Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 286 Huge Compensation Sparks Internal Strife in the Zhou Family

"I am willing to undergo a soul search by the Golden Core elders of the Zhou family. If any of my words just now were false, please execute me on the spot!"

Considering that Lin Licheng must be one of the core members of the Lin family, after taking over the case from the Golden Core Elder, Master Biting did not search Lin Licheng's soul, so as not to accidentally discover any core secrets of the Lin family and thus destroy the relationship between the two parties.

"Fellow Daoists of the Zhou family, have you all heard this clearly? This unworthy descendant of mine says he is innocent, and I believe him on that point!"
He also said he could open his mind to accept everyone's soul-searching. Which fellow Daoist from the Zhou family would like to try? Fellow Daoist Bi Ting, would you like to try?

Lin Dayan did not actively approach Zhou Lishu, but instead invited True Person Biting to search Lin Licheng's soul. As long as the Foundation Establishment cultivator cooperated and the Golden Core cultivator did not use violence to search the soul, it would not damage his foundation. As long as the other party searched his soul, it would be easy to exonerate the Lin family.

As for the issue of secrets being leaked, ordinary secrets are not a big deal in the eyes of Golden Core cultivators. The most core secret of the Lin family can only be known by Golden Core cultivators in the Lin family, so they are not afraid of being searched by soul search.

"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

The soul is the most private part of a person. Under normal circumstances, most cultivators cannot accept having their souls spied on, and even regard having their souls searched as a great disgrace. Some people would rather die to prove their innocence than accept having their memories casually read.

Master Bi Ting had not expected this person to be so resolute! At the same time, he began to feel wary. This matter was not handled by him personally, and the Lin family's confidence gave him a bad feeling.

“There is nothing wrong with it! Both he personally and my Lin family hope that the truth will come out. I believe that Fellow Daoist Biting can distinguish between normal memories and tampered memories.”

In the world of cultivation, the strong can search the souls of the weak, so the evidence chain for many things does not need to follow the clues of each link like mortals do. It is only necessary to find the key person and search their soul.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you are mistaken!"

Now that you've come to my Biting Island, how can the Zhou family possibly search the souls of our guests? Wouldn't that make the Zhou family appear domineering and arrogant?

Please, Fellow Daoist Lin, take action to search the soul of this traitor Zhou Lishu. One of them must be lying; just search one of them!
This traitor betrayed the Zhou family; he deserves to die. A soul search is best for him! He's not afraid of the aftermath; he'll be executed after today!

Seeing that Master Biting seemed genuinely intending to search Lin Licheng's soul, the old woman from Tingmai immediately stepped forward to interrupt and invited Lin Dayan to make a move.

As long as Lin Dayan performs a soul search, Zhou Lishu will die on the spot, turning the situation into one where Lin Dayan publicly killed a witness. At that point, there will be no need to search Lin Licheng's soul, and the Lin family will be unable to defend themselves.

"Oh? It's not impossible, but we need to make this clear first. If I prove that the Zhou family is framing my Lin family, regardless of who did it or what their purpose was, as long as it's proven that the Zhou family deliberately framed my Lin family, what will you say about that?"

Lin Dayan's purpose in coming today is not just to clear up the misunderstanding, but also to demand compensation and make the Zhou family pay the price. Therefore, the specifics of the compensation and the price are crucial.

"As long as Fellow Daoist Lin searches Zhou Lishu's soul and confirms that this traitor is deliberately harming the Lin family and intentionally disrupting the harmonious relationship between the Zhou and Lin families, then we are willing to compensate for all the losses caused to the Lin family over the past month and take responsibility for curing this young friend!"

The old woman with the golden elixir immediately made a promise, but emphasized that the accurate information must be confirmed by Zhou Lishu, the soul-searching expert.

At this point, Zhou Lishu had already accepted his fate. He lay on the ground, neither happy nor sad, showing no other abnormalities, neither pleading for justice nor shouting.

"Let's get more specific and discuss how we'll provide compensation!"

"If the White Whale is innocent, my Zhou family is willing to offer a third-tier Spirit Rhinoceros Limb-Shaping Pill to help this young friend reshape his limbs perfectly, without affecting his future path."
They would also provide him with a third-tier Rejuvenation Leaf to help him replenish his lost essence and resume normal cultivation as soon as possible. They were even willing to offer him an additional sum of spirit stones as compensation for his emotional distress.

Furthermore, the losses incurred by the Lin family due to the White Whale's month-long detention on Biting Island will be fully compensated, and an additional sum of spirit stones will be given to the detained cultivators. How about that?

The old woman with the golden elixir acted very generously, as if it wasn't money at all.

“Okay! One more thing, we should also take the third-tier inheritance jade slip that Li Cheng got by chance. After all, it was bought with money on Biting Island, so it’s only right that we exchanged money for it!”

The contents of that jade slip were profound and obscure; Lin Licheng only skimmed through it and still needed the other party to produce a copy.

"No, that's one of the core traditions of my Zhou family."

"Then we can only make the Zhou family publicly declare on the bulletin board of Biting Immortal City that they have no credibility, that they cannot get protection from the Zhou family in transactions on Biting Island, and that the Zhou family can withdraw transactions at any time by despicable means. On this point, we will never back down."

Lin Dayan knew that the other party's generosity was based on wanting to take advantage of the Lin family, so he adopted a tough attitude, knowing that the other party would definitely agree to his demands.

As expected, the other party agreed after a slight hesitation. After all, it was just a copy of a jade slip, and the Zhou family didn't have its own unique third-tier shipwright inheritance, so it wasn't that valuable.

"Alright, you can take this inheritance jade slip, but everything is based on the premise that my Zhou family framed the Lin family. Otherwise, if you confirm this is true after searching the soul of this traitor, how should the Lin family compensate my Zhou family?"

The old woman with the Golden Core was very confident in her special secret method of controlling Zhou Lishu and the Liu family's Foundation Establishment. She believed that as long as Lin Dayan touched Zhou Lishu's soul, Zhou Lishu would die on the spot.

If evidence is destroyed on the spot/witnesses are killed, the chain of evidence is established directly and irrefutably, and the Zhou family can stand firm no matter where they go.

"If the truth of the matter is as the fellow Daoists of the Zhou family have said, then my Lin family will offer equivalent supplies as compensation, how about that?"

This amount of reciprocal supplies is quite substantial.
The physical body is the vessel for all cultivation and a precious treasure of the Great Dao. Once the physical body suffers severe damage, especially a major injury like losing both arms, it is very difficult to perfectly repair it.

To perfectly cure Lin Licheng without leaving any aftereffects, ordinary second-tier spiritual artifacts are definitely not enough. Only a complete set of third-tier spiritual artifacts can perfectly cure him and leave no future problems.

This is only part of it.

The Beluga's voyage was delayed by a month, which will affect the entire subsequent work and seriously disrupt the plans. In particular, the Tranquil Sea is currently undergoing large-scale development, causing unrest there. Making up for these losses will be substantial.
The above only covers the direct losses.
There was also the direct spirit stone compensation for dozens of people, ranging from pseudo-Dan elders to outstanding late-stage Qi Refining shipwrights. Lin Dayan demanded a large sum of this money, euphemistically calling it compensation for emotional distress.
Because most of the boatmen were too traumatized to continue their work and would retire upon returning home, this was a significant loss for the Lin family.

So this bet isn't small; it's a big one!

"Please, Fellow Daoist Lin, a soul search will reveal the truth!"

The old woman with the Golden Elixir used her magic to bring Zhou Lishu in front of Lin Dayan. At this time, Zhou Lishu was determined to die. He believed that death would be a relief for him and his family, so he cooperated fully.

"Okay, I'll do it then..."

Lin Dayan smiled and immediately used the countermeasure that Lin Qianfan had taught him on the way, specifically designed to break through this type of defense. "Huh? How come?"

When the old woman with the Golden Elixir saw Lin Dayan grab Zhou Lishu's brain with one claw and then close his eyes to continuously read his memories, she immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

She knew that Lin Dayan wasn't just pretending, but genuinely possessed this skill, because her imprint was constantly weakening. However, there were too many people around, and she didn't dare to interrupt him, so she could only wait.

After half an incense stick's time,

"Brilliant! Brilliant! What a brilliant setup!"

Lin Dayan released Zhou Lishu's head. The other man felt dizzy, but something seemed to be missing from his mind, and he felt much lighter, as if the means that had been restraining him had disappeared.

"Grandma Zhou, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

Lin Dayan looked at the old woman with a meaningful gaze, a scene that also attracted the curiosity of the other two Golden Core cultivators from the Zhou family.

"What do you mean, Fellow Daoist Lin? I don't understand!"

"You don't understand, do you?"

This person has a demonic flame restriction on their soul. Anyone who rashly searches their soul will trigger the restriction, causing them to die instantly. And this restriction was placed by you; he is your puppet.
Fellow Daoist, you truly have impressive skills. You are the demonic cultivator, aren't you? What a ruthless heart! You even plotted against your own Zhou family members. You've kept it hidden for a long time!

As luck would have it, although my Lin family has only a short history of two thousand years, we happen to have the means to deal with this kind of soul restriction, and we have now helped him break it.
Fellow Daoist Bi Ting, won't you come and see for yourself?
The initial target of this scheme was not my Lin family, but your Bi Clan. The initial plan was to use this to attack your Bi Clan for your lax discipline in cultivating your descendants and your negligence in guarding your lineage.
Later, Li Cheng was unexpectedly drawn into the matter, implicating the Lin family. Tingmai, using a scheme, tried to make him offend the Lin family and to get him to voluntarily overturn the cooperation agreement signed by the previous Bi Ting Zhenren.
Tsk tsk tsk~ I thought the Lin family had enough mess to deal with, but I didn't expect the Zhou family to be even more rotten..."

At this point, Lin Dayan no longer concealed his intentions and directly exposed the Golden Core Elder's actions, revealing the internal strife within the Zhou family. He stated that while the Lin family members were sincere and kind, they were not afraid of trouble and would retaliate.

"Nonsense! This bastard is definitely framing me on purpose! You beast, die!"

The old woman, who had previously seen that the restrictions on the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Liu had not been affected, did not expect that Lin Dayan would have the means to break such a rare soul control technique. Now, in order to cover up the fact that the Tingmai deliberately set a trap for the Bimai, she immediately attacked the vulnerable Zhou Lishu.

puff~

Since Lin Dayan did not intervene, and the other two Golden Core cultivators from the Zhou family were too far away to stop him in time, Zhou Lishu, a direct witness, was killed on the spot by the Golden Core elder, his blood staining the hall.

"Auntie, do you know what you're doing?"

When Master Bi Ting saw that the old woman in the Golden Core stage was in a hurry to kill someone to silence her, he immediately believed most of what Lin Dayan said. But Bi Ting and Ting lineages were from the same family, so why would they deliberately harm their own people?
"Fellow Daoist, you have skillful methods and great courage, killing a witness on the spot. You think that means there's no way to prove it's true? What about our agreement from earlier? Do you think you can renege on it?"

Lin Dayan could have saved Zhou Lishu, but he didn't. His intention was to expose his true colors to the other leaders of the Zhou family branches, but in doing so, he inadvertently protected another witness.
Although this person is not that important and not a core figure, he can still corroborate many things, and having him is enough.

"I'm sorry, I lost control of my emotions and acted impulsively just now. I apologize to everyone. I didn't expect that there was a rat in my Zhou family biting people. Fortunately, no major losses were caused. I will not go back on my promise to Fellow Daoist Lin!"

Only those who wronged you truly know how wronged you are. The old woman with the Golden Core cultivation technique intervened to destroy the murder evidence, essentially acknowledging the Zhou family's blunder and agreeing to cover the costs.

As for the internal affairs of the Zhou family, they can only be discussed in detail after the Lin family leaves; it is not convenient to reveal them to the public.

“Compensate us now, we’ll take it and leave. We’ll also settle the cost of the Zhentao ship’s long-distance mission. The Zhentao ship has been worn out, so the Zhou family can compensate us with five hundred high-grade spirit stones.”

"This is not within the scope of our previous agreement!"

"Can't I add it now? Otherwise, today's events will be revealed to the outside world without a word, and the Zhou family will suffer a reputational loss that will be greater than five hundred high-grade spirit stones. Besides, the Zhou family is large and powerful, so five hundred high-grade spirit stones is nothing, right?"

"Okay, I'll pay for it!"

The old woman with the Golden Core didn't want to see Lin Dayan for even a quarter of an hour longer; she still needed to face the questioning from the other branches of the Zhou family.

Soon, the Zhou family raised enough compensation to send the Lin family away immediately. As for the cooperation between the two families, it was likely to fall through, and now was not the time to discuss cooperation.

As Lin Dayan was leaving, he continued:
“A key witness has died, so Fellow Daoist Zhou must be kept in the dark about many things. The witness just now died too quickly. Here is another intact witness, I hope it can help answer your questions.”

Lin Dayan then handed over the Liu family shop owner, whom Lin Qianfan had captured from Liuzhu Market, to True Person Biting. This person originally had a soul restriction in his soul, but Lin Dayan had just helped him remove it.

A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years, but some grudges don't need to wait ten years to be settled. Lin Dayan immediately ignited internal strife within the Zhou family.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, think about it carefully. Why did the previous True Person Bi Ting bear immense pressure and pass on the Daoist title of Bi Ting to you, instead of making you the first cultivator of the Ting lineage? Think about it carefully."

Lin Dayan led the Lin family away quickly, and the three Zhou family Golden Core cultivators present all had dark clouds on their faces.

Tingmai's framing of Bimai was already shaking the foundation of the Zhou family. To destroy a stable long-term partner for such a trivial matter was an even more brainless and foolish move. This infuriated the newly appointed Bi Tingzhen, who immediately summoned all the Golden Core cultivators of the Zhou family to a meeting.

At the same time, she regretted not having personally investigated the details of the matter. If she had ignored her aunt's objections and forcibly searched Zhou Lishu's soul, even if it meant killing him on the spot and earning a bad reputation, she would have been able to see through such a clumsy trick.

"Auntie, what else do you have to say?"

Master Biting grabbed the head of the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Liu and, through his unguarded memories, obtained the answer he least wanted to see: it turned out that everything that had happened in recent years was the work of the Ting lineage, who were deliberately ruining their reputation.

"Let me explain, all of this is for the Zhou family..."

As a Golden Core cultivator of the Ting Meridian, her starting point was definitely the greater good of the Ting Meridian, but some things were actually driven by her own selfish desires, and could be considered acting on her own initiative.
Now that it's been exposed, things are unlikely to end well today...

(End of this chapter)