Chapter 274: The Geniuses’ Shock

Several Deities were in shock.

In reality, they were extremely powerful Deities. They wouldn’t normally be shocked by a genius as weak as Li Yang.

However, Li Yang’s Talent had previously only been considered second-tier, not particularly eye-catching. But now, he had suddenly revealed the Talent of a genius seen only once in several billion years!

A genius that appears once in billions of years—even Deities like them would be moved by such Talent.

"Haha, Flame Wave, you must be regretting it now, right? Feel like snatching Li Yang back from Blade Slaughter?"

"I do regret it a little. However, the fact that Li Yang has improved so much under Blade Slaughter’s guidance proves that Blade Slaughter is a more suitable teacher for him. I gave up on him before, which just means we weren’t fated to be master and disciple. You can’t force fate."

Seeing Li Yang stop at the sixth step of the Path of Deities, the Flame Wave Sect Master and the others chatted, even speaking frankly of their regrets.

In truth, powerful Deities had infinite lifespans. They had been in the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall for so long they’d lost count, and their relationships with one another were quite good.

As far as they were concerned, the more geniuses the Human Race produced, the better. And the faster those geniuses grew, the better.

Therefore, aside from a hint of regret, the Flame Wave Sect Master and the others didn’t have many other feelings about Li Yang’s display of power.

They would be very happy to see Li Yang grow as quickly as possible and become a top-tier expert of the Human Race.

"By the way, Blade Slaughter, how come Li Yang hasn’t formally acknowledged you as his teacher yet?" the Flame Wave Sect Master asked.

At this, Blade Slaughter just smiled. "I previously recommended a Yuan Wu attack technique to Li Yang, and he’s been completely immersed in comprehending it ever since. As for the discipleship ceremony, that’s just a formality. In practice, he already calls me Teacher."

Whenever he had guided Li Yang before, Li Yang had always addressed him as Teacher.

"Oh, so that’s how it is."

"This Li Yang is really obsessed with cultivation."

"Haha, Blade Slaughter, even though Li Yang has accepted you as his master, it’s not official yet. He’s suddenly revealed such incredible Talent. I bet a lot of powerful Deities will be tempted and might try to snatch him up as a disciple first."

"You’d better have Li Yang go through the formal discipleship ceremony soon."

"Sigh... Once word gets out, we’re going to be a laughingstock."

"Indeed. I plan on going into seclusion for a few days and seeing no one."

The Flame Wave Sect Master and the others spoke, poking fun at themselves.

They had wanted to take Li Yang as a disciple before, but at the very last minute, just as he was about to undergo the ceremony, they had given up on him.

And now, Li Yang had revealed such immense Talent.

One could only imagine how many people would be laughing at them.

In fact, Li Yang’s sudden eruption of progress had indeed caught the attention of many powerful Deities.

"That Li Yang actually jumped from the first step of the Path of Deities to the fifth all at once!"

"That rate of improvement is no less than Lan Yu’s!"

"Unbelievable! Is Li Yang another one of our Human Race’s peerless geniuses, the kind that appears only once in billions of years?"

"Haha, weren’t the Flame Wave Sect Master and his group trying to recruit Li Yang as a disciple? They ended up giving up on him."

"Not just Flame Wave, but Lie Yuan and the others, too. They must be kicking themselves right now."

"Wait, none of them took him as a disciple. Does that mean Li Yang is still without a master?"

The numerous Deities were stunned by Li Yang’s rate of progress.

Some Deities laughed at the Flame Wave Sect Master’s group, while other powerful Deities were clearly tempted.

At this moment, Li Yang had clearly become a hot commodity.

Some of the powerful Deities knew Blade Slaughter had been guiding Li Yang, so they held back. However, some who were unaware of the situation messaged Li Yang directly, offering to take him as their disciple.

...

It wasn’t just the Deities who noticed. The moment Li Yang’s rank on the Path of Deities list changed, the other geniuses noticed as well.

They paid incredibly close attention to the Path of Deities rankings; they would know instantly if there was the slightest change.

Sometime earlier, inside a palace on a peak of the Lianyun Mountain Range, Dilunxi was studying a secret manual.

Dilunxi. Of the three thousand geniuses recruited by the Eternal Saint Hall from the Three Thousand Star Continent in this cohort, he was the youngest, but his Talent was horrifyingly great.

’I just passed the third step of the Path of Deities, which gave me another chance at an inheritance. But I won’t go to the inheritance palace just yet. I’ll wait until my comprehension of the laws is deeper before I go. Otherwise, if I use it up, it’s gone for good.’

’My cultivation environment isn’t as good as Mixed Void’s or Lan Yu’s,’ Dilunxi thought. ’I must make the most of this inheritance opportunity. It’s the only way I’ll ever be able to catch up to them.’

An expression of immense confidence filled Dilunxi’s eyes.

He had always been supremely confident, believing his own Talent to be the strongest. Even though Mixed Void and Lan Yu were ahead of him, he attributed it to external factors.

Mixed Void had a terrifying, Dominator-level entity for a mentor. Lan Yu, on the other hand, had numerous inheritance opportunities. What’s more, they were both at the very peak of the Lianyun Mountain Range, where the effect of viewing the fragmented mystic patterns in the sky was fifty percent stronger than it was for him!

That was why his rate of progress couldn’t compare to Lan Yu’s and Mixed Void’s!

’Hmph! I’ll just keep improving. In a few more years, I’ll charge for the summit of the Lianyun Mountain Range. Once I’m at the peak, my rate of progress will skyrocket. Then Lan Yu won’t have much of an advantage over me anymore!’

He, Dilunxi, remained utterly unshaken in his confidence, firmly believing he was the strongest.

He certainly had reason to be proud. Geniuses like Long Zhan and Mute, who were once considered his peers, had now been left far behind in his dust.

Among the twelve of them, he was the only one to have passed the third step of the Path of Deities!

This also proved that, given the same cultivation environment, no one could compare to him.

"Hm?"

While he was studying the secret manual, Dilunxi suddenly looked at his wristband.

’The rankings for the Path of Deities changed?’

He opened it and saw that Li Yang’s accomplishment on the Path of Deities had changed from the first step to the second.

’Li Yang, on the second step of the Path of Deities?’

A hint of disdain crossed Dilunxi’s face as he looked at the change in rank.

’Younger than me? He’s nothing special, from the looks of it.’

Previously, whenever people talked about Li Yang, they always liked to make comparisons, mentioning that Li Yang was only slightly younger than him.

He, of course, hated this. In his eyes, Li Yang wasn’t even qualified to be mentioned in the same breath.

He himself was young and had only been cultivating for an incredibly short time, having only started in his teens.

But almost all geniuses started cultivating before they were ten years old.

If he had started cultivating before he was ten, who could possibly be his opponent?

And just as he’d expected, after entering the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall, Li Yang had faded into obscurity. Among the geniuses once considered his peers, he was the very last to pass the second step of the Path of Deities.

’Just now reaching the second step? This Li Yang isn’t worth my attention at all.’ Dilunxi prepared to close the rankings.

But before he could, the rankings before his eyes suddenly changed again.

Li Yang’s result shot from the second step of the Path of Deities straight to the third.