64: Third Life: How Am I the Villain? (Twenty-Eight)

The dark red blade shadow sliced through space silently, as if it had transcended the limits of speed and ignored the existence of distance!

Wherever it passed, the incoming sky-filling dark blue cold breath seemed to encounter its nemesis, disintegrating and annihilating on its own!

The next instant, the blade shadow plunged with absolute precision into the center of the Mystic Ice Evil Toad's bumpy forehead!

Time seemed to freeze for a split second.

Crack... Boom!!!

A subtle cracking sound emanated from within the Evil Toad, and immediately, its massive body exploded from the inside out, just like ignited dynamite!

Countless flesh fragments containing terrifying cold energy, mixed with dark blue Yao Beast blood, splattered everywhere like a rainstorm, dyeing a large area of the pond water a strange color!

Foundation Establishment Yao Beast — Mystic Ice Evil Toad, dead!

The power of a single strike had reached such a level!

Liu Yaner was so frightened that she experienced Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, losing her usual alluring demeanor, she shrieked as a life-saving jade pendant on her body shattered, forming a light shield, while she retreated backward regardless of everything!

Bang!

The light shield shattered instantly, and Liu Yaner was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, spraying blood wildly, before crashing heavily against the distant mountain wall, her life or death unknown!

The entire Blackwater Abyss fell into an eerie silence.

Everyone looked on in stunned silence at the Yao Beast corpse that had been split in two, and then at the pale but still standing figure.

Qi Refining realm defying Foundation Establishment!

A miracle had just happened before their eyes!

Shi Gang, Mu Wanqing, and the other coalition Cultivators turned ashen, their bodies cold. Looking at the figure slowly drifting down from mid-air, they could no longer summon any thoughts of fighting against him, leaving only boundless awe and fear.

They could guess that after unleashing that earth-shattering strike that defied Foundation Establishment, this Overlord Blade Sect Daozi Highness must have consumed a vast amount of energy and might even be at the end of his rope, with little Spiritual Qi left in his body.

But... who dared to gamble?

Who dared to use their own life to gamble on whether he still had the ability to strike again?

What if he could still swing his blade one more time?

Even if it only had half, or even a third of the power of that last strike, it would be enough to easily kill any one of them!

Shi Gang's hand holding the giant axe trembled slightly. He glanced at Mu Wanqing, who was equally pale beside him, and saw the same shock in her eyes.

They couldn't even deal with Zhao Zheng when they joined forces before; now, facing this god of slaughter who could kill a Foundation Establishment Cultivator with a blade, where would they find any courage?

Even the two Sect Prodigies were like this, let alone the Disciples from the small Families who had been forcibly integrated; they were even more pathetic, almost unable to stand steady, wishing they could turn around and flee immediately.

Xu Yuan slowly landed back on the ground, his footsteps seemingly unsteady, and his face was indeed as pale as paper.

He didn't even glance at Shi Gang, Mu Wanqing, or the others, but simply closed his eyes slightly, seemingly meditating to recover his Spiritual Qi.

But this display of weakness, far from inciting the coalition to harbor evil intentions, only made them more afraid!

He stood there, defenseless, meditating as if he didn't care about their existence at all!

What kind of confidence was this?

Or rather... what kind of contempt?

Gulp.

Shi Gang swallowed hard. In the end, all his greed, unwillingness, and anger turned into a deep sense of powerlessness.

Shi Gang raised his hand with difficulty, his voice dry and hoarse, carrying an imperceptible tremor: "Retreat... let's go!"

After saying this, he was the first to turn around, almost staggering, not even daring to leave a harsh word.

Mu Wanqing took a complicated look at the seven alluring Black Water Spirit Lotus, then at Xu Yuan, who seemed to be in deep meditation, and finally sighed softly, leading the Azure Wood Sect Disciples away quickly.

Since the leaders of the two major Sects had run away, the Cultivators from the small Families felt as if they had been granted amnesty, scattering like birds and beasts, running faster than anyone else.

In the blink of an eye, the bank of the Blackwater Abyss, previously noisy, chaotic, and filled with Killing Intent, was left with only the Overlord Blade Sect contingent.

"Your Highness! Are you alright?"

Until the figures of the coalition had completely disappeared at the end of their line of sight, Zhao Zheng hurriedly stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"It is nothing, just excessive consumption."

Xu Yuan opened his eyes and waved his hand. Having meditated for a while, he had recovered a bit of Spiritual Qi. His gaze couldn't help but turn to the seven Black Water Spirit Lotus swaying quietly in the center of the dark pool, and a smile couldn't help but appear at the corners of his mouth.

"Senior Brother Zhao, please trouble yourself to pick the spirit lotus for me."

"Yes!"

Zhao Zheng accepted the order and immediately flew toward the center of the pool, carefully picking the seven Black Water Spirit Lotus that were emitting a dark blue radiance one by one.

When the spirit lotus came into his hands, even with Zhao Zheng's Heart-Nature, he could clearly feel the Spiritual Qi in his body spontaneously becoming active; his Dantian Qi Sea even sent out an instinctive craving!

The benefits of this item for Foundation Establishment were indeed well-deserved!

He suppressed the throbbing in his heart, held the seven spirit lotus in both hands, respectfully returned to Xu Yuan, lowered his head, and offered them: "Your Highness, here are the spirit lotus."

His movements were without the slightest hesitation, even though he knew that any one of them would be enough for him to condense a stronger Dao Foundation when breaking through to Foundation Establishment, making his future path of cultivation much smoother.

Xu Yuan did not take them immediately, but looked at Zhao Zheng's hands, which were forcibly restrained yet still trembling slightly, and at the Overlord Blade Sect Disciples behind him, who were full of envy but none of whom showed any greed. A look of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

He reached out and first took back six of the spirit lotus, placing them into a specially made jade box for storage.

Then, he picked up the last remaining Black Water Spirit Lotus and handed it back to Zhao Zheng.

"Zhao Zheng, during this trip to the Secret Realm, you commanded well in battle, defeated the Purple Cloud Pavilion, and spread the reputation of our Overlord Blade Sect. This is your first merit."

"Leading the Disciples to form a formation to help me kill the Foundation Establishment Yao Beast is your second merit."

"I, Chen Yuan, in the name of the Overlord Blade Sect Daozi Highness, bestow this Black Water Spirit Lotus upon you to help you condense your Dao Foundation!"

Xu Yuan's voice was calm but carried the faint majesty of a superior.

Zhao Zheng suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with unbelievable shock and excitement; his hands were shaking violently because of this sudden reward, and his tiger-like eyes were even slightly reddened.

Zhao Zheng did not decline; after all, he had been stuck at Qi Refining precisely to obtain the Black Water Spirit Lotus to condense a flawless Dao Foundation. If he were to decline, it would seem somewhat hypocritical.

Zhao Zheng cupped his fists heavily, knelt on one knee, his voice resonant and powerful: "Zhao Zheng... thanks Your Highness for the generous reward! In this life, I will surely be the blade in Your Highness's hand, serving the Sect until death, never refusing even if it means dying ten thousand times!"

This scene made all the Overlord Blade Sect Disciples behind him extremely envious, but no one was jealous, as they had all witnessed Zhao Zheng defeating Lin Feng.

Xu Yuan helped Zhao Zheng up, scanned all the Disciples looking on with eager eyes, and said loudly: "As for the remaining six spirit lotus, except for the portion I personally need, I will hand over the rest to the Sect!"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned at first, then showed expressions of understanding.

With such a precious treasure, it was naturally impossible for the Daozi Highness to distribute it all; handing it over to the Sect was the right thing to do.

But Xu Yuan's next words made them instantly ecstatic!

"But in this trip to the Secret Realm, all you Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters have fought bravely and contributed greatly! After returning to the Sect, I will report to Revered Master and place the spirit lotus in the Sect's treasury; all Disciples can exchange for them with Sect contribution points!"

"And all of you who entered the Blackwater Secret Realm with me this time will enjoy the right to exchange at an eighty percent discount! Whether you can obtain one depends on your own accumulated luck!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole scene went quiet for a moment, and then a deafening cheer erupted.