In the waning of the Primordial Era, all things declined and vitality withered. Spiritual energy gradually dried up due to the cataclysmic mutual destruction of the Celestial Emperors in their struggle to preserve humanity's right to survive. To prevent the utter annihilation of the continents under the ravages of certain Great Ferocious Beasts, several Saints sacrificed their cultivation and the entirety of their lifespans, joining forces to split the world into the Ten Great Continents.
The continents were divided by three layers of grand barriers, designed to contain and disperse the corrosive Demonic Death Clouds born from the Ancient Ferocious Beasts. These barriers were meant to seal the Deathly Miasma, preventing it from spreading unchecked and devouring other continents, thus preserving the continued existence of all living beings.
Humanity paid an immeasurable price for this survival. Entire races were separated by vast oceans and bottomless chasms, giving rise to forbidden lands and desolate remnants where the living dared not tread.
Lingzhou Continent, one of the Ten Continents, is a vast world of cultivation divided into numerous regions. Here, various cultivation forces coexist under powerful heavenly laws, and abundant spiritual energy has formed a relatively low-tier cultivation realm. This is because the spiritual energy contained within Lingzhou is less than one-fifth of that found in the other Spirit Continents of the Ten.
This is only the commonly known history shared by all beings across the Ten Continents but it is far from the whole truth.
Before the rise of the Celestial Emperors and Saints, there already existed Divine Beasts and Ferocious Beasts, beings that had appeared long ago, originating from realms beyond this world. Their power was so terrifying that even the pinnacle experts of the human race could not compare.
Moreover, long before humanity was ever born over countless ages the Ferocious Beasts and Divine Beasts had already produced countless mixed-blood descendants, scattered across the stars. Their strengths varied greatly: some were weak, some overwhelmingly powerful; some colossal, others small and obscure.
Yet even the weakest among them, compared to humans who had not yet reached higher realms of cultivation, were still existences akin to heaven and earth themselves.
As for why these beings gradually approached near extinction over the passage of time, none below the highest echelons ever learned the truth. Only the supreme experts of that ancient era possessed fragments of the true cause. As a result, within the subconscious of these creatures, their awareness and hostility toward humanity slowly faded.
This era, in turn, allowed the human race to rise and flourish, ushering in the golden age of human cultivation and elevating humanity's status above the demon and monster races. Were it not for the restrictions imposed by the Grand Dao Laws, enforced by the Heavenly Dao itself, humanity might have advanced even further.
At the same time, clans and sects of all sizes gradually took shape, creating a deep divide in status and strength between long-established families and newly formed ones.
There existed a chance for individuals to awaken or even be born with spiritual roots, heaven-grade spiritual roots, defiance-of-heaven physiques, or even mystical divine eyes, all of which could greatly elevate the influence and standing of the family that produced such a prodigy.
In the ancient primordial era, spiritual roots followed a different logic: the more attributes one possessed, the stronger they were, as spiritual energy was abundant at the time. A perfect Five-Element Spiritual Root was regarded as a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius.
However, after the realms and continents were separated, spiritual energy became unevenly distributed.
Following the continental division, some realms gradually altered their cultivation theories. Contrary to ancient beliefs, individuals with fewer spiritual root attributes came to be considered geniuses. The reason was simple: with scarce spiritual energy, cultivators possessing multiple attributes struggled to sustain their cultivation, resulting in slow progress and difficulty breaking through bottlenecks.
As for special physiques, most were either inherited through bloodlines or obtained through rare fortuitous encounters. These physiques varied in strength and function, each recognized by heaven and earth in different ways. Under the governance of the supreme force that oversees all karma within a realm this existence is known as the Heavenly Dao.
By nature, the Heavenly Dao is not fair. The laws it distributes are unequal, resulting in those with defiant, heaven-defying talent often suffering suppression by the Heavenly Dao such as the sealing of bloodlines or special physiques.
In some regions, large and small empires were established. However, the strength of a nation cannot be judged solely by its territorial size or the length of its history.
There were also those less fortunate individuals whose cultivation stalled at the Body Refinement Realm, ultimately perishing in regret.
The Cultivation Path
Within the Spirit Cultivation World, mortals may first temper their bodies through martial cultivation, known as Tu Wu, before touching upon spirit cultivation and the path of immortality.
🔹 Martial Cultivation Realm (Body Refinement – Mortal Tier)
Most mortals, soldiers, and menial laborers remain at this stage.
Muscle Refinement Realm
Strengthens flesh, skin, and sinews, greatly enhancing basic strength. Those who reach this realm possess strength comparable to that of an ox. However, they are not considered cultivators, as they cannot yet manipulate spiritual energy merely martial practitioners with some physical prowess.
Bone Refinement Realm
Fortifies bones to withstand greater internal force. Strength increases significantly as bones become tougher and more resilient than those of ordinary people. This stage focuses on bone growth, density, and hardness.
Organ Refinement Realm
Refines the five internal organs, improves poison resistance, and increases endurance. At this stage, cultivators begin practicing breathing techniques, forming the foundation for absorbing spiritual energy to nourish the body. Those who reach this step are regarded as half-step immortal cultivators.
Blood Refinement Realm
Develops powerful qi and blood, allowing sustained combat. This stage is especially beneficial to those who possess awakened bloodlines descended from powerful beings or demonic races. It represents a major leap in strength and highlights the stark difference between powerful bloodlines and ordinary ones.
Qi Gathering Realm
The cultivator begins sensing spiritual energy, preparing to step into spirit cultivation. This stage condenses spiritual energy into a solid core. The larger the condensed mass, the greater one's strength upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.
🔹 Spirit Cultivation Realm (Early-stage Cultivators – True Cultivators)
Spirit cultivators can wield simple techniques and actively absorb spiritual energy.
Qi Refinement Levels 1–9
The entry stage of cultivation. Spiritual energy is refined and condensed into a liquid form known as spirit essence. This essence accelerates cultivation and plays a crucial role in body and mental tempering before becoming a true cultivator.
Foundation Establishment
Spiritual energy condenses into a Spirit Embryo, allowing initial control over primal energy.
Golden Core
A Golden Core forms within the dantian; magical power becomes hundreds of times stronger than at Foundation Establishment.
Nascent Soul
The Golden Core transforms into a Nascent Soul; soul and body become separable.
Divine Transformation
Spiritual consciousness transforms, allowing the soul to leave the body and fight independently.
Void Refinement
Body Integration
Great Ascension
Tribulation / Ascension
Facing heavenly lightning tribulation and leaving the mortal world, advancing toward the Human Immortal Realm.
There exist even higher realms, but the vast majority fail to survive the Heavenly Tribulation and cannot proceed further.
World Setting
This is the land where the male protagonist transmigrates:
Southwestern Lingzhou – Northern Cloud Region
A territory where spiritual energy is thinner than that of the continental core, home to small cultivation clans and low-tier sects.
Resources are scarce, yet the region is not overly chaotic making it suitable for novice cultivators.
Protagonist Background
Wen Tan, a modern-day chef, unexpectedly fell asleep one night and was transported through a spatial passage into the Spirit Cultivation World. His soul merged with a menial disciple sharing his name from a previous life. Upon awakening, he realized he had transmigrated into an unfamiliar world a realm where powerful beings could soar through the skies, defy the heavens, and alter fate itself things he had once only seen in films.
He did not transmigrate into a peerless genius or a noble young master, but into a nameless menial disciple of the Cloud Sword Sect, a third-rate cultivation sect located on the outskirts of Qingyun City.
The sect itself was small in scale, possessing only a few Foundation
Establishment elders, with the sect master barely maintaining Nascent Soul cultivation. To mortals, such figures were supreme experts; yet within the greater cultivation world, they were insignificant compared to the major external powers where spiritual energy was abundant and geniuses flourished.
The sect primarily cultivated the Sword Dao, but its inheritance was weak, leaning heavily toward martial cultivation supplemented by spiritual energy a pragmatic approach closer to the mortal world, prioritizing survival over ambition.
With poor reputation and low status, the Cloud Sword Sect was merely a subordinate sect under the Northern Cloud Sword Sect, which governed Northern Cloud City.
Northern Cloud City
The main city of the region and the center of Southwestern Lingzhou.
Nominally, it belonged to the Northern Cloud Sword Sect, yet actual control lay in the hands of Heyun Manor, an external power whose formidable experts suppressed all opposition. Though Heyun Manor was merely a newly established branch in Northern Cloud City, through alliances with major merchant guilds, it became the hub of trade.
Situated at the crossroads of cultivators, merchants, and mortals, Heyun Manor grew into a shadow power that completely controlled the city's intelligence network.
As Heyun Manor monopolized every aspect of the region, the Northern Cloud Sword Sect's status weakened further, falling behind other first-rate sects of the same level.
As a result, the Cloud Sword Sect, being a mere subordinate, became little more than a joke within the cultivation worldespecially considering that its sect master was only at Foundation Establishment, Fourth Stage.