There had been no warning given by Ju Fan beforehand that he would undertake a breakthrough.

No setup.

No Tribulation attenuation array.

Nothing to reduce the power of the lightning.

This…

Was raw.

Unfiltered.

Uncontrolled.

Han Yu stood at the center of it all.

His aura surged.

His voice rose.

"Witness me!"

The thunder answered.

RUMBLE

A deafening roar split the sky.

And then the first bolt fell.

BOOM!

A pillar of lightning descended from the heavens, tearing through the clouds with unstoppable force. It struck directly toward Han Yu, carrying the weight of divine judgment.

Before it could reach him though, Han Yu moved.

His hand rose.

A dome of black ice formed instantly, expanding outward to envelop him completely.

The lightning struck.

KACHA!

The dome shattered.

Exploded into fragments.

But Han Yu remained standing.

Unharmed.

The audience erupted.

"He blocked it?!"

"With a single defense?!"

"That was a tribulation bolt!"

Above, the elders leaned forward.

Their expressions tightened.

This was no ordinary defense.

This was no ordinary tribulation.

The clouds churned again.

The second bolt formed.

Larger.

Brighter.

It fell.

BOOM

Han Yu responded the same way.

The dome formed.

The lightning struck.

The dome broke.

Han Yu endured.

The third bolt came.

Stronger.

Faster.

Han Yu's aura flared as he reinforced his defense, the black ice growing denser, more refined.

The impact shook the arena.

But still…

He stood.

The intensity continued to rise.

Each bolt stronger than the last.

Each strike more violent.

And Han Yu…

Endured all of them.

Meanwhile…

Meng Ji was trapped within the storm.

His massive form stumbled backward as stray arcs of lightning lashed across the battlefield. One bolt grazed his side, burning through his mutated flesh and leaving behind a charred wound that refused to heal instantly as the tribulation energy was far beyond what even violent blood qi could resist.

He roared in pain.

And for the first time fear appeared in his eyes.

Being caught within another's tribulation was dangerous.

Deadly.

Even for someone at his level.

He tried to retreat.

To escape the range.

But the arena was sealed.

The barriers held.

There was no way out.

Another stray arc struck him.

ZAP

Then another.

ZAP

SIZZLE

His body smoked, the Blood Qi within him struggling to stabilize under the assault of heavenly energy.

His earlier rage faltered.

Replaced.

By dread.

"This… this is madness…" he growled, his voice trembling.

He glanced toward Han Yu.

Who stood at the center of the storm.

Unmoving.

Unyielding.

'He's… using the tribulation…'

The realization hit him.

Han Yu was not just enduring it.

He was controlling the battlefield with it.

At this rate…

Meng Ji would not need to be killed by Ju Fan.

The tribulation itself would do it.

Regret surfaced.

Sharp.

Bitter.

'I should have… accepted it…'

Becoming a slave.

At least…

He would have lived.

Another bolt formed.

Larger than the rest.

The clouds roared.

The air trembled.

Han Yu looked up.

His eyes burned with a cold, abyssal light.

And the heavens…

Prepared to strike again.

The heavens did not relent.

The storm above the arena churned like a living entity, vast and oppressive, its presence pressing down upon the entire sect. Lightning did not merely fall. It descended with purpose, each bolt carrying a weight that felt less like natural force and more like judgment itself.

At the center of it all stood Han Yu.

Unmoving.

Unyielding.

Another bolt struck.

BOOM

The Abyssal Frost dome rose to meet it.

The impact shattered the outermost layer instantly, fragments of black ice scattering outward like shards of night itself. But beneath it, another layer held, absorbing what remained of the force.

Then another bolt followed.

And another.

Han Yu's hands moved steadily, his control absolute as he maintained the defensive structure.

The technique he used… was no ordinary defense.

it was the Abyssal Tortoise Bastion.

The strongest defensive art within the Freezing Abyss Glacial Art.

Its origin lay in legend.

A mythical beast.

The Abyssal Tortoise.

A creature said to dwell in the deepest reaches of the frozen ocean abyss, where pressure alone could crush mountains, where light could not exist, and where even immortal beings feared to tread. Its shell, formed from the essence of endlessly cold and abyssal frost qi, was said to withstand forces beyond comprehension.

Han Yu's technique…

Was an imitation.

A fragment.

A shadow.

Yet even that shadow…

Was enough.

Each dome of black ice formed around him carried that concept. It did not merely block. It endured. It resisted and it absorbed the traces of the Tribulation energy contained within the lightning.

And though it shattered under the tribulation's force…

It held long enough.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The disciples could do nothing but watch.

And count.

"Five…"

Another bolt.

"Six…"

Another.

"Seven…"

The air trembled.

"Eight…"

The ground fractured further.

"Nine!"

At that number, the entire arena fell into stunned silence.

Nine bolts.

That alone was extraordinary.

Within the sect, only the most exceptional talents had ever reached that number. It was a mark of greatness. A sign of potential that placed one among the elite.

But the clouds…

Did not disperse.

They grew darker.

Denser.

More violent.

"What… is happening…?"

"It's not stopping…"

The tenth bolt fell.

Then the eleventh.

The twelfth.

Each one stronger than the last.

Han Yu responded.

The single dome was no longer enough.

He adapted.

Multiple layers formed.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

Fifteen.

A sphere of black ice encased him completely, layered upon itself in a structure that resembled a fortress more than a shield. Each layer formed instantly after the previous one shattered, his control flawless, his focus absolute.

The impact of each bolt drove him deeper.

The arena floor collapsed beneath him, the force pushing him downward as the ground gave way.

Five meters.

Seven.

Ten.

A crater formed, the layers of black ice sinking along with him as the heavens continued their assault.

And still…

He endured.

The count continued.

"Fifteen…"

"Sixteen…"

"Seventeen…"