shattered and swam through the endless void, the will was the lighthouse, the beacon that called to the soul. As long as one’s will didn’t disintegrate, the soul could be reformed. During the final three stages, the soul would shatter, turning into the purest soul force that mixed into this strange ‘fog of life’. Strange Laws of the universe allowed all of this to happen.
In the lower realms, a 7th stage Life Destruction martial artist was a top 'Emperor talent' who had small chance of reaching the late Divine Sea, and an 8th stage Life Destruction power house had a high chance of reaching the peak of divine sea.
#### 9th stage of Life Destruction

Every stage of Life Destruction corresponded to a different field of vision. A martial artist needed to enlighten themselves on the Laws of the world in each boundary, allowing their foundations to constantly consolidate.
Only like this could one truly become a dragon that soared to the heavens in Ninefall, and seek the Nine Divine Shifts.
To seek Ninefall is to find the Nine Divine Shifts. The ninth stage of Life Destruction is one of the most important realms in a martial artist’s life. They will have to withstand the baptism of the Heavenly Dao Laws during this realm. Naturally, the more accumulations one has, the more potent it will be and the greater the advantages one will obtain.
Thus, to a genius, breaking through boundaries was not a problem. What they were concerned about was not just speed, but many other aspects.
It was said that those that crossed to the ninth stage of Life Destruction would pass through the dragon gate to become a true dragon. The difference between the ninth and eighth stage of Life Destruction was the same as the difference between the heavens and earth. Eighth stage Life Destruction martial artists would be mostly stranded in the Divine Transformation realm, with only a small number of them being able to reach the Divine Lord realm after obtaining enough lucky chances.
But a ninth stage Life Destruction martial artist could easily step into the Divine Lord realm and reach even higher boundaries in the future.
If a martial artist can cross the nine stages of Life Destruction, that doesn’t necessarily mean one will become a Divine Lord. One must break into the ninth stage of Life Destruction, otherwise they’ll meet a bottleneck at the Divine Lord realm.
But after reaching the Divine Lord realm a martial artists won’t encounter endless bottlenecks and one's potential will be far greater.
To seek Ninefall and find the Nine Divine Shifts – the ninth stage of Life Destruction was the transitional point from when a mortal became divine. Before a martial artist became a Holy Lord, this would be their most important boundary. It could be called the foundation of them becoming divine!
If this foundation was solid, they could form a vast monument hundreds of thousands of feet high atop of it. If this foundation was shaky, it would be difficult to take even the tiniest step into the Divine Lord realm.
After Ninefall, the revolving core crystal nucleus would evolve into a world seed. In the future, this world seed would explode and form the inner world.
For most martial artists, Ninefall is considered the most important boundary that they will have to cross. This is because the process of Ninefall plants a world seed in your body. The quality of this seed will play a great role in determining your future achievements. Although it is only a seed and it has also been planted, how you raise it is extremely important. If you can further solidify your foundation before you reach the Divine Sea, then once your world seed sprouts and forms your inner world, your world will be far larger, stronger, and tougher than an ordinary martial artist’s!
### **Nine Divine Shifts**

#### **Overview**

The Nine Divine Shifts – the three boundaries of Divine Sea, Divine Transformation, and Divine Lord, during this process a martial artist’s dantian would become a world, forming continents, lakes, seas, heavens and earth. This was the realm that developed the rudimentary small world inside the person - the formation of an 'inner world'.
Furthermore, the Nine Divine Shifts is a stage of transforming one's energy, body and soul into a greater being, similar to that of Life Destruction's 3-3-3; essence, energy and divine build up.
The word ‘**Divine**’ also indicated that martial artists who stepped into this realm gained the power of a god in the eyes of mortals. Their fists could shatter the skies, their feet could crack the earth, and they were capable of upturning the oceans. They were simply omnipotent beings to mortals.
**Divine Sea**, **Divine Transformation**, **Divine Lord**, these three large boundaries and nine small boundaries are collectively called the Nine Divine Shifts, similar to the nine stages of Life Destruction.
Ninefall is to overcome mortality and the Divine Sea was to transform into the divine.
After reaching the Divine Sea, the Laws that a martial artist comprehended would become a part of their system and also become the Heavenly Dao Laws of the minor dimension. While Divine Transformation is an expansion of the small dimension into a true dimension realm and the Divine Lord Realm a stage of changing one's temperment or 'soul' into that of a god's veiw point. Chapter 1169
Martial Artists during the **Nine Divine Shifts** will undergo the process of evolving the inner world from a small world (diameter up to ~1000 li for normal, ordinary Late Stage Divine Sea) to a great world(Sky Spill planet size for Late Stage Divine Lord). ch1170
#### **Divine Sea**

After arriving at the Divine Sea realm, a martial artist’s body would be completely soaked in true essence, without any more space to store more. And at this point, countless billions of years ago, the innumerable Supreme Elders that had forged the foundation for the road of martial arts had developed a new path. This was to form a minor dimension within the dantian, and after true essence liquefied, to store that true essence within.
The liquid true essence would surge and tumble just like a vast sea. Thus, this boundary was called the Divine Sea.
During breakthrough, all martial artists would experience a sudden surge of energy around them that constantly developed their inner world seed, slowly strengthening it with heaven and earth energy until the minor dimension expanded into an 'inner world'.
**Divine Sea** is a boundary focused on evolving one's dantian into a dimension or **inner world**. Meaning that after reaching Divine Sea, the **Dantian would become an inner world**. The inner world will be used to store true essence even greater than it was before, while one's true essence would have a qualitative leap.
Breaking through into the Divine Sea would need the foundation of an inner world seed or an elementary minor dimension in it.
At this stage, true essence accumulation has reached a completely different level to the point that true essence forms a sea, hence the name Divine Sea. In popular belief, it is considered a realm on the road towards divinity.
In the lower realms, a Divine Sea martial artist was at the apex of society. However, in higher realms like the Divine Realm, the Divine Sea was only at the very beginning of one's martial road.
#### **Divine Transformation**

Then after Divine Sea is **Divine Transformation,** this realm falls upon the word ‘transformation’. It’s where you evolve the world within your dantian to a dimensional realm..
Breaking through into Divine Transformation would incite an imminent expansion of one's inner world. During breakthrough, an origin rain would occur. The rain would not only enrich the inner world with greater energy, but it would also form plant life from the droplets. Depending on one's system and potential, the plants would become spiritual medicines and heavenly treasures. These miracle medicinal herbs were not true plants, but plants formed by heaven and earth origin energy. If spiritual plants were to be planted in the soil of one's inner world in this state they would be able to grow just like in the real world. If an animal were to enter one's inner world they could also breath and survive. This was the sign when a martial artist has reached Divine Transformation.
When a martial artist broke through to the Divine Transformation realm, their body would begin to transform from a spirit body to a divine body. At this time, their fires of life would greatly strengthen and their lifespan would massively increase. Their aging process would slow down and the potential of their life would also improve. This was the reason why many beautiful daughters of heaven would seek the Divine Transformation realm, reaching this step would give one upto 10,000-20,000 years of everlasting youth.
A Life Destruction martial artist over 100 years of age would find it hard to break into the Divine Sea, but a Divine Transformation martial artist over a thousand years old still had a chance of entering the Divine Lord realm.
This stage increases the size and quality of one's inner dimension. At this boundary, one can naturally breed life inside of one's inner world. The growth of the inner world varies depending on one's talent. This stage is an important time for most cultivators, since usually one's potential manifests at the Divine Transformation.
#### **Divine Lord**

The final part of the Nine Divine Shifts is the **Divine Lord** Realm -- in this realm, one's inner world will evolve into a realm that brimmed with life. An inner world was something that began opening when a martial artist reached the Divine Sea, and when they became a Divine Lord, their inner world would turn into a microcosm. This microcosm is in truth a small dimension, capable of holding life inside of it. The inner world of a Divine Lord martial artist is like a continent high in the skies, and above the earth were twisting rivers and towering mountains, complete with all sorts of plants and other life forms.
In the Nine Divine Shifts, the Divine Lord realm was the last boundary. And in the 33 Heavens, a Divine Lord martial artist was an elite of their generation. Famously, this realm is when a cultivator truly becomes god.
**Divine Lord**, this was the so-called transition into divinity. Needless to say, this ‘divinity’ would only be relative to common mortals.
Divine Lord martial artists could hold a world within their body, establish life, and enjoy the worship of mortal nations. To those mortals, they would be a god.
As for True Divinities, these are supreme masters that stand at the pinnacle of all martial artists. A True Divinity powerhouse could control an entire universe and were apex existences in the 33 Heavens. They were far from those so-called 'Divine Lords' and were true gods of the martial dao.
An ordinary Divine Lord powerhouse could already create their own clan or establish their own eighth-grade sect. They could create an inheritance that lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, become an ancient ancestor, and enjoy the devotion of countless disciples and followers. In the Divine Realm, a Divine Transformation martial artist could already wander the world. A Divine Lord realm martial artist was a true character that could rule an entire region. Furthermore, in the Divine Realm, a Divine Lord powerhouse is someone that can control their own planet, becoming a master of their own domain.
### **Holy Lord Realm**

After entering the **Holy Lord** realm, the vast earth within one’s inner world would turn into a planet and the great vault of heaven would become the universe, expanding the void. This world would be capable of supporting life and create a rich biodiversity, stars would be born to form the night sky and in the future, there is the possibility of creating intelligent creatures who would soon create nations.
Their inner world’s continent would shatter and reform into a planet. As for their inner world, it would become a universe capable of holding this planet.
If the boundaries of an inner world shattered, it could mean the total collapse of that inner world. The consequences of such an event were inconceivable.
But there was also a second possibility, and that was a martial artist was making a breakthrough in their cultivation! When a martial artist was making a breakthrough the boundaries of their inner world would tear apart and then reform.
And when a Divine Lord broke through to a Holy Lord, the great world within them would transform into a small universe. This heaven-sundering upheaval was a drastic change.
True essence would achieve a qualitative leap upwards and a martial artist at this realm would truly become the 'Holy Lord' of the world; these beings would have strength capable ruling over worlds and become worshipped by countless mortals. The Holy Lord realm is a boundary that can call upon the wind and rain, move mountains, and establish Holy Lands.
However, the difference between a real world and a Holy Lord's inner world was that the small universe would only be created from true essence, lacking any physical and tangible properties of a true realm.
### **World King Realm**

**World King**, that was the king of a world.
It required that a martial artist refine a real world and fuse it into their own inner world. Their own inner world would integrate the space, time, and matter of a real universe, thus obtaining the characteristics of a real world. The process ends with the formation of a small universe and the world would be extremely solid so that one day it may even hold true stars from the boundless world. A World King's small universe would lose all the disadvantages of an 'unreal' world of a Holy Lord, giving a martial artist the strength of a world.
An ordinary World King had the strength to become king of great world, they were powerful enough to destroy a third order world and rule over a wide dominion.
In the 33 Heavens, a World King is considered a master of a domain.
In the entire Divine Realm, besides in Empyrean Heavenly Palaces, World Kings are extremely rare even in a great world. They are figures that countless martial artists respect and revere. There are many peak Holy Lands that have inheritances of millions of years and yet they are unable to produce even a single World King.
To step onto the throne of a World King, one had to encounter many lucky chances. They had to have a great will, great intelligence, a strong heart of martial arts, heaven-defying talent, the direction of skilled masters, and countless resources stacked upon each other. Only when everything came together would one have a small chance of achieving such a boundary.
For a martial artist to reach the World King realm, one will need the strength of a Great World. They would need to take in the essence of celestial stars, the world laws, and even the karma and destiny of those realms.
But in truth, no matter how talented a World King was, the world they refined wouldn’t be too ridiculously large. To refine the real world in one’s inner world, besides differences in size, there were also differences in strength of space, the origin energy, and the Law fragments within. There were differences in all these aspects.
For these things, if one could choose a higher level world then it would be helpful to a martial artist’s future road of cultivation. Of course, wanting to refine a higher level world was far more difficult.
Even a top talent like Emperor Shakya had only managed to refine a thousand miles of the void. And in rumors, it was said that in the ancient past there were extreme True Divinities that refined an entire planet when they became World Kings.
Generally speaking, refining an area of dozens of miles as well as the material in space was considered quite good.
But for extreme genius', they would absorb a large planet whole.
This was because in the martial road of a genius, the World King realm was an incredibly crucial stage that would directly affect one's future achievements.
To take an entire planet, as well as the void around the planet, the origin energy within the planet, the lives atop the planet, and even some of the Heavenly Dao Law fragments, and then refine all of that into one’s own inner world, that was a heaven-shaking feat.
To achieve such a step, they either existed in the records of history or were mystical characters like Sheng Mei, the Good Fortune Saint Sovereign, or Soaring Feather.
As for Lin Ming, he was the first to ever create a true boundless realm at the beginning of World King. This was unlike any other inner world that was usually made up of primal energies and physical material of a world, rather, he had used the Power of Divinity as the base of this small true realm. His World King realm had an essential difference from the World King realm of other martial artists, and it was that he created a world which could grow and evolve.
This was a true realm that already had material properties, universal energies, and the Heavenly Dao laws, and in the future this small realm could become similar to the Asura Road and Akashic Dream Universe of the past. The road of martial artist he chose was countless times harder than any other martial artist’s road of cultivation. A self-created fusion of the real world and inner world, to cultivate the universe of the world and the universe of the body, to meld together the Heavenly Sutra and the Holy Scripture.
#### **Great World King Realm**

A **Great World King** is a cultivator who has successfully fused with one's own inner world, making the cultivator achieve a state of truly becoming **King** of his own world.
This state can be expressed similarly as to having the presence and pressure of a planet, domineering and immovable.
Usually it deals with the infusion of outside energy and mass into the inner universe and also the accumulation of energy.
The process deals with cultivating inside of large bodies of mass such as planets and concentrated levels of energy such as stars. This is so that real matter and true essence will balance out each other, making it more perfect and tangible.
A Great World King is someone with the ability to obliterate large land masses and relatively small worlds. A full strike from a Great World King could obliterate an entire moon.
#### **Half-Empyrean Realm**

After assimilating enough matter, the inner universe would then become completely tangible. The inner universe would be abundant with energy and may even have vibrant life.
True essence would flow throughout the void, whereas the properties of the small universe would become closer to what a true universe would be.
For a martial artist, going through **Half-Step Empyrean** is an essential step in order to advance.
When one's accumulation and potential has reached the point that it can evolve, a vast and limitless strength would start to crazily gather, condensing in the center of the inner universe. It would slowly evolve into a giant phantom of a person.
This supreme shadow is called a **Supreme Divine Shadow**; born from the inner world and formed from the comprehensions and strengths the cultivator attained in his road of martial arts. This is in preparation for Heavenly Tribulation, so that the Supreme would combine with the inner world and become a true Empyrean.
The shadow represents the **Spiritual God of the world** inside of the small universe. But it is just virtual since one is not yet an Empyrean. Hence they are half step into Empyrean Realm. The shadow also represents the transition of a cultivator into a supreme being, a god to billions to quadrillions of martial artists particularly in the Divine Realm. The divine shadow is the representation of one's road toward True Divinity. It is one's accumulated experiences and comprehensions in their martial road.
From a Great World King to a half-step Empyrean, this was an incredibly difficult step. Many powerhouses were stuck at this checkpoint for their entire lives.
But once one became a half-step Empyrean and formed their own Supreme phantom, then transitioning to their own true material Supreme wasn’t difficult at all.
In other words, for most half-step Empyreans, as long as they didn’t perish they would eventually be able to become Empyreans.
### **Empyrean/Heavenly Venerate Realm**

When the Supreme divine shadow of a martial artist takes shape, then that is the sign of one's imminent breakthrough into Empyrean Realm. Heavenly Tribulation clouds would ferment atop the martial artist until one's potential is great enough to arouse the strength of the world!
Martial Artists **breaking through into Empyrean Realm** will fuse their Supreme Divine Shadow with their inner world.
The so-called Empyrean was the Supreme of the heavens and earth. Once a martial artist reached this realm, they could form a true Supreme within their inner world. When a martial artist broke into the Empyrean realm, their Laws would sublimate, rising to the will of the Heavenly Dao, and their incarnation would also become the ruler of a world. This was a challenge against the Heavenly Dao, thus they had to experience heavenly tribulation!
Fusing the Supreme shadow with one's inner world would incite Heavenly Tribulation. After surviving the tribulation, a martial artists overall strength, comprehension and closeness to the Great Heavenly Dao would reach a qualitative leap.This realm signifies that a cultivator has surpassed World King Realm and has become equals with the Heavenly Dao. They become the Titled Venerate of their inner world, noble and solemn like a god overseeing the world.As for a Great World King like Tian Mingzi, the most they could do was annihilate all lives on this massive planet, or to destroy a tiny planet only ten thousand or so miles wide. The disparity was just too great.
By crossing Heavenly Tribulation, one could gain the right to surpass the Heavenly Dao and perhaps even form their own rules. Thus, when a human could achieve such a boundary then they would be called Empyrean, a word that means 'the heavens' and respect. Inherently stating that a cultivator is on par with the Heavenly Dao, and with that they have the right to be respected as much as the heavens! Therefore a martial artist at this boundary is one who rules beyond the strength granted by the heavens and may even be independent from it's control in some ways.
#### **Striking Power**

An Empyrean is someone with the ability to completely level large planets and obliterate stars, collapsing moons and sinking stars.
Only an Empyrean could pierce through a planet that was over 100 million miles wide in a single strike, perhaps even destroying that planet. Moreover, an Extreme Empyrean has the capability destroy great worlds with their full strike.
#### **Supreme Talent**

Note: When an extreme genius reaches the highest levels of talent possible and undergo Heavenly Tribulation, they would ferment a greater Heavenly Tribulation and an even more frightening level of power. This power would be on a scale capable of slaying Empyreans and God Beasts, a unique tribulation by the heavens that only true peak geniuses of a universe would dare challenge.
The extreme genius would face off against past heroes that were remembered by the world. These shadows of the past were not regular past geniuses but cultivators that had eventually reached the higher levels of True Divinity. Each and everyone of them had similar or even greater talent compared to Divine Dream. The extreme genius would face them in combat and each defeat of the past heroes would give the extreme genius high level comprehensions about the source of the world; source laws of the Heavenly Dao. These source laws are notably like grandmist, genesis and spiritual source laws.
Then, the extreme genius would need to survive the terrifying Divine Thunder that could slay Empyreans. This thunder would become increasingly horrific at a level that even general True Divinity experts would feel dread. After withstanding the tribulation, a martial artist would be given the greatest chance of becoming Empyrean. Their body, essence and divine would reach a great refining process and reach greater levels of strength.
* Empyrean are the Martial world equivalent of Divine Lord from the TMW universe.

### **True God Realm/True Divinity Realm**

Then, after Heavenly Venerate one will become a **True Divinity.**A being who has become a **god of martial cultivators!** And a Empyrean's breakthrough to True Divinity is merging the royal divine shadow into one's body, essence, and soul. Thus, one must breakthrough from the shackles of the Heavenly Dao and attain godhood. Therefore you are a True Divinity in the very sense for your very existence is at the most pinnacle of life, a god, an all-encompassing and almighty being.
A True Divinity martial artist is a being powerful enough to obliterate great worlds and large stars, command the Great Dao, and stand at the peak of all worlds.
A Top True Divinity on the other hand, is capable of erupting with a strike so great that it can compare to a supernova explosion from a dying star.
**Breakthrough into True Divinity** will inspire Heavenly Dao Laws and Dao clouds, but rather than a tribulation, the Heavenly Dao restrains your breakthrough with divine chains, and these chains restrain you from fusing with your divine shadow.
If the fusion was a success, then eventually the martial artist will be baptized by the shattered divine chains formed from Heavenly Dao Source Laws to the point of perfection. Subsequently, what happens is that all of the subordinating concepts of the Heavenly Dao such as Fire Laws and Wind Laws would reach its highest possible boundary even if one did not cultivate it.
This happens because of one's boundary as a True Divinity can influence the laws around them, thus, each and every movement a True Divinity Realm martial artist makes can inspire the Dao Laws and even form a Dao Domain filed with the Laws of the Heavenly Dao, making one's presence as unfathomable as the universe itself.
* True Divinity are the equivalent of Godly Monarch in the TMW universe.

### **Beyond True Divinity Realm**

The so-called Beyond True God realm is a state when a martial artist has reached the highest possible boundary in the world and one's laws arrive at the absolute peak, or rather the true source of the Great Heavenly Dao.
The realm beyond divinity is more of a condition; a state when a martial has reached the highest of highs in the world or the so-called martial peak.
Usually, one can attain this level if a martial artists' potential, destiny and ability surmount the very existence of god or even go beyond to the point that one's entire existence will become equal to a Universe, wielding the very strength of the universe itself! Thus, that supreme boundary is called **Beyond True Divinity**, from the very word beyond what is accepted by the universe. Hence, they are martial artists that have the very ability to establish their own universe and Heavenly Dao since they themselves have outranked the universe.
As a supreme being, they have the very ability to destroy worlds and create them in a whim. Capable of unfathomable feats and the strength that can wreak absolute chaos everywhere, even if the entire universe was put into perspective. A wielder of almighty strength and absolute authority. Therefore a cultivator at this boundary is considerably the true sovereign of all lives subordinate to them, a master of life and death at the zenith of power.
They are so powerful that they can destroy the eons of space and time, asunder the heavens and completely eradicate an entire realm.
They are also referred to as Celestial Beings, because they are able to make the Heavenly Dao itself. There are two paths to this level, that is either cultivating the Inner Universe to peak or the Outer Heaven and Earth Universe to peak. However, the ideal route to this level is to cultivate both the Inner and Outer Universe to peak. Only the creator of the Demon God Tomb is known to have done this, the Asura Road Master is an Outer Universe cultivator while Immortal Sovereign is an Inner Universe cultivator. Lin Ming was able to merge both the Outer and Inner Universe, by merging the Sacred Scripture and the Ashura Heavenly Book, creating his own ideal route Beyond True Divinity.
Other note:
The so-called martial peak is as what Jiang Baoyun foreshadowed, "As to what that peak is, I don’t know. But I believe that when people see a group of mountains together, they call the top of the highest mountain the peak." The phrase can also be used in describing the Beyond True Divinity realm. In the case of the 33 Heavens, Beyond True Divinity is a level equal to its own, meaning it is the absolute limit of the 33 Heavens. But that is only if you put the 33 Heavens as the greatest vantage point. What I am getting at is that there are countless other universes that are outside of the *Martial World*. In Cocooned Cow's works, he introduces a new novel, which is the sequel to this novel, *True Martial World.* There, he introduces a new world that co-relates to Martial World.
**Gilthuner444** (talk) 11:58, November 26, 2017 (UTC)

## **Inner World**

Note: sizes are much less than in true outer universe because true universe growing for millions or billions of years or even more, but laws density is most likely similar

* Divine Sea - Small Lower World
* Divine Transformation - Medium Lower World
* Divine Lord - Great Lower World
* Holy Lord - Small Upper Universe with planet mainland
* World King - Medium Upper Universe with mainland continent(alike Great World)
* Great World King - Great Upper Universe with mainland continent(alike Great World)
* Heavenly Venerate - Small Universe with Great Worlds(alike Divine Realm)
* True God - Medium Universe with Great Worlds
* Beyond True God - Great Universe with Great Worlds
* Dao Origin - Universe alike 33 Heavens and better

## **Crystal Stages**

For **Holy Demon Continent**

In terms of influence and power, the Giant Demon race ranked number one within the Holy Demon Continent. This was followed by the Dwarves, the Primates/goliath, and then humans as fourth. The Fey and the Feral race were even lower than humans, (only because of their low capacity of reproduction otherwise they would be ranked first thanks to their big capacity of understanding Concepts and Laws.).

Each realm have 6 star.

1. Soldier (each star correspond to the 6 first step of Body Transformation Stages)
	* 1 star : Strength Training
	* 2 star : Flesh Training
	* 3 star : Viscera Training
	* 4 star : Altering Muscle
	* 5 star : Bone Forging
	* 6 star : Pulse Condensation
2. General
	* 1 star : Early Houtian
	* 2 star : Mid Houtian
	* 3 star : Late Houtian
	* 4 star : Early Xiantian
	* 5 star : Mid Xiantian
	* 6 star : Late Xiantian
3. King
	* 1 star : Early Revolving Core
	* 2 star : Mid Revolving Core
	* 3 star : Late Revolving Core
	* 4 star : 1-2 Life Destruction
	* 5 star : 3-4 Life Destruction
	* 6 star : 5-6 Life Destruction
4. Emperor
	* 1 star : Early Divine Sea (LD 5-6)
	* 2 star : Mid Divine Sea (LD 5-6)
	* 3 star : Late Divine Sea (LD 5-6)
	* 4 star : Early Divine Transformation
	* 5 star : Mid Divine Transformation
	* 6 star : Late Divine Transformation
	* Peak Divine Sea powerhouse with LD 8 almost always better than 6 star peak Emperor, but there is no 4-6 star Emperors in Holy Demon Continent
	* There is massive gap between 3 and 4 star Emperor like between 3 and 4 star King(Late Revolving Core > LD 1-2). 4 star Emperor is equivalent to Early Divine Transformation powerhouse
	* It's hard to compare due to different Life Destruction quality, fullness, brain, heart and other inner organs and spinal collunm and other bones decomposition, Revolving Core size, form and density, soul decomposition thoroughness(c838)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Glossary of Terms in Wuxia, Xianxia & Xuanhuan Novels
2. ↑ Chapter 891 – Seize
3. ↑ Chapter 307 – Medicine Strength Washing Marrow
4. ↑ Chapter 1193 – The Heaven Defying Divine Dream Law
5. ↑ Chapter 1133 – Divide
6. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 406
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Chapter 875 – Second Stage Life Destruction
8. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 504
9. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 634
10. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 841-1122
11. ↑ Chapter 1118 – Surging Origin Energy Clouds
12. ↑ Chapter 1118 – Surging Origin Energy Clouds
13. ↑ Chapter 1136 – Taking the Treasures
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Martial World, Chapter 1170-1384-1506
15. ↑ Chapter 1777 – Change in the Inner World
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Chapter 1954 – Attacking World King
17. ↑ Chapter 1960
18. ↑ Chapter 1955 – Lin Ming’s World
19. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 1960
20. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 1994
21. ↑ Chapter 2000B – Half-step Empyrean
22. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 2005
23. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 2061
24. ↑ Chapter 2242 - Before The Great Battle
25. ↑ Martial World, Chapter 2195
..