At that moment, the horizon was ablaze with red. Burning clouds of fire spread across more than half the sky, and the ancient village along with its sweeping expanse of scholar trees was all outlined in a frame of gold.

At the edge of the ancient tree grove, before the stone tables and stone stools, Ye Fan and the others were eating dragon meat and drinking aged wine when suddenly the great shout rang out. They all raised their heads, gazing toward the sky.

A vast canopy of purple clouds swept in like a crushing tide, scattering the burning clouds of fire across the sky. Atop it stood a man — of medium build yet carrying a formidable aura — his eyes fixed intently on the ancient village below.

“Lord of Hut City — get yourself out here!” The man was remarkably domineering, bellowing at the top of his lungs, his hair a dense mass of purple, his eyes blazing like a pair of divine lanterns.

Ye Fan paid him no mind, turning instead to pour drinks for Princess Yudie, Cheng Hui, and the others, filling cup after cup.

“Lord of Hut City — come out here and meet your death!” The purple-haired man’s roar shook the mountains, sending the ancient scholar trees shuddering and raining down leaves, pulsing with a powerful undulation.

“Brother Ye, you’re remarkably composed. Someone is here to call you to account, and you’re going to get caught off guard,” Zhang Wen said, setting down his wine cup.

“Ye — Zhe — Tian — get out here!” The man in purple fixed his gaze on Ye Fan, standing atop his purple cloud, having now confirmed his identity.

“You’re looking for me?” Ye Fan drank down a cup of wine and looked up at the sky.

“Hand over Commandery Princess Qi’s dragon horse, then bind yourself and come beg forgiveness!” The purple-haired man looked down at them from above, his gaze sharp as an arrowhead as it shot downward.

“The dragon horse can’t be returned. As for binding myself — that’s not happening either,” Ye Fan said, shaking his head.

“Where is the dragon horse? Hand it over at once!” The purple-haired man’s voice boomed like a thunderclap, intense and imperious.

“The dragon horse is right here.” Ye Fan held up a horse bone, the meat stripped clean from every inch of it, and waved it at the sky.

“You…” The purple-haired man was livid. He had never seen anyone this audacious — someone who had actually stewed a dragon horse, and what’s more, was eating it right in front of him.

“The live horse is genuinely gone. Why don’t you come down and have some too — and we can send a bowl back to Commandery Princess Qi as well,” Ye Fan said.

“I’ll cut you down!” The purple-haired man snapped coldly. With two fingers pointing in unison, a purple dragon shot outward — a full hundred zhang in length — surging and roaring as it flew toward Ye Fan.

Clang!

Ye Fan sat on his stone stool without moving, raising his wine cup to meet it. The purple great dragon came clawing and snarling forward, yet was forcibly captured by him and compressed — transformed into a streak of condensed light that vanished into the wine cup.

“Remarkable!” Li Xinyue gasped nearby. A hundred-zhang great dragon — and Ye Fan had reduced it to half a cun in length and drawn it into a wine cup. That kind of technique was something few could ever display.

“Thank you for the gift — this wine has no spirit to it, so this will make it a little fiercer.” Ye Fan smiled, his finger releasing a radiance. On the spot he refined the dragon qi, transforming it into a strand of innate vital energy that coursed through the wine cup in a flow of purple mist.

He raised the cup and tossed it back in one gulp, then laughed aloud: “It would be rude not to return the favor!”

Ye Fan took up the wine jar, filled a porcelain cup to the brim, and sent it soaring upward — transforming it into a brilliant full moon cup aimed at the purple-haired man.

Hmph!

A cold snort sounded from the sky. A purple dragon claw reached out and wrapped around the cup, intending to seize it in the palm of the hand.

But in that instant, the wine cup blazed with brilliant radiance — like a full moon slowly rising — and smashed the dragon claw away before erupting outward in ten thousand streaks of sword radiance!

The cup of wine transformed into ten thousand droplets, becoming ten thousand strands of innate sword qi that surged and clashed in all directions, completely shattering the purple clouds. Light and radiance blazed for ten thousand zhang.

The purple-haired man was startled. He struck out repeatedly with his palm and fingers, finally dissipating the sword light that had burst into the sky. The wine cup cracked apart with a sharp sound and disintegrated into powder — and yet his fingers throbbed with a sharp, searing pain.

“So you do have some genuine ability!”

“Still planning to throw your weight around in my domain? If there’s nothing more, leave immediately,” Ye Fan replied.

“A petty little lord conducting himself like this — today I will capture you and drag you before Commandery Princess Qi to kowtow and confess your crimes!” The purple-haired man bellowed.

Boom!

He thrust down a great purple hand, grabbing toward Ye Fan. Like a massive mountain range descending, it rumbled with a sound like rolling thunder, shaking both heaven and earth.

Bang!

Ye Fan still did not rise from his seat. He simply raised a hand to meet it. A tremendous crack rang out, and the purple mist in the sky scattered — like a great mountain range collapsing and crumbling.

The purple-haired man was sent flying backward several hundred zhang. His heart seized with shock. If he hadn’t pulled back in urgent retreat, his palm and fingers might have been crippled. His expression turned immediately dark and grim.

“I’ve already spoken my words openly — if I don’t capture you and drag you back, what face will I have left? I will make you kneel before the Commandery Princess and confess your crimes!” The purple-haired man pushed harder, sweeping out one broad sleeve — enormous, heaven-blanketing — as it rolled and swept downward.

“Careful — that is the Sleeve Universe technique, a supreme secret art of the Southern Range!” Princess Yudie warned in a soft voice.

Many people knew this secret technique, yet only a few of the most ancient families of the Southern Range possessed the complete method. Once unleashed, heaven and earth could be swallowed — it was terrifying beyond measure.

Whoosh…

Gales erupted. Sand and stone flew through the air. The mountaintops in the distance were sheared off and sucked into the vast heavens-spanning sleeve — it swallowed all things, like a world-devouring black void.

Ye Fan’s expression changed. This was indeed a pinnacle secret art — and it was moving to swallow the entire village whole. He shot into the air, taking the fight directly to the attacker.

“Nothing but a little lord with a few tricks, and he dares provoke the talented geniuses of the Qishi Mansion. I’ve got you!” The purple-haired man smiled coldly, his great sleeve continuing to sweep and billow.

Within, mist swirled and coiled, and faint threads of primal chaos light flickered and gleamed — as though the heavens and earth were being created anew. The space inside was vast and without end.

Boom!

Ye Fan shot skyward, trying to break away, but a torrential force dragged at him, pulling him toward the great sleeve. There was no escaping it.

“A worthy technique of the Southern Range — terrifying beyond words, swallowing all things!” Below, Cheng Hui exclaimed in awe.

“Against this technique, anyone of the same level would be hard-pressed — they would be utterly suppressed. It holds an innate position of invincibility!” Li Xinyue too gave a soft sigh.

Boom!

The void erupted. The enormous robe sleeve blotted out the sky, covering all of heaven and earth. Ye Fan was forcibly drawn inside, and in an instant vanished completely from sight.

“City lord brother!”

“Let city lord brother out!”

In the ancient village, a group of small children were frightened into wailing and screaming.

“I ask that you go easy on him, good sir — please do not take his life,” Cheng Hui called out from below, sending his voice upward.

“He’s nothing but a petty little lord, a few divine abilities going to his head. He’ll have a hard enough time staying alive even if he comes crawling on his knees, let alone now,” the purple-haired man said coldly.

“What would you need in order to spare him?” Princess Yudie’s bright eyes shone clear as water, her jade countenance radiant, her long skirts swaying as she rose on the wind — ethereal and transcendent.

The purple-haired man caught sight of her and was momentarily struck by her beauty. He had seen Princess Yudie before at the Qishi Mansion, but had not yet known her identity.

“Have him kneel before the Qishi Mansion for three days and three nights — then perhaps he may be allowed to live.”

“You are far too full of yourself!” Suddenly, Ye Fan’s clear and cold voice came from within the sleeve.

“You’re inside my sleeve — you think you can still get out? The Sleeve Universe forms its own dimension. Within half an hour you’ll be completely refined away to nothing,” the purple-haired man said coldly.

Boom!

The interior of the sleeve erupted into violence — as though an entire world was collapsing within. A heart-shaking aura emanated outward, and it continued to bulge and swell.

“I was going to have you kneel before the Qishi Mansion — but now I’ll simply refine you away!” The purple-haired man pushed harder, his entire right arm blazing with light. The sleeve was like a great furnace, radiating ten thousand zhang of brilliance.

Thud!

Yet then, something astonishing happened. The sleeve continued to bulge and swell, erupting with one thunderous crack after another. The surrounding void was collapsing rapidly.

“What an incredible force!” Cheng Hui cried out in shock.

“Pulverizing the true void, obliterating all things — that force is absolutely terrifying. The Sleeve Universe can no longer contain it!” Zhang Wen was equally stunned.

Boom!

With a tremendous blast, the sleeve burst apart. Ye Fan emerged like a demon god, splitting the void with his palm as he sent the purple-haired man flying.

“You…”

The purple-haired man was horror-struck. In all its history, the Sleeve Universe — this supreme sacred art — had never once failed him. And now someone had broken it. His entire body had been split open, his very life-soul nearly shaken apart.

What manner of terrifying power was this?!

Everyone present was stunned beyond belief. The sleeve had evolved into a world unto itself — once trapped inside, among all those of the same generation there were very few who could escape.

The peak of physical force!

Ye Fan’s combat power left them all reeling with shock and awe. That he had physically battered his way out — even Princess Yudie’s cherry lips had parted wide, a gleam of astonishment lighting her beautiful eyes.

“Still planning to have me kneel before the Qishi Mansion? You can kneel outside the ancient village for a few days instead!”

Ye Fan unfolded his Circulation Word Secret — his speed incomparable — and closed the distance in an instant, punching the man downward.

Spit!

The purple-haired man vomited blood and plunged downward like a wooden stake, his body cracked open in multiple places, blood seeping steadily from the wounds.

Bang!

Ye Fan landed, and one kick sent the purple-haired man flying. By the time the sleeve’s Sleeve Universe had burst open, the man was already gravely wounded, with no remaining capacity to resist.

“I won’t make things too difficult for you — kneel outside the ancient village for three days and three nights. Since you wanted me to do exactly that before the Qishi Mansion, you can demonstrate it for me yourself.”

“Ahh…!” The purple-haired man screamed, struggling violently, the hair above his brows standing completely on end.

“Brother Ye, enough — let him go,” Princess Yudie said, stepping forward to persuade him. She was afraid of the situation spiraling beyond control.

Cheng Hui, Zhang Wen, and Li Xinyue also stepped forward to urge the same, trying to prevent an even greater upheaval from brewing.

“Very well — just one night of kneeling then,” Ye Fan said, sealing the purple-haired man in place with a well-placed immobilization technique and sending him off with a kick to the village entrance. He gave the matter no further thought.

“Do you truly intend to stay on as lord here for the long term?” Princess Yudie said. She and the other three were equally at a loss for words.

That night, deep within the immortal mountains, word of this reached certain ears, and within a small circle, discussion began to spread. Had it not been for the Qishi Mansion’s rule against leaving freely, a great many people would certainly have come to observe this spectacle for themselves.

“Did you hear? Commandery Princess Qi’s dragon horse was eaten, and one of her suitors couldn’t stand it and went to settle the score — only to end up kneeling in punishment outside an ancient village.”

“I heard long ago. That man’s a spectacular lord, truly. Pulling something like this off — it’s an absolute jaw-dropper!”

By the next day, word had spread to even more people, all of them astounded and buzzing with discussion.

“This little lord is something else entirely. The things he dares to do — it really leaves you speechless.”

“Commandery Princess Qi hasn’t come out of seclusion yet. When she does, she’ll definitely go after him.”

“Just wait — within a day or two, more of her suitors will definitely come looking. It’s a pity we can’t leave for now, or we’d definitely want to go and see this lord in person.”

Over the next several days, Ye Fan fought one battle after another without pause. In all, six suitors came looking to cause trouble, each determined to overpower him and drag him before the Qishi Mansion.

These were no ordinary individuals. They were the peak powerhouses of the five great domains — for nothing less would have gained them entry into the Qishi Mansion that opened only once every ten thousand years. Every one of them possessed formidable combat strength!

And yet, one by one, Ye Fan defeated them all. The news stirred a wave of heated discussion inside the Qishi Mansion. By now, a great many people knew that outside the immortal mountains there was a remarkably outstanding — and remarkably distinctive — lord.

All six of those powerhouses knelt outside the Desolate Hut for one night in turn, each returning heavily wounded. Three of them had ridden their mounts to the challenge — only for a peacock, a golden divine chimera, and a colorful phoenix-bird to meet the same fate, every one of them stewed and eaten.

“What the — that lord is absolutely spectacular. He ate three more spirit beasts!”

“Where did this person come from? Six powerhouses, all defeated. Not only did they kneel for a night — he ate their mounts too. What kind of person even does that?”

Inside the Qishi Mansion, a full half of its members had heard about this by now, and it had set off a considerable stir. Word was on everyone’s lips.

If it weren’t so difficult to leave the Qishi Mansion, there would certainly have been a great crowd rushing out to see this extraordinary lord. Even many of the women had grown curious, wanting to see this person for themselves.

“Just now — the seventh person was defeated. His purple qilin, needless to say, is already sitting inside that man’s big iron pot being stewed.”

Everyone was left absolutely dumbfounded, desperate to run out and see it for themselves.

“That fellow has developed a taste for spirit beast meat now. Word is he’s had a great bow specially made, and he wanders around his domain all day saying there are many exotic beasts nearby — he can go hunting and treat himself.”

When this news came back, half the Qishi Mansion gaped in disbelief, and all of them desperately wanted to go see what manner of lord this could possibly be.

“The greatest lord in history — it truly leaves one speechless,” was all anyone could say.

“Commandery Princess Qi has come out of seclusion!” That day, when this news broke, everyone was electrified.

They knew the real protagonist had arrived, and that there would be an enormous upheaval to follow.

“Even if it means getting punished — I have to leave the Qishi Mansion and go watch!” More than a few people were saying exactly that.