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

"Wushangzong Lindu?" Feng An spoke in human language.

"Lin Du of the Supreme Sect greets Goddess Feng An." Lin Du sat on a branch, unable to perform much, and simply cupped his hands in a Daoist salute.

"What kind of goddess am I? Goddesses are in the heavens. If we meet again in the Thirty-Three Heavens, I'm afraid I'll just be a divine servant. My name is Wu Ci."

It did not transform into human form, but only stared at Lin Du with a pair of dark eyes. "I smell decay on you."

Lin Du smiled frankly, "Then, how much time do I have left?"

"Perhaps ten years, perhaps twenty years, perhaps you will never die, because there is still a lot of life force keeping you alive, so doctors cannot detect it, but I can still smell the decay on you, like..."

She stared at Lin Du, "Glaciers, and the deep sea."

There was no sign of life.

Lin Du thought for a moment. In her previous life, she died at the age of forty-six.

Perhaps Wu Ci simply sensed that she was destined to die.

"You look a lot like an old friend of mine," Uzi said. "You really do."

"She is just like you, very complex, with a strong vitality and a strong death aura."

"She did a lot of work to stay alive."

Lin Du was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this. "Really?"

"I later learned that the death aura on her body came from the gnawing of countless mother Gu, and she was born with extremely strong self-healing ability and vitality. She was also sent into the cave to be fed with spiritual creatures, which allowed her to coexist with death aura and vitality."

As Wu Ci spoke, it was as if he were looking through Lin Du's soul.

"At that time, I was a goddess, and she was the holy maiden of the Gu clan. I could easily see through the life and death of living beings, but I was powerless to help them. Then I met her, who was struggling to survive."

"After learning of her impending death, she was not discouraged. She told me that one's life is something one earns oneself. I have seen the worms that roam under her skin. Those worms brought her endless pain and hallucinations."

"Later she said that Gu worms should not exist. Even if there are countless Gu worms that can save people and cure diseases, they have all fallen into a deep sleep in the cave due to selective cultivation."

"Something that's gradually going astray is better off destroyed."

After Wu Ci finished speaking, she turned to look at Lin Du, "She destroyed herself with such a do-or-die determination. The moment the countless Gu worms left her body, that young and beautiful girl became an old woman. But even after she died, those people wouldn't let her body go."

Lin Du's eyelashes fluttered slightly. She raised her head and vaguely felt that this story seemed somewhat familiar.

That refers to... Granny Ma?

Wu Ci turned her head. "She loved sunshine and life so much, yet in the end, she succumbed to death. What about you? Will you also struggle to survive?"

Lin Du nodded. "I want it."

"While it may sound arrogant to say this, my death would ruin many people, at least not now, and besides..."

She laughed, "It would be a shame for someone as capable as me to die."

Wu Ci chuckled; this kid really dared to say that.

"You dislike the identity of a goddess because of your ability to foresee death?" Lin Du asked.

"Yes, I can only foresee, but not prevent; I can only see the result, but not the root cause; I have a compassionate heart, but my ability can only bring disaster to people."

"That doesn't bring calamity, that's a harbinger. You are not calamity itself; you are indeed the goddess of this world, observing humanity, knowing destiny, and peering into heavenly secrets. In this world, aren't you close to being a god?"

Lin Du shifted his weight from the tree to the tree, relaxing his posture. "Gods are too far removed from humans. Foresight is far more wondrous than distant deities."

Wu Ci then asked, "I heard from Chief Yue that you came to inquire about the decline of the Heavenly Dao's rules."

Lin Du nodded. "Yes."

"That's why I've come. Actually, you can rest assured, because the power of the Heavenly Dao's rules has stopped declining over the past year."

"Although a year is unobservable for all other species, I can sense that it has stopped declining and even rebounded more than half a year ago. Once the great beings disintegrate or ascend, the pressure on spiritual energy should be much less."

Lin Du was taken aback. "You mean, when did it stop?"

Wu Ci repeated it again.

Lin Du suddenly stood up, the branches above his head shaking from the impact. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes. "Then, wasn't the last significant rebound about a year and a half ago?"

Uzi asked curiously, "Yes, how did you know? But that rebound did not end the decline."

It looked up at the overly tall and slender, plain-looking girl who didn't care much about dressing up, and found that her eyes were surprisingly dark and incredibly bright.

Lin Du bowed to Wu Ci, standing ramrod straight amidst the dense branches and shadows, "Thank you, senior."

"Also, the Holy Maiden may have been reduced to the aura of death, but," Lin Du blinked, "there is a secret technique in western Yunnan called Corpse Refining."

"Foresight is never wrong, and those who know it will not feel bad, but will only strive to live and face death."

He may be dead, but as an anomaly outside the six realms, he can be considered... still existing in this world, can't he?

Wu Ci paused for a moment, then murmured, "To live towards death?"

The sunlight finally rose, filtering through the branches and into the interior, revealing the clear and vibrant morning sun, which fell on the dark feathers, making the golden feet shine brightly.

Lin Du has already obtained the truth.

The decline of the Heavenly Dao is not only due to the inability of the spiritual beings of the Insightful Realm, which were devoured by the fragments of the fallen god, to circulate internally, leading to imbalance. At its root, it may still lie in the origin of demonic energy.

The source of demonic energy is the root cause of the instability of the rules, the decrease in the amount of spiritual energy in the air, and the reduction of spiritual objects in the world.

A year ago, she and Hou Cang sealed the source of demonic energy, thus stopping the consumption of the power of the rules. She decomposed the fragments of the fallen god who had devoured the spiritual objects of the Dongming Realm and fed them to the Heavenly Dao, which is why her power has rebounded.

Lin Du looked back at her game and realized that every move she made, even if it was for the present moment, was also for the long-term balance.

By carefully planning and executing each move, a true victory for White will eventually be achieved.

Now that the root cause of the decline has been identified, Lin Du can find a way to solve it.

Perhaps Lin Tuan and Hou Cang wouldn't have had to die.

Lin Du completely forgot about his impending death, his mind preoccupied with the source of demonic energy. Only Chu Guanmeng glanced back at the goddess in the black and gold dress who was now sitting in front of the branch and slowly transforming into human form.

Sunlight fell on her black gauze dress, making the scattered gold pieces appear sacred and bright.

But most people only saw the black background.

Chu Guan dreamed of black, but he said black was bad, and that evil spirits also had this strange base color, which he didn't like.

Lin Du was in a hurry to find Hou Cang. When he got down from the wooden house, he found Yue Han holding a bamboo basket, looking confused. It seemed that she wanted to give Lin Du some spiritual fruits that she had just picked that morning.

"You just arrived?" Lin Du casually picked up one of the spiritual fruits. "The early bird catches the worm, doesn't it?"

Yue Han hesitated for a moment, then followed Lin Du a few steps and asked, "I think I just saw that Wu Clan member. They wouldn't show up unless they smelled the death aura."

"Oh, no, Senior came to talk to me about the decline of the Heavenly Dao rules, it has nothing to do with me." Lin Du said, wiping his basket as he looked down, then suddenly realized something was off. "What's under your basket?"

Yue Han seemed skeptical, but naturally answered the question, "Insects? A balanced diet of meat and vegetables, a healthy life, isn't that what you guys always talk about on the road?"

Lin Du: ...That was close. Remember to wash your hands before meals, and also before eating fruit.