There were four major pathways outside of a Spiritual root, which determined usually what the technique was going to be about.
The Create pathway was the one that was used when someone needed to create something with their Qi. It could be anything from creating a ball of fire to complex objects using just one's Qi. Most long-range attacks were created using this pathway.
The Control pathway was the one that allowed Qi to control something. This was most commonly used for object manipulation using Qi or simply for flying.
The Compliment pathway was the one that allowed Qi to be put into something to either strengthen it or change it. Cultivators naturally used this pathway on the daily to keep their body strengthened, and use it on their weapons when fighting. Any sort of formation, talismans, or the like used Qi from this pathway as well.
