The fairy forced me to marry into her family, so I retorted by throwing myself into the Pool of Fate

Most of the crowd outside the East Gate had dispersed, but the same scene was repeated again and again in various parts of the market.

At the west gate, several cultivators knelt outside, their foreheads bleeding from kowtowing. The disciples on duty gritted their teeth and turned their heads away, refusing to open the gate.

At the North Gate, a group of rogue cultivators clashed with the guards but were eventually driven away.

At the South Gate, an old Taoist priest suddenly appeared out of nowhere and, following suit, led a group of people away, claiming that he knew of a sea area full of reefs where no skeletons could be found.

Li Ping watched all these events unfold on the sea near the ferry crossing in Fangshi.

He didn't think too deeply about it; right now, he only had one job: to prevent anyone from sneaking in.

A thin mist rose over the sea, and the salty sea breeze made Li Ping's robes flutter in the wind.

He hovered above the water, his eyes slowly scanning the surrounding sea.

The ferry crossing was blocked off, and boats of all sizes were kept outside the cordon. Several Mu family disciples stood on the shore, their magical artifacts clutched in their hands, ready to make their move at any moment.

Just then, a small boat emerged from the fog.

The boat was small and had a shallow draft. A dim lamp hung from the bow as it swayed and rocked its way toward the ferry.

A woman, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, stood on the boat. She had fair skin and was quite attractive.

She steered the boat alone, and her movements were surprisingly fast.

Li Ping moved his feet and his figure swept across the sea, landing steadily in front of the small boat.

"The market is under martial law and no one is allowed to enter. Please leave," Li Ping said calmly, his face expressionless.

The female cultivator was startled by Li Ping's sudden appearance. After regaining her balance, she looked Li Ping up and down and saw that he was wearing the clothes of a Mu family disciple. Her expression relaxed slightly.

"Martial law? When did that happen? We could still get in yesterday."

Li Ping didn't reply, but his feet didn't budge.

Seeing this, the female cultivator suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you know Mu Guang?"

Li Ping glanced at her and nodded.

Seeing him nod, the female cultivator smiled and her voice softened: "To be honest, I am his lover. Please let me in first, and he will explain everything to you."

After saying that, she slightly raised her chin, waiting for Li Ping to make way.

Li Ping glanced at her, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

"no."

The female cultivator's smile froze: "Fellow Daoist, you can easily find out about my relationship with Mu Guang by asking. If you don't believe me, you can simply send someone to convey a message. Why make things so extreme?"

Li Ping still didn't move.

The female cultivator blushed, and her voice became a few shrilly: "Fellow Daoist, are you really going to make things worse? Are you going to show no mercy at all?"

Li Ping sneered and said slowly, "If you were Mu Fangxu's lover, I might let you in. As for Mu Guang... he's still a bit lacking."

The female cultivator naturally knew who Mu Fangxu was.

The son of the head of the Mu family, the person in charge of Xikou Market, and a well-known figure in the entire outer sea area.

Using him to pressure Mu Guang—this was clearly a joke at her hands.

The female cultivator opened her mouth, wanting to spit out a curse, but when she met Li Ping's cold eyes, she swallowed the profanity that was about to come out.

She's been at sea for years and has met a lot of people.

The Mu family disciple in front of her spoke slowly and calmly, with no particular expression on his face, but the look in his eyes sent chills down her spine.

It wasn't a fierce look, but rather a condescending indifference, as if her life or death wasn't worth the slightest effort.

The female cultivator dared not persist any longer. Gritting her teeth, she turned the boat around sheepishly and headed out to sea.

Li Ping shook his head, thinking to himself, "That Mu Guang, he still messes around outside even though he has a Daoist partner."

Suppressing his thoughts, he focused his mind and began to survey the sea, keeping close to the surface.

The fog is getting thicker.

Apart from the sound of the waves, you could hear nothing on the sea.

As Li Ping flew, he scanned the area to see if anyone was trying to sneak in under the cover of fog.

Just then, a noise came from behind.

He looked back and saw that the small boat had turned back.

Li Ping frowned, swiftly landing at the bow of the boat, and said in a deep voice, "I already said we can't go in, don't you understand?"

The female cultivator shrank back, intimidated by his imposing aura.

She didn't say anything, but slowly got up and moved closer to Li Ping.

Li Ping's expression changed, and he subconsciously took a step to the side.

The female cultivator seemed not to notice and moved closer again.

Suddenly, Li Ping's arm touched something soft.

Immediately, the female cultivator said coquettishly, "You're so annoying, you bumped into me."

At this point, Li Ping could easily see through her intentions.

Instead of chasing her away as he had done before, he suppressed his temper and looked at her.

The reason he refrained from taking action was because he had some doubts in his mind.

This female cultivator was rejected twice, yet she dared to come back and even resort to such tactics.

After a moment's hesitation, Li Ping asked, "Aren't you Mu Guang's lover? How can you do this to him?"

"It's just a casual relationship." The female cultivator smiled sweetly, a hint of ambiguity on her face. "If you wish, I can also be your friend."

Li Ping curled his lip and teased, "Your bottom line is really flexible."

The female cultivator smiled, her expression unchanged: "Look at what you're saying, fellow Daoist. This is about striving for higher goals."

Hearing this, Li Ping found it amusing and followed up by asking, "In terms of cultivation, wealth, and potential, I'm no match for Mu Guang in any way. How can you be considered superior?"

The female cultivator shook her head and looked at him seriously: "I think you're more domineering than him."

Li Ping's eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly: "That's right."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flipped himself onto the sea and pushed the stern of the boat with both hands.

The small boat, which already had a shallow draft, shot off like an arrow in the opposite direction of the market after he pushed it.

A long white wave surged across the sea, and as the ship rocked, the female cultivator cried out in alarm, nearly falling over.

She steadied herself by holding onto the gunwale and looked back at Li Ping in disbelief.

Li Ping stood in the thin mist, his figure growing smaller and smaller until he was swallowed up by the fog.

The female cultivator stared blankly in that direction for a long time before she came back to her senses.

She bit her lip, the gentle charm on her face long gone, leaving only resentment.

"They really fed the dog out of kindness."

……

……

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, it was evening.

Li Ping had been patrolling the sea near the ferry all day and was now resting on the shore.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from afar, and a disciple of the Mu family rushed over.

"Fellow Daoist Li." The disciple approached and bowed respectfully. "Senior Brother Fang Xu requests that the team leaders proceed to a meeting."

Li Ping glanced around, frowned, and said, "I'm the only one left in my team who can still move. If I leave, who will look after this place?"

The disciple said, "Senior Brother Fang Xu said that I should temporarily take over his duties as guarding this place."

Li Ping nodded and instructed, "Keep a close watch, don't miss anyone."

"Yes," the disciple replied.

Li Ping said no more and flew into the market.

When Li Ping arrived at the Linhai Courtyard, there were already more than a dozen people standing inside.

He glanced around and saw that there were fifteen people present, most of whom he recognized.

Many of them were injured and looked dejected.

As for those who didn't come, they were either too badly injured to get out of bed, or like Mu Chengyuan, they would never return.

Li Ping silently counted in his mind.

Seven or eight are missing.

The Mu family has suffered considerable losses this time.

He looked up and saw Mu Fangxu standing under the eaves, looking gloomy and full of worry.

In just half a day, he looked several years older.

A moment later, Mu Fangxu straightened up and slowly walked to the middle of the courtyard.

"I probably don't need to elaborate on the matter of the skeletons."

"Among those of you here, how many of you have personally witnessed that thing in action from the underwater cave? What do you all think its approximate strength is?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Guang stepped forward first.

"I saw it make its move from afar when I was in the underwater cave," Mu Guang said in a deep voice, his expression solemn. "At that speed, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators simply couldn't react. That single charge alone was at least at the Foundation Establishment level."

Mu Fangxu nodded, then turned his gaze to Mu Jizhou: "You also went to the underwater cave. What did you think of it?"

Mu Jizhou closed his eyes slightly, as if recalling something, and after a moment said, "In terms of cultivation, it's probably around the early stage of Foundation Establishment."

However, the skeleton's methods were too bizarre; it flew silently through the air and could drain a cultivator's life essence with a single strike.

This thing can't be judged by the standards of ordinary cultivators. I think it should be overestimated, at least considered as late Foundation Establishment stage, or even..."

He paused, then added four words: "Foundation Building Completed."

The courtyard was quiet for a moment.

Foundation building complete.

Everyone present could tell how weighty those four words were.

Looking across the entire outer sea, the number of beings who have reached the Foundation Establishment stage can be counted on one hand.

Those are all old monsters who oversee their respective races and rarely make a move.

Now, a skeleton of unknown origin actually possesses this level of strength.

Afterwards, Mu Fangxu called out the names of several more people.

Those who were called upon shared their opinions, which were largely similar, all agreeing that the skeleton's strength was at the Foundation Establishment level.

The only disagreement is whether to move from the middle stage of Foundation Establishment towards Perfection, or from the early stage of Foundation Establishment towards the middle stage.

After listening to everyone's opinions, Mu Fangxu remained silent for a while before finally making a decision.

"Then let's consider it as the late stage of Foundation Establishment for now."