The world of Heaven's Schemer is called Tianyuan Realm, a vast continent suspended between the lower mortal planes and the higher Immortal Heavens. It is divided into Four Great Domains—Northern Icebound Wastes, Eastern Verdant Expanse, Southern Flamefold Peaks, and the Western Shrouded Sands—each ruled by ancient sects, empires, and beast clans. At its center lies the Heavenly Vein, a spiritual leyline so potent that only the most powerful factions dare occupy the lands around it. The continent is shaped and governed by cultivation, with the laws of reality increasingly warped by profound dao and ancient wills.
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Cultivation Stages
Cultivators ascend through stages to refine their body, soul, and dao. Each realm is further divided into early, mid, late, and peak sub-stages.
Body Tempering Realm (淬体) – Foundation stage, strengthening bones, blood, and muscles.
Qi Refinement Realm (炼气) – Circulation and refinement of natural qi into internal dantian.
Foundation Establishment Realm (筑基) – Laying a stable core for future growth. Often involves fusing one's dao seed.
Core Formation Realm (结丹) – Condensing true qi into a golden core. Mark of a true cultivator.
Nascent Soul Realm (元婴) – Birth of a soul clone; cultivator can act through projection.
Soul Transformation Realm (化神) – Greater mastery of soul and spiritual domain. Can form personal domains.
Void Ascendant Realm (空冥) – Cultivators shed mortal shell; can traverse minor planes.
Dao Lord Realm (道君) – Rare and revered. Understand and manifest their own Dao. Can influence heaven and earth.
Immortal Ascension Realm (飞仙) – Not of this world. Those who pass Heaven's Tribulation can ascend to the true Immortal Realms.
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Item Quality Rankings
Items—whether weapons, talismans, pills, or arrays—are graded by their harmony with qi, durability, and affinity with the Dao.
Mortal Grade (凡品) – Common items usable by Body Tempering and Qi Refinement cultivators.
Earth Grade (地品) – Refined artifacts and tools often used by Foundation Establishment and Core cultivators.
Heaven Grade (天品) – Rare and powerful. Must be nurtured by one's qi.
Profound Grade (玄品) – Sentient artifacts with a will. Often bound to life and death.
Celestial Grade (仙品) – Treasures left from Immortal times. Often sealed or incomplete.
Mythic Grade (神品) – Unique. Said to contain Dao Fragments or were used by Immortals.
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Spiritual Beasts & Demonic Creatures
Beasts also cultivate and evolve. They are categorized by their intelligence, bloodline purity, and cultivation base.
Feral Beasts (野兽) – Mundane animals with no cultivation.
Spirit Beasts (灵兽) – Possess rudimentary qi control. Often tamed.
Mystic Beasts (玄兽) – Can form contracts with cultivators. Equivalent to Nascent Soul stage or higher.
Demonic Beasts (妖兽) – Possess lineage memories and can assume humanoid form.
Sacred Beasts (圣兽) – Tied to divine will or heavenly phenomena.
Primordial Beasts (太古凶兽) – Existences from the origin of the world. Beyond logic and rare.
Many sects keep beast companions or use beast cores in artifact forging.
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Sects and Factions
Heaven's Gate Sect (天门宗) – Lin Xian's sect. Balanced in sword dao, alchemy, and arrays. Known for ambition.
Crimson Flame Temple – Fire-oriented cultivators, powerful in combat.
Whispering Moon Pavilion – Espionage and illusion specialists.
Beastheart Clan – Cultivators bonded to beast spirits.
Each faction guards secret arts and forbidden techniques. Politics between sects are veiled behind smiles and oaths, but every thousand years, the Grand Convergence reshuffles the hierarchy.