- a tournament every 5 years where you face progressively stronger opponents. Each opponent defeated gives you a reward. After you lose or give up you can try again next tournament, starting against the same difficulty as you blaze trough the early brackets with ease. The goal is to start with an opponent that is almost impossible to lose to and increase the difficulty so that you beat 2-3 opponents per cultivation level you earn, letting you feel your increase in strength.
- replace the pills crafting with a "cultivation supplies" stat that increases as you forage and harvest spirit beasts. It acts as another Breaktrough multiplier.
- replace the Sect Points tax with a Sect Insatisfaction deadline. If you reach this deadline you get kicked out of the sect, forcing an early reincarnation. This deadline gets push back when you breaktrough, when you win tournament matches or by contributing Sect points at an increasing rate.
- add other deadlines to pace the game. You are caught in a bandit attack at age 23 and must reincarnate if you can't defeat this easy enemy. A divine storm rages from year 41 to 44, preventing travel and leaving behind new locations. A Dragon grave can be found, looting it gives lots of resources but adds a deadline 15 years later where its spirit comes back to fight you.
I do greatly appreciate your feedback, it's nice to see you actually gave me suggestions instead of being rude so I'm thankful for that. I will most likely incorporate a tournament aspect sooner than later. about pill crafting/alchemy, it's going to get a complete rework and not be as much reliant on luck and have a lot more interaction, so don't worry about that. the sect points tax I will keep but I have also added an event greatly punishing you if you go below -12 sect points. adding deadlines/story events is a great idea and I was already thinking of including them sooner than later, so rest assured they will be incorporated into the game one way or another.