History Main / SpiritCultivationGenre

* LackOfEmpathy: In settings where cultivators are a seclusive minority, they pretty much view {{Muggles}} as livestock and won't think twice about killing them on a whim.

* ''Franchise/{{Guijan}}'' is a series of single player ActionRPG that focus on the stories of a different cultivator in each game. Currently only ''Guijan 3'' has been translated into English on Steam however.

* ''Franchise/{{Guijan}}'' is a series of single player ActionRPG that focus on the stories of a different cultivator in each game. Currently only the ''Guijan 3'' has been translated into English on Steam however.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xianxia_(genre) The Other Wiki's article on the genre.]] See also [[https://www.wuxiaworld.com/page/general-glossary-of-terms wuxiaworld.com's glossary on various terms of the genre]]

* ''Anime/JuushinkiPandora'': A science-fantasy take on the genre [[ScientificallyUnderstandableSorcery mixing quantum physics with Taoism]], wherein it's theorized that the Evolution Field responsible for the creation of biomechanical monsters called Brai is also responsible for the ancient Chinese legends of gods, demons, and Immortals. Rather than cultivating power within themselves, the protagonists pilot mechs outfitted with Hyper Drive reactors, which are powered by Yang energy and grow more powerful as the series progresses. Conversely, the villains use Yin energy-powered Dark Drive reactors to create and upgrade Brai. Two of the supporting characters are Taoist priestesses descended from a lineage of cultivators, though one of the villains is skeptical that their powers are truly supernatural and instead believes them to be derived from the same font of quantum energy that powers the Evolution Field, Hyper Drives, and Dark Drives.

** Qi gathering, where the cultivator is starting to develop their internal energy for the first time.
** Foundation, where their qi has reached a certain quality and quantity.
** Core, or Golden Orb, where the cultivator has developed their cultivation base into an orb.
** Nascent Soul, where their soul becomes partially independent of the body. This is sometimes the last stage before immortality.

* FantasticRankSystem: The Power Levels are often divided into distinct "realms," with sub-ranks within the realms. Very generally, there tend to be about ten sub-ranks; the beginner or foundation rank, then three realms with three sub-ranks each. But the names, powers, and methods of the realms and sub-ranks all vary wildly.

* FairWeatherFriend: When a cultivator previously renowned as a genius suffers an incident and becomes "trash", many of their associates will abandon them. Likewise [[ArrangedMarriage their fiance]], usually a prince if a man, usually a sect successor if a woman, will, feeling too good for them, proceed to break the engagement. Cue the protagonist becoming determined to recover their power as payback. For bonus points, there are cases where the former fiance LovesMyAlterEgo of the person they abandoned. The protagonist and the former fiance will ultimately have a duel, with the protagonist triumphant and the former fiance regretting their callousness and what they have lost because of it.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Once Cultivators reach a certain level of power and immortality, usually when they reach godhood, they may ascend from the mortal realm to the heavens, or some similar higher realm, where depending on the writer, they might join the CelestialBureaucracy or they might just keep ascending to even higher realms of existence as they continue to gain more power. Whether they can or will return to the mortal realm at any point also depends on the writer, but usually they don't. Again DependingOnTheWriter, demonic cultivators may not be able to ascend to the heavens themselves, but will instead be stuck in the mortal realm, or have the option to descend into the Earth Realm, aka the Chinese version of the Underworld, instead.

* RPGMechanicsVerse: There are a decent number of stories where the main protagonist comes into contact with a "System", a sort of symbiotic spirit that comes with a gaming interface and rewards the host for fulfilling tasks relating to the System's purpose.

* FairWeatherFriend: When a cultivator previously renowned as a genius suffers an incident and becomes a "trash", many of their associates will abandon them. Likewise [[ArrangedMarriage their fiance]], usually a prince if a man, usually a sect successor if a woman, will, feeling too good for them, proceed to break the engagement. Cue the protagonist becoming determined to recover their power as payback. For bonus points, there are cases where the former fiance LovesMyAlterEgo of the person they abandoned. The protagonist and the former fiance will ultimately have a duel, with the protagonist triumphant and the former fiance regretting their callousness and what they have lost because of it.

* CrapsackWorld: Most iterations of the Cultivation World are this to some extent, especially for non-cultivators. It's a world full of monsters, demons and malicious ghosts that could kill you at any moment. There's always the chance you could get kidnapped by Demonic Cultivators to be experimented on or drained of your qi to aid their cultivation methods or killed by some arrogant supposedly righteous cultivator showing off in a crowded street. That is, if they don't kill you on purpose for offending them somehow, which is shockingly easy to do. Often times even the "heroes" aren't really all that heroic. Other times, the heroes are genuinely heroic, but they and sometimes the sect they belong to are the only truly "righteous" cultivators who actually care about protecting the common folk while all the other supposedly righteous cultivators care more about their own power and prestige and petty political squabbles. In that way, it isn't too different from Wuxia stories that focus on the politics between different martial arts schools.

** Demonic techniques in general count. They offer [[EvilIsEasy rapid and great power]], but many of them are intrinsicly immoral. Even the ones that are not intrinsically immoral risk driving the user insane, especially if learned incorrectly.

* GenderRestrictedAbility: In some settings, the differences in sexes affect what types of cultivation techniques and martial arts they can learn.
** There are some HaremGenre stories where the strongest techniques ever invented only work for women. The male protagonist, who for one reason or another, is an exception, proceeds to become a ChickMagnet for his UniquenessValue.
* GeometricMagic: In many Xianxia, certain types of Chi spells use complex Arrays, often as a form of a Barrier to keep attacks from getting in or out (often allowing attacks that would obliterate the entire world to be used against each other harmlessly) or as a way to allow Cultivators to concentrate their energy to ascend to the next level or realm of power.

* BackgroundMagicField: One of the most common forms of cultivation is to absorb qi from the environment. Some locations have a lot more qi than others, which also makes some countries a lot stronger than other little backwaters. AscendingToAHigherPlaneOfExistence usually brings you to a place where the qi is a lot thicker, which is why the local cultivators, even the youngest of children, are so much stronger than even the top cultivators back home. If a region, or potentially even an entire world gets damaged, the concentration of qi thins, making cultivation harder, potentially even up to the point of TheMagicGoesAway.

* ''LightNovel/LordOfMysteries'' is about a man who gets reincarnated in a Victorian-esque world where individuals called Beyonders seek to climb the various paths of power.

* ''VideoGame/SwordAndFairy'' is a prime example of this genre in video gaming and the game series and is live action adaptation is credited for popularizing the genre.

* ''Literature/IfIDontDieSoonIllReallyBecomeInvincible'': The main protagonist, Ye Chen, is a DeathSeeker. He figures that so long as he is dying, he may as well spend his life purchasing some justice in the world with a HeroicSacrifice, by goading the wicked into killing him. The problem is, one path of cultivation in this world is the Confucionist Dao, which is powered by a combination of knowledge and RightMakesMight. The Confucionist Dao is half-dead, but [[HoistByHisOwnPetard his own eloquence]] and attempts at HeroicSacrifice spark it back to life and increase his cultivation, making him ''harder'' to kill. His work at martyrdom keeps escalating until he's unintentionally inspired the entire nation into launching a full-fledged revolt against the tyrrany of the immortal sects.