Once one attains five hundred years of cultivation in the Nascent Soul Realm, they must undergo the Three Calamities. Only by overcoming these can further progress be made. Otherwise, no matter how deep one's cultivation, it will stagnate. This is a shackle—one that only the Three Calamities can break.
The Three Calamities are: Calamity of Thunder, Calamity of Wind, and Calamity of Fire.
Of course, these do not occur in a fixed order. They strike randomly. This means that in one's first trial, any of the three might appear, making it the most dangerous. You may prepare for one type, only to face another, drastically lowering your chances of survival.
Hence, one must be prepared for all three.
"The Three Calamities must be evaded. If you can't escape them, you'll be reduced to ashes. But... must they really be avoided?"Yi Tianxing pondered silently.
In various legends, the Three Calamities are always to be dodged, not endured head-on. Even in Journey to the West, the Bodhi Patriarch instructed Sun Wukong to evade the Three Calamities rather than confront them.
But to evade them, one needs supreme divine arts—such as the Thirty-Six Transformations of the Heavenly Gang or the Seventy-Two Transformations of Earth Fiends. These are the pinnacle of heaven and earth. Even Yi Tianxing could not obtain them. And even so-called "evasion" methods are not true escapes—they are simply techniques that counter the calamity, not negate it. One still undergoes the tribulation; it is merely clever maneuvering. But the price is a flawed foundation.
The Three Calamities are both disaster and opportunity.
Yi Tianxing had no intention of hiding from them. He wanted to face them head-on, to let his foundation become more powerful and complete, unshakable through true tempering.
Facing the calamities directly requires great courage. If one fails, the Nascent Soul collapses—a terrifying fate. And each calamity contains infinite variations. A thunder calamity could be Yin Lightning, Blood Lightning, or worse. This makes resistance extremely difficult.
Hence, many Nascent Soul cultivators fear the Three Calamities. Unless one has an immense foundation, there is no way to resist them.
"Come. Let me see just how terrifying these Three Calamities really are."
Yi Tianxing took a deep breath and, with a single thought, began to draw in the calamity. In the unseen currents of the universe, he felt a mighty force converge above him, sweeping in from the heavens.
Generally, once one attains five hundred years of cultivation, the Three Calamities may descend at any moment. It might be days, years, or even the next second. That's why most cultivators choose to initiate the tribulation on their own—better to be prepared than caught unawares.
A formless pressure descended upon him—he had triggered the heavenly rule. The tribulation began. It manifested within his body.
"It's the Calamity of Wind!"
In an instant, Yi Tianxing sensed which calamity had arrived—it was the wind.
A dark, sinister wind appeared inside his body without warning, as if summoned from the void. It started from his Yongquan acupoint at the soles of his feet and swept upward. This wind was no ordinary breeze—it was a Yin Wind, capable of eroding bones and dissolving souls. It carried an eerie, destructive force, dissolving flesh, softening bone, and dispersing blood and essence. The pain was indescribable, like his life force being blown apart.
But Yi Tianxing was no ordinary spell cultivator—he was also a top-tier body cultivator. His flesh and bone were forged like iron, integrated with divine Law Chains and resonating with Dao Rhythms. His body had been tempered to an extreme density, resistant even to Yin Wind.
Though it still had an effect—he could feel his bones and flesh softening—his abundant blood energy surged forth, washing over his body and re-tempering it. Impurities were blown away; only purity and strength remained.
"This Yin Wind is actually beneficial for body cultivation. But... its true target is still the Nascent Soul."
The wind passed through his internal organs. If his body were weak, it would damage him severely, leading to blood decay—and thus, his Nascent Soul would weaken. Body and soul are interconnected. If the body falls, so too does the soul. This would greatly reduce the chance of surviving the tribulation.
Suddenly, ghostly howls rang in his mind, as the wind stormed toward his Divine Sea.
In the blink of an eye, the vast Divine Sea was shrouded in darkness. Shadowy Yin Wind surged across it, rushing toward the Nascent Soul seated within the Imperial Dragon Mandala.
This wind knew no boundaries—it bypassed all defenses, even penetrating the Life Diagram.
The entire Mandala was engulfed. Within it, coiling True Dragons shrieked in pain, their essence stripped away by the storm. The space inside began to shrink and crack.
"The Mandala is shrinking... but becoming denser. The wind strips impurities, leaving only the essence. Yet the process is brutal. If the Mandala is not strong enough, it will collapse entirely."
The Heavenly Emperor Dragon Mandala was infused with the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, myriad acupoints. The Heavenly Emperor anchored the cosmos, the True Dragons guarded the four directions, and even the Rivers and Mountains Diagram was integrated into it. This gave it unmatched depth and resilience. Even under the storm, it glowed with divine light, the True Dragons roaring defiantly. The fiercer the wind blew, the more solid the Mandala became.
Then, the wind touched the Nascent Soul.
The massive soul form was enveloped. It felt as though an ordinary man had stepped into a raging hurricane—utter helplessness and terror welled up instinctively.
The Yin Wind pierced the Nascent Soul like needles, stabbing, spinning, grinding. Impurities were being forcibly stripped away. But even these impurities were part of the soul. Tearing them out brought unbearable pain—like ten thousand blades slicing from within.
If one's will faltered and they passed out from the pain, the soul would collapse.
Yi Tianxing's Nascent Soul shrank, being refined.
And with it, a faint trace of Pure Yang Qi emerged—growing stronger as time passed.
But the wind grew more violent, more savage.
Even with Yi Tianxing's formidable foundation, he felt his Nascent Soul nearing collapse.
"Am I really at my limit?"
"No. Who am I? I am Yi Tianxing—ruler of the Great Yi Dynasty!"
"My people do not have strong bloodlines or powerful bodies. We survive by one thing only: unyielding will.'As heaven maintains its vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement.'"
At the brink of collapse, a radiant conviction surged from the depths of his soul.
Suddenly—flash!—a streak of purple light flared within the Nascent Soul. The moment it appeared, perfect tranquility descended. All the agony vanished.
His soul entered an extraordinary realm of stillness and clarity.
A torrent of insights flooded in.
"The Imperial Dao is mine alone. I reign supreme over the world. My words define law; my way suppresses all others. Among myriad paths, only mine is supreme.""…"
Countless Imperial Dao revelations echoed through his soul.