Chapter 283: The 7th Stair

In ten years, Li Yang’s Fire Element Law had become the law he comprehended most deeply!

Under these flames, the colossal steel beast’s life force clearly weakened.

"Haha, this beast’s defense might be strong, but my attack power is even stronger!" Seeing this, a smile appeared on Li Yang’s face.

Over the past five years, his progress had been astonishing.

On the summit of the Lianyun Mountain Range, the Blade Slaughter Sect Master had found him numerous attacks similar to Yuan Wu’s to study. With the Sect Master’s even more dedicated guidance, his cultivation speed was now incomparably faster than it had been in the first five years!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Activating the Hexagram Spear, Li Yang relentlessly attacked the steel beast.

The beast on the previous step’s space had used Space Law, so Li Yang had fought slowly, hoping to gain some comprehension. But the beast before him now had comprehended the Earth Element Law. Since Li Yang hadn’t comprehended the Earth Element, the battle was extremely fast!

Six minutes later, the steel beast let out an unwilling roar before being slain by Li Yang!

"Li Yang, congratulations on passing the seventh step of the Deities’ Path. Do you wish to enter the eighth step?"

A mechanical voice sounded after he killed the beast.

’Success!’

An incredibly brilliant smile spread across Li Yang’s lips.

At this moment, Lan Yu had only just passed the eighth step of the Deities’ Path!

And he was about to reach the eighth step himself!

There was now only one step separating them!

"Enter!"

As Li Yang’s voice fell, his figure flickered and reappeared in another space.

This was the space of the eighth step!

Within the space, a massive, four-hooved creature with three horns on its head appeared, its scarlet eyes fixed on Li Yang.

’Let’s see how long I can last in this space!’

Li Yang took a deep breath.

He probably wouldn’t be able to pass the eighth step of the Deities’ Path, but he wouldn’t be steamrolled by this beast either!

Lan Yu seemed to have encountered some great opportunity, as his rate of progress was accelerating.

But his own progress over the past five years was in no way inferior to Lan Yu’s!

BOOM!

The battle erupted in an instant. Li Yang gripped his Hexagram Spear, on which three laws fluctuated violently, and fearlessly clashed with the enormous, four-hooved creature!

In that single collision, Li Yang was clearly outmatched and sent flying backward.

His life force seemed to have decreased by about one-thousandth.

"Again!"

His face filled with fighting spirit, Li Yang charged forward once more.

「...」

Outside the space of the Deities’ Path steps, many of the geniuses had not left, waiting to see if Li Yang could pass the sixth step.

"Li Yang should be able to pass the sixth step. Let’s see how long it takes him."

"Right, the time it takes him will give us a good idea of his strength."

The geniuses discussed amongst themselves.

Li Yang, currently the strongest genius besides Mixed Void and Lan Yu, was the undisputed number three! He naturally attracted a great deal of attention.

As they spoke, five seconds passed, and the ranking list before them changed. Li Yang’s result went directly from the fifth step to the sixth.

"It took Li Yang five seconds to pass the sixth step."

"About right. It wasn’t an instant kill. With that level of strength, he probably can’t pass the seventh step."

Watching Li Yang’s ranking change, the crowd of geniuses murmured.

In everyone’s eyes, it was obvious Li Yang would stop at the sixth step.

However, after six minutes, Li Yang’s ranking suddenly changed again. This change caused the expressions of nearly every genius present to shift.

Li Yang’s result had gone from the sixth step directly to the seventh!

"Li Yang passed the seventh step?"

"How is that possible? Didn’t he take some time on the sixth step? With that kind of strength, it should be impossible to pass the seventh."

"This is insane! Lan Yu only just passed the eighth step."

"Li Yang is about to catch up to Lan Yu!"

All the geniuses present were stunned, staring at the ranking list.

Rank 1: Mixed Void. Result: 11th step of the Deities’ Path.

Rank 2: Lan Yu. Result: 8th step of the Deities’ Path.

Rank 3: Li Yang. Result: 7th step of the Deities’ Path.

Rank 4: Dilunxi. Result: 4th step of the Deities’ Path.

Rank 5: Mute. Result: 3rd step of the Deities’ Path.

...

Rank 10... Huo Lie. Result: 3rd step of the Deities’ Path.

...

"Passed the seventh step in six minutes? This Li Yang is truly insane..." The faces of the ordinary geniuses, and even those of Dilunxi, Long Zhan, and Mute, were filled with shock.

Previously, after five years of effort, it had taken Lan Yu nine minutes to pass the seventh step.

This meant Li Yang was progressing even faster than Lan Yu!

’How did he improve so much?’ Dilunxi clenched his fists, staring fixedly at the ranking list.

The gap between him and Li Yang had widened to three steps. He had been chasing desperately, only for the gap to grow larger and larger.

’The summit of the Lianyun Mountain Range... right, it must be because of the summit!’

Dilunxi’s heart was filled with unwillingness. He desperately longed to go to that summit area as well!

"Li Yang has been in the eighth step’s combat space for over twenty seconds, and he’s still not out!"

As the geniuses watched in shock, one of them suddenly exclaimed.

His cry made everyone else realize it too.

The beasts in the step spaces don’t dodge; they attack relentlessly the moment a battle begins. Being able to last longer in the combat space was a clear indicator of greater strength.

And now, Li Yang had actually lasted for dozens of seconds!

To last this long, while his strength was still inferior to the beast’s, it meant he at least had some ability to resist.

"Thirty seconds! Is Li Yang... going to pass the eighth step?"

Under the crowd’s shocked gazes, more than forty seconds passed before Li Yang’s figure was finally eliminated.

Gazing at his incredibly young face, the surroundings fell silent. They had just been shocked by Mixed Void and Lan Yu, and now they were being shocked by Li Yang!

Lan Yu had only just passed this eighth step, yet Li Yang had managed to last for over forty seconds on it. This proved that the gap between Li Yang and Lan Yu was rapidly shrinking; it wasn’t so large anymore.

Everyone’s eyes were on Li Yang. At this moment, just like Mixed Void who had passed the eleventh step and Lan Yu who had passed the eighth, Li Yang was dazzling.

"Holy crap, Li Yang! You lasted that long on the eighth step of the Deities’ Path..." Mute walked up to Li Yang, not knowing what to say.

"You’re too much of a freak!"

Hearing Mute’s words, Li Yang just smiled. He glanced at the ranking list and said, "I’m only third right now. It’s nothing to brag about."

He looked at Lan Yu’s name ranked above his, a flash of fighting spirit in his eyes.

’Lan Yu, the distance between us has closed again.’

No genius is willing to be second best, and Li Yang was no exception.

Before, the gap between him and Lan Yu was enormous, making it seem almost impossible to surpass him. But now, he was truly catching up!

If not for Lan Yu’s significant head start, Li Yang would have absolutely left him in the dust by now!

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