The sixth tier of the Fire Domain — violet mist drifted in a hazy, dreamlike veil. Named Purple Qi Comes from the East, it carried an air of incomparable nobility. This color was ordinarily an auspicious omen, yet within the Fire Domain it signified something terrifying.

How scorching the fire power truly was could not be estimated at all; it had incinerated several great powerhouses to ash — supremely perilous. Even with the Bodhi Seed in hand, Ye Fan did not dare let down his guard.

After surveying every option, he finally settled on a spot within a stone forest. It was relatively calm there, the violet mist thin and sparse, making it a suitable temporary dwelling.

All around, scattered stones lay in disorder — some shaped like reclining oxen, others like bamboo shoots, bizarre and varied in form.

“How exactly should I use the violet fire to forge my weapon?” He knitted his brows. Should he draw the violet fire into his Sea of Bitterness? To do so would be extraordinarily dangerous.

Even his physical body could not withstand it. What terrible things might happen if it were drawn into his body was hard to say — yet if the fire was not brought inside, how could the cauldron be tempered?

A weapon had to be forged within the body; only then could it fuse and merge with the self. There was no other way — only in this manner could it display its greatest might.

“I’ll try drawing in just one thread to test it.”

He sat cross-legged holding the Bodhi Seed. Within a radius of three meters, a patch of pure stillness naturally formed, free of any violet fire. Ye Fan placed the seed on the ground, then moved to the boundary. With careful precision, he drew in a single thread of violet fire and dared not take more; using divine power, he stripped away just that one wisp.

Hiss! Hiss!

At that moment, the wisp of violet qi began to tremble — and it ignited the divine power itself, rapidly dissolving a small cluster of it.

Ye Fan was greatly startled. This violet qi was extraordinarily fierce. It could even consume divine power — no wonder it posed a threat to great powerhouses. It was genuinely perilous beyond measure.

Yet when that wisp of violet qi was confined to a position near the Bodhi Seed, it ceased trembling. It no longer damaged divine power, and calmed down completely.

“What kind of fire is this — a single wisp already possessing such power? It could absolutely tear through spiritual treasures and pierce through a person’s body. Truly astonishing.” Ye Fan murmured to himself. He carefully kept control, letting it draw slowly closer to his skin, so that the wisp came into contact with a thread of Primordial Qi of All Creation seeping from his body.

A faint ripple transmitted through — that thread of dark yellow energy suddenly became considerably more active, slowly flowing across his body surface. At the same time, the violet misty threads, as though drawn by an invisible force, moved in concert with it along the surface above.

“This is really going to work!” A look of delight spread across Ye Fan’s face.

For now, everything was preparation for forging the cauldron. Only by truly understanding the violet qi could he draw it into his body. He held the Bodhi Seed and focused all his attention on allowing the violet fire and the Primordial Qi of All Creation to merge with each other.

Like a gentle breeze rippling across a lake surface — subtle waves spreading outward — that thread of Primordial Qi of All Creation emitted a strange fluctuation and seemed to absorb the violet mist into itself.

Ye Fan immediately felt a wave of warmth; there was no scalding sensation at all. It was like warm water flowing across his skin, giving him a very comfortable feeling.

The initial attempt was a success. A faint smile curved at the corners of his mouth. He circulated the profound method recorded in the Scripture of the Dao and allowed that thread of Primordial Qi of All Creation to flow across his body surface — from his fingers to his arm, then to his neck, chest, abdomen, and thighs.

He observed carefully: the violet misty threads, after merging into the Primordial Qi of All Creation, were very calm. They showed no signs of struggling or running wild.

Afterward, he circulated divine power and poured it into the Primordial Qi of All Creation to let them intermingle — still very calm, with no abnormalities whatsoever.

This thread of primordial energy flowed across his body surface like the warmth of a spring breeze, like a gentle massage, filling him with a sense of ease and comfort.

For the moment, everything was proceeding normally, with no danger of any kind.

Half a quarter-hour later, Ye Fan guided this thread of dark yellow essence to enter his body. Of course, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion — first letting it enter the flesh and blood of his arm, so that if anything went wrong, he could block it quickly.

He had to be this cautious. After all, this violet fire posed a threat even to great powerhouses; if he introduced it directly into his Sea of Bitterness and something went wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Moving through the flesh and blood, it felt like vital energy flowing gently — warm, carrying a faint ripple, still without incident. The violet qi entering his body had not run wild.

After repeated attempts, Ye Fan guided this thread of Primordial Qi of All Creation back to the Sea of Bitterness, merging it with the primordial source. The mother qi near the violet misty threads all became more active; but since there was only one thread of violet qi, nothing had truly changed.

The initial stage had gone smoothly — no danger had occurred. Ye Fan decided to begin absorbing more violet fire, because a single thread was far too little to forge a cauldron.

Within this “Purple Qi Comes from the East” fire domain, the Primordial Qi of All Creation was active and relatively easier to control. On his second attempt, Ye Fan drew in three threads at once, absorbing them before returning to the Sea of Bitterness.

After repeated trials, Ye Fan sensed that yes, danger existed — but it could be controlled. He should be able to make use of the violet qi to forge his cauldron.

Half a day later, he sat quietly cross-legged, continuously drawing violet qi into that domain of pure stillness with his divine power, then absorbing it with the Primordial Qi of All Creation.

By now, he had gradually loosened his restraint, absorbing dozens of misty threads at the same time, letting them flow back into the Sea of Bitterness along with the dark yellow energy, gathering drop by drop.

Two days later, the Primordial Qi of All Creation in Ye Fan’s Sea of Bitterness had taken on a slightly violet tint, warm throughout. Yet this was far from sufficient — to forge the cauldron, the fire power had to blaze fierce and strong, burning with full intensity.

On the third day, Ye Fan increased the rate at which he drew in fire. He sat motionless on a great stone slab, still as a carving, wisps of violet mist wreathing his form, his body surface hazy and indistinct.

On the fourth day, a cluster of flame the size of a chicken’s egg was leaping within his Sea of Bitterness. Violet mist continued to gather, at last condensing into an actual blaze — the heat was extraordinary. Even sheathed by the dark yellow energy, he could still feel wave after wave of scorching heat rolling off it.

By now, Ye Fan dared not draw in more violet qi. The fire power contained in that flame cluster had exceeded his expectations — it was like a violet sun burning there.

“Now is the moment!” He began forging the cauldron.

He held the Bodhi Seed, sat cross-legged on a green stone slab, and his heart became a place of complete stillness. Within his mind’s eye there appeared a small cauldron — three legs, two ears, ancient and natural.

This was the cauldron he carried in his heart, and everything had to be tempered according to this image, without a single error or flaw.

The Primordial Qi of All Creation surged, surrounding the violet fire. With his mind as the hammer and his spirit as the forge, his concentration was absolute — like a bow drawn to its limit.

The violet fire burned; the Primordial Qi of All Creation drifted hazy and indistinct, containing the flame, continually shifting shape, evolving toward the form of a cauldron.

One day, two days… After seven days, the clear ringing of metal against metal rang out — as though iron were truly being struck — and the sound carried far.

In the past, casting a cauldron had not been difficult for him. It could take form in half a month to a month, but the moment he left the piece of green copper, it would immediately dissolve — impossible to maintain.

Now, tempered by this terrifying fire power, it resisted taking form, truly as though he were grinding against the world’s hardest sacred iron. Through a hundred tempers, it had done no more than coalesce into a mass.

Ye Fan felt no anxiety. This was exactly as it should be. What he had done before could not truly be called forging a cauldron — it was more like gathering mother qi together. Such a form was like stacking a high tower on a sandy beach; it was always going to collapse.

Now, forged by a supreme fire source, this was true weapon forging. Once it took form, it would be indestructible.

On the ninth day, the violet fire gradually weakened, then flashed out and was extinguished — burned up completely, gone entirely. At that moment, the Primordial Qi of All Creation had been worked into an irregular mass — far from having taken shape.

“Truly, the Primordial Qi of All Creation is beyond imagining… Even this level of fire power, burned to nothing, and it still cannot make it take shape…”

To be clear, violet fire could burn great powerhouses to death — yet when used to forge a cauldron, it had barely caused the material to shift form, nowhere near meeting the requirements.

Ye Fan stood up, stretched his muscles and bones, then ate some food and drank some water, murmuring to himself: “I wonder how things are outside. Is anyone still standing guard at the Fire Domain’s edge?”

He did not immediately continue forging the cauldron. Instead, holding the Bodhi Seed, he walked outward, wanting to go take a look.

After passing consecutively through several tiers of the Fire Domain, he finally arrived at the crimson fire region. Through the flames, he could make out cultivators lingering in the distance. Ye Fan concealed himself, reaching outward with his powerful divine sense to sweep in every direction; everything in the vicinity was instantly captured and made clear in his mind.

He waited a long time before he heard anyone speak.

“So many days have passed already — surely we can leave now? Staying here is absolutely mind-numbing.”

“The sixth tier of the Fire Domain is where great powerhouses forge their weapons. The moment he went in there, he would have been reduced to ash — so why insist on posting us here to keep watch? It’s completely unnecessary.”

…

Ye Fan retreated silently back into the Fire Domain’s depths, paying no further attention to those people. Right now, nothing was more important than tempering the cauldron into form.

He drew the violet fire into his body once more. Having done it before, he was now practiced and at ease. In barely half a day, he gathered enough fire power, the violet flames fierce and contained by the Primordial Qi of All Creation.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out again. He focused all his mind and spirit, tempering the mother qi, letting it slowly take form.

This time it was faster — in barely three days, the violet fire was extinguished.

“The Primordial Qi of All Creation is truly beyond imagining…”

Ye Fan felt he should draw in more violet fire at once; otherwise, it kept going only halfway and he truly did not know when the cauldron would take shape.

In the end, he continuously drew fire in, gathering it into a brilliant mass of light within his body — enough to fill a fist. The Primordial Qi of All Creation barely managed to contain it; one thread more and it would have overflowed.

The violet fire burned fierce and strong, blazing powerfully. The sound of clanging metal rang out again, and Ye Fan tempered it with his mind and forged it with his spirit.

Puff!

Suddenly, an accident occurred. The violet fire he had gathered this time was far too great, and in the process of forging the cauldron, it seeped out from the Primordial Qi of All Creation.

This was not just a single thread, nor dozens of threads, but a small mass — the size of a longan fruit, blazing as fiercely as the sun, like a concentrated solar core.

Ye Fan’s face went white on the spot. He was not the Grand Elder of the Ji Family; he was not the Sacred Master of Yao Guang. That he could forge weapons in this place at all was solely because of the Bodhi Seed. Now that the violet fire had burst out, this would be a catastrophe.

Indeed — once the violet fire broke free of the Primordial Qi of All Creation, it instantly went berserk, as though it wanted to burn through the nine tiers of heaven and reduce him to ash.

Boom!

Suddenly, the golden Sea of Bitterness surged up with boundless great waves, blocking the violet fire, enclosing it within.

Something astonishing occurred: the violet flames were swept up by the golden sea water, and in an instant were submerged — on the verge of being extinguished.

“This…”

Ye Fan was greatly shocked. He had not expected that his unique Sea of Bitterness possessed this kind of might — capable of suppressing violet fire.

A flash of violet light — the flames rushed back into the Primordial Qi of All Creation, and at last were not extinguished.

“Ha ha ha…!” Ye Fan burst out laughing and rose to his feet.

Using the mother qi to contain the flames had been a helpless choice from the start. The correct approach should have been to use the fire source to contain the mother qi. He had previously been worried that at this pace the forging would be far too slow — now, at last, a solution had appeared.

Ye Fan rose directly and made his way to the most intensely burning area of the “Purple Qi Comes from the East” fire domain. There the mist was dense, like an undissolvable liquid; there were humanoid ash piles on the ground — evidently, great powerhouses favored this spot as well.

Arriving there, he directly absorbed vast quantities of violet fire, continuously gathering them into his Sea of Bitterness. The Primordial Qi of All Creation was entirely contained; he used the golden Sea of Bitterness to suppress the violet fire and prevent it from leaking out.

The violet flames burned fiercely within the Sea of Bitterness, ceaselessly tempering the dark yellow essence. The sound of clanging metal rang on without pause.

One day, two days…

Ye Fan lost count of how much fire power he had absorbed. Day after day it was like striking iron, and the violet mist in this area had thinned considerably.

Three months later, the clanging sound finally ceased. Ye Fan drew in no more violet flames.

At that moment, above his Sea of Bitterness, a small cauldron had taken shape — ancient and natural, two ears giving rise to yin and yang, three legs establishing heaven and earth, its round body embracing primordial chaos.

Evolving Dao and principle, coming together to form substance, capable of containing all things — a faint sensation of the world’s primordial beginning, of the Dao following the natural order, pervaded it.

Forged by violet qi — the cauldron had at last taken form.

Yet Ye Fan was not satisfied. He felt this was only a rough product. He wanted to refine it further with an even more powerful fire source.

He had another idea as well: once the cauldron was fully refined, he wanted to evolve profound Dao markings within it — only then could it become the most powerful weapon.

“I have not cultivated Dao markings, but I have hundreds of ancient characters, each one an invaluable treasure beyond price…”