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

Lin Du drove at almost top speed, only stopping when he was almost at the top of the mountain, and then pretended to walk slowly uphill.

Ni Jinxuan was tending to the medicine pot that had been moved from the heat a while ago when she saw Lin Du and jumped up. "Junior Uncle, the medicine is getting cold!"

Lin Du didn't even need to touch it to know, "Isn't the medicine still warm?"

She lazily lifted the lid, her face contorting slightly the moment she smelled the medicine. In the end, she gritted her teeth and poured out a bowl of dark, murky liquid, tilting her head back to gulp it down.

Xia Tianwu sat beside him and said coldly, "Catch your breath and calm your heart rate before you drink."

Lin Du's hand holding the bowl trembled slightly. Meeting Xia Tianwu's gaze, he forced himself to remain calm and asked, "Hmm?"

"Don't tell me that the thing that darted up from the foot of the mountain in the blink of an eye was a firefly." Xia Tianwu glanced at her. "Your spiritual energy in your dantian is almost depleted, isn't it? Do you have any extra spiritual energy to neutralize the medicinal effects? Hurry up and replenish it."

Lin Du hissed, still trying to sound tough, "Second nephew, how do you know I've run out of spiritual energy without even taking my pulse?"

"I saw it with my own eyes." Xia Tianwu pointed to his eyes. "If you changed your clothes now, people would believe you were a ghost. You don't have much color to begin with. When your spiritual energy is abundant, it's okay, but when your spiritual energy is lacking, your face turns as white as death."

Lin Du gasped, "Second Nephew, you've changed. You weren't like this before. You were only this fierce to Eldest Nephew."

Xia Tian stared at her without saying a word.

Lin Du silently lowered his head and consciously took out a pill to replenish his spiritual energy. He first tilted his head back and swallowed it to replenish some spiritual energy, and then picked up the medicine bowl and tilted his head back to pour it down.

Guan Yu at least had a horse when he killed Hua Xiong while the wine was still warm; she relied entirely on her two legs and spiritual power, so it was already quite an achievement that she was able to get back in time.

After finishing the medicine, Lin Du digested the pills while casually dropping a bombshell, "On my way back, I encountered the Thousand Demon Insects."

Xia Tian's eyes narrowed. "How could something like that be in a secret realm?"

Lin Du sat lazily cross-legged. "It just hatched. Someone used a burrowing talisman to find people, and probably disturbed the unhatched insect eggs along the way, which is why it hatched prematurely. However, the Tian Su Sect's combat strength is probably greatly reduced now, so we might as well..."

"Are you sure you can do it?" Xia Tian asked skeptically.

"Two members of the Tian Su Sect are in my formation. One of them is injured, his leg has been gnawed down to the bone, so he definitely can't move fast. Now there's only one person left in the mountains. Why not take this free flag?"

Lin Du stretched and yawned. "What do you guys think?"

She calmly gave a kind smile and pointed at Ni Jinxuan, "It's time for my junior niece to practice her skills."

Xia Tian thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense."

"Alright then, I'll take Jinxuan. Tianwu, you stay here and watch the flag." Lin Du glanced at Jinxuan, who was already eager to try, and stood up. "Let's go."

Lin Du maintained the demeanor of a junior uncle, leaving Xia Tianwu with no choice but to comply.

"After taking the medicine, you must not recklessly use your spiritual power."

Lin Du had already started walking down the mountain. He waved his hand behind her back and said in a drawn-out voice, "I know."

She hadn't originally planned to take action.

It's reasonable for a formation master not to be able to fight.

Ni Jinxuan skipped and hopped down the mountain behind Lin Du, but she couldn't escape her temporary target. "Junior Uncle, why are there Thousand Demon Worms in the secret realm?"

"Junior Uncle doesn't know." Lin Du held his folding fan, his steps unhurried. "You should ask the powerful figures in the Central Plains Grand Competition."

There are only two possibilities: either the powerful being is incompetent and failed to detect the demonic cultivators' invasion, or there is a traitor among the powerful beings, which would still be considered incompetence.

Whichever the possibility, it's none of their business to worry about it.

If it weren't for that burrowing talisman to find people, we might not have discovered the demonic cultivator's tricks for who knows how long.

Lin Du pondered for a while, realizing that this detail didn't seem to exist in the original storyline.

[You weren't in the original storyline either.]

Lin Du was startled by the words in his mind's eye. "You're still here?"

This thing hasn't shown itself for a long time; she had almost forgotten it existed.

[In the original storyline, because Mo Lin was too old and you were in poor health, the Supreme Sect couldn't gather five people and therefore didn't participate in the team competition.]

[However, the organizers did lose face in the original Central Plains Grand Competition, as some demons infiltrated the secret realm and caused some damage, but it was nothing serious; it was merely a provocation by the demons.]

"So, none of these people's storylines involve this team competition?"

Lin Du lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. Wei Zhi was just a street urchin from Dongmingjie who would join in whenever there was a big event. He was related to Buddhism, but probably not much. He was more likely just stirring things up, like adding more Buddhist stuff to the question bank. He just wanted to make Zhongzhou lose face.

As for the eighth senior brother who died and came back to life, he was related to the Lanju Realm. Lin Du still felt that this ghost from the Lanju Realm was definitely connected to them and had been secretly pushing them to fall.

Ke Fengchao firmly believes that Wen Fu has not been possessed.

Is it possible, or perhaps just a guess, that might not be correct?

Lin Du said in his divine sense, "If the five of us don't come in, the secret realm might just be an insignificant provocation, but if the five of us come in, will it turn into a dumpling-making frenzy and wipe us out in one fell swoop?"

She seemed thoughtful. "Looks like we're quite important."

Is it possible that the intention was originally just to provoke, but you made it escalate the situation?

"That makes sense." Lin Du grinned. "Then let's make a big scene. What's the point of doing things behind someone's back!"

The system had no doubt that, if the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, Lin Du would have clapped his hands and shouted for a fight.

[But you'd be involved if a fight broke out; you're not just there to watch.]

"If you're going to seek thrills, then go all the way!" Lin Du landed in front of the Tian Su Sect's camp.

Stop it, stop being so provocative, there are demons all outside!

The entire mountain of Tiansu Sect appeared even more desolate and tranquil under the dark sky.

Lin Du looked at the woods in front of him and said, "I prefer to expose those who are hiding in the shadows rather than to expose enemies lurking in the dark."

She entered the woods, with Jinxuan following closely behind.

They had all become accustomed to following in their master's footsteps.

"Jinxuan, this formation is easy to break, so you can do it yourself."

Lin Du released his divine sense, "I'm watching you."

The Tian Su Sect has many cultivators, and perhaps these people are truly not good at setting up formations. With Ni Jinxuan's abilities, she could safely pass through this basic formation.

Ni Jinxuan glanced at Lin Du and realized that she really wasn't leaving, seemingly waiting for her to come forward, so she obediently stepped forward.

"Go ahead, I'll be watching. I'll step in if it doesn't work."

Lin Du followed behind Jin Xuan, maintaining a distance that could be reached within a breath.

This formation is indeed easy to break. There are talismans lying in ambush underground, ready to be triggered at any moment, and there are also simple defensive formations around it, as well as some ordinary traps and rope formations buried everywhere.

Ni Jinxuan threw out a grass ball to test it, and sure enough, there were a few crackling sounds. She carefully threw out another grass ball along the same path, and after confirming that there were no traps, she quickly stepped through.

Lin Du smiled. Fortunately, he was quite clever when he got serious.

The disciple token at his waist jingled slightly. "Junior Uncle, the Guiyuan Sect has seized the territory of a minor, insignificant sect."

Lin Du looked up, unsurprised, and said, "I understand."

"Should we go and rob them?" Yuan Ye asked.

"Are you really planning to fleece this sheep?" Lin Du glanced at Jin Xuan there.

She had just triggered a rope array, and countless ropes were flying towards her. In a flash, the whip reached the treetops, and her apricot-colored robe fluttered in the air in a beautiful arc, with the copper bells jingling.

Lin Du raised his eyebrows and watched this scene, but did not make a move.

"Didn't you say you couldn't sleep because their flags were too bright, Junior Uncle?" Yuan Ye said, sounding a little aggrieved.

"I'll sleep with an eye mask on," Lin Du said casually. "By the way, keep an eye on your underground area; there are demons there."

Lin Du spoke calmly, as if it were a trivial matter, but Yuan Ye, who had been sitting on the ground, jumped up in fright. He glanced around warily and whispered, "No, where's the demon?"

Yan Qing glanced at Yuan Ye, who was hunched over, eyes wide and neck craning, looking like a sneaky dog. "You're more sinister than a demon right now."