Realms & Stages

Every player starts at Body Refinement, Early-Stage and climbs toward immortality through seven realms, each split into four sub-stages: Early, Middle, Late and Peak. Twenty-eight rungs in all.

flowchart LR
    R1["Body<br/>Refinement"] --> R2["Qi<br/>Condensation"]
    R2 --> R3["Foundation<br/>Establishment"]
    R3 --> R4["Golden Core<br/>Formation"]
    R4 --> R5["Nascent<br/>Soul"]
    R5 --> R6["Soul<br/>Formation"]
    R6 --> R7["Void<br/>Refinement"]

The Ladder

Within each realm you advance Early → Middle → Late → Peak, then break through into the next realm's Early-Stage. Higher realms and stages grant additive max health and a percentage damage bonus, both tuned in Config.json.

Advancements vs. Breakthroughs

Both are real, timed meditation rituals. Bank enough Qi, sit down in a chunk whose Spirit Vein holds enough energy, and the ritual progresses for as long as you keep meditating.

The chunk-Qi requirement is a presence check, not a drain — the vein is not consumed by the ritual — but a vein that falls below the bar will pause the ritual until it regenerates.

Ritual Flow

flowchart TD
    S["Peak stage reached<br/>Qi requirement banked"]
    S --> M{"Sit in a chunk with<br/>750+ vein Qi?"}
    M -->|no| W["Ritual will not start"]
    M -->|yes| R["Breakthrough ritual<br/>24s × 1.35 per realm"]
    R --> X{"Stayed seated<br/>the whole time?"}
    X -->|"moved / stood up"| F["FAILURE<br/>demote one stage<br/>lose banked Qi"]
    X -->|yes| T["Tribulation lightning<br/>or Heart-Devil Trial"]
    T --> D{"Survived?"}
    D -->|no| F
    D -->|yes| G["New realm<br/>+3 skill points"]

Tuning the Curve

Nothing here is hardcoded. The realm/stage curve and its stat rewards live in Config.json; the ritual requirements above live in BreakthroughConfig.json. Both can be edited live in-game through /cultivation admin without touching a file or restarting the server.