Introduction

Cultivation is the internal and external process to enhance an individual to obtain magical powers and longevity. The process of which came into creation when mortal beings sought to transcend heaven and earth and reach a state of apotheosis, or to obtain eternal life. While long and arduous, the realms of cultivation is not uniform throughout all universes in the Chaos Sea, and different locations came up with their.

 

This guide list only the mainstream cultivation practised by the Chaos Godfiends and latter by the inhabitants of Pangu’s Chaos World. It’s emphasises the creation of internal spiritual constructs that act to connect an individual to first heaven and earth in order to study the intricate nature of Dao Laws that govern the physics of the universe.

 

Once an individual becomes a third order celestial being, a state where they have broken free of their home universe. They would begin the creation of their own path/Dao. By mimicking the all powerful source of all things, known by the godfiends as Grand Dao, these immortal being obtain tremendous magical powers and transcend even higher.

 

Chaos Worlds

Alternate name for a universe. Chaos Worlds are large ecosystems with their own timespace continuums located within the Chaos Sea. There are countless of them, some being strong while others being weak. Chaos Worlds can be considered living beings but are for the most part inert. They naturally survive for exactly one Chaos Cycle, unless they manage to absorb the lifespan of a dying third order celestial being or another Chaos World, which could expand their existence.

 

Within a normal Chaos World, numerous timelines can coexist with the most successful of which being the main timeline. The Heavenly Dao manages all these timelines and selects the main timeline. Only by breaking out of the Chaos World can an individual exit reincarnation but also unite all their counterparts into a single individual.

 

But prior to that, a person living in a timeline posses a soul, something each variant of them across timeline have. All these souls originates from the True Soul, which resides within the river of time outside all these timelines but still inside the Chaos World. A true soul is why a person is never born in control of themselves and is their truest self. It cannot survive on its own in the Chaos Sea, just like any other Heavenly Immortal.

 

The Primitive World created by Pangu does not have this timeline feature as it was designed to mimic the Chaos Sea.

 

Dao Laws

The natural laws of a Chaos World, IE a universe, that are the natural phenomena and laws of physics. They control the most principle functions of existence within a universe, anything from how fire functions, to how life comes to be, even as a record for all native martial arts. They are contained within the core of a Chaos World and can further be commanded by the Heavenly Dao, the will of the Chaos World.

 

A second order celestial being as defined by the Chaos Godfiends are those who would connect themselves to heaven and earth in order to study these laws. By doing so, they can arrest energy from the cosmos to enrich themselves and strengthen their internal construct. To them, it was also a way to have a template for when they would create their own unique Dao paths. Hence, to Chaos Godfiends, Dao Laws were little more than training wheels.

 

In the Primitive World created by Pangu, laws are divided into two levels. The Great Daos were created by arresting the Dao paths of the strongest 3000 Chaos Godfiends who were all Primal Zenith Chaos Immortals. The Lesser Daos were created from the weaker 108,000 Lesser Godfiends. These unique Daos are all contained and sealed into the core of the Primitive World, their Dao Law counterparts being only a projection of their true power.

 

As such mastering a Dao Law can never allow one to own these unique Daos. Should the real Dao somehow be taken away from the Primitive World and absorbed by an individual. That person could ascend to the same level as the previous holder of that Dao.

 

Realms

Mortal realms (Also broadly categorised as first order)

AIM: the creation of a strong foundation, the forging of internal constructs with earthly energy with the explicit purpose of transforming into celestial energy by connecting with heaven and sensing the Dao.

 

0. No cultivation

 

1. Meridian Opening

Using breathing exercises to absorb natural free flowing qi in the air and manipulating it inside the body, the twelve meridians are pushed open to swell until they become fully active where they absorb qi on their own. They can be tackled in any order until all twelve are fully active. This is when a beginner cultivator converge qi into their lower dantian to fully open up the qi sea.

 

The lifespan of different races would differ, but humans can live healthily upwards of a hundred years.

 

2. Foundation Establishment

Reached immediately upon opening up the qi sea. At the most basic level, the qi sea is a spiritual ocean contained within the body filled with potential energy. To advance in this realm is to construct a powerful foundation where one can build atop of. For cultivators, this foundation is a spiritual palace on top of the qi sea, he completion of which signifies the peak of Foundation Establishment.

 

Human lifespan doubles, around 200+ years

 

3. Core Formation

Condense both the spiritual palace and the qi sea, folding the latter into form a circular core. The colour of the formed core dictates how strong one’s foundation had been and determines future aspirations. The standard for which a person is expected to successfully transcend the Immortal Tribulation is the Golden Core. Hence the Core Formation realm is sometimes called the Golden Core realm. The highest variants of the spiritual core is gold, black, and purple in ascending order.

 

Human lifespan increases exponentially once the core forms to upwards of a thousand years.

 

4. Nascent Soul

This realm is regarded as the true first step into cultivation as the creation of a nascent soul is what allows a person to connect to heaven and earth to sense the myriad Dao Laws. When a Core Formation cultivator is ready, they hatch their core like an egg into a nascent soul which would resemble an infant upon first appearance. As a Nascent Soul cultivator progresses, this infant grows until roughly the age of 16. At that stage, the nascent soul is considered complete.

 

A Nascent Soul cultivator can fly as natural as walking without expending any qi. Previous realms can achieve flight using spells but starting at Nascent Soul, its something that doesn’t require thought. Nascent Souls can also leave the body and survive in the event of physical death. Nascent Souls are NOT the soul of a person, it is akin to a divine spirit within the body rather then the soul that goes into reincarnation upon death.

 

Human lifespan reaches a new limit of sixty cycles worth sixty years. The minimum lifespan is hence 3600 years, but can be extended by various means.

 

5. Nascent Divinity

To reach this stage, a cultivator must study and infer at least one of the 108,000 Lesser Daos. This allows for them to connect with and use diluted forms of immortal qi, the primeval essence of the universe beyond the Five Elements that make up life. Alternatively, a Nascent Soul cultivator can leave their home dimension to the void between realms in order to experience immortal qi, however this method is regarded as suicide for most as the pressure alone kills most individuals.

 

The aim here is the refine the body and begin the transformation from mortal to immortal, from earthly to celestial. The process of which involves cycling diluted immortal qi through the twelve meridians until they can completely transform.

 

6. Wordly Saint

When the immortal meridians are completed, it is still not nearly enough for a full celestial transformation. As such the creation of an inner cosmos is necessary. Immortals act to mimic the universe they inhabit, hence they light up stars and planets within themselves to create this inner cosmos using immortal qi.

 

7. Human Immortal/Earth Immortal/Loose Immortal

Once the internal is completed, the external is next. An Immortal physique needs to be perfect both internally and externally. With the completion of the inner cosmos, a cultivator has the knowledge and power to handle undiluted immortal qi. Such qi is used to reforge the physical body into an immortal physique. The final goal of which is to break away from the Five Elements be completely celestial in nature.

 

While Humans regard this as the final step before true immortality, hence they call it Human Immortal or Mortal Immortal. A demon regards it as Earth Immortal instead. Those who fail the tribulation but survive using their Nascent Soul collectively calls themselves Loose Immortal, meaning broken immortal.

 

The lifespan of a human peaks at around 10,000 years. It can never go beyond 10,000 years as that is a hard limit placed on mortal life.

 

Immortal (Broadly categorised as second order celestial lifeform)

1. True Immortal

Even the weakest True Immortal cultivator are vastly more powerful then a Human Immortal. They are no longer earthly beings and have a degree of cosmic awareness. They can easily predict the futures of mortal men and women and create/destroy small realms. Their unrestrained aura can completely crush an ordinary planet such as earth.

 

A True Immortal progresses by absorbing one of the five immortal qi, not the five elements qi that make up earthly life, but the real quintessence of the cosmos from which everything arose in the first place. The mastering of more Dao Laws helps in this endeavour as it opens the mind to more secrets to how the universe functions.

 

After one qi is absorbed, a True Immortal undergoes a second transformation where their bodies evolve until even another True Immortal can no longer touch them. This new status is the next realm, Profound Immortal.

 

2. Profound Immortal

At this stage, an immortal can fully sense the presence of the Great Dao, something any lesser being would only be vaguely aware of. Profound Immortals must act to unite all five immortal qi towards their origin in order to advance even further. The absorption of one qi alone causes interference from absorbing others, hence mastering Lesser and Great Daos enhances the mind, and power to handle this.

 

When all five qi are absorbed, connect them to the origin within the inner cosmos. This transforms a Profound Immortal into a Heavenly Immortal.

 

3. Heavenly Immortal

The apex of second order celestial beings. A Heavenly Immortal is the birth stage of ancestral innate lifeforms at the dawn of the Primitive World. They posses awe inspiring power compared to any lifeform at previous cultivation realms, completely untouchable by Profound Immortals. At this stage, a Heavenly Immortal works to forge the three splendours, also known as the three flower crowns.

 

Each crown is the culmination of an aspect of cultivation and each signifies exponentially increasing power. They can be tackled in any order but each are difficult to create with the resources available in most ordinary Chaos Worlds. But within the confines of the Primitive World, this difficulty is greatly lessened.

 

The flower crowns are Essence, Spirit, and Qi. Essence is representative of realised power, Spirit being the internal potential power, Qi being life energy. A triple crowned Heavenly Immortal can live up to a single Chaos Cycle, the time it takes for a universe to live and die as this is how long souls are designed to exist for. They could theoretically live past this limit, but need someway to survive the collapse of a dying universe and to extend the health of their soul. Even then, they’ll never be able to breakthrough unless they salvage their true soul from destruction along with the universe.

 

In the Primitive World, a Chaos Cycle is referred to as a yuanhui. The Chaos Godfiends calculated this time as 129,600 years. But since time isn’t consistent within the Chaos Sea(multiverse), where the only constant is how long it takes for a universe to live and die, a Chaos Cycle could be as few as a second to as long as billions of years. It all depends on how a Chaos World experiences time.

 

Advanced Immortal (Third order celestial lifeform)

The most basic level of existence one needs to be in order to survive in the Chaos Sea. An individual at this stage have broken free of all chains of a Chaos World and are truly free to explore all possibilities. Completely immune to the flow of time(unless some powerful individual forces that concept on them)

 

In order to break past Heavenly Immortal, a triple crowned Heavenly Immortal have to undergo the Golden Immortal tribulation. Essentially, this is a tug of war with the Heavenly Dao. A cultivator reaches into the river of time, pushing pass all its restrictions with their power to search for their true soul. Then begins the battle for who gets to control their true soul, the Chaos World represented by the Heavenly Dao, or the person. The Heavenly Dao will fight tooth and nail to stop the Heavenly Immortal.

 

But if successful, the true soul will be absorbed by the triple crowned Heavenly Immortal. The individual gains their true self back and in doing so evolves beyond what the Chaos World can control. All their variants across timelines fuse into the Heavenly Immortal and they become singular throughout all existence. They then grow to become larger then what a Chaos World can define.

 

1. Golden Immortal

Most basic level of lifeforms in the Chaos Sea. They are so powerful that even a breath of theirs can totally annihilate a Chaos World. This stage is what chaos lifeforms were born at, most godfiends started at this stage. Innate gods from the Primitive World are also born here, deemed innate gods because they are in full ownership of themselves. They do not reincarnate, and cannot be defined as alive nor dead. They exist and if their existence is extinguished, thats the end.

 

They posses infinite lifespan and infinite energy, limited only by output due to their cultivation. They can infer the full meaning of all Dao Laws at a single glance. A Golden Immortal reaches towards the next step comparatively quick. This is because forging a primal unity is a simple process and only requires a steady mind.

 

Yin and yang, spiritual and corporeal, becomes harmonised. The Dao heart remains steady and firm, a Golden Immortal as defined by the Chaos Godfiends have one mission. That is to seek the Dao in its entirety.

 

2. Great Unity Golden Immortal

The great unity forming is the first step. Inside the inner cosmos, this platform is born as the base from which a cosmic tree will grow. A Great Unity Golden Immortal searches through all kinds of methods to discover their own path. All methods are deemed valid as long as the correct path is determined. The Dao heart, a merger of determination for the Dao, willpower, and utter faith in the chosen Dao path is crucial so that the cosmic tree can grow.

 

The cosmic tree that sprouts atop the unity platform is representative of the growth of the created Dao path. In order for it to be born, in order for a Dao to come into existence, the Golden Immortal cultivator needs to enter a state of self delusion.

 

A Dao by its very nature is a way of defining the universe. It’s creator’s personality and beliefs, as well as gathered knowledge influences its creation, both Dao and cultivator influence each other in a symbiotic relationship. When a Dao starts, to any other person, it would be a ridiculous concept. Something that makes absolutely no sense.

 

Hence, the sprouting of the cosmic tree coincides with the birth of the idea that would go on the become the unique Dao. This is called Delusional Idea, the embryonic stage of the Dao.

 

As a Golden Immortal becomes more and more self assured in that delusional idea, it grows the cosmic tree. The Dao at its core is akin to a conspiracy theory slowly becomes truth until it eventually defines all existence. Through dedication that can only be described as insanity, delusional thought becomes illusionary idea.

 

An illusionary idea represents a Dao about to come into physical form. The cosmic tree has already grown to completion and is about to sprout fruit. This fruit is the true form of the Dao.

 

3. Chaos Immortal

The highest form of immortals. Chaos Immortals are the true apex of existence with unimaginable powers for most people. The Chaos Godfiends all stood at this realm and could easily destroy and create Chaos Worlds if they so wished. A cultivator at this stage does not care for much as nothing but another being at this realm can even come close to hurting them.

 

The progression in this realm is also unlike all previous realms, it relies on understanding of one’s Dao rather then direct power or the creation of internal constructs. While deeper understanding in the Dao and combat ability have a positive correlation, it is not guarantee that a Chaos Immortal with low comprehension is inferior in a fight then a Chaos Immortal with high comprehension.

 

Some would consider Chaos Immortals to be closer to living concepts then an actual person. And that any battle between them is closer to two concepts smashing against each other, or a debate on two topics rather then a true battle.

 

The Chaos Immortal realm itself also contains 4 subrealms. In its entirety, Chaos Immortal represents a greater gulf then mortal to Golden Immortal. Only a Chaos Immortal can call themselves experts in the Chaos Sea.

 

1 - Great Principle - the Dao has come into physical form, birthing as an actualised Dao fruit. As a Dao fruit, the Dao is now considered an intricate theory with plenty of supporting evidence. When in combat, the Dao fruit manifests when one is using any form of spells or martial arts as it defines anything its owner does. Great Principle Chaos Immortals are the basic level of Chaos Immortals and revered by many in the Primitive World as mighty figures.

 

2 - Primal Origin - Intricate theory becomes confirmed law as a Primal Origin Chaos Immortal. The Dao fruit physically morphs due to advanced understanding that makes the Dao into a law with very few loopholes that could be argued against. While an intricate theory Dao fruit all look alike, confirmed law Dao fruits all posses engravings that differentiates them from each other.

 

3 - Primal Zenith - The Dao has become an unquestioned truth. A pinnacle of cultivation referred to as the final realm. A Primal Zenith Chaos Immortals are apex lifeforms inside both the Chaos Sea and Pangu’s Primitive World. The 3000 Chaos Godfiends were all Primal Zenith Chaos Immortals of substantial power. A Dao fruit at this level has no loopholes and cannot be argued against as anything other than a fact. Within its own path, this Dao is complete and can no longer be inferred to have additional meanings. It stops resembling a fruit and now resembles something that defines it.

 

4 - Limitless Supreme - closer to myth then fact. A Limitless Supreme Chaos Immortal was considered a distant hope for the vast majority of the Chaos Godfiend’s existence. In order to advance to this stage, a Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal need to learn how their personal Dao can encompass everything. IE how their a Dao can birth every other Dao in existence.

 

TLDR:

Delusional Thought = Beginner Great Unity Golden Immortal

Illusionary Idea = Peak Great Unity Golden Immortal

Intricate Theory = Great Principle Chaos Immortal

Confirmed Law = Primal Origin Chaos Immortal

Unquestioned Truth = Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal

 

3.5 Unthroned Dao realm

Not an actual realm or even worded in the story, just a description for a Limitless Supreme Chaos Immortal who is able to but did not take the final step to the Dao realm. Pangu would’ve been the only one at this stage. Pangu had already understood how his Dao can transform into every other Dao. His Dao was the same as a Dao realm being’s Dao but he did not take the final step and transcend. If he did, he would’ve not died from the backlash of creating the Primitive World.

 

Dao

1. Dao realm

The final realm within the story.