Chapter 460: Shock

The many experts watching the battle video were completely stunned by the power Li Yang displayed!

What did the thirty-eighth step represent? The monstrous beasts within the space of this step already had power approaching that of Deities!

The Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall trains Star Lord Realm geniuses for a thousand years. After a millennium, there are some geniuses who can reach this thirty-eighth step—but that’s after a *thousand years*!

And how long has Li Yang been training? Not even twenty years!

In just over a decade, he went from the twelfth step to the thirty-eighth!

"How is this possible? Li Yang is still one-shotting the monstrous beasts on the thirty-eighth step of the Path of Deities!"

"The power of the monstrous beasts on this step is nearly on par with Deities!"

"How long has it been? How could Li Yang have improved so much?"

"Even at Mixed Void’s previous rate of progress, he couldn’t possibly have achieved this, right?"

...

Mixed Void was a top-100 genius in the history of the Human Race. His appearance caused massive shockwaves. While only in the Longevity Realm, he caused several Emperors to descend and fight to take him as a disciple. In the end, even the Black Inference Dominator appeared to accept him as an apprentice.

The Human Race has existed for countless years—an amount of time that is difficult to even calculate. For Mixed Void to rank among them shows just how incredible his Talent is!

It’s unknown how many years it takes for the Human Race to produce a genius like Mixed Void.

But now, the Talent and rate of progress Li Yang was displaying surpassed even Mixed Void’s! And by a huge margin!

Mixed Void was a top-100 genius in Human Race history. Could Li Yang be a top-fifty genius?

The experts were shocked. Furthermore, Li Yang was still one-shotting the monstrous beasts on the steps of the Path of Deities, which meant he hadn’t reached his limit yet.

"After the thirty-eighth step, there are still two more. Based on Li Yang’s performance, he’ll likely pass the thirty-ninth. The fortieth step after that is a major threshold. Can he... pass it?"

"Impossible. The fortieth step represents power at the level of a Deity! To pass it, one must have the strength to kill an ordinary Deity!"

"The gap between the Divine Realm and the Star Lord Realm is enormous! It’s a difference of two major realms!"

"If a Star Lord Realm cultivator can pass the fortieth step within a hundred years of training, even a Dominator might descend to take them as a disciple."

"Even a genius like Mixed Void wasn’t guaranteed to pass the fortieth step within those hundred years!"

The many experts estimated Li Yang’s strength, finding it hard to believe he could pass the fortieth step.

A genius like Mixed Void had no certainty of passing it within a hundred years!

And even though Li Yang’s rate of progress had surpassed Mixed Void’s, he had been training for less than twenty years. Could he pass? It sounded like something out of a fantasy.

If Li Yang could pass, he wouldn’t just be a top-100 genius in Human Race history, but a top-ten genius!

In the entire history of the Human Race, the number of Star Lord Realm geniuses who surpassed the power of Deities and passed the fortieth step of the Path of Deities within just twenty years of training... totaled only eight!

If Li Yang succeeded, he would become the ninth person in the history of the Human Race to do so!

...

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Li Yang’s figure flickered, and he entered the thirty-ninth step of the Path of Deities.

Within the space, a massive, ape-like creature stood. It was tens of thousands of meters tall and incredibly muscular. Its red eyes, filled with Evil Qi, stared at Li Yang, looking ready to charge at any moment!

Overall, the giant ape was like a mountain. Even the air it exhaled caused the surrounding void to tremble. It seemed completely unshakable.

The monstrous beast on the thirty-ninth step had power very close to that of a Deity, and it even possessed extremely strong regenerative abilities!

Even if some in the World Realm could match a Deity’s power, in a prolonged battle, the World Realm expert would surely be the one at a disadvantage.

This is because Deities have eternal life and immortal bodies. No matter how severe their injuries, they can recover swiftly!

To kill them, one must deplete their life force in a short amount of time.

After passing through more than twenty consecutive steps, Li Yang’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He remained cold and indifferent, the same long spear still in his hand.

"Li Yang, Star Lord Realm. Do you wish to battle?"

A mechanical voice echoed in Li Yang’s ears.

"Battle!" Li Yang said directly.

BOOM!

Inside the space, the mountain-like giant ape roared and charged at Li Yang. Its massive palm swung down, looking as if it would smash Li Yang to pieces.

Even Li Yang felt a trace of pressure from the oppressive aura it emanated.

He had been able to one-shot the monstrous beasts on all the previous steps, but on this step, it would be difficult to do so.

However, it was *only* one-shotting that was off the table!

SWISH!

Li Yang swung the long spear in his hand, and a beam of spear light shot out instantly. Radiating an incredibly terrifying power, it collided head-on with the giant ape’s massive palm.

A deep, muffled BANG echoed as the giant ape’s palm was pierced straight through. The terrifying spear light surged madly into the giant ape’s body through the wound.

The fluctuations of its aura weakened, dropping by a full one-fifth!

Injured, the giant ape grew even more furious and charged at Li Yang, its aura rapidly recovering.

This was the powerful regenerative ability of the Divine Realm, an ability whose effect was better than almost any Healing Saint Fruit.

The giant ape didn’t have the power of a Deity, but it already possessed some of their regenerative ability. This was intentionally set up by the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall to increase the difficulty of passing the steps on the Path of Deities.

If one wanted to pass, they had to show their true strength!

But before its injuries could fully recover, Li Yang’s figure appeared before it like a phantom, and he thrust his spear out once more!

The giant ape’s aura fluctuations weakened again!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Li Yang’s body zipped back and forth within the battle space. The teleportation aspect of his Space Law was already specialized in speed, and combined with his current terrifying strength, the giant ape couldn’t touch him at all.

Only about ten seconds or so had passed, but it was impossible to know how many times Li Yang had already thrust his spear.

"ROAR!"

Finally, the giant ape let out an unwilling roar before its massive body vanished.

"Li Yang, congratulations on passing the thirty-ninth step of the Path of Deities. Do you wish to enter the fortieth step?"

The mechanical voice sounded in his ear again.

’I passed?’ Li Yang thought to himself.

He was still calm, showing no signs of joy.

’One last step remains!’

Li Yang’s gaze was tranquil. From the thirteenth step to this one, it had taken him less than a minute in total!

Just one minute, but it was enough to cause a massive commotion!

"Enter!"

SWOOSH!

With a flicker of his figure, Li Yang vanished completely.