"At the moment of the Whole Faction’s Ascension to Immortality, my master was killed by the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens," Lin Fang said.

The terrifying aura of the White Dragon paused, and only after a while did he speak, "So, she is already dead."

"Senior White Dragon, just before her death, my master instructed her junior to grant you your freedom, and she asked me to apologize on her behalf. It was my selfishness that didn’t release your bonds until today. Now, you can deal with me as you see fit, whether to kill or to punish," Lin Fang said.

However, the White Dragon did not immediately reply. He just circled in the air for a moment and suddenly landed on the ground, transforming into a young man with rosy lips and white teeth, dressed in a white robe embroidered with dragon patterns, and having a pair of large, crystal-clear dragon horns on his head. His entire demeanor was ethereal, yet he radiated a unique majesty.

"Humans truly are fragile creatures!" the young man exclaimed. Barefoot, he walked on the ancient land of the ruins, with the breeze fluttering his silver hair, as if an Immortal were walking among the mortal world.

Lin Fang looked at this distinguished White Dragon, feeling the majesty emitting from him, and made his own judgment.

This was a young dragon, perhaps not matured for long, which showed how incredibly long the lifespan of the Dragon Clan was. Yet, for some reason, this dragon was willing to be enslaved by the Qionghua Sect, and Lin Fang wondered what the matter with Yan Ruyu mentioned by him was about.

Lin Fang’s gaze soon drew the attention of the White Dragon. The True Dragon, now in human form, showed a slight surprise on his face, as if in Lin Fang, he saw the blue sky, white clouds, and green mountains, but notably missing was Lin Fang’s image.

"Refining the spirit to revert to the void!" The memories inherited through his bloodline allowed him to recognize Lin Fang’s uniqueness, an illusion only seen in those who had comprehended the grand Dao of Heaven and Earth after achieving Refining the spirit to revert to the void.

The White Dragon had not expected to see such a master in this place since people who reached this level generally had some status and usually remained in their sects, deeply engaged in cultivation and comprehending the Dao of Heaven and Earth, rarely venturing out.

"I didn’t expect to find such a distinguished individual here," he said to Lin Fang with a smile.

"Serendipity!" Lin Fang responded with a smile.

"Don’t worry about my situation; consider it a parting gift from an acquaintance of hers. Human lifespans are ultimately too short. I merely took a nap, and she had already left this world," the White Dragon said softly to the man.

In his words, there were only endless sighs, but his mind flashed through the first time he met Yan Ruyu.

Back then, he was just a young dragon, and Yan Ruyu was nothing more than a little girl struggling for food. Yet, so incongruously, these two people met during a downpour and became close friends.

For the White Dragon, who was wandering alone in the Three Realms at the time, Yan Ruyu was his first genuinely close friend and had accompanied him on a beautiful journey.

Later, with the help of the White Dragon, Yan Ruyu successfully entered the flourishing Qionghua Sect of the Human Clan’s Cultivation World, transforming from a crow to a phoenix.

With the White Dragon’s protection, Yan Ruyu thrived in the Qionghua Sect, quickly transforming from a novice disciple into the Direct Disciple of the Sect Leader and completely changing her fate. She also grew from a thin little girl into a graceful and beautiful woman.

However, during that time, the White Dragon still maintained the same child-like appearance as when they first met. Time had left no marks on his body, a testament to the disparity between their races.

It was then that Yan Ruyu began to yearn for immortality, setting Ascension to Immortality as her new goal.

At the same time, the leaders of the Qionghua Sect made the decision for the whole faction to ascend. They had somehow acquired the legendary Living Soil and used it as the foundation to create a secret realm for their ascension.

The secret realm was ready, but it lacked a core energy source. Thus, they turned their attention to the White Dragon, who naturally possessed powerful mana as a member of the Dragon Clan, and whose robust body continuously refined essence to transform qi, serving as an inexhaustible energy source.

Utilizing the connection between the White Dragon and Yan Ruyu, the Qionghua Sect successfully captured the juvenile White Dragon and sealed it at the base of the secret realm, turning it into the energy core that powered the realm.

From then on, the White Dragon fell into a deep sleep, and once everything was prepared, the Qionghua Sect threw caution to the wind and began their grand plan of ascension for the entire faction.

As everyone naturally knows, the attempt by the Qionghua Sect to ascend en masse angered the Jade Emperor, who commanded the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens to cast the Qionghua Sect down to the Mortal World. From then on, this once-glorious sect vanished into thin air, completely disappearing from within the Three Realms.

However, despite this, the White Dragon did not gain the freedom it deserved. Due to his obsession, the middle-aged man chose to continue sealing the White Dragon, and laid out the ruins with the White Dragon at its core, all for the sake of possibly resurrecting the dead members of the Qionghua Sect one day. However, in the end his efforts were in vain, and the White Dragon finally escaped its confines.

Yet, this experience that many would consider tragic was merely a bright spot in the midst of the White Dragon’s lengthy existence—perhaps, many years later, it would look back on this episode with amusement.

After all, it was naturally disinclined to move.

Because of this, the middle-aged man did not receive the resentment from the White Dragon he expected. He looked up in surprise, facing the White Dragon’s seemingly emotionless face.

Realizing the vast differences between humans and the Dragon Clan, the middle-aged man’s expression turned despondent, as though there was nothing he could do.

He slowly lowered his head, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, and quietly lay down beside his fellow disciples.

It was then that everyone realized he had been burning the candle at both ends. For years, he had clung to life in this world by harnessing the power of the White Dragon, driven solely by a single-minded determination. But now that his determination had faded, he finally embraced his own death, which might have been the best ending for him.

Meanwhile, a violent earthquake began to shake the entire ruins. This time it wasn’t a minor disturbance, but a true catastrophic upheaval.

Countless spatial rifts appeared within the ruins, and the terrifying spatial torrents echoed throughout, continuously destroying everything. The ruins were on the brink of annihilation.

The White Dragon transformed into its True Dragon form and soared above the Nine Heavens. The fierce spatial torrents could not harm him in the slightest, demonstrating the formidable strength of the Dragon Clan’s body.

"Yixue, come over here!" Dao Sansheng called out.

After Zhao Yixue had expressed her gratitude towards Lin Fang with her disciples, she ran over and stood by her sect elders. Lin Qingyun pulled out a golden sword, and uttered, "Swift!"

The golden sword instantly turned into endless Sword Qi, soaring straight into the sky, its piercing sword gleam cutting through space, revealing a pathway leading to the outside world.

"Let’s go!"