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

Inside the shrine, all three were plunged into deep sorrow.

After a long silence, Chu Guanmeng hung her head dejectedly, "Then before, I even wanted to eat the culprit alive."

Now, all living beings are the culprits.

"Demons can never be completely eradicated," Lin Du suddenly said. "I used to think that demons could never be eradicated, but after I personally wiped out the demon realm, I now realize that this statement is true."

What cannot be eradicated is not evil, but the emotions of all living beings.

All living beings must not be killed.

The truth is cruel: humanity is constantly trying, destroying, and saving.

"Then those of us who vanquish evil will never be killed," Wei Zhi suddenly said. "The righteous path can never be completely eradicated."

Lin Du squatted down and carefully picked up the broken pottery, placing it back on the altar.

Then, she raised her hands to form a hand seal.

The divine rune slowly emerged from her palm, then transformed into a flowing golden halo.

The golden light instantly swept away the entire shrine, and the resentment of the three poisons was instantly annihilated by the golden light.

Wei Zhi unleashed the Vajra Pestle, raised his hand to form a hand seal, and the Vajra Pestle fell heavily, piercing through the Seal of All Beings. In an instant, the seal shattered.

The shrine shook again, stone slabs collapsed, debris flew everywhere, and space twisted and shifted as they returned to the stone path.

Or rather, it was a stone chamber.

Inside the stone chamber were many pottery jars and linen cloths painted with various scenes. In the very center, a dazzling ball of light floated.

Many people had already gathered around, but it seemed that no one had successfully obtained the innate spiritual treasure within.

Lin Du did not immediately go to take the ball of light. Instead, she pressed down on the restless Floating Life Fan and looked around at every painting.

Chu Guanmeng kept nagging through the contract, "Are you sure you can handle this? The Floating Life Fan can barely hold it down."

Lin Du shook his head, "No rush."

She stood before each painting—landscapes, figures, birds, and animals—the splendor imbued with an ancient simplicity and a profound, timeless richness.

"What kind of magical treasure is this? Why can't I touch it no matter what I do? Could it be that it has no substance?"

"Could it be divine power?"

"Where in the world is there divine power that's gathered together and waiting for you to absorb?" Yi Xian couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Du finally walked up to a painting. "Found it."

Chu Guanmeng and everyone present were stunned for a moment. "What? They found it?"

"What did you find?"

Inheritance? Treasure?

Lin Du raised his hand. "Found it, the first painting."

The people who had been quietly listening relaxed; everything was alright then...

I thought it was some kind of treasure.

In the next instant, Lin Du leaped into the painting.

Those who witnessed it all had their pupils dilated in shock.

"No, is there a hidden meaning in this painting?"

Everyone rushed to look for the nearby paintings, and sure enough, they too were swallowed up by them.

But they weren't very lucky, and soon they scrambled out of the water.

"This room contains ancient mythical beasts; going in is practically suicide!"

Some emerged after a long while, looking disheveled, and excitedly told their companions, "Look! I captured that beast alive!"

But when he raised the Immortal Binding Rope, it was empty.

"What the hell... I can't even bring it out." The man's hopes were dashed, and he walked out in a huff, looking disheveled.

One of the more frail-looking star deities, who arrived a little late, shook his head. "A bunch of vulgar people."

He stepped forward gracefully. "What do you think this place is? The remains of some ancient god?"

Someone then asked, "Did this star deity already know that?"

He nodded. "Naturally, paintings can be seen everywhere along the way, some even depicting miraculous illusions. These must be the progenitors of painting!"

On the other side, Lin Du had already landed in a simple field.

The mountains and rivers are clear and cold, the sky is filled with rosy clouds, and the sun is not clear in the rainbow light, but everywhere there is the most primordial energy.

A woman looked at the person who entered, without panic, and simply asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Lin Du smiled, "In later generations, we will call you Hua Lei; perhaps your original name was Ke Shou?"

"Indeed, she is a person from later generations." The woman held a brush that looked somewhat rougher than those of today. She lowered her head and drew a stroke on the tortoise shell, but it was not a character, but rather... a pattern.

Hua Lei lowered her eyes. "So it's because you named me after my paintings. Not bad."

"Painting originated with Lei, hence the saying 'Painting Lei,' this is a record from our later generations." Lin Du recited the ancient words, his pronunciation somewhat awkward and unnatural.

But Hua Lei understood and was very happy. "How did you find the first painting with divine power that I left behind?"

Lin Du replied, "The painting naturally conveys the heartfelt desire to create and record. I was amazed by the artist's skill when I saw the painting, so I came here to experience it firsthand."

Hua Lei looked at Lin Du and said, "Since you are a person from later generations and want to take away my legacy, you must paint a picture that can move me."

Lin Du nodded. "Please wait a moment."

The moment she picked up her pen, she thought of the days when Feng Yi said she was clumsy and only had the air of a craftsman, lacking any true passion for painting.

The days when those original paintings were presented to her, and when she was ordered to go out and then return to paint the most memorable scenes, seemed both distant and near.

Lin Du's paintings have always been mostly craftsman-like. He has always thought about in advance what techniques to use for each stroke, and what shades of ink to use. This is also what Feng Yi taught him.

But at this moment, Lin Du was surprisingly blessed.

As she wielded her brush, the view of the entire Wushang Sect overlooking from the summit was quickly revealed.

Hua Lei watched quietly, sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning.

Lin Du kept painting, and this space and time seemed to be an unchanging landscape. The wind was blowing, the clouds were colorful, and the mythical beasts were soaring in the sky. It was clearly alive, yet it seemed to be still.

The sun will never set, its light will never fade, and beauty will remain forever.

However, during the painting process, she seemed to see the scene from day to night, until the warm light of the human world and the starlight of the sky fell one after another, and the time of the painting was fixed.

Mountains and rivers stretch endlessly, and humanity still exists.

As she finished the last stroke, Hua Lei remained silent for a long time, finally raising her hand to wipe away a tear from the corner of her eye.

"I felt it."

Although she couldn't understand it and had never seen such a world before, she felt it.

A person stands on the highest, solitary peak, overlooking the warm colors of the world. Under the soft moonlight, the wine is still warm, and people are reunited.

The hall was filled with joy, while the solitary peak stood cold and desolate.

A multitude of emotions filled my mind: relief, joy, satisfaction, the satisfaction of retiring after achieving success, the peace of the world, the feeling of being above all others, the feeling of being the only one in the world, and the subtle sense of solitude and freedom.

Human beings should be this rich and varied.

Hua Lei asked her, "Is this the scene you saw during your saddest time?"

Lin Du shook his head. "No, this is my favorite sight."

Hua Lei laughed, "Then I probably wasn't wrong."

She suddenly realized, "Someone else has submitted their work, and it's incredibly beautiful, far surpassing my own skill. Their technique is far superior to yours."

Lin Du had no regrets, "I am indeed inferior."

She probably wasn't born with the talent for artistic creation.

"But I prefer your paintings," Hua Lei said. "You make me feel that only when you hold that brush can you paint the real, beautiful world that people love."

Her gaze softened, and a stunning radiance shone on her beautiful face. "This pen should be yours."

Lin Du asked, "Even if I were to use that pen to kill someone?"

"Even beauty needs to be removed from ugliness, just like after the paintbrush leaves its mark, we still need to use a carving knife to carve out the real words and patterns."

"What you can feel is not just a dreamlike illusion, but the real world."

After Hua Lei finished speaking, she said, "Just like you, you also possess a primordial spiritual treasure born from my brother Shun, don't you?"

"This fan has chosen you, which means you were born to deserve it. Whether it's this pen or this fan, your heart destined you to possess them."

Lin Du looked down at the Floating Life Fan in his palm.

A naturally occurring spiritual treasure can change its form in response to its owner's wishes.

In Shun's time, the Five Bright Fan was created to seek out virtuous men to assist him. It fell into Lin Du's hands, becoming a fleeting fan that, in moments of quiet solitude, remained cold and unassuming, yet in moments of brilliant use, shone with dazzling light. [Note 2]

The senior members of the library once recognized the fan as a top-grade innate spiritual treasure, but at the time they could only unleash half of its power.

Her other half, as she learned at the time of the contract, was a companion spirit, Dream Pen.

It turns out that this originally belonged to a brother and sister.

The moment Lin Du agreed, he was back inside the stone chamber.

The precious light entered Lin Du's body directly, and the Floating Life Fan unceremoniously forced out Lin Du's essence blood. In an instant, the Dream Brush appeared in Lin Du's hand, and the information after the contract also flooded into Lin Du's consciousness.

The innate spiritual treasure, the Dream Brush, can use the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as ink, and with a wave of its hand, it can paint illusory scenes, just like the real world.

If the artist's spiritual perception is strong enough, they can bring the beasts in the painting to life.

For Lin Du, a formation cultivator, there is another ingenious use.

What will happen when combined with the Floating Life Fan remains to be seen, and Lin Du will have to experiment and explore one by one. At the very least, she needs to fully accept and digest Hua Lei's inheritance before she can find the person who gave birth to the Floating Life Fan.

When she came to her senses, she realized that everyone in the stone chamber was staring at her, eyeing her menacingly.

Lin Du subconsciously twirled his pen, looking down at the assembled immortals. "No, I'm here to reclaim what rightfully belongs to me. You don't need to stare at me like that, do you?"

Before anyone could react to the meaning behind it, she raised her hand and channeled spiritual energy into the Dream Pen, drawing a scene of stone pillars in the air. With her other hand, she grabbed Wei Zhi, who was idly wandering around studying something, and ran off.

The white-haired dumpling clung tightly to Wei Zhi's shoulder, "No!!! Can you two please let me know before you speed up?! I'm really going to shed fur!!!"