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

"Lin Du?" Hou Cang transmitted his voice, "Where are you?"

This is a rare fog barrier that even his divine sense, as a cultivator at the Formless Realm, could not break through.

Below were layers of demonic energy, crushed by evil spirits, while above were dark clouds filled with spiritual energy—a stark contrast between heaven and earth.

The dragon's body took shape in the sky, but only white bones remained on the ground.

Once Lin Du confirmed that the dragon's form was completely transformed, he grabbed the dragon by the back of its neck and stuffed it into the Cold Moon Small World.

The silver dragon stared blankly at the bristling white woolen dumpling.

Han Yueling jumped up on the spot, "Who else could it be but you?! Why does Lin Du stuff all sorts of things here! This thing's two eyes are as big as mine! Aren't you afraid it'll eat me up?!"

Lin Du's voice was unusually calm, "It's Wei Zhi."

"Who?" Chu Guanmeng's voice rose several octaves. "Huh? How come it's a different species now??"

The silver dragon blinked, looked at the small dumpling in front of it, and said nothing.

"Just for a little while. The Cold Moon Secret Realm isn't suitable for anything with life to grow. Give me another half day, and I'll move them all out for you."

Chu Guanmeng slowly swelled up until she was as tall as a dragon's head before stopping. She circled the dragon once, trying to figure out what kind of thing this dragon was.

"You gave up your human body and Buddha bones to become a dragon? Lin Du spent a year calculating and weighed so many rare and precious materials and array stones, and most of the things in his storage ring are gone. You really lost out."

The silver dragon spoke in human language, "The reward is not just what you saw; the house, the forest, the pond, and all the treasures inside the house are the reward."

"Is it a bad deal to trade my entire world for a life?"

Chu Guanmeng nodded and then shook her head, "You can't eat it."

It would be a loss if we couldn't eat it.

Wei Zhi stopped talking, found a spot, sat down, and closed his eyes.

Just as Chu Guanmeng was about to continue bargaining, she found that the dragon had stopped talking, which made her fur stand on end again.

Shouldn't we ask what they want to eat?

Why is this dragon not playing by the rules?

Its honey wine, its fruit juice! Its elixir!

Chu Guanmeng deflated in anger, returning to her original small, round shape. She then plunged headfirst into the pond—randomly scaring a koi to death. You can't eat a live one, but you can eat a dead one!

"He has just grown a body and needs a long period of dormancy to fully integrate." After Lin Du finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved his spiritual power again to smooth out all traces of the array.

From then on, there were no more Buddhist disciples in the world.

As the dark clouds slowly dissipated, the source of demonic energy could no longer leak out, and the demonic embryo was completely suppressed, unable to break through the seal. The Buddha's son was left with only a skeleton, densely covered with golden scriptures.

The sounds of wooden fish drums and chanting continued endlessly, converging into new golden scriptures that surrounded the white bones, constantly circulating.

Seeing that the source of demonic energy had been sealed, the evil spirits were completely enraged and began a frenzied counterattack.

Seeing that the great formation in Lindu was unaffected, the abbot and the monks returned to their positions and continued chanting scriptures.

Hou Cang finally located Lin Du's position. "Shall we go?"

"These Zen masters still have to chant here for eighty-one days before they can truly succeed." Lin Du looked down at the wounded Zen masters on the outside, his face revealing neither joy nor anger.

Hou Cang knew this, "It's only been seven days, hasn't it?"

The formation at Lindu had been in place for seven days, and the fog had just lifted.

These people will have to stay here for a long time, but nearly a hundred have already been lost.

It's hard to imagine how many people will be left after 81 days.

The sacrifice was made by one Buddhist disciple, but for the success of this sealing formation, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of people may have sacrificed themselves.

That is the merit of one lifetime, which may lead to many reincarnations and eventual Buddhahood.

Perhaps their souls will thus become food for evil spirits.

Buddha resides in the heart, and also in the world.

Hou Cang spoke up, "You want to help Buddhism?"

Lin Du turned his head. "No, I'm going to find the residence of an old friend."

To avoid the potential crisis that may follow.

A large fleet of glittering ships sped by from afar, and the demons landed one by one, plunging towards the bottom of the cliff.

Yue Chen was surprised to see Lin Du here. "Master Lin Du, what are you doing here?"

"Just passing by," Lin Du said succinctly. "Is Chief Yue here to help?"

"Sigh, I didn't expect... that Buddhist disciple was really willing to sacrifice himself. The Buddhist sect was willing to sacrifice eight Buddhist sects for this sealing formation. I think our demon race can't just do nothing. Helping to hold off the enemy on the outside and fight a bit would be fine, since the entire Dongming Realm will benefit from it later."

As Yue Chen spoke, he glanced at Yue Han behind him, "However, after the source of demonic energy is sealed, I'm afraid the evil forces will launch an even more severe counterattack."

"They might lie dormant, after all, demonic energy doesn't dissipate overnight." Lin Du glanced back. "Species evolve."

Therefore, what Lin Du wanted to destroy was the technology left behind by Wen Fu.

In order to survive, a species will launch its most frenzied counterattack when it suffers a devastating blow, even if it means fighting its way out of a bloody mess.

Spiritual cultivation is the only sustenance available to demonic cultivators.

Yue Chen glanced back again. Yue Han seemed to be obscured by the horde of demons. He hurriedly said, "The demons are clearly going berserk. I'll go ahead first."

The Zen master can die until only one remains, but they cannot all die, and the seal cannot be interrupted, otherwise the seal will be incomplete and may not be able to be maintained for long.

Lin Du nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."

While the demons in the city rushed to the Demon Realm to provide support, Fanqian City welcomed two uninvited guests.

Last time they fled in disarray before the city gates, but this time they entered the city calmly and unhurriedly, using their spiritual cultivation forms.

No one dared to stop them.

Countless divine senses and secretly spying eyes fell on the two, but no one dared to be the first to step forward.

Those two were very familiar to the evil cultivators; they were disciples of the number one sect in Zhongzhou, and both were on the Chongxiao Ranking, their combat power even far exceeding their actual rankings.

At this moment, there are no great demons in the city, only evil cultivators who have taken the wrong path, and the city lord has not appeared for a long time.

No evil cultivator dared to take the risk; they only dared to secretly observe, to see whether to flee or wait until a high-level battle was over before launching a counterattack and taking a share of the spoils.

Greed, fear, malice—these emotions were clearly perceived by Lin Du. She raised her hand and touched the red rope, which was a little too hot.

Following the map of Fanqian City that Hu You had given him before leaving, Lin Du easily found the location of the City Lord's Mansion.

The city lord's mansion was tightly closed, and Lin Du and Hou Cang saw the lantern at the same time.

"It's the style of lanterns from our Zhongbei region," Lin Du said.

"Hmm." Hou Cang had already realized who the old friend Lin Du was looking for was.

Wenfu.

After seeing the two people walk to the front of the city lord's mansion, Lin Du felt the excitement and greed around him grow stronger.

She seemed thoughtful. "It seems this city lord isn't as frightening as they think."

"Evil cultivators are not truly afraid; they are merely lying low temporarily." Hou Cang could no longer understand.

Lin Du tentatively raised his hand, and in an instant, the lantern swayed gently, and the wick inside ignited.

Those who had been secretly watching tensed up. The city lord was actually here?

But why weren't the lanterns lit before, and why did no one see anyone go inside?

Lin Du immediately held his breath and put on a mask, and Hou Cang followed suit.

There's no other way but to trust Lin Du; you can't go wrong.

"What is it?" Hou Cang asked after putting it on.

"It's not a big problem," Lin Du said.

Hou Cang breathed a sigh of relief.

There are only three or four kinds of poisons.

Hou Cang took a step back and began looking for gloves.

"But it won't kill you."

Hou Cang gave up the search, as sword cultivators didn't have the habit of wearing gloves, and they weren't very comfortable using them.

"It's just suppressing all the spiritual energy in my body, temporarily weakening all my muscles, and incidentally causing me to lose my mind," Lin Du finally finished speaking.

Hou Cang retreated behind Lin Du, "How vicious! Come here."

He had had enough of these shady people's schemes and tricks.

Lin Du turned to look at Hou Cang, his gray eyes revealing a hint of unspoken disdain. Then he raised his hand, unleashing a torrent of spiritual energy that instantly extinguished all the lanterns surrounding the outer wall, even causing them to be covered in fine frost.

Then she raised her foot, channeled her spiritual power, and kicked the door.

It wasn't kicked open.

Hou Cang looked up at the sky and said, "It's quite cold in the Demon Realm today."

Lin Du's voice was indifferent, "There is a formation inside the gate."

Hou Cang nodded, thinking that Lin Du was about to break the formation. The next moment, Lin Du turned around, took a few steps to the door, and then lifted his foot again.

With a loud bang, the courtyard wall shattered, the great formation was activated, and it emitted a golden light.

"This is not...our supreme..." Hou Cang stopped speaking before he could finish, his eyes deep and heavy.

That was a defensive formation that the Supreme Sect had always used. Outsiders couldn't tell the difference, but they could spot it at a glance.

Hou Cang unleashed his spirit sword, its sword energy as sharp and heavy as splitting a mountain, breaking the seal with a single strike.

Lin Du lifted his foot and walked through the gap in the broken courtyard wall.

This was not a large mansion for the city lord.

The exterior of the gate clearly resembles the style of Dingjiu City, but the interior is a southern garden. On this barren land, the landscape seems somewhat extravagant and out of place.

"Wenfu comes from a wealthy family in the south. His family is very good at business. By chance, his father helped a poor sword cultivator who still wanted to bid at an auction. Yes, that's one of your senior uncles. He wanted to bid on a sword stone but forgot that he had no money."

"To repay the debt and to clean up the mess my junior brother made, Master agreed to my senior uncle's request. After the test, he accepted Wenfu as his disciple. Wenfu was practically raised by your senior sister."

Hou Cang calmly recounted this past event, "I didn't have much interaction with him. Wen Fu was one of the few from our generation who didn't make it onto the Qingyun List."

Lin Du was walking calmly in the courtyard, avoiding some strange vines and shapeless demonic beasts. "He understood the true Dao heart of Master Lin Tuan before you did."

Hou Cang's face turned cold. "It's not that I don't understand."

"You're resentful," Lin Du said calmly. "In all close relationships, everyone yearns for double standards, exceptions, and uniqueness."

"You enjoyed the unique experience of being personally taught."

"But have you considered that it's just because your senior sister is most worried about you going astray?"

But this thing still grew crooked.

Hou Cang: ...Talking about Wenfu is one thing, but why are you dragging me into this? And it's even a personal attack?

Lin Du raised his hand and sent away another strange demon. "I thought you knew everything, but obsessions are often like this: knowing something but being unable to let go. That's what obsessions are."

"How come you started reciting those empty and pretentious scriptures after meeting those monks?" Hou Cang felt that he had been too tolerant of Lin Du, giving her the illusion that he was weak and easy to bully, so he had to retort.

Lin Du remained unfazed and continued chanting the sutras. "Just like some people in Tantric Buddhism, for them, Buddhist disciples should make sacrifices. It's a kind of ingrained obsession. But when the choice comes, some people really do save others by sacrificing themselves."

Most of them were prepared to die in order to complete that sealing formation.

Lin Du paused for a moment and then explained, "What I mean is that the reason we are cultivators is that we are still on the path of cultivation and have not yet reached perfection. Naturally, we will have biases and make mistakes. I also have many shortcomings that have been cultivated by this long mortal world."

"Senior brother, you know it, but you can't let go. I'm the same, as are millions of others, and many more who aren't even aware of the flaws in this society or in themselves."

"Growth is about examining yourself, accepting yourself, letting go of the constraints and flaws you've acquired during your growth, and piecing yourself back together from the pieces, rather than finding someone else to fill in your shortcomings."

"People and the world will move forward; they will never stop."

"A circle formed by two people is not a circle. When it encounters rough rocks and huge collisions, no matter how tightly it is held together, it may still fall apart."

Only two circles can move forward together.

Lin Du stopped talking after saying this and buried himself in cleaning up the things in the yard.

Hou Cang watched Lin Du's retreating figure. Everyone thought that Lin Du was young, and that his cultivation had so far surpassed others because of his talent and opportunities. Many people secretly suspected that Lin Du was forcing his growth, and that his Dao heart would not be able to keep up. They believed that he would be like many predecessors and remain in one realm for many years.

But how many people in this world can have Lin Du's calm and mature state of mind?

But... how did Lin Du figure out his thoughts?

This little brat has a sharp eye, doesn't he?

Hou Cang drew his sword and followed.

"There's someone in the courtyard." Lin Du sensed it. "An evil cultivator."

Hou Cang looked bewildered. "Really?"

We shouldn't assume he didn't notice.

Lin Du didn't detect it with his divine sense; he sensed it through his intensely fluctuating emotions.

The instant Lin Du spoke, Hou Cang sensed the familiar killing intent of the sword cultivator.

The two attacked simultaneously, one freezing the enemy while the other killed them.

The biting frost was shattered by the sword energy the moment it froze.

Lin Du pulled out the booklet. "It should be from the world of classical Chinese poetry."

After sensing the intense astonishment and fear, Lin Du made up his mind and calmly raised his hand, "Kill them."

She unleashed her spiritual power once more, completely freezing the evil cultivator's soul with frost. Then, a burst of spiritual power followed, shattering the soul completely.

"Northwest direction, behind the door."

Hou Cang swung his sword and killed the other hiding evil cultivator.

Lin Du looked at the few names that hadn't been crossed out in red on the booklet. "Leave a few for me to search."

After a moment, Lin Du stood up. "They are indeed all from the Lanju world. Evil cultivators are hypocritical and difficult to control. Wen Fu is unwilling to recruit them as subordinates."

"This is actually the base of these people from the Lanju Realm. They are the core, and there are a few others planted in the Demon Realm. I will write to Yue Chen later and ask him to help inform them."

After Lin Du finished speaking, he completely crushed the soul. "I'm leaving. Wen Fu still has some documents here. Burn them all."

Seeing that the two men had killed the evil cultivators from the city lord's mansion without even disturbing their clothes or hair, all the evil cultivators were certain of one fact: the city lord was indeed gone.

The various evil cultivators in the city, regardless of their size, unanimously prepared to divide up the city lord's mansion, and prepared talismans, soul lamps, and evil formations.

Suddenly, an array pattern lit up in the city lord's mansion.

Before anyone could react, two figures, one in green and one in white, had already walked out of the city lord's mansion, as arrogant and unhurried as when they arrived.

A daring heretical cultivator was the first to rush into the city lord's mansion on a magical artifact, and began searching the mansion for anything still usable. The other heretical cultivators waited for a while, and seeing this, they also rushed in.

Since Hou Cang and Lin Du cannot be robbed or killed, can't we at least plunder the now-ownerless city lord's mansion?

"How come this dilapidated city lord's mansion doesn't even have a single decorative item that brings any semblance of life?"

One of the heretical cultivators shouted in dissatisfaction.

Just as many evil cultivators were entering the city lord's mansion, Lin Du and Hou Cang had already walked out of the city gate when a devastating roar suddenly came from behind them.

Like a mountain collapsing.

Some cautious evil cultivators nervously put away their arrangements. The city lord's mansion was reduced to dust in the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, not even a single pebble-sized fragment could be seen.

The entire city lord's mansion, along with all the people and things inside, was reduced to dust, returning to its original state, even more thoroughly burned than in the fire, turning into a pile of ashes.

Beneath the ashes, there was only land, nothing else.

"Such a powerful formation? How come she's not a Heavenly Rank Formation Master? Are the Formation Master Alliances of Central Continent blind?"

"What do you know? People like to do things unconventionally, and they might not even be accepted by the mainstream, just like us."

"Pah! How dare you say that? Who bathes in human blood every day like you!"

"Hey, we'll know in a few years when the array master competition comes around. What's the point of your evaluations?"

"You know what, these righteous people might have just as many lives on their hands as we do."

"What lives are you carrying? The lives of us evil cultivators? Aren't you afraid that when those two killing gods come back, they'll wipe you out too?"

"What are you afraid of? This time, the demons are probably really going all out. They might even beg us for help. We can take advantage of the chaos and make a quick buck."

The heretical practitioners whispered amongst themselves, both relieved that they had managed to survive and discussing how they would take advantage of the chaos to commit evil deeds in the future.

On the desolate desert, two figures moved swiftly forward.

"I have a question: why not just kill all those heretical cultivators?"

"The reason things went so smoothly today is because they don't know what we're here for. If everyone realized we were here to kill them, do you think we'd even be able to walk out of here today?"

"...That makes sense." Hou Cang thought for a moment, then said with some regret, "I thought you already had the strength to set up that formation and kill them all."

"No rush. If they do something evil again, they'll all die." Lin Du calculated the dates. "Let's hurry up and go home, each of us can get scolded by our own family."