I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

Upon hearing Sect Master Wu's summons from outside, Tian Lin felt somewhat surprised.

He didn't know how Sect Master Wu arrived here or why he came.

However, he knew that staying here wouldn't lead to any results, so he simply walked to the door on the fifth floor, pushed it open, and went out.

Looking down from above, he saw that the street below had quieted down significantly, with only Sect Master Wu, Elder Wu Hen, and a few family retainers present.

Could it be that Sect Master Wu and Elder Wu Hen have also determined that this is indeed the way to leave this world and return to the Immortal Sinking Pond?

Tian Lin was puzzled in his heart but did not show it on his face.

When he landed, Elder Wu Hen looked at Tian Lin and asked sternly, "Tian Lin, why did you come here, who informed you?"

This matter could not avoid involving Shang Yu, because Tian Lin came to the Sword Pavilion due to Shang Yu's influence. And it was a retainer of the Chen Xian Inn who supervised Shang Yu, Tian Lin did not think that the retainer would keep secrets for him.

He even suspected that these people came here entirely because that retainer informed on them.

"I do not wish to hide the truth from the seniors. I came here because I saw an old acquaintance come here, so out of curiosity, I followed."

Tian Lin asked Sect Master Wu and Elder Wu Hen in return, "Did the two seniors also come here following my old acquaintance?"

Elder Wu Hen was about to speak but was stopped by Sect Master Wu with a wave of his hand.

Sect Master Wu looked at Tian Lin and asked with a smile, "Where is your acquaintance?"

There was nothing to hide, so Tian Lin mentioned Shang Yu's name.

Upon hearing it was a constable from the Demon Hunting Bureau, Sect Master Wu said to a retainer beside him, "Please invite Young Friend Shang over."

The retainer cupped his hands, then turned and left.

Now, only Tian Lin and a few others remained on the street.

"If the old ancestor of the Zhao family is indeed a Sword Slave of the Immortal Sword, and the Sword Pavilion is truly the place where the Immortal Sword recognizes its master, then why hasn't any descendant of the Zhao family obtained the Immortal Sword all these years the family has owned the Sword Pavilion?"

Elder Wu Hen was not afraid of leaks, as Tian Lin was right beside him, and he reckoned Tian Lin couldn't do anything unexpected.

Therefore, he very openly discussed these secrets in front of Tian Lin.

"Perhaps precisely because the Zhao family is a Sword Slave of the Immortal Sword, they cannot make the Immortal Sword acknowledge a master?"

Sect Master Wu said, "In any case, the information I got from the Sword Tomb shouldn't be wrong. There are still two months until the migration to the Capital City, so we'll try it."

Elder Wu Hen nodded and then turned his gaze to Tian Lin, "When you entered the Sword Pavilion to undergo the challenges, did you encounter anything, any abnormalities?"

Everyone had seen Tian Lin successfully pass the challenges. But they also saw with their own eyes that Tian Lin did not bring out the Immortal Sword.

Indeed, Tian Lin's account of the challenges resembled the way the Zhao family had passed through them as seen by Elder Wu Hen.

This Sword Pavilion indeed seemed like a Martial Arts Room set up for tempering Qi Refinement cultivators, with nothing peculiar about it.

Just then, a wind chime's jingle caught the attention of those present.

Tian Lin turned his head, seeing the retainer bringing Shang Yu over.

In a daze, the wind chime made Tian Lin mistakenly think the person coming was not Shang Yu but Lady Thirteen.

But Lady Thirteen was already dead; although the wind chime remained, it had a new owner.

When Shang Yu arrived, he was visibly stunned upon seeing Tian Lin.

In Shang Yu's eyes, Tian Lin didn't see the seed of hatred; it seemed the enmity between them had dissipated with the passage of time.

However, he also did not see the joy of meeting an old acquaintance in Shang Yu's eyes.

Shang Yu looked at him with an expression similar to that reserved for a stranger.

"Are you Young Friend Shang?"

Sect Master Wu looked at Shang Yu and praised, "So young, yet possessing such formidable Sword Qi—the future holds limitless possibilities."

Tian Lin was considered exceptionally gifted, yet he didn't receive Sect Master Wu's praise. As soon as Shang Yu arrived, Sect Master Wu couldn't help but admire him.

Tian Lin didn't find it incongruent though; reaching this point was thanks to his own efforts but even more so because of the terms.

And Shang Yu—likely didn't have as many opportunities as he did.

"Senior, you flatter me. May I know why you are looking for me?"

After Shang Yu asked, Elder Wu Hen directly said, "I heard from Tian Lin that he came here because of you. So why did you come to the Sword Pavilion?"

After hearing Elder Wu Hen, Shang Yu eyed Tian Lin once more then calmly replied to Elder Wu Hen:

"I submitted visiting cards to the Chen Xian Inn several times but was consistently unable to enter. Seeing my Spirit Stones and Elixirs running low, I thought of trying my luck at the Sword Pavilion."

Elder Wu Hen glanced at the retainer beside him, who confirmed, "He did submit several times but they were all put aside by you, elder."

Elder Wu Hen was momentarily at a loss for words; Tian Lin, as someone from the Immortal Sinking Pond, had sent a visiting card and he had not read it. Likewise, Shang Yu, who was also from the Immortal Sinking Pond, had also sent one unread.

Could there be other visitors from the Immortal Sinking Pond that he hadn't paid attention to due to their low cultivation?

But in the Daqi Dynasty from ten thousand years ago, how could there be so many 'extraterrestrial visitors' and all be Foundation Establishment cultivators?

"You're lying! As a Foundation Establishment cultivator coming here to seek Elixirs and Spirit Stones, I fear what you gain doesn't even cover the True Qi expended in the challenges."

Elder Wu Hen saw through it, but Shang Yu remained calm: "Senior, you are mistaken! The Sword Pavilion is a place where even Qi Refiners can pass through, meaning Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators need only little True Qi to pass through.

The reason most Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators spend a lot of True Qi passing the challenges is not due to any increase in difficulty by the Sword Pavilion, but because these people are not Sword Cultivators, or if they are, they do not possess any advanced Swordsmanship."

Elder Wu Hen, coming from the Sword Sect, saw himself as second to none on the path of the sword.

Now seeing this younger generation dare to boast in front of him, he laughed in anger: "Then may I know what kind of swordsmanship you practice, and who your master is?"

"I practice the Five Killings Skill. Though it's not renowned, I've come this far relying on it."

Elder Wu Hen had never heard of the Five Killings Skill, so he looked toward Sect Master Wu, who also shook his head.

"I've never heard of such swordsmanship, presumably created by some unknown Hua Hualang."

As an elder of the Sword Sect, Elder Wu Hen had great confidence in the Sword Sect's Scripture Pavilion. He believed all famous sword techniques were collected there.

Therefore, an unheard-of Five Killings Skill must be an obscure, ordinary swordsmanship.

Elder Wu Hen didn't dwell on it but asked Shang Yu, "You claim to spend the least True Qi passing through the Sword Pavilion, is there any special method to it?"

Shang Yu replied, "I rely solely on my skills; what trickery is there in passing through the Sword Pavilion?"

Elder Wu Hen still didn't believe, suspecting that Shang Yu must know the Sword Pavilion's secret and had the means to make the Immortal Sword recognize its master.

But unfortunately, Shang Yu did not let slip a word of it, nor could he find any fault in Shang Yu.

"Hehe, since you came to the Sword Pavilion just for Spirit Stones and Elixirs, then I'll give you Spirit Stones and Elixirs, so you don't have to face the challenges."

Whether Shang Yu truly knows or feigns ignorance, he'd simply prevent Shang Yu from entering the Sword Pavilion. So, even if Shang Yu had the means to make the Immortal Sword recognize a master, he couldn't exert it.

This could be considered as cutting off what was indispensable. Outsiders, unaware, might even praise the Sword Sect's generosity for supporting youths with Spirit Stones and Elixirs.