On fairly regularly, every day. I'll notice a PM almost immediately. Replies come randomly.
Writing Levels
Adept
Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
Primarily Prefer Male
No Preferences
Genres
High fantasy is my personal favorite, followed closely by modern fantasy and post-apocalyptic, but I can happily play in any genre if the plot is good enough.
Huang Guanting, son of the Sect Master of Jun Ming Temple , first met Lin Jingyi the day the latter saved his life. Unknown to Lin Jingyi, Huang Guanting swore an oath that day to repay the life debt, however possible.
It would not be until years later, when Huang Guanting succeeded in opening his 30th meridian and was permitted to choose a master in the sect that he got the chance to begin repaying his debt. On the Day of Choosing, Guanting paid respects to Lin Jingyi as his new master.
But Guanting was a genius of the sect, while Jingyi was nothing but the most average of sect instructors. When his attempts at gentle persuasion failed, Sect Master Huang Ming brought the elders of the sect to suppress Lin Jingyi, and bring Huang Guanting back to the Sect Master's Peak to pay respects to a "worthy" master.
Lin Jingyi had always been one to go with the flow. Following the Dao of the Breeze, he believed his heart unimpeded by mortal affairs, unaffected and gentle. But under his disciple's pleading, Jingyi found his once-sturdy dao heart shaken, and then completely shattered.
Falling off the righteous path and into an unknown darkness, Lin Jingyi became determined to reclaim and teach his disciple, no matter the cost.
On fairly regularly, every day. I'll notice a PM almost immediately. Replies come randomly.
Writing Levels
Adept
Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
Primarily Prefer Male
No Preferences
Genres
High fantasy is my personal favorite, followed closely by modern fantasy and post-apocalyptic, but I can happily play in any genre if the plot is good enough.
On fairly regularly, every day. I'll notice a PM almost immediately. Replies come randomly.
Writing Levels
Adept
Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
Primarily Prefer Male
No Preferences
Genres
High fantasy is my personal favorite, followed closely by modern fantasy and post-apocalyptic, but I can happily play in any genre if the plot is good enough.
All who wish to obtain immortality must rebel against the Dao of Heaven, gathering spiritual energy and overcoming tribulation to refine themselves beyond the limit of a mortal body.
While many different cultivation systems exist, most mortals cultivate in the essence gathering system, using meridians and the dantian to gather spiritual energy and transform it into qi, which is usable to perform mystic arts and spells. However, other systems exist, such as physical cultivation, psychic refinement, and soul enlightenment.
⫸ Daoist Stages : 12 Major Meridians; 33 Minor Meridians
Often known as Foundation Building in the essence gathering system, the realm of Opening involves discovering and clearing the spiritual pathways within the body, before ultimately using the pathways to gather sufficient spiritual energy to create a spiritual core.
Unlike subsequent stages, which require a cultivator to go through every step of every stage, foundation building allows for a great deal of flexibility in the spiritual pathways opened within the body. All it requires is enough room for natural essence to be gathered to allow for the formation of a spiritual core. Theoretically, only one spiritual pathway is needed for this, although most systems require an absolute minimum of four or five. Likewise, spiritual pathways need only be opened, and do not have to be either cleaned or strengthened.
However, as indicated by its daoist name, the Opening stage lays the foundation for the future of all mortal cultivation. After the formation of a spiritual core, spiritual pathways can no longer be modified, as there is too much spiritual energy flowing within the body to allow for such delicate work. Many techniques also require specific pathways to be opened, to allow for a specific movement of energy. The more spiritual pathways that are opened, cleaned, and strengthened, the greater potential there is in the cultivator's future. Pathways that are not cleaned and strengthened also run the risk of having blockages, or even collapsing completely if used excessively.
Due to this, many sects may restrict their disciples based on the number of pathways they have opened, cleaned, and strengthened. The most elite sects may require as many as 2/3 of all pathways to be completed before a potential disciple will be truly accepted into the sect.
The moment a cultivator creates a spiritual core, they have completed the Opening realm and have transitioned into the Gathering realm.
Gathering
⫸ Average Years To Complete : 20 - 50
⫸ Life Span : 150 years
⫸ Stages : ???
⫸ Sub-stages : ???
⫸ Daoist Stages : ???
Referred to as Qi Gathering in the essence gathering system, the realm of Gathering is responsible for expanding the amount of spiritual energy present within a cultivator, and also expand both the pathways and core that holds spiritual energy. While Gathering does not cause a qualitative change in the energy present within a cultivator, each stage sees a massive quantitative change in the amount of energy they are able to hold.
In order to break through to the core realm, cultivators need to expand their pathways and spiritual core to the point where the spiritual core holds enough spiritual energy that it causes the energy to collapse and transform into an energy core.
If a person did not open a sufficient number of spiritual pathways during the Opening realm, the cultivator may never be able to gather enough energy within their body to overcome the Gathering realm.
Core
⫸ Average Years To Complete : 40 - 100
⫸ Life Span : 200 years
⫸ Stages : ???
⫸ Sub-stages : ???
⫸ Daoist Stages : ???
The Core realm sees cultivators making leaps in both the quantity and quality of spiritual energy present in their body, by continually building up and collapsing their core, each refinement causing their energy to become more dense and pure.
Spiritual pathways that were not properly strengthened in the Opening realm run the risk of being damaged at each stage in the Core realm, as the pathways may not be able to withstand the amount of energy flowing through them. This damage to the pathways must be recovered through time or the use of spiritual treasures before a cultivator can resume cultivating.
While the early stages of Core Foundation can be accomplished through a similar method to the formation of the core, by gathering a large enough amount of energy within the spiritual core to cause a natural gathering and collapse, this method will not work in the latter half of the Core realm. In order to pass through the later half of the Core realm, and survive the transition into the Aspect realm, cultivators must have the beginnings of a dao heart, and have committed themselves to following a single dao. This allows the dao to temper the core, causing improvements in energy purity that are not possible through simple condensation.
The final transformation of the core in the Core realm will see the first true transformation in a cultivator's life. This transformation will change the core from a simple orb into an Aspect, a manifestation of a person's soul through their dao. This transformation also marks the first time that a cultivator will have to face a heavenly tribulation, as the transformation of the core into a soul aspect marks a cultivator's first true attempt to rebel against the heavenly dao of a mortal.
Aspect
⫸ Average Years To Complete : 500 - 1000
⫸ Life Span : 2000 years
⫸ Stages : ???
⫸ Sub-stages : ???
⫸ Daoist Stages : ???
The realm of Aspect marks the major transition in a cultivator's life, and is the first major step in breaking free of a mortal's fate. A cultivator enters the Aspect realm when they are able to use their dao to transform their core into an aspect, a manifestation of their soul. An aspect is able to create a qualitative transformation in a cultivator's gathered spiritual energy. So long as the cultivator and their newly created aspect are able to survive the first heavenly tribulation, this transformed spiritual energy will flow through every part of their body, drastically strengthening their mortal form, and also massively extending their lifespan, adding several hundreds of years with each stage.
In order to progress through the stages of the Aspect realm, cultivators must further refine and transform their aspect. For the first time, comprehension of the dao becomes more important than gathering spiritual energy, as an aspect must be refined by both energy and a dao in order to improve.
Like when first stepping in to the realm of Aspect, each subsequent transformation of the aspect summons a heavenly tribulation. Almost all of the tribulations in this realm are lightning tribulations, growing in strength each time the cultivator steps into a new stage. However, it is said that a cultivator with a particularly exceptional dao might summon other tribulations to descend alongside the lightning.
A cultivator remains in the Aspect realm until the transformations to their aspect and spirit grow large enough for them to project their will and aspect into the wider world, creating a domain.
Domain
⫸ Average Years To Complete : 800 - 2000
⫸ Life Span : 3000 years
⫸ Stages : ???
⫸ Sub-stages : ???
⫸ Daoist Stages : ???
The transition from the realm of Aspect to Domain is not as clear-cut as the transitions between the other realms. Instead of being known by the change of spiritual energy inside the cultivator, it is instead distinguished by a unique ability present only in those of the domain realm and onward. Naturally, that ability is a domain.
A domain allows a cultivator to use their aspect to take control of a space around them, strengthening their dao within that space, while suppressing all other daos. Without another domain, it is impossible to counteract the influence a domain has on a cultivator, making it a generally accepted fact that it is impossible for anyone below the realm of Domain to fight with a Domain level expert.
In addition to creating a massive combat advantage, domains also offer a cultivator a great advantage in dao comprehension. Everything that takes place within an expert's domain is within their sensory grasp, and this ability to sense the world greatly increases their ability to perceive natural laws and understand spells and techniques.
However, other than the creation of a domain, there are few differences in the method of cultivation between an Aspect and Domain expert. Domain experts must continue to temper their aspect through spiritual energy and a growing understanding of their dao, causing it to refine and improve. Each significant improvement of the aspect will cause a transformation in the aspect, and summon another heavenly tribulation, which continues to test the cultivator's talent and knowledge of the dao. For this reason, some minor cultivation systems may combine the Aspect and Domain realms into one, larger realm.
Cultivators remain in the Domain realm until the day they are able to refine their aspect into a true being, transforming it from an incoporeal soul being into a true physical entity.
Transformation
⫸ Average Years To Complete : 1000 - 5000
⫸ Life Span : 7000 years
⫸ Stages : ???
⫸ Sub-stages : ???
⫸ Daoist Stages : ???
Cultivators undergo their second major metamorphosis towards immortality as they progress through the stages of the Transformation realm. After obtaining a corporeal aspect, the spiritual energy within a cultivator transforms towards the highest form of spiritual energy, modifying their body and aspect towards immortality. By the time a cultivator completes the stages of Transformation, their body will be capable of holding an immortal soul, and the cultivator will step into the realm of Ascension.
Entering transformation also causes a radical change in the domain of a cultivator. Instead of simply being able to suppress the laws of other daos, weakening them and those who use them, Transformation experts are able to completely alter the laws within their domain to match their own dao, making it impossible for someone else to use spiritual energy. Once again, only someone with a Transformed domain will be able to fight against another Transformation expert.
Unlike in other realms, where tribulations would come as a reaction to the actions of a cultivator, experts in the Transformation realm naturally draw tribulations once every hundred years. These tribulations take a myriad of forms, having the potential to cover anything in the heavenly dao other than the dao of the cultivator themselves. Transformation experts must use their dao to overcome the tribulation, but each tribulation also presents a unique opportunity. If the cultivator is able to use their dao to suppress the tribulation, instead of just resisting it, it causes a transformation in their aspect, radically improving the spiritual energy in them towards the highest form of energy.
After the cultivator has suppressed the necessary number of tribulations, they will enter the realm of Ascension, becoming Half-immortals with a nearly undying body.
Ascension
⫸ Average Years To Complete : 3000 - 6000
⫸ Life Span : 10,000 years
⫸ Stages : ???
⫸ Sub-stages : ???
⫸ Daoist Stages : ???
Often called Half-immortals, cultivators in the realm of Ascension are undergoing their most dangerous tests and tribulations to transform themselves from a mortal into a true immortal. At this point, half-immortals have a body that is prepared to host an immortal soul, but have yet to complete their transformation to turn their soul immortal.
Ascension experts must continually improve their dao to transform their aspect into an immortal existence. However, completing the stages of Ascension sees a new dao, the dao cultivated by the immortal, merged into the heavenly dao, and the heavens will not let this change be made lightly. Every step of Ascension, the half-immortal must rigorously test and improve their dao, to ensure it can stand against the heavens. The more powerful and broad-covering the dao, the more it must be complete and without holes to survive the coming tribulations.
The once ceaseless tribulations of the Transformation realm once again fall aside in the Ascension realm. Instead, half-immortals are capable of summoning a tribulation at will. A tribulation resembling the nature of their dao will descend, pressuring the immortal's dao. Each tribulation will see the half-immortal facing against a larger portion of the true heavenly dao.
Unlike all previous tribulations, these tribulations are not directly deadly to the cultivator. However, they are still the most threatening tribulations that a mortal will ever face. This is because, if the cultivator's dao is not strong enough to withstand the tribulation of the heavenly dao, it will directly shatter, forever cutting off their path of cultivation. Referred to as wandering immortals or even wandering ghosts, those cultivators will be relentlessly hunted by the heavens, never fully able to rest for fear of a descending tribulation, until the day they inevitably perish.
However, those cultivators who are able to successfully withstand the complete pressure of their aspect of the heavenly dao will be transformed, their aspect merging back into their body and creating a true immortal soul. True immortals have one hundred years to settle the last of their mortal attachments, before being guided by the heavenly dao into the immortal realm.
On fairly regularly, every day. I'll notice a PM almost immediately. Replies come randomly.
Writing Levels
Adept
Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
Primarily Prefer Male
No Preferences
Genres
High fantasy is my personal favorite, followed closely by modern fantasy and post-apocalyptic, but I can happily play in any genre if the plot is good enough.
One of the 10 great Righteous Sects, Jun Ming Temple is best known as the daoist sect with the most vigorous requirements for disciples in the Foundation Building realm. Those in the opening realm are only ever honorary disciples of the sect, and they must be capable of opening, cleaning, and strengthening the 12 major meridians, as well as open at least 18 minor meridians, before entering the Qi Gathering realm. Any disciple who is not capable of opening at least 30 meridians will not be allowed to enter the sect as an outer disciple.
Despite their smaller numbers compared to some of the other great sects, the heritage of Jun MIng temple has been built upon a collection of techniques that are known for using the 30 meridians to control skills that are normally far beyond the strength level of the realm, giving their disciples a vast pool of energy and powerful techniques.
The techniques of Jun Ming Temple are divided up into 12 great schools, each of which is built upon one of the symbols of the zodiac. Each school has a unique combination of minor meridians their core techniques are built upon, and most disciples will choose which meridians to open based upon the school they wish to join.
