The True Division of Powers in Douluo: The Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan

(This chapter is not for those without great fortune and great perseverance.)

The Douluo I novel had over seven hundred chapters and more than three million words. While that was no small amount, it was nowhere near enough to describe an entire continent. How could so little text possibly explain the situation of the entire Douluo Continent over tens of thousands of years?

The powers of Douluo Continent were actually quite peculiar and extremely chaotic. To make them easier to analyze, Zhuang Xingyu divided them into four categories: directly administered prefectures and counties, indirectly ruled territories, tributary states and sect clans, and Hidden Forces.

Directly administered prefectures and counties: these were the territories under the absolute control of the Heaven Dou Empire, Star Luo Empire, and Spirit Hall. Only in such places could they completely control politics, the economy, culture, and the military. These were their true foundations. The local people had a strong sense of belonging and recognition toward them. They were mainly centered around their capitals, as well as Spirit Hall's various branch halls. They were equivalent to the ancient Nine Provinces, the Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces, and similar regions on Blue Star.

Indirectly ruled territories: these were likewise regions directly controlled by the Two Great Empires. They could forcibly demand that these places send troops to cooperate in war, pay regular taxes to the empire, and periodically return to the capital to report on their duties. Although these regions possessed considerable autonomy in administration and even had their own kings and armies.

However, positions such as monarchs and officials were directly appointed by the emperors of the Two Great Empires, at least nominally. Examples included the Balak Kingdom and other duchies within the Heaven Dou Empire. They were equivalent to regions such as Mobei and Jurchen in the Nine Provinces of Blue Star, as well as the major vassal states of the Western Zhou period.

These places changed according to the strength of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. If the core region of the Heaven Dou Empire was strong, they submitted. If it was weak, they did not.

Tributary states and sect clans: these powers were mostly bound together solely by chains of interest. For example, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect within the Heaven Dou Empire, as well as the Wind Sword Sect, Fire Leopard Sect, Elephant Armored Sect, and White Tiger Sect of the Lower Four Sects. There were also smaller Soul Master clans, such as the Four Elements Academy and the Dragon Snake Couple, among others. They were like the Nanyang Kingdom, Universe Kingdom, Foot Basin Kingdom, Ryukyu Kingdom, and so on that submitted to the Nine Provinces in ancient Blue Star.

They only nominally submitted to the Two Great Empires. The Two Great Empires could not directly govern them, levy taxes from them, or station troops within their territory.

However, whenever they changed Sect Masters or clan leaders, they would notify the empire. The empire would nominally grant them a noble title, merely going through the motions. Of course, these powers also had to abide by the laws of the Two Great Empires.

Hidden Forces: these mainly referred to relatively powerful forces not mentioned in the novel. Some even possessed godly inheritances. They lived in Secret Realms or in remote yet resource-rich regions. They had existed for an extremely long time, even longer than the Two Great Empires. Due to war, opportunities, and other circumstances, they had hidden themselves away, whether actively or passively.

Sea God Island, the City of Slaughter, the ferocious beasts of the Extreme North, and the ferocious beasts deep within the Lake of Life could actually be considered half-Hidden Forces as well. At the very least, few ordinary Soul Masters knew they existed.

Zhuang Xingyu's family was a clan not recorded in the original work: the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan, located in Pure Yang Sacred Leopard City west of Tianshui City in the northern Heaven Dou Empire.

They had a cooperative relationship with the Heaven Dou Empire. So long as they did not attempt to overthrow the Heaven Dou Empire, the Heaven Dou Empire would not interfere with the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan, which possessed absolute autonomy.

However, they were still within the Heaven Dou Empire's borders. Ever since the clan's Titled Douluo had passed away more than thirty years ago, the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan had been in decline and needed to borrow some of the Heaven Dou Empire's influence.

Thus, they gave the Heaven Dou Empire some face and accepted the title of imperial duke, second only to a royal prince. The ranks were royal prince, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron, and royal prince titles were granted only to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

After all, with that title, they could freeload on many benefits from the Heaven Dou Empire without needing to offer much in return.

The Heaven Dou Empire was also highly supportive of this, because it had already entered its twilight years. Other than its own core territories, it had little left besides its name.

It simply could not control those clans. It might as well give up trying. As long as they acknowledged its status, nothing else mattered. It could even use them to throw its weight around.

Naturally, the Heaven Dou Empire had its own little scheme. It assigned the area within a fifty-five-kilometer radius of Pure Yang Sacred Leopard City to the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan's administration. Everything within the territory was to be decided entirely by the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan, and this was even written into national law.

Look, all these places are yours now. If someone attacks me, wouldn't that be the same as attacking you? When the time comes, you'll have to back me up, right?

Although those places had already been under the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan's control, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's formal bestowal made it sound better in name. During crucial times, the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan could also borrow troops from the Heaven Dou Empire, just as the Heaven Dou Empire had sent troops to help the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the original work.

(This territory was actually not small. The Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan was currently only a Soul Douluo clan. Douluo Continent was only as large as Maple Leaf Country, and it also contained forces such as the Star Dou Forest, Sunset Forest, Extreme North, Star Dou Empire, and Spirit Hall. The Heaven Dou Empire being able to offer so much land, all of it prosperous territory, was already quite good.)

The two sides could be considered mutually beneficial.

The city was named after the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard, the clan's inherited martial soul, and was under the absolute control of the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan! The territory had a total population of 710,000. Among them was the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Legion, composed of 7,000 ordinary people and 300 Soul Masters. These troops were established and managed by the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan and were absolutely loyal to them.

After all, they had been ruled by the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan for generations. Their salaries were paid by the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan, and their wives and children lived in Pure Yang Sacred Leopard City. If they were not going to risk their lives for the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan, were they supposed to do so for Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire? That was impossible.

The clan had around 9,000 members, about the population of two or three villages in the ancient Central Plains region of the Nine Provinces. Of them, 2,620 were Soul Masters. That proportion was not low. Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect only had around 3,000 to 3,500 Soul Masters.

The clan's founder had been a Titled Douluo five hundred years ago. More than one hundred and fifty years ago, two more Titled Douluo had been born. Although they had died thirty years ago, they had left behind considerable foundations.

The direct lineage of the clan had six relatives:

Zhuang Xingyu, five years old. Hobby: praising the esteemed readers. The future Young Clan Leader of the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan, future clan leader, and future ruler of the Divine Realm.

Grandmother Murong Yunxue, innate soul power level nine, sixty-six years old, an eighty-eighth-level Soul Douluo, martial soul: Icefire Luan Bird. She served as the Supreme Elder and was the clan's strongest member as well as its true pillar. So long as she remained, even if she did nothing at all, the clan could operate normally, and none of her subordinates would dare harbor any improper thoughts. She devoted herself entirely to cultivation and did not concern herself with worldly affairs.

Father Zhuang Jingxing, Innate Level 9 Soul Power, thirty-five years old, Level 69 Soul Emperor, martial soul: Pure Yang Sacred Leopard. He served as clan leader and Captain of the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Legion. He was also the empire's Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Duke.

Although he was still only a Soul Emperor, he had youth on his side and might break through to Titled Douluo in the future. Furthermore, he handled affairs fairly and impartially. Under his management, the clan had gradually recovered, and the other clansmen had no objections.

In truth, the key was that Grandmother fully supported him. This world ultimately relied on strength to speak. Only a genius who had grown up could truly be called a genius.

Mother Li Xuanhua, Innate Level 8 Soul Power, thirty-seven years old, Level 64 Soul Emperor, martial soul: Thousand Heavy Iron Ruler. She was carefree and forthright by nature, yet before her son Zhuang Xingyu, she displayed a mother's gentleness. She served as a clan elder.

Paternal aunt Zhuang Jingxi, Innate Level 8.5 Soul Power, thirty-three years old, Level 61, martial soul: Pure Yang Sacred Leopard. She served as a clan elder. She was similarly carefree and forthright and loved teasing Zhuang Xingyu, snatching his snacks every time. Grandmother often joked that her boyfriend had been missing for thirty-three years and told her to hurry up and find him, but Aunt was never particularly willing. She served as a clan elder.

Besides that! The clan also had one Level 85 Soul Douluo, two Level 84 Soul Douluo, five Level 83 Soul Douluo, and one Level 82 Soul Douluo, serving as the First through Ninth Core Clan Elders!

The nine Core Clan Elders were all over seventy this year. They knew they would have difficulty surpassing the direct lineage, and the main branch treated them well. They had little desire to fight for power and profit, instead lying low and focusing only on enjoying their later years. Otherwise, the clan could not possibly have been so harmonious.

Twenty-five Soul Saints served as ordinary clan elders.

Forty-six Soul Emperors served as elders.

One hundred and eight Soul Kings served as protectors.

The remaining Soul Masters were all minor nobodies. Zhuang Xingyu had not remembered their names; he would talk about them when he encountered them later! Otherwise, the esteemed readers would say this dog of an author was padding the word count.

The clan's low- and mid-level strength was quite good, but it lacked high-end combat power.

The legion was directly controlled by the clan leader and the Supreme Elder. Even the Core Clan Elders had no authority to mobilize it without an order.

Clan hierarchy: Supreme Elder > Clan Leader > Core Clan Elder = Young Clan Leader > Clan Elder > Elder > Protector > Core Disciple (under twenty years old, Innate Soul Power of Level 6 to 8) > Inner Disciple (any Innate Soul Power above 0 was sufficient) > Outer Disciple (clansmen without Soul Power)

Their businesses included silk, restaurants, carriage companies, pawnshops, the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Escort Agency, iron, salt, the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Mercenary Group, an armory, the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Academy (which only recruited students within the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan's sphere of influence), a medicine hall, and more.

Pure Yang Sacred Leopard City was divided into four sections: the outer city, inner city, core city, and City Lord's Mansion. Nearby were several small villages and towns, which would become satellite cities as the clan grew stronger in the future.

Outer Disciples and the families of ordinary legion soldiers lived in the outer city. The markets and such were also located there.

Elders, protectors, Core Disciples, and Inner Disciples lived in the inner city.

Core Clan Elders, clan elders, and direct disciples lived in the core city. (Direct disciples all had the potential to break through to Soul Saint, and the lucky ones could even become Soul Douluo. Although they were still young and could not be given too much authority, they had to receive sufficient treatment in other respects, both for their safety and to strengthen their sense of belonging to the clan.)

Only the clan's direct lineage could reside in the City Lord's Mansion. Because Zihan possessed Innate Level 9 Soul Power and had a chance of breaking through to Titled Douluo in the future, as well as because of her relationship with Zhuang Xingyu, she also lived in the City Lord's Mansion.

There were also some maids, guards, and the like, but they were not worth mentioning.

Supplement: As written in this chapter, the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan currently had ten Soul Douluo.

However, only seven had been revealed to the outside world: the Supreme Elder, the First Core Clan Elder, the Second Core Clan Elder, the Third Core Clan Elder, the Fourth Core Clan Elder, the Fifth Core Clan Elder, and the Six Core Clan Elders.

Furthermore, aside from the Supreme Elder, the First through Sixth Core Clan Elders had all concealed one level of Soul Power.

The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Core Clan Elders had concealed their Soul Douluo strength.