Cultivation Concepts/Titles

This page is a collection of the more specific and detailed explanations of the various Cultivation Concepts and Titles presented in Martial Peak. Many of these explanations can also be viewed on the pages for the specific Cultivation Realms or Worlds to which they generally apply. For a more general overview on cultivation overall, check out the Cultivation page.

## Energies/Strengths

Below are descriptions for the various types of Energy that exist within the novel.

### World Energy

Also known as **World's Spiritual Energy**, this is the purest form of energy residing within the atmosphere of worlds that are suited for cultivation. Cultivators use World Energy to fill, refill, and temper their reserves of the various different types of Yuan Qi generated from their bodies. The amount of World Energy within a world is tied to the level of Martial Dao that world allows one to achieve.

### Divine Soul Strength/Spiritual Energy

This is the power of the Divine Soul. All living organisms have a Divine Soul with varying amounts of power. The strength of one's Divine Soul determines the power and/or range of one's Divine Sense, Knowledge Sea, and Divine Soul Attacks. Human cultivators develop these particular abilities upon reaching the Immortal Ascension Boundary. In the DDL translation, the energy of the Divine Soul is referred to as **Spiritual Energy**.

To replenish or supplement Divine Soul Strength after its expenditure, most cultivators rely on simple rest or Pills. However, select cultivators have Secret Arts that help to increase their natural rate of recovery to varying effect.

### Human Cultivation Energies

Below are listed the various Cultivation Energies used by Human Race cultivators.

#### Yuan Qi

Normal Yuan Qi is the initial internal energy of a cultivator who has taken their first steps on the path of Martial Dao, and is naturally generated from one's Dantian (the main focal point of one's meridian network). Starting at the Tempered Body 7th Stage, cultivators can start gathering the surrounding World Energy of the atmosphere to build up and replenish the Yuan Qi within their Dantian and meridians, allowing them to start their practice of Martial Skills. Increasing small realms allows cultivators to store increasingly larger amounts of Yuan Qi.

At the Initial Element Stage, cultivators can start using their Yuan Qi in techniques, but cannot yet mobilize it for use outside of the body. This becomes possible at the Qi Transformation Stage. This checkpoint is also the first time a cultivator experiences a **World Baptism**, which strengthens a cultivators blood and physique. A cultivator’s ability to manipulate their Yuan Qi only improves as they move toward and through the Separation and Reunion Boundary.

Some cultivators, like Yang Kai, can store massive amounts of Yuan Qi in their Dantian based off of other Attribute Energies they receive from the Environment or other external sources. This was demonstrated in Yang Kai's practice of the True Yang Secret Art, which allowed him to store a vast amount of Yang Yuan Qi in his Dantian, in addition to the normal Yuan Qi flowing throughout his meridians. These variations of Yuan Qi upgrade along with the normal variant.

#### True Qi

Also known as True Yuan Qi, True Qi is the purified form of Yuan Qi that a cultivator attains upon breaking through to the True Element Boundary, and is likewise dramatically more powerful than Yuan Qi. True Qi is notable for being the first internal energy that allows for cultivators to fly, but it also allows cultivators to display Secret Techniques and methods that are impossible for Yuan Qi to perform. For instance, Yang Kai began his practice on Space Force through the use of his True Qi and Divine Soul Strength. Cultivators will retain their True Qi from the True Element Boundary all the way up through the Transcendent Realm.

#### Saint Qi

Much like the purification of Yuan Qi to True Qi, Transcendent Realm Peaks must sanctify their True Qi into Saint Qi in order to break through to the Saint Realm. Saint Qi is far more powerful than True Qi, allows cultivators to perform even more powerful techniques, and is used by cultivators all the way up through the Origin King Realm. Saint Qi is also one of the required elements for forming Shi at the Origin Returning Realm.

#### Source Qi

The strength of a cultivator's Source, Source Qi is what Saint Qi must be completely converted to in order to reach the Dao Source Realm, and is what sets the foundation for these cultivators to transfer the strength of World Principles. This process requires a world with strong enough World Principles to allow for this conversion to take place (i.e Ancestral Domain, Star Boundary). For instance, it was impossible for any cultivator of the Heng Luo Star Field to transform their Saint Qi into Source Qi, and thus cultivators could not progress past the 3rd Order Origin King Realm for a lifetime.

Even when possible, the conversion process can take a relatively long time (i.e. several decades or longer). Refining a Star Source before entering the Starlight Corridor between the Star Fields and Star Boundary and/or taking Source Condensing Pills can help to significantly speed up this process.

#### Emperor Qi

The known pinnacle of internal cultivation energy, Emperor Qi has no shortcuts in its conversion from Source Qi. However, unlike when moving from Saint Qi to Source Qi, one does not have to completely transform their Source Qi into Emperor Qi to reach the Emperor Realm, though they will not be able to display the true strength of the Emperor Realm until they do so. The purest form of Emperor Qi is attained, and thus the most powerful, when an Emperor has condensed a Dao Seal.

### World Force

#### Great Emperor

Also known as the **Power of Heaven and Earth**, World Force is the strength of a Universe World's Source, and can only be motivated by one who has gained the acknowledgement of the Heavenly Way to become a Great Emperor. As the strength of an entire Universe World, the World Force is far more powerful and mysterious than the strength of World Principles, and can be used to greatly enhance their power. This of course makes Great Emperors virtually invincible existences among all other Emperor Realm and below cultivators. The World Force of most Universe Worlds does not exceed Low Rank Open Heaven Realm in strength.

#### Open Heaven

Having successfully condensed the Yin-Yang + 5 Elements into their Dao Seal in order to form a Small Universe within their bodies, Open Heaven Realm cultivators, as the undisputed masters of their world, can generate and use their own World Force. At High Rank, these cultivators are amongst the most powerful beings in the 3,000 Worlds, as the World Force grants them the capital to contend with the strength of both the Monster Race and Divine Spirits.

### Martial Dao True Intent

Also known as **Martial Truth** (DDL Translation), Martial Dao True Intent is the condensed essence of a lifetime’s cultivation belonging to a master who has reached an unspecified, deep level of comprehension toward the Martial Dao. Carrying many profound and abstruse strengths and attributes, Martial Dao True Intent is shown to have extraordinary destructive and corrosive properties that are extremely hard to drive out and/or resist, threatening even Great Emperor-level powerhouses.

Likewise, due in large part to comprehending the True Intents left behind by the Flowing Time Great Emperor and the Great Demon God of Demon Realm during the Demon War of Star Boundary, Yang Kai becomes capable of killing Pseudo-Great Emperors despite only being a 3rd Order Emperor. Although it is never specified what qualifications one needs to be able to comprehend Martial Dao True Intent, it is said during the Demon War that even Great Emperors would have a difficult time doing so.

### Other Race Energies

Below are the unique energy descriptions for the other races presented in Martial Peak.

#### Demon Qi

Demon Race energies follow the same pattern as human cultivators for the equivalent cultivation realms, with the only difference being they are all collectively referred to as Demon Qi despite the difference in qualities between the Qi of different realms. Demon Qi also has a corrosive/corruptive effect, causing human cultivators to become demonized with sufficient exposure or potency.

#### Monster Qi

The universally named energy of the Monster Race, Monster Qi comes in varying states of power comparable to human cultivation realms. Monster Qi can be highly corrosive, turning Human Race into feral beasts if they are not strong enough to resist its effects.

#### Divine Spirit Source Strength

Divine Spirits have extraordinarily powerful natural strength that originates from their **bloodlines** and **Sources**. At a very young age, most Divine Spirits are already capable of displaying Emperor level strength, and their energy is named after their particular Clan (i.e. Dragon Qi). However, as Divine Spirits become fully grown, their Bloodline Strength becomes comparable to High Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivators, and is simply referred to as Divine Spirit Source Strength.

Later, it is revealed that the Source Strength of Divine Spirit Bloodlines stems from their relation to the 1st Light of the Outer Universe.

## Heavenly Way/Martial Dao

Consisting of the **3,000 Grand Daos**, the **Heavenly Way** describes the overall reality and will of every individual world, and determines the limits of their **Martial Dao**. Because any world's Martial Dao is determined by its Heavenly Way, the two terms are often referenced together, with Martial Dao referring specifically to a cultivator's martial practice and its limitations/possibilities. With regards to cultivation, the important aspects of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao are described below:

### World Baptism

Starting with the Qi Transformation Stage, cultivators will trigger a World Baptism upon their promotion to the next Great Realm. In this way, the Heavenly Way of the world bombards the cultivators body, tempering their blood and physique, and setting the foundation for them to use their new found power. For each major realm transition, the World Baptisms get increasingly more powerful, and cultivators often must take means to protect or heal themselves in order to survive. Upon promoting to the Origin Returning Realm, World Baptisms universally become extremely dangerous.

Because the Heavenly Way is fair, World Baptisms are particularly more powerful for cultivators who have gained extraordinary and Heaven-defying opportunities on their pursuit of the Martial Dao. For example, when Yang Kai promoted to the Emperor Realm, his World Baptism shockingly included World Force, indicating that the Heavenly Way did not accommodate for the existence of one so fortunate.

### World Principles

Every world's Heavenly Way consists of a collective congregation of World Principles, also simply called Principles. These Principles of the Heavenly Way determine the reality, rules, boundaries, strength, and Martial Dao of their respective World. The **3,000 Grand Daos** are each represented by corresponding World Principles. Though each real world has a complete set of World Principles, the structure, strength, and significance of each set of Principles can vary greatly between worlds, making their Heavenly Ways unique.

#### Examples

These are some examples of named Grand Daos in Martial Peak: Space, Time, Spirit Array, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Puppetry, Sword, Blade, Spear, Ice, Thunder, Beast Taming, Bustling World, Blood, Heartless, Emotion, Wind, Natural, Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall, Life and Death, Karma, Slaugtering, Bloodlust, Yin, Yang, Gold, Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, etc. (3,000 Grand Daos/myriad Grand Daos = Countless/All)

### Principle Strength (Law Strength)

#### Dao Source

Upon reaching the Dao Source Realm, cultivators get access to the ability to sense World Principles, and can eventually transfer the power of these Principles into their attacks to enhance their techniques with the world's strength. Developing one's sensibility toward Principles is extremely difficult, and is required for a cultivator to progress on the path of the Martial Dao. As such, most cultivators focus on developing sensibility toward the use and manipulation of only one Principle Strength, which is a basic requirement for reaching the Emperor Realm. Refining or consuming a Star Source greatly aids a cultivator in this respect, making this opportunity highly coveted by many Dao Source Realm and above martial artists.

#### Emperor

Upon promoting to the Emperor Realm, cultivators should be able to start controlling their respective Principles, and must continue to master this ability in order to promote further. Upon becoming a Peak Emperor Realm cultivator (Pseudo-Great Emperor), a cultivator has reached a relatively high level of control over their respective Principles, and can display extraordinary power through their use. Only those with a Great Emperor cultivation level (i.e. Peak Emperor Realm cultivators w/ a **Dao Seal**) have a superior comprehension and control of Principles when compared to Pseudo-Great Emperors within most Universe Worlds.

#### Dao Seal/Great Emperor

As stated earlier, an Emperor has not reached the pinnacle of their world in controlling Principles until they gain sufficient sensibility toward their Grand Dao and condense a Dao Seal. However, Universe Worlds have a limit/bottleneck by the strength of their Heavenly Way for acknowledging cultivators to be able to do so. Therefore, after seizing this Heaven-defying chance, a cultivator must condense their lifetime Martial Arts practice, energies, and foundation around their Grand Dao to form a Dao Seal. These cultivators, in addition to becoming **Great Emperors**, have reached the peak of their world in controlling their Principles. In Star Boundary, each Great Emperor gets a title for the Grand Dao upon which their Dao Seal is based, as they represent the embodiment of that aspect of their world's Heavenly Way.

#### Dao Seal w/o Great Emperor

In the Outer Universe, Peak Emperor Realm cultivators are no longer restrained by the limits of the Heavenly Way, and it's much easier to condense a Dao Seal. Cultivators who condense a Dao Seal without the acknowledgement of a Universe World's Heavenly Way cannot become Great Emperors, but can promote to Open Heaven Realm. In some Universe Worlds, like the true Small Universe World of a High Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivator, cultivators can condense a Dao Seal without becoming a Great Emperor if the Heavenly Way is strong enough. Other known examples are when a Universe World has acquired a World Tree Subtree, or just has an extremely high level of Martial Dao. For these reasons, condensing a Dao Seal and having the Great Emperor title are not completely synonymous.

#### Open Heaven

Upon reaching Open Heaven Realm, the Small Universe of a cultivator has its own World Principles, with their Grand Daos existing within it in the form of particularly rich and obvious **Dao Marks.** Dao Marks represent each of the 3,000 Grand Daos for which a cultivator has sufficient comprehension and attainments. If an Open Heaven Realm cultivator can improve or gain more sufficient comprehension to other Daos, they can develop and/or improve the quality of other Dao Marks within their Small Universe.

However, gaining attainments on any Grand Dao is an extremely difficult and time consuming effort, and even the most talented of Open Heaven Realm cultivators are said to virtually never have deep attainments on more than 2-3 Grand Daos. Correspondingly, the Grand Daos a cultivator has never browsed will not be noticeable within their Small Universe. At High Rank Open Heaven Realm, the World Principles of a cultivator finally become perfect/complete, and their Small Universe becomes a true Universe World capable of holding and growing life within it. The Dao Marks of a High Rank’s Small Universe will give any cultivator that resides within it far easier sensibility and comprehension toward their corresponding Principles relative to others.

### Yang Kai's Grand Dao Attainment System

This system, which measures an Open Heaven Realm cultivator's attainment/strength in a particular Grand Dao, has 9 Levels. It is founded in Chapter 4569.

### Martial Dao Limits

The World Principles of a world are the primary determinants of a world's level of Martial Dao. The stronger the Principles of a world, the higher the level of Martial Dao, and the higher the cultivation realms a cultivator can reach. Therefore, if the Principles of a world are weakened or strengthened, its Martial Dao will follow. However, the strength of a World's Principles are not always the same as a world's allowed level of Martial Dao, as the World Principles can intentionally restrict cultivators that are too powerful from entering a world despite being more than sufficient to handle their strength. A world's level of World Principles/Martial Dao usually correlates to the strength of its World Force.

### Rejection

If cultivators defy the restrictions of the World Principles, they will retaliate in some form. For instance, Heng Luo Star Field rejected any cultivator above the Origin King Realm that resided within it if they used their true power. The more a cultivator ignores the rejection of the Heavenly Way, the stronger its means of rejection will become. This extremely unpeaceful predicament is usually enough to convince even sufficiently powerful cultivators to acquiesce to the restrictions in order to avoid further trouble. Of course, if a cultivator is much more powerful than a world, they can completely ignore the rejection of the Heavenly Way and even destroy the world outright.

## Chaos Divides/Creation

All Grand Daos, and thus all World Principles, stem from **Chaos**. This process can be viewed through the Endless River of the Universe Furnace:

1. Chaos initially divides into the Yin-Yang Grand Daos
2. The Yin-Yang Grand Daos divide into the 5 Element Grand Daos
3. From the 5 Element Grand Daos lives all of the myriad Grand Daos
4. From the 3,000 Grand Daos stems all worlds.

Understanding the cycle of the myriad Grand Daos returning to and from Chaos is key to World Creation.

## Titles

These are the special Cultivation Titles found throughout Martial Peak. They are referred to as titles because they rely on an external strength, and are separate from a cultivator's actual cultivation level. All of these titles allow cultivators to borrow the strength of their World's Principles with increasing scale and significance in power. Great Emperor/World Master, however, grant the significant, unique, and additional benefit of moving the World Force.

### Star Master

#### Support of the World's Strength

The Star Source of a Cultivation Star can be refined by cultivators so that they become the Star Master of that respective Star. This process carries great risk, even for 3rd Order Origin King Realm cultivators. If achieved, a Star Master enters an intimate relationship with their Star, and is able to unconsciously borrow the strength of its World Principles to display strength far beyond their own. This makes Star Masters a virtually invincible existence against other Origin King Realm martial artists on their respective Cultivation Star. However, as the strength of the World Principles are only unconsciously borrowed through the power of the Star's Source, these cultivators are unable to use their strength when too far away from their Star.

However, as long as they are not too far away within their Cultivation Star's Star Field, Star Masters can draw support from the Source Strength of their Star to temporarily boost their power. This is called **Star Force Support**. Of course, drawing on a Star's Source for support has a deleterious affect on its background, which can take thousands of years to recover.

#### Relationship

If a Star Master suffers or prospers, their Cultivation Star will too. The same is true vice-versa. The beneficial effects a Star Master can have on a world were demonstrated by the effect that Yang Kai's promotion to the Origin King Realm had on Shadowed Star, whose damaged World Principles were fixed to allow Origin King Realm martial artists to exist on it.

#### Star Source True Value

However, the biggest advantage of refining a complete Star Source is actually the sensibility one gains toward the strength of World Principles. Star Masters also have another advantage when traveling to Star Boundary, as they are able to far more quickly convert their Saint Qi into Source Qi within the Starlight Corridor. The increased sensibility toward World Principles allows for these cultivators to reach the Emperor Realm far more easily than all but the most talented native cultivators of Star Boundary. Star Masters must be very careful upon arriving in Star Boundary, as, due to the benefits they bring in regard to Principles, complete Star Sources are highly coveted by even Emperor Realm powerhouses, whom have the means to remove them from a cultivator in order to take as their own.

### Star Field Master

Star Field Masters are cultivators who have refined the Source, in the form of a real-time Star Chart, of an entire Star Field. Star Field Masters can direct or redirect the entire power of their respective Star Field, as well as all the Stars that reside within it. Having become one with the World Principles of their respective Star Field, Star Field Masters will not be rejected by the Heavenly Way even if their cultivation level far exceeds the limit of what a Star Field allows (i.e. above the 3rd Order Origin King Realm). Likewise, Star Field Masters are also able to freely borrow and transfer the Principle Strength of their respective Star Field.

### Great Emperor

Great Emperors and World Masters share the common features of being able to motivate the strength of the Source of a Universe World, i.e. World Force. Great Emperors are Peak Emperor Realm cultivators who have condensed Dao Seals through the acknowledgement of a Universe World's Heavenly Way. Likewise, Great Emperors become the literal embodiment of their Grand Dao relative to their Universe World's Heavenly Way. Having become an extension of their World's Will, Great Emperors, like the previous titles, can borrow the strength of the World Principles other than their Grand Dao while within/near enough to their Universe World. For example, many Great Emperors have been shown to be capable of teleporting with the aid of their world's strength, despite not having any comprehension or attainments on Space Principles.

If Great Emperors betray their World, the World's Will can abandon them, stripping them of their ability to borrow the strength of World Principles other than their Grand Dao, and, more significantly, their ability to motivate the World Force. An example of this is when the traitorous Can Ye, as the Night Shadow Great Emperor, lost his Great Emperor privileges in the Final Battle of Star Boundary.

#### Monster Race

Since the start of the Human Race Era, only the Human Race, and their variants (ex: Demon Race), have been able to receive the acceptance of the Heavenly Way to achieve Great Emperor. However, this convention would finally be broken when Ying Bao, carrying the Divine Soul Clone of Yang Kai, became the first known Monster Race Great Emperor of the Era. The rules for a Monster Race achieving Great Emperor appear to be very different from that of Human Race cultivators. This is namely due to the fact that it is done during the breakthrough to Monster Emperor (equivalent of Open Heaven Realm), and does not seem to involve the condensing of a Dao Seal.

### World Master

World Masters are cultivators who for one reason or another, are connected to or have refined the Source of a Universe World. Though very similar to Great Emperors, World Masters are even more closely tied to the Source of their respective world, and thus have total control of its power and existence. This means that, unlike Great Emperor, the Heavenly Way of a World Master's world has no means to reject their will, even if they bring it harm. Both of these titles allow cultivators to display varying levels of Open Heaven Realm strength depending on the strength of their world's Heavenly Way.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 451
2. ↑ Chapter 32
3. ↑ Chapter 156
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 930
5. ↑ Chapter 2053
6. ↑ Chapter 2462
7. ↑ Chapter 3828
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 2499
9. ↑ Chapter 3718
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 3742
11. ↑ Chapter 3719
12. ↑ Chapter 3720
13. ↑ Chapter 5630
14. ↑ Chapter 5670
15. ↑ Chapter 1618
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Chapter 5427
17. ↑ Chapter 2013
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chapter 5765
19. ↑ Chapter 4266
20. ↑ Chapter 2331
21. ↑ Chapter 5430
22. ↑ Chapter 2102
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Chapter 1937
24. ↑ Chapter 3313
25. ↑ Chapter 3790
26. ↑ Chapter 4309
27. ↑ Chapter 5436
28. ↑ Chapter 4657
29. ↑ Chapter 5604
30. ↑ Chapter 5308
31. ↑ Chapter 5764
32. ↑ Chapter 5808
33. ↑ Chapter 5772
34. ↑ Chapter 5773
35. ↑ Chapter 1624
36. ↑ Chapter 1834
37. ↑ Chapter 1927
38. ↑ Chapter 2691
39. ↑ Chapter 3796
40. ↑ Chapter 5613