Discussion Cultivation Caves are Stupid

'Why do most cultivators in novels live in caves?' This is a question I have recently been asking myself during my journey on the Dao of Cliche's. First of all, every single Cultivation Cave is in a mountain, so if you want to make a sect and find a land with a high concentration of spirit qi, or it fulfills some specific requirement like being near a secret realm, you better hope there are a few mountains nearby, because Cultivators are afraid of modern housing for some reason.

"But the Cultivation Caves are only meant to cultivate in, they get rid of all the distractions a normal house would have," I hear you say, and while there would be less distractions, they could just build a house outside the cave and live there when they aren't cultivating. Most cultivators don't practice 24/7, they go out for experience, they talk to other sect members and compare notes, they make use of the various facilities the sect has, and most non Main Characters have a job they do regularly for the sect, like going outside for missions, rearing Spirit Beasts or exchange Merit Points for rewards for other cultivators. Plus, if you need an empty cave to be able to delve into intricacies of the Dao, if a few pieces of furniture are going to distract you enough to impact your cultivation, then you probably weren't going to have high achievements in the first place. If it was just servants and Outer Sect members, then it could be understandable, but for the Inner Sect members and Elders, the cream of the crop, to need to resort to such drastic means, it just seems unnecessary.

"But Cultivation Caves are closer to nature than houses, it helps you get closer to the Dao." Well, then just set up an array in a forest or plain, and experience nature firsthand! Arrays can block outsiders just as well as a rock wall can, they can filter out sound, keep out wild beasts, protect you from the elements, and can act as a security system if anyone tries to break in. I've seen many novels where the MC gains enlightenment be watching a part of nature, but none of that relies on the natural scenery and ecosystem of a cave. Many novels have a stage where you become one with the world, and I'd imagine it would be hard to do if you were insistent on spending most of your free time in isolated, mass produced , and incomplete representation of the world.

"They're not hard to make, but you don't expect cultivators to waste time and make their own houses do you?" Cultivators are rare, and at higher realms they can just put a mansion in a spatial ring and put it on their land, and at lower levels, there are enough mortals to build the houses for them. And if it was a problem of getting enough houses, then there should be no buildings in Cultivator cities. Just give the Outer Sect disciples some merit points for making houses, I'm sure someone gets Merit Points for digging out a cave anyways. Heck, most official sect buildings are actual buildings, not just a cave with a plate that says "Scripture Pavillion" on it. Clearly they have people on hand who know a thing or two about architecture. If people can easily make spatial rings, I'd imagine it would be simple to make a immortal estate, let alone a house.

I can go on for half an hour about how the most powerful existences in the universe live in the most primitive and bear-bones form of housing is counterproductive, but I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks.

 

The real question is.. why does something fictional trigger you?

 

No, because I like the idea of Immortals living like cavemen.

 

It doesn't really, just read a story where a sect that owns multiple worlds just gave the MC, who was already a Chosen of the sect, a slightly better dank cave to live in and realised it's a stupid concept with no reason I can think of besides "All the other novels have Cultivation Caves", and I wanted to see if there were any good reasons.

 

I believe that there are some parallels here with the legendary old man that lives in the woods and knows all the kung fu secretes and is unbeatable but don't forget in cultivation novels caves can be anything for instance in renegade immortal there are caves that have planets, solar systems and even galaxies and also there are novels like desolate era where cultivators have estates not caves so not all novels

 

One thing that has always bugged me is the rewards system for sect members, ie the higher your cultivation rank, the more resources you get. Yet, the true maverick cultivators that the sects are most proud of are the ones who spend a lot of time in close door cultivation, sometimes for months or years at a time, where they don't use any resources. It's only the losers who are hard up for like pills, spiritual artifacts, or special caves.

 

because caves are dark and mouldy and perfect for rotten MCs to rot even further.

but really, even the own author can't question their own logic, so why do you question theirs?

 

It is easier to dig a hole than build a house. Also, just what kind of caves do you think they are living in. Google cave house, you will get many pretty caves.

 

This is probably a carryover from wuxia where it was common for the strongest martial artists to live away from the rest of society as hermits or semi-hermits. However, in the old school wuxia novels, the characters who do this are not the protagonist; the idea is that they isolate themselves so they won't have to impact the story too much.

 

How dare you dies cultivation caves

I reached became immortal in mine, a pickle jar.

 

If I'm not mistaken, it probably has to do with some Asian lore that dragon veins (sources of spiritual energy) are more often found deep within mountains not forests, thus digging into caves get you closer to it. Caves also second as coffins, so when cultivators reaching the end of their lifespan do a final struggle to breakthrough or die, the cave can second as a coffin. Lastly, to say "if a few pieces of furniture are going to distract you enough to impact your cultivation, then you probably weren't going to have high achievements in the first place" is very side character of you. What I mean to say by this is that this statement is exactly what a mob character watching the MC fight against an antagonist would comment or say. It is a conceptually wrong statement that focuses or views the issue from the wrong point of view. Let me explain.

The difference between an amateur and professional is not just talent, but also the time and effort they put into a task. A professional will spend many more hours practicing and training than an amateur, yet no one would say that "if not practicing a few hours a day is enough to impact your playing, then you probably weren't going to have high achievements in the first place". But that's kind of extreme, so let's look at a professional's habits or behaviors instead. Many professionals have certain quirks, rituals, or habits that they do before a game to put them at the peak of their game, yet no one says ""if not listening to eye of the tiger before your match is going to impact your playing, then you probably weren't going to have high achievements in the first place". This is because people understand that at the professional level, everyone's physical aptitude and skill are at a very high and equal level and the difference comes from their mental state and condition. Thus, tiny things like not listening to a song before a match, not eating a certain meal before a match, can impact the pros.

Now let's bring this back to cultivation. Cultivation based on Chinese lore is going against the heavens, cultivating the body and mind in order to shed oneself of the mortal body and become something that transcends the heavens. By that logic, a process of cultivation is inherently severing oneself from the mortal world. Ascetics do this by living strict and almost punishing lives that are filled with long periods of fasting and meditating, while depriving themselves of luxuries or conveniences. Using this as a reference as well as what I previously mentioned about professionals, when we apply it to the cultivators in novels that cultivate in caves, it is not an issue of a few pieces of furniture impacting their cultivation, rather it is about creating the most optimum environment to cultivate.

This is the difference between an amateur and a professional. This is the difference between a casual and an elite. A casual has the mentality of "why go through all of that trouble, when this is easier and more convenient" whereas an elite has the mentality of "I must do everything in my power just to be a bit better, how can I be just a bit better". Professional sprinters are trying to shave down milliseconds off of their time by perfecting how they run, the cadence of their steps, and even the type of shoes they wear. A professional RTS gamer will try to optimize their build order and resource gathering to build combat units even a few seconds faster. And a professional cultivator will try everything in their power to maximize their cultivation efforts, to achieve even a tiny bit more cultivation through living and caves and avoiding secular matters.

In summation (TLDR) - better energy concentration in caves, they serve as tombs as well, and they avoid furniture because secular=bad, they are trying to avoid mortal things, cave + no furniture = optimal cultivating environment.

 

Immortal translated from Xian have roots word of Shan that's mean mountain, Immortal/Celetial/Fairy are usually a sage who live in mountain, in most xianxia story setting mountains usually have richer spiritual power than other places, it make sense for those immortal cultivator to carve a cave in mountain so they can absorb more spiritual power.

 

I dont think there is a need to make it so complicated,its just laziness tbh and following tradition if i were to say.Authors cant be expected to describe the place the cultivators cultivate in every time in a new way thus they just use the plain old "cave" cause its simple and we have a quick image of the situation the cultivator is in.The buildings in said sect are describe with more detail just cause they are meant to be more important and allow us to imagine the state of the sect in our minds.A pavilion with dragon carving on the walls with rows of jade slips on the shelf lets use immerse in the whole cultivation world and shows the importance of the location and uses.While cultivating is the same no matter what area they are in,its circulating energy and thats all.There isnt a need for the author to glorify the location of the act since its a known thing to us.The only times when a cultivation place is glorified is when the cultivator is important enough for the location to be a plot point in a story.Thus why some "cave" have more details cause its mostly a plot point or a place of importance to the story,other than that the caves are just a point for us to know that he is somewhere enclose and his cultivation will be used as plot point in the upcoming chapters with no disturbance thus allowing us to immerse in the story easier.
On reality note though its just cause the caves have been used by other authors since the early times and immortal palace were already mark as "special" from them in their novels thus future authors dont bother changing the flow so as not to off set readers that are expecting the basics of a wuxia novel.Thats why cultivation with future aspect are weird and isnt normal to some.Ccg did a very good job in showing it,they are shedding the caves aspect and slowly easing readers into rooms being the norm.Other than that i would assume it honestly doesnt matter and its all about the immersion,you dont see cultivators wearing jeans instead of doaist robes do you? Cause in our minds immortals are people who transcend humanity by abusing the laws that make the world itself,they need to be as far from us as possible in terms to social class so we can glorify them easily.Ccg had immortals using phones and chat rooms but the novel still separates us from them in the novel cause immortals are to be seen as a distant idea so its worth dreaming about.If they live in rooms,shower in bathrooms have tax to pay they wouldnt be immortals just superheroes.

 

I would like to know which novels, has the cultivator live primarily in a cave. Most times they live in castles and lord it over the mortals.

A sealed cave would be better to hide yourself out in the wilderness.

 

Many of the xuanhuan is based on Journey to the West and the Investiture of the Gods, which had cultivators stay in caves. Many of them are wrongly translated into Loose Cultivators, which actually mean Autonomous Cultivators. Unless they have some influences or is a deity, it is not allowed to build shrines, temples or other places of worship lest it offend the other influences in the area.

 

Couldn't have said it better.

 

I think it's pretty much a standard in those types of novels. They should have cultivation clouds where they float above the normal people instead of being in a dark cave.

 

Sorry to disturb but how do you ask questions or create a thread. I need to ask for recommendations but I don’t know how

 

I mean, without thinking much about it, my immediate thought is the concept of feng shui. Typically, these cultivation cakes are mentioned as having a good flow of energy that’s conducive towards cultivation, so the reason why they don’t just renovate these caves and build a luxury mansion in them is because it’s probably disrupt the place’s “feng shui”, I’d say.

 

I think because a Daoist Cultivator are usually nomaden, they often travel far away to search for enlightenment or Resources and it will take years. Also cave is usually well hidden and a good place to hide.