In Chinese cultivation (Xianxia) web novels, the cultivation process is divided into multiple stages, each representing the progress in a cultivator's energy, body, and spirit. These stages have unique cultivation methods and challenges, and as the cultivator advances, they face increasingly complex trials and obstacles. Below are common cultivation stages, especially focusing on the Golden Core Stage and other important stages:

Qi Refining StageCharacteristics: This is the initial stage of cultivation. Cultivators mainly absorb the energy from the heavens and earth to refine their Qi (vital energy), strengthen their bodies, and enhance their physical condition. At this stage, their spiritual power is still immature, and they cannot perform powerful spells or fly. They rely on external tools or elixirs to boost their cultivation.Main Tasks: Cultivators refine their Qi, open their meridians, and store spiritual energy, laying the foundation for future cultivation.

Foundation Establishment (Jie) StageCharacteristics: This is the second crucial stage in cultivation. Cultivators begin to stabilize their internal spiritual energy and enhance their spiritual roots through special methods, making it easier for them to absorb spiritual energy. This stage is about refining the foundation of the body for future progress.Main Tasks: Cultivators break through their energy sea, improve their basic spiritual power, and prepare to reach higher stages. At this stage, cultivators can cast basic spells and begin cultivating initial techniques.

Golden Core (Jindan) StageCharacteristics: The Golden Core stage is a pivotal point in cultivation. It marks a major transition where the cultivator's internal energy begins to condense into a "Golden Core," representing the refinement and elevation of spiritual power. The Golden Core is the essence of the cultivator's power.Role of the Golden Core: At this stage, cultivators can harness the Golden Core's power for stronger spells, using magic tools and achieving long-distance flight. They can also refine elixirs, forge weapons, and enhance their power further.Main Tasks: Cultivators must refine their Golden Core and break through their energy limits to prepare for the next level of cultivation. At this stage, they can control spiritual energy, cast powerful spells, and perceive the laws of the universe.

4. Nascent Soul (Yuanying) StageCharacteristics: The Nascent Soul stage is a critical breakthrough after the Golden Core. At this stage, the Golden Core undergoes further refinement and forms a small "Nascent Soul," which represents the crystallization of the cultivator's spirit and will. The Nascent Soul has an independent consciousness.Role of the Nascent Soul: Cultivators at this stage can master more powerful spells, interact with the spiritual energy of the world, and perceive higher-level laws of nature. They often possess stronger spiritual and soul power, and some may even heal physical injuries or achieve immortality, entering a near-immortal state.Main Tasks: Cultivators refine the Nascent Soul, enhance their soul power, and break through their spiritual limits. Cultivators at this stage can engage in higher-level cultivation and combat, even leaving their physical bodies behind and surviving with only their souls.

5. Divine Transformation (Huashen) StageCharacteristics: The Divine Transformation stage marks a significant leap in cultivation. Cultivators' spiritual energy and mind reach a very powerful level. At this stage, the cultivator no longer just refines their Qi but undergoes a transformation of their soul and spirit, elevating their mastery of the laws of the universe.Main Tasks: Cultivators break through the limits of their physical bodies and start cultivating more powerful spells, such as space manipulation and time control. Their control over their body, soul, and the laws of the universe reaches a completely new level.

6. Tribulation Transcendence (Dujie) StageCharacteristics: The Tribulation Transcendence stage is the final trial for a cultivator. At this stage, cultivators face the "Heavenly Tribulation," which is a challenge imposed by the natural laws of the world. Only by overcoming this tribulation can they break through their limitations and become true immortals.Main Tasks: During the Tribulation Transcendence stage, cultivators must overcome a series of heavenly disasters, such as thunder, wind, and fire tribulations. Only by surviving these disasters can a cultivator hope to achieve true immortality and boundless power.

7. Ascension (Feisheng) StageCharacteristics: The Ascension stage is the final stage, where cultivators reach the highest level of cultivation and can ascend from the mortal realm to the immortal realm (the Immortal World), achieving eternal life.Main Tasks: Cultivators at this stage ascend to the Immortal World or a higher realm, transcending life and death, mastering the laws of the universe, and obtaining a form of eternal existence.