In Hut City, everyone knew that this city lord of theirs had no interest in attending to proper affairs. These days he had gone and made himself a great bow, and had taken to hunting within his own domain.
“What prey is there even here?”
“Probably none at all — within a radius of a hundred li it’s all barren land. There aren’t any large predatory beasts whatsoever. At most you might find a few rabbits.”
The people of the city were all puzzled, unsure why he would do such a thing. Yet just a few days later, they were left completely speechless.
“Dear heaven — is this really what the city lord hunted? It’s like a small mountain. That… that looks like it might be a chimera!”
Everyone was dumbfounded. To hunt a legendary exotic beast of incomparable rarity on this desolate stretch of land — it was like something from a fantasy tale, leaving everyone in a stupor.
In the Desolate Hut, the villagers had been eating wild game frequently of late, and many of them had actually had too much of a good thing — for the exotic beasts were all incomparably precious, every one of them a sacred tonic capable of restoring one’s very essence, worth a fortune beyond counting.
Dragon lizard hides, chimera pelts, phoenix-bird feathers — all hung drying at the tops of the ancient scholar trees, a striking sight to behold, their scales and feathers shimmering in all five colors of the spectrum.
Ye Fan had now defeated numerous powerhouses in succession. Some among them had been remarkable figures, their esoteric arts inexhaustible, and they had given him a great deal of inspiration. Battle after battle had brought him no small gains, and a breakthrough into the Dragon Transformation secret realm might occur at any moment.
During these days, he had often sat in quiet meditation outside the scholar tree grove, sensing a peculiar qi rhythm in the air — yet unable to grasp it firmly in his hands.
The secret behind the Desolate Hut — the place where an ancient Great Emperor had built his hermitage in his later years — was something no one from ancient times to the present had ever been able to explain. Many a lord had perished there in meditation.
Ye Fan had also ventured into the grove once to carefully seek enlightenment, yet had sensed a thread of danger and dared not continue. So he had come outside the grove instead — for he had no intention of dying there without reason or cause.
“Ye — Zhe — Tian — get out here!”
On that very day, a great shout rang out from beyond the Desolate Hut once again. Clouds and mists surged and churned. From the direction of the immortal mountains, figures appeared one after another — so many that no one could have said for certain how many powerhouses had come. Every one of them was an elite from the five great domains.
Such a massive gathering of people — each with their own extraordinary history, each a legend in their own right in some part of the world — was no easy feat to bring together. Yet at this moment, more than a hundred and fifty of them had assembled outside the Desolate Hut, forming an enormous wave of pressure, immortal mists rolling and clouds churning, as though an army of celestial soldiers and generals had descended.
“Ye Zhetian — come out!” Among them, a woman’s voice rang out cold and clear. Though her voice was lovely, it carried a thread of icy intent.
“City lord brother went back to the city — he’s not here,” the little snotty kid called up to the sky, wiping a streak of snot from his face with straightforward honesty. “You’ve come riding so many spirit beasts — we’re all getting tired of eating them.”
“Greedy little brat!” One of Commandery Princess Qi’s attendants was furious, snapping out a cold grunt.
“Forward!” Commandery Princess Qi swept her immortal robes and rode her five-colored cloud toward Hut City. The large contingent behind her followed from a distance — they had come specifically to watch the spectacle.
For the moment Commandery Princess Qi came out of seclusion, there was bound to be enormous upheaval. This was a woman who was not only beautiful as an immortal, but fiery and untameable as a red pepper — stirring up trouble even without provocation. To say nothing of how someone had eaten her beloved dragon horse.
Outside Hut City, clouds of every color drifted in and settled around the city walls. Mist and radiance swirled — as though the gates of the celestial realm had been thrown open.
“City lord — something terrible has happened! So many immortals have arrived!”
Many people were panicking and running to report. When Ye Fan heard, he lifted the great bow from the wall, slung the quiver of arrows across his back, and strode out.
“City lord, what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be running?!”
“Hunting. To treat you all to some meat,” Ye Fan replied.
“Ye Zhetian — get out here now!” Commandery Princess Qi called out, her voice clear and crisp as pearls cascading over jade — yet with a murderous intent rippling beneath its surface.
When Ye Fan emerged, even he was momentarily taken aback. This many people had come — and hadn’t the Qishi Mansion forbidden free passage in and out?
If all hundred and fifty-odd of them came at once, even a few grand masters would have to turn and flee. These were no ordinary powerhouses — they were the future kings of each corner of the world, the finest talents of the five great domains.
“Give back our Commandery Princess’s dragon horse!” one of the attendants shouted, full of righteous indignation — with her master present now, he no longer felt any fear at all.
“Are you coming to cause trouble in my domain again?” Ye Fan asked. He had nothing to be afraid of either — at worst, he would simply dust himself off and walk away. Whenever he wished to return and seek enlightenment at the Desolate Hut, he could always come back.
Ahead, a great dark mass of people pressed forward — yet most of them were there purely to watch. Many among them had already started murmuring among themselves.
“This lord isn’t even that old — and he’s already defeated so many powerhouses in a row. He’s quite the remarkable figure. Why didn’t he just enter the Qishi Mansion?”
“I’m here representing the cultivators of the Eastern Wastelands to spectate!” From somewhere in the back, a loud voice rang out — no one could tell who had shouted it.
Ye Fan found the voice oddly familiar. He suddenly thought of it: that was Jiang Huairen. He hadn’t expected them to have actually made it in. Given their cultivation levels, it should have been quite difficult — yet they had pulled it off.
“I’m here representing the cultivators of the Southern Range to spectate!” Another voice chimed in to stir things up.
This time, Ye Fan looked carefully and spotted a round, white-faced figure. No matter how he looked, he didn’t recognize him — yet instinct told him this was someone he knew. He quietly activated his divine eyes, and one look left him completely stunned.
That despicable bastard Duan De!
Ye Fan had never in a thousand years expected that the unscrupulous Daoist had infiltrated the Qishi Mansion — well-fed and plump, looking positively prosperous, utterly unlike his former self.
“I’m here representing the ravishing bodhisattvas of the Western Desert to spectate!” Duan De had moved to a different position and was sending a covert voice transmission, but Ye Fan’s divine eyes saw everything with perfect clarity.
That shameless rascal — he’s definitely well past middle age by now, and he’s still pretending to be young and sneaking in. Up to no good for certain — definitely plotting to con someone.
“Ye Zhetian — the Commandery Princess is speaking to you. Do you hear her?!” Just then, one of the attendants bellowed, shouting and screaming at Ye Fan.
“Speak then. What do you want?” Ye Fan asked with complete indifference.
“Return the Commandery Princess’s dragon horse — or we’ll bury you alive!” The Commandery Princess herself had fallen silent after arriving. It was all her attendants who were doing the shouting.
“Come on then, let’s go find a pit,” Ye Fan said, flying out toward the open wilderness.
“You really do have foresight — already digging your own grave in advance. You ate the Commandery Princess’s dragon horse and you still think you can act this way? Clearly you’re tired of living,” someone taunted.
“You’re mistaken. What I mean is — I’ll bury all of you,” Ye Fan said with a pleasant smile, not looking back as he pressed forward.
“This outstanding lord is actually remarkably calm. They’ve brought the fight to his very door and he couldn’t care less.”
“Come on — let’s go see just how powerful he really is.”
The crowd of spectators murmured among themselves, alive with curiosity. More than a few of the female cultivators had come as well, all of them wanting to see exactly what kind of person this was.
Within a radius of a hundred li the land was barren — not completely bare, but with no spiritual veins to speak of, nothing but desolate mountains in every direction. There were no proper fruit trees at all, only thorns and brambles.
Everyone rode their clouds to a halt above a stretch of desolate hillside. Commandery Princess Qi stepped forward. One glance and all was clear — she was a strikingly beautiful woman, devastatingly lovely enough to shake a nation, the kind of beauty that stirred trouble without any effort at all.
No wonder she has so many suitors. Even before she came out of seclusion, so many rushed ahead to stand up for her. Ye Fan finally understood. This was a woman of ruin-a-kingdom beauty — one for whom a sovereign might willingly surrender his throne.
She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, her gaze luminous and full of spirit, her complexion soft and dewy white, her lips and teeth gleaming, her hair black as midnight and flowing like water, adorned with a golden hairpin step ornament, swaying gently with each movement, jewels and gold flowing with light, long tassels swinging and shimmering.
“So it was you… who ate my dragon horse?!” Commandery Princess Qi’s delicate brows were knitted together, her silver teeth biting down in suppressed fury, that flowing gaze like a rainbow carrying threads of icy coldness.
“Say what you have to say. Do whatever you’re going to do. You keep coming uninvited to my domain to cause trouble — I am thoroughly tired of it,” Ye Fan said, sounding entirely impatient.
“You…” Commandery Princess Qi’s nation-toppling countenance flickered with a thread of anger — yet it swiftly transformed into a spring-like smile. “You certainly are something. You ate my dragon horse and stand there so self-righteously. Today I will capture you, and henceforth you shall pull my carriage exclusively!”
“You want me to be your dragon horse?” Ye Fan said, tilting his eyes at this troublesome beauty.
“You’re not entirely dim-witted. That is precisely what I mean.” Commandery Princess Qi smiled in a way that was deeply captivating, her eyes shining with brilliant clarity, enough to dim the color of ten thousand flowers.
“That doesn’t quite seem fair. How about we make a gentleman’s agreement?” Ye Fan said, crossing his arms, his manner bordering on teasing as his gaze swept over her from top to bottom.
“What sort of agreement?” Commandery Princess Qi glanced at him, instantly wary.
“A fair fight between the two of us. If I lose, I’ll go and pull your carriage. If you lose, you become my spirit beast,” Ye Fan said without missing a beat.
“Scoundrel!” Commandery Princess Qi’s complexion — smooth and white as the finest jade — flushed rose-red, her delicate brows shooting straight upward. Those large, poetry-suffused eyes brimmed with fury.
Whoosh!
Behind her, the entire crowd erupted into an uproar. This lord was truly something else — utterly brazen. What he was essentially saying was that Commandery Princess Qi should serve as his mount?
“Where did this little lord even come from — has he eaten the gall of a celestial beast? He’s right next to the Qishi Mansion, and not the slightest bit low-key. Doing things like this without any restraint whatsoever — isn’t he afraid that the ‘red pepper contingent’ will wipe him off the map?”
“Did I hear that correctly? This fellow is genuinely outrageous!”
The crowd of spectators who had come in a group — first stunned into silence, then buzzing with discussion — were all astonished. Commandery Princess Qi’s fiery nature was known to all. Very few people dared to go against her.
“What do you mean, scoundrel — isn’t this entirely fair? I lose, I go pull your carriage. You lose, you come pull mine. What’s wrong with that?”
“Drop dead!” Commandery Princess Qi was furious, truly incensed.
Swish!
A rain of flowers cascaded through the sky — dazzling and crystalline, fragrance intoxicating to the very marrow, so that every person felt completely at ease throughout their body, every pore opening wide.
Yet within this shower of beautiful blossoms lurked infinite murderous intent. Every petal was capable of killing. Small worlds began to open, one after another, emerging within the void.
“Three Thousand Small Worlds! That ancient secret art — isn’t it long since lost? How has it appeared again in the world?”
“This is the supreme secret art of the Southern Range — its power is frightening beyond words.”
“It is said to have been created by the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Range. This ancient secret art has further stages — advanced further, it will evolve into Three Thousand Great Worlds, capable of turning all of heaven into one’s own power to wield.”
…
Ye Fan heard their discussion and felt a headache coming on. According to what Princess Yudie had told him, the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Range was the Ruthless man of the Eastern Wastelands. The esoteric arts he had left behind in the world were exceedingly few.
Yet every single one was a supreme sacred art without equal anywhere in existence — nearly impossible to break. He had never in his wildest expectations imagined that this Commandery Princess Qi had mastered one of them, and from the look of it, she had cultivated it to the realm of perfection.
“You’re challenging me to a fight — if you lose, are you willing to honor the wager?” Ye Fan called out while dodging, intentionally unsettling her concentration.
Commandery Princess Qi’s long skirts billowed and swayed, blossoms fell like rain blanketing the sky, she stood at the center — transcendent and unsullied — as her slender hands moved in fluid arcs, each petal evolving and transforming.
Pop, pop…
One flower, one world — three thousand blossoms, three thousand small worlds, making this place seem like a dream, impossible to distinguish what was real.
Ye Fan swung his fists and struck, moving through these countless small worlds, trying to force his way forward. But as one blossom was destroyed, another bloomed in its place — world after world endlessly replacing itself.
“The Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Range was truly without rival across all ages. Every sacred art he created is supreme and unmatched in all existence!”
Everyone was utterly awestruck. This technique held an innate position of invincibility — cutting off one’s own body from the enemy and using the force of all the heavens to crush all opposition.
And yet, everyone was equally astonished by Ye Fan. His combat power was extraordinary — with a single punch he could obliterate a small world, moving through the void like an ancient war god of ages past, advancing without hesitation, pressing relentlessly toward Commandery Princess Qi.
“What you are doing is futile!” Commandery Princess Qi smiled — a smile that could overturn empires. Her hair whipped behind her, radiance flowing from her gaze, bewitching all who looked upon her. A true calamitous beauty, living up to every word of her reputation.
Blossoms opened and fell, small worlds shattered and evolved again — more perfect and impenetrable than before, taking the shape of boundless heavens to suppress Ye Fan within.
“Are you willing to make the wager?” Ye Fan taunted.
“Fine — you lose, and you pull my carriage. Now face your death!” Commandery Princess Qi laughed in a way that was intoxicating to the very bone. Her fair wrists lifted gracefully, her white jade arms glowing with radiance. Her slender legs in their flowing skirts appeared and vanished with each movement, light and nimble as dance.
The peerless beauty danced across the heavens. Crystalline blossoms rained down all around, each one blooming into a small world. From her lips came a voice like a dream: “One flower, one world — one blade of grass, one paradise!”
Ye Fan advanced without hesitation, doing battle with Commandery Princess Qi, meeting head-on the sacred art left behind in the world by the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Range — his physical strength at its absolute peak, shattering every obstacle in his path!