Cultivating Divinity

Cultivating Divinity is a classical xianxia web novel by Fengqi Xianyun, serialized on Qidian.com from November 2010, completed at approximately 2.87 million Chinese characters. The protagonist, Chu Yi, has a dual identity on Earth as a renowned architect and a tomb raider. When his ancestral pearl undergoes a mutation, he is transported to Xuanyuan Star, a planet dominated by cultivators. Xuanyuan Star has nine great nations and nine great sects, and cultivation toward immortality is virtually the only path of ascent. Unwilling to remain ordinary, Chu Yi starts as the humblest miner, seeking only a chance to set foot on the path of cultivation. Unlike the traditional progression of "mortal, cultivator, divine realm," this book puts its protagonist on the path of "cultivating ancient gods rather than immortals," and both the title and the core premise rest on the words "cultivating divinity." The book follows the protagonist's ascent from the mines up the ladder of the cultivation world, unfolding plots such as sect examinations, secret realm adventures, spirit artifact and elixir trading, and sect conflicts; it combines the pacing of a power-fantasy serial with systematic worldbuilding, and is one of Fengqi Xianyun's representative works.