# Chapter 1276: A Thousand Calamities, A Hundred Tribulations
The thunder waterfall crashed down, vast and boundless, and this was merely a corner of the lightning sea—magnificent, majestic, and infinite. The heavenly tribulation tide swept across countless star domains!
Ye Fan had encountered the most terrifying tribulation of his life. He struggled against the heavenly punishment with difficulty, while simultaneously remaining vigilant against the fluctuations deep within the sky dome. The aura of an ancient Great Emperor permeated the surroundings.
"Kid, you'd better look out for yourself. This lord can't help much—I can barely save my own skin," the Dragon Horse called out from afar. It had been split open, its skin and flesh torn, its bones shattered inch by inch, continuously reforming and tempering its body.
Seeing Ye Fan's utterly tragic great tribulation, the Dragon Horse was greatly stimulated. It felt that since such a great tribulation existed in the world, what it faced was nothing in comparison—it would surely overcome it.
In a sense, Ye Fan's miserable state at this moment greatly bolstered the Dragon Horse's resolve. This unscrupulous horse began to charge with all its might, sweeping away the obstacles to becoming a Saint.
"Boom!"
Dark light stretched endlessly, flooding the star domain. The Supreme Yin Divine Thunder descended, greater than all previous tribulations, filling this entire star domain. Many stars were submerged within it, exploding one after another.
This was a peerless, great terror. Such a scene was enough to chill the heart of any Saint-to-be. If Heaven Above allowed a person to break through, how could it send down such a tribulation?
This was a sign of being unrecognized by Heaven and Earth—exerting every effort, surpassing all limits in punishment, intending to destroy the one becoming a Saint.
This strike of Supreme Yin Divine Thunder diffused layers of immortal mist, its dark light flickering, completely smashing Ye Fan to pieces, even cracking his cauldron. It could be called the most brutal punishment he had ever experienced.
Dong!
From within his body came a sound like a heavenly drum vibrating, shooting out beams of golden divine radiance. The shattered body, the inch-by-inch broken bones, once again reorganized, reconnected, and fused into one.
Ye Fan endured the agony of his bones being ground to powder, once again refining the Primordial Qi Cauldron. He chanted the several hundred ancient characters of the scripture obtained from the Nine Dragons Coffin, driving them into the cracks on the cauldron, densely filling the interior, and then accepting the tempering of the heavenly tribulation.
This cauldron was extraordinary and transcendent, originally being an immortal material exclusive to Great Emperors, born for the purpose of forging a supreme Imperial Weapon. Now being reforged and tempered ten thousand times, it appeared increasingly ancient, simple, and mysterious.
Rumble!
Another sea of peerless lightning descended, golden light dazzling, illuminating the entire universe as if a great star domain explosion had occurred. The blinding light was ten thousand times more terrifying than the burning destruction of infinite stars.
The Supreme Yang Divine Thunder arrived, blasting Ye Fan's flesh and blood flying in all directions. Even as strong as the Sacred Body's physical form, he barely escaped with his life by a hair's breadth. His fetal bones broke inch by inch, his tendons and meridians burst one by one, blood splattered everywhere—a miserable sight beyond description.
Similarly, the cauldron cracked once again, nearly becoming pieces of fragments, floating and sinking before Ye Fan's brow, ready at any moment to scatter in all directions.
Ye Fan circulated his mysterious method, fusing his shattered physical body into one. His blood vessels were strong and vigorous, using the Presence Secret to keep himself indestructible, continuously baptizing his fetal bones.
At the same time, he tempered this cauldron a thousand times, reforging it anew, repeatedly driving the several hundred ancient characters into the cracks, allowing them to merge into one.
This was a painful ordeal. The magnitude of the lightning tribulation and the intensity of the heavenly punishment exceeded Ye Fan's expectations. He could no longer cross the tribulation as calmly as before; the slightest carelessness would result in the annihilation of both form and spirit.
"Boom!"
Next, the Five Elements Heavenly Tribulation descended. Five beams of divine light swept down, smashing Ye Fan to pieces five times in succession. The Primordial Qi Cauldron was the same, continuously shaking, nearly splitting into four or five parts.
Ye Fan endured extreme tribulations time and time again. For an ordinary person, any single strike would reduce them to ashes. In the past ten thousand ages, few could withstand this—it was the greatest punishment for those aspiring to the Imperial Path.
Boom!
Another great tribulation arrived. Lightning radiance dazzling, filling the sky, boundless and limitless. He gritted his teeth and held on, but worried that the cauldron would be destroyed, breaking his Dao-achieving vessel.
Crack!
The most terrifying thing finally happened. The Primordial Qi Cauldron shattered, piece after piece, floating in the void of the universe, surrounding him at the center, having lost its luster.
"How could this be?" Ye Fan muttered bitterly. The Primordial Mother Qi Root was rare in the world, sought by the Ruthless Great Emperor, obtained from who knows which star domain. It was a truly immortal divine material, yet it had shattered like this.
Thunder radiance ten thousandfold, hundreds of millions of strands of divine lightning struck down, striking these fragments with a clanging sound, producing ear-splitting rhythms, flowing with wisps of mysterious aura.
Ye Fan's body cracked, himself once again destroyed by the lightning tribulation. His bones creaked, blood splattered everywhere, falling onto the fragments of the cauldron.
Zheng!
Blood spilled, and all the cauldron fragments glowed, emitting sword energy that shot into the sky, cutting through the firmament, shattering the immortal thunder, rumbling and shaking, causing the entire sky dome to tremble.
"This is..."
Ye Fan was astonished. The cauldron had not died; it contained a vigorous fighting spirit. This... was only the beginning—a path of transformation, struggling and striving, happening right at this moment.
Endless lightning radiance descended. Although the cauldron fragments occasionally broke into even smaller pieces, Ye Fan was no longer so worried.
Because he thought of a possibility. The Dao Scripture recorded a method for refining "one vessel," undergoing ultimate sublimation during the Saint tribulation, undergoing a qualitative change. This cauldron needed to die and be reborn, giving birth to a "Deity."
This was the cauldron's self-destruction and regeneration—a manifestation of its pursuit of change!
Blood mixed with the cauldron fragments, trembling together, emitting a roar. Every fragment of the cauldron had sword energy shooting into the sky, cutting through the lightning sea, ringing with a clanging sound—unyielding, unwilling to submit, resisting the tribulation.
Ye Fan's physical body was disintegrated time and time again. His blood drenched the cauldron fragments, making them even more spiritual, continuously humming softly, as if murmuring.
This was a painful tribulation. Every minute, every second, Ye Fan endured the heavenly punishment of his bones being ground to powder. Flesh, broken bones, and cauldron fragments intermingled together.
"Forge my Dao, forge my cauldron."
Although he suffered pain that ordinary people could not endure, each time he reorganized, his eyes grew brighter. The several hundred ancient characters continuously flew out, sinking into the broken cauldron fragments, merging within.
This was the ancient scripture from within the Nine Dragons Coffin. To this day, Ye Fan still could not comprehend it—it was not something understandable at his cultivation level, obscure and difficult to grasp.
But even if he could not understand it, it did not hinder his progress. He made use of it. Ever since he first forged the Primordial Qi Cauldron, he had continuously infused these scriptures into the cauldron, subtly influencing it, allowing it to transform.
Especially on the other shore of the starry sky, during the great tribulation of Severing the Dao at the Immortal Third level, he chanted this scripture, tempering the Primordial Qi Cauldron, crossing the tribulation together.
Although he did not know the secret of this scripture, he persisted unceasingly, allowing his cauldron to remember it, hammering it with the several hundred ancient characters, branding them into his sole Dao-achieving vessel.
Weng long long!
The Nine-Nine Great Tribulation descended. Nine colors of light struck down, destroying all things. Many stars exploded. The region covered by the heavenly tribulation experienced a great cataclysm.
Ye Fan let out a long roar. The golden little man within his brow rushed out, accepting the baptism together with his physical body. Finally, it could not hold on either, slowly shattering.
This was a great disaster. If the spirit was extinguished, the person died. The physical body could be reorganized after destruction, but once the primordial spirit was annihilated, most likely everything would become empty.
"Ah..."
Ye Fan roared, filled with unwillingness. His Saint tribulation was so difficult to cross. He did not want to return to eternal silence like this. He had to break through.
The Presence Secret circulated. After the golden little man turned into piece after piece, it was once again pulled together by a powerful force, reorganizing, emitting immeasurable light.
"My body is indestructible, enduring through ten thousand tribulations..."
He chanted scriptures in his mouth, strengthening his Dao, his faith unwavering, his will like iron. The golden little man grew increasingly brilliant, finally managing to overcome this tribulation.
Of course, this was only one tribulation along the way. Many more hardships lay ahead, but Ye Fan had found hope, firmly believing he could cross through.
One strike, two strikes... countless lightning seas, descending time and time again, each one different. In the end, the golden little man was scattered many times, yet each time it was painfully gathered together again, forming a whole.
Who knows whether it was a hundred tribulations or a thousand? Ye Fan could no longer feel pain. In his ears, there was only a sound of Dao resonance. At this moment, he underwent a strange transformation.
Flesh, broken bones, the cracked golden little man, and the pieces of cauldron fragments—all intermingled together, floating and sinking in the lightning sea, accepting tempering.
He was forging the cauldron, fusing his scattered flesh, primordial spirit, and Mother Qi fragments into one, carrying out a jaw-dropping refinement.
The cauldron is me, I am the cauldron.
At this moment, there was nothing else—only the Dao resonance sounding, only a flesh-and-blood cauldron, wrapped in Primordial Mother Qi, floating and sinking, appearing mysterious beyond compare.
Such a strange cauldron actually withstood the heavenly tribulation, achieving an instant of eternity, immortal and everlasting in the void of the universe.
Blood, bones, flesh, shattered primordial spirit, cauldron fragments—all fused into one. This was a miraculous scene—using the body to forge the cauldron, becoming a part of it. If ordinary people knew, they would surely be dumbfounded, unable to comprehend.
Yet at this moment, it truly happened, so mysterious and profound.
The divine sound of the Great Dao rumbled. Ye Fan, as if sensing something, involuntarily thought of a widely circulated saying: "An Extreme Weapon is a different kind of continuation of an ancient Great Emperor's life."
These words were not false. The Great Emperor had passed away, his primordial spirit extinguished, but the Imperial Weapon contained their divine brilliance that could illuminate eternity, never fading.
At the same time, Ye Fan realized that some of the paths he had walked, the ancient Great Emperors must have experienced. The true Imperial Path was all trodden under the feet of the invincible—different, yet with common points of connection.
Weng long!
A great tremor occurred. This was a disaster of annihilation, the most terrifying tribulation. Chaotic qi boiled, sweeping across the star sea. The vast, boundless Chaotic Divine Tribulation descended.
It broke the calm, pierced through the lightning sea, causing this cauldron to explode. Ye Fan's balance and immortality were destroyed.
And this time, the cauldron fragments became fine dust, turning into powder. Together with his flesh, blood, and primordial spirit, they were nearly ground into light, scattered in the chaos.
This was the most brutal moment. This kind of tribulation represented destruction. Heaven Above seemed intent on destroying everything, turning the solitary traveler on the Imperial Path into floating dust, vanishing like smoke.
Yet within this destruction, there was also a power of new life, cutting through the vast chaos, shining down from the depths of the sky dome. This was a power of hope.
Ye Fan had no fear, no anxiety. At the final moment of life and death, he calmed down. Having crossed so many tribulations, hovering between death and life, he had done everything he could. Even if he perished, there was nothing to regret, because he had given his all.
"I can cross through."
At this moment, such a thought arose within him. He had a premonition that after the Chaotic Divine Tribulation, there would be another tribulation—the Creation of Heaven and Earth.
"Creation of Heaven and Earth represents the end of destruction, the new life of all things. I and the cauldron will be reborn."
Ye Fan's will grew even more firm. The cauldron had become powder, his primordial spirit and physical body were also tattered, but they contained the hope of life, about to undergo a qualitative change.