I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

"You don't need to console me, life and death are unpredictable in the secret realm. Since he wanted to enter the secret realm in search of treasures, he should have prepared for the possibility of death and disappearance of his Dao."

After he finished speaking, a Daoist Child of the Daoist Temple suddenly came over and said, "Elder, Elder Xue is here."

Elder Xue looked up towards the temple gate.

Tian Lin followed the gaze and saw a couple walking into the Daoist Temple from outside.

From the middle-aged man among them, Tian Lin saw the shadow of Elder Xue.

He had a hunch, already guessing the identity of the couple and more or less knew who this Elder Xue was indeed.

"Dad, the soul lamp of Ao'er has been extinguished."

After Elder Xue's son finished, his wife immediately knelt down and said, "Ao'er died in the secret realm, even his soul dissipated. Please, father-in-law, you must avenge Ao'er."

"What nonsense are you talking about? There are so many wanderer gods in the secret realm, who are you seeking revenge from?"

Elder Xue's son glared at his wife, looked at Elder Xue, and said, "Your son does not seek revenge for Ao'er, only wishing to retrieve his body from the secret realm to prevent him from becoming a dried corpse and not resting in peace even in death."

Elder Xue nodded and said, "Bring Ao'er's soul lamp here, I will take you into the secret realm with me."

Their family was having a conversation, not intending to deliberately exclude Tian Lin.

However, Tian Lin knew he couldn't intervene, so he simply said something to the Daoist Child and then quietly left.

According to the Teaching Elder's words, the reason why students of Class A and Inner Sect Disciples study Funeral Science is because only Funeral Science can ensure one's survival in the secret realm.

That is to say, starting with Class A Disciples, they will engage in adventures in the Wendaos Sect's secret realm.

Tian Lin is currently a student of Class D, and it seems even more elusive for him to get into Class C.

But his goal is definitely not to stay in Class D forever.

Moreover, Elder Xue told him that only if he makes it into Class B would he help him resolve the karma with Zhai Xingzi.

Unless absolutely necessary, Tian Lin did not want to risk his life against Zhai Xingzi.

"The Cold Fragrance Leaf is precious, but not unobtainable. The priority is to get into Class C. With my cue words, reaching a mid-to-high evaluation in Alchemy shouldn't be a problem.

Now it's just Array Formation and talisman making that are lacking. Using the Cold Fragrance Leaf, there shouldn't be any difficulty in comprehending those."

The monthly exam for Class D was not actually that difficult. Tian Lin believed that by using the two packs of Cold Fragrance Leaf given by Wang Yanyu, he would be able to handle this month's exam.

The pressing matter now was rather to purchase engraving array stones, Magic Talismans, stone rubbings, etc.

The next day, when Tian Lin went to the Academy, he directly approached Zhou Jin to sell the extra three ferries and three bamboo poles through Zhou Jin's connections for five hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

The Magic Talismans and stone rubbings needed for studying Array Patterns didn't cost Tian Lin any Spirit Stones because Zhou Jin himself had a collection.

Most of Tian Lin's money went into purchasing engraving array stones, talisman paper, and such items.

Come night, he took out the Magic Talismans and began to copy the runes.

But making talismans involved complex strokes, and every stroke of text needed to be infused with True Qi to seal the Spiritual Sense within the talismanic ink, demanding an even distribution of Spiritual Sense.

After half an hour of copying on his own, not only was Tian Lin's Spiritual Sense greatly depleted, but the characters he wrote also turned out crooked and twisted.

Days went by like this, with no progress in writing runes for Tian Lin.

Finally resigned to his fate, he used the effects of the Cold Fragrance Leaf to enter a state of Unity of Heart and Spirit.

After ingesting the Enlightenment Tea, when Tian Lin looked at the runes on the stone rubbings and Magic Talismans, he felt the runes come to life.

He not only perceived that the characters contained life, but he could also understand the way 'life' existed.

Upon writing again, Tian Lin's characters were still ugly, but not as rigid as before.

For the following half-month, Tian Lin devoted all his time to studying runes and Array Patterns.

In just the short span of half a month, he thoroughly mastered the most basic runes and Array Patterns taught by the Teaching Elder during the day.

He was confident that in Array Formation and talisman making, he would be able to achieve top evaluations by month-end exams.

Only in Alchemy Medicine Study was Tian Lin still uncertain.

This half-month, he had tasted hundreds of Spirit Grasses and remembered their cue words.

As long as he wasn't dizzy during month-end assessments, he should be able to handle this month's exam.

"Rather, it's Funeral Science that's easiest to assess that might bring down my score."

The next afternoon, after the Teaching Elder left the Academy, Zhou Jin found Tian Lin:

"Senior Brother Ju Yunhai has returned, we can't just not provide him with a welcome feast. So Tian, you don't need to go home for dinner, just come directly to my cave mansion. I have already asked the servants to prepare the meal."

Tian Lin always felt that Zhou Jin had a strong purpose in finding him, but his reason was legitimate, and he was not in a good position to refuse.

Besides, Zhou Jin had been good to him from the start, and he couldn't just turn against him out of fear of the other's motives.

"Brother, you go ahead first, I'll go back and take a bath, and then come to you later."

After saying goodbye to Zhou Jin, Tian Lin took Yu'er with him back to his cave mansion.

He wasn't in a hurry to bathe, but instead counted out four copper coins from his Storage Bag.

Tian Lin knew these copper coins were extremely precious, as a single copper coin could fetch fifty top-grade Spirit Stones in the Wendaos Sect.

He had never been willing to sell them, and now that he needed to give them as a gift, it was truly painful.

However, in the past half month, Zhou Jin had provided him with stone rubbings and runes that had truly helped him a great deal.

Besides, it was also Zhou Jin who reminded him that Brother Zhuang's favor was not one to be accepted lightly—this favor, it would be best to repay during this visit.

"Is there a box at home for holding copper coins? I will visit Senior Brother Zhou's residence later, and it wouldn't be proper to go empty-handed."

Tian Lin handed over the four copper coins to Yu'er, then went off to bathe.

Zhou Jin's cave mansion was located at number 72 in Class C, which was quite far from Tian Lin's own.

When Tian Lin arrived at the cave mansion, Zhou Jin's sword holder had been waiting at the door of number 72.

The sword holder bowed to Tian Lin and said, "Mr. Tian, please come inside. My master has gone to find Young Master Ju."

Tian Lin followed the sword holder inside, and while he was observing the cave mansion at number 72, Zhou Jin's laughter suddenly echoed from the entrance:

"Disciple Tian, there's no need to look anymore, our cave mansions are not much different. You haven't seen Senior Brother Ju's cave, his is spacious and beautiful."

As Tian Lin turned around, he saw Ju Yunhai and Zhou Jin walking in together.

While Tian Lin exchanged formalities with the two, Ju Yunhai also returned a greeting and said,

"Enough about that. When it comes to cave mansions, the Class A Disciples have the best. Only they have the privilege of reaping the benefits from the Spirit Gathering Array."

The three sat down by the stone table to talk, and the sword holder started to serve the dishes.

Zhou Jin began pouring wine for Ju Yunhai, then poured a cup for Tian Lin as well. Raising his cup, Zhou Jin said, "This cup, to celebrate Senior Brother Ju's safe return."

After Ju Yunhai drank, he said, "Now I find myself envying the disciples of Class C and D, who don't have to go out for monthly assessment tasks."

Hearing this, Zhou Jin jokingly said, "That's easy, if Senior Brother Ju really envies us, just deliberately fail the assessment. Then, we can be classmates in Class C together."

Ju Yunhai laughed and asked, "From the sounds of it, Senior Brother Zhou, you're confident about this month's exam, certain of advancing to Class C?"

Zhou Jin proudly drank a cup and said with a smile,

"Apart from Sister Wang Yanyu in Class D, nobody else is of any concern. I am confident that I can secure one of the two spots."

Ju Yunhai turned to Tian Lin and asked, "What about you, Disciple Tian?"

Tian Lin's expression was calm, thinking to himself that Zhou Jin had spoken for him, so what more could he say?

"I've only recently joined the Academy; I haven't thought much about the others, and can only strive not to disappoint the Teaching Elders and you two seniors."

Ju Yunhai nodded and said, "You need not be anxious. The path of cultivation is long; it was never a matter of overnight success. In the future, when you advance to Class C, you will still have to strive for Class B—and only by becoming a Class A Disciple can one truly be considered a disciple of the Wendaos Sect."

"Class A?"

Zhou Jin narrowed his eyes and said, "How difficult it is to enter Class A? Tthere are countless disciples in the Wendaos Sect, but how many are in Class A?"

Instructors of Class A Disciples are generally elders in the Nascent Soul Realm.

And those who become Class A Disciples are sure to achieve Core Formation, provided they do not die.

"Actually, Class A Disciples are not that few, it's just that many often die in the secret realms."

Ju Yunhai sighed and said, "It was only during this assessment task that I truly realized the horrors of the secret realms."

Tian Lin glanced at Ju Yunhai and commented, "From the looks of it, Senior Brother, you've had your Divine Soul disturbed and are overwhelmed with Yin energy - seems like you've encountered a particularly fierce Evil Spirit."

Upon hearing this, both Ju Yunhai and Zhou Jin looked at Tian Lin in surprise.

Zhou Jin, having heard of Ju Yunhai's experience, knew that Ju Yunhai had encountered an Evil Spirit.

But Tian Lin had just arrived and heard nothing, yet he could tell all this just by looking. What unique ability was this?

"With your insightful vision, Disciple Tian, I indeed encountered an Evil Spirit. Fortunately, the spirit I met was not very strong; otherwise, I might not have been able to return here."

Tian Lin found it hard to believe, "In broad daylight, with the Wendaos Sect and the Xiangxi Sect in North Wilderness, what Evil Spirit dares to cause trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Ju Yunhai laughed and explained,

"The North Wilderness is so vast, filled with ancient City God Temples and Daoist Temples everywhere. These City God Temples and the statues within them, left unattended for years without Tribute, inevitably become Evil Spirits.

The Evil Spirit I encountered was a fake City God, not far from the Day Patrol Deity realm. Had I not had enough Magical Treasures on me, I probably wouldn't have been able to deal with him."

He shared his experiences with Tian Lin and Ju Yunhai, and they all reached the same conclusion:

"The sect's decision to have disciples learn Funeral Science seems to be essential. If not for survival in the secret realms, at least when we leave the mountain, we will have better means to deal with such Evil Spirits."

The group raised their glasses, and by this time, the meal had been fully served.

Looking at the table of dishes, Ju Yunhai laughed, "This whole table is filled with my favorite dishes, it seems Senior Brother Zhou has taken great care."

Zhou Jin smiled and said, "They are all inexpensive things, Senior Brother Ju, no need for pleasantries with me. By the way, Disciple Tian, tell me what you like to eat. Next time we dine together, I'll make the preparations."

Tian Lin didn't stand on ceremony and pointed to a dish on the table, "I haven't eaten this before, not sure if it's expensive."

After half a month, he finally found an ingredient that could cultivate a Dharma Body.