Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

An ancient, blue stone platform stands atop the peak, its surface covered with strange patterns, seemingly arranged in some unknown formation.

Shen Wei was in the center of the formation, his hands and feet were tightly bound by four cold chains placed in four directions. The ends of the chains were fixed to four bronze pillars, forcibly pulling his limbs apart.

Now, except for his head which is not bound by chains, he looks almost exactly like Shang Yang, who was torn apart by five horses.

He clearly remembered... that he had fought Gu Hanfeng in some unknown snowy place, and in that battle, he had clearly gained the upper hand and was about to win...

Then, the screen went completely black, followed by a long dream, with calls echoing in my ears. Finally, the dream shattered.

Thinking of this, Shen Wei looked up at Gu Lengyue, who was standing not far in front of him. The girl was standing quietly in front of him, about a person's distance away, looking at him with a complicated expression.

Shen Wei wanted to say something, but he felt an unusual dryness in his throat. His Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, and it took a lot of effort to utter a complete sentence.

"Why am I here... and why do I look like this?"

As he spoke, he subconsciously tried to raise his hand to break free, exerting slight force in his limbs, but the chains seemed to be under a restriction, preventing him from using any spiritual power. He could not possibly break free from chains made of such hard material by brute force alone.

When the girl saw that he was awake, she stopped calling his name. Her lips moved slightly, as if she was explaining something in a low voice, but Shen Wei couldn't hear anything.

He frowned and asked:

"What?"

Just then, a cold, indifferent male voice suddenly rang out from the side: "Now that he's awake, let's begin."

Shen Wei turned his head to look at the source of the voice. The person who spoke was a completely unfamiliar face with a cold and solemn expression and a deep aura. Looking further into the distance from where the person was standing, he saw two more figures standing there. One was Gu Hanfeng, whom he knew, and the other was an unfamiliar old man with white hair and beard and an unfathomable aura.

Upon seeing Gu Hanfeng, Shen Wei did not immediately express anger. He looked down at himself, bound by chains, and then at the strange and ancient formation beneath him, quickly realizing that his situation was extremely dangerous.

Given the current unclear situation, we must not act rashly.

Upon hearing that voice, Gu Lengyue turned her head, nodded, and then turned back to look at Shen Wei.

"What...are you going to do?"

His voice was still weak and dry.

No one responded to him. Only Gu Hanfeng suddenly teleported in front of Gu Lengyue, pulled something from the girl's waist and placed it in his palm.

"Gu Hanfeng..."

He looked down at Gu Hanfeng and called out his name in a cold voice.

Gu Hanfeng slowly walked to Shen Wei's side, squatted down, and looked at the trapped Shen Wei at eye level, a cruel yet frivolous smile curling on his face:

"Lu Chen... no, I should call you Shen Wei now."

"Didn't you always want to take my life and avenge your entire Lu family? I'm standing right in front of you now, so go ahead and do it."

"..."

Shen Wei didn't speak. He glanced at Gu Lengyue, whose eyes were darting away. It seemed that the girl couldn't be explained to him.

Seeing that he remained silent, Gu Hanfeng opened his palm, and a familiar, warm jade pendant swayed gently on his fingertips. Shen Wei stared at the jade pendant, and the events of that night resurfaced in his mind.

"Do you remember this jade pendant? Your mother thought it would protect you."

"However, she did manage to save your life in the end, but at the cost of her own."

"You survived by sheer luck, thinking you could get revenge. But in the end, I'm still alive and well, while you're about to die here."

He suppressed those memories, then revealed a bleak yet contemptuous smile.

"Then what are you waiting for? Just kill me already."

Upon hearing this, Gu Hanfeng's face contorted, but in the end, he did nothing.

Sure enough.

As Shen Wei thought this, all the doubts from the past surfaced in his mind.

He finally understood why Gu Hanfeng had repeatedly provoked and deliberately angered him, and also the reason why the Lu family was wiped out back then...

Connecting the two, he seemed to have arrived at the correct answer in his mind:

This is all inextricably linked to the evil dragon within his body.

Moreover, he seemed to have figured out that Gu Hanfeng and the others needed to obtain the Evil Dragon Fiend, but they couldn't kill him directly. Instead, they needed to spare his life and deliberately stir up the hatred and resentment in his heart, using his resentment and anger to nourish and strengthen that evil creature.

Otherwise, he would never have had the chance to wake up and open his eyes.

He then looked at the array beneath him; it seemed to be something prepared for this purpose.

But even if you see through their plan, it won't help much.

Thinking of this, Shen Wei felt a sense of helplessness. If he didn't rely on the power of the Evil Dragon, even if he couldn't prevent their plan from succeeding, he seemed to have no way to escape.

It seems like there's no way to advance or retreat but to reach a dead end.

However, he did not intend to compromise. He still needed to test the waters, for example, why Gu Lengyue was here, and what exactly they intended to do with this formation.

So, Shen Wei stopped looking at Gu Hanfeng and instead focused his gaze on Gu Lengyue behind him, his eyes filled with a complex emotion:

"Didn't you want revenge? Why are you here with him and the others?"

Gu Lengyue didn't speak, but simply lowered her head and replied:

"The sword you gave me is broken..."

After saying something nonsensical, the girl continued in an extremely cold tone:

"Shen Wei, perhaps you don't know, but in fact, I have been deceiving you and using you all along, just for the monster inside you."

Shen Wei wanted to say something, but as soon as Gu Lengyue finished speaking, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes glistening with... moisture?

"Shen Wei, you said you would help me... right? Then pay with your life! Consider it for me."

Her voice echoed across the mountaintop.

Shen Wei was taken aback by what he heard. After regaining his senses, his gaze slowly shifted to the girl, as if trying to discern something different from her pale and ashen face.

After a moment, he seemed to understand something, and then he let out a bitter laugh, as if mocking himself:

"So, everything that happened during that period was all a lie?"

Seeing this, Gu Hanfeng immediately curled into a mocking smile and added insult to injury:

"That's right, Shen Wei, everything you've done has been in vain, and all your sincerity has been in vain."

Shen Wei lowered his head, but the desolation brought by the betrayal had already swept over his entire body, and a surge of overwhelming anger was about to erupt!

Gu Hanfeng remained relentless, continuing to provoke and pressure her with words.

Soon, he saw with his own eyes that the clarity in Shen Wei's eyes gradually faded, his pupils were gradually stained with blood, his aura became strange and violent, and his whole body released extremely violent spiritual energy.

Shen Wei said coldly, word by word:

"You...all of you deserve to die!"

Gu Hanfeng was somewhat excited, because this was exactly what he wanted to see.

Suddenly, a fierce wind swept up fine snow, raging wildly on the towering peak that almost touched the sky, as if welcoming some precious and ancient existence.

"Since your sword is broken, then I will become your sword."

His voice was very soft, as if he were responding to someone's plea.