c3: The Power System
This world is called the Dou Qi Continent.
Dou Qi is the dominant source of power on this continent, and almost every form of strength or combat ability ultimately originates from it.
Unlike the ninja world Madara came from where shinobi were formally ranked through the administrative system of the hidden villages such as Genin, Chunin, and Jonin, and where true combat strength was often determined more by battle experience, bloodline limits, and mastery of ninjutsu rather than a strict numerical scale
the Dou Qi Continent instead evaluates strength through three main criteria: cultivation techniques, fighting skills, and realm.
These three aspects together form the fundamental power system governing this world.
First, there are cultivation techniques.
Through long periods of research and classification, the people of the Dou Qi Continent have divided Dou Qi cultivation techniques into four tiers and twelve levels according to their quality.
From highest to lowest, the four tiers are Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.
Each of these tiers is further divided into three stages: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
The level of the cultivation technique one practices is extremely important, because it directly determines the efficiency at which Dou Qi can be absorbed and refined.
In other words, the higher the level of the cultivation technique, the faster a practitioner can accumulate power and the higher their potential future achievements will be.
For example, someone cultivating a mid-level Profound-tier technique will naturally possess stronger Dou Qi reserves and better growth potential than someone of the same realm cultivating a high-level Yellow-tier technique.
Second, there are fighting skills.
As the name suggests, fighting skills are the techniques used to unleash and control Dou Qi in combat.
These abilities function somewhat similarly to ninjutsu or taijutsu techniques used by shinobi in the ninja world, allowing a practitioner to convert raw energy into destructive attacks, defensive abilities, or movement techniques.
Like cultivation techniques, fighting skills are also divided into four tiers: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.
Naturally, the higher the tier of a fighting skill, the greater the power that can be released when Dou Qi is channeled through it.
Finally, there is the classification of realms.
On the Dou Qi Continent, excluding the most basic stage where individuals first sense and gather Dou Qi, practitioners are divided into ten major realms according to their overall strength.
From lowest to highest, these realms are Dou Zhe, Dou Shi, Da Dou Shi, Dou Ling, Dou Wang, Dou Huang, Dou Zong, Dou Zun, Dou Sheng, and Dou Di.
Each of these realms is further divided into nine stars that represent smaller stages of progress within the realm itself.
The higher the star level, the closer the practitioner is to breaking through to the next realm.
Through the soul memories that he had extracted earlier using the Human Path of the Rinnegan, Uchiha Madara now understood that in terms of the Dou Qi system alone, he was currently only at the very first of the ten realms the Dou Zhe realm.
More specifically, he was only at the very beginning of that stage, roughly equivalent to a one-star Dou Zhe.
Of course, Madara was well aware that this measurement referred only to the foreign energy system of this world.
It did not take into account the enormous chakra reserves and ocular abilities he possessed as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
The snake-man he had fought earlier had been a relatively low-level Da Dou Shi within the hierarchy of this world.
Judging purely by status and combat authority, that level of strength was probably comparable to a mid-level shinobi such as a Chunin within the ninja world, perhaps slightly stronger than a newly promoted Genin but still far below the elite Jonin who served as battlefield commanders during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Interesting,"
Uchiha Madara murmured to himself as he finished organizing the information within his mind.
Throughout his entire life, from the chaotic Warring States Period to the final battles of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara Uchiha had possessed very few personal hobbies.
The only thing that truly interested him was fighting powerful opponents.
Unfortunately, by the time he had awakened the Rinnegan and later become the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, there were almost no individuals left in the ninja world who could truly challenge him in battle.
Even the Five Kage working together had been easily suppressed by him.
Now that he had arrived in this unfamiliar world, he wondered whether the Dou Qi Continent possessed any powerful experts capable of reigniting the excitement of battle within his heart.
The information above represented the basic overview of the Dou Qi power system that Uchiha Madara had obtained from the snake-man leader's soul.
As for the broader structure of power and politics across the Dou Qi Continent, the snake-man's status had been too low for him to know many details.
Therefore, Madara had only obtained a rough outline of the surrounding region along with some information about his current location.
One thing was clear.
The Dou Qi Continent was very different from the ninja world.
In Madara's original world, humans were the dominant species, forming nations such as the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the other great shinobi countries.
Although there were powerful creatures such as the tailed beasts massive chakra entities created when the Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails into nine separate beings those beasts did not rule civilizations.
On the Dou Qi Continent, however, the situation was quite different.
While the human race possessed great strength and established powerful empires, many powerful beast races also existed across the continent.
These different races occupied territories of their own and coexisted in a delicate balance of power.
The desert region where Madara had appeared was known as the Tagor Desert.
It served as the territory of the snake-man race.
This snake-man race was ruled by Queen Medusa and supported by eight powerful tribal chiefs.
According to the information Madara had obtained, all eight of those tribal chiefs possessed strength at the Dou Wang level.
Queen Medusa herself was even stronger, standing at the level of a Dou Huang powerhouse.
Together, this made the snake-man race a very formidable faction within the region.
Beyond the borders of the Tagor Desert lay the territory of the human race known as the Gama Empire.
As for the specific structure of the Gama Empire, the snake-man leader had known very little due to his low status within the tribe.
However, Madara had still learned one important piece of information from the snake-man's memories.
Just the previous night, a powerful human team consisting of one Dou Huang, three Dou Wang, and several Dou Ling level experts had forcibly broken through the defensive perimeter at the edge of the desert and entered its deeper regions.
Their destination was the Snake-People's Temple, located approximately eighty kilometers from his current location within the vast Tagor Desert.
From the memories extracted earlier through the Human Path of the Rinnegan, Madara Uchiha already knew that this temple served as the royal capital of the snake-man race and the residence of their ruler, Queen Medusa.
This meant that if he also headed toward the Snake-People's Temple, he would likely encounter several powerful individuals from the human race as well as the strongest warriors of the snake-man tribes.
Through observing their abilities, he could gain a deeper understanding of this world's power system and determine how it compared to chakra-based combat.
"Dou Wang and Dou Huang level powerhouses, hm?"
Madara Uchiha murmured to himself quietly.
"I wonder what their strength is actually like."
For someone like Madara who had once fought Hashirama Senju, battled the Five Kage simultaneously, and later stood at the peak of the shinobi world as the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails such unknown opponents naturally aroused a trace of curiosity.
Thinking this, Uchiha Madara calmly raised his hands and formed a sequence of precise hand seals.
Even though he now possessed the Rinnegan and overwhelming chakra reserves, the habit of forming hand seals for elemental techniques was deeply ingrained from decades of combat.
"Earth Release."
Madara activated a familiar earth-style ninjutsu.
Using a technique similar to the Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique, his body instantly sank into the desert sand beneath his feet.
The loose sand behaved like liquid under the influence of his chakra, allowing his body to disappear beneath the surface without leaving any obvious trace.
Underground, Uchiha Madara stood calmly with his eyes closed.
The sand surrounding him flowed and shifted as if parting for him, while his chakra circulated steadily through his chakra pathway system.
Although he remained perfectly still in posture, his body was actually moving forward beneath the desert at an extremely fast speed.
With the assistance of his chakra control and sensory perception, Madara traveled beneath the desert like a silent shadow heading straight toward the Snake-People's Temple.
...
As the blazing sun gradually descended toward the horizon and the desert sky began to glow with the orange light of evening, a large-scale confrontation was already unfolding in the Snake-People's capital city.
High above the walls of the Serpent-People's royal city, hundreds of meters in the air, a colossal demonic beast hovered silently.
Its enormous wings beat slowly as it maintained its position in the sky.
Several figures stood or floated in the air not far in front of it, each one releasing a powerful aura that spread across the battlefield like a heavy pressure.
On the massive city walls below, snake-people warriors armed with long spears stood ready.
Their cold vertical pupils glimmered with hostility as they stared upward at the human intruders.
Their muscular snake tails coiled tightly along the stone ramparts as they prepared to attack at any moment.
However, the group of humans in the sky advanced slowly and without any sign of haste.
They flew forward through the air toward the royal city before eventually stopping just outside the effective attack range of the snake-people spearmen stationed on the walls.
At almost the same moment, two powerful figures rose into the air from within the Serpent-People's royal city.
One of them possessed a tall and imposing body covered in dark scales, while the other had a slender and alluring figure with an almost hypnotic presence.
These two individuals were Mobas, the leader of the Ink Serpent Tribe, and Yue Mei, the leader of the Enchanting Serpent Tribe.
Both of them were powerful warriors who had reached the Dou Wang level.
"Humans, why have you trespassed into the territory of our snake-people without permission?"
"If you do not wish to provoke a war between the Gama Empire and the snake-people race, then I advise you to leave immediately."
Mobas's deep and chilling voice echoed through the sky as he glared at the group of humans before him.
"Hehe… this must be Chief Mobas of the Ink Serpent Tribe, correct?"
From the human group floating in the distance, a middle-aged man with an extraordinary and refined aura slowly stepped forward with a gentle smile.
His expression was calm and composed despite the tense atmosphere.
"Who are you?"
Mobas slightly flapped the energy wings formed from his Dou Qi behind his back while his cold gaze swept across the middle-aged man.
A faint sneer appeared on his face.
"I am Gu He."
Ignoring Mobas's hostile gaze, the middle-aged man spoke calmly with a faint smile.
Upon hearing this name, a figure hidden quietly within a crevice among the distant rocks released a long breath.
The person's body trembled slightly before becoming still again, remaining hidden in silence.
"Gu He… the Pill King of the Gama Empire?"
When Yue Mei and Mobas heard the name, surprise immediately appeared in their eyes.
Although the snake-people tribes rarely treated human experts with much respect, they could not ignore a legendary alchemist like Gu He.
They were well aware of the tremendous influence that a sixth-rank alchemist such as Gu He possessed within the Gama Empire and even across the surrounding regions.
"Two chiefs," Gu He said politely, folding his hands slightly.
"I have come to your noble territory with a matter that I wish to discuss directly with Queen Medusa."
"Would you be so kind as to request that Her Majesty grant me an audience?"
"To see Her Majesty the Queen?"
Mobas shook his head without the slightest hesitation.
"I am afraid that request cannot be conveyed."
He slowly raised his eyelids and spoke in a calm yet threatening tone.
"Gu He, you should take your people and leave as quickly as possible."
"The warriors of our eight tribes have already been summoned and are currently on their way to the royal city."
"Once they arrive, you may not even have the opportunity to leave."
Hearing these words, Gu He slowly glanced around the city beneath him.
He let out a light sigh before suddenly raising his voice.
His words carried the power of his Dou Huang-level battle aura, spreading outward like rolling thunder across the entire city.
"Your Majesty Queen Medusa!"
"I am Gu He of the Gama Empire."
"I have not come here to start a war with the snake-people race."
"I have come only to discuss an important matter with Your Majesty."
"I respectfully request that Your Majesty grant me an audience!"
Seeing Gu He act so boldly, Yue Mei and Mobas standing above the city walls frowned slightly but did not immediately intervene.
In truth, the current situation was indeed somewhat delicate.
Compared with the human group in front of them—which contained one Dou Huang and three Dou Wang level experts—the two of them alone were clearly at a disadvantage.
If Gu He truly chose to attack, they would have difficulty stopping him.
The thunderous echoes of Gu He's voice reverberated throughout the royal city.
After a long moment, the sound gradually faded.
High above the city wall, the empty space suddenly began to distort in a strange and unnatural way.
Seeing this phenomenon, Gu He and the powerful figures beside him instinctively stepped back slightly while staring intently at the twisting space.
The fading afterglow of the setting sun shone across the sky.
Its golden light illuminated the distorted space as if revealing something hidden behind a curtain.
In the next moment, a graceful and curvaceous figure slowly appeared within the warped space before the eyes of countless spectators.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman emerged.
She wore a magnificent and elegant purple brocade robe that shimmered faintly under the evening light.
Beneath the robe, her voluptuous figure resembled a perfectly ripe peach, radiating an alluring and dangerous charm.
Her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders and flowed over her slender waist like silk.
From beneath the robe, a section of a purple serpent tail extended outward, swaying slowly and giving her an exotic and seductive presence.
"Your Majesty!"
The moment the enchanting woman appeared, countless snake-people warriors stationed on the city walls immediately knelt down in reverence.
Their voices rose together in unison, echoing across the sky with overwhelming respect.
.....