Martial Arts World cultivation guide: Qi Refining and your first breakthrough

Earn cultivation through quests and enemy fights, then clear each available stage wall before collecting more quest XP. To prepare for Foundation Establishment, fill your cultivation bar and obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill plus Scarback’s Broken Tusk, the boss key dropped by Old Scarback.

Progress through Qi Refining

Press M, then choose Cultivation. Qi Refining covers levels 1–10, with Early, Middle, Late and Peak stages. The cultivation-experience counter shows your progress toward the next threshold.

Use Journey to follow the main story. Completing quests and defeating NPC enemies both award cultivation experience, so you can fight more enemies between story objectives when you need additional levels. If a story objective asks you to reach a higher level, work on other quests or enemy fights until you meet it—after clearing any available cultivation wall.

Check Cultivation when you reach a bottleneck. More questing will not let you level past an uncleared stage wall, and quest XP earned while blocked is wasted.

Clear an early cultivation stage wall

When you have reached a stage wall and its advance action is available:

1. Open M → Cultivation.
2. Select the available advance action, such as Advance to Middle Stage.
3. Press E or click as each ring meets the circle in the timing prompt.
4. Check that your displayed stage has changed. You can then resume earning cultivation toward the next wall.

The changed stage label is your confirmation that the advance succeeded. Repeat this process at the remaining early Qi Refining walls as their advance actions become available.

Prepare for Foundation Establishment

Moving into Foundation Establishment requires preparation beyond the earlier stage advances. Your first-breakthrough checklist contains:

• A full cultivation bar. Continue gaining cultivation through Qi Refining, clearing its stage walls along the way.
• A Foundation Establishment Pill. Speak to Pill Master Yao, choose Browse wares, and buy the pill when you have enough silver for the displayed price.
• Scarback’s Broken Tusk. Defeat Old Scarback for this breakthrough key. You can identify the item in the boss’s drop list in the in-game Index.
• Optional offerings. You may add up to three treasures when preparing the breakthrough.

After defeating Old Scarback, check that you actually received Scarback’s Broken Tusk. A single defeat does not guarantee the required item; if it did not drop, you still need to obtain it before your preparation is complete.

Check the foundation preview

Offerings are optional, but they affect your foundation quality. When preparing the breakthrough, inspect the materials available as offerings and hover over them to see their point values. The selected qi spot also affects the foundation preview, and a better foundation awards more breakthrough stat points.

Compare the preview as you select offerings and a qi spot so you can see the result of your preparation. Use the qi spots guide when choosing a location, and the breakthrough guide for the required items and foundation-quality checks.