Chapter 231: Cultivation System, Official Position Setting

Here is a compiled set of settings, provided at the request of fellow readers. More will be added gradually, free of charge.

### Cultivation Ranks

**Unranked:** Tiers one through nine. No official position, peerage, honorary rank, or military honor is required. With imperial approval, individuals can cultivate on their own. This stage involves the initial accumulation of primal energy.

**Ninth-Grade Primal Gathering Realm:** Primal energy gradually strengthens. To cultivate to this level within the Great Zhou territory, an official position, peerage, honorary rank, military honor, or special imperial permission is required. Outside the Great Zhou dominion, there are no such requirements, but cultivation is significantly more difficult.

**Eighth-Grade Spirit Bridge:** A bridge between the body and the heavens and earth is constructed, greatly increasing the speed of primal energy absorption and significantly improving the efficiency of primal energy purification.

**Seventh-Grade Earthly Fiend:** The body, acting as a vessel, is strengthened by refining earthly fiend energy from leylines, increasing the primal energy capacity. At this stage, most martial artists can only fly at low altitudes (excluding sword cultivators), while mages can generally fly, but not quickly; travel by flight is far less efficient than using flying artifacts.

**Sixth-Grade Heavenly Gang:** The body is further strengthened by refining heavenly gang energy from the nine heavens. At this point, primal energy can also be called gang energy. With positive gang energy entering the body, martial artists can perform long-distance flights. Fast martial artists and mages can reach the speed of sound.

**Fifth-Grade Pure Primal:** After accumulating primal energy through the previous realms, a qualitative change occurs, allowing for the formation of a Pure Primal Body. Different professions and cultivation techniques can manifest various unique physiques, such as the Pure Primal Sword Body, Ice Spirit Body, Fiery Sun Body, Thunder Body, and so on.

For cultivators of the Ego Sect's Agricultural Branch, "Pure Primal Soil" can be generated within the dantian, allowing for the cultivation of high-level native and derived species, and the projection of Pure Primal energy.

**Fourth-Grade Primal Soul:** Cultivates the seven corporeal souls to further develop physical potential, comprehend the paths of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang of heaven and earth, and enhance the characteristics of the Pure Primal Body.

**Third-Grade Primal Spirit:** Begins cultivating the destiny soul, which can briefly leave the body and meet the minimum threshold for entering the Yin Realm.

**Second-Grade Heavenly Fortune:** The destiny soul grows stronger, allowing for frequent interaction with the heavenly and earthly souls, and enabling the perception of one's own and the world's fortune. Cultivators at this realm seeking further advancement will typically seek out blessed lands or grotto-heavens for secluded cultivation.

**First-Grade Destiny Palace:** Begins cultivating destiny, understanding one's lifespan, and thus starts constructing a Destiny Palace to protect all three souls, attempting to alter fate.

**Beyond-Grade:** Appeared during the era of spiritual energy revival. During the era of Fortune Dynasties, certain extreme cases (such as the Martial Emperor), or those utilizing external objects, could possess Beyond-Grade combat power. This level could also be achieved by a First-Grade cultivator in certain blessed lands or grotto-heavens, or by a First-Grade cultivator wielding powerful divine artifacts.

### Fortune Dynasty Settings

Official positions, peerages, military honors, honorary ranks, and special imperial permission (e.g., for those who have made significant contributions) all allow cultivation within the Great Zhou territory. The upper limit of cultivation depends on the bestowed rank.

### Demotion and Rank Loss

As long as at least one of the four—official position, peerage, military honor, or honorary rank—is retained, a demotion in official position merely removes power and does not significantly impact strength. However, if the official position provides additional bonuses, such as for ritual cultivators, priests, dancers, or musicians, losing the position would mean forfeiting standard imperial equipment or official buffs, leading to a greater impact.

If none of the four are retained, anything bestowed by the imperial court will be reclaimed. If one's cultivation realm was advanced through the baptism of the nation's fortune, that realm will be rescinded. If fortune was increased, it will be taken away. If lifespan was extended, it will be reclaimed.

Note: Sects outside the official system possess methods to lock down or steal the nation's fortune, which is why they are regarded as demonic cults and evil paths by the Great Zhou.

### Feudal System

Only a Second-Class Marquis is granted a fiefdom and possesses vassals. These vassals can also cultivate and enjoy the protection of the Great Zhou's fortune. A Third-Class Marquis does not have a fiefdom but rather a "taxable estate," with no land ownership (except for rare private land grants). They have no vassals, cannot raise troops, and can only collect a percentage of taxes.

Martial Marquises possess privileged quotas that allow them to pardon certain crimes, excluding the Ten Abominations.

### Yin God System

After death, individuals can transform into Yin God bodies, coexisting with the Great Zhou system to govern the Yin Realm and assist in the rule of the Yang Realm. There are multiple ways to be enfeoffed as a Yin God, with accumulating a million military merits being one.

As long as incense offerings continue, Yin Gods will exist eternally.

Without imperial enfeoffment, Yin Gods formed privately through the faith and incense offerings of the populace are considered evil gods and illicit shrines. These illicit Yin Gods also possess some functions of formal Yin Gods, such as shielding themselves from scrutiny, haunting dreams, and casting spells to influence the Yang Realm. Drawbacks have always existed, but the Great Zhou is currently stable, and Emperor Jing is attempting to reform the Yin God and feudal systems, though on a small scale.

### Other Terms

**Iron Scroll of Amnesty (Death-Exemption Medallion):** A certificate of pardon.

**Grand Martial Arts Arena:** Formerly known as the Grand Training Ground and Grand Duel Arena system, it is a method for resolving disputes between powerful individuals and nobles. The Emperor would designate an area for their subordinates and nobles to engage in "life-and-death combat" according to wartime etiquette to settle disputes. This practice is not unique to the Great Zhou.

It later evolved into the Grand Martial Arts Arena, with the location shifted to areas more resilient to conflict and away from ordinary citizens with short lifespans. The rules and systems became more refined, incorporating elements of honor. As the dynasty reached its peak, with scarce land and a large population, this system also served as an internal self-selection and elimination mechanism for the Great Zhou. Many areas within the Ten Yang Grotto-Heavens operate similarly.

When one possesses a sharp weapon, a desire to kill often arises. Excessive individual martial prowess requires an outlet; rather than resorting to assassination for gain, it is better to bring conflicts into the open. With imperial adjudication, the extent of the struggle can be controlled.

Drawback: If the royal family, acting as the arbiter, is not the greatest "feudal lord" and lacks overwhelming power, the other lords will grow stronger, shaking the foundation of imperial rule.

**Alliance of Lords:** Evolved from the drawbacks of the Grand Martial Arts Arena. After the Martial Emperor, the Great Zhou's control declined, and feudal lords grew stronger. While the imperial family still held some power, they could no longer control everything. The distribution of benefits was, to some extent, no longer solely controlled by the royal family. The primary objective of the alliance was to contend for the fortune of the nineteen provinces, which was previously largely held by the royal family.

**Pacification of the Barbarians:** Aims to expand territory and absorb more fortune from the heavens and earth. It is one method for a dynasty, when overly prosperous, to divert internal conflicts. The Pacification of the Barbarians has other objectives, which are related to future plot developments and will not be explained now.

***

All of the above are system and background settings. More will be added and moved to the "Works Related" volume later. Interested readers can find them at the top.

No system is perfect. If the unified Fortune Dynasty were flawless, this book's story would not exist. These settings are provided simply to offer readers greater clarity.

End of settings.