Nine Heavens Ascent

Breathe in. Gather Qi. Climb from nameless mortal to Dao Ancestor. Nine Heavens Ascent is an idle cultivation game in pixel art: meditate on a mountain ledge, grow your sanctuary and break through fifteen realms of immortal cultivation, one stage at a time.

Tap to breathe, spend Qi on cultivation sources that keep working while you are away, and break through when your Qi is full. Every realm ends in a Heavenly Tribulation of falling lightning. Your years are numbered until you become immortal, and from Nascent Soul onward you can reincarnate to awaken a permanent Dao tree and turn the Samsara wheel.

How to play

Press Play, then BEGIN YOUR ASCENT. Your first goal is 60 Qi for the first breakthrough.

• Tap the sanctuary to breathe and gather Qi
• Buy a Breathing Technique so Qi flows on its own
• Press BREAKTHROUGH when your Qi is full to climb a stage
• At the end of a realm, tap the falling lightning to pass the Heavenly Tribulation
• Hunt spirit beasts for Spirit Stones, then buy Ancient Techniques and pills
• From Nascent Soul, reincarnate for Dao Insight and awaken the Dao tree

Life, death and rebirth

Mortal lives are finite. Your age rises as you cultivate and every realm extends your lifespan. If your years run out you Fade and your Qi gain is halved until your next breakthrough. Longevity Pills buy time, and True Immortals never age.

Reincarnation trades this life for Dao Insight. Spend it on twelve Eternal Dao nodes, then twelve Heavenly Dao nodes, then on the Samsara wheel, which you can turn as often as you like.

Saves

Your path saves automatically and offline progress counts while you are away. In Settings you can export a save code and import it on another device or browser.

Controls

Touch / mouse

Tap the sanctuary to breathe, tap buttons to buy, drag lists to scroll

Keyboard

Space breathe, B breakthrough, Q / E switch tabs, Esc menu

Gamepad

X or A breathe, Y breakthrough, LB / RB switch tabs, Start menu, D-pad or stick to navigate

Features

• Fifteen realms and 135 stages, from Mortal to Dao Ancestor
• A pixel-art sky for every realm
• Heavenly Tribulations at every major breakthrough
• Eight cultivation sources with Buy 1, Buy 10 and Buy Max
• Five Ancient Techniques and three pills
• Automatic spirit beast hunt
• Lifespan, Fading and Longevity Pills
• Reincarnation with 24 permanent Dao nodes
• Endless Samsara wheel
• True Immortal and Dao Ancestor ceremonies
• Offline progress and autosave
• Exportable save codes
• Portrait on phones, two columns on desktop and tablets
• No ads, no purchases, no account