I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

"What kind of snakes are these?"

Tian Lin casually grabbed a snake from the water, only touching its smooth scales that were somewhat slippery to grasp.

He didn't mind that the snake had coiled around his wrist, even biting him fiercely under his armpit.

At this moment, Tian Lin, with one hand protecting his groin, ignited a flame with the other hand and observed the snakes winding and coiling over the water surface and the cave ceiling.

[Fire Dragon Snake, its meat can be used for Body Refinement, edible.]

[Water Avoiding Worm, an adjunctive medicine for cultivating the 'Water Avoidance Art', edible.]

One prompt after another appeared, as Tian Lin allowed his body to undergo the attacks of these poisonous snakes.

These attacks did not cause any harm to Tian Lin; instead, they made him feel rather refreshed.

"If the elders of the Heart Inquiry Sect coming to room A is acceptable, why has Elder Liu also come to room A?"

Located in the secret room, Tian Lin was not desperate nor afraid, but instead distracted himself by pondering the inscriptions outside of room A.

"Senior Brother Seven said that the Water Room is a place for the disciples of the Heart Inquiry Sect to train. Could room A also be a training site?"

"If the disciples of the Heart Inquiry Sect benefit from the training, then what benefits could be gained from room A, making Elder Liu travel thousands of miles to endure the torment of a hundred snakes?"

As Tian Lin pondered these thoughts, he suddenly heard a voice outside the room saying: "Junior Brother Tian, how are you doing now?"

Tian Lin was startled, touched the thick stone gate, and transmitted his voice bolstered by True Qi:

"Is that Senior Brother Zhou? Although I'm feeling uncomfortable right now, I can still bear it. I don't know why Senior Brother Zhou is looking for me, how are my fellow junior brothers and sisters?"

The voice of Zhou Shichou passed through the stone wall into the stone room:

"I have settled the junior brothers in my residence, and the fellow disciples of the sect have not troubled them—rather it's you, junior brother—

If you apologize to the Seventh Elder and beg for mercy, I think he will definitely let you out."

Listening to his words, much of the worry in Tian Lin's heart disappeared.

If apologizing and admitting fault could save his life, then it only proved that the Heart Inquiry Sect did not want to kill him.

"I appreciate your kindness, Senior Brother, but since I haven't done anything wrong, why should I admit fault? The elders of the Heart Inquiry Sect are my seniors, and since I haven't made a mistake, they will not kill me. Why should I beg for mercy?"

Outside the stone wall, Zhou Shichou's voice stuttered: "Tian, Junior Brother Tian, you're too straightforward—alas, just hold on; I'll go and beg my aunt."

After a while, there was no more sound coming from Zhou Shichou outside the stone wall, and the stone room became eerily silent again.

Tian Lin slightly furrowed his brows. He clenched his fist and the snake coiled tightly around his neck struggled aggressively.

Tian Lin relaxed his muscles again, allowing the snake to withdraw its poisonous fangs from his arm.

"Really strange. Could it be that the benefit of room A is for Body Refinement?"

Tian Lin noticed that his muscles had become firmer, and even without using the Dragon Elephant Divine Skill, his physical body had become significantly sturdier.

"No, it's due to the effect of those prompts, so these venoms benefit my health. But neither the elders of the Heart Inquiry Sect nor Elder Liu would not be afraid of these poisons."

"Moreover, they fear these poisons and have to exert energy to expel them in this water. But this place is completely airtight, without any Spiritual Energy, and their True Qi will eventually be exhausted. By then, if they don't leave room A, it's a path to certain death."

"Why would they risk their lives to confine themselves in room A?"

"One could say the elders of the Heart Inquiry Sect did it for self-cultivation, but Elder Liu couldn't be so bored."

Tian Lin suddenly had a thought; he moved his body and began to search continuously along the stone wall.

Soon, he crouched down, submerging his whole body in the water, and eventually touched an inscribed line of words on the wall under the water:

"To hear about the Dao in the morning and die in the evening is enough; if Liu Xuanfeng dies here, it has nothing to do with the brothers of the Heart Inquiry Sect. It's my delusional fantasy wanting to cultivate the Heart Inquiry Skill—"

After pondering over this line of inscription for a long time, Tian Lin finally realized its purpose.

He was startled and quickly resurfaced. Not long after, he began to feel other walls for inscriptions:

"A disciple of the Heart Inquiry Sect, Zhou Fuhai swears not to leave, and dies of grief here."

"A disciple of the Heart Inquiry Sect, Zhou Fuxue swears not to leave, and dies of grief here."

"A disciple of the Heart Inquiry Sect, Zhou Baoshen swears not to leave, and dies of grief here."

Rows of dense words, each line representing a life, each line seemingly having a resentful spirit.

Finally, Tian Lin touched another line at the bottom: "Oh, Daoist succeeded!"

This line did not have a name, but Tian Lin was very familiar with the handwriting.

At this moment, his body was running out of oxygen, forcing him to hurriedly resurface.

However, after surfacing and wiping the water off his face, he murmured:

"It looks like Elder Liu has successfully cultivated the Heart Inquiry Skill? This stone room is not a place for long-term residence, and the Heart Inquiry Skill is a top-grade spell. What method did Elder Liu use to cultivate the Heart Inquiry Skill in just a few days?"

He guessed that the stone room had secrets; this time, his search on the stone wall was not to explore the inscriptions on the wall, but to find out the secret of 'passing the Dao' in this stone room.

"Junior Brother Tian, are you still alive?"

Outside the stone gate, the voice of Zhou Shichou sounded.

But before Tian Lin could respond, a woman's voice came through the stone gate:

"There's still movement in the stone room; this fellow sure can hold on. But with his ninth-tier Qi Refining cultivation, to suppress the snake venom in the room might already be beyond his power."

Tian Lin recognized the woman's voice and knew that it was the woman in white who had brought him to the sect.

True enough, he heard Zhou Shichou pleadingly say: "Aunty, please open the stone gate and let Junior Brother Tian out."

Then the woman's voice came from outside the stone gate: "Fine, have this lad kneel and beg me for mercy, and I'll let him out."

Tian Lin knew that once he really knelt and begged for mercy, later the Heart Inquiry Sect would seize the opportunity to force him to help voluntarily find the formula for the Heart Inquiry Pill.

Tian Lin absolutely could not show weakness at this moment, for fear that his opponent would think he could be easily manipulated, thus losing the initiative.

Just then, he heard Zhou Shichou's voice through the stone gate speaking to Tian Lin: "Junior Brother Tian, my aunt is an early-stage Foundation Establishment powerhouse. It is not shameful for you to beg her for mercy."

Tian Lin responded from inside the stone room: "Senior Brother Zhou, I appreciate your kindness and I will remember it. But I have done nothing wrong, and I am here as a guest of the Heart Inquiry Sect, so there's no need for me to beg for mercy."

After he said this, a woman's voice from outside the stone walls said in surprise:

"Ah, this boy still sounds full of energy, almost as if his cultivation has reached the twelfth-tier of Qi Refining."

"Aunt, please let Junior Brother Tian out."

As soon as Zhou Shichou's voice fell, the woman's voice from outside the stone wall carried an angry tone:

"What, even an outsider knows to rather die than beg for mercy, yet you, a descendant of the Zhou Family, actually beg for your aunt on behalf of an outsider?"

No more words came from the woman outside, but after a moment, Zhou Shichou's voice said:

"Junior Brother Tian, if you can't hold on, just call me. I'm right outside guarding you."

Inside the stone room, Tian Lin frowned. He wasn't sure if Zhou Shichou truly considered him a friend, or if he was just worried that if Tian Lin died, it would be harder for him to get the formula for the Heart Inquiry Pill.

Tian Lin's thoughts shifted, and he said to Zhou Shichou outside the stone wall: "Senior Brother Zhou, don't worry about me. There's no reason for you to suffer outside in the Water Room."

Zhou Shichou's voice sounded chipper, and through the stone gate, Tian Lin could almost see his smile:

"Junior Brother Tian, don't worry about me. I've been in the Water Room since I was a child. Except for the venomous snakes in the 'A'-grade rooms, I'm not afraid of the other snakes."

Tian Lin was speechless. He stayed in the stone room for a while longer, suddenly feeling his skin become quite tough, as if it had a layer of iron.

No wonder he hadn't felt the pain of poison fangs penetrating his body recently; his body had grown stronger.

With no other choice, Tian Lin took a sword from his Storage Bag and purposely cut his own skin.

Soon, the snakes in the water boiled with activity, all rushing towards the wound on Tian Lin's arm.

But the self-inflicted wound wasn't large, and in the end only one snake latched onto it, injecting venom into Tian Lin's body.

Seeing this, Tian Lin simply made another cut on his other arm.

Though cutting himself was painful, compared to the hardships he endured while "Seeking Immortality" in his early years, it was nothing.

Cutting himself was not like slicing flesh, which would be unbearably painful; it did not hurt in the same way.

"Junior Brother Tian, how are you feeling now?"

Zhou Shichou's voice carried concern from outside the stone gate.

For the first time, Tian Lin found him a bit nagging, but he was afraid that Zhou Shichou genuinely cared about him while he—the latter—misunderstood his kindness—

After a moment, Tian Lin said: "Senior Brother, don't worry about me, I can still hold on."

Zhou Shichou's voice said: "Junior Brother Tian, why don't you come out first? I have some antidote elixirs here. You could take some antidotes first and then re-enter the 'A'-grade room later."

While Tian Lin also wanted the free pills, if he took the pills from the Heart Inquiry Sect at this moment, how could he maintain a strong stance in front of the sect?

"Senior Brother, I appreciate your kindness. I do have some antidote medicine from our sect, so there's no need to trouble you."

Tian Lin stayed in the stone room a bit longer and discovered that the small cuts on his body were healing spontaneously.

Clearly, it was all thanks to the venom's efficacy!

"Even if I can't find a way to practice Heart Inquiry Skill in this stone room, I can use these snakes to strengthen my Body Refinement—

This Body Refinement effect is indeed different from the Dragon Elephant Divine Skill."

Tian Lin took out Taibai from his Storage Bag, making a larger puncture on his body.

In an instant, the room's dirty water started turning red, quickly transforming into a crimson soup.

This blood not only stirred the snakes in the water but also caused many seemingly hibernating snakes to crawl out of the numerous cavities in the cave ceiling.

Seeing the dense crowd of snakes emerging from the ceiling, Tian Lin was startled.

He had not expected there to be so many snakes hidden within the Snake Cave.

"Junior Brother, you haven't died, have you? It's been a whole day!"

A whole day?

Tian Lin in the stone room could not discern time, but hearing Zhou Shichou's voice, nearly in tears, also startled him.

"Junior Brother Tian, come out quickly. Go beg my aunt for mercy; I will plead for you, and everything will be over."

Zhou Shichou's urgently anxious tone did not seem feigned, so much so that it almost sounded choked.

But Tian Lin did not believe someone who had known him for only a few days could care so deeply about his life and death.

He felt that Zhou Shichou's emotional tone was 'acting' and insincere.

Tian Lin inwardly sneered, but his voice remained calm:

"Senior Brother Zhou, don't worry about me. I have replenished my True Qi with elixirs, and can perhaps endure a few more hours."

As Tian Lin spoke, the cave ceiling 'rattled' loudly.

A large number of poisonous snakes fell from above, and several weak beams of light shone into the stone room from overhead.

Tian Lin was shocked and no longer paid attention to Zhou Shichou outside.

He looked up at those light-pierced caves and suddenly realized:

"So the secret of the stone room is hidden in the Snake Cave, and to uncover the secret of the stone room, one must find a way to lure out the snakes from the cave."

At this moment, thousands of snakes filled the 'A'-grade room. Not only did the water level rise, but the snakes also submerged Tian Lin's entire face.

But Tian Lin was not worried; he pushed the snakes off his face while wriggling his body, using the snakes beneath his feet as a meaty staircase to elevate himself up to a cavity.

As he looked into the cavity, he saw a pair of black human eyes also staring at him from inside the Snake Cave.