The Mirror World.
Han Xuanji opened his eyes and found himself standing in a dense primeval forest. Beneath his feet was a thick layer of fallen leaves that rustled as he stepped on them.
Towering trees reached hundreds of feet into the sky, their branches and leaves blotting out the sun. Only scattered beams of light filtered through the gaps, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
The concentration of Spiritual Qi was richer than in any of the previous battlefields.
There was absolutely no need to worry about the depletion of spiritual energy.
With a thought, Han Xuanji's perception spread out in all directions like a tide.
Song Tiancheng's location was not hard to find. He was in a clearing dozens of miles away, not hiding, not moving, and not even intentionally restraining his aura.
He just stood there, seemingly waiting for Han Xuanji to find him.
Without hesitation, Han Xuanji moved, sweeping toward that direction.
Previously, others had always come looking for him, so there was nothing wrong with him going to find someone else this time.
At his speed, a distance of dozens of miles naturally did not take long to cover.
By the time he landed in the clearing, Song Tiancheng had already been waiting for a long time.
He was a man dressed in a green short-sleeved robe, with a slender build, standing in the clearing like a green pine tree, straight and upright.
His face was delicate, with a scholarly air between his brows. He did not look like a Cultivator of the Eternal Dao Lord level, but rather like a mortal scholar studying hard by a cold window.
His gaze was as calm as water as it fell upon Han Xuanji, carrying a hint of scrutiny and curiosity.
"Song Tiancheng?"
Han Xuanji was the first to speak.
"Han Xuanji?"
The other party spoke at the same time.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded slightly in unison.
"Han Xuanji of Qianhun City."
Han Xuanji declared his name in a flat tone.
"Song Tiancheng of the Tianyuan Song Family."
Song Tiancheng also introduced himself, his tone equally calm, neither servile nor overbearing.
Tianyuan City, a province-level grand city on par with Jiuxuan City, was completely incomparable to a small place like Qianhun City.
And the Tianyuan Song Family was a highly renowned top-tier influential Family in the Sacred Radiance Domain.
The founding ancestor of the Song Family was rumored to be a grand figure of the Sacred Lord level. Although they currently had no Sacred Lord powerhouse openly presiding over them, their profound heritage was by no means comparable to that of an ordinary Saint Family.
As the most outstanding disciple of the Song Family's current generation, Song Tiancheng had enjoyed top-tier resources and nurturing since childhood.
Outside the light screen, everyone's eyes were tightly locked onto this projection.
No one paid attention to the other two battles.
In the stands, the audience whispered to one another, their discussions rising and falling.
"Han Xuanji against Song Tiancheng! This match is the real tough battle!"
"Song Tiancheng is not weaker than Ling Cang. His dao foundation is hailed as the best in this tournament. Although he hasn't shown much in actual combat, judging by his performance in these past few rounds, he is definitely underestimated."
"Just because Han Xuanji could defeat Ling Cang doesn't mean he can defeat Song Tiancheng."
Opinions varied. Of course, those who favored Song Tiancheng were still in the minority, and they were mostly people related to the Song Family, clearly not wanting to dampen their own prestige.
On the high platform, many grand figures were also paying close attention to this duel.
Elder Meng sat in the main seat, his gaze falling upon the largest light screen. His face was calm as his fingertips lightly tapped the armrest.
In truth, he was also filled with anticipation, but in his view, Song Tiancheng was likely no match for Han Xuanji. He only wanted to see if Song Tiancheng could force out more of Han Xuanji's strength.
Song Ling sat in his seat, the corners of his mouth curving slightly, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Although Han Xuanji had defeated Ling Cang, he knew exactly how strong Song Tiancheng was. Lying low for a thousand years, all for the sake of making a stunning debut today.
As long as he displayed his peerless dao foundation, it wouldn't matter even if he lost now.
The future belonged to Song Tiancheng.
In his eyes, Song Tiancheng had the full potential to reach the Sacred Lord Realm and lead the Song Family back to its Peak.
...
In the forest, the two faced off.
Song Tiancheng sized Han Xuanji up from head to toe, curiosity in his eyes.
After all, Han Xuanji could be said to be far more low-profile than him.
Although he kept a low profile, he was born into the Song Family and was a Heaven-grade Seed, so he was destined not to be able to hide too much.
Han Xuanji, on the other hand, was an existence he had never heard of before.
He seemed to have risen only in the past few decades, which was somewhat strange.
After all, in the eyes of Cultivators, what did a few decades amount to?
It was but a mere snap of the fingers.
A single session of Dao comprehension for him could easily start at several hundred years.
Song Tiancheng could only assume that Han Xuanji was the true disciple seed of some hidden, powerful force, hidden so well that even their Song Family could not investigate it.
"To be able to reach this point, it seems you have hidden yourself even deeper than I have."
Song Tiancheng had a serious expression, not looking down on Han Xuanji in the slightest just because he was an Earth-grade Seed.
Since he was the second contestant to win, he naturally knew that Ling Cang had already been eliminated—and it was precisely Han Xuanji who had eliminated him!
To be able to defeat Ling Cang, and with Han Xuanji seemingly not having suffered any heavy injuries, his strength could only be described in four words.
Unfathomably deep.
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Han Xuanji was slightly taken aback, feeling that something was not quite right.
He actually felt that he had been quite reckless. One had to know that when he was in the Immortal Realm, he had laid low for a very, very long time... only emerging after reaching Limitless Primordial and standing at the Peak of the Immortal Realm.
Now, at the mere Eternal Dao Master Realm, he had no sense of security at all.
Seeing Han Xuanji's strange expression, Song Tiancheng was not annoyed:
"Although you defeated Ling Cang, I am not afraid."
"You are strong, and I am strong too."
Song Tiancheng was highly confident, not feeling in the slightest that he would lose.
Looking at his calm eyes, Han Xuanji found this person rather interesting.
His Heart-Nature was simple and pure—this was a strength, but also a weakness.
The two fell silent for a moment, and the atmosphere in the air gradually grew heavy.
Song Tiancheng took a deep breath, and the aura on his body began to rise slowly, not out of nervousness, but out of seriousness.
He raised his hands, and a green light flowed between his ten fingers. That was the power of the wood-attribute Dao principles,
but not entirely.
Within that light, there seemed to be traces of multiple Dao principles, such as life, creation, and Yin and Yang.
Han Xuanji's eyes narrowed slightly.
This Song Tiancheng was indeed not simple. His dao foundation was truly solid to the extreme, and the degree of compatibility among his ten great Dao principles was far above any peer Cultivator he had ever seen.
Although the strength of each individual Dao principle could not compare to his, the coordination, transformation, and complementarity among the ten Dao principles had reached a near-perfect level.
This was not something piled up by resources, but a miracle that could only be achieved through Comprehension Ability.
Han Xuanji nodded inwardly.
This person's Comprehension Ability might not be inferior to his own.