Watching this, Han Xuanyuan felt so small, totally worthless, dispensable, entirely unimportant - they hadn't even spared him a glance.
But all of this only made his blood boil in excitement.
He wanted to go in there and fight alongside them, forget all their past grudges and just fight for the sake of fighting.
To just enjoy the moment and bask in glory as they ripped each other apart.
He began to shake from this vigorous imagination, his entire body quaking alongside the rhythm of their collisions.
Soon, a faint black aura overtook his body, covering his skin from head to toe.
With a roar he exploded in overwhelming energy, jumping into the sky he stood above one of Ye Chen's miniature suns.
The black aura on his body solidified and a thick gray line of power extended along it, coiling his body like a snake.
With his aura surging ever higher he closed his eyes and completely submerged himself in this breakthrough.
He felt powerful, simply unstoppable, as if nothing in this world could stand up to him, as if he could sweep through everything in his path.
He enjoyed this sensation exceptionally.
He wanted to fight, he wanted to thrust his fists and break through all the barriers.
He wanted to kick into the earth and create a ravine leading straight into the abyss.
He wanted to stare into that abyss and draw out whatever was inside, he wanted to fight it and break it.
But then he was brought out of his stupor as Shan Gu shot an arrow towards him.
His eyes opened in an instant, they had turned entirely black, except for his iris, which became gray.
He immediately caught the arrow by its shaft before it could pierce him, its trajectory set it to hit him square on his forehead.
He turned his head to stare at Shan Gu, sending shivers down his spine.
Then with a bang he rushed towards Shan Gu, exploding the star underneath him as the force from his jump destroyed the balance holding the fire together.
Shan Gu retreated quickly but he wasn't fast enough.
Xuanyuan arrived in front of him with a punch within a flash and shot a punch that produced wind so sharp that even before the punch landed the wind itself cut his face and produced streaks of blood which dripped into the air and onto the ground as he retreated.
But it was still too slow as the punch landed right onto his chest, causing a huge crack to resound across the entire stadium that was continuously shaking with the never-ending roars of the super-excited cultivators.
Shan Gu was sent flying, crashing onto the wall at the edge of the arena.
With him down, Xuanyuan sent a demonic smile to Ye Chen who for the first time in his life felt a shred of fear.
Regardless, he rushed towards Xuanyuan, not backing down from the challenge.
And as Han Xuanyuan turned back to run towards Ye Chen, his heart began to beat even faster, his aura surging like anything as the singular gray line that swam across the black mist coating his body split into two lines.
He became faster and stronger and the impact of his collision with Ye Chen caused his arm to recoil as it shattered inch by inch, shards of bone piercing and then flying out of his skin.
He flew backwards as flaming feathers from his wings floated down to the ground, having been torn off after the impact.
As he crashed onto the ground, he looked down to see that his arm had been rendered useless and could not be moved - Xuanyuan felt simply invincible.
But then something miraculous happened.
Shan Gu at the edge of the arena exploded with a never-before-seen vigor.
He flew into the sky with his flowy black hair having turned spiky and standing tall with a bright golden color and his eyes now a sharp shade of cyan, flashing with arcs of lightning.
He rushed towards Xuanyuan, who again turned back to dash across the field and collide with Shan Gu, their arms clashing as they pushed each other around.
Meanwhile Ye Chen began to breathe faster and faster, his skin slowly brightening as the very air around him began to spin, the miniature suns that he had previously spread across the sky were pulled towards him as he absorbed them all entirely.
His black hair gained a deep reddish-orange hue and his blazing feathered wings burned brighter than ever, having growing much larger.
He condensed a white sword from the blood that had soaked his arm and flew straight towards Xuanyuan, his sword raised in a slashing motion as he entered the scene like lightning.
Seeing this Han Xuanyuan could not help but feel even more excited.
His blood literally boiled as a crimson mist encompassed his body, the two gray lines swimming across his body splitting once more, this time achieving three lines.
Shan Gu came from one side, using an earth-shattering battle technique, Nine Revolutions Cosmic Punch, gathering the strength from himself and using the special energy of the cosmos, binding one layer of strength above another until a qualitative change was achieved, this was then repeated nine times and so a power eighty-one times greater than his base attack was gathered and released in a single punch.
From the other Ye Chen came in with the special sword style of the Bai family, Gods and Buddhas Heart Sword, dragging out one's inner potential, their greatest adversity and their greatest honor combining to create a monstrosity that they regard as their heart demon and magnify it countless times until it became an insurmountable obstacle and was then thrown at their opponent.
Their strongest attacks struck Xuanyuan from opposite directions and he had no choice but to accept them head on.
He caught Shan Gu's punch with one hand, not moving back a single inch.
Overflowing with exhilaration he roared as he put his hand forward to accept Ye Chen's sword.
The crimson mist around him grew darker, augmenting the depth of the black aura as another gray line emerged from within him, amounting to a total of four lines.
The sword slashed straight onto his hand but instead of slicing it apart there was absolutely no shocking scene as Xuanyuan simply caught it dead with his bare fucking hands.
Sweeping in at mach speeds Ye Chen pushed through with all the strength in his body not to mention the sharpness of a sword condense from the very blood he himself is composed of.
The Heart Sword of Gods and Buddhas entered Xuanyuan's mind, in the form of a huge three-headed six-armed red skinned monstrous humanoid beast with skulls of various shapes and sizes hanging around his neck in a necklace, his long dark and black horns were terrifying but its chaotic expression was even more so.
But seeing the form of Han Xuanyuan within his mind space, staring into the Abyss trying to draw it out, the demonic monster attempted to smash Xuanyuan into meat paste but he only raised one hand towards the demon and from it extended a giant metallic spike that branched out into several more spikes as it pierced the demon's flesh, turning the demon into a porcupine as sharp, spear-like protrusions covered its entire body, leaving it lifeless as it fell onto the mind space, disintegrating upon touch with the floor that only rippled like water, except it was silvery and exceptionally reflective, showcasing the scene of what was within the Abyss, there was darkness but also a pair of eyes.
All-encompassing blackness that could seemingly devour anything and everything but within this darkness was a circle of dark golden light and a scarlet vertical pupil penetrating a cerulean vertical pupil in an 'X' shape, turning purple in the middle where the two colors intersected.
Back in the real world, as Xuanyuan caught the two attacks, he instantly grabbed the Shan Gu and Ye Chen by their fist and sword, respectively, and pulled his arms inwards and crashed them into each other.
He then kicked the two of them forwards before dashing there himself and pummeling them with punches and kicks until they were beaten black and blue, bruises all over they succumbed to defeat.
Standing above their unconscious bodies he felt an immense sense of accomplishment, letting out a breath of triumph he felt as though his spirit for the fight had no bounds, he was still thirsty and this force that covered his body was the ultimate panacea for battle.
His body overflowed with such energy as the black mist expanded and the crimson aura deepened until the four gray lines solidified until they were almost tangible, then they split into another gray line, and then another, and another, three consecutive breakthroughs as there were now seven gray lines, swimming throughout his bodies like dragons in a river, they swept into the skies and alongside their departure Han Xuanyuan shouted out at the skies.
Clearing the sky his roar was not left unaccompanied as the crowd up in the stadium seats roared alongside him, producing a thunder that left the entire area in a boundless quakes.
As the black mist and crimson aura dissipated and the gray lines returned back to his body and fused back inside, he felt completely spent, laying down on the ground in utter exhaustion, he blacked out.
~~~
Ten years later, Myths and Deities Sect, Sect Leader's quarters.
"The matter of appointing a Holy Son is of immense importance Han Shixian!"
Bai Tian shouted angrily as he got off his seat at the conference table.
"Indeed Shixian, to appoint young Xuanyuan as the Holy Son would not be a wise decision, the boy has barely broken through to the Firmament Grade."
The patriarch of the Gong family, a chubby middle-aged man explained lazily to Han Shixian who had responded with a reassuring smile.
"He may have only recently founded his first firmament, but tell me Miexin, how many Celestial Grade cultivators can stand up to him?"
Han Shixian replied to the Gong family patriarch his smile growing wider and wider with each word he spoke until his pride was simply flooding the entire room until it was suffocating.
To break this sensation, Shan Wang, the Shan family patriarch spoke out.
"The boy may have defeated a few Stellar Language Realm cultivators but that doesn't make him invincible, much less worthy of becoming Sect Leader."
"The responsibility that comes with such a title requires not only combat power and cognizance to back up but also experience, the boy has never even set foot in a battlefield!"
Shan Wang said the last part somewhat loudly, causing Han Shixian to grunt in displeasure and Bai Tian to nod happily in approval.
Gong Miexin, however, presented a solution that they would never have even entertained the thought of.
"How about we send him to the northwestern outpost in the Xia Empire? That place is very chaotic now, it would be the perfect training ground for him."
'The audacity,' was the thought that floated into the rests' minds but after some contemplation, Shan Wang asked quietly.
"How about we send Shan Gu, Ye Chen, and Gong Potian alongside Han Xuanyuan?"
"How dare you, Shan Wang! Putting the future of the sect at risk, have you gone insane?"
Bai Tian shouted at him, clearly aggravated.
"Indeed, that would be very unwise, that may be the most active battlefield but it is also the most dangerous, nobody knows when the Sky Sword Sect's experts may drop in and cleanse the area."
Han Shixian added with a grim tone.
Thinking of this the rest also showcased dark expressions.
"You know, let's give them six months out on the battlefield." Shan Wang suggested.
"What do you mean 'give them'?" Bai Tian asked, raging in confusion.
"I mean, why don't we accompany them? We could infiltrate the Sky Sword Sect's territory while we're at it and stabilize the situation."
Shan Wang explained. He was always the smarter of the four of them, ever since they were young.
"Indeed, our collective effort could easily sweep through." Han Shixian was the first to agree, followed closely by Gong Miexin.
"Instead of passively remaining in this stalemate we should take the initiative and launch a breakthrough operation."
"Fine, but we must awaken a Galaxy Realm elder before we set out. It's better to be safe than sorry." Bai Tian was reluctant but gave in very soon.
~~~
"Brother Han, they've surrounded us completely. What should we do?" Rao Wongzhi, the strongest disciple of the Han family and similar to the Gong family's disciple, Gong Potian, in strength - a level and a half below Shan Gu and Ye Chen, asked in a somewhat frightened voice.
When he said this, the rest of the group looked toward Han Xuanyuan. By this point, they had all recognized him as their leader.
After several life-and-death battles, they had decided that it was best to leave commandeering to him as he provided the most optimal strategies and tactics.
He was leaning on a large tree with his eyes closed, as he opened them to answer, they gleamed with an unstoppable emotion.
"We are not cowards, we are not women, we are soldiers and that means we fight till our final breaths! We are only strengthened by this blood and noise of the battlefield!"
Xuanyuan began slowly with a calm demeanor but ended up shouting the last part as his emotions overflowed, causing his battle force to emerge from within and sweep across his body.
A pure white mist covered him as seven, thick golden lines shuttled over his body like sports cars in a race.
"Even if it means my death, I will end this war!" Ye Chen echoed as he got up from the tree stump he was sitting on.
Three pairs of blazing red-feathered wings emerged from his back and unfolded, throwing embers everywhere, his bright red and slightly orange hair came alive as though it was a dancing flame itself.
Extending his wrist a slit appeared on it and blood streamed out, solidifying into an untarnished white longsword.
With the sword in hand, he flapped his wings to get off the ground with a huge gust of wind.
"CHARGE!!!"
Shan Gu yelled as he, too, got off the ground. His hair fell to his waist and took on a bright golden color. His eyebrows vanished, and his eyes became teal-ish cyan, gaining a sharper edge.
A golden aura swept across his body as nine brown-colored lines swam over him. Han Xuanyuan had also taught him the method of cultivating battle force.
The group, full of vigor, hastily left the secret realm through the exit portal, and found themselves on a deserted wasteland where ash and soot fell from the skies like rain.
As they all went outside, they were greeted by hordes upon hordes of demonic monsters.
They came in all shapes and sizes, but they all aligned to a depressing color scheme, full of grays, browns, and blacks, shades of color that seemed to dye the entire surface.
Most of them were absolutely massive, reaching the height of a five storey building could only be considered average as some towered on until their faces were covered by the smog clouding the entire battlefield.
The ground was a terrible shade of gray but it could not be seen as the sea of monsters that stretched on for as far as the eye could see had completely blocked the surface.
Horns and fangs and wings and tails and scales and feathers were splattered all over the place as the five youths fought their way through the hordes, expending every ounce of strength and energy they had left into clearing these endless waves of beasts.
Shan Gu drew and threw countless miniature array bombs into their never-ending ranks, clearing out an entire quadrant only for it to be replaced by even more monsters.
Gong Potian nocked an arrow into his ethereal golden bow that was augmented with purple ribbon-like streaks, as the arrow was released it split into three others, three split into nine, and nine split into nine hundred.
With each arrow killing at least one monster, with some arrows piercing through multiple and killing several before exploding and reaping the lives of even more, he reduced their numbers by a sizeable chunk with each round.
But it could not even begin to put a dent in the endless sea that was this army of demons.
As far as the eye could see, the land was covered in countless monsters.
From the Origin Realm, crossing the Profound Realm and entering the Nuclear Realm, the monsters occupied every major and minor realm between.
Occasionally monsters at the Firmament Realm would appear and cause trouble but they would be dealt with shortly.
The Celestial Realm beasts were left exclusively to Han Xuanyuan as he crushed them and minced them into splattered messes of flesh and blood.
With one killed would arrive two more and then four and eight until he was covered in monsters that clawed and crunched at him, covering him with countless wounds that regenerated just as fast as they were cut open, his boundless vitality barely keeping him alive.
Ye Chen could be found in one of the corners slashing and slicing everything that came his way.
His blazing wings flapped, producing infernal tornadoes that incinerated all the monsters around him while he hacked away with his sword, cutting many but burning most into ash.
Gong Potian and Rao Wongzhi could be seen together at another corner, supporting each other and keeping their backs cleared the two performed exceptionally well.
Despite being eclipsed by the three majestic prodigies that were Shan Gu, Ye Chen, and Han Xuanyuan, the two still managed to carry their own weight even in the Firmament Realm, crossing multiple major realms to achieve combat prowess at the peak of the super realm.
But the flow cannot always remain unperturbed. More than a week had passed since then, but in that time, heaven and earth had changed.
The numbers of the weaker monsters were dwindling but more and more Celestial Realm creatures poured into this meat-grinder of a battlefield.
Han Xuanyuan was already being chased by over 20 Stellar Creation level beasts, not dying was already considered a heaven-defying feat as he was eight major realms and nearly two super realms beneath them in terms of cultivation base.
He was in a miserable condition, his hair had been completely dyed red with his own blood, his clothes had been reduced to rags as countless scars were visible on his body.
The attacks from these Stellar Creation level beasts possessed not only the strength but also the essence of the realm, hindering his vitality from regenerating his body completely.
His battle force had increased to nine bulging golden lines and was much stronger but he was still being thrown around by the dozens of monsters surrounding him.
Each fall produced a crisp cracking sound as his bones were reduced to powder and re-solidified by his gradually weakening vitality, every time taking longer and longer to recover.
Ye Chen had long since unleashed his domain of angelic white flames, burning everything that came near him.
But he was not without pressure as seventeen other monsters were concentrating their domains on his own, exerting massive pressure on it, every second threatening to tear Ye Chen's domain apart.
While maintaining his domain and partially suppressing those monsters he kept swinging his sword and stabbing into countless monsters, reaping as many lives as he possibly could.
Half of his top left wing had been torn away by a Stellar Expansion level beast that Han Xuanyuan had later barely managed to kill, and his robes were almost completely torn apart as a long bloody four-clawed gash sizzled along his chest, unwilling to be regenerated.
This was inflicted by a Stellar Language level creature, a monster at the peak of the Celestial Realm.
With a body larger than the World Trade Center and an aura that swept the away the sky, producing a coating made of the void around it, the first layer was utterly vaporized by its power.