"You don't recognize me?"
Ye Ming's confident smile froze on his face as he saw the confusion in Yan You'er's eyes.
"No... this... you really don't know me?"
Ye Ming pointed at himself, asking with disbelief.
This wasn't the information Su Chirui had given him!
In his previous conversation with Su Chirui's sister, she had explicitly told him that his name was not only famous in the mortal world but also in the secluded lands.
But if Su Chirui was telling the truth, Yan You'er shouldn't be unfamiliar with him!
What was going on?
"Uh!"
Yan You'er also felt a bit awkward. She tried to maintain a smile and said, "Young master, due to my innate origin power attribute, my sect has kept me largely unaware of external affairs to hide and protect me. So..."
She lowered her head slightly, truly not recognizing him.
"Oh... so that's how it is! Ha... ha!"
At this moment, Ye Ming desperately wanted to tear open a spatial rift and dive in.
It was too embarrassing.
"Then... um! May I ask if you are Mr. Ye?"
Just then, an old man in simple clothes, not far behind Yan You'er, slowly walked over and asked tentatively.
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Ye Ming's eyes lit up. He suddenly looked at the old man in simple clothes – a lifesaver!
"Yes! This junior is Ye Ming!"
He immediately replied, finally being recognized.
"Ye... Ye Ming!"
Hearing the name, Yan You'er's beautiful eyes widened, and she blurted out, "Are you the extremely arrogant Lord of Chaos from the outside world?"
But as soon as she spoke, she realized her words were inappropriate and quickly waved her hand, "No... no! I didn't mean it like that!"
"The extremely arrogant Lord of Chaos?"
Ye Ming was a bit bewildered.
When had he acquired such a title?
Su Chirui hadn't mentioned it to him.
"Who gave me this title?"
Ye Ming looked at Yan You'er, completely clueless.
However, from the title "Chaos," he could vaguely guess something.
After all, he had heard this title long ago.
It was when he saw the Dark Clan members appear at an auction in the capital of Hua Country, they had called cultivators like Ying Qianshi this.
And at that time, the Dark Clan members wanted to capture them.
It was only because Ye Ming intervened that they failed.
But now, Ye Ming also bore the title "Chaos." Thinking about it, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
However, the prefix "extremely arrogant" made Ye Ming a bit displeased.
Wasn't this slandering him?
"This..."
Faced with Ye Ming's questioning, Yan You'er didn't know how to answer. She looked at the old man in simple clothes, giving him frantic glances.
She genuinely had no idea about the origin of this title.
As she had said before, she had awakened a Saint-tier origin power attribute, and her sect had kept her hidden in the shadows to protect her, minimizing her contact with the outside world.
Only now, after gaining some self-protection capabilities, did she reveal herself.
"Mr. Ye! This... this title is just something people casually call you. It... it doesn't mean anything else!"
The old man in simple clothes clearly avoided Ye Ming's gaze, not daring to look him in the eye.
But his stammering words made it obvious to anyone that something was amiss.
Yan You'er covered her forehead, feeling a bit speechless.
"Mmm!"
Ye Ming stared at the old man in simple clothes with a half-smile. He slightly raised his hand, spatial power swirling in his palm. With a sudden clench, the space around the old man instantly collapsed, and the man himself stood before a dark, terrifying rift.
The chilling aura of death spread from his back to his heart, the suffocating pressure causing his soul to tremble.
He had never imagined that he would be so close to death.
"Spare... spare my life!"
The old man in simple clothes immediately fell to his knees, his clothes soaked in cold sweat. His face, pale as paper, twitched uncontrollably.
This was fear and despair.
His cultivation was in the Origin Soul Realm, yet he had no power to resist. It was unimaginable.
"Speak!"
Ye Ming admired the spatial power in his hand, his tone casual, as if he hadn't done anything.
Seeing this, Yan You'er's heart tightened.
Only now did she realize that the young man before her possessed a somewhat unpredictable temperament. Most critically, it wasn't evident on the surface.
This was the most dangerous.
"Yes... yes!"
The old man in simple clothes swallowed hard, not daring to waste any words, and directly revealed what he knew.
As for the red-robed elder and the others not far away, they didn't dare to make any rash moves. After witnessing the means Ye Ming displayed, they had long lost any thought of hostility.
Being able to keep their lives was good enough.
Several minutes later.
After listening to the old man's account, Ye Ming's expression visibly soured. It could also be described as "laughing without tears."
"I..."
Ye Ming opened his mouth, wanting to complain, but ultimately shook his head, a look of helplessness on his face. "You people in the secluded lands really know how to play!"
He was truly impressed by those cunning individuals.
The reason for Ye Ming's reaction was that the people from the secluded lands were actually using him as an excuse to enter the mortal world.
That's right!
An excuse.
Everyone in the secluded lands knew that to leave the secluded lands, they would have to violate the ancestral teachings set by the ancient sages tens of thousands of years ago.
Regardless of their personal thoughts, violating ancestral teachings was a shameful act.
Therefore, stepping into the mortal world carried a certain degree of apprehension.
However, Ye Ming's appearance provided them with a justifiable reason to openly leave the secluded lands.
More precisely, what Ye Ming had done was exploited by them.
First, Ye Ming was a cultivator, an undeniable fact. Moreover, he did not belong to the secluded lands.
Thus, the first step was to label him as a "Lord of Chaos."
This way, some people could "feign the excuse of capturing the Lord of Chaos" to step out of the secluded lands.
This was permitted by the ancestral teachings.
But then, a problem arose. Capturing one "Lord of Chaos" couldn't possibly warrant the entire secluded lands mobilizing, which was clearly inappropriate.
Therefore, Ye Ming's actions in the mortal world became the key point they exploited.
What had Ye Ming done?
He live-streamed teaching immortal cultivation!
The people of the mortal world might not know what those cultivation techniques were, but true cultivators couldn't be deceived.
This led them to redefine Ye Ming as: a "Lord of Chaos" disrupting the mortal world and systematically promoting heretical immortal methods.
Finally, after a meeting of the eight super sects, a decision was made: mobilize all forces to eliminate the Lord of Chaos and his accomplices.
This decree, once issued, effectively abolished the ancestral command that restricted the people of the secluded lands.