The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

Feng Yi shared the same feeling as Lin Du; after Yin Zhong appeared, she frowned imperceptibly.

Feng Yi glanced at Lin Du and saw that the child had his head down, a smile on his lips, and was casually playing with a hiltless short blade. The short blade gleamed with a faint golden light and was nimbly tossed and turned between Lin Du's slender fingers, making people's hearts pound with fear just watching it.

"Don't you look familiar? I haven't seen your master in a long time, and seeing him now, I'm quite surprised."

Feng Yi's voice rang out within Lin Du's consciousness.

"Guess why I didn't look up?" Lin Du replied.

Just one more glance and she'll lose all her appetite for food today.

Yan Ye's arrogant, cool, and even slightly wicked temperament only suits his naturally cold, arrogant face and strong, muscular body. Putting it on anyone with a respectable appearance who insists on acting like a righteous person would be like trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog.

"Yin Zhong is just like a eunuch who knows he can't grow it but still insists on defying the heavens."

Feng Yi: ...What exactly did Yan Ye teach this child?

What kind of filter is that? It's just shattered.

But considering the level of venom in her words, she is indeed probably Yan Ye's personal disciple.

Yin Zhong greeted everyone, and Feng Yi and Ju Yuan had already stood up, but Lin Du remained seated, and Mo Lin was also unable to get up due to the pressure of her spiritual power.

Lin Du's cough drowned out the greetings from the Wushang Sect members. Mo Lin, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, also trembled, clutching his leg and gritting his teeth as he grabbed Xia Tianwu's sleeve, "Junior Sister, my bones hurt terribly, give me another pill."

The two sat there, one trembling and unable to get up, the other coughing and unable to get up, and still spitting out blood.

Ju Yuan's eyes widened in surprise, but Feng Yi remained as steady as a mountain. "Elder Yin Zhong, please don't be offended. My junior is truly suffering from a chronic illness and cannot get up."

Yin Zhong's smile froze halfway there. He had anticipated many scenarios, but none were as chaotic as this.

What kind of upright person would act so utterly without any regard for appearances or etiquette?

"We've come here for two reasons. First, to hand over the evil cultivators who caused trouble in your sect." Feng Yi paused, then looked at Lin Du, who was engrossed in his performance.

Lin Du closed the blood-stained handkerchief, stood up, and then took out a spirit beast pouch. Under the strange gazes of Yin Zhong and the disciple, he revealed a woman.

The woman fell to the ground, still unconscious, the chains binding her hands and feet making a clanging sound as they hit the ground.

Yin Zhong could no longer feign a smile, so he had to stop, frowning. "This evil cultivator is indeed an outer disciple of our sect. Our Flying Star Sect will certainly take full responsibility. To be honest, as the elder in charge of the outer sect..."

"What the master said is right. Tao Xian must have already told you," Lin Du interrupted him, "500,000 high-grade spirit stones."

"To nurture a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Soaring Cloud Realm, like myself who is ranked number one on the Azure Cloud Ranking, would cost at least 500,000 high-grade spirit stones. Now, one of us has our spirit bones completely destroyed, reduced to mortal bones. It would probably take a hundred years to recover, and after that, our talent would be gone. As for me..."

Lin Du raised his finger and pointed to the white hair at his temples and the back of his head. "My body has failed, my life force has been taken away, and I'm afraid my life is coming to an end soon."

"I've come here today simply to ask for a little compensation, don't you think?"

Before Yin Zhong could speak, she turned to Feng Yi and Ju Yuan and said, "Senior brothers and sisters, my life has been one of mere survival. The compensation from the Flying Star Sect may not even cover one-tenth of the money you spent on the medicine you used on me, but this is the last bit I can do to make amends to you."

Ju Yuan could barely hold back her tears, forcing them out. "How could it have come to this, Junior Sister? It's all those wicked people's fault, otherwise you might still be alive..."

Yin Zhong felt as if he were seeing a white lotus drifting in the wind. Even though he had seen countless people, he had never seen such a scene, which left him speechless and unable to come up with any delaying tactics. His shops were either being raided or being deliberately targeted. Those powerful families were extremely petty and had somehow managed to uncover his hidden shop influence. Now, he could only swallow his pride and suffer in silence.

He gritted his teeth and pulled out a box. When he opened the box, there were three hundred spirit crystals inside.

That was his entire fortune, and he couldn't retaliate in front of Feng Yi and Ju Yuan.

Feng Yi remained unmoved. "It's only 300,000. I suppose the elders of the Flying Star Sect are people who keep their promises. Our Supreme Sect is not lacking in such compensation, but the junior was harmed and felt guilty. We must accept the compensation that she fought for on behalf of our sect."

No one in the world can make the act of raising prices and profiteering during a crisis sound so righteous and awe-inspiring.

Yin Zhong gritted his teeth, "I am willing to pay the remaining 200,000 with treasures of equal value."

Lin Du sat back down, looking frail and sickly. He didn't look at Yin Zhong, but instead focused his gaze on the disciple's clean-cut face. Hearing this, he said, "We don't mind spirit stones. It's not like we don't have storage bags. We have a place to put even the smallest pieces."

Yin Zhong could only pull out another storage bag. "Inside, there are about 200,000 low-grade spirit stones."

"There are also 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones in here."

"Here, there are still 90,000 high-grade spirit stones."

Yin Zhong scraped together what he could, but finally couldn't come up with anything. Gritting his teeth, he began to lay bare his family's possessions. A pile of things lay in the hall, like a desperate hamster having its gills ripped out.

Lin Du looked at Yin Zhong thoughtfully. Qian Feixing's sect would definitely not provide this, but Yin Zhong insisted on having Shao Fei. Why?

He had clearly lost half of his cultivation, and this fact was about to be exposed, yet he still acted like a clueless, righteous elder, almost losing his underwear in the process.

Lin Du frowned and stared at Shao Fei for a while.

She had checked and found that Shao Fei's consciousness was intact, meaning that he had not been possessed or marked with a divided spirit.

Now her body is ruined, and she's suffering from the backlash of the Gu poison. She might even pass away before Lin Du, who doesn't take any medicine. The only thing she has left is...

Lin Du suddenly flipped the short blade that had been carelessly turned to the back of his hand and held it in his hand. Even though it was not sharpened, just holding it in his hand could cause pain.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay highly alert. Yin Zhong had a way out, even a way to remain intact within the sect.

What's the backup plan?

Yin Zhong had been to the Gu Village before, and Qi Zhun had also fallen into the Gu Village. Yin Zhong was skilled in astrology and divination.

Lin Du gripped her hand tighter and tighter. She had specifically pointed out today that Mo Lin's spirit bone was gone and that her own lifespan was short. Yin Zhong was indeed shocked and even regretful.

Qi Zhun's final move was perhaps indeed aimed at Mo Lin. A person's hatred at the last moment is boundless, which is why the murderous aura is extremely strong in the instant after death. That hatred may be directed at the person who killed them, or it may be directed at... their companions.

In their previous life, they went to great lengths to manipulate Shao Fei to obtain the spirit bone. In this life, Qi Zhun destroyed Mo Lin's spirit bone, thus destroying the hope of another companion...

Lin Du slowly raised his hand, let go, looked at Yin Zhong who was taking out all sorts of rare and precious herbs, let out a soft breath, and the smile on his lips became more genuine.

This time, she won't miscalculate again.

"That's all, Elders. Is that enough?" Yin Zhong asked sincerely. "As the elder in charge of the outer sect, this matter should have been entirely my responsibility. Now I have given my all, which is my way of showing my sincerity."

As he spoke, he glanced at Lin Du, "After all, it's only fate that these two rebellious disciples from various sects would run into two members of the Supreme Sect..."

Lin Du raised his eyes, meeting his gaze without flinching, and then softly uttered a sentence, "Master Yin Zhong's eyes are indeed clear."

I wonder if my master would find these eyes, which are formed from spirit vines, disgusting.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the hall.

The people inside were also drawn by the auras. Yin Zhong remained calm and said, "It seems that the sect leader and the elders have come to pay their respects to the two True Persons of the Supreme Sect."

Yin Zhong's disciple suddenly asked in surprise, "Senior Brother?"

Before the gates of the Golden Hall, Tao Xian stood upright, carrying a large bundle of wooden planks in his arms. Even though he looked deathly pale, his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

He raised his hand, and the wooden block in his arms landed steadily on the ground. Only then did everyone realize that it was fifteen memorial tablets, with people's names written on them in dark blood.

Su Tong, a direct disciple of the Flying Star Sect

Yan Jue, a direct disciple of the Flying Star Sect

……

Tao Xian, a direct disciple of the Flying Star School

The last memorial tablet bears Tao Xian's own name.

Behind him followed a large group of people, with the leader of the Flying Star Sect and the elders of the Punishment Hall flanking him on either side.

Tao Xian spoke, his voice booming like a bell, resounding with conviction.

"Tao Xian, the eldest disciple of the Flying Star Sect's Tianheng Peak Elder, has come with fourteen junior brothers to seek justice from our esteemed master, True Man Yin Zhong."