Ye Fan’s left arm encircled her slender waist; his right hand pressed against her gleaming, pure-white, beautiful neck — radiance pulsing from his palm. One gentle downward stroke, and a perfect head would fall.
In that moment, even the sound of falling leaves could be heard. All of heaven and earth was utterly still. Every person present stared at the two of them, the atmosphere tense and heavy.
Princess Qi had just demonstrated an unparalleled sacred art — breathtaking and transcendent, far beyond the ordinary world. Who among them would dare claim they could challenge her? Yet she had lost, and thoroughly — captured in another’s hands.
“You…”
Princess Qi’s face flushed crimson. Her immortal form trembled slightly with anger, yet she could not speak. With Three Thousand Small Worlds unleashed, who could contend with her? She had been unstoppable across the Southern Ridge, and yet she had lost to a lord of no renown whatsoever — leaving her furious and vexed all at once.
“You lost. Will you honor the bet?” Ye Fan had seized her. They stood this close together; her fragrance drifted to him and her flowing hair brushed against his nostrils — soft and ticklish.
Princess Qi could rightly be called a beauty to bring ruin — her bones delicate, her skin like warm jade, her looks unparalleled throughout all the world. The jade hairpin atop her head, with its long flowing tassels and pearls wound with gold, shimmered with flowing radiance. A single frown or smile from her was enough to throw an entire kingdom into disarray.
That jade-like body trembled with anger, ivory-smooth skin shimmering with a pearlescent glow, her body’s fragrance rising like orchid and musk. She wanted to struggle, but feared her beautiful head would roll.
“You had best not move rashly — otherwise I’m afraid I might accidentally hurt you,” Ye Fan said in an even tone, yet with a quality of authority within it that made her go still.
“What do you want?” Princess Qi asked.
“Honor the bet. We agreed on terms beforehand,” Ye Fan said with a smile.
“Hubbub!”
In the distance, those who had been watching the battle all broke into an uproar. This little lord had quite some nerve — did he truly intend to take Princess Qi as his spirit beast? Setting aside the Pepper Legion alone, not even the other people of the Southern Ridge would agree to it. This woman had an extensive network of connections across the Southern Ridge.
“According to the terms, I don’t seem to have agreed to anything, actually. I only said you’d be my dragon horse if you lost — I never agreed to the second half of the conditions.” The beauty tried to wriggle out of it, though there was a point to what she said.
“There’s no such convenient loophole. Since you acknowledged the terms of the bet, regardless of whether you stated the second condition or not, it is of equivalent effect,” Ye Fan said with a smile. One finger traced slowly across her snow-white neck; a gleam of light pulsed from it.
“Don’t do anything,” the beauty snapped irritably. For the first time in her life, she had been taken hostage — standing this close to a man. Her dark brows arched in fury, and she very much wanted to bite him.
“Don’t you act recklessly — release the Princess at once!” In the distance, the beauty’s attendants were completely stunned. Their mistress had been taken down, filling their hearts with anxiety — yet there was nothing they could do.
“You are all truly noisy,” Ye Fan said, sweeping a glance over them, unconcerned.
“What would it take for you to release Princess Qi?” A man from within the Hall of Exceptional Scholars stepped forward, looking quite imposing.
“In victory, show mercy where mercy can be shown — the outcome has been decided. Release the Princess,” another stepped forward and spoke.
“If I had lost just now, what would the situation be right now?” Ye Fan said with a smile.
“Well…” Everyone fell silent. Given Princess Qi’s character, she would certainly have made him become her dragon horse — there was no possibility she would have let him go.
“There you have it. Honor the bet. From today onward, she belongs with me,” Ye Fan said in a single sentence, causing a tremendous commotion.
This little lord had quite the audacity — daring to take someone like the beauty away, without fear of bringing great catastrophe upon himself? This was no ordinary princess — she was the pearl of the Southern Ridge, with a background so formidable it was frightening.
“You… release me. I never made you any promise. I never said what would happen if I lost!” the beauty argued stubbornly, refusing to acknowledge the agreement entirely.
“Your wriggling out of it is useless,” Ye Fan said, paying her no mind. He sealed her body and, taking her with him, flew off toward the City of Reeds.
Behind them, over a hundred people stood there dumbfounded. They had come to watch the battle, all expecting this little lord to suffer greatly — and yet he had simply seized the beauty and, bold as brass, abducted her and left.
“Stop right there!”
“Put the Princess down!”
Many people rushed forward to block Ye Fan. To let him take the Southern Ridge’s pearl away like this — these guardians of the beauty might as well smash their own heads against a wall. Every single one of them wore cold smiles.
“What — do you also wish to fight me in a wager?” Ye Fan glanced at them. One hand moved against that neck as graceful and white as a swan’s — one downward blow, and it would be head separated from body.
“Don’t do anything reckless. We’ll give you sufficient compensation — just release the Princess,” one among them shouted.
“Fine, no problem. Go prepare a few dozen jars of Dragon Marrow for me — come to the City of Reeds to ransom her,” Ye Fan said. Then, like a streak of clear light, he was gone.
“You… stop!”
The group gave chase. They could hardly just let this go — they truly feared he might do something drastic. Princess Qi’s fame was too great; with looks breathtaking enough to astonish all the world, to let this extraordinary lord carry her off was genuinely worrying.
“My lord, you’ve returned…” The soldiers of the City of Reeds were startled and frightened as so many people pursued their lord, all soaring through the air — it made their hair stand on end.
“Go — set up the large iron cauldron and boil water!” The first order Ye Fan gave upon returning was exactly this.
“Ye, who covers the sky… what are you planning to do?” The beauty was startled.
“To slaughter a spirit beast and eat the meat,” Ye Fan replied with complete indifference.
“I’ll fight you to the death!” Princess Qi was furious — yet unfortunately, she could not move a single inch.
“You surnamed Ye, don’t do anything rash — I’ll send you a real spirit beast, just release the Princess!” From behind, someone blurted out desperately in a loud shout.
“What you mean to say is that Princess Qi is worth the same as one spirit beast?” Ye Fan asked.
“That’s not what I meant — if you want a spirit beast to eat, I’ll send one, just please don’t do anything crazy.”
“None of them are as tender and delicate as the beauty,” Ye Fan said with a smile.
“You’re the calamity, not me!” The Princess opened her mouth and bit — her pearly teeth flashing.
Behind them, everyone felt dizzy. Even knowing that Ye Fan was joking around and not being serious, they still felt their hearts lurch. He truly wasn’t treating Princess Qi like the pearl of the Southern Ridge at all.
“Seal the city!”
The second thing Ye Fan did upon returning to the city was to activate the ancient city’s formation runes. One by one, lines of law-force wove themselves into existence, forming a curtain of light that sealed the entire city below.
Over ten people charged forward to attack the city — yet not one of them could enter. Two of them nearly had their bodies cleaved apart by sword-light erupting from the city walls, leaving everyone completely stunned.
Such a small city and yet it had formation runes laid down by a figure of Saint Master caliber — there was something decidedly uncanny about it. They were not Ye Fan; without the Movement Character Art, there was simply no way to break in. They nearly wounded themselves in the attempt.
“You are provoking the dignity of a lord within his own domain — coming to cause trouble in my territory. Don’t blame me for being discourteous,” Ye Fan dragged over a chair and sat on top of the city wall, watching them with a pleased smile.
“Release the Princess.”
“Can’t you say anything else? At present she is my captive. If you want to ransom her, prepare a few dozen jars of Dragon Marrow.”
“Are you extorting us? A single jar of Dragon Marrow is nearly impossible to find anywhere in the world, and you want dozens?!” Those people gnashed their teeth.
“This brother here — if you help me blast open the city gate, I’ll give you a handsome reward,” someone walked up to the barbarian man in animal skins and pleaded.
The cold young man with disheveled hair who had killed a Royal Body cultivator with a single slap — the chubby nine-year-old child — and this barbarian man hefting a wolf-fang club — it was impossible not to notice any of them.
Ye Fan had long since spotted them and quietly assessed them. These were almost certainly several prodigies, each surely possessed of heaven-defying abilities.
“I don’t know any of you, and I have no quarrel with him,” the barbarian man scratched his head with an honest air and, hefting his wolf-fang club, turned to leave. “I’m heading back.”
In the end, the over one hundred people all withdrew — only a dozen or so remained to press the matter. Ye Fan simply took out a great bow and began shooting them.
“Damn it, he shot my four-unlike beast dead!”
“You surnamed Ye, give me back my white tiger!”
The dozen or so people were furious. The arrows Ye Fan loosed were heavy as ten thousand jun, capable of piercing through a mountain — let alone their mounts. Three exotic beasts fell to the ground with a sound.
What was even more outrageous was that Ye Fan charged out of the city, hauled the three massive creatures back inside, set up a great iron cauldron on the city wall, and began stewing the meat.
“This lord really is something else — eating spirit beasts again!” These people were going mad, yet there was absolutely nothing they could do — there was no way to break in.
Over two days, those dozen or so people found that eight of their mounts had been seized by that extraordinary lord and actually stewed in the cauldron, enough to make them seethe with rage.
It was only after Ye Fan had knocked down three of them and hauled them into the city that the others finally went pale — not a shred of defiance left — and retreated in miserable, tearless sorrow.
Within the Hall of Exceptional Scholars, more than half the people had come to know of this matter. A chorus of astonished exclamations arose. There was actually a lord like this nearby — one who had abducted the pearl of the Southern Ridge. It required an extraordinary measure of courage.
“The Southern Ridge produced a few prodigies, didn’t it? How come none of them have gone to rescue her?”
“The Southern Ridge’s prodigies are all in closed-door cultivation and haven’t heard the news yet. Once they emerge, there will certainly be a great wave of commotion.”
In the City of Reeds, Ye Fan smiled and invited his soldiers to drink wine and eat meat. The bone broth of spirit beasts wafted a fragrant aroma from the great iron cauldron, set up not far away.
The beauty nearly fainted. This barbarian man had definitely eaten her dragon horse the same way. She felt the very roots of her teeth ache — yet there was nothing she could do about it; even she herself had been taken prisoner now.
“Beauty, come here and pour the wine — serve as a handmaid here for one month, and I’ll naturally let you go,” Ye Fan said, swirling his wine flask idly.
“In your dreams!” Princess Qi was incensed — yet it lent her a certain allure that captivated the heart and spirit.
Beside them, the soldiers’ eyes had gone nearly straight, and they said, “My lord, doesn’t the lord’s manor still lack a mistress? This one would be excellent.”
“Yes — she suits the lord very well,” the group of soldiers said, bleary-eyed from drink, with not a trace of restraint in their speech.
“You surnamed Ye, release me immediately and I’ll give you ample benefit,” the beauty said, growing a little afraid.
“Actually, I’m quite interested in your Three Thousand Small Worlds — why don’t you teach it to me?” Ye Fan said with a smile.
“Impossible!” Princess Qi flatly refused. Even if it killed her, she would not transmit this secret art.
“Then there’s nothing to be done — you’ll simply have to serve as my handmaid for one month. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what will happen,” Ye Fan said. He sealed her cultivation and directed her to serve tea and pour water.
“Release me and I’ll tell you the secret of an Immortal Mansion,” Princess Qi said.
“If there were truly such an immortal burial ground, would you really leave it for me? You’d have gone there yourself long ago,” Ye Fan said with a light smile.
“This Immortal Mansion has only just been deduced — not a single person has entered it yet. Currently, various major powers are all working toward it. The outstanding disciples of the Hall of Exceptional Scholars will have the chance to seek immortal fortune there. Release me and you will gain that opportunity,” Princess Qi said.
Ye Fan shook his head. “There’s nothing substantially beneficial in that. If I went, I might lose my life inside.”
“You have no idea what kind of opportunity awaits there. There may be ancient scriptures within it — perhaps even a supreme weapon of the utmost Dao will emerge there. It holds secrets connected to the immortal realm!” The beauty’s eyes shone with a peculiar gleam, entrancing and intoxicating, almost like a murmured dream.
“Oh? Is that so?” Ye Fan walked over, tilted up her chin, and said in a near-teasing tone, “Somehow I feel like you’re trying to harm me — trying to lead me into a pit of fire.”
The beauty opened her mouth and bit, missed her mark, turned her head aside, and said: “Believe it or not — this is a superb opportunity to uncover the hidden mysteries of the immortal realm.”