Chapter 308: The 9th Stair! Surpassing Lan Yu

"Li Yang, Longevity Realm. Do you wish to battle?" a mechanical voice sounded in his ear.

"Battle!"

With a clench of his right hand, Li Yang's Hexagram Spear appeared.

'Now, it's time to reap the rewards!' Li Yang's eyes glinted.

BOOM!

The Hexagram Spear now emanated a terrifyingly powerful aura. The profound skill fluctuations of the Fire Element Law, Space Law, and Thunder Law swirled around it. Flames and lightning intertwined, yet they were held apart by a strange layer of space.

Its power hadn't diminished in the slightest. In fact, it had grown even more terrifying!

"ROAR!"

The three-headed Flame Demon Beast let out a low roar and charged directly at Li Yang.

Its sharp claws lunged, attempting to tear Li Yang's body apart, just like last time.

An incredibly scorching aura washed over him. This stage was based on the Fire Element Law, but it wasn't the Melting Essence Profound Skill. Instead, it was one of the four great profound skills: the Fire Domain!

Last time, facing this attack, Li Yang's life force had been reduced by more than half in a single blow.

'The same trick won't work twice.'

Seeing the three-headed Flame Demon Beast use the same move, Li Yang's expression was calm.

He swung his Hexagram Spear, thrusting it out with the speed of lightning!

This thrust even pierced directly through the three-headed Flame Demon Beast's skin.

RUMBLE!

Terrifying shockwaves spread in all directions. The flames that filled the space were affected by the collision, rippling like waves on the sea.

"ROAR!"

Struck by Li Yang, the three-headed Flame Demon Beast became enraged and charged at him again.

But Li Yang easily dodged and thrust out his long spear again.

The attack looked simple, yet the power at the spear's tip was so terrifying that even the Flame Demon Beast's hide couldn't withstand it.

'So this is the power of the Hexagram Spear's fifth form!' Li Yang thought with admiration.

The Hexagram Spear was still his most powerful attack!

When he participated in the genius selection, he mastered the third form, was invincible in the Longevity Realm, and finished in tenth place.

In his fifth year after joining the Human Race's Eternal Saint Hall, he mastered the fourth form and passed the fifth step of the Path of Deities!

And now, another ten years had passed, and he had completely mastered the fifth form!

The fifth form of the Hexagram Spear—invincibility in the Star Lord Realm!

A Star Lord was an existence with a hundred-thousand-year lifespan. In the entire Milky Way Galaxy, they were the strongest tier of cultivators, second only to the nine World Masters.

The gap between each major and minor realm within it was immense.

And now, if he were to return to the Milky Way Galaxy, Li Yang's strength would be the greatest, second only to those nine World Masters!

After mastering the 450th attack of Yuan Wu, Li Yang had finally mastered the fifth form of the Hexagram Spear!

"ROAR!" The three-headed Flame Demon Beast seemed thoroughly enraged by Li Yang and charged again.

'It's powerful enough, but not fast enough, and its attack power is a bit weaker than mine.' Li Yang moved as if taking a leisurely stroll, weaving through the space of the ninth step while continuously attacking.

Since the three-headed Flame Demon Beast was using the Fire Element Law, Li Yang wasn't in a hurry. He slowly chipped away at its life force, wanting to see just what this Fire Domain was all about.

This was a type of Fire Element Law profound skill that, if he wished, he could comprehend at any time and progress rapidly.

After eight minutes had passed, the three-headed Flame Demon Beast had only a sliver of life force remaining.

At this point, Li Yang was done playing around.

'It's over.'

With a flicker of his body, he appeared directly in front of the three-headed Flame Demon Beast, his Hexagram Spear piercing straight through its throat.

Instantly, the three-headed Flame Demon Beast's body vanished.

'I passed.'

Li Yang was now the only one left in the entire space.

Looking at the empty surroundings, a smile touched the corner of Li Yang's lips. 'Lan Yu, I've completely surpassed you.'

His figure flickered, and he entered the space of the tenth step.

...

Back in the staircase space, numerous geniuses were waiting.

One minute… two minutes… four minutes…

In the blink of an eye, the time Li Yang had spent inside surpassed Lan Yu's record.

"It's been four minutes... now five... For Li Yang to last this long, his true strength must have already surpassed Lan Yu's!"

"Li Yang's progress really is faster."

"Can he pass?"

On the eighth step, Lan Yu's strength was still greater than Li Yang's.

But now, Li Yang had lasted longer. This meant Li Yang was clearly the stronger one now!

All the geniuses were watching, including Lan Yu. He stared at the leaderboard, his fists clenched even tighter.

Previously, Lan Yu had exhausted all his strength just to last four minutes in the ninth step's space. The strength Li Yang was displaying now meant that even if he couldn't pass the ninth step, his power had truly surpassed Lan Yu's.

Even if Li Yang didn't pass this time, it was highly likely he would pass it sooner than him in the future.

The geniuses held their breath. Then, after eight minutes had passed, the leaderboard before them suddenly changed.

Rank 1: Mixed Void. Achievement: Path of Deities, 11th Step.

Rank 2: Li Yang. Achievement: Path of Deities, 9th Step.

Rank 3: Lan Yu. Achievement: Path of Deities, 8th Step.

Rank 4: Dilunxi. Achievement: Path of Deities, 4th Step.

...

The updated leaderboard appeared before everyone.

A moment of silence fell over the area, followed by a sudden uproar.

"The ninth step… Li Yang passed it."

"Gods, he really did it! And it's only been five years!"

"Li Yang is now second on the leaderboard, pushing Lan Yu down."

Many of the geniuses gasped, staring at the leaderboard in shock.

In the sixteen years since they had entered the Human Race's Eternal Saint Hall, the lower ranks of the leaderboard had constantly changed, but the top two spots had remained unshaken.

Mixed Void and Lan Yu—these two were the undisputed first and second place, considered impossible to surpass.

But now, Lan Yu, who had held second place for sixteen years, had finally been pushed down, replaced by a new name!

Li Yang!

'I… I was surpassed?' Lan Yu stared intently at the leaderboard, his eyes fixed on Li Yang's name, now occupying second place.

For the past five years, he had been training like a madman, trying to pass the ninth step faster than Li Yang.

And now, the outcome was decided. He had lost to Li Yang.

Lan Yu was silent. At this moment, it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

Even though he had been mentally preparing for this, when the moment actually arrived, his heart was still filled with a multitude of emotions.

Anxiety, helplessness, resentment... a host of complex emotions surged through him all at once.

SWOOSH!

His figure flickered, and he logged out of the Virtual World's staircase space.

...

High above, a group of powerful experts were also watching.

"Li Yang really passed."

"Unbelievable. In just five years."

"Lan Yu, the peerless genius that appears once every few billion years, was actually surpassed by Li Yang!"

"A miracle! Li Yang has created a miracle."

These experts had all made bets before, but now that the outcome was clear, no one spoke of the wagers. There was only awe.

In the genius selection more than a decade ago, Lan Yu had captured the attention of countless people.

A peerless genius who appears only once every few billion years…

If it weren't for Mixed Void, Lan Yu would have been the most dazzling star, walking the path as the Human Race's strongest genius for a very long time, his rise seemingly unstoppable.

But now, this genius had been caught and completely surpassed by another who came from behind, one who hadn't seemed all that remarkable at the start!