Chapter 256: Shock and Awe

After Li Yang emerged, the other geniuses seemed to have learned his results and began discussing it among themselves.

At that moment, Virtual Assistant Number Six appeared before Li Yang and said, "Master, the Path of Deities leaderboard for your class of three thousand geniuses is now open. Would you like to view it?"

’A leaderboard for the Path of Deities Staircase?’ Li Yang’s interest was piqued.

"View it," he said without hesitation.

Instantly, a panel of information materialized before him.

1st Place: Long Zhan | Score: 1st Step of the Path of Deities Staircase

2nd Place: Dilunxi | Score: 1st Step of the Path of Deities Staircase

3rd Place: Mute | Score: 1st Step of the Path of Deities Staircase

...

8th Place... Li Yang | Score: 1st Step of the Path of Deities Staircase

...

The list populated, showing a total of twelve people who had all reached the first step of the Path of Deities Staircase.

All twelve of them previously possessed strength that made them invincible at the Longevity Realm, and they were all currently located halfway up the Lianyun Mountain Range. In the last selection for the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall, any one of them could have easily taken first place. Now, however, none of them could even get past the second step of the Path of Deities Staircase.

"Li Yang, you’re out too?"

Not far away, Mute saw Li Yang and walked over. "How did you do on the second step?" he asked.

Li Yang shook his head in resignation. "I only lasted two moves before I was eliminated."

"Same here," Mute said, shaking his head. "The Virtual Demon Beasts in those pocket dimensions are just too strong."

Nearby, Long Zhan added grimly, "Those Virtual Demon Beasts are indeed powerful. I lasted for five moves."

He was the third-place finisher in this genius selection, yet even he had only lasted for five moves. That was probably less than three seconds.

As they were talking, the area around them suddenly fell silent.

"Hm?"

Li Yang followed the shift in atmosphere and saw two young men arriving.

One of the young men was handsome, with an air of unconcealed brilliance. The other looked quite ordinary.

"It’s Lan Yu and Mixed Void! They’re here too."

"They haven’t been tested yet. I wonder how many steps of the Path of Deities they’ll be able to pass?"

At the sight of the pair, a buzz of discussion erupted among the other geniuses.

In this generation of geniuses, Lan Yu and Mixed Void were the undisputed strongest.

Previously, Lan Yu could one-shot any of them, and Mixed Void could one-shot Lan Yu!

"Mixed Void?"

When Lan Yu arrived and saw that Mixed Void was also present, battle intent immediately flared in his eyes.

’Let’s see just how wide the gap between my strength and Mixed Void’s truly is.’

Previously, Mixed Void had one-shot him, but Lan Yu had no real idea of how powerful his opponent truly was.

After all, whether Mixed Void was ten times stronger than him or twenty times stronger, the result would still be an instant defeat.

He didn’t spare a glance for any of the other geniuses, not even Li Yang’s group. In his mind, he had only one rival: Mixed Void.

As for Mixed Void, his expression remained as tranquil as ever.

Both of them walked up to the Path of Deities Staircase and vanished.

"Holy crap, the two freaks are starting their test," Mute couldn’t help but mutter.

With a wave of his right hand, a leaderboard materialized before him—the very one for their class of geniuses on the Path of Deities Staircase.

It wasn’t just Mute; leaderboards also materialized in front of many other geniuses.

By now, everyone had tested their strength on the Path of Deities Staircase. Only those like Li Yang—the ones who could have won first place in the previous Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall selection—had managed to clear the first step.

The others couldn’t even clear the first step.

Now, only Lan Yu and Mixed Void remained.

Li Yang watched as well, wondering, ’Just how strong are Lan Yu and Mixed Void, really?’

In less than two seconds, the leaderboard suddenly updated.

Then, the names of Mixed Void and Lan Yu appeared almost simultaneously.

"Mixed Void and Lan Yu both cleared the first step of the Path of Deities Staircase."

"Now the second."

"The third."

"The fourth."

...

In less than ten seconds, Mixed Void and Lan Yu had seized the top two spots on the leaderboard. By then, they had already cleared the fourth step of the Path of Deities Staircase.

"Such incredible speed!"

Li Yang stared at the rapidly changing leaderboard. ’Four consecutive steps cleared in just ten seconds,’ he thought. ’From the looks of it, both Mixed Void and Lan Yu are one-shotting the Virtual Demon Beasts in each dimension!’

That meant they could still keep going!

However, Lan Yu’s pace suddenly slowed. He seemed to be stuck on the fifth step, unable to advance for some time.

Mixed Void, on the other hand, was still advancing at a shocking pace!

Fifth step: one-shot the beast inside, passed instantly!

Sixth step: another one-shot, passed!

...

As the geniuses watched in utter shock, many powerful beings within the Saint Hall were also observing the trial.

"Haha, Mixed Void and Lan Yu are a tremendous surprise for our Human Race!"

"At this rate, Lan Yu should be able to clear the fifth step of the Path of Deities Staircase, and Mixed Void should clear the seventh."

"In past selections held by our Saint Hall, we’d usually only get one or two new geniuses who could clear the first step of the Path of Deities Staircase. This time, there are fourteen!"

These powerful Deities discussed amongst themselves, all while observing the combat prowess of each genius.

"Of the fourteen geniuses, Mixed Void has been taken as a disciple by the Black Inference Dominator, and Lan Yu is being taught by someone at the Emperor Level. Among the other twelve, including Long Zhan, a few also have backing from Emperor Level figures. However, several do not. Li Yang, for instance, does not yet have a master."

"Li Yang is quite good. He’s younger than all of them except Dilunxi, yet his Talent for both the Space Law and the Thunder Law is exceptionally powerful! If he continues to deepen his comprehension of these two Laws, his future will be limitless."

"Haha, Tamu, have you set your sights on Li Yang as well? So have I."

"In that case, let’s both offer to guide him. We’ll see which one of us he chooses as his master."

...

The ones having this discussion were all incredibly powerful Deities—terrifying experts who could annihilate other Deities with a mere wave of a hand!

The Human Race Saint Hall encourages its powerful members to take on disciples. Naturally, for the lower-ranked geniuses, a powerful expert would have to take a particular liking to them before they’d even have a chance of being accepted as a disciple.

However, for geniuses like Li Yang, many powerful Deities were already tempted and wanted to actively recruit them as disciples.

By the standards of the Human Race’s past Eternal Saint Hall selections, Li Yang was a first-place contender. As long as he didn’t fall prematurely, once he reached his full potential, he would be a true powerhouse among the Deities!

A disciple like that was, of course, highly coveted by the top-tier Deities.

They wouldn’t give ordinary geniuses a second glance, but for someone like Li Yang, several powerful experts would absolutely fight over the chance to take him as a disciple.

It was just like when eight Emperors had vied to take Mixed Void as their disciple.

Li Yang might face the same situation, but in his case, it would be powerful Deities fighting over him.

...

While the powerful Deities deliberated, Li Yang and the others were still staring at the leaderboard, their eyes filled with utter shock.

Mixed Void rapidly reached the eighth step of the Path of Deities Staircase, and only then did his pace finally slow.

After five minutes, Lan Yu finally cleared the fifth step! Then, just over twenty seconds later, he was eliminated.

"Lan Yu cleared five whole steps of the Path of Deities Staircase!"

"That means he gets five inheritance opportunities!"

"His power is terrifying."

"Mixed Void cleared seven steps and has already been holding on at the eighth for several minutes."

"Can he clear this step?"

The geniuses watched in stunned silence.

Three minutes later, after Mixed Void had spent a total of eight minutes on the eighth step, the leaderboard updated again.

He cleared the eighth step!

Mixed Void had reached the ninth step!

"He passed the eighth step!"

"How is that possible? How can Mixed Void be this powerful?"

"The ninth step... can he clear it?"

It seemed as if all the geniuses were holding their breath as they continued to watch.

This time, after a little over ten seconds, Mixed Void’s figure reappeared. He had been eliminated from the Path of Deities.

The entire area fell silent, everyone staring in shock at the leaderboard.

Li Yang’s group, all of whom could have placed first in the previous selection, had only cleared the first step. The rest of the geniuses hadn’t cleared a single one.

Lan Yu had cleared five steps, while Mixed Void had reached the ninth!

The entire Path of Deities only consisted of forty-nine steps.

A single Law contains four Profound Mysteries, meaning each Mystery corresponds to roughly twelve steps.

’Could it be... that Mixed Void is already close to mastering an entire Profound Mystery?’

For a powerful being like a Sky-Fierce Flood Dragon, it would normally take several hundred years to completely master one Profound Mystery and break through to the World Realm. And how old was Mixed Void?

Shock, disbelief... even Li Yang and the other top geniuses were floored.

They, of all people, knew the power of the beasts within the steps. The difficulty spiked dramatically with each new dimension.

At that moment, they undoubtedly felt an immense, insurmountable gap.

It was a gap so vast it seemed impossible to ever close.

(Thank you to the readers for your support and rewards!)