>>5179444The Western fantasy base does actually have some cultivation mechanics in the form of level ups and magical gear progression or crafting. However they rarely have a justified in universe explanation for it, its typically just skill or experience justified as levels; characters rarely become supernaturally strong without magic or a divine background. Even though some modern fantasy creations with a mostly Western basis have some in universe justification- something like souls or blood in some games counts as level ups. Of course, this type of progression is a reward for adventure, not usually something you grind over and over like meditation and chi gathering.
One concept I've always liked is a purely adventure or exploration based cultivation system in line with dungeon crawlers and RPGs. You find magical fountains and mushrooms in the dungeons to consume and gain increased stats. You absorb knowledge from spellbooks to gain more magic, and so on. Sadly, you've just made an RPG, not really a cultivation novel. Hence the disconnect.
