90: Third Life: How Am I the Villain? (54)

Qin Zhantian looked at Xu Yuan's clear and open-minded demeanor, and the last trace of worry in his heart vanished, replaced by immense relief.

With such a Heart-Nature, how could the Grand Dao not be achieved?

The Reincarnation Round of the Elite Battle continued.

Although Xu Yuan lost to Luo Chen, the powerful strength he displayed had earned the respect of his opponents.

In subsequent matches, Xu Yuan encountered other top Prodigies from various Upper Sects and ancient Families.

There were Disciples from Beast Taming Mountain, who commanded fierce Foundation Establishment Stage Spirit Beasts, coordinating with exquisite combined attack techniques; there was Mu Ling'er from Chang Qing Upper Sect, whose spiritual power was as vast and endless as a river, making Xu Yuan understand the meaning of 'long defense leads to defeat'; there were also malevolent Loose Cultivators whose Cultivation Techniques were bizarre, their methods ruthless, and every move was a life-or-death gamble.

Xu Yuan used all his trump cards, and the Heavenly Blade Calamity repeatedly achieved miraculous success, but he did not win every match.

He endured several more bitter battles, and in two of them, facing opponents with deeper cultivation or more bizarre and unpredictable Divine Abilities, he gave his all but ultimately lost by a narrow margin.

However, just as when he lost to Luo Chen, Xu Yuan's face never showed frustration or dejection.

Every time he stepped off the arena, regardless of victory or defeat, Xu Yuan's eyes shone brighter.

"Winning is called success, losing is called growth!"

"It's good to lose!"

"It's precisely because I lost that I know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is, and that my saber is not fast enough, not sharp enough!"

Xu Yuan regarded every battle, regardless of victory or defeat, as his most precious treasure.

Winning meant testing what he had learned and sharpening his edge; losing meant recognizing his shortcomings and clarifying his path forward.

This mentality allowed Xu Yuan to grow at an astonishing speed in continuous high-intensity, high-level duels. His control over his own strength and his understanding of the Saber Dao constantly deepened.

Soon, the new round of pairings was announced.

Xu Yuan stepped forward, his figure like a saber. As he stepped onto the spacious arena floor, his gaze instantly locked onto the figure opposite him.

Unlike any opponent he had encountered before, the person in front of him did not exude a sharp and oppressive Aura, nor did she deliberately conceal her presence.

She stood there quietly, enveloped in a faint, hazy glow like moonlight, making her exact features unseeable, only vaguely revealing a graceful and peerless silhouette.

But it was precisely this "natural" state that brought Xu Yuan an unprecedented pressure!

It wasn't a sense of oppression in terms of power, but rather... a vastness and profoundness, as if facing the entire world!

It was as if her standing there was the embodiment of the Dao, perfectly integrated with her surroundings, impeccable.

Heavenly Deduction Sect, Su Mucha!

"Is this the Perfect Dao Foundation?"

Xu Yuan's heart trembled, and the Ten Thousand Blades Returning to the Origin Foundation within him let out an excited hum. It was an instinctive reaction to encountering a higher-level existence, containing both vigilance and an indescribable... yearning?

"Overlord Blade Sect, Chen Yuan."

Xu Yuan suppressed his surging emotions, cupped his fists in salute, his voice steady.

Besides the boiling Battle Intent from clashing with top Prodigies, Xu Yuan had an even deeper goal – to personally experience the mysteries of the Perfect Dao Foundation!

He possessed the ability to Transmigrate and Reincarnate. If he couldn't condense a Perfect Dao Foundation in this life, it didn't mean there wouldn't be a chance in the next life, or the one after that!

But the prerequisite was that he must truly understand what "perfect" meant, and what essential difference existed between it and his own "High Grade Flawless"!

This battle was the best opportunity!

He would use himself as a ruler to measure this legendary realm!

"Heavenly Deduction Sect, Su Mucha."

From within the clear glow came a ethereal, pure, and seemingly untainted female voice, calm and unruffled.

Without extra words, the air between the two instantly solidified.

"Match, begin!"

Almost the moment the voice sounded, Xu Yuan moved!

He didn't probe at all; his first move was with full power!

Ink Sever erupted with unprecedented dark, malevolent light. The saber momentum was like a celestial river pouring down, carrying the will to destroy everything, slashing wildly towards that hazy clear glow!

And facing this earth-shattering saber strike, Su Mucha merely gently raised her slender jade hand, pointed her fingers like an orchid, and lightly tapped the Void Realm in front of her.

There was no world-shaking momentum, no dazzling brilliance.

Only a faint, hair-thin, yet utterly pure and bright ray of clear light bloomed from her fingertip.

The instant this clear light appeared, Xu Yuan's incomparably violent saber momentum seemed to collide with an invisible, intangible, yet indestructible wall!

It was like surging waves encountering a central pillar, being split in two and roaring past her sides, unable to harm Su Mucha in the slightest!

And that point of clear light from her fingertip, as if traversing space, ignored Xu Yuan's protective saber Qi spiritual power, lightly tapping towards his glabella.

Fast!

Unimaginably fast!

And it contained a Concept that could penetrate all things and transcend everything!

Xu Yuan's heart shrieked with warning!

Without thinking, almost instinctively, he sharply turned his head and body to the side!

Swoosh!

That point of clear light grazed his forehead, taking with it a few strands of broken hair!

Before Xu Yuan could react, Su Mucha's second finger had already pointed out!

This time, the clear light transformed into countless starlight points, like the rotation of the myriad stars, containing the trajectory of some profound cosmic principle, completely sealing off all his dodging space!

"Heavenly Blade Calamity!"

Xu Yuan's pupils contracted. He didn't hesitate, directly using his strongest trump card!

Boom!

Energy collided, but it didn't produce an earth-shattering roar; instead, it was a strange sound of annihilation.

The power of the Blade Calamity and the clear light starlight points mutually dissolved, but Xu Yuan grunted, his face paled, feeling a stinging pain in his Divine Soul, as if pricked by countless fine needles!

However, Xu Yuan, who was at an absolute disadvantage, not only showed no dejection in his eyes but instead burst forth with an unprecedented bright light!

"So that's how it is... so that's how it is!"

Relying on his perception far exceeding that of ordinary people and a wisp of Golden Core Saber Intent he had personally experienced in the past, Xu Yuan finally captured a crucial piece of information!

The gap between himself and Su Mucha was not merely a difference in strength!

It was a... fundamental difference!

A crushing difference in status!

The Dao Foundation of ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators, regardless of its grade, its power essence still remained at the "Foundation Establishment" level, which was the accumulation, purification, and attribute changes of spiritual power.

Just like river water, though it varies in size and clarity, it is still water.

However, the power contained within Su Mucha's clear light carried a flavor almost akin to the rules of heaven and earth!

It was as if she had already stepped halfway into another, higher realm – the Golden Core realm!

This was the special characteristic of the Perfect Dao Foundation!

It not only reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm in "quantity," but also underwent a qualitative transformation, prematurely touching a trace of the power of heaven and earth rules that only Golden Core True Persons could control!

"Status... yes, it's status!"

Xu Yuan's mind suddenly cleared, as if pushing open a door to a new world. "The Perfect Dao Foundation, its powerful aspect lies in possessing a trace of 'pseudo-Golden Core status' that transcends ordinary Foundation Establishment!"

"In this life, limited by Innate conditions and time, I have no chance to condense a Perfect Dao Foundation."

"But in the next life, knowing this crucial information beforehand, I might not be without the possibility of condensing a Perfect Dao Foundation!"