How does it work? I tried looking at the wiki to get a grasp of it but it's not really explained there how gu's tie in to their cultivation. Can someone who has been reading this novel, explain to me in detail how the cultivation system and the levels are in this novel?
their 9 levels in total the first 5 are mortal levels were you just cultivate them the rest are the immortal levels were you advance by gaining heavenly marks from tribulations (1 every 100 years ) lifespan does not increase from cultivation and thats why you need a secret technique (usually to steal life from others) Edit note that all techniques are all based on gu's your cultivation just increases the level of gu you can use
1-5 is mortal 5 and above is immortal Every advancement above 5 has a tribulation and after passing 5 you get you own space that is only available to you unless you take it to the outside world. The turbultion you get is based on the environment and things you have in you space. If you are killed your space is forcefully placed in the outside world but is hidden. Your sub conscience become the guardian of the space and if another cultivator can fulfill the wish of your sub conscience then they can become the owner of the space. There are also two types of gu. There is mortal gu and immortal gu. The immortal gu you can use is limited by the pathways you're cultivating. This is different from mortal gu since any gu master can use them.
I would really like to explain, but my lack of English prevents me from doing it. Gu is the manifestation of Dao. They simply represent the laws of the world. Rank 1-5 Gu (mortal gu) can be more than one. Rank 6 and above Gu (immortal gu) can only be one.
That's a tall order, but I'll do my best. Cultivation involve ranks, gu, and refinement. Mortal Gu Masters (Ranks 1-5): At the age of 13, potential cultivators undergo an awakening ceremony in which they walk through hope gu in order to awaken their apertures, making them gu master. This aperture is a space that exists parallel to their bodies. This aperture stores and produces primeval essence (PE), the rate of replenishment and storage capacity of which are proportional to the cultivator's innate talent. In order to advance in rank, cultivators must shatter the aperture's walls with their PE and so cultivation is highly resource intensive with clans and sects focusing their resources (Primeval Essence Stone or PES) on their most promising talents. Each rank has its own corresponding quality of primeval essence with its own unique color. Mortal gu are traces of the Grand Dao and come in all shapes and sizes, but mostly insects and they are referred to as gu worms in general. It is from them that gu masters derive their power and without them they're just regular humans. Every gu has a single unique ability which could be strong and more versatile with an increase in rank. The power they can display are determined by the quality of the PE used to activate them as lower rank PE in enough quantities can compensate for quality. Refinement of gu has two meanings: To suppress and tame a wild gu by injecting one's will into it, allowing a gu master to use it. Creating gu. The latter in particular is a field unto itself. Gu are traces of the Grand Dao, of creation, in all its infinite glory. They can occur naturally with nature, being born inside flora and fauna, or be artificially synthesized from existing gu.
As an example there are gu that can change your innate talent or your lifespan which are very useful for reaching the higher realms. Well my understanding is basic but I can do an overview (https://reverend-insanity.fandom.com/wiki/Cultivation https://reverend-insanity.fandom.com/wiki/Gu_Master https://reverend-insanity.fandom.com/wiki/Gu These three are best for understanding with the articles on primeval and immortal essence too if you want) There are levels 1-9 with each having there own respective “essence.” Ranks 1-5 are considered “mortals” and their essence is called primeval essence while 6-9 is called immortal essence. You can basically consider the essence of each realm’s unique essence to be worth more (like 10-100 times more potent) than the previous ones and even the sub realms are worth more and more potent for the use of gu (let’s say your gu can start a fire, maybe rank 1 inital primeval essence may only get you a match equivalent while peak could burn someone from a small distance away). A mortal has four sub realms between each rank (initial, middle, upper and peak before finally reaching the stage above). You can consider the essence of the respective ranks as energy needed to nourish and use gu. While it is said that the amount of potential gu and there effects are limitless, you just need to find the right combination (and the ingredients and luck) or catch it. To get to the higher realms as a mortal you basically have to nurture the aperture (the spiritual space thing your essence is contained in) with your essence and break it at each of its peak to reach the next stage. But becoming rank 6 is more profound and requires some rather interesting rules. Gu also have ranks and they go from 1-10. Rank 1-5 gu have multiple of them but rank 6 and up are unique (there is only one of them at a time). The higher the ranks the greater they are (as an example the rank 9 fate gu literally controls the fate of the world to run a certain way). I’m not that great at explaining and reading those articles and some related ones and trying to understand yourself (or ask a friend who read the story) is best.
This is the main reason why i put off this novel for a long time now regardless of the rave reviews. It's the same reason i don't read novels that has more than 15-20 cultivation rank with redundant names/titles and nonsensical orders. Anyways, i want to give this novel a second try. I read this novel before on QI, i think it was new then, i read only up until the bar/tavern fight scene or the one where he hid inside a girl's corpse. Anyways, he was setting up his reputation as someone you don't mess with. Before i read the novel though, i wanted to alteast understand the concept of the cultivation system. I already understood the ranks but i don't get the importance of GU other than their abilities and the energy they provide. Like, for rank 1, do you need to tame a gu to achieve rank 1? then for rank 2, you also tame another one. 1 gu per rank? I'm trying to visualize it, so let's say each rank is like a level to a tower/building. Apertures are like the walls. you expand, then you level up to a higher level(build another room on top) then expand again, so on and so forth. Then gu are like the tenants. EDIT: the traditional cultivation system i'm used to are fairly self explanatory, like they build up their mortal bodies using energy(houtian) then be able to reach a point where they can manifest energy outside their body and control it(xiantian). Or the classic ones like, qi condense, foundation establishment, core formation, nascent soul.
If I remember correctly, you don't actually need any gu in order to cultivate. The gu are the weapons with which you use your cultivation. So you take primeval stones and use them to produce primeval essence within your aperture. The primeval essence can then be used to attack the walls of your aperture and break through to higher levels. When you reach a higher level, the quality of the primeval essence you make from the primeval stones becomes more concentrated. It's like 1 primeval stone will give you 10 times less primeval essence, but it will be more 10 times more potent. (I'm not sure if 10 times is the actual number, I haven't read it in a while) This means that a higher level cultivator can hold "more" primeval essence in their aperture. Primeval essence can also be used to make your gu use its special ability. The more primeval essence you use, the more potent the ability. Similarly, if your primeval essence is of higher quality because you broke through to a higher realm, the ability will be more potent. Higher level gu will have more potent abilities, but will require more primeval essence. As well as this, an aperture can only hold gu that is the same level or below it (e.g. level 3 gu master can hold gu that are level 3 or below) without causing strain to the aperture. Even if a gu master forcibly refines a gu which is above their level, the ability will typically cost more primeval essence than they can afford. I think it could be confusing at first, because the first gu that the mc refines is the silkworm something or other gu whose function is to concentrate his primeval essence to the level above his own. Just know that this isn't typical for most gu masters.
Amitabha. If you cannot understand given how the author loves to explain then you can't understand here either unless you ask specific questions. Nomo, Amitabha.. @kkgoh