“Cultivation is the process of becoming terminally ill.” In this world, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is a living parasite known as “Xuantong.” Cultivation is no longer about absorbing pure energy. Instead, cultivators deliberately let Xuantong infest their bodies, then use cultivation techniques to guide its orderly “mutation,” gaining extraordinary power in the process. Every breakthrough to a new realm is a more dangerous worsening of the “disease.” Ascension is regarded as the ultimate, irreversible form of perfect “mutation.”
