I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

Zhang Xiaoke knew that Tian Lin was still going to sea today, thus he sincerely reminded Tian Lin, "After you go to sea, senior, it's best not to get entangled with these Soul Cultivators.

Those Soul Cultivators are very united. Therefore, although the Righteous People dislike them, they do not provoke them easily."

Tian Lin nodded, summoned a small boat from his Storage Bag, and crossed the sea.

He was in the midst of a thick fog, and the fog near the sea didn't seem to be any different.

When he approached the small boats where the Soul Cultivators were, those Soul Cultivators looked at Tian Lin with caution. Upon noticing Tian Lin's attire, they knew he was a powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator and paid their respects on the boat.

Tian Lin nodded to these Soul Cultivators and continued to set sail further away.

The closer his boat got to the open sea, the thicker the sea fog became.

Tian Lin didn't know if it was the sound of the sea wind howling or the whining of Resentful Souls near his ear.

Having traveled for an hour, he was completely surrounded by fog.

The white fog was just ordinary fog; Tian Lin did not see any prompts appear.

But in the fog, Tian Lin saw two figures swaying.

"Are these Resentful Souls?"

Tian Lin didn't need to use his Spiritual Sense because, having eaten the True Eye Fruit, such entities like Resentful Souls couldn't hide from his eyes.

The two figures, like a gentle breeze wrapped in the fog, drifting above the sea, then suddenly pounced towards Tian Lin.

With a slap of his right hand on his flying sword, the sword instantly turned into a flash and cut the two figures in half.

But the color of these figures just dimmed a bit. Although they no longer had human forms, they pounced towards Tian Lin once again.

Tian Lin's brows slightly furrowed, and his flying sword repeatedly shredded these figures until they completely disappeared.

"It seems these Resentful Souls are not terribly frightening, but it's quite difficult to exterminate them using only True Qi."

Tian Lin found that the further he went, the more such Resentful Souls appeared.

Fearing encountering more powerful Resentful Souls, he stopped rowing the boat and took out a Conch Shell to blow.

After half an hour, the silhouette of a Five Elements Jiao finally appeared underneath the sea surface.

Tian Lin put away the Conch Shell and dived into the sea.

Although the skin and flesh of the Five Elements Jiao were harder than other fish, its temperament was very gentle.

It was not until Tian Lin's Fish Spear pierced its body that the Five Elements Jiao began to struggle violently.

This Five Elements Jiao was even larger than the one Tian Lin had caught yesterday, and with Tian Lin's physical condition, he was so shaken by the Five Elements Jiao that he felt dizzy and nearly vomited blood.

In an instant, the two dived into the second-layer sea area, and Tian Lin immediately saw the prompt for 'Soul Replenishing Powder.'

There's Soul Replenishing Powder in the second-layer sea area too?

Tian Lin was puzzled but still clung to the Fish Spear and followed the Five Elements Jiao deeper into the sea.

This time, besides him and the fish, Tian Lin also saw Resentful Souls being dragged down by the sea water.

Tian Lin didn't know how these Resentful Souls manifested in the water of the Immortal Sinking Pond, but he felt somewhat pleased—

As long as the Immortal Sinking Pond was also effective on those Resentful Souls, then it could serve as a protective moat for Pingyang County.

At this time, the two of them had reached the deep sea's fourth layer, where densely packed "Soul Replenishing Powder" had nearly riddled the Five Elements Jiao into a sieve.

Tian Lin looked exceedingly troubled, as he could absorb the Soul Replenishing Powder in his body with his Spiritual Sense.

But if the Soul Replenishing Powder entered his body too quickly, he might have trouble digesting it.

Fortunately, the Five Elements Jiao was already breathless by this time, and Tian Lin quickly took out its Five Elements Jiao Pearl and internal organs, rushing swiftly towards the surface.

By now, both the Five Elements Jiao Pearl and its organs were riddled with holes, remaining intact only because the 'Soul Replenishing Powder' was too small to be seen by the naked eye; however, the Five Elements Jiao Pearl started to 'leak.'

In an instant, the Five Elements Spiritual Energy nearly 'exploded' in the sea, propelling Tian Lin upwards.

Tian Lin held the hollow Five Elements Jiao Pearl, forcing himself to digest the Soul Replenishing Powder in his body, leaving the surfacing action to his subconscious.

He himself didn't know how much time had passed, but after a great effort, he finally emerged from the sea.

Looking at the leaky Five Elements Jiao Pearl, Tian Lin's expression soured as he crushed the pearl.

He dressed himself, placed the Five Elements Jiao's organs into his Storage Bag, and then looked at the distant fog with some trepidation and uncertainty.

The day was drawing to a close, and by all accounts, there shouldn't be anyone sailing so far out at sea.

But with his naked eye, Tian Lin saw a not-so-small pleasure boat coming closer from a distance, swaying on the river.

The pleasure boat had two decks, with red lanterns hung at both the bow and stern.

Under the allure of the red lanterns, every so often, two figures went aboard the boat.

Laughter from both men and women could be heard intermittently from the pleasure boat.

"My sister washes her clothes by the river, the water flows eastward, to see my dear—"

Amidst the laughter, the sound of a qin played leisurely followed by the singing of courtesans.

The lyrics were not fresh, but the singing tone of the singers was inexplicably mournful, making it impossible for listeners to stop the tears from falling.

Tian Lin's heart shivered, remembering the little wine maid in the small town who had sung this song when he had just come out of the merchant's mine.

The reason for Tian Lin's vigilance was not because he suspected that the person singing on the boat was that little wine maid.

He just felt that the singing courtesan was neither human nor ghost yet he had clearly seen that Resentful Souls had boarded the boat, which also proved that this boat must be a Ghost Ship.

'Swish swash'

The thousand-year-old bamboo pole stirred the waters, and the ghostly boat headed toward Tian Lin.

Tian Lin always found the act of poling a boat on the sea too bizarre. Given the depths of the Immortal Sinking Pond, how long must the bamboo pole be to reach the bottom?

As he watched the ghostly boat draw near, Tian Lin propelled his own little boat to distance himself, while simultaneously summoning his flying sword to strike at the boat.

Only after his sword came slashing down did the boatman clad in a straw raincoat and bamboo hat finally raise his head.

Looking at the face under the bamboo hat, Tian Lin couldn't help but shout, "Sect Master Xun?"

But Sect Master Xun did not speak. Tian Lin's sword had sliced through his bamboo hat but failed to breach his defenses.

He just coldly watched Tian Lin, persistently poling the bamboo toward Tian Lin's small boat.

Tian Lin didn't know what Sect Master Xun had encountered after going to sea, but he suddenly recalled that Sect Master Xun had indeed gone south in search of a way out.

But now, it was obvious that Sect Master Xun was thoroughly dead. Nothing but a corpse on the wooden boat was left, poling it forward.

If even a powerful Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator like Sect Master Xun perished at the hands of the ghostly boat, what chance did he have?

Tian Lin dared not delay, his oar almost spinning full circle, as the tiny wooden boat skimmed the sea surface, flying like an arrow.

Though the ghostly boat seemed to move slowly, Tian Lin could visibly see it steadily closing the distance between them.

If this continued, Tian Lin would eventually be caught by the ghostly boat.

And he was still far out at sea, with who knows how much distance left to reach shore.

Tian Lin steeled his heart and threw his Storage Bag aside before plunging into the Immortal Sinking Pond.

He remembered that even Resentful Souls could not escape the 'curse' of the Immortal Sinking Pond.

Indeed, after Tian Lin went into the sea, the ghostly boat seemed to lose connection with him, ceasing its pursuit.

On the ghostly boat, the faint singing and the laughter of the guests slowly faded away from Tian Lin, deep in the sea.

Tian Lin, submerged beneath the sea's surface, watched the boat and its lanterns disappear into the distance, until he could see them no more.

But he still didn't dare to be careless, instead, he swam toward the underside of his small boat, and, kicking his legs, he pushed it toward the coast.

Throughout history, it has always been people riding boats, never the other way around.

Yet, driven to desperation by the ghostly boat, Tian Lin had no choice but to suffer this indignity.

He didn't know how long he had swum, but eventually, below the sea, he heard the laughter of some Soul Cultivators from the daytime.

He poked his head out from under the boat and faintly saw the presence of the coast, then flipped back onto the boat.

As he steered his small boat closer to the Soul Cultivators' vessels, they gave Tian Lin a formal greeting.

Tian Lin nodded and, without wasting words—for fear of the ghostly boat reappearing—sped toward the coast.

"Look at his pale face; he must have been scared by a Resentful Soul."

One of the Soul Cultivators said after Tian Lin had gone some distance.

"It's unlikely; he is also a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, his strength can't be that weak."

"That's not necessarily true—even Foundation Establishment Cultivators can inadvertently encounter roaming spirits in the vast sea—"

While they spoke, Tian Lin had already reached land and went straight to the Water Official to hand over the innards of the Five Elements Jiao.

The Water Official gave Tian Lin three Mid-grade Spirit Stones but couldn't help asking, "Where is your Five Elements Jiao pearl, senior?"

Tian Lin shook the crushed Five Elements Jiao pearl in front of the Water Official and said with an ugly expression, "It's shattered."

Then the Water Official comforted him: "Senior, there's no need to be upset. Even without the Five Elements Jiao pearl, what you've obtained today is considerable.

Moreover, if the Five Elements Jiao pearl shattered this time, it surely won't always shatter in the future, right?"

On hearing this, Tian Lin laughed, "You really know how to comfort people. By the way, has anything happened at sea recently?"

The Water Official thought for a moment and said, "There's no news about the grand tomb opening, but I heard that the Great Elder is gathering tributes from Pingyang County to go south to hunt Resentful Souls at sea."

Tian Lin frowned at the news: "Would the tributes be willing to do such a fruitless task?"

"That's why the Great Elder promised that those willing to go south with him would receive a reward of thirty Mid-grade Spirit Stones per month."

Thirty Mid-grade Spirit Stones was quite a generous offer.

But Tian Lin was not tempted.

The ghostly boat he encountered was far out at sea, and that wasn't even the most Resentful Soul-infested area to the south.

One can imagine just how dangerous it must be.

To risk his life for thirty Mid-grade Spirit Stones seemed foolish to Tian Lin.

Besides, his goal was always to head for the Wendaos Sect, and Pingyang City was not a place for him to stay for long.

"The grand tomb of Kun Lake is about to open, and now there are Resentful Souls causing trouble at sea—Pingyang City is in for some excitement."

Having said that, Tian Lin didn't continue to chat with the Water Official.

He returned to his residence, where Yu'er informed him that tomorrow was the beginning of the month, the time when the Great Elder convened a meeting with the tributes, urging Tian Lin to make some preparations.

Tian Lin suspected that the Great Elder was probably going to discuss the Resentful Souls at sea.

He had no interest in the Resentful Souls at sea and was somewhat wary, not wanting to see Zhou Shoufan again.

But if he could avoid it this time, what about the next?

Moreover, having just become a tribute for the Tong Family, he couldn't afford to be absent from the 'meeting' on his first time around.