Responses
Basically martial artists are still in humanly possible feats while cultivators work to transcend as gods.
Martial artists can be cultivators but not all cultivators are martial artists. ie becoming so proficient in the sword can help you become the sword god but you can also find other pathways like luck or karma which has nothing to do with martial art

I don't really get the difference between a normal martial artist and a cultivator. Can somebody explain this lore? I often see this in chinese dramas as well. It seems cultivators can use some sort of magic.