This time, Ye Fan genuinely had not planned to drag anyone else into it. The heavenly tribulation had come entirely on its own — he had not calculated or triggered it deliberately.
Not long ago, he had endured eighty-one ancient celestial dragon tribulations — a form of heavenly punishment almost unheard of in all of history — enabling him in a single breakthrough to reach the great perfection of the Dragon Transformation First Change.
And now, gripping the Bodhi Seed and holding the Enlightenment Tea leaves in his mouth, he had been contemplating the Heaven-Marks beneath the Grand Emperor’s brand. He had already been on the verge of entering the Dragon Transformation Second Change — and in a single moment, the breakthrough came.
The heavenly tribulation arrived with jarring abruptness. Everyone was a bit disoriented, but once they grasped what was happening, these great figures acted with resolute swiftness — like a flock of big white geese jumping into water — clattering and splashing as they leapt one after another from the ten-thousand-foot jade platform.
“This absolute wretch — undergoing tribulation at a time like this. Is he trying to get us all killed?!”
“May the tribulation rain down doom and lightning and strike him dead!”
Everyone cursed, yet they acted with utter decisiveness. Every person turned and fled without a backward glance, rushing downward with unshakeable conviction, not a moment’s hesitation.
Because if they stayed, they might not even leave ashes behind. One person undergoing tribulation would draw others into tribulation alongside them — enduring heavenly punishment corresponding to their own cultivation level.
These were not ordinary people. They were a group of supremely capable, sovereign-tier figures. Every person’s corresponding tribulation would be vast beyond limit. The mere thought of so many people undergoing tribulation together was enough to be terrifying.
Most particularly — this place held several ancient sage weapons, along with three absolute-path imperial weapons. If these ancient weapons were drawn into the tribulation, it was almost impossible to imagine how catastrophic things would become.
If an imperial weapon were to contend with the heavenly tribulation, what would most likely descend was a world-destroying divine punishment at the level of an ancient great emperor — and in that case, not only would everyone present cease to exist, but this entire world would be finished.
The absolute-path imperial weapons would certainly come through unharmed. They had already undergone tribulation alongside ancient great emperors long ago; nothing in this world could harm them.
But everyone else — and the immortal palace world — were a different matter entirely. Destruction would be inevitable. Nothing would remain; everything within a range of tens of millions of li would become tribulation ash.
“Never seen anyone so miserable — never seen anyone this miserable. What kind of person undergoes tribulation at a time like this!”
“Is this madman out of his mind? Even if he wants to destroy himself, he doesn’t have to drag this many people along!”
Everyone was frightened into flight. Like dumplings being dropped into a pot, they piled off the jade platform one after another with a great clattering and splashing. With divine power suppressed and flight impossible, some landed with bruised, swollen faces.
But they cared nothing for any of that. They bolted with abandon, abandoning all pretense of the dignity expected of supreme masters, fleeing for their lives.
Someone attempted before leaving to seize the coffin left behind by the divine being, but they discovered that Ye Fan had planted himself directly inside it, sitting cross-legged on the Dao-marks left by the Grand Emperor and entering a state of enlightenment.
Many ground their teeth in fury, yet no one dared carry him along as they fled — doing so would essentially be tying oneself to the heavenly tribulation.
Some supremely capable figures, out of sheer vexation, wanted to attack and kill him using ancient sage weapons. But the ancient Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar was rising and sinking in the air, like an ancient emperor resurrected, nearly collapsing all the ages and worlds — leaving everyone with no choice but to retreat.
“This damn brat — what makes his rear end so valuable? He’s actually sitting on the Grand Emperor’s brand. What an absolute calamity!”
“After this there will be a reckoning — wait until he gets through the tribulation and we’ll see!”
People were deeply reluctant, yet they had no choice but to flee.
“You’re quite a fine ancestor, I’ll give you that — not too early, not too late, specifically choosing this moment to undergo tribulation.” Even the old blind man had lost his composure, rubbing his hands together while rolling his white eyes.
“Brother Ye, my apologies — there’s no time. You’ll just have to undergo your tribulation here on your own.” Duan De gave the ancient coffin a kick and sent it flying, away from the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar.
“Brother Ye, take this sage bone for protection — it was left behind when a sage dissolved into the Dao.” The barbarian tossed him a golden arm bone.
Then the group also fled. Otherwise, having the ancient Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar experience the heavenly tribulation here would be a catastrophe — nothing of this entire world would be left.
“Rustle!”
After emerging from the range of protection offered by the absolute-path imperial weapon, Ye Fan took out an ancient scroll. It gleamed with crystalline light, as though forged from the quintessence of sun and moon, yet was extremely soft.
It was square in shape, with sides approximately one and a half meters long. When spread open, stars occasionally flashed and faded across it, light and tranquil — the very immortal treasure he had obtained in the Chaos Dragon Lair, the resting place of the Fierce One.
To this day, Ye Fan still did not know what it was, but there was no time to worry about that now. He could only use it to resist the terrifying pressure of this place.
In the remote Primordial Era, the Monkey King’s late father — the Battle-Saint Emperor — had already collected this thing once. And after immeasurable ages, it had fallen into the hands of the Fierce Great Emperor. It was certainly no ordinary object.
As expected — the moment this star-map scroll appeared, it immediately blocked the absolute world-shattering energy emanating from the Undying Celestial Emperor’s skin within the five-colored divine ice.
Though the ancient scroll carried no particularly powerful aura, it could seal off the outside influence of the Undying Celestial Emperor’s skin.
“Not an absolute-path imperial weapon — it seems to be a map…”
Ye Fan was deeply startled. When the aura of the Undying Celestial Emperor flowed over and poured into the immortal treasure, several indistinct star domains appeared on its surface.
“Boom!”
But there was no time to contemplate this. The heavenly tribulation descended — flooding down in torrents that submerged the entire platform in an instant.
Ye Fan stepped out of the ancient coffin and sat cross-legged beside it. His gaze remained fixed unblinkingly on the impression marks at the coffin’s base. The Bodhi Seed in his hand was blazing hot, aiding him in contemplation.
The divine tea leaves held in his mouth kept his heart peaceful and clear. His essence, energy, and spirit were in intense concentration, and his physical body and spirit consciousness reached a state of unity between heaven and man.
At that moment, he entered the state of enlightenment and truly witnessed the Grand Emperor Scripture.
On the floor of the ancient coffin, a humanoid impression seemed to come back to life — like the human emperor of ten thousand ages past, defying the heavens and returning from beyond.
Along that figure’s spine was a great dragon, head raised and roaring, vividly alive, seemingly threading its way through past, present, and future.
The entire image consisted of Dao-marks, but Ye Fan focused only on the great dragon — for this was precisely what he needed, the profound technique corresponding to the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm.
Just as it had been with the Western Emperor Scripture in years past, he perceived only five Dao-marks, not a single word or phrase — yet the most fundamental of mental cultivation methods was recorded within them.
Here it was the same. This was an ancient scripture. The Grand Emperor, in his final years, had been a perfectionist who had made revisions to it, and ultimately left it sealed within the coffin.
“Boom!”
Ten-thousand-foot seas of lightning crashed down. Ye Fan remained utterly unmoved, bathing within the tribulation, contemplating the ancient scripture’s chapters on dragon transformation, his self dissolved and all things forgotten, leaving only a great dragon in his mind — his heart a realm of pure emptiness.
Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. Seas of lightning ten thousand feet high — white, then purple, then red, various colors of lightning blazing without ceasing.
Seen from a distance, the place was completely submerged. It was an ocean of heavenly tribulation — a terrifying sea of lightning sweeping across the ten directions, destroying all things.
Those great figures stood far away, each and every one astonished. A cultivator of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm had drawn down such a terrifying heavenly tribulation — truly beyond comprehension.
“Thank goodness — no ancient sage weapons are involved in this tribulation, and no absolute-path imperial weapons are participating. Otherwise, none of us would still exist!”
On the ten-thousand-foot jade platform, Ye Fan brought out his cauldron and offered it up alongside himself to receive the tribulation’s tempering, so that they could together weave principles and evolve it into a sage weapon.
Whether anyone outside could see through the sea of lightning or not — he had no choice. He needed the Primal Mother Qi of All Things cauldron to evolve, and each time that required undergoing tribulation alongside him.
This time, the eighty-one terrifying ancient celestial dragons did not appear again, but it was still extraordinarily fearsome. Various massive bolts of lightning descended in succession, interspersed with primordial chaos thunder.
Lightning blazed and roared. Heaven and earth trembled, radiance blazed across the sky. Had this not been the resting place of an ancient emperor, the ten-thousand-foot jade platform would long since have been reduced to rubble.
Ye Fan’s spirit remained tranquil. He fixed his gaze on the great dragon at the coffin’s base, and from his eyes shot two dragon-shaped beams of light, connecting to the Dao-marks.
His eyes became hazy one moment, then empty the next. A celestial dragon coiled and danced, appearing and vanishing within his eyes.
In the end, his eyes reflected two great dragons, nothing else — and at the same moment, a thunderous crack rang out along his spine, like the roar of a dragon shaking the heavens.
This process lasted for several hours. The tribulation continued without cease, and Ye Fan did his utmost to withstand it while at the same time continuously contemplating the ancient scripture.
“Boom!”
At last, a final thunderclap rang out, and heaven and earth finally returned to clarity. The heavenly tribulation had stopped.
The minor-realm tribulation was not as fearsome as the tribulation when breaking through a major secret realm, yet it was still quite terrifying — and compared to the tribulations of others, it had been many times larger.
In the distance, all those watching were profoundly shaken. Just when they saw everything come to a stop and everyone surged forward intending to ascend the ten-thousand-foot jade platform once more —
Clear skies unleashed another thunderstorm, and a sea of lightning submerged that place once again.
“Boom…”
The heavenly tribulation manifested anew, destroying all things.
“What is happening? Why has it started again?”
“Heavens — this truly is a monster. Not even in ancient times were there many like him. He has advanced another level of cultivation. He is undergoing consecutive tribulations!”
People were astonished to discover a fact: Ye Fan was actually undergoing two tribulations consecutively. It left everyone shaken.
“When the tribulation stopped just now — did you see what appeared? It was the Primal Mother Qi Cauldron!”
“That’s right — the primordial source root of the Primal Mother Qi of All Things. Ten thousand layers of dark-yellow qi cascaded down. Does this mean he is that young man from the Eastern Wasteland?!”
…
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then came to their senses. Indeed, only he could draw down heavenly tribulations of such magnitude.
“Ye Who Covers the Sky… Ye Fan!” Wang Yangzhan roared in fury, his hair wild and white beard flying. The Yin-Yang Sect’s Holy Son and Holy Daughter had been killed by Ye Fan, bringing profound humiliation upon that supreme great sect.
And at the Peach Banquet, Ye Fan had also stirred up the great powers and drawn them into the Dragon Nest, resulting in the death of his designated successor — the Deputy Sect Leader of the Yin-Yang Sect.
“Ye Fan of the Eastern Wasteland…” Flashes of cold menace appeared in Xiao Yunsheng’s eyes as his fists clenched with a grinding crack.
“So it’s this kid!” Duan De scratched the tip of his nose. He could not avoid thinking of certain past events — but the impression carved deepest into his memory was the old business of being bitten by a dog. In the end, he could only mutter a single word: “Damn it!”
Ye Fan contemplated the Dragon Transformation chapter of the Grand Emperor Scripture, undergoing two consecutive heavenly tribulations. The lightning blazed and thunder rolled — yet he was perfectly serene.
In this tribulation, he advanced in a single bound to the Dragon Transformation Third Change, his power surging dramatically and rising by a great measure.
Finally, after another three hours had passed, he branded the Dragon Transformation chapter into his mind, having achieved complete enlightenment and making it his own profound technique.
From this point on, he had mastered the most powerful scripture of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm.
“Dragon Transformation Third Change!” Ye Fan stood. His heart surged and swelled, overwhelmed with excitement. He felt a power beyond compare, beyond all prior experience.
The heavenly tribulation had not yet ceased and continued to strike down upon him, yet it was difficult to leave even a scorch mark on his body. It was the Primal Mother Qi Cauldron, however, that was covered in numerous veining patterns.
These were innate divine markings — the cauldron had woven its own principles, evolving out the Dao-marks of the Primal Mother Qi Cauldron. This was a form of transformation.
At Ye Fan’s glabella, a golden small figure seated in meditation — like a divine being — solemnly and serenely swallowed and expelled lightning light with each breath.
This was the form taken by the golden small lake at his glabella — manifested in human shape, undergoing the heavenly tribulation alongside him and receiving its tempering.
In the end, the golden small figure opened its mouth and inhaled, swallowing the Primal Mother Qi Cauldron inside. It moved with Ye Fan’s every breath, in and out, profoundly mysterious.
The cauldron shrank to the size of a fingertip, yet it grew more radiant than ever. It moved in concert with the swallowing and exhaling of the golden small figure, becoming inseparable from Ye Fan — unified as one.
Lightning energy swirled, endlessly tempering the golden small figure and that small cauldron, while Ye Fan’s physical body merged together with the sea of lightning itself.
After a long time, Ye Fan finally let out a long breath, expelling ten-thousand-foot rays of lightning, and looked outward in all four directions.
The ancient coffin had not been shattered by the heavenly thunder. It was incomparably solid, for it was carved from the Undying Tree and bore the quality of indestructibility.
“The divine being’s Thought!”
Ye Fan’s heart lurched with alarm. His gaze swept across the surrounding area, and he discovered that demonic figure — standing below the ten-thousand-foot jade platform, eyes sharp as blades, staring at him coldly.
“It has set its sights on me…”
Yet on reflection, Ye Fan let out a cold laugh. This demonic being feared the heavenly tribulation. Otherwise, it would have pounced and killed him long ago.
He looked toward the five-colored divine ice not far away. He very much wanted to take away this immortal treasure, but the Undying Celestial Emperor’s aura from the skin was too concentrated. Without an absolute-path imperial weapon, it would be extremely difficult to contain.
No one knew how many tens of thousands of years had passed — from ages before the Primordial Era all the way to the present — yet that skin still gleamed with crystalline luminance. Its hair was purple and glossy, and the blood staining the skin shimmered in five colors.
In the end, Ye Fan raised his head and looked toward the distant mountain ranges. Many human silhouettes were visible there, and with his divine eyes he could see their expressions with perfect clarity.
Wang Yangzhan’s face was iron-gray, and the people of the Yin-Yang Sect all bore naked killing intent, every one of them staring fixedly at this place.
Xiao Yunsheng, too, was grinding his teeth. The half-step capable figure Xiao Zhi was equally venomous, cursing under his breath.
Ye Fan could even read those people’s lips through the distance, discerning what they were saying.
“He actually underwent two consecutive tribulations — truly alarming. But he won’t survive — the moment he comes down, I will grind him to dust!”
“Today, I intend to snuff out a genius. I will destroy him in body and soul!”
“You Ye brat — I will strip out your tendons and peel off your bones!”
“We’ll make him into a human torch!”
Such was the venomous cursing from the Yin-Yang Sect and the Xiao Family’s people.
Ye Fan thought for a moment, then lifted the coffin and drove toward the ground below, bringing the sky-flooding heavenly tribulation along with him.
The divine being’s Thought was the first to sense that something was wrong. It had never seen anyone undergoing tribulation be so audacious as to charge around like this. Quickly, it understood — this was coming straight for it.
The demonic being was the first to move, bolting headlong in flight, its terrifying presence that had formerly made it seem as though it were the only sovereign in existence — the one who reigned supreme over all — completely vanished.
How extraordinarily powerful this being was — if it were to undergo tribulation, heaven and earth would be shaken to their foundations, and this entire world would be punctured through.
Then, the people of the Yin-Yang Sect and the Xiao Family also felt a jolt of terror. All of them began to sprint madly. Seeing this, everyone else also cried out that something was terribly wrong and immediately fled to the distance.
“This wretched brat — he’s driven the tribulation over here to strike us!”