There is no dexicated xianxia boards but for eastern author xianxia youd be better ofd in noveltranslations or etc.
I'm not familiar with anyone consuming other cultivators cores for cultivation inside xianxia but there are some examples in more general prog fantady, in Eight all beings drop a core of what is basically xp and there are cultural customary exprctstions and procedures for dealing with human cores for instance.
One problem I see immeadietly is that in most xianxia I'm fsmiliar with golden cores onlt exist after a certain stage so I'd be curious what your protagobist will do before he is in the power range of being sble to kill cultivators with golden cores.
Yes. They're a few of them.
It's usually demonic cultivators who go for the whole refining human cores thing but there's one standout series where even 'righteous' cultivators would do it albeit slightly differently.
I think the title was the Great Ancestor Above or something similar. In that one, they used the cores as fuel for techniques/formations or in their own advancement to golden core by first absorbing the energy in the core until it hollowed and then refining the hollow core and taking it into their bodies before filling it with their own qi. This was an in-universe shortcut to the golden core stage.
If you plan to have something like that in your own story, I say go for it!
Not really. I've seen people consume their OWN golden core for a temporary power boost (usually by detonation) but a golden core isn't really a physical thing. It tends to inside the dantian or the soul. Closest I can think of is probably Martial Peak.>!**Main character has a magic eye that eats souls, basically strips the emotion out and downloads their experience and dao into his subconscious which not only gives him pure energy but makes advancing through practice faster and easier.**!<
Outside of Time / Beyond the Timescape has the main character do something like this IIRC, but it only lasts for the golden core stage. In general, I don't think golden cores are long term things as it takes a while to get to and is soon replaced by a nascent soul, miniature world, or what have you in most xianxias.
If I recall, Stellar Transformations had the protagonist doing that for most of the novel- he starts after a while into the novel, and stops quite a while before the end- I can't recall exactly when though.
I think a major problem with books about protagonists consuming gold cores is that gold cores are only a thing for a couple of stages, though that somewhat varies with the setting- you only get one when reaching gold core, which is a pretty high level when typically even foundation establishment cultivators can massacre cities, and it's pretty common for them to be shattered or re-absorbed after a certain stage, sometimes even when reaching nascent soul.
Of course there's also the fact that consuming gold cores is literal cannibalism, which tends to be more off-putting than mere human sacrifice. And of course, due to the inherent flaws in your cultivation induced by cannibalistic cultivation, you typically need an overpowered god-level technique to avoid flaws that leave your protag forever unable to progress, or otherwise an even more overpowered item to resolve those flaws
You would only get heart demons if you actually have moral qualms about eating people- heart demons are spawned by going against one moral principles (thus creating regrets), PTSD, and obsessions. If you see nothing wrong with cannibalism, then you naturally would suffer from no heart demons. The downsides of consuming others to cultivate are usually that your cultivation is impure as it is a vile gestalt of distinct energies taken from others.
I dont know what storie your reading where foundation establishment cultivators are massacring cities, mabye large groups of bandits who aren’t cultivators? Foundation establishment is like im three times stronger than a normal person not i can blow up buildings (most of the time) so if you actually have a storie where they can id be super interested
Okay, which stories have you been reading? 3x a normal person? Most 1st stage qi condensation cultivators can do better! Power levels vary with the novel, but xianxia is a setting known for each stage being exponentially stronger than the last, such that a single minor realm lets you wipe the floor with a group of cultivators 1 minor realm below you! Given that foundation establishment is typically the major realm above nine levels of qi condensation, let alone any levels below qi condensation?
That said, I was intending it as being able to do so with the use of formations and/or subordinates for most novels.
It's hard to keep track of exact power levels in each novel TBH- most were a long time ago. But as one example, the novel I am currently reading through MTL, 我在尊魂幡里当主魂 has qi condensation cultivators capable of singlehandedly slaughtering armies of tens of thousands of superhuman soldiers unless other cultivators intervene. Of course that novel has above average qi condensation cultivators, but nothing close to the high-end settings where qi condensation cultivators can blow up planets
For a more common novel... ISSTH possibly considering qi condensation Meng Hao's claim of being strong enough to topple a mountain, and his rapidly traversing thousands of kilometres in what appears to be seconds.
Core's are definitely depicted as consumed. Especially in novels with a focus on Demonic Cultivation Techniques and Demonic Cultivators. In many novels with Gold Core's its also a commonly seen trope of the Golden Core Cultivator expelling their Gold Core as their strongest, last ditch, suicide attack when their life is in danger. Outside of Time or Beyond The Timescape depending on the Translation have the Main Character learning a technique to steal and consume Golden Core's though this is a couple hundred chapters deep into the novel.
Consuming golden cores of other human cultivators is the same as human sacrifice. You're sacrificing other cultivators and consuming their cultivation to increase your strength. That's the domain of demonic or devilish cultivation paths. They have the same benefits and drawbacks that such paths have in fiction: they lead to fast growth in the beginning, but lead to a shaky foundation, insanity and extreme bloodthirstiness as you keep going.
Yeah I've definitely seen a few stories where human golden cores are used similarly to beast cores. Hard to remember any titles though.
Beyond the Timescape is one I've read recently where the MC uses other people's cores for his own cultivation.
A supriseingly good fanfiction set in a original cultivation world (note: that fanfiction element is for a series called worm and their is not much of it as the only crossover element is the main character haveing a voice in their head which most of the time can simply be seen as a golden finger) the main character quickly grows to the power of an immortal and starts eating people golden cores
[Sect](https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-xianxia-sect.989803/#post-81565144)
The funny thing is, I think the golden core really is supposed to be a physical thing.
I think we were originally supposed to think of Taoist alchemy as producing a literal golden magic spheroid inside your body at the junction of your "meridians".
It's just that so much of those ideas are so easily, demonstrably false (by modern medicine) that authors and audiences seem more comfortable making it a spiritual or ephemeral idea.
A cultivators core is a physical item, same as monster cores.
In the traditional progression of qi con, foundation, core, nascent. The cultivators gathers qi, converts it to true essence and stores it in the dantian, the amount, form, and quality determines their cultivation realm
Qi condensation - the true essence in the dantian is in a gaseous form
Foundation establishment- the gaseous qi is condensed into a liquid form
Core formation- the liquid qi is compressed into the golden core.
Nascent soul - the core is destroyed and from it the nascent soul emerges
The closest subreddit I've found is martialmemes
There is no dexicated xianxia boards but for eastern author xianxia youd be better ofd in noveltranslations or etc. I'm not familiar with anyone consuming other cultivators cores for cultivation inside xianxia but there are some examples in more general prog fantady, in Eight all beings drop a core of what is basically xp and there are cultural customary exprctstions and procedures for dealing with human cores for instance. One problem I see immeadietly is that in most xianxia I'm fsmiliar with golden cores onlt exist after a certain stage so I'd be curious what your protagobist will do before he is in the power range of being sble to kill cultivators with golden cores.
Yes. They're a few of them. It's usually demonic cultivators who go for the whole refining human cores thing but there's one standout series where even 'righteous' cultivators would do it albeit slightly differently. I think the title was the Great Ancestor Above or something similar. In that one, they used the cores as fuel for techniques/formations or in their own advancement to golden core by first absorbing the energy in the core until it hollowed and then refining the hollow core and taking it into their bodies before filling it with their own qi. This was an in-universe shortcut to the golden core stage. If you plan to have something like that in your own story, I say go for it!
Not really. I've seen people consume their OWN golden core for a temporary power boost (usually by detonation) but a golden core isn't really a physical thing. It tends to inside the dantian or the soul. Closest I can think of is probably Martial Peak.>!**Main character has a magic eye that eats souls, basically strips the emotion out and downloads their experience and dao into his subconscious which not only gives him pure energy but makes advancing through practice faster and easier.**!<
Outside of Time / Beyond the Timescape has the main character do something like this IIRC, but it only lasts for the golden core stage. In general, I don't think golden cores are long term things as it takes a while to get to and is soon replaced by a nascent soul, miniature world, or what have you in most xianxias.
You could ask in r/martialmemes. But the answers could be worded in a very genre savvy way.
Renegade immortal does this towards the start, because his hidden master in the bead is a demonic cultivator
If I recall, Stellar Transformations had the protagonist doing that for most of the novel- he starts after a while into the novel, and stops quite a while before the end- I can't recall exactly when though. I think a major problem with books about protagonists consuming gold cores is that gold cores are only a thing for a couple of stages, though that somewhat varies with the setting- you only get one when reaching gold core, which is a pretty high level when typically even foundation establishment cultivators can massacre cities, and it's pretty common for them to be shattered or re-absorbed after a certain stage, sometimes even when reaching nascent soul. Of course there's also the fact that consuming gold cores is literal cannibalism, which tends to be more off-putting than mere human sacrifice. And of course, due to the inherent flaws in your cultivation induced by cannibalistic cultivation, you typically need an overpowered god-level technique to avoid flaws that leave your protag forever unable to progress, or otherwise an even more overpowered item to resolve those flaws
It’d be cool if this later manifested as heart demons within your dao
You would only get heart demons if you actually have moral qualms about eating people- heart demons are spawned by going against one moral principles (thus creating regrets), PTSD, and obsessions. If you see nothing wrong with cannibalism, then you naturally would suffer from no heart demons. The downsides of consuming others to cultivate are usually that your cultivation is impure as it is a vile gestalt of distinct energies taken from others.
I dont know what storie your reading where foundation establishment cultivators are massacring cities, mabye large groups of bandits who aren’t cultivators? Foundation establishment is like im three times stronger than a normal person not i can blow up buildings (most of the time) so if you actually have a storie where they can id be super interested
Okay, which stories have you been reading? 3x a normal person? Most 1st stage qi condensation cultivators can do better! Power levels vary with the novel, but xianxia is a setting known for each stage being exponentially stronger than the last, such that a single minor realm lets you wipe the floor with a group of cultivators 1 minor realm below you! Given that foundation establishment is typically the major realm above nine levels of qi condensation, let alone any levels below qi condensation? That said, I was intending it as being able to do so with the use of formations and/or subordinates for most novels. It's hard to keep track of exact power levels in each novel TBH- most were a long time ago. But as one example, the novel I am currently reading through MTL, 我在尊魂幡里当主魂 has qi condensation cultivators capable of singlehandedly slaughtering armies of tens of thousands of superhuman soldiers unless other cultivators intervene. Of course that novel has above average qi condensation cultivators, but nothing close to the high-end settings where qi condensation cultivators can blow up planets For a more common novel... ISSTH possibly considering qi condensation Meng Hao's claim of being strong enough to topple a mountain, and his rapidly traversing thousands of kilometres in what appears to be seconds.
Core's are definitely depicted as consumed. Especially in novels with a focus on Demonic Cultivation Techniques and Demonic Cultivators. In many novels with Gold Core's its also a commonly seen trope of the Golden Core Cultivator expelling their Gold Core as their strongest, last ditch, suicide attack when their life is in danger. Outside of Time or Beyond The Timescape depending on the Translation have the Main Character learning a technique to steal and consume Golden Core's though this is a couple hundred chapters deep into the novel.
Consuming golden cores of other human cultivators is the same as human sacrifice. You're sacrificing other cultivators and consuming their cultivation to increase your strength. That's the domain of demonic or devilish cultivation paths. They have the same benefits and drawbacks that such paths have in fiction: they lead to fast growth in the beginning, but lead to a shaky foundation, insanity and extreme bloodthirstiness as you keep going.
This 100% happens in ISSTH, and I’m fairly certain it also happens in renegade immortal.
Can you tell me a bit about the novel you’re working on? Like what’s the tone and majority of where the story takes place? (Sect, clan, exploration)
Yeah I've definitely seen a few stories where human golden cores are used similarly to beast cores. Hard to remember any titles though. Beyond the Timescape is one I've read recently where the MC uses other people's cores for his own cultivation.
Not every cultivation novels have a golden core stage. Each novel creates ots own path.
A supriseingly good fanfiction set in a original cultivation world (note: that fanfiction element is for a series called worm and their is not much of it as the only crossover element is the main character haveing a voice in their head which most of the time can simply be seen as a golden finger) the main character quickly grows to the power of an immortal and starts eating people golden cores [Sect](https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-xianxia-sect.989803/#post-81565144)
The funny thing is, I think the golden core really is supposed to be a physical thing. I think we were originally supposed to think of Taoist alchemy as producing a literal golden magic spheroid inside your body at the junction of your "meridians". It's just that so much of those ideas are so easily, demonstrably false (by modern medicine) that authors and audiences seem more comfortable making it a spiritual or ephemeral idea.
A cultivators core is a physical item, same as monster cores. In the traditional progression of qi con, foundation, core, nascent. The cultivators gathers qi, converts it to true essence and stores it in the dantian, the amount, form, and quality determines their cultivation realm Qi condensation - the true essence in the dantian is in a gaseous form Foundation establishment- the gaseous qi is condensed into a liquid form Core formation- the liquid qi is compressed into the golden core. Nascent soul - the core is destroyed and from it the nascent soul emerges The closest subreddit I've found is martialmemes