Cultivation

"If you incorporate this thought within you, amongst your other thoughts; he maintains: "It will transform you. If for everything you wish to do you begin by asking yourself: 'Am I certain I want to do this an infinite number of times?' this will become for you the greatest weight."

― Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

The power to advance one's state of being through cultivation. Sub-power of Thrivation.

Also Called[]

Archetype:Cultivator/Cultivator Physiology
Cultivated Self-Development/Improvement
Self Cultivation

Capabilities[]

The user can cultivate anything to self-improve themselves in any specific ways to permanently strengthen their form (Body, Mind, Spirit and/or Soul) over time. Users can cultivate things from their energies like chi/psi/mantra or aura, magic, etc. any other kind of thing they need such as knowledge, creativity or so on, all for the sole purpose for them to advance themselves to higher degrees for the betterment. This can be accomplished in a wide variety of ways, such as martial arts training, grasping the Dao, having a perception-altering realization, magical potions or spirit stones, meditation (especially in areas rich in various types of qi/energy for them to absorb), the infamous "Dual Cultivation" method & so on.

Through refined control of their internal energy, cultivators unlock incredible physical prowess, exceeding human standards in terms of strength, speed, and resilience. Additionally, they gain access to potent energy projection, enabling the deployment of powerful blasts, the creation of defensive shields, the ability to heal, and even telekinetic feats and flight. Cultivation extends beyond the physical, venturing into the realm of the spiritual and mental. This refinement opens doors to heightened perception, precognitive abilities, communication with the immaterial realm, and even control over one's own soul and potentially the manipulation of others' souls as well. Most cultivation systems employ a tiered framework of distinct realms or stages, each signifying significant advancement and unlocking new abilities. These stages serve as both milestones and motivators on the path to ultimate power. Cultivation employs a diverse array of methods to refine energy and propel progress. These include meditation practices, rigorous martial arts training, the consumption of specific resources, and even the formation of pacts with spiritual entities.

Cultivators may develop sophisticated illusions, mind control abilities, powerful summoning spells, the manipulation of various elements, and even the mastery of alchemical processes. As individuals ascend through the ranks of cultivation, they gain access to increasingly potent abilities, potentially influencing time, space, and even the fundamental fabric of reality. Cultivation often leads to profound spiritual insight, granting cultivators wisdom, control over their own destiny, and even the ability to defy natural laws. Embarking on the path of Cultivation is not without its trials. It demands unwavering dedication, rigorous discipline, and the willingness to embrace substantial risk. Talent and individual potential also play significant roles in determining the speed and success of one's progress. Additionally, various fictional universes may introduce unique variations to their cultivation systems, incorporating different forms of energy, distinct ranks, and specialized abilities.

Applications (Foundation)[]

Any type of Energy Manipulation: A basic requirement to perform.
- Energy Absorption: If cultivation is done with energy taken from outside.
- Energy Empowerment: Becomes stronger or gaining abilities when they come into contact with energy.
- Energy Generation: If cultivation is done with energy taken from within.
Any/all kinds of Meditation: Practicing such a facet of mind/body unison strengthens and accelerates core development.
- Adaptive Development: Meditative practices also cause profound transition.
  - Accelerated Development: If the cultivator finds a dense energy source, they can develop itself much faster.
    - Limitation Transcendence: It can also make them go beyond their limits.
  - Takigyou Meditation: Can utilize Takigyou, a form of meditation practiced under a waterfall for development.
- Force Connection: Become stronger, faster, more durable, etc. when they absorb & channel dynamic forces.
  - Assimilative Evolution: Can absorbing differing energies to not only regenerate their bodies with the absorbed amount. But physically redefining the developmental processes as well as the speed of which ones body grows.
- Meditative Floating: Can float and hover while meditating or entering a meditative state, position, or stance.
- Spiritual Meditation: Can enter or have achieved oneness with their spiritual essence and mind.
  - Spiritual Adaptation: Through the practice of advanced core processing, one can modulate the soul in order to reinforce the body.
- Training Regimen: Prolonged cultivation actions or meditations may be required to acquire these abilities.
  - Ability Creation: Can acquire abilities based on the type of energy they absorb.
  - Supernatural Art: Using specific arts to gain specific powers and physique

Applications (Usages)[]

Usage methods may vary depending on the type of energy. Since each energy has its own characteristics, personal development with it will vary. For example, someone who cultivates with demonic energy may become demonic. One who cultivates with celestial/heavenly energy can elevate their consciousness to the higher levels of the celestial/heavenly realms. One who cultivates with physical energy can bend the laws of physics and have a physically strengthened body. Examples can be multiplied further, but the main thing is to understand the logic.

Lower Consciousness: As the person cultivates, they have a more and more awareness of themselves over time.
- Clouded Mind: Access to the baser elements enables feeding the more primeval aspects of the psyche.
- Self-Mastery: Withhold perfected ascertaining of ones internal/external being and compel it accordingly.
  - Cellular Consciousness/Genetic Consciousness/Molecular Consciousness/Atomic Consciousness/Quantum Consciousness
Higher Consciousness: Can gain a new state of development in consciousness while meditating and nourishing from universal energy.
- Clear Mind: Can train one's mind to be cleaner and stronger.
  - Enlightenment: User can reach the level of enlightenment through cultivation.
  - Inner Sight: Has reached mental observational elevation, allowing them true sight of the fullest comprehension regarding all things.
- Personal Subtle Body Manipulation: Through the use of internal energy recycling, one can utilize their full spiritual/esoterical potential to their fullest extent.
  - Astral Plane Connection: With intense meditative trancing users are able to build an established link to the world beyond. Further bolstering their refinement processes.
  - Ley Line Connection: Practice with ones own energy circulation enables users to draw upon externalized sources of energy from the natural and supernatural worlds. Enabling the connection to the world flow via life-veins.
Self Supremacy: Through processing of internal capacities, users can attain a certain oneness with their own personal anima that brings everything under their concise purview.
- Body Supremacy: Can control and change their body with energy.
  - Bodily Aspect Enhancement: Can select any physical attributes of their anatomy, biology or physiology and focus on/enhance them, enabling drastic changes from enhancing skin density to shifting the malleability of the skeletal structure and generating new organs with various functions.
    - Accelerated Muscle Development: Has the ability to develop their muscles faster than normal.
  - Energized Body: Can enhance themselves through absorbing energy and converting it into bodily energy to perform superhuman feats.
  - Personal Functionality: Through deep bodily internal/external refinement. One undergoes subtle changes that better allows for processing as well as accumulating greater reprocessing power.
  - Replenishment: Focus one internal force in order to restore oneself from fatigue by using all available resources.
    - Energy Healing: Can heal oneself with energy.
- Mindshifting: Can improve and change their mental abilities via energy.
  - Fathomless Mind: When ones mental progression reaches a certain apex, they can ascend their corporeal material and gain new insight.
  - Inner Reading: By modifying one's own mental frame, one can internally grasp the full makeup of their body in its entirety.
  - Mind Adjustment: Alternate ones one psyche in order to better focus and moderate thought processes, neural responses and memory recall.
  - Neuro-Psychic Knowledge: Can modulate their cerebral/psychological structuring to reach a new level of sapience/sentience.
    - State of Mind: Gain a sort of epiphany that broadens ones understanding, ingenuity, creativity and apprehension.
- Self-Aura Manipulation: Able to see, change and manipulate their own aura. This is done by changing certain qualities of the aura and morphing or shifting certain attributes of the aura to something different.

Variations[]

Ascension
- Spiritual Ascension
Energized Body (It uses only physical energies and focuses only on the body.)
- And its variations.

Associations[]

Chi Manipulation: It is a type of energy that we frequently encounter in cultivation based fictions.
Energy Manipulation
Unity: In some fictions, it is seen as the end point of cultivation and may be as.

Limitations[]

Has a wide variety of risks and issues, such as:
- Forceful interruption of this state may damage the user.
- Bottlenecks - When the user hits a wall in their cultivation attempts and is completely unable to improve further until they overcome it.
- "Heart demons" - Their internal negative emotions & mental issues causing damage, hindering their advancement & potentially killing them while they attempt to cultivate.
- In some settings, merely clashing energies with someone with a higher cultivation level can backlash and induce severe damage to the user before they've even been touched.
- Qi Deviation - A result of various factors, such as improper cultivation or getting distracted while cultivating, which backlashes on the user & can both injure them and/or drive them insane.
Cultivation is often displayed as power system with a large number of levels or "realms," that often heavily invokes the trope "always someone better."

Notes[]

Cultivation is a very popular genre for Chinese Web novels; see Xianxia, Wuxia. But also, it is a concept that is also used in Asian related media. It should also be said that this concept is known to be used outside of these fictional work areas. It has a much wider usage fictional area. Therefore, it should not be thought of as unique to its Chinese origins. In addition, cultivation can take place as an application in many different power systems. It would be wrong to think that it is only about a single energy and system.