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

Lin Du was not good at meditating and cultivating. Most of the time she was either reading or sleeping. She slept through most of the journey, only being woken up by Ni Jinxuan to drink medicine once.

This was the first time Wei Zhi had seen Lin Du's bitter and resentful side. He drank the medicine like a warrior facing death, swallowing it down with the tragic heroism of a warrior cutting off his own arm.

"I'm done drinking, I'm done drinking." Lin Du lowered his head, bit into an orange candy, dealt with Ni Jinxuan, then curled up in the cabin and closed his eyes.

The spirit boat reached the border and slowly descended into the sea.

The sea was extremely rough, but Cang Li made sure his junior sister slept soundly. The spirit boat looked simple, but it was incredibly stable.

Yuan Ye became melancholy as he landed in the sea; his mouth was still open, but his eyes were no longer smiling.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Jinxuan noticed his strange behavior. Yuan Ye usually had a smug smile, and it was rare for him to smile like this. It looked terrible.

"No," Yuan Ye replied subconsciously, but he quickly relaxed when he met Jin Xuan's innocent eyes and smiled. "It's nothing, just a little... homesick."

I fear that by the time I return, everything will have changed, and I will have long forgotten the passage of time.

Jinxuan was puzzled. "That's your hometown. Shouldn't you be happy to go home?"

Yuan Ye shook his head, truly not understanding why his junior uncle insisted on bringing Ni Jinxuan along. Her personality was simply not suited to dealing with the royal family; even a lowly eunuch could easily swindle her out of everything.

He sat at the bow of the boat, fiddling with a strange nine-linked ring in both hands. "No."

Ni Jinxuan knew almost nothing about the royal family. Yuan Ye thought about it and decided to explain it to her directly so that she wouldn't see everyone as a good person or believe everyone was telling the truth.

"Before I left, the Great Zhou was beset by internal and external troubles. The Western Xia was eyeing us covetously from the outside, and there were redundant officials, ignorant people, and an old and suspicious emperor inside," Yuan Ye said with a self-deprecating smile. "My father was not very capable. He could have been a decent ruler who maintained the status quo during a prosperous era, but unfortunately, the Great Zhou had already begun to decline when he took over."

"Maybe I'll still be the emperor when I leave, but I won't be when I return."

Ni Jinxuan seemed to understand but not quite. "Then, in a dynasty, is the emperor that important? Can one person decide the rise and fall of a country?"

Yuan Ye thought for a moment, "Because the emperor in the common people is like our Heavenly Way. We must abide by the rules set by Heavenly Way, and everyone in the world must abide by the rules set by the emperor."

"Such immense power, placed solely in the hands of an ordinary person? Heaven's will is powerful and fair. Yan Qing once said, 'You also have the qualifications to be emperor?'"

"Yes," Yuan Ye lowered his eyes, the nine-linked rings in his hand jingling, "I am also qualified to be emperor, but as you said, how can someone who makes mistakes, who is even weak and biased, hold such great power firmly?"

However, sailing at sea is fraught with storms and waves, causing hardship and instability for the people.

"I don't think I'm good enough for that position, nor can I turn the tide." Yuan Ye smiled. "Everyone is on edge, everyone is hiding their true feelings, and everyone is scrambling for that position. It's not the last piece of meat on our table, so if we can't win, we can just laugh it off."

"If we can't win, people will die. So when I go back this time, regardless of whether the sun and moon have changed or not, my position will likely remain awkward."

Yuan Ye met Jin Xuan's dark, worried gaze, and said seriously yet playfully, "You will be seen as my accomplices. There may be many people trying to please you, and there may be many people who are hostile to you. Anyway, you won't understand, so just treat it as a play that Junior Uncle is showing you. What they say is just an act, so don't take it seriously."

Ni Jinxuan's eyes widened. "Ugh, you're so annoying! I just don't understand! You're not my junior uncle!"

Lin Du wasn't actually asleep; he was just too bitter from the medicine to speak and didn't want to be cold to Jin Xuan, so he went back to his cabin and pretended to be asleep. When he heard what was said earlier, his closed eyelashes trembled slightly.

"I think I know why you like that little dragon man more." Wei Zhi's voice rang in Lin Du's ears again.

Lin Du replied to him using her divine sense, "How exactly did you figure out that I prefer Yuan Ye?"

Wei Zhi thought for a moment, "It's less about liking and more about trusting or relaxing."

"You always protect that little girl, you are considerate and obedient in front of the other medical cultivator, and you have a very good relationship with Mo Lin and the Yan family. But you are not casual enough. When you talk to Yuan Ye, you don't think before you speak. It's as if you are not afraid of saying the wrong thing."

Lin Du laughed. "Then tell me why you're not afraid of saying the wrong thing?"

"Because he's smart enough, at least in terms of interpersonal relationships." Wei Zhi stroked the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand. "At least like you, he's someone who's been tempered by the world. You're not worried that your behavior will affect him too much, but the others haven't fully formed their personalities yet, especially that little girl you're keeping a close eye on."

Lin Du rubbed his middle finger. "Is this how you spend your days—watching this spectacle? Trying to figure out people's intentions?"

"No, not exactly," Wei Zhi stood up. They had arrived at the boundary between the mortal realm and the spirit realm. He raised his hand to form a seal, and the bamboo raft and spirit boat nimbly disappeared into the aerial restriction. When they reappeared on the sea, there was no longer any spiritual energy.

Lin Du frowned slightly, looking uneasy.

"I'm just curious, you always seem to think that there's no tomorrow after today, with a kind of desperate, all-or-nothing feeling. But it's never good to be too stressed. Don't push yourself too hard."

While reprimanding Lin Du in the tone of an elder, Wei Zhi turned his head to look at the several large fish that had been attracted to the spirit ship by spiritual energy. He gently released his aura, and the group of large fish were immediately frightened and dived into the water, swimming far away.

"You're the one who really doesn't know what tomorrow will bring," Lin Du retorted without holding back. "You don't return to Buddhism, the demon realm sees you as their mortal enemy, and you disdain associating with evil spirits. You just enjoy the fact that the cultivators of Zhongzhou hate you but can't get rid of you, so you just wander around Zhongzhou every day."

Wei Zhi sat upright on the bamboo raft, his monk's robes billowing in the sea breeze. "You're right."

The man who had never lost a debate in his childhood easily admitted defeat in front of Lin Du.

"Actually, as long as you're not embarrassed, it's others who are embarrassed," Lin Du said, trying to make amends. "No wonder you're bald if you think about so much."

Danger: ...

He can have hair if he wants it, but not his life.

As they were about to reach the shore, Lin Du stopped pretending to be asleep and went to ask a question.

"Do you have any money left? Enough to last in the Great Zhou?"

The melancholy young man, still lost in his sorrow, suddenly widened his eyes, then gasped, "No."

"Gold and silver need to be exchanged for money before they can be used, right?" Lin Du suddenly realized that they hadn't made the most crucial preparation.

"Yes... Moreover, before I left, the Great Zhou Dynasty had a chaotic currency system and an empty treasury... I've been gone for several years now, and I don't even know if the currency is still usable."

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions weary as they looked up at the sky. It seemed they would have to return to the palace first before making any further plans.

"Then...do you have anything on you that can prove you're a prince? What if they don't recognize you?"

Lin Du asked a fatal question. After all, when he entered the sect, he was still chubby and fair-skinned. Now he has grown taller, and although his facial features are still the same, his face has become thinner.

"I do have one!" Yuan Ye pulled out a bright yellow imperial edict. "It's just... what if my father dies, or the Great Zhou Dynasty collapses altogether?"

Ni Jinxuan's eyes widened as well. "If the Great Zhou Dynasty falls... what will we do?"

This is a good question.

Yuan Ye became increasingly terrified as he thought about it. He was forced to wash dishes because he had no money when he went from the mortal world to the cultivation world. Would he be forced to wash dishes again to pay off his debts when he went back?

Lin Du rubbed his forehead and suppressed a laugh. Wei Zhi replied helplessly, "You still have dragon energy in you, which means your royal destiny is not over yet. You can rest assured."

A group of people made it ashore under cover of night. Fortunately, there was no curfew in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Yuan Ye casually pulled aside a traveler who clearly looked like a wealthy merchant and asked, "What is the current reign title?"

The man looked at the group of people in front of him with suspicion. Even the monk looked tall and slender with an otherworldly air. Judging from the fabric he was wearing, even the women in the palace could not compare to him.

However, mortals are naturally drawn to things with spiritual energy, so the man suppressed his doubts and replied, "It is now the third year of Xihe."

Yuan Ye's face paled, and the smile on his lips froze. "Is that so? I followed the master into the deep mountains for many years of seclusion. Before I went up the mountain, it was still January of the twentieth year of Jingxuan."

Ni Jinxuan was taken aback. No wonder Yuan Ye never called her by her name; it was because her name and the reign title sounded the same.

The man gave Yuan Ye a curious look. "So that's how it is. But the retired emperor is still alive. He abdicated three years ago."

Yuan Ye thought for a moment, then took out a small gold lock from his storage ring. "This is something my family made for me when I was young. Please tell me, elder brother, who is currently on the throne?"

"Hey, easy, easy." The passerby fumbled with the golden lock, glanced around, and leaned closer to whisper, "The one who succeeded to the throne is the former King Cheng."

"Four years ago, Grand Commandant Xie was dismissed from his post without any explanation. After that, it is said that he became a monk and practiced asceticism. However, a year later, he led troops to besiege the capital city and, together with King Cheng, purged the court of corrupt officials and beheaded the old Taoist priest who had bewitched the king! After King Cheng ascended the throne, Grand Commandant Xie returned to the court."

Yuan Ye's face grew paler and paler as he listened, until he could barely hold back his laughter. After politely seeing the person off, he looked at Lin Du in a daze, "Junior Uncle..."

Why did my second uncle, who used to only like farming, become the emperor? Why did my childhood study companion become Grand Commandant Xie, who forced the emperor to abdicate? Why did the Imperial Preceptor return from the world of cultivation to the mortal realm? And why was his life hastily ended?

Lin Du reached out and patted his shoulder. "In any case, it's better for your second uncle to succeed to the throne than for the Great Zhou to fall. You are now a member of our Supreme Sect, the emperor of the mortal world. No one can harm you."

"Should we go back to the palace?" Yuan Ye asked, somewhat bewildered. "I'm afraid my second uncle will think I'm back to compete with him for the throne."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "We're not only going back to the palace, but we're going to make a grand and impressive entrance in front of your second uncle, the emperor."