I heard you had a white moonlight who died young.

The sect leader beckoned, and Lu Changfu, understanding, stepped forward. The sect leader turned and handed him the key, saying softly, "You remember what I taught you about dispelling formations, right?"

"This disciple remembers."

“Go and bring Bing Nandong here. Tell him to think twice before he acts, and that asking others for help is useless.”

"Yes." Lu Changfu stood still, watching the sect leader and Murong Xiao's departing figures. Only then did he turn around and look at the snow-capped mountains behind him. The Immortal Venerable's figure was no longer visible. For some reason, he felt that the Immortal Venerable's face vaguely resembled Fan Zhiyi, yet not quite.

Unfortunately, ten years have passed, and he has almost forgotten what Fan Zhiyi looks like.

Lu Changfu suddenly let out a cold laugh, it was unclear whether he was laughing at himself or at someone else, then turned and left. He traversed mountain after mountain, returning from snow to verdant green, from light to shadow, and finally stopped.

Thick iron chains pierced through the collarbone of the person standing in the middle, and new iron chains suspended his wrists. Even vulnerable parts such as his throat and waist were not spared from being bound.

The man's clothes were still faintly visible as originally pure white, but unfortunately, due to the accumulation of bloodstains over time, most of them had turned dark black.

His head was bowed, his disheveled hair obscuring his face, making it impossible to see his features. He was quiet and still, as if he were dead. So rather than saying he was standing, it would be more accurate to say that he was maintaining his posture solely by relying on these chains.

Looking at the whole picture, he was actually in a pool of water, which was knee-deep. Just by getting close, one could feel the coldness of the water.

Lu Changfu had seen this scene far too many times. In fact, even when he first saw it, he didn't react much. He couldn't afford to have any reaction that the sect leader didn't want to see.

"Nan Dong, long time no see." Lu Changfu maintained his standard smile. "The sect leader asked me to take you out."

The person in front of him remained motionless, and Lu Changfu paid no attention, beginning to remove the formation as the sect leader had taught him in the past. In fact, apart from the first time he came, when the sect leader personally led him and taught him how to dispel the formation, Lu Changfu had come on his own the following times.

Lu Changfu understood the sect leader's test. The sect leader wanted to see if Lu Changfu would save Bing Nandong because of past friendship. So Lu Changfu never had such thoughts. He was not stupid and had no need to walk into a trap. According to his current ability, he could not defeat the sect leader. His father was also firmly under his control, which made him have to consider every step he took in Tianyun Sect.

Once the cold water had completely receded, revealing the stone path leading to the central circular platform, Lu Changfu did not immediately step forward. Instead, staring at Bing Nandong's appearance, he suddenly asked, "Do you want to see Fan Zhiyi?"

Bing Nandong's fingertips twitched slightly, a very subtle movement, but Lu Changfu still noticed it: "Back then, he betrayed you out of cowardice. You suffered here, while he enjoyed the benefits of the Tianyun Sect and lived a carefree life. Don't you hate him?"

Back then, because that idiot Murong Xiao accidentally killed Fan Zhiyi, Lu Changfu thought Murong Xiao would be punished. Unexpectedly, the sect leader only instructed Lu Changfu to secretly preserve Fan Zhiyi's body, saying that the pure Yin constitution was so precious that even if a person died, it should not be wasted.

So they concocted a perfect lie for Bing Nandong—after Fan Zhiyi was captured, he couldn't resist the fear and the temptation of Tianyun Sect, and revealed their escape route. Tianyun Sect then kept their promise, gave Fan Zhiyi benefits, and hid him away.

As for the Tianyun Sect disciples, the reason given for Bing Nandong and Fan Zhiyi's disappearance was that they unfortunately died during a mission together. Anyway, not many people were willing to ask any questions, and not many people dared to ask any questions. Most people just felt that the charade they had been putting on for more than ten years had finally come to an end.

Bing Nandong didn't believe the lie; he was too smart and trusted Fan Zhiyi enough.

For the first three years here, Bing Nandong never gave in and tried every possible way to escape and pass on the message. Every time he was caught, another chain was added to his body.

Lu Changfu had advised him to behave himself to avoid much suffering, patiently telling him again and again that Fan Zhiyi had betrayed him. Bing Nandong initially vehemently retorted but later fell silent. However, Lu Changfu knew that Bing Nandong didn't completely believe him, because he understood Bing Nandong—he wouldn't give up until he heard Fan Zhiyi say it with his own ears.

Unfortunately, staying in this dark and gloomy place for too long will gradually cause one to lose hope for everything, disrupt all past beliefs, and overturn all convictions.

No matter how powerful Bing Nandong was, he was still just a boy. In the daily torment, one winter night, he finally couldn't hold on and died.

The last punishment Bing Nandong suffered before his death was inflicted by Murong Xiao. However, since the sect leader considered Bing Nandong, whose cultivation had not improved and who had always opposed him, to be a discarded pawn, he only imprisoned Murong Xiao and ordered Lu Changfu to collect Bing Nandong's body.

Lu Changfu didn't know what he was feeling at the time. He seemed very calm and even felt a sense of relief on the way, because Bing Nandong's suffering was finally over, which was a good thing.

But before Lu Changfu arrived, Bing Nandong came back to life. His wounds were healing on their own, but he had lost his sight due to the severity of his injuries.

When he awoke, both Bing Nandong and Lu Changfu knew that he was about to enter a new hell, and Lu Changfu was powerless to do anything about it, as the actions of everyone in Tianyun Sect were under the sect leader's surveillance.

To be brought back to life—what an enticing offer.

The sect leader was indeed very interested and picked up the discarded chess piece, placing it in the corner of the chessboard.

However, the chess pieces were too difficult to control. The sect leader, unusually attentive, came up with another way to make Bing Nandong obedient: to have "Fan Zhiyi" come and see Bing Nandong once.

While very few people in the world can make a person's soul leave their body and enter this well-preserved corpse, it is not impossible; the Tianyun Sect has its own methods. However, this act goes against the laws of nature and is prone to backlash, so the conditions for mastering it are extremely harsh, and it can only be maintained for a quarter of an hour.

Sure enough, the last straw broke. Bing Nandong stopped thinking about escaping and stopped taking medicine to heal his wounds. He seemed to be alive, yet also seemed to be dead.

The sect leader didn't care about this. They cultivated batch after batch of new candidates, and as long as Bing Nandong didn't die for the time being, that was fine. After all, they weren't sure if such a precious resurrection would happen a second time until they had thoroughly studied it.

However, it is clear that Tianyun Sect has made no progress on this matter for many years and has been stagnant for a long time.

It wasn't until they saw Cen Jun's rapid progress in a short period of time and his descriptions and praises of the Immortal Venerable that the minds of the Tianyun Sect's higher-ups became active again.

They thought of having the Immortal Venerable, who had never been involved in any affairs of the Tianyun Sect, try to help Bing Nandong regain his peak cultivation. After all these years, the Tianyun Sect had realized that no one could surpass Bing Nandong in the position of candidate. Now that Bing Nandong had been resurrected, it was an opportunity given to them by the heavens. They didn't want to waste Bing Nandong's qualification as a candidate of the Tianyun Sect. Letting the Immortal Venerable try wouldn't hurt them. If he succeeded, it would be beneficial to them in every way. And if things didn't work out, there was still Cen Jun.