he could actually make it a choice with tang wei to keep things as they were or to receive the power of the Qi cause at the point of the expedition the mc "can" be a middle stage houtian if they manipulate mei mei to give the ascension pill or receive the blessing of the spirit inside the expedition zone so basically you will go to late houtian,peak and on, so the mc evolution will be inside the "normal-guidelines" instead of being the nightmare-fueling monster of power that tang wei was xiwen himself was surprised with mc's appearence and he/she being able to harness qi considering that the grandfather of mc still hasn't taught him/her to use since he was absent most of mc's life so i think it can be a feature for those that dont want to go all their effort on building a good strong character to be in vain at that point. and a a alternative ending that differentiates from qi route and inner energy route that would open more room for possibility of replaying the game differently instead of a semi-set path that gradually changes until you receive qi.