Sword Aura to the Heavens-Chapter 404 - 399: An Instant

Qi Zhanyun walked over to Li Fan's side, glanced at Lu Yuan and Yue Qingqiu beside him, and jokingly asked, "Your girlfriend?"

Although Lu Yuan wore a mask, her figure and demeanor revealed her to be a top-notch beauty. Yue Qingqiu, though having slightly altered her appearance, remained strikingly stunning.

The three traveled together, and all had extraordinary talents, so he naturally assumed they were companions.

This guy does seem fortunate, with two such beautiful companions.

Li Fan glared at him, while Qi Zhanyun chuckled, saying, "I understand, heroes have always adored beauties. With a talent like yours, it's only natural to have exceptional companions. But..."

Qi Zhanyun's smile was teasing, and Li Fan chose to ignore him.

And beside him, Yue Qingqiu's expression was slightly peculiar, casting a glance at Li Fan, while Lu Yuan remained motionless and masked, her views unreadable.

"Do you really intend for us to go first?" Qi Zhanyun asked again.

More people entered the array and forged ahead, stepping into the Heavenly Gate, each taking varying amounts of time. Yet, the elite figures from noble families ultimately all passed through.

"Yes, Brother Qi, just proceed, don't mind us," Li Fan replied. He planned to enter the array with Lu Yuan and Yue Qingqiu together.

"Alright, I'll go ahead then." With that, Qi Zhanyun stepped forward. A thunderous roar emerged from the array ahead, as Qi Zhanyun summoned his Martial Spirit, utterly domineering.

"What's he up to?" Vastly curious eyes focused on Li Fan, as everyone had previously imagined he would contend with Shen Jing.

But Li Fan didn't; he harbored no intent to 'compete,' patiently waiting for others to enter the array and step through the Heavenly Gate.

Now, seeing the two women beside him, people vaguely realized Li Fan was waiting for them.

Does he intend to lead them into the array?

"This guy is quite interesting. He seems to want to guide those two women into the array and step into White Jade?" a Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion man smiled, asking Liu Qingwu.

"This person is a wild soul," Liu Qingwu remarked coldly, casting a brief glance at Li Fan. She didn't favor Li Fan much, as his words at the Chaotian Pavilion inn had made her uncomfortable.

Though he possessed strength and talent, he exuded an odd aura, appearing dismissive. As a Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion's prodigy, she had encountered countless elites, frequently dealing with top noble heirs in the Imperial City, even those she mentioned.

And him—what qualifies him?

"This array is the final checkpoint of the Heavenly God Staircase, forged by White Jade Academy Cultivators. Whoever enters faces the same challenge. Many elite figures came seeking White Jade, only to remain, demanding extraordinary strength to carve their path. He wants to bring others in?" Liu Qingwu stated. "Unless those two women possess sufficient means, his idea is but a fool's dream."

Ye Yunke also gazed at Li Fan, his curiosity piqued. Having observed Li Fan's confrontation with Tiandu Palace's Saint Heir, he had developed some interest, and now, seeing such a 'prominent' figure, his curiosity intensified.

"Others seek White Jade for fame, proving their talent. Yet, this person seems unconcerned with outsiders' opinions," Ye Yunke laughed.

Previously, Li Fan advanced effortlessly to his current position, taking the least time among the crowd.

Many overlooked this fact, as Li Fan stepped onto the staircase later and then paused there, causing people to overlook the brevity of his ascent, even passively facing Yun Tiancheng's obstruction, confidently reaching his current spot.

If he had competed with Shen Jing then, entering the array right away, even if it took longer, even without breaking half an incense's record, nearing it would have sufficed to gain fame.

Yet, Li Fan did not choose to do so.

On the staircase, within the array, Li Fan saw Qi Zhanyun go up, deliberately turning back to glance at him before boldly stepping into the Heavenly Gate entering White Jade.

"Together," Li Fan whispered.

"Yes." Lu Yuan gently nodded. Yue Qingqiu remained silent, seeing Li Fan stride forward, the two women left and right following closely behind.

"Indeed..." Witnessing this scene, the crowd fixed their gaze on the array. This guy waited long just to escort his companions to White Jade?

"I've never seen anyone bring others to inquire into White Jade," someone remarked, eyeing Li Fan and his companions coldly. "This person is too audacious."

"Many heroes came seeking White Jade, yet only top-tier heroes can enter the Heavenly Gate. While he could reach White Jade himself, he dares to attempt guiding two others to inquire. Even in White Jade Academy Cultivators' eyes, this may be considered provoking behavior."

Li Fan stepped into the Human-shaped Array, a stronger pressure enveloping him, emanating not just from the staircase array itself but from 'Tao.'

Countless faces swirled before him. Each face expanded within his pupils, flowing before him like deity forms.

"Illusion," Yue Qingqiu softly said. "This Illusion Array has amplified perception."

Li Fan gazed ahead, those divine figures flitted before his eyes, then lined up on both sides of the staircase, resembling a host of deities. If he wished to ascend, he must walk through the central path amidst the 'gods'.

On the staircase, each divine statue on either side harbored various powers, radiating their 'Tao Power'.

Li Fan tentatively took a step forward. With just one step, the staircase shook violently, an extremely wild force swept through, and a nearby divine statue moved. Suddenly, Li Fan felt as if he had entered the Thunder Domain, thunderbolts rained down from the sky, turning this 'Heavenly God Staircase' into an apocalypse.

"The Tao of the first divine statue?" Li Fan thought to himself. Thunderbolts crashed down, landing on his body; the dragon roared repeatedly, a Golden Body encircled him, his vitality transformed into a dragon and surged skywards. Even as the raging divine thunder smashed against his body, Li Fan remained unmoving.

The golden giant dragon soared upwards, enveloping Lu Yuan and Yue Qingqiu, protecting them within its body.

Li Fan looked up; a staircase layer by layer, divine statues one by one, his pupils turned gold, as if golden lightning shot out.

In the next moment, Li Fan moved forward like a stream of light.

The statues within the array seemed to have sensed something, each statue suddenly erupted into motion, but their frenzied attacks seemed a step too slow, as Li Fan traversed the staircase.

The array abruptly became restless, fierce rumbling sounds exploded within, and then an incredibly wild force swept out, causing the entire formation to tremble, making the cultivators on the staircase quiver.

The surrounding crowd only felt a flash before their eyes, as the violent force dissipated. When their gaze fell upon the top of the staircase, the vast area suddenly quieted down.

At the staircase's summit, a handsome young man in splendid attire calmly stood there, the golden dragon hovering above him released the two women, while the formation lay behind him.

"What's happening?" Many people snapped back to reality, their voices erupting in the suddenly silent space, endless questions spilled out: "What happened?"

"How did he get up there??"

"I don't know."

The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment, none of them understood.

In a thought, crossing the Heavenly God Staircase?

"It seems to be speed, extreme speed."

"His martial prowess is formidable, but he also possesses an incredibly fearsome movement technique; he utilized his movement technique to traverse the array."

"Impossible, there were many cultivators skilled in movement techniques before, haven't Sword Cultivators been fast enough? They couldn't cross either."

"How is it possible?" Liu Qingwu frowned tightly, staring fixedly at that side, she couldn't comprehend it either. Li Fan not only got through but did it in an instant.

And brought two people along.

This is something fundamentally impossible to accomplish.

"Interesting, interesting." Yang Tai chuckled at Li Fan, thinking he's quite a fascinating person.

"Did you catch that?" Ye Yunke turned to look at Prince Puyang beside him.

He didn't understand it!

Prince Puyang furrowed his brow, staring at Li Fan, and spoke: "Extreme speed, he let the White Jade City Cultivators in the array react too late, broke through the array's oppression, forcibly opening a path, and passed through in an instant."

"What do you mean?" Ye Yunke didn't quite understand.

"Your Highness, the final array was formed by cultivators from the White Jade Academy borrowing the array structure, imbued with their Tao, exerting oppression towards the intruder. Whoever attempts the array assault will face immense oppression from the formation itself; even those adept in movement techniques will find their movement constrained under this pressure and encounter strong resistance in progressing forward. This implies that attempting to dash through using movement techniques is theoretically impossible."

"Unless, one possesses power so strong it can ignore the array's oppression, and simultaneously unleash extreme speed, it might be possible to break through the array before the opponent can react." Prince Puyang said: "Back then, during his array challenge, it was sheer overwhelming force, pushing straight through."

Ye Yunke finally understood, a more peculiar expression fell over his face.

"If that's the case, if he doesn't delay, isn't it...??" He murmured under his breath, looking at the figure atop the staircase.

"It seems, it's indeed possible to complete within half an incense stick." Prince Puyang also glanced over there, seemingly talking to himself.

Using ultimate movement technique, although it appeared a bit like playing tricks, regardless of how it was achieved, reaching this level already substantiates some things.

This young man is very powerful.