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

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

As dawn broke, Li Ping finished his practice, got up, and walked out of the house.

The air in the courtyard was chilly. He stood there for a while, stretched his limbs, and then turned and walked towards the left wing.

As soon as I opened the door, the smell of medicine hit me.

Mu Ming and Mu Junyi lay on the bed, one with his eyes closed, resting, and the other staring blankly at the roof beams, seemingly bored.

Hearing footsteps, the two turned their heads at the same time.

Mu Junyi sat up, his pale face showing some impatience: "How much longer do I have to lie here? My body is about to give way."

Li Ping walked to his bedside, grabbed his shoulder, and pressed him back onto the bed.

According to Dr. He, it will take another two months.

Upon hearing this, Mu Junyi's brows furrowed immediately: "Two months? The garrison mission is already over."

Li Ping smiled slightly and said, "Isn't it better to end it? Then you can go straight home. Unlike me, I still have to patrol for two months."

Mu Junyi shook his head, looking unconvinced: "I'd rather go on patrol."

Li Ping smiled and ignored him.

This kid is all talk and no action. If you really let him go on patrol in this condition, he probably wouldn't even make it halfway down the street before he'd have to be carried back.

Mu Ming was much more composed than Mu Junyi. He looked at Li Ping and asked, "How is the situation?"

He was naturally asking about the skeleton.

Li Ping didn't want to tell the two about the skeleton, lest they overthink things while recovering from their injuries.

However, after the two woke up, people often came to visit them, and the topic inevitably came up in their conversations.

Knowing he couldn't hide it any longer, Li Ping told the truth.

"The skeleton hasn't reappeared in the past month or so, everything is fine," Li Ping said.

Mu Ming stared at Li Ping for a moment and said, "Don't just report the good news and hide the bad."

Li Ping spread his hands, saying helplessly, "Just ask around, you'll find out."

Upon hearing this, Mu Ming nodded, his tightly furrowed brows relaxing.

Afterwards, Li Ping changed the dressings for the two men.

He moved with practiced ease, first washing the skin around the wound with warm water, then applying the prepared ointment, and finally wrapping it tightly with a clean white cloth.

Mu Junyi grimaced in pain, but gritted his teeth and remained silent.

After changing the dressing, Li Ping gave them a few more instructions, telling them to rest well and not to move around too much, before turning to leave.

With a creak, the door closed behind me.

Li Ping stood at the door, the smile on his face gradually fading.

He wasn't lying when he said everything was fine.

But that only applies to skeletons; for Xikou Market, it's far from peaceful.

The incident involving the white skeleton had a significant ripple effect on the market.

The promising situation that Mu Fangxu had painstakingly built up has been largely ruined.

I stepped out of the courtyard and onto the street.

There were few pedestrians, and most of the shops on both sides were closed.

The stalls that used to be set up on the street are now reduced to just a few, and even the vendors' calls to sell are weak and feeble.

Leaving aside the bustling scene before, even compared to when Li Ping first arrived, the market now is far inferior, and can even be described as deserted.

As Li Ping walked, he observed the surroundings, silently analyzing the reasons in his mind.

There are roughly two points.

Firstly, the skeleton had visited the market, and although a month had passed, many people were still afraid.

Those who cultivate immortality cherish their lives; no one wants to risk their life.

Another point is that the Mu family's refusal to allow cultivators to hide in the market that day caused dissatisfaction among some people.

As they talked amongst themselves, the cultivators' impression of the Mu family gradually soured.

They felt that the Mu family only cared about their own safety and didn't care about the lives of the rogue cultivators, and as a result, the market also suffered.

Li Ping actually understood Mu Fangxu's decision at the time.

After all, the skeletons didn't come towards the market. If we rashly opened the barrier and let people in, it would easily throw us into disarray and give those with ulterior motives an opportunity to cause trouble.

But not everyone understands this principle, and even if they do, not everyone is willing to accept it.

When life and death are at stake, who cares about all those principles?

Li Ping shook his head, no longer thinking about these things, and stepped into the Hundred Weapons Pavilion.

The shop was empty except for a female cultivator standing behind the counter.

Li Ping glanced around the shop but didn't see the young man who had greeted him earlier.

He walked to the counter and asked, "Where's that waiter surnamed Yu from before?"

The female cultivator raised her head, glanced at Li Ping, sighed, and said, "Fellow Daoist, you're talking about Yu Hui, right? He's dead."

Li Ping frowned: "Dead?"

"When the skeletons arrived earlier, he was terrified and ran out of the market. But who would have thought that he would encounter a group of robbers outside the market?" the female cultivator said.

He didn't die at the hands of the skeletons, but he died at the hands of the calamity cultivator.

Fate is cruel.

Li Ping sighed inwardly.

He still remembered the young man; he had a bright smile, spoke fluently, and was quite clever.

I never imagined that when we met again, we would be separated by death.

Seeing Li Ping's sorrowful expression, the female cultivator couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist, are you a relative of Yu Hui?"

Li Ping waved his hand and said, "I just had dealings with him a few times when I bought magical artifacts before, and I found him to be a rather interesting person."

"I see." The female cultivator nodded, then asked, "What kind of magical artifact does Fellow Daoist wish to purchase this time?"

"I don't want to buy it; I'd like to have a sword case custom-made."

The female cultivator's face stiffened, and she said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm sorry, fellow cultivator, you may have to wait a while."

Li Ping asked in confusion, "Why?"

"My family's weapon refiner was hiding from the skeletons and hasn't returned yet," the female cultivator said with a wry smile.

Li Ping frowned slightly.

There's more than one shop selling magical artifacts in the market; of course he could go to another one.

However, this would compromise the secrecy of the information.

If word got out that he had specially crafted a sword case for thirty-six flying swords, everyone would think he was a sucker.

Li Ping was naturally not afraid of dealing with the robber cultivators.

But he didn't want to be constantly on people's minds, it was so annoying.

Moreover, the sword cases made by this company before were indeed of good quality and easy to use.

Li Ping pondered for a moment, then took out a slip of paper from his sleeve, wrote down his temporary address, and handed it to the female cultivator.

"Let me know when your family's weapon refiner returns."

The female cultivator took the note and nodded repeatedly: "Don't worry, fellow Daoist, I will definitely let you know as soon as possible."

After leaving Baiqige, Li Ping took out the prescription He Jiu had written earlier from his pocket and headed towards Chen's Pharmacy.

The shopkeeper is still that little girl named Chen Cheng.

She stood behind the counter, tiptoeing as she dispensed medicine for an elderly monk.

The old cultivator paid with spirit stones, took the medicine packet, and left.

Chen Cheng looked up and saw Li Ping walking in.

"The guests are here." She smiled, then asked, "Is your friend still not ready?"

Li Ping shook his head: "It's still early."

Chen Cheng was perceptive. Seeing that Li Ping was in low spirits, he didn't ask any more questions. He took the prescription, glanced at it, and then turned around to get busy.

Her small hands moved back and forth among the dozen or so medicine drawers, sometimes grabbing a handful of slices, sometimes pinching a pinch of powder, and soon she had prepared more than a dozen doses of medicine.

"Do you still want the Spirit-Gathering Grass and the Polygonatum?"

Li Ping was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Gathering Spirit Grass and Polygonatum are two auxiliary ingredients in the refining of Returning Cloud Pill.

Previously, he had ambitiously wanted to learn alchemy, so he bought an alchemy furnace and regularly purchased alchemy supplies from Chen Cheng.

But now...

Li Ping pondered for a moment, then finally shook his head.

"Not for now."

Chen Cheng didn't ask any more questions, just said "oh" and then lowered his head to start calculating the accounts.

Li Ping stood in front of the counter, feeling a pang of bitterness in his heart.

The refining of the Returning Cloud Pill was not going very smoothly.

To be precise, the process of condensing the elixir did not go smoothly.

He could do a good job of every step before condensing the pill, from selecting materials to controlling the fire, but problems would inevitably arise when it came to condensing the pill.

Either they're all useless pills, a dark, indistinct mass, completely devoid of medicinal properties.

Or just blow up the furnace, and with a bang, the medicinal herbs and spirit stones will all go down the drain.

At first, he thought it was a problem with the alchemy furnace, so he gritted his teeth and bought a brand new alchemy furnace, spending a lot of spirit stones.

But the result was still the same.

Li Ping had no choice but to put it aside for the time being.

Undeterred, he practiced diligently several more times.

Before each furnace operation, he would repeatedly ponder the formula and mentally review each step three times.

But the result was still unsatisfactory.

He even went to the Mu family's alchemist and asked him to teach him step by step.

That alchemist was a good person; he explained things in great detail, from the timing of the fire to the techniques, leaving no stone unturned.

But Li Ping couldn't even refine the simplest Qi Gathering Pill.

At this point, Li Ping had to admit a fact.

I truly lack the talent for alchemy.

Those descriptions in the alchemical texts about exceptional comprehension and instant success had absolutely nothing to do with him.

However, Li Ping is not one to dwell on trivial matters.

The recipes for the elixir shouldn't be left idle. Since I can't refine them myself, I'll let someone else do it.

He already had a new plan in mind, but he still needed the right opportunity.

"Sir, there are a total of sixty-seven spirit stones."

Chen Cheng's voice pulled him back to reality.

Li Ping paid with spirit stones, took the medicine packet, and turned to leave the pharmacy.

Upon reaching the main street, he turned and headed towards Mu Fangxu's seaside courtyard.

A month ago, before the skeleton appeared, the courtyard was bustling with people.

The disciples stationed outside the courtyard took turns on duty, while Mu family cultivators came and went. Some came to report on market affairs, some to curry favor, and some even came all the way from the outer islands to deliver gifts.

But now, there are no disciples stationed outside the courtyard, the gate is half closed, and it creaks when the wind blows.

Li Ping pushed open the door and went in.

The courtyard was small, with a stone table and benches, and a few spiritual plants growing in the corner.

However, the spiritual plant had been neglected for a long time, its leaves were yellowing, and its vines were climbing haphazardly, making it look quite desolate.

Mu Fangxu sat at the stone table, his back to the courtyard gate.

He was wearing a blue robe, his hair was casually tied up, and a few strands of hair fell over his shoulders.

At this moment, he was staring blankly at the weeds in the corner of the yard.

Li Ping walked behind him, stood for a moment, and seeing that he didn't react, sighed softly, "Why did it have to come to this?"

Mu Fangxu didn't move or say anything.

Li Ping walked to his side and said, "It's just a problem in the market, what's the big deal?"

When you took over the market, the situation wasn't much different.

If we could run a business before, we can do it again now.

This is true.

When Mu Fangxu took over Xikou Market, it was just a dilapidated little dock.

There were few boats coming and going, and only about ten shops. The disciples stationed there fought with the calamity cultivators every few days.

He single-handedly revived the market.

By lowering rents and taxes, eliminating robbers and thieves, and winning over independent cultivators, they gradually transformed this place into the most prosperous market town in the surrounding sea area.

Li Ping had heard about these things.

That's why he felt that Mu Fangxu wouldn't be defeated by this incident.

"no the same."

Mu Fangxu finally spoke, waving his hand and sighing, "Back then, the market was failing because of the Jiexiu, but now, the problem lies in people's hearts."

Upon hearing this, Li Ping fell silent.

Mu Fangxu's words were true; those who had undergone the Tribulation Cultivation could be killed, annihilated, or their authority established.

But the human heart is the most difficult thing to fathom.

When the skeletons arrived, the Mu family closed the market and refused entry to rogue cultivators.

Logically speaking, this decision is correct.

But reason is reason, and people's hearts are people's hearts. When it comes to life and death, who cares about reason?

Trying to win back the cultivators and reverse their reputation is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

But Li Ping didn't want to see him remain silent any longer.

He composed himself and said loudly, "The Zheng and Huang families are already reclaiming land from the sea to build islands. If you continue like this, the reputation of Xikou Market will be beyond repair."

As soon as he finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent.

Mu Fangxu frowned, finally showing some emotion.

He looked up at Li Ping, displeased, and said, "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

Li Ping curled his lip: "With your stubborn attitude, who would want to come?"