Han Huang moved so fast that Xuanyuan barely noticed where he went, and even then only because the abyss within his mind-space tugged him towards the right location.
Far below him, under the Upanishad Formation and next to the sea where Han Wutian and the East Sea Sect ancestor were fighting, that was where Han Huang went.
Xuanyuan descended onto the Upanishad Formation and was about to go down the mountain to better observe their interactions, but he was pulled back by Yu Nanyang.
"If a fight does break out, you'll only hold him back, Xuanyuan."
He spoke quietly, yet his voice was filled with an equally great murderous intention.
"I can't just stand here doing nothing, Nanyang," Xuanyuan replied, but Nanyang only shook his head.
"What are you gonna do? That man is at the Multiverse Realm. You don't know how terrifying a power at that level is."
"Then tell me." Xuanyuan was persistent, unable to accept his uselessness.
"For starters, any expert at or above the Universe Realm isn't allowed to fight openly in the endless heavens due to the terrible damage they can cause, much less in a middle-grade world like ours."
Nanyang explained as he sat down, signaling Xuanyuan to do so as well.
"I thought we were a high-grade world?" He asked, and he begrudgingly complied after Nanyang pulled his sleeve down.
"Not anymore after that bastard wiped out the entire White River Empire. Since then, we've had no experts above the Semiverse Realm."
"But weren't there other strong-men of the same level outside the White River Empire?" Xuanyuan asked, as this was a rare opportunity when Nanyang was willing to answer his questions.
"The Dao Preserving Sect had closed their gates after the death of their Multiverse Realm ancestor during the expedition with the White River Emperor."
"But what about their grand elders and other ancestors?"
"Sealed within the Underworld, in fact, all forty-five of their Universe Realm elders are still trapped down there." Nanyang said as he pointed down at the ground.
Before Xuanyuan could clarify, he heard a huge explosion downstairs and looked over the edge of the Upanishad Formation to see the East Sea Sect's ancestor had self-detonated.
A major portion of the sea was instantly evaporated, and the rest flew high up into the air, falling down as rain as the droplets scattered in the wind.
Surprisingly, no real damage had been done as Han Huang had seemingly contained all the power within his palm, clenching it tightly and opening it only to release a bit of smoke.
But then Han Wutian suddenly struck him with his sword, right on his neck and if he hadn't moved back at the right moment, his neck would have been cut.
Han Wutian constantly advanced, attacking repeatedly, with each strike fuelled by heavy murderous intentions.
Each strike tore apart the first layer and revealed the deep-space, itching to break open the void, but his power remained restrained and under strict control.
Yet Han Huang remained unfazed, with his hands behind his back he made seemingly careless and unrefined movements that appeared to step right in front of Han Wutian's sword strikes.
And somehow, each attack still managed to miss him, not even touching the hem of his robes, as he dodged each strike by the breadth of a hair.
"That must be the legendary Han family movement technique, the Skyless Steps, a secret art coveted by the entire Endless Heavens." Nanyang commented in utter awe, not even daring to blink lest he miss anything.
Of course, he could barely make anything out, but it was amazing nonetheless.
"Oh, why is that?" Xuanyuan was conflicted, he hated Han Huang to the core, but he had to appreciate the man's abilities.
"During ancient times, far before we became the rulers of the Endless Heavens, mankind was constantly at war with the myriad races," Nanyang began to explain.
"A particular convoy transporting important resources to the God Emperor's troops was intercepted by a battalion of Multiverse Realm aliens."
"This sort of ambush were incredibly common in those times and so reinforcements were scarce, once trapped their fate was set in stone."
"But what does this have to do with anything?" Xuanyuan could not help but interrupt, thinking Nanyang was once again recounting tales he had read in history books.
Nanyang was annoyed at the interruption and gave Xuanyuan a side-eye before continuing.
"But coincidentally, this group had a ship headed by an ancestor of the Han family, a Quasi-Universal Realm expert at that time."
"He stole all the resources from the fleet and escaped, redirecting the alien battalion as they pursued him across countless worlds."
Seeing Xuanyuan's impatient expression, he cut to the chase and continued.
"Indeed, he used the Skyless Steps to drag them by the nose. At a certain point, he stopped running and instead actively shepherded them into a corner."
"For an entire decade, he stalled them until reinforcements arrived and slaughtered the aliens."
Meanwhile, Han Huang, with a mocking smile on his face, stopped retreating and said something to Han Wutian that made him flare up in an uncontrolled surge of power.
Han Wutian's aura blared frighteningly as it created a column of brilliant golden energies that connected the heavens with the earth.
His muscles swelled as each strike unveiled the void, and he shot towards Han Huang like a lightning bolt, bringing the column of light with him as the world was devastated by the aftermath of his powers.
Han Huang maintained his calm, sliding through the storm of sword strikes and sword intent as though he were simply phasing through them like a phantom.
Occasionally, he slipped in some provocative statements that only made Han Wutian rage further, increasing the intensity of his attacks.
Some attacks would pass through, however, but Han Huang would easily dissolve them with mere flicks of his fingers—he was playing with Han Wutian
Suddenly, Han Wutian said something that made Han Huang stop dodging and look at him with a serious expression.
"It's getting tense, I can't wait any longer." Xuanyuan told Nanyang who nodded tensely, and the two jumped off the Upanishad Formation.
Dropping, the two let themselves fall as Nanyang left no more restrictions and displayed his cultivation in full.
At the peak of the Galaxy Realm, he was a genius capable of contending against the Galaxy Cluster Realm when he exploded with his full strength.
Xuanyuan was far below the others in realm, but he had something nobody else did.
The power of the Heavenly Tribulation gathered in the skies once more, as dark clouds surged from all ends of the world and gathered into a whirlpool right above Xuanyuan.
Demonic flames burst out from within the clouds, as if heaven itself had ejected the fire onto the mortal world.
Consuming everything in its path, the bright orange flames covered the entire sky in a beautiful blanket of resplendent colors.
The whirlpool of clouds turned into a vortex of fire, and it churned ever faster.
The two landed not far away from the conversing father and son.
Inching closer, the two readied their weapons, both using identical void-stained swords and the aura of their sword intents was equally similar.
They were about to make a move but Han Wutian suddenly retreated rapidly, and before Han Huang could even react, a metamorphosis was underway.
Han Wutian's clothes shattered under the pressure his body was exuding, his white hair grew longer and turned black, reaching his heels.
Han Huang reached out his hand to grab Han Wutian, but he was too slow.
The golden pillar of energies condensed instantly and converged around him to cover the man in a pure white shell of impenetrable power.
Like the cocoon of a silkworm, the shell hung in the sky as if it were dangling from a thread tied to the god emperor's throne.
Nanyang and Xuanyuan took it as their cue to act, and the two roared as their powers exploded to bathe the world in a magnificent crimson light.
Han Huang finally took notice of them and casually shot a stream of spiritual power at Xuanyuan.
It was incredibly fast, but as a monstrous mouth of pitch darkness extended out of Xuanyuan's shoulder, the stream of spiritual power could not help but be devoured.
Surprised, Han Huang approached the two and swords clashed with flesh as he blocked both their blades with his mere fingers.
Nanyang released his birth dharma treasure, a dark red crown jewelled with stunning golden crystals that just drew you into an unrelenting state of stupor.
Before Han Huang could even realize, the Red Crown was sitting firmly on his head.
But instead of weighing down on him like the pressure of an entire High-grade World, it only made him feel lighter than ever, heightening his senses to the level he had before the Weapon Prohibition Orders were placed upon him.
Flashing a disdainful grin at Nanyang's surprised face, he dug two of his fingers into Nanyang's stomach.
Or so he tried, because Xuanyuan's sword blocked the strike and allowed Nanyang to pull back.
Han Huang smashed his fist backwards, intending to hit Xuanyuan right in his face but at that moment the Red Crown was lifted off his head and he turned sluggish.
Xuanyuan took the chance to slash at Han Huang's neck, directing all of his divine senses to the tip of his blade, its penetrative powers reaching the maximum of what he could muster at the moment.
Han Huang pulled back, and both attacks missed their targets by a hair's breadth.
But the Heavenly Tribulation did not miss and a colossal ball of demonic flames fell onto Xuanyuan's back, vaporizing his spiritual powers and flesh alike.
Circulating the Asura God Art crazily, the spiritual power fuelling the ball of demonic flames was absorbed by him instead; only he was too slow, the fire burned his very soul and the pain was excruciating.
Barely being able to hang on, he moved and advanced towards Han Huang who was arranging an array formation upon Han Wutian's cocoon.
Meanwhile, Nanyang had begun charging his sword with the Skyless Sword Art's Sixth Form—Awakening the Sky.
So as Xuanyuan rushed towards him, Han Huang wiped the array formation off the golden cocoon and onto his palm, using it to swat away Xuanyuan's ray of sword intent.
The ball of demonic flames chased Xuanyuan down and when Nanyang rushed in from behind, it enveloped Xuanyuan entirely.
Falling down to the sky, he focused fully on removing the flames while Nanyang began his duel with Han Huang.
The two were not very far apart in realm, with Han Huang having fallen down to the Semiverse Realm.
With the added limitations of the Weapon Prohibition Orders, his combat power had decreased to the point where even Han Wutian could fight him.
Constantly regressing in fighting prowess with each attack, now even Nanyang could go toe-to-toe with him, but perhaps he held back to not waste any more power than he needed to.
As he brandished his sword with his fingers, Nanyang's sword intent shot to the sky and illuminated the world in a despairing crimson light.
A regal cloak of blood-red fur appeared upon him and flowed down to his feet.
Emanating the airs of a bloodthirsty warlord, Nanyang smashed his sword down with all the strength in his body.
Colliding his blade against Han Huang's palm, he shattered the array formation causing both of them to vomit blood.
Han Huang wasted no time and threw a flurry of punches laced with spiritual power, forcing Nanyang to parry each of them in rapid succession.
But suddenly, with a sweeping kick Han Huang struck Nanyang right on his shins, sending him buckling as the destructive spiritual power ate away at his soul.
Then, intending to smash him down, Han Huang raised his hands together like a hammer and was about to crash it down when Xuanyuan dashed over like a bolt of lightning. He jumped to deliver a kick straight onto Han Huang's face.
However, it never landed as Han Huang redirected his hammer-hands to bash Xuanyuan's foot off course, sending him spinning off a dozen meters before he could regain balance.
Nanyang recovered the next instant and took the initiative to begin slashing away at Han Huang who conjured a sword of his own out of mystical energies and returned Nanyang's blows.
At this moment, another ball of demonic flames was shot down from the whirlpool, this one larger and filled with even more savage spiritual energies.
Xuanyuan wanted to dodge or block it, but he knew he couldn't, the pain from last time really stuck, and he wanted Han Huang to feel it too.
So just as the fire was about to touch his near-naked body, Xuanyuan jumped right onto Han Huang who was already pre-occupied with blocking Nanyang's sword.
But just as Xuanyuan was about to grab Han Huang's collar, he was sent crashing into the ground by a devastating kick right to his chest.
The bright orange ball of swirling demonic flames smashed down onto Xuanyuan and began burning away at every inch of his being.
With a roar he dispersed the flames completely as a grand blue mist drowned his body and a robust white line began swimming across it.
He had recovered his one-lined blue battle force and with the impenetrable defenses it brought, the heavenly tribulation stood no chance against him.
So he rushed towards Han Huang once more, fearless of the consequences, he used his Ascension Realm cultivation to challenge a Multiverse Realm traitor and the only thing in his mind was glory from enacting retribution.
Not waiting for anything to change, the clouds of fire rumbled boldly before shooting down another ball of demonic flames at Xuanyuan.
This time, Xuanyuan did not use any swords but punched Han Huang's face with his bare fists and made contact in an extremely domineering fashion.
This sent Han Huang crashing as the ball of demonic flames came in from behind and smashed into Xuanyuan.
But he did not move, and the flames struck him directly, but the momentum it carried caused the rest of the ball of fire to shoot onwards and hit Han Huang.
However, it seemingly did not do much damage as Han Huang easily dispersed all the fire with a snap of his fingers and swiftly got back up to parry Nanyang's well-time yet ill-received strike at his neck.
This interruption greatly angered the Heavenly Tribulation, and it churned faster than before, and the size of the whirlpool of burning clouds more than doubled.
Almost immediately, another ball of demonic flames was sent flying at speeds considered hypersonic even for the average Galaxy Realm expert.
Before Xuanyuan could even make any motion towards Han Huang, the ball of fire dropped right onto his back and he crashed into the ground, cracking it into a massive spiderweb-like crater.
This particular tribulation was exponentially more fatal than before, and this increase in difficulty was largely due to Han Huang's interference, a development that greatly hindered Xuanyuan's plan to humble this bastard.
Meanwhile, Nanyang had awakened another article of his dharma-attire through the usage of Awakening the Sky.
A pair of dark brown leather gloves with hellish patterns had appeared on Nanyang's hands, and they greatly boosted his endurance and attacking strength.
As he swung his sword faster and faster, Han Huang found it harder and harder to keep up with his current output.
He had no choice but to squeeze further power through the brutally fine mesh of the Weapon Prohibition Orders.
Xuanyuan had not finished dealing with the latest tribulation, but he was bent on making Han Huang suffer alongside him, so Xuanyuan rushed towards him at a fleeting pace.
Appearing right before within one instant and sending a punch to his nose on the next, he expected a clean stream of blood to be flowing in the air, but what flew in the air was Xuanyuan instead.
Han Huang had firmly caught his fist and swung Xuanyuan over his head, throwing him backwards.
But what he did not expect was the huge ball of demonic fire to be tailing Xuanyuan at an even faster speed and had his entire front burned off.
Or so Nanyang thought, but the only thing that had burned off was the sweat on Han Huang's forehead.
The cataclysmic ball of flames was dispersed by mere breaths from Han Huang, and once more the heavenly tribulation was enraged.
But this time it was the final wave of the Second Demonic Tribulation realm, and it was not due to be simple in the first place, only now it was guaranteed to be a nightmare.
A dark red, fiery flood dragon with burning scales that seemingly crawled out of hell emerged from the burning clouds and locked eyes with Xuanyuan, sending tremor-inducing palpitations rippling throughout his body.
The dragon shrieked out an earth-shattering roar that even shook Han Huang, attracting his attention to the incarnation of heavenly tribulation.
Nanyang tried to take this momentary inattentiveness to capture an advantage, but Han Huang's body subconsciously moved in response to Nanyang's attempted sneak attack.
The reflex action was an unforgiving blow that shattered Nanyang's sword directly, sending shards of black metal flying everywhere.
But before Han Huang could follow up with a second strike, a blood-curdling crimson sword appeared in Nanyang's hand, its dark red aura invoking a sense of despair within the onlookers.
With this sword, Nanyang blocked Han Huang's attack and pushed him back before sending a second slash going down his way before he could even react.
This ray of sword intent struck Han Huang right on his chest and cut apart his robes, revealing a muscular torso covered in countless scars.
Han Huang did not flinch and returned the sword intent with a strike of his own, meeting Nanyang's third blow in midair and exploding in a giant cloud of smoke.
Meanwhile, Xuanyuan had trapped the incarnation of heavenly tribulation to the point where it could not even move.
Using the abyss within his Linghun Aperture, he spun it into thin threads before weaving a net out of it and casting it upon the flaming flood dragon.
The massive beast was covered completely by the net, its instincts screaming at it to not move.
The devouring nature of the abyss had already been analyzed by the heavenly tribulation, as it did not intend to fall for the same trap twice.
Xuanyuan took advantage of this situation to jump atop the flood dragon's head and began instilling his own spiritual power into the nervous system of the dragon.
He wanted to hijack the creature and use its power to make Han Huang suffer.
Suppressing the chaotic spiritual energies within the dragon's head, he forced his own spiritual power inside and took control of the beast's entire body.
Grasping a pair of smaller horns on the dragon's head, he adjusted his balance and commanded the incarnation of heavenly tribulation to do his bidding.
Swimming across the sky, the flood dragon zapped towards Han Huang, moving like a sine-wave it exuded an irreproachable aura of suppression.
So as Han Huang waved his hand to disperse the smoke, he was greeted by the wide open maws of a megameter long divine beast.