General Cultivation Infodump.

(still editing a bunch of this stuff I'm trying to make it make (some) sense yk)

Cultivation during the early Grades is divided into four paths: Mind, Body, Soul, and Heart. From Grade 6 and on, all paths unite to become one.

To advance into Grade 6 one needs to cultivate at least one path to rank 9 of Grade 5. The number of paths taken to this stage defines the quality of the ORIGIN, with them being qualified as Frail (1 path), Stable (2 paths), Mighty (3 paths), and Complete (4 paths). The quality of the ORIGIN also affects the quality of one's weave with one being limited to

The [Resonance] of paths is based on one's understanding of how the 4 paths act by themselves, with one another, and with the world itself. Advancing the 4 paths in a simultaneous and synchronized manner can help further increase one's understanding of the [Resonance] and thus the quality of their WEAVE. [Resonance] is divided into distorted (1-30%), clear (31-70%), reverberating (71-90%), limit (91-99%), and perfect (100%). It is generally considered that a true Perfect Resonance is impossible to achieve.

HEART:

The greatest difficulty to advancing all realms simultaneously is the HEART path, due to the extreme level of understanding needed to advance and the fact that it's the only path in which one can't simply replicate or follow the experiences of other cultivators, thus making HEART cultivation manuals essentially inexistent, despite the existence of techniques that use this path's 'energy'.

HEART-based attacks are also the hardest to defend against since techniques that affect the HEART can't simply be blocked or evaded, so the being with a weaker HEART path is guaranteed to suffer backlash during a clash, the severity of which can be low or as high as to possibly even damage their foundation in other paths if the disparity is large enough.

LIMIT AND TRUTH:

Limit is a phenomenon that may occur during Grades 1-10 whenever someone surpasses the common 'false' limit of power within a Grade, receiving from reality an irrevocable recognition for their efforts: a fragment of its [Truth].

Obtaining [Truth] from achieving Limit is almost obligatory for advancement during Grade 11 as it can notably reduce the danger of the otherwise highly deadly cycles of destruction that one undergoes during the Cataclysm grade. While it is possible to survive the cycles without having [Truth] it is highly improbable and results in almost certain death. Many choose to stay at the Inner Genesis grade since those in the Cataclysm stage are forced to undergo at least one of their cycles per Eon (1 billion years). One can also accelerate the rate at which they undergo the cycles if they wish to, though few do so and instead make use of as much of the time they have to gather more resources to guarantee their safety.

CULTIVATION

Grade 1 - Energy Gathering - Bone Strengthening - Soul Refinement - Heart Understanding (9 ranks + Limit)

Grade 2 - Ring Creation - Flesh Refinement - Soul Shaping - Still Heart (9 ranks + Limit)

Grade 3 - Energy Core - Organ Replacement - Soul Manifestation - Firm Heart (early-middle-late + Limit)

Grade 4 - Core Compression - True Body - Divine Sense - Heart Acceptance (early-middle-late + Limit)

Grade 5 - Core Division - True Samsara - Soul Severing - Eternal Heart (9 ranks + Limit)

Grade 6 - Origin Union (early-mid-late + Limit)

Grade 7 - Resonance Weave (simple-complex-intricate + Limit)

Grade 8 - (9 'peaks' + Limit)

Grade 9 - (early-middle-late + Limit)

Grade 10 - Inner Genesis (early-middle-late + Limit)

Grade 11 - Cataclysm (1-10 cycles)

Grade 12 - Empyrean Coronation (4 stages: sanctification-ascent-coronation-regime)

Grade 13 - ????????? (???)

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All techniques are divided into 4 levels of quality:

> Basic - early / 1-3

> Intermediate - mid / 4-6

> Advanced - late / 7-9

> Flawless - Limit

Cultivation Techniques are graded based on cultivation speed and energy quality while Combat Techniques are graded based on power, energy efficiency, speed, etc. They also follow the same system as Realms from Grades 1-13.

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Artifacts are divided into 5 levels of quality:

> Basic - early / 1-3

> Relic - mid / 4-6

> Masterwork - late / 7-9

> Flawless - Limit

Artifacts are divided into four main categories: Defensive, Offensive, Support, and Hybrid artifacts. They also follow the same system as Realms from Grades 1-13.