Cultivation

This Article is based on the Official Translations of the Light Novel series! The information and terminology in the article will be based on the source material rather than the Donghua (Anime) or Manhua.

## Dou Realms

This is a ranking according to how strong the person is. In this land whoever has strength, has dignity. Without strength you are nothing. As you train your Dou Qi level you gain status and class, within each Dou Qi class there are levels indicated as stars, when you reach nine stars you have the potential to advance your class. e.g. - a nine star Dou Zhe will advance to Dou Shi with his next Dou Qi increase/breakthrough. The gap between each stars will increase as one advances to higher classes and the difficulty of advancing would also increase.

***Note**: Both "皇" (huáng) and "帝" (dì) in Dou Huang and Dou Di are Chinese characters that can be translated to "**emperor**" in English, but they have slightly different meanings and implications:*

1. *皇 (Huáng):*
	* ***Emperor** or **Monarch**: "皇" generally refers to a ruler, especially an emperor or monarch in imperial China.*
	* ***Imperial** or **Royal**: "皇" is also used in various contexts to denote something imperial, royal, or majestic. For example, "皇宫" (huánggōng) means imperial palace, and "皇帝" (huángdì) means emperor, combining both characters.*
2. *帝 (Dì):*
	* ***Emperor** or **Deity**: "帝" also means emperor, but it can carry a broader sense of divinity or deity. Historically, it was used to refer to the highest deity in ancient Chinese religious beliefs.*
	* ***Supreme Being**: Additionally, "帝" can be used to refer to a god or the supreme being in religious or mythological contexts. For example, in Daoism, "太帝" (Tài Dì) refers to the Great Deity, a concept related to the Daoist cosmology.*

## Dou Technique (Skill) Ranking

Dou Qi skill ranking is separated into 4 classes. The higher the level, the stronger the skill. Once you have reached Dou Practitioner, you are able to learn skills and abilities. Reading scrolls is the most common way to gain a new skill; however, there are other ways to obtain abilities. You can even develop new and unique abilities through rigorous training. Though uncommon, these are abilities that have never been seen before and are unique to you.

1. **Huang (Yellow)**: This is the first rank skill class and within each skill there is a further subclass as low/mid/high.
2. **Xuan (Black)**: This is the second rank skill category. A High Xuan and Di class may merely have a one level distance, but the gap was just like that of the Heavens and the Earth. Most Xuan class Dou Techniques relied on the personal strength of the user to unleash its strength. However, a Di class Dou Technique was already able to rely on the natural energy to achieve an extermination-like destructive strength. One was a person and the other was the Heavens and Earth. There was basically no comparison between the two.
3. **Di (Earth)**: This is the third rank skill class. Though Di Level was only one grade better than High Xuan Level, the distance between the two was as wide as the grand canyon. With enough wealth and a bit of luck, one could occasionally obtain a High Xuan Dou Technique from a high-ranking auction. Yet a Di Level Dou Technique could be said to be priced beyond the market as it was once heard that in the imperial capital of Jia Ma Empire, the price of a Di Level Dou Technique had rocketed to a sky-high price of about ten million, which was equivalent to an entire year of taxes from the entire Jia Ma Empire. Although it was merely one grade of difference, the price between the two was more than a hundred times. From this it could be seen that Xuan Level and Di Level were two completely different concepts.
4. **Tian (Heaven)**: This is the fourth rank skill class, it is the highest and most powerful skill class and as with each skill class there is a further subclass as low/mid/high.

This ranking can also be applied to the Dou Qi practitioner's training methods (Dou Qi Method, or Gong Fu).

This comes from the first line of the classic educational text, the Qian Zi Wen (Thousand Character Essay), which was written by Zhou Xingsi of the Liang Dynasty:

天地玄黄，宇宙洪荒.
Tian Di Xuan Huang, Yu Zhou Hong Huang.
Sky Earth Black Yellow, Time Space Primordial-Chaos.

## Classification of Dou Qi

Types of Dou Qi:

* **Water**: The water type Dou Qi was the most gentle kind. In the absence of any healing medicine, water type Dou Qi was the most suitable choice to help treat wounds. Hence, water type Dou Qi practitioners were also commonly known as “Mobile Healing Medicine”. In many mercenary groups, someone who possessed the water element Qi Technique was a must. After all, when fellow members were severely injured, only water or wood type Dou Qi would be able to help the member gain sufficient time to heal.
* **Wood**: The wood type Dou Qi similar to the water type has healing properties.
* **Wind**: The wind type Dou Qi is known for its speed & flexibility.
* **Metal (Gold)**: The metal type Dou Qi is known for its powerful defense. This kind of Dou Qi would enable the practitioner's body to turn as hard as metal.
* **Fire**: The fire type Dou Qi is known for its powerful attack.
* **Ice**: The ice type Dou Qi was extremely rare. Besides having a very strong offensive strength, this kind of Dou Qi also possessed a freezing effect.
* **Lightning (Thunder)**: The lightning type Dou Qi was extremely rare. Besides having a very strong offensive strength, this kind of Dou Qi also possessed a paralyzing effect. In battle, it really caused people to have a headache. The lightning affinity Dou Qi not only has a strong attacking strength but is also very good at increasing one’s agility.
* **Poison**: The poison type Dou Qi was extremely rare. Besides having a very strong offensive strength, this kind of Dou Qi also possessed a corrosive effect.
* **Blood**: The blood type Dou Qi was extremely rare. Besides having a strong offensive strength, this kind of Dou Qi also possessed a devouring effect.
* **Darkness**: The darkness type Dou Qi was extremely rare. Besides having a very strong offensive strength, this kind of Dou Qi also possessed a corruption effect. One can control souls & corpses with this attribute of Dou Qi. It can also be used for curses.
* **Light**: The light type Dou Qi was extremely rare. Besides having a very strong offensive strength, this kind of Dou Qi also possessed a Purifying effect.
* **Earth**: Dou Qi of this affinity specialized in being sturdy and long lasting. Compared to people of the same level, the time which one could fight would be much longer. Moreover, this kind of Dou Qi focused on defense. When fighting with others, one could rely on the richness of one’s long lasting Dou Qi to drag it out until the opponent would become too tired. When fighting with a person of this Dou Qi affinity, erupting a wild and violent strength within a short period of time to perform suppressing attacks was the most appropriate tactic.

## Soul Ranking

There are 4 rankings for souls power:

* **Mortal State**: Ranging from 1st to 7th ranked Alchemists.
* **Soul State**: 8th ranked Alchemists
* **Heavenly State**: Divided into 3 stages first, after and full. This is the level of 9th ranked Alchemists, at the peak Heavenly State, it could span for 10 thousand of miles, also in this stage, the soul can become solid as strong as the body so instead of one Xiao Yan for example, there is now 4.
* **Di State**: Can span for hundred thousands of miles. Achieving Di State however is easier than making a Di Rank Pill or becoming a Dou Di.

## Trivia

* For the first 10 Duan Qi, the Dou Qi stays weak and almost undetectable. Unless one actively used Dou Qi or an examination monument was used, it is impossible to find out what Duan Qi someone has.
* Everyone knew that Dou Qi could only be trained following a set formula and since the Qi Paths for individuals are especially weak at this point, if the effects of the medicine were too fierce, then the Qi Paths would burst and the person would die.
* In the first 9 Duan Qis, 1 to 3 Duan Qi were considered low level, 4 to 6 Duan Qi were middle level and 7 to 9 Duan Qi were high leveled. The 7th Duan Qi was basically a gap between Duan Qis, once one gets to 7 Duan Qi then they would have gotten to the high leveled Duan Qi and have a couple times as much Dou Qi compared to 6 Duan Qi. Therefore, 7 Duan Qi was considered as the first lock to becoming a Dou Zhe.
* Dou Zi Li, Dou Qi and Dou Zi Qi are all the same thing - Dou Qi.
* Light yellow was the color of a fire attributed Low Huang Qi Method. The higher the rank of the Qi Method, the deeper the color.
* The early stages of training Dou Zhi Li were very tough. This was something recognised by everyone. Usually, if one started Dou Qi training at the age of four, even with better than average talent, one should be around fifteen year old before he could reach nine Duan Qi. For those who are more outstanding, they may be able to achieve this at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Reaching nine Duan Qi at ten was a frightening speed.
* The early morning hours were the best time to train his Dou Qi. Moreover, Dou Qi training was like rowing a boat against the flow. If one did not advance, one would fall behind; only by persevering could one truly succeed.
* The time after Dou Qi was exhausted was the best time to train. At this time, all the cells and muscles in body were far more greedy for Qi than usual.
* The last three stars of every rank are the hardest to breakthrough.
* The interior of a person’s body was their weakest point.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 68
2. ↑ Chapter 100
3. ↑ Chapter 187
4. ↑ Chapter 421
5. ↑ Chapter 524
6. ↑ Chapter 17
7. ↑ Chapter 21
8. ↑ Chapter 27
9. ↑ Chapter 30
10. ↑ Chapter 101
11. ↑ Chapter 111
12. ↑ Chapter 121
13. ↑ Chapter 127

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