# Chapter 1078: Seeing An Miaoyi Again
The cauldron in the void rose and fell... Formed from faith power, strands of thought force flew in from all directions, plunging into the cauldron and causing it to seethe within.
Refining the body in the mortal world, tempering the heart in the mundane realm, yet ultimately unable to withstand the burning of karmic fire, one might turn to ashes of calamity, all previous efforts wasted, flowing away like water eastward. This was the consensus among some powerful cultivators.
Ye Fan's forehead bone was like a mirror, reflecting radiance. His body surface was like divine skin, gently undulating, absorbing flames and tempering his flesh and blood.
His joints shifted, his internal organs hummed and vibrated rhythmically, forged through a thousand refinements, tempering his body, grinding his muscles and bones.
This was a Mortal World Cauldron, gathering the thought power of the mundane realm, transforming it into endless karmic fire, burning Ye Fan's body and primordial spirit. The cauldron and his flesh were both crystalline and dazzling.
Furnace and cauldron, two words often linked together, carrying special significance.
Heaven and earth were a bronze furnace, smelting all living beings. Every person within this universe accepted this forging, ultimately turning to ash.
The mortal world was fire, thought power forged the cauldron. What had now become the Mortal World Cauldron could also be called a furnace, burning the body and forging the Dao. It was a hundred times, ten thousand times more intense than the heaven-earth bronze furnace, a tribulation for cultivators.
Refining the body with the heaven-earth bronze furnace, tempering the Dao with the Mortal World Great Cauldron—this was something many powerful cultivators had to experience when they reached the later stages. Fire tested true gold; those who remained shone brilliantly, while those who failed became ashes of calamity.
Ye Fan had not yet reached that stage, yet he experienced it early. What he relied on was naturally the Human Clan Sacred Body's constitution, allowing him to endure such a calamity.
Treasure light flickered. Within the cauldron, thought power boiled. Faith power transformed into blazing light, as if steaming and boiling him, enveloping and covering him, his entire body being tempered.
Within the Lantuo Temple, the many monks chanted true scriptures. Each had a solemn and dignified appearance. The Buddhist chanting never ceased, growing louder, resounding through the mountains.
Ye Fan was fearless toward the karmic fire. His joints shifted like popping beans, sounding continuously. His internal organs trembled, his entire body resonated, the sound shaking the ears.
Through that previous battle, he had gained deep insights, firming up his own path. His heart was empty and ethereal. A small golden figure sat cross-legged before his brow, accepting the karmic fire's roasting just like his physical body.
This was no less than a Sacred Body heavenly tribulation. Tempering himself, forging his muscles, bones, and primordial spirit, he remained calm and unmoving, enduring the grinding.
Ye Fan's golden primordial spirit and his fetal bones were simultaneously tempered. His Dao conduct advanced, and the various wondrous techniques in his heart also reached the pinnacle of perfection.
Over so many years, his cultivation progress had been very fast compared to others. Now, undergoing the karmic fire's baptism and tempering, he became consolidated.
Generally speaking, this was something only considered after becoming a Sage. Now, experiencing it early, his Dao foundation would be indestructible from then on.
"Crack!"
For two full hours, Ye Fan's bones shifted back and forth. During this process, his body shrank by an inch. Then, the essence energy of the ten directions, filtered through the karmic fire, entered his body. His fetal bones were refined.
His facial bones moved, his flesh and blood were tempered. At his current level of cultivation, achieving a rebirth of bones and flesh was extremely difficult, unless he found an Immortal Elixir. Being able to achieve such a change in his fetal bones this time was already defying heaven.
"I might stand on the seventh small step at any time," Ye Fan murmured to himself.
Back then, he had used ten years to ascend to the sixth small step of Dao Severing. After that, every half step forward was incomparably difficult. Now, using the purest faith power of Buddhism for tempering, he unexpectedly found a breakthrough.
The old monk Ku Ci chanted "Amitabha." The many monks reciting scriptures all found it very unbelievable. Who dared to trespass in Lantuo Temple? Even a Half-Saint entering would have to die in regret. So much faith power was invincible. Unexpectedly, the Human Clan Sacred Body could withstand the karmic fire and use it to refine his body.
It lasted a total of three hours. Ye Fan's spirit was full, his body glistening with light, his flesh and blood strong and vigorous. He stepped out from the Mortal World Cauldron.
Ye Fan felt his physical body was like an eternal divine furnace, carrying his primordial spirit. His blood energy surged, his power reaching an extreme limit.
With every movement of his hands and feet, he felt exceptionally strong, transcending the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist. Various wondrous techniques sublimated, as if breaking through some kind of shackle.
With an invincible belief in his heart, coupled with such a physical body, he very much wanted to have a great battle with ancient imperial princes like Huo Qizi and Huang Xudao, to test his Dao fruit.
Karmic fire could not harm his true body!
The many monks had to sigh. The power of the Human Clan Sacred Body could not be measured by ordinary reasoning. This broke common sense.
The Mortal World Cauldron dispersed, once again transforming into a vast ocean of thought power, a brilliant expanse covering the area above Lantuo Temple.
"Please, Divine Monk, open the stone pagoda and release Miaoyi," Ye Fan said calmly.
Ku Ci nodded, not breaking his word.
"The ten thousand clans rise together, chaotic times arrive, the Immortal Path will also open. There may also be shocking changes. I did not want to trap you with a sage-level formation, after all, you are the Human Clan Sacred Body."
Ye Fan nodded, expressing his thanks. However, in his heart, he did not believe he could truly be trapped. He had sacred artifacts unused, and the Stride Art to break formations. Trying to trap him might not necessarily succeed.
The nine-story stone pagoda was not grand, not towering, but its ancient simplicity vaguely gave one an illusion, as if nine layers of high heaven were condensed here, suppressing Lantuo Temple.
Ku Ci did not hide it, claiming this was a sacred artifact left by a Great Sage. For tens of thousands of years, no one had been able to move it. It had suppressed this place since ancient times.
Ye Fan nodded. Even with his Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, he could not shake it in the slightest, showing how firm and solid the stone pagoda was.
"We have no ill intentions either. Suppressing her for a hundred years may not be a blessing. If she gains something here, attaining the Bodhisattva rank is not impossible."
Ku Ci chanted a mantra. The nine-story stone pagoda rumbled. The tightly closed stone door shot out ten thousand rays of Buddha light, then boomed open, Buddha power surging.
The stone pagoda was silent. No one walked out. Ye Fan was startled, extending his divine sense to look inside. Ku Ci was slightly surprised, then nodded.
On the fourth floor of the stone pagoda, a woman sat cross-legged. A single green lamp accompanied an ancient Buddha. She was motionless, sunk in deep meditation, comprehending the wondrous principles of Buddhist Zen.
The stone pagoda was very simple, almost empty. An Miaoyi was otherworldly and serene, washed of all adornment, like a lotus growing in a stone chamber, unknown to the world.
In years past, she had been peerless under heaven, one of the most beautiful women in the world, unparalleled in her generation. Now, she was so tranquil, stripped of all worldly splendor, her temperament introverted.
A single green lamp flickered unsteadily. She was calm and silent, without a sound, sitting cross-legged on a cushion... beside her, a compassionate stone Buddha.
"Miaoyi!" Ye Fan called out.
Fourteen years without seeing each other, An Miaoyi had become increasingly otherworldly, somewhat thinner. Her beautiful eyes were closed, motionless, as if she had sat down in nirvana there.
That green lamp... was exactly what he had given to An Miaoyi... Now, the divine wick had revived, becoming a rare Dao treasure.
Lantuo Temple was still relatively open-minded. They had not taken it away. Suppressing her here, letting her transform "demon" into "Buddha"... overall, they truly intended to help her achieve fulfillment.
The doctrinal disputes within Buddhism were very frequent, sometimes extremely sharp. Who could truly define what was orthodox?
"Rare indeed. At such an age, she has sunk into the deep Bodhisattva realm. She truly is a wondrous flower," the Arhat Ku Ci nodded.
"Miaoyi!" Ye Fan called again.
"This is a spiritual-level nirvana. To surpass oneself, to become a Bodhisattva, one must pass this level. When she will awaken is hard to say," Ku Ci said.
His face bore a bitter expression... Entering the Buddhist gate to meditate and comprehend the Dao was far from as easy as imagined. Some divine monks often sat down in nirvana at their place of seclusion.
Buddhism had various profound and vast doctrines, vast as an ocean of smoke. But to achieve anything was very difficult... At certain specific realms, cultivation was extremely hard.
Sounding nice, it was called nirvana. In truth, it was sitting down in death. Failing to comprehend the Dao, dying in cultivation.
Throughout the ages, holy monks, even as powerful as Sages, mostly ended up this way. A person sitting alone in a sealed stone chamber, ending silently without a sound.
Ye Fan waited here for a full half month. An Miaoyi did not move... Her face was thinner, sharing the dust, as if about to merge with the Dao. Even the green lamp before her dimmed... The lamp wick's flame was about to go out.
"Miaoyi... will she be alright?"
"This... wandering in the Bodhisattva realm is most dangerous... It concerns the future Dao fruit. Anything can happen. Many brilliant Buddha sons, placed with great hope, not a few future successors of Mount Sumeru, have sat down in nirvana at this realm," Ku Ci frowned.
"That is to say... she might be in danger?" Ye Fan asked.
"Buddha Dharma is boundless, its power vast and unfathomable. But cultivating it has many obstacles. In the past, some considered to be reincarnations of ancient Buddhas have sat down halfway," Ku Ci answered indirectly.
Ye Fan furrowed his brow. He waited another half month and found that An Miaoyi's aura had weakened considerably. That green lamp flickered uncertainly. Her peerless beauty became increasingly thin, as if about to be cut off from the world.
"No, I have to pull her back. What Bodhisattva realm, what Ancient Buddha heaven? Tell me how to enter!" Ye Fan felt he could not wait any longer. He was very worried in his heart.
"You do not cultivate Buddha Dharma. Even if I tell you, you cannot enter the Bodhisattva realm. There is no way to guide her soul back," Ku Ci shook his head.
Ye Fan was anxious, pacing back and forth.
"Benefactor, you should learn to let go," Ku Ci sighed lightly.
"Why should I let go?" Ye Fan said.
"She has set her heart on Buddhism. Before entering our Lantuo Temple, she smiled faintly and let go of everything in the mortal world. Even if you enter the Bodhisattva realm, you may not be able to bring her back."
Ye Fan was silent.
Over ten days later, An Miaoyi had thinned a bit, becoming even more otherworldly. In the stone chamber, she seemed to have lost her vitality, in danger of sitting down in desolate nirvana.
"Miaoyi, wake up!" Ye Fan was worried, calling softly. But An Miaoyi seemed about to leave the world, difficult to awaken.
Ye Fan wanted to wander into the Bodhisattva realm!
"Who says I do not understand Buddha Dharma? Did I not resist the divine monk with the Om Character Heavenly Sound before?" He insisted on wandering into the Bodhisattva domain to guide An Miaoyi back.
Ku Ci was startled, then said, "Alright, you can try. But if you fail, return immediately. Otherwise, your spirit may be extinguished, leaving only an empty shell."
Ye Fan shouted the Om Character Heavenly Sound. The universe was first opened, heaven and earth began, the myriad things were born. He wanted to forcefully enter the mysterious spiritual realm of Bodhisattva.
Behind him, a tall figure appeared, divine light shining everywhere. But it was not a Buddha image, leaving Ku Ci and a group of old monks speechless.
"When others use the Om Character Heavenly Sound, a Buddha appears behind them, representing reverence and obedience. But behind him is himself."
"Is he too self-centered, or does he not revere heaven and earth, only having his own Dao in his heart?"
Even the group of old monks could not help but complain inwardly. Such a Dao was too domineering. The Immortal Path he would advance on was destined to be violent, and would likely incur heavenly punishment later.
The universal heavenly sound resonated with the Buddha. The figure behind Ye Fan was like a demon god, his eyes sharp, his black hair disheveled. Then he forcefully tore open a spiritual domain and stepped inside.
This was a special spiritual field of Buddhism. Outsiders could not enter. Only divine monks who had comprehended the Dao could wander in.
As soon as Ye Fan entered, he felt a kind of sacredness and peace. Some divine monks and arhats sat cross-legged on stone cliffs, while others walked through ancient temples deep in the mountains.
Various figures were blurry, but they gave a very real feeling. Buddhist chanting never ceased, drifting over faintly.
Ye Fan passed by ancient temples, traversed an ancient battlefield, searching for An Miaoyi in this spiritual domain. Soon, he saw a group of monks sitting on the ground, reciting true scriptures.
Ahead, there were great Buddha imprints that required prostrating in worship. Ye Fan's arrival seemed out of place. In his heart, he only chanted his own true name, not reciting Buddha titles, not revering anything here.
"Who dares to intrude into the Pure Land, defiling the Bodhisattva realm? Why do you not bow to the Bodhisattvas of the heavens, not revere the ancient Buddhas?"
"Why should I bow? Even the Buddha said that everyone has Buddha nature, everyone can become a Buddha. Revering oneself is enough. True Buddhas do not need people to bow," Ye Fan said.
"Are you questioning the divine spirits, saying the former sages are false Buddhas?" A majestic voice came from high above, a powerful pressure descending.
Ye Fan did not speak. He directly threw a punch upward and began to chant his own "scripture," actually intending to convert the imprints of various Bodhisattvas and divine monks here.
"What kind of person is this? Not worshipping Bodhisattvas, not revering Buddhas, only revering himself?" The divine thoughts of some arhats swept over simultaneously.