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

As Li Ping came out of Mu Fangxu's house, before he even reached the street corner, he heard that there was a complete mess ahead.

Several independent monks stood in front of the tea stall, discussing amongst themselves with great enthusiasm.

A short-bearded man slammed his fist on the table and cursed, "White bones and skeletons? Why didn't the Mu family say so sooner? If they had, I would have left sooner."

"Exactly, isn't this playing with our lives?"

Some people, however, were skeptical and waved their hands, saying, "What's the panic? The Mu family has been operating here for so many years. The great formation is right there. Do you think a skeleton like him can break through?"

The short-bearded man sneered, "If the formation were truly that powerful, why would the Mu family release the information? They're simply unsure of its effectiveness, understand?"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people surrounding them changed.

Li Ping walked past without saying a word.

These people are right in some things and wrong in others, but they are right about one thing.

The Mu family was indeed uncertain, and Mu Fangxu had already done more than enough by releasing the information.

He walked across two streets and saw several groups of people with their families walking out.

A woman holding a child was pulling her husband along as they tried to squeeze out of the building. The man was carrying a large bundle on his shoulder and kept turning back to curse as he walked.

Some of the Mu family disciples who knew the people stood coldly to the side, neither stopping nor advising them, but simply keeping an eye on them, preventing them from causing trouble in the chaos.

A few independent cultivators, however, pushed their way in against the flow of people, shouting, "Make way, make way, we're here to help!"

Someone nearby pulled them back: "Are you crazy? Why are you going in now?"

The rogue cultivator flicked his sleeves and glared, "Fortune favors the bold. The Mu family said they'd give double the spirit stones to those who stay, and a pension to those who die."

"I've got nothing but my worthless life, I'll take a gamble!"

Li Ping withdrew his gaze, continued walking, and returned to his own courtyard.

Mu Ming was awake, leaning against the bed, his face as white as paper.

Mu Junyi was still unconscious, but his breathing was more stable than in the past few days.

Li Ping changed the dressings for the two men, sat for a while, then got up and left.

The market gradually calmed down in the afternoon.

Surprisingly, only about 20% of the people in the entire market left.

Many of those who originally planned to leave with their families turned back halfway.

Some people couldn't bear to give up their business in the neighborhood, while others wandered around outside and found they had nowhere else to go.

The independent cultivators who had been wanting to enter the workshop hesitated after hearing the news, but after some discussion, some turned back and left, while others gritted their teeth and decided to stay.

After all that, including the newcomers, the number of cultivators in the ward didn't decrease much.

The Mu family disciples inquired about each person's cultivation level, registered them in the roster, and then led them to the designated person in charge according to the ten areas designated by Mu Fangxu.

The area around the East Gate is under the jurisdiction of Mu Jizhou.

Mu Jizhou, with his cultivation at the eighth level of Qi Refining, has been leading teams to eliminate treacherous cultivators for many years, making him a senior figure among the Mu family disciples of this generation.

At this moment, he stood at the foot of the east gate wall, with a hundred more people temporarily added to his original twenty or so Mu family disciples.

Having a large group of people should be a good thing, but Mu Jizhou is now having a bit of a headache.

Among these hundred people, their cultivation levels varied greatly, ranging from experts in the late stage of Qi Refining to newcomers who had just entered the Dao and were not even proficient in using magical artifacts.

More importantly, these people have no discipline.

They were all making a ruckus in front of him.

Some chatted idly, some were surprised to run into acquaintances, but most were discussing the white skeleton.

A burly man patted his chest and shouted, "The skeleton may be powerful, but with so many of us, each of us casting a spell, are we afraid we won't be able to kill it?"

Several other cultivators nearby nodded in agreement, echoing, "That's right, there are many of us, we have nothing to fear!"

"Exactly, a skeleton, how could it possibly cause any trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Jizhou harbored resentment.

With your lazy attitude, you think you can deal with skeletons?

If that thing really charged over, the first wave of its oppressive force would probably scatter most of the people.

Mu Jizhou has been leading teams for many years and knows which kind of subordinates can fight and which kind cannot.

The group of people in front of me were making a ruckus; they were clearly a bunch of rabble.

If they aren't disciplined, they won't be able to deal with skeletons, let alone wipe out any cultivators.

Thinking of this, he channeled his magic power and shouted, "Silence!"

The sound was like a muffled thunderclap, making everyone's eardrums buzz.

The more than one hundred people were all startled, shut their mouths, and turned to look at him.

Mu Jizhou glanced around, about to speak, when he suddenly heard a faint voice from the crowd.

He frowned, his gaze sweeping over like a knife, and pointed at a middle-aged male cultivator: "You, come out."

The male cultivator was taken aback. Seeing everyone staring at him, he had no choice but to step forward tremblingly, cupping his hands and saying, "Sir, what business do you have with me?"

Without saying a word, Mu Jizhou raised his leg and kicked the man squarely in the chest.

The male cultivator groaned and flew backward, crashing to the ground, clutching his chest and crying out in pain.

Upon seeing this, everyone's faces changed color.

Several hot-tempered individuals had already reached for the ritual implements.

But after looking at Mu Jizhou's expressionless face and then at the Mu family disciples watching coldly around him, he ultimately didn't dare to make a move.

Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Mu Jizhou nodded and said in a deep voice, "From now on, anyone who disobeys my orders will face the consequences."

He glared at everyone, and seeing that no one dared to utter a sound, he spoke again: "Now, report your cultivation levels, methods, and spells to them."

He waved his hand, and three Mu family disciples behind him walked into the crowd with paper and pens.

Those who cultivate the Tao are most afraid of exposing their personal information, but under Mu Jizhou's gaze, everyone looked at each other and finally had no choice but to confess honestly.

Some people hesitated, but after being urged a couple of times by the Mu family disciples, they could only blush and speak.

Mu Jizhou watched from the side, a slight smile playing on his lips, thinking to himself: I still have to use some tricks.

……

……

Since Li Ping wouldn't leave, Mu Fangxu assigned him to the formation team.

The leader of this squad was not a disciple of the Mu family, but a middle-aged male cultivator named Yuan Sheng.

Yuan Sheng was about forty years old and had a cultivation level of the seventh level of Qi Refining, which was not considered outstanding in the market.

It is said that his magic was mediocre and his combat skills were average, but because he was proficient in formations, he was hired as a guest elder by the Mu family.

He stood in the room, facing two rows of Mu family disciples, plus a few rogue cultivators, totaling about twenty people.

Yuan Sheng glanced at everyone and said calmly, "The protective formation in the market is called the Earth Tortoise Shell Formation, and it is a genuine second-tier high-grade formation."

This array covers the entire market town and has a total of 1,200 array pattern nodes.

Your task is to check the nodes you are responsible for for any problems.

As soon as he finished speaking, a female cultivator below asked, "Guest Elder Yuan, I don't understand formations. How can I tell if there's a problem with the nodes?"

"Don't worry, I'm prepared." Yuan Sheng waved his hand, and two people came out from behind him carrying trays, distributing talismans to everyone.

Li Ping took the card and looked down at it.

The talisman was about the size of a palm, the paper was slightly yellow, and there were a few simple lines drawn on it, nothing special about it.

Yuan Sheng said, "This talisman is a spirit-testing talisman, used specifically to examine array patterns."

Once you find the node, attach this talisman to it. If the talisman turns blue, it means the array node is intact.

If it turns red, it means there's a problem and you should report it immediately.

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly understood.

I thought it would be a troublesome task, but it turned out to be so simple.

Yuan Sheng glanced at everyone and then instructed, "Time is of the essence. You must complete the testing within half a day. Hurry up and go."

After he finished speaking, everyone took their node distribution map and turned to leave.

Li Ping is in charge of the dock area.

According to the punctuation provided by Yuan Sheng, this area has a total of thirty-six array pattern nodes, most of which are underwater.

Li Ping arrived at the shore and glanced at the ferry crossing.

The dock was deserted; the cargo ships that usually docked there had long been towed away, leaving only a few lonely mooring posts standing by the water.

He withdrew his gaze and jumped straight into the water.

The seawater was slightly cool. Li Ping used his magic to dive down. At a depth of about three zhang, he indeed saw a rock as tall as a person.

It has several light yellow lines engraved on it, and there is a special mark made by the Mu family in the lower right corner.

After confirming that everything was correct, Li Ping took out a spirit-testing talisman and stuck it on.

With a hum, the talisman glowed faintly, turning blue.

Li Ping waited for a while, and after confirming that the color remained unchanged, he removed the talisman and turned to look for the next node.

The points on the shore are easy to handle; just find them and stick on the talismans.

The underwater ones take some effort to find; some are hidden in the crevices of the rocks, and some are half-covered by silt, so you have to search carefully.

Li Ping was quick, but the thirty-six nodes were scattered, and by the time he finished checking them all and climbed onto the dock, it was already late at night.

The light was still on in Yuan Sheng's room. When Li Ping arrived at the door, Mu Heng was waiting for him.

This person was the disciple who had just been in charge of issuing talismans. He was said to be from the family head's lineage and had become Yuan Sheng's disciple because he had some talent in array formations.

Upon seeing Li Ping approach, Mu Heng cupped his hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoist Li, how is the situation on your end?"

"All thirty-six nodes are intact."

Mu Heng smiled upon hearing this and made a note in the book: "Thank you for your hard work, Fellow Daoist Li. It's getting late, you should go back and rest."

Li Ping nodded and turned to walk towards his own yard.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, a faint candlelight still shone inside the house.

Mu Ming was awake, leaning against the headboard. Hearing the noise, he opened his eyes: "You're back?"

"Um."

"How's it outside?"

"Everything is fine." Li Ping didn't say much, and changed the dressings for him and Mu Junyi.

Mu Junyi was the most seriously injured and remains unconscious.

Mu Ming did wake up a few times, and although his breathing was weak, he was no longer in the faint state he had been in a few days ago.

After changing the dressing, Li Ping sat for a while before returning to his room.