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

Lin Du's cave dwelling was marked with a "Do Not Disturb" sign, leaving Feng Yi, who had spent the whole night thinking about how to teach the child, with nowhere to put his ideas.

However, the master of the person involved had an attitude of "so what if my disciple is in seclusion?" He didn't take Lin Du's shocking words seriously. Feng Yi and Yan Ye couldn't agree on anything and turned to leave.

After Feng Yi left, Yan Ye didn't return to the Luoze ice surface. Instead, he stood at the entrance of Lin Du's cave for a while, lost in thought.

Given his rebellious nature, it's not surprising that he could think of this; what's surprising is the implication in Lin Du's words.

Unlike Yan Ye and Feng Yi, Yan Ye believed that Lin Du had not harbored any rebellious thoughts against the will of Heaven.

Lin Du is contradictory; she never hesitates to protect her own family and fight for compensation for her people, but she actually sees clearly the difficulties faced by everyone in the big picture.

She knew the direction the rules were heading, but she was unwilling to completely conform to them.

Between the Way of Heaven and the Way of Man, cultivators in the Central Plains naturally reside within the Way of Man. In order to cultivate, they strive to approach the Way of Heaven, but ultimately, good and evil cannot coexist. For the sake of survival and the future, human cultivators must fight for it.

The higher the level of a powerful being, the more their actions after choosing a path are restricted by the rules of the Heavenly Dao. The so-called "harmony with the Dao" is nothing more than a process of erasing human nature and going against instinct.

Humanity follows the way of Heaven, yet some people go against it.

Yan Ye had a vague premonition that Lin Du's path of choice would be later than everyone else's.

A cultivator with exceptional talent and destiny might choose a path at the third or fourth realm, signifying that they are guided by the rules of Heaven and have found the orthodox path. However, for a cultivator who does not choose a path, the higher they go, the more difficult the path becomes. Simply absorbing spiritual energy may not guarantee advancement, because if you cannot see the correct path, you cannot break through the barriers.

In the pursuit of immortality and the Dao, the "Dao" is naturally the most important.

Lin Du's path, Yan Ye is only her master, but cannot make all the decisions for her.

The worried old father sighed deeply. He himself was not a big deal because of his rebelliousness, but he was worried because his apprentice was too rebellious and mature.

You don't know the pain until you're cut yourself.

Lin Du was unaware that her father was lamenting his future to the point of exhaustion. All she knew was that sometimes having a golden finger (a special advantage in life) didn't end up with a particularly pleasant outcome.

For example, this Snow Essence Pill.

She originally thought it was a proper elixir, but it wasn't; it was Xue Ling's inner core.

What is Snow Spirit? There is a province that is frozen all year round, with thousands of mountains covered in snow, standing alone in the sea, rarely visited by people. The spiritual essence of heaven and earth is transformed in the snow, which is Snow Spirit.

When Lin Du opened the box, he felt that the head was very unusual; it was probably the size that would choke him to death if swallowed directly.

"How on earth did I manage to obtain the inner core of this thing in my past life?"

As soon as it was opened, the frost that had just melted inside froze again. If it weren't for the barrier that Yan Ye had specially set up in the cave, the entire Wushang Sect would probably be covered in snow in June and frozen for thousands of miles.

Lin Du stared at the inner core, her green robe already covered in frost, but she didn't care at all.

The inner elixir is not for eating; it is naturally for refining.

If anyone were to touch the pure, icy power within this place, they would likely freeze to death within seven days.

The purest ice spirit root, without any impurities, shares the same origin as the Snow Essence Pill. Even so, refining it still requires some effort.

It's roughly the same as how others might freeze to death, while Lin Du might freeze half to death.

"As expected of me," Lin Du exclaimed.

She really admired herself.

"...That's enough. You were almost dead when you got this Snow Essence Pill."

Lin Du smiled upon hearing this, stretched out his hand, and poured out his spiritual power, enveloping the perfectly round snowball. He felt the turmoil within it and thought, "It seems that it will be difficult for me to emerge from seclusion in a year or two. I wonder if I will be able to make it in time for the Central Plains Grand Competition."

She opened the timer array she had casually crafted, set a timer, then sat cross-legged. The Snow Essence Pill, enveloped by Lin Du's spiritual power, hovered between her hands, emitting a dazzling snowy light.

Lin Du closed his eyes, and frost crept up his fingertips, then greedily swallowed him whole. No place in the cave was spared; even his thick, dark eyelashes were covered in frost.

This feeling was actually not pleasant. Lin Du was resistant to the cold, but this spiritual energy with its overwhelming chill was still difficult for her to bear.

After a short while, Lin Du vaguely felt an unusual burning heat after the biting cold.

After returning to the cultivation world, Lin Du, who already possessed the Ice Spirit Root, actually experienced an "abnormal undressing phenomenon." The body's self-protection mechanism raised its body temperature to prevent freezing to death and paralyzed the central nervous system.

Lin Du continued to release his spiritual power, drawing away the traces of spiritual essence from the Snow Essence Pill and channeling them into his meridians, striving to adapt as quickly as possible.

Time passed slowly, and layers of frost covered the room, turning the Supreme Sect from summer to winter.

The seasons change, cold and heat come and go, in an endless cycle.

Lin Du's seclusion was completely silent. After three months of seclusion, Yuan Ye finally formed his core. Under the vast thunder tribulation, there were faint sounds of celestial music.

Yuan Ye was the fastest among the newly initiated disciples to choose his path.

Destruction precedes construction; there are losses and gains. After the tribulation, Yuan Ye lay on the ground, with the spiritual rain drizzling down. He was unwilling to move, and in a daze, he laughed and hummed a little tune.

"Why bother with Zen meditation, Taoism, or chanting Buddha's name? What's the point of talking about demons? In this mortal world, there's only you and me..."

"The emperor is nowhere near as carefree as I am."

The rain gradually stopped. Yuan Ye wiped his face, sat up, and stretched. The tattered pieces of cloth covering him swayed loosely. He looked up and met Ni Jinxuan and Xia Tian's hesitant gazes. He instinctively crossed his arms and asked, "Wait, when did you two get here?"

Summer looked at the sky in silence. "Let me take your pulse. Your lung capacity is good. You should be fine."

I don't know if my brain was damaged or something.

Ni Jinxuan turned to look at the ground, "It was probably when you were singing 'Sing a Lotus Flower Ballad, Little Sister, Listen'."

Yuan Ye hissed, "Then didn't they hear everything?"

"Yes, I heard it all the moment you started humming Lotus Ballad." Yan Qing came out from the side. "Who would have thought you'd be singing this right after your Core Formation tribulation? Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning again?"

Yuan Ye lowered his hand from his chest. "Never mind, we're all on the same side now, it doesn't matter."

"Being carefree isn't about giving up; it's about being confident."

Yuan Ye hummed a line he'd read in some storybook, took Xia Tianwu's pulse, and went back to his house wearing tattered, blackened, and tattered clothes.

"Let me change my clothes, and after I go back to my master, we'll go out for a big meal together!"

"Master is in seclusion to break through to the fifth realm. You don't need to go. Master said that your cultivation will be taught by Uncle He Gui and Uncle Feng Yi. You can talk to Junior Uncle about your mental state," Yan Qing reminded him, arms crossed.

Yuan Ye said "Oh," then suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute, where's Junior Martial Aunt? Why isn't she here for this occasion? Could she have gone to buy me some food?"

"Junior Uncle has gone into seclusion. He hasn't come out since he asked our alchemy room for two years' worth of fasting pills on the night of the summer solstice."

Yuan Ye was taken aback. "She's not going to break through to the Radiant Sun Realm, is she? So soon? Have I been in seclusion for three years?"

"No, it's only three months." Yan Qingchou thought to himself, "My junior uncle's cultivation speed is nowhere near as fast as his. But before he went into seclusion, my junior uncle was only at the mid-stage of the Cloud Ascension Realm, which should only be a minor realm."

Yuan Ye patted his chest and said, "I was wondering why everyone was gone when I came out after my short seclusion. It was terrifying."

"Not only that, but the sect leader and Uncle Ju Yuan have also gone into seclusion."

Yuan Ye turned around stiffly, "Is our sect... this chaotic? Didn't we agree to all happily farm and eat together? Why is everyone suddenly rushing forward?"

Who exactly started this source of all evil?! Today, this carefree Taoist will stop this evil trend!

"It's probably because of the Central Plains Grand Competition. Junior Uncle is only at the mid-stage of the Cloud Ascension Realm. He's at a huge disadvantage against those Cloud Ascension Realm Grand Perfection cultivators who are almost a hundred years old," Xia Tianwu said understandingly.

"...That's alright then." Yuan Ye gave up. "Hey...did Junior Uncle say when he'll be out? What if we miss it?"

The group fell into deep thought. "This is a big problem. We bet a lot of money on the betting platform back then."