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

Wei Zhi and Lin Du walked side by side, listening to Lin Du's doubts from the Buddhist boat.

"You suspect there's something wrong with the descendants of us demon god followers?" Wei Zhi frowned. "Why?"

"You inherited the Buddha's bones," Lin Du said. "Just consider it a conspiracy theory of mine."

"I clearly remember seeing the previous lives of everyone else in the Book of Life and Death, including Hou Cang. There were not many abnormalities. Only my senior uncle, I could not see his previous life when I looked at it."

Lin Du paused for a moment, then said, "There's a blank space on it."

Wei Zhi stood by the pond. "I understand what you mean. You suspect that it is beyond the Heavenly Dao of this realm, so it is blocked by the Heavenly Dao and you cannot see it."

Lin Du nodded. "I didn't delve too deeply into it before, because time was tight at the time, but I had faith in my visual memory."

She has an exceptionally strong memory and reads extremely fast. Even after a cursory reading, she can recall which content is in which book and in which place. Yet, when she tries to recall Lin Tuan, her memory is completely blank.

This is unusual in itself.

Wei Zhi thought about it carefully. Actually, he and Lin Tuan hadn't known each other for very long. It was only during a dangerous encounter that Lin Tuan came to him personally.

"I'll go talk to her again." Wei Zhi was about to take a step forward when he suddenly turned to look at Lin Du. "I feel like I'll get scolded if I see her like this."

Lin Du: ...

Even a great master is afraid of being scolded by his elders.

"Not a master." Wei Zhi was noticeably more unrestrained than before, and no longer aloof and arrogant. He stood in the sunlight, his face showing a rare hint of frustration. "After all, she strongly opposed it when I swallowed the dragon."

"She didn't want me to tarnish my identity as a Buddhist disciple, and she also taught me not to break the precepts."

Wei Zhi turned his head and glanced at the white woolen dumpling on his shoulder. "Let me brew a pot of wine first."

Chu Guanmeng cheered, "Yay!"

Lin Du: ...Others are colluding, but these two are like a rabbit on a dragon's shoulder, right?

"Actually, I don't think it's because Lin Tuan still has lingering attachments and doesn't want to ascend," Wei Zhi said. "With her strength, she could have ascended hundreds of years ago. Even if your master still cares about you, his aura is already full and perfect, so he still ascended, didn't he?"

This was an angle Lin Du had never considered. She thought about it carefully. Indeed, the aura emanating from Lin Tuan was very similar to Yan Ye's now, even back when they first met. It was a state of perfect harmony, where one could ascend at any time and rival the Heavenly Dao. "You mean..."

The two spoke at the same time, "What restriction did she encounter that prevents her from ascending?"

The two looked at each other, and both saw shock in their eyes.

In the forbidden peach grove, beneath the peach trees, Lin Tuan awoke from a drunken dream, only to find an uninvited guest had entered the peach grove.

She lowered her eyes and met the gaze of her youngest junior brother. "You're also ascending to immortality?"

Yan Ye nodded. "Three years."

"That's fast," Lin Tuan thought for a moment, "It's broken the record of ascension after a thousand years, that's good."

Yan Ye looked up at the person in the tree. This person had seen many people ascend to immortality and many people fall. He had witnessed too many partings. To her, his departure was nothing more than a falling peach blossom, without much significance.

But this person, who was so open-minded about everything, never managed to ascend to immortality.

"Senior sister, Lin Du is outside, why aren't you here...?"

"She's too smart, so," Lin Tuan shook his head, "don't see her."

Yan Ye was speechless for a moment, then asked again, "Is there really no room for maneuver?"

Lin Tuan shook his head. "Dongming Realm is a good place."

Yan Ye was completely speechless. "That child won't accept it."

The two looked at each other for a moment. Lin Tuan's eyes showed compassion and kindness, but he remained unmoved.

Yan Ye finally turned and left, deliberately avoiding the direction where Lin Du was.

Sometimes, people who seem kind and generous are also the most steadfast.

The peach orchard is colorful all year round, and Luoze is bitterly cold all year round, but only the library changes with the seasons, yet the people there remain steadfast as a mountain, unmoved by wind and rain.

It wasn't completely quiet. For example, during this period, the noisiest people all returned, and the competitions for mechanical arts, weapon refiners, alchemists, and the Three Realms Spiritual Martial Arts were all held at the same time as the Grand Competition for Array Masters.

As a result, explosions frequently broke out within the sect. Sometimes it was a furnace for refining weapons that exploded, sometimes it was a mechanism being tested that exploded, and sometimes there was a fight that shook the earth.

Cang Li was so annoyed that he went to the library to find some peace and quiet, but Lin Du kicked him out because he thought Lin Du's eyes were too noisy.

Cang Li sat on the steps, looking at the silver-haired man climbing the steps with a puzzled expression. "Seriously, you're not from our sect, are you? You can't go into the library."

Wei Zhi didn't go inside; instead, he stood by the window of the library and calmly fed the animals.

"The brewed tea and the refreshing, non-sweet desserts that won't leave crumbs can be eaten directly."

Cang Li's eyes widened. "He's talking, how come you don't find it noisy?"

Han Yueling chugs the strange green mint liquor, saying, "Because you have no work in your eyes."

Wei Zhi casually put down the new, fine, and suitable charcoal stick, took away the bald charcoal stick, washed his brush, ground ink, took the weight of the array stones listed, and turned to rummage through Lin Du's storage ring where he kept array stones.

Cang Li: ...It seems there's work to be done.

"But junior sister, where did you find this handyman?"

"Don't worry, there's a contract of servitude. If you betray me, your soul will be scattered and you won't be able to reincarnate." Wei Zhi was already a mature handyman, and he had learned to explain when Lin Du was too lazy to speak.

"Then do you look like a servant or a pageboy...?" Before Cang Li could finish speaking, the silver-haired man suddenly turned into a child with a pure and innocent face.

"And now?" the fair-skinned child asked.

Cang Li picked up her zither, turned around, and left. "I'm going to tell Senior Sister and Junior Sister about the abuse of child labor."

Complaints were futile. Not only were they futile, but Cang Li was also given an important task by his senior sister—to cooperate with the various alliances to clean up the demons in the competition venue.

Before setting off, Lin Du finally finished drawing his array diagram, which was even longer than the "Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Map". He then took Chu Guanmeng and his junior disciples down the mountain for a rare meal.

This time, none of the competition venues were chosen at the intersection of the three realms of Zhongzhou, Yunmolu, and the Demon Clan, but rather at a common place—the desolate desert.

Although no new sources of demonic energy were leaking out, the demonic energy that had overflowed in the demon realm over the past ten thousand years still existed. The demons surprisingly united in a short period of time, no longer fighting amongst themselves, but only devouring spiritual cultivators.

Many cultivators from various sects travel along the border year-round to reduce losses for ordinary people in the Central Plains.

The demonic tide will never come, but the frequent attacks, as frequent as mosquito attacks, are even more disgusting.

A group of people sat together, talking about the recent situation and match information.

After Yan Qing finished reading the rosters and updates from each group, everyone received a list of their strongest opponents in their respective competitions.

Ni Jinxuan raised her glass first and shouted, "Our goal is!"

"Strive to be number one!" Yuan Ye shouted.

Lin Du glanced at Yuan Ye, then quickly changed his tune, "The competition is second, protecting Zhongzhou is first!"

Mo Lin coughed lightly. "It's quite obvious this year that everything will be arranged around the external enemy. The evil forces are more cunning than before and no longer do evil alone. The first priority is to pay attention to safety."

"Our Three Realms Spiritual Martial Arts arena should be located before all your competition venues, so that evil spirits won't miss out on the later ones."

Ni Jinxuan nodded seriously, "We want both the Demon Slayer and the First Place!"

Yan Qing delivered an official statement: "Rankings are secondary; it's all about mutual learning and improvement. Come on, let's fight for the right path!"

The cups clinked together, and everyone looked on with great anticipation for their respective matches.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Chu Guanmeng stuffed everyone with food. By the time everyone put down their glasses, the table was empty, and even the roast duck carcass was gone.

The six of them stared intently at the swollen dumpling.

The dumpling bristled and slunk out to call for more people, "Add another table!"