Immortal Path

Immortal Path

A cultivation roguelike card game rooted in the myths of Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), with the Five Elements as its lifeblood. Manage three core resources: Essence, Vitality, and Spirit. Traverse six arcs of ancient mythology, build your deck from 265 cards and 111 relics. Hidden alternative boss battles await in each chapter, triggered only by special conditions. Seven difficulty tiers stretch from mortal all the way to Tribulation Transcendence.

Turn Combat: Operating the Three Resources of Essence, Vitality and Spirit

Immortal Path abandons a single generic mana cost. Instead, combat revolves around three interlocking resource streams:

Essence: The fuel to play cards, restored at the start of each turn. When Essence hits zero, you enter a Broken Defense state: incoming Vitality damage is doubled.

Vitality: Your cultivator’s life force. Drop it to zero and you fall in battle; this is also the damage type you will most frequently receive.

Spirit: Divine awareness, used to cast powerful secret arts, capable of dealing combined Vitality and Spirit damage.

The three resources constrain one another: Block can be converted into Essence, and certain relics let you burn Vitality to cover Essence shortages. Overspending Essence for a burst of power leaves you teetering on the brink of Broken Defense next round. Knowing when to hold steady and when to gamble is the true strategic heart of combat.

The Five Elements: Generating and Overcoming, Card Attributes Shape Your Playstyle

Every one of the 265 cards bears an attribute: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. Attributes are more than simple damage multipliers. They determine which counter-effects you suffer, what synergies you can trigger, and whether relic abilities activate. Stacking a single attribute enables extreme burst builds, while a balanced spread of the Five Elements grants generation bonuses. Rearranging your attribute weighting turns the same deck into an entirely new build.

Six Chapters of Ancient Myth, Each With a Second Final Encounter

Drawn from tales of Shan Hai Jing, each chapter features its own core mechanics:

Jingwei Filling the Sea: Obsession made flesh. Shield the unyielding blue bird through three stages of heavenly thunder.

Hou Yi Shooting the Suns: The Lord of Scorched Remnants deals escalating burn damage. The figure surrounded by the nine sun wraiths may not truly seek war.

Kuafu Chasing the Light: Light-chasing marks worsen each turn, with phantoms shielding him. You must shatter this barrier first.

Xingtian Wielding Shield and Axe: The headless giant’s battle fervor never fades; the stronger you grow, the more frenzied he becomes. The Shadow of the Heavenly Emperor judges every strike with golden radiance.

Nüwa Mending the Sky: Sky rifts seal your Five Elements powers. Refined Five-Colored Stones require you to shatter seals using countering attributes one by one.

Gonggong Striking the Mountain: Flood and celestial fire alternate. Once his wrath is full, he unleashes the Mountain-Strike.

Beyond the main chapter guardian lies a hidden boss, only summoned by fulfilling special prerequisites. Defeating them unlocks the chapter’s true ending, rewriting the battle rules entirely. At the end of this immortal path awaits the Lord of the Long River, who commands the laws of time.

111 Relics and 5 Resonance Sets

Relics are not mere stat bonuses; they rewrite fundamental rules: preserve block into the next turn, make your first card free of Vitality cost, relax enemy exhaustion thresholds, or grow stronger with every drink. Equip three specific relics simultaneously to trigger Resonance — Great Completion of the Five Elements, Iron Pact Alliance, Hidden Dragon Bloodline, and more. Building around Resonance forms a second build path parallel to your deck.

Six Cultivators, Six Starting Decks, Six Ways to Live

Balanced Five Elements · Sword Cultivator · Body Cultivator · Wine Immortal · Alchemist · Formation Master. Six playable characters each come with a unique starting deck. Unlock a new character upon defeating each major boss.

Achievements as Permanent Cross-Run Progression

Achievements are not just trophies. Completing any of the 54 achievements unlocks permanent upgrades across runs, sorted into eight categories: Dao Foundation, Spirit Root, Primordial Spirit, Spirit Stones, Dao Affinity, Magic Treasures, Enlightenment, and Heavenly Mandate. This pool includes 21 passive bonuses and 14 Heavenly Mandate mechanics.

Upgrades range from permanent +2 maximum Essence, +3 maximum Vitality, to drawing an extra card on your first turn. Progress all the way to Tribulation Transcendence difficulty. Even a failed run leaves lasting gains, as long as you encounter new content.

For post-run review, the Past Fortune system archives every run: character state, victory status, deck composition, collected relics, visited nodes, and slain foes, all available for review.

Seven Difficulty Tiers: From Mortal to Tribulation Transcendence

Mortal / Cultivator / Foundation Establishment / Golden Core / Nascent Soul / Spirit Transformation / Tribulation Transcendence. Difficulty scaling is not limited to enemy stats. Starting from Golden Core, modifiers activate one after another: inflated shop prices, elite enemy onslaughts, diminished lucky encounters, reshaping the rules themselves. Tribulation Transcendence is not intended for first-time clearers, but for those who have already mastered the game.

A Book Worth Revisiting

265 cards total, including 108 cards with unique play animations. Shops offer card synthesis, enchantment, and card removal.

Enemies have distinct dispositions. Before acting, they openly reveal their next intended move — you always see what they plan to do.

A glossary of 67 terms lets you look up mechanics at any time, such as why zero Essence triggers Broken Defense.

54 achievements each unlock permanent cross-run buffs (persistent progression). The Past Fortune system records every run’s journey.

Full collection encyclopedia, combat logs, and post-battle recaps — understand every victory, and every defeat.

On the Subject of Cultivation

Our ambition extends beyond a well-balanced numerical system. Every foe across the six chapters represents the untold half of their myth: Jingwei’s obsession, Hou Yi’s choice to lay down his bow, Kuafu’s unfulfilled longing, Xingtian’s rage, Nüwa’s compassion, Gonggong’s resentment.

You will cross paths with them as you advance. When facing hidden bosses, you are forced to answer one question: do you cultivate the Dao… or merely your own unwillingness to yield?