Chapter 223: Outburst!

All the geniuses were stunned by Li Yang’s sudden explosion of power.

"This Li Yang... His strength is terrifying!"

"He’s using the Hexagram Spear. It looks like he’s completely mastered its third form. And with a hundred phantoms, he’s also fully mastered the third form of the Illusion Body Skill!"

"This Li Yang was hiding his true strength way too deep!"

"It’s not that he was hiding it. Li Yang must have just broken through."

"Right. He must have been just a hair’s breadth away from mastering the third forms of the Hexagram Spear and Illusion Body Skill."

"No wonder he was stalling for time. He wanted to break through at the last moment."

"Another genius invincible in the Longevity Realm! Besides Mute, Dilunxi, and Yun Rou, we have one more!"

"Li Yang is only twenty-five. He’s the youngest, aside from Dilunxi."

The crowd of geniuses was in shock.

The power to be invincible in the Longevity Realm. Among all the geniuses present, only a dozen or so had reached such a level! Each one was a peerless talent who commanded everyone’s attention.

And now, Li Yang had reached it too!

Before this, Li Yang was only ranked third on the Yangyuan Star Continent.

On the Yangyuan Star Continent, not even the first and second-ranked geniuses could enter the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall. Yet now, Li Yang had suddenly shot to prominence! Like a dark horse, he had staged a powerful rise!

...

"He’s completely mastered the third form of the Hexagram Spear! And the third form of the Illusion Body Skill! This young Li Yang isn’t bad at all."

"I didn’t expect the Yangyuan Star Continent to produce such a genius this time."

"Where’s Yangyuan? He was too embarrassed to stick around earlier. He can come out and show off now, can’t he?"

"By mastering the third form of the Hexagram Spear, Li Yang is now invincible in the Longevity Realm! With that kind of power, he can easily rank in the top twenty of all the geniuses."

"So Yangyuan actually managed to recruit a true genius."

"Yeah, he became a laughingstock for failing to recruit Sword Mark back then. I heard he recruited a hundred thousand geniuses this time, and it seems he managed to get Li Yang among them."

The Emperor Level experts discussed amongst themselves.

They... did not know that Li Yang was not among those hundred thousand geniuses. Given their status, they were only aware that the Yangyuan Emperor had recruited one hundred thousand geniuses; they were ignorant of the specific details.

The Yangyuan Emperor’s consciousness did not appear. However, inside the grand palace of the Yangyuan Empire, he sat cross-legged on his throne. As he watched Li Yang’s sudden outburst, an incredibly formidable light glinted in his eyes.

’He’s mastered the third form of both the Hexagram Spear and the Illusion Body Skill!’

Li Yang had actually achieved such a massive breakthrough at the final moment!

A wave of elation washed over him.

His Yangyuan Star Continent had unexpectedly become one of the most dazzling Star Continents this time!

But his joy lasted only a few seconds before regret began to creep into the Yangyuan Emperor’s heart.

’Why does this Li Yang have to be from Planet Zero? If not for that, with such immense Talent, I would have definitely recruited him into the Yangyuan Empire.’

Of the ten thousand participants from the Yangyuan Empire in this ranking battle, 9,999 were geniuses he had recruited. Only Li Yang was not.

Yet, the final result was that all 9,999 of them stood no chance, while Li Yang had a sudden burst of power, qualifying for recruitment by the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall. He might even become a Core Disciple and receive special nurturing.

The feeling was like finding one thousand and one pieces of gold on the ground, with only one being real. After a long and careful selection process, he had picked one thousand of them.

In the end, all one thousand pieces were fake, and only the one he hadn’t chosen was real. The feeling was indescribably awful.

As regret filled his heart, the Yangyuan Emperor suddenly furrowed his brow slightly.

’Something’s not right. Earth, where Li Yang is from, must have been in contact with the Cosmos for more than just five years. With Li Yang’s Talent, his previous progress must have been rapid, so his strength couldn’t have been that weak. He should have had a good chance of being ranked among the top one hundred thousand geniuses back then.’

The Yangyuan Emperor thought to himself.

Now that Li Yang’s strength had suddenly reached this level, if one extrapolated backward, his power should have already been formidable during the Yangyuan Empire’s genius selection.

Otherwise, how could Li Yang have improved so much in just five years? That would mean his Talent was even more terrifying than that of the youngest, Dilunxi.

In the eyes of powerful beings like them, Dilunxi’s Talent was absolutely in the top three! At most, he was only slightly behind Mixed Void and Lan Yu.

An idea forming in his mind, the Yangyuan Emperor suddenly called out, "Fire Spirit."

SWOOSH!

A burly figure appeared within the palace. Flames flickered all over its body, making it look like a fire deity.

"Emperor."

The Divine Fire Spirit said with utmost respect.

"Go and investigate Li Yang’s specific situation. I want to know where Li Yang was when I was recruiting those one hundred thousand geniuses," the Yangyuan Emperor said in a low voice.

He desperately hoped that a genius from his Star Continent could enter the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall. He had expended so much energy, even recruiting one hundred thousand geniuses, yet not a single one had succeeded. Instead, a genius he hadn’t recruited was the one who could enter the Eternal Saint Hall.

Regret. This was the predominant thought in the Yangyuan Emperor’s mind. He even felt like the heavens were playing a trick on him.

Therefore, he had to find out the truth about Li Yang!

Why had such a peerless genius not shown any hint of his fame back then? Did he simply have no desire to join his Yangyuan Empire?

"Yes, Emperor!"

Upon receiving the order, the Divine Fire Spirit immediately departed to begin the investigation.

...

While the top-tier experts were discussing joyfully, the numerous geniuses in the plaza were still buzzing, shocked by Li Yang’s power.

"This Li Yang’s not bad. Interesting."

On the Kui Lang Star Continent’s side, Mute, the burly young man with bare arms, watched Li Yang’s sudden display of immense power. The disdain in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by a look of interest.

Previously, he had clearly been disdainful and looked down on Li Yang for stalling. Now, his attitude had done a complete one-eighty.

This was the effect of strength! Only with strength could one earn the respect of others!

...

’Li Yang? He’s only three years older than me?’

The handsome young man with a hint of arrogance in his eyes, Dilunxi, the youngest peerless genius of this generation, stared at the screen in the air.

Among all the geniuses present, he was the youngest at twenty-two. Li Yang was the second youngest at twenty-five.

’So what if he’s three years older? If we had the same amount of time to cultivate, could Li Yang possibly compare to me? I’ve only been cultivating for ten years. How many years has Li Yang been at it?’

Disdain flickered in Dilunxi’s eyes.

In his view, his own Talent was the strongest. Given the same amount of time, no one could surpass him! This was his absolute confidence.

...

’Li Yang.’

From the Juelun Star Continent, Yun Rou—a girl with a pure and lovely face, looking as if she were innocent of the ways of the world—also turned her guileless eyes toward Li Yang.

In addition, other geniuses, and even Mixed Void and Lan Yu, now had their gazes fixed on Li Yang.

A level of power that made one invincible in the Longevity Realm—in the previous selection for the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall, this would have been enough to claim first place!

It was just that too many geniuses had emerged in this generation. There were over a dozen who could rival the previous generation’s number one!

There were even heaven-defying prodigies like Mixed Void and Lan Yu, who had cleared the trials and were capable of killing a Star Lord!

But no matter what, Li Yang was now definitively considered by everyone to be among the strongest group of geniuses!