“What? You want to go to the Desolate Hut?” When Princess Yudie returned and heard Ye Fan’s decision, she widened her beautiful eyes in shock, her cherry lips parting open, the very picture of astonishment.

The Desolate Hut referred to the place where an ancient Great Emperor had built his hermitage in his later years. As the ages flowed by — over a hundred thousand years having passed — it had long since become a wasteland.

She firmly objected, saying, “You cannot go there. Since ancient times, no one knows how many lords have died there. Not a single person has ever gained anything from it. It is a place of death!”

Her figure was slender and graceful, her cherry lips fresh and glossy, her nose delicate and refined, her eyes clear and bright, radiating an unparalleled spirit. Her long hair drifted in the air, carrying a fragrant scent, as she stood facing Ye Fan, the fragrance like that of an orchid wafting toward him.

“I spoke with my Imperial Father, and he agreed to gift you either the Purple Dragon Terrace or the Phoenix Ridge. Those places are sacred lands for cultivation — one to two times faster than elsewhere, with traces of the Great Dao naturally woven throughout.” Princess Yudie explained.

When she had spoken at length with the old Emperor, Grand Tutor Xiao had merely mentioned the Desolate Hut in passing, saying he was willing to return it to the imperial dynasty and wanted nothing more of it.

The old Emperor had spoken it as nothing more than a jest, saying that if Ye Zhetian wanted that piece of land, he would give it to him as well. Yet what Xiao Mingyuan conveyed back was an entirely different message.

Anyone who first learned that this was the place where an ancient Great Emperor had built his hermitage in his later years would find it difficult to resist. Ye Fan understood — the other party was certain he would go. It was a temptation impossible to refuse.

“Since His Majesty has also spoken such words, I am willing to go and take a look for myself, to broaden my horizons.” Ye Fan said with a smile.

Princess Yudie firmly objected, her full and graceful figure rising and falling with the waves of her emotion, as she said, “How many tens of thousands of years have passed? Countless predecessors and great masters gained nothing there. Those who dwelt there long all met with misfortune. Why must you go and take such a risk?”

Ye Fan did not change his mind. He said he only intended to take a look and would not reside there for long, so no problem would arise.

“You saved my life, and I wished to repay you, yet things have turned out this way.” Princess Yudie sighed softly, took out a small white jade vial, and handed it to Ye Fan.

Even though the pristine white jade vessel was sealed, a delicate fragrance seeped out from it, making one feel completely at ease throughout the entire body, every pore opening wide, refreshing to the very heart.

“Dragon Marrow!” Xiao Mingyuan, who had left and then returned, let out a cry of shock.

Ye Fan thought it over. This person harbored ill intentions — surely he wasn’t still thinking of getting his hands on the Dragon Marrow? He smiled, then directly pulled out the stopper and poured it straight into his mouth.

Fragrance filled the garden. A single droplet of crystalline liquid the size of a grape bead flowed with five-colored divine radiance, its pure aroma intoxicating to the very bones, and it fell into Ye Fan’s mouth.

He savored it briefly, then swallowed it directly, murmuring to himself, “Not much taste to it, is there?”

The people standing nearby were utterly dumbfounded. Even Princess Yudie didn’t know what to say. Such a divine treasure, and he had just eaten it like that — others would have carefully refined every drop.

“Brother Ye, not to lecture you, but this is like a cow chewing on peonies — a sheer waste of heavenly gifts. It’s truly… too much of a waste!” Xiao Mingyuan watching from the side felt his heart ache.

Beside him, the old guard also opened his mouth, completely speechless. If such a thing were given to him, he would absolutely have refined every last bit of it to the fullest, strengthening his own vital Life Essence to the utmost.

“Brother Ye, quickly find a place to sit in meditation and refine it completely — that should restore your vital energy.” Princess Yudie said, then turned and left.

In the garden, everyone dispersed. Only the burbling of the spring and the rustling of green trees remained. Ye Fan sat cross-legged beside a rockery, silently circulating his celestial technique.

He had eaten even the Immortal Medicine of Undying, so he did not hold Dragon Marrow — this kind of divine treasure — in particularly high regard. Yet he didn’t truly want to waste it either. Earlier, it had been nothing more than an act to make Xiao Mingyuan give up hope.

“Dragon Marrow… Dragon Qi… Dragon Transformation!” Ye Fan was greatly startled, feeling that the Dragon Marrow was indeed wondrous, harboring within it fragments of shattered laws.

The three great secret realms — the Wheel Sea, the Dao Palace, and the Four Extremities — each correspond to different parts of the human body. Dragon Transformation was naturally no exception. The nine transformations of the human body, a single leap to become a dragon.

The so-called Dragon Transformation referred to the cultivation of the spinal column — a great dormant dragon concealed within the human body. The next secret realm was to bring it back to life through nine transformations, merging it with the Dao.

Yet Ye Fan currently had no clear idea of how to cultivate it, for he had not yet broken through into it, nor did he possess the corresponding ancient scripture. This secret realm was said to be incomparably wondrous.

Ancient texts recorded that as the dragon leaps and rises through nine transformations toward immortality, one will behold strange and wondrous visions — immortal gates and other extraordinary phenomena, all manner of mysterious and unfathomable events, and sometimes even the ability to ride the dragon and roam beyond the Great Void.

Yet the precise details were something no one could fully explain, for each person’s experience was different, each following their own path to enlightenment.

Enter the spirit into the Great Void!

Just now, as Ye Fan refined this droplet of Dragon Marrow, he had touched upon such a fragment of law, leaving him deeply astonished.

If only I could obtain an ancient scripture containing the Dragon Transformation volume, and then also possess a large quantity of divine treasures — Dragon Marrow — I could surely cultivate this secret realm with great speed!

By now, the Four Extremities secret realm of the human body — that is, the four limbs — had all been refined by him to the Grand Perfection. Branded within the void, both arms and both legs could now stir the Great Dao.

He felt that once the right opportunity arrived, he could break through into the Dragon Transformation secret realm. Yet what he lacked was the corresponding ancient scripture. Before coming to the Central Region, he had long since inquired: if one were speaking of the most powerful Dragon Transformation scripture in existence, there was no question that it belonged to the Grand Xia Divine Dynasty — the Grand Emperor Scripture.

Their imperial dao dragon qi, in terms of offensive power, was unrivaled in all the world, comparable even to the All-Character Secret. Part of its driving force came from the Dragon Transformation volume.

Ye Fan could only look on with envy. He had no confidence in seizing an ancient scripture from an immemorial divine dynasty. In those ancient days, the Grand Emperor had stood alongside the divine beings, leaving behind an extreme dao sacred weapon capable of protecting the divine dynasty through ten thousand ages of undying glory.

At worst, I’ll cultivate a single secret realm, starting fresh from the Wheel Sea! He was not particularly worried. Thoroughly mastering even a single secret realm could lead to the realm of the sage!

Ye Fan was about to leave the ancient capital of the An’ping Kingdom, heading for the Desolate Hut to seek his own fortuitous encounter there.

“Which Great Emperor’s hermitage was this — in his later years?” he asked.

“Tens of thousands of years have passed — even twenty or thirty thousand years. Who could still say with any certainty? Especially for the later-years dwelling of an ancient emperor, even his own descendants likely have no idea.” Princess Yudie shook her head.

“Is there truly not even a single clue?” Ye Fan asked.

The old guard said, “Some say it was the Great Emperor of the Eastern Wastelands, others say it was the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Range. Still others claim it was an ancient sovereign of the Central Region — there is simply no way to confirm it.”

Princess Yudie sighed, “In truth, why must it be so clearly distinguished? There were only so few Great Emperors in the ancient world. The Great Emperors of the Eastern Wastelands, the Southern Range, the Central Region, and the Northern Plains were each the sole one within their respective great domains. Yet ancient texts record that some of those Great Emperors may have been one and the same person.”

“What?” This was the first time Ye Fan had ever heard such a claim.

“Do you truly believe that every great domain had five or six Great Emperors?” Princess Yudie shook her head, deeming that attaining the Dao as a Great Emperor was far too difficult — in truth, there were only a handful of them.

“There is a legend that the Ruthless Great Emperor of the Eastern Wastelands was in fact the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Range, and that he likewise left behind a supreme imperial name in the Northern Plains,” the old guard said.

“Is that true?!” Ye Fan was genuinely stunned.

“For instance, the Great Emperor Hengyu of the Eastern Wastelands and the founding ancestor of the Ancient Hua Imperial Dynasty of the Central Region may well have been the same person.”

Ancient Hua was one of the four immortal imperial dynasties of the Central Region, and in those days the Great Emperor Hengyu had slain the supreme existence of the Primordial Ancient Mine before indeed departing for the Central Region.

Ye Fan stood there gaping in disbelief — so there was such a hidden secret as this. He found it profoundly unexpected.

“According to the research of one ancient sage, the Great Emperors throughout all history could be counted on one’s fingers. In all five great domains, it was truly only a handful of people.”

“This… is hard to believe!” Ye Fan was utterly speechless.

Ye Fan finally set out, departing from the ancient capital of the An’ping Kingdom, heading toward the Desolate Hut to seek whatever fortunate encounter awaited him there.

“You must on no account be reckless. Do not linger there for long. I will be cultivating at the Qishi Mansion, and when I have leisure, I will come to visit you.” Princess Yudie saw him off.

It must be said that the Central Region was truly vast beyond measure. The territory governed by the ancient An’ping Kingdom stretched a full million li across. Ye Fan brought forth his Profound Jade Platform and traversed the void more than a dozen times before finally drawing close to the domain.

Ahead, immortal mountains towered majestically, auspicious mists swirled, phoenix-like birds soared, long-lived apes scaled the peaks, qilins appeared and vanished, and ten-thousand-year spirit medicines took root along the cliff faces.

Anyone who saw this could tell it was a sacred land — ethereal and magnificent as a divine hermit’s grotto beyond the mundane world.

Ye Fan activated his divine eyes and examined it carefully, and was even more astonished. In that single instant, he saw purple qi steaming and billowing, submerging the immortal mountains, as if ten thousand great dragons were leaping into the sky.

“Truly divine earth — of inestimable worth!” He exclaimed in awe.

However, this was not his fief. This was the towering ancient mountain range where the Qishi Mansion was situated — within a radius of five hundred li, auspicious qi swirled in layer upon layer of mystery.

As for his own fief, it lay right beside it, adjacent to this ancient immortal mountain range. Stretching roughly a hundred li across, its appearance, however, was utterly different.

All the sources of ten thousand spiritual veins, all the vital essence of the ancestral roots, seemed to converge toward the spiritual mountain where the Qishi Mansion stood. The surrounding land was desolate — not a trace of immortal qi anywhere to be seen. A stark contrast.

Standing in the void and gazing downward, within a radius of a hundred li, there were many verdant patches of green, yet they lacked any spiritual vitality. Would an ancient Great Emperor truly have chosen this place? Why, when there was an ancient immortal mountain right beside it, would he have built his hermitage in this barren wasteland instead? It was simply beyond comprehension.

Upon careful observation, this domain contained a crumbling city — not particularly large, capable of housing at most twenty thousand people, no grander in scale than a small town, yet ringed by ancient city walls.

Ye Fan flew downward and landed on the ground. The Desolate Hut had a precise location, but he did not rush to go there. Instead, he first made his way to the city, intending to formally take possession of this domain.

The city was in ruins. Both massive gates were on the verge of collapse, and the moat was murky and choked with silt, nearly dried up, with a few loaches wriggling through the muck.

“Halt! Who are you?!”

Atop the ancient, crack-riddled city walls, a dozen or so soldiers stood watch — their armor disheveled, clutching iron spears and rusted long blades, their manner arrogant and overbearing as they shouted down at him.

“I am your lord. I have come here to take charge of this city,” Ye Fan said. At the same moment, he felt a faint stirring in his heart — this crumbling wall actually harbored undulations of divine power. It was far from as dilapidated as he had imagined. Most likely it was inscribed with powerful array formations, ones that by the look of them had existed for an incomparably long time.

“What lord? This land already has a master!” one particularly fierce soldier bellowed impatiently.

“Then let me go see him,” Ye Fan said.

“Wait outside first,” one of the men commanded.

Ye Fan was momentarily taken aback. He had only just arrived, and this group of soldiers was already trying to intimidate him from the start? He said nothing more and simply stood outside the city, waiting in quiet composure.

Yet a full half an hour passed, and not a single person came out. The soldiers on the wall were playing finger-guessing games while drinking their coarse wine, leaving him stranded outside.

Ye Fan smiled. These were nothing but petty soldiers with a smattering of cultivation — and they dared treat him this way? He rose into the air, preparing to force his way inside.

“Enemy attack! Defend the city!” the fierce soldiers bellowed.

Boom!

The dilapidated city erupted with divine radiance. Array formations emerged along the city walls, a curtain of light surging upward and enveloping the small ancient city completely, sealing it within.

“Kill him! He dares to attack our city!” someone shouted and clamored.

Ye Fan’s eyes turned cold. He had only just arrived, and someone was already trying to intimidate him? He thought of how this had originally been the Xiao Family’s fief, and he immediately understood.

“Are you trying to rebel? I have an imperial edict here — are you seeking death?!” he called out sharply.

“Nonsense. This land has a master. Bring your imperial edict here so I can have a look,” came the reply, as a middle-aged man finally appeared — wearing a suit of divine iron armor as he stepped up onto the city wall.

Ye Fan was surprised. This man was actually a cultivator at the fifth transformation of Dragon Transformation. Could a crumbling little city like this truly have a lord of such cultivation?

“Take a good look!” Ye Fan shook out his hand and tossed down a yellow cloth.

The man caught it, didn’t even glance at it, and with a violent tug tore it apart, saying, “This is a false imperial edict. Activate the formations — cut him down!”

Boom!

The divine radiance of the city blazed gloriously. Formation lines interwove and extended outward, grinding toward Ye Fan with extraordinary power — far beyond what any ordinary person could have laid down.

Ye Fan’s expression darkened. He had barely arrived and already run into something like this. In a cold voice he said, “It seems I’ll have to take this city down myself. Once I become its lord, I’ll give you all a proper welcome!”