Mingjing Five Heroes

One summer nearly three thousand years ago, through a convergence of causes and circumstances, the five heroes of Mingjing Sect's golden age gathered outside the sect for the first time.

In a dungeon belonging to the Chenli Hundred Tribes.

Gu Fei—Chenyinzi's original name—sat in meditation atop the dungeon floor, filthy and covered in blood scabs, mud, rotting straw, and fragments of human teeth and nails. His eyes were closed as he listened to the groans and wails of prisoners drifting in from nearby.

Amid the sour stench of decomposing flesh, his breathing did not fluctuate in the slightest, steady and regular as a machine.

Other than the ice-blue Xuanming Spirit Light that flickered in and out across his face, Gu Fei looked as though he were cultivating in a secluded chamber within the sect.

But in truth, he was a prisoner.

Iron chains wrapped around Gu Fei, binding his limbs, though they had not pierced his clavicles or shoulder blades.

Those who had imprisoned him seemed deeply wary of the Mingjing Sect robes he wore. Even after throwing him into the dungeon, they had not made up their minds to utterly cripple his ability to resist.

Poison, gu, medicinal pills—such methods of control ultimately had their limits.

They worked well enough on provincial martial artists, but not on a true disciple like him.

The Zhou Tian Circulation within his body turned, and the Array Realm [Zhengyang Shadowless] expelled every trace of cold poison from him. When Gu Fei opened his eyes again, he exhaled a breath of ice-blue toxic mist. Two brilliant violet gleams flashed in his eyes, and he was once more full of vitality, restored to peak condition.

Rising to his feet, the young martial artist lifted a hand amid the startled cries and attempts to stop him