The general system of cultivation.
In ancient times, cultivators were called Qi cultivators. In the early stages of Qi cultivation, one needed to establish a foundation, shed one's mortal body, and wash away impurities before one could be considered to have embarked on the path of cultivation.
But what is cultivation?
At the beginning, each cultivator had different reasons for cultivating; some did so in order to achieve immortality.
Some are driven by various desires...
Some are driven by personal grudges...
Some are driven by obsession.
But no matter what, once you've embarked on the path of cultivation, that's it. Once you've entered this path, no one knows when you'll live or die.
You might be stuck at a certain level due to a lack of talent, until your lifespan runs out.
Perhaps you will be taken advantage of by some chance, or perhaps you will be schemed against by someone.
The river of time keeps turning; no one knows when their world began, nor when it will end.
If you are gifted enough to take the second step in cultivation and see through the illusion, you can become an immortal.
After becoming an immortal, there will be no lifespan limit; as long as you have the will to live, you can live as long as you want.
However, they still cannot escape the cycle of reincarnation. If a second-step cultivator dies, then they are truly dead. No matter how much vitality and lifespan they have, they cannot be resurrected.
Third-stage cultivators are still in the cycle of reincarnation, but they have many, many ways to protect themselves.
Having reached this point, one has surpassed the cultivation of an Immortal Emperor, mastered the rules, comprehended the origin, and wielded a supreme position. Perhaps it is the wind, perhaps the rain, perhaps the thunder. There are more than three thousand Great Daos, and each Dao can become a supreme position.
Therefore, the powerful cultivators in the third step are called Venerable Cultivators!
As for the fourth-step cultivators, after they comprehend reincarnation, they step out of the fourth step and master the power of reincarnation. They are Immortal Emperors who surpass all cultivators below the fourth step.
However, over countless years, very few cultivators have been able to reach the fourth step. A realm is considered powerful if it has even one Immortal Emperor; if it has no Immortal Emperor, then…
It is a weak realm that is bullied by other realms.
Due to time constraints and the lengthy setup, I cannot explain everything clearly. I can only give you a general overview here and will add more details later when I have more time.
If you are interested, you can cultivate Taoism with Wang Mu.