- 3 Major Systems of Power

Inside his Mind Space, Zex could not practice spells since he could not drive his mana here.

Instead, he focused on mental image training and memorizing the mana manipulation techniques to cast those spells. Back when he was in his previous body, his Mana Circuitry made casting spells a lot easier.

Despite that advantage, he was only able to perform spells he had seen Arissef cast before him. After all, aside from memorizing the form of the final product, and constructing the magic circles, he also needed to emulate the mana flow within his body to that of when Arissef did it. Because they were recently used by Arissef, they were the first ones his black flames were able to 'download' and he was able to digest and make his own.

However, he soon found out that there was a problem that he had to face first. Drago's body was not optimized for magic and the dragon blood within him was clashing against the black flames. He deduced that this caused the [Unstable Mana] debuff.

Try to visualize how blood flows throughout the body. The heart pumps blood flowing through blood vessels which carry nutrients to the various parts of the body and back to the heart as one cycle. Chi/Ki/Qi/Chakra or Life Energy (shall be called Qi from now on), and Mana, in Zex's case taking the form of black flames, operate through the same principle.

The Cardiovascular System or 'Lifeblood System' with the Heart as the core and the blood vessels as the transfer media; the Qi Network with the Middle Dantian or the 'Qi Core' and the Meridian Pathways as the transfer media; and the Mana Matrix with the Mana Core and the Mana Circuits as the transfer media. These compose the 3 Major Systems of Power.

While these are the Major Systems that humans use to perform various extraordinary operations, only a few could practice the use of any of the systems. This includes the use of the Lifeblood System beyond its natural purpose of keeping a human alive.

Yes, it is called a Major System of Power for a reason as there is actual power in the blood itself.

Take Zex's previous demon body, for example. The ability to perform [True Name Liberation], possess [Demon Regeneration] and his high base stats were actually due to the power of Demon Blood, not his mana.

Now, in the case of Drago's body, his dragon blood was of so low purity that it seems his systems were in a mess and are not fit to be called that of a dragonkin. Although he had higher base stats and stat growths than a normal human, he would shame anyone with the blood of a dragon in his veins. Despite that, he could still use his blood alongside his Qi during battle. His [Draconian Manifestation] was such an example.

For a normal human, the 3 Major Systems are in separate locations in their bodies.

The Lifeblood System is fairly self-explanatory.

For Qi, there are 3 Dantians in the human body. The Lower Dantian located at the lower abdomen deals with vigor and essence; The Middle Dantian located at the chest near the heart deals with Qi while the Upper Dantian located at the head deals with the spirit and the mind. Some practices incorporate these Dantians into various arts, whether it be medicine or combat. At least this is what he learned from reading novels and articles on the internet in his previous life. However, when he incorporated Chakra points in his research, he realized that there was a difference in the manifestation of life energy which is at the Solar Plexus Chakra Point just like shown in Naruto while some wuxia novels give more emphasis on the Lower Dantian instead of the Middle.

Since he could not sense Chakra or Qi in his previous life no matter how hard he tried as a young adult, he had no way of proving which belief or portrayal was correct.

What cleared things for him was when he learned skills from Edge and his team. He was able to confirm that the location of the Dantian... or at least in this world, was different between races.

Humans had their Dantians on their stomachs, as most techniques were taught in line with the digestion process of food. Demons had theirs at the lower abdomen as they were highly particular with their bloodline and procreation as the use of their Qi... and in the case of Drago, his Dantian was just inches away from his heart.

The Mana Core was more complex. After checking through the various skills that he learned from Arissef, he found out that a human's Mana Core and the Mana Circuits can be adjusted based on a particular discipline of magic.

Arissef placed his Mana Core in his head for some reason.

The output and control of mana would highly depend on the location of the Mana Core and the efficiency of the Mana Circuitry within the body. When he was in his demon body, his Mana Core was conjoined with his heart and the Mana Circuits have meshed with his blood vessels. This explained how demons could have such high control over magic.

Currently, however, his Mana Core was at his stomach, untrained and almost non-existent while the Mana Circuitry did not even extend towards the terminal points of his body which indicates the lack of talent in magic.

There was no wonder why he could not control the black flames in his body. They had almost no pathways to take and were just scattered like embers.

From all this information, he believed that a dragon would have all three systems conjoined... or at least closely conjoined.

However, he had an itchy feeling that this understanding of his was just the tip of the iceberg. Dragons could not be the strongest race in this world.

At these discoveries, he spent time studying the various Mana Matrix construction techniques he learned from Arissef and decided to construct his matrix as soon as he could. The black flames were essential for both his survival and his pursuit of power.

Still having time before reaching their destination, Zex also studied Mana Control and Mana Training Techniques, courtesy of the fallen archmage. It was a pity that there were no Life Energy cultivation techniques that he learned, or else he would have tried cultivating into an immortal like in the Xianxia novels he read once upon a time. [1]

...

After familiarizing himself with as many techniques as possible, he tried driving his black flames into his Mana Core to minimize the clash between his blood and his mana, which thankfully did not alert Hevan and Caylin who were now riding on a wagon together with the unconscious 'Drago' and Avegar.

Although the environment was not optimal, it was enough for him to fix bits and pieces of his matrix so it can hold his black flames properly. He started 'Inhaling', 'Converting' and 'Exhaling' mana to refine the black flames in his body and improve his condition.

These processes compose what is widely called in various cultures and practices as a 'Breathing Cycle'. Essentially, Mana Breathing and Qi Breathing have the same processes.

Absorbing mana or Qi from the environment and guiding them to the core is called 'Inhaling'. Once the mana or Qi reaches the core, it is purified and filtered through 'Conversion' into mana or Qi that could be harnessed. Finally, the impurities and excess that could not be converted are released back to the environment through 'Exhaling' --- This is one cycle.

Mana and Qi exist almost everywhere but are usually imperceptible to the common human or beast.

However, through discovery, imitation, or teachings from different races, some humans were able to learn and develop their 'senses' to perceive them and 'Breathing Techniques' to gather and store them.

There are various levels of 'Breathing Techniques' that exist based on difficulty, compatibility, and efficiency.

A Basic Breathing technique employs Inhaling, Conversion, and Exhaling step by step as one cycle.

Advanced Breathing techniques employ different variations, may it be requiring a certain environment to practice it, or a certain constitution of the body, or a certain configuration of one's Qi Network or Mana Matrix, or the variation of the cycle itself.

For example, an Advanced Fire Element Breathing Technique called the Phoenix Rising Method requires a person with a constitution that is highly compatible with the fire element to practice the method near a highly active volcano. This technique also requires the practitioner to keep inhaling fire element mana and converting it to expand his mana core. Due to the abundance of the fire element, there would be less waste mana and the purifying and filtering time is reduced. To further increase efficiency, the waste mana is stored at a certain location around the mana core and only released as the volcano erupts.

The waste mana is made up of the mana that originally coexisted with the fire element thus the exhalation of a vast amount of it would protect the practitioner from being scorched as he continues to cultivate.

Of course, this example was of a mana breathing technique. However, a Qi breathing technique with the same procedure might exist in a different name. The reason why they are specific and separate is that most races only employ one system. It was rare for humans or even other races to practice 2 or 3 major systems.

Countless techniques exist in Valeingash that made Zex curious if Earth had the same principles. After all, from all of the literature that he read in his past life, it all begs the question: "Were they JUST fiction?'

In his current case, however, he could not hold a lot of mana as his Mana Matrix was highly inefficient. He needed to find a way to reconfigure it and relocate his mana core or else all of the skills he learned from Arissef would be useless.

While his body was being transported back to the kingdom, he spent his time in his Mind Space, memorizing every spell he found would be useful in the future and taking rests in between to recover his concentration.

The journey to the kingdom was uneventful while Zex was able to have a handle on how to perform most of the essential spells for the execution of his plans.

It was not until the night of his arrival at his mansion that he opened his eyes.

He stood up from his bed, took to the shadows, and surveyed as much of the kingdom as he could. His reconnaissance methods were highly limited though due to his black flames being unusable. On the other hand, his stealth techniques might not have any match in the kingdom. When he returned, he was able to acquire a rough outline of the kingdom's structure.

Right when he was about to go back to bed, he felt someone's presence behind him to which he turned around and kneeled.

"My lord."

[1] Xianxia is a genre in Chinese fantasy depicting mythology, medicine, and martial arts that originated in China. Some are depicted to have superhuman abilities through mastering different martial arts and cultivation techniques, reaching levels that mere mortals could not achieve, hence the term 'Immortal'.