This was a typical inferior Dao Foundation, Yan Qing thought.
He remembered the key differences between the game's perfect Dao Foundation, superior Dao Foundation, intermediate Dao Foundation, and inferior Dao Foundation. They did not lie in the strength of the Dao Foundation's supernatural abilities or the functionality of its Inner Scenery, but in how troublesome its Dao Foundation restrictions were!
After Foundation Establishment, player levels no longer existed. They were replaced by Dao Foundation levels.
If levels 1–39 represented the process of mortals honing their skills, then levels 40–69 represented the journey of Heralds strengthening their Dao Foundations. Only when one's Dao Foundation had reached the utmost strength would one qualify to seek Golden Ascension, meaning a tribulation rank.
But before, players' skill upgrades drove their levels upward. How were Dao Foundations supposed to level up now? The answer was Dao Foundation restrictions.
Following the Dao Foundation restrictions would increase and strengthen the Dao Foundation. Acting against them would weaken it.
If a player kept going against their Dao Foundation restrictions, not only would their level fail to rise, but the state of their Dao Foundation would continuously weaken as well. Once its state reached 0%, the Dao Foundation would collapse, dropping them back to level 39!
Some might wonder: Wouldn't this allow people to farm Dao Foundations? It was said that during Herald's first year of operation, many players had indeed used this mechanism to repeatedly establish and lose their Dao Foundations. After all, nobody knew what made a good Dao Foundation back then. Later, however, everyone compiled lists of perfect Dao Foundations and corresponding Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend combinations. Only people with nothing better to do would consider trying to fall back from Foundation Establishment.
The reason Yan Qing could recognize this as an inferior Dao Foundation