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

If one is a cultivator undergoing tribulation, a second-tier talisman combined with the Overlapping Waves Technique should be able to match it.

But if it's a member of the Hong family, then it needs to be concealed.

Li Ping suppressed his thoughts and continued forward.

Qingshiji is not large, with only two intersecting streets.

Stalls lined both sides of the road, stretching from one end to the other.

Each stall owner enthusiastically hawked their wares, constantly calling out to the passing cultivators.

The atmosphere at the market was quite lively.

Li Ping carefully examined the stalls along the way and found that although there were many kinds of goods, most of them were their own products.

What kind of spiritual plants are they growing themselves, and what kind of monster meat are they hunting?

Talismans and pills are also available, but they are common items and not very valuable.

The really good stuff is in the shop behind the stall.

With the offering in mind, Li Ping strolled along the path.

The result was still disappointing; there was only Condensed Ink Stone, but no Thunder Sound Ink Jade.

He stopped thinking about it and went into a medicine shop.

"Fellow Daoist, what would you like to order?" A chubby shopkeeper asked with a smile from behind the counter.

"How much are the Gathering Yuan Pill, Spirit Nourishing Pill, and Mysterious Water Pill?" Li Ping asked.

"Fifty-one bottles of Gathering Essence Pills and Spirit Nourishing Pills, and forty-one bottles of Mysterious Water Pills."

"Too expensive," Li Ping shook his head.

"How much do you want, fellow Daoist?"

"One bottle each, please."

"The Gathering Essence Pill has always been this price, there's no way to lower it. How about we reduce the price of the other two pills by ten coins each?"

"Let me make this clear first, I don't want any problematic pills," Li Ping said calmly.

"My family's elixirs have an excellent reputation in Qing Shi Ji, so you can rest assured, fellow Daoist."

Even so, Li Ping was still wary and, in front of the shopkeeper, opened the porcelain bottles one by one to inspect them.

There are three kinds of pills. The Gathering Yuan Pill is specifically for breaking through the bottleneck in the early stage of Qi Refining. There are ten pills in one bottle.

Both the Spirit Nourishing Pill and the Mysterious Water Pill are used to nourish and open up the meridians. The difference is that the former is not picky about cultivation methods, while the latter is specifically used to open up the water-flow meridians.

He bought both to try them out so he could buy more later.

There was no problem with the three bottles of pills, so Li Ping immediately paid with spirit stones.

Just as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back.

"Shopkeeper, does this Qing Shi Market sell spirit beasts?"

"Spirit beasts aren't ordinary goods; how could a small place like Qing Shi Ji have them?"

"If you want to buy it, you can only go to the Great Market or the Immortal City."

After explaining, the shopkeeper abruptly changed the subject, asking, "Fellow Daoist, have you captured a demonic beast and are seeking a way to control it?"

"Hmm?" Li Ping's tone was unfriendly, and his face showed vigilance.

The shopkeeper smiled faintly and explained, "If they don't mention the name of the spirit beast and only ask if it's for sale, they're obviously looking for a way to control it. After all, places that sell spirit beasts will definitely have this."

"I hope you can give me some pointers, shopkeeper," Li Ping said, cupping his hands in greeting.

"There might be some stock left at Butcher Zhang's place on the east side of the street."

Thank you.

After leaving the shop, Li Ping headed straight for East Street.

At the end of the street, there was a shop selling monster meat.

"Is it Fellow Daoist Zhang?" Li Ping asked.

Butcher Zhang nodded: "Buying monster meat?"

"I have come to find a way to control the demonic beasts."

"Who sent you?"

Li Ping smiled and pointed to the medicine shop at the crossroads.

"You fatso, you're always causing me trouble." Butcher Zhang spat, then looked at Li Ping: "Come in."

After the two arrived at the shop, Butcher Zhang took out a booklet about the size of a palm.

This book looks like it's made of some kind of monster leather, covered in gold paint, and the cover is painted with several ferocious beast phantoms.

Li Ping was completely baffled and couldn't help but ask, "What is this in Fellow Daoist Zhang's hand?"

"The Spirit Control Treasure Scroll," Butcher Zhang said slowly. "By placing the essence blood of a spirit beast into it, a master-servant contract can be formed. If the spirit beast betrays you, crushing the scroll will kill the spirit beast."

"Good stuff!" Li Ping's eyes lit up. "How many spirit stones?"

Instead of answering, Butcher Zhang asked with a smile, "What bloodline and cultivation level does the spirit beast you wish to contract possess?"

"There are such restrictions?"

"That's natural," Butcher Zhang explained. "The higher one's cultivation level and bloodline, the more advanced the treasure scrolls one needs."

"And what about that precious talisman in your hand, fellow Daoist?"

"I am just an ordinary one, only able to contract with first-tier demonic beasts, and my bloodline must be below the Earth Rank."

Li Ping was taken aback upon hearing this and immediately found himself in a dilemma.

The first tier of a demonic beast corresponds to the Qi Refining stage of a magic cultivator, and the Iron-Spine Whale did not exceed this limit.

But the bloodline is another matter.

Earth-rank bloodlines are only slightly higher than the lowest-ranking mortal bloodlines, while the Iron-spined Whale's bloodline...

Li Ping had some vague guesses, but he wasn't sure about the specific grade.

Well, let's try anything, even if it's a hopeless case.

"How many spirit stones?"

"One hundred and fifty yuan."

Li Ping was startled: "So expensive?"

"What do you think?" Butcher Zhang curled his lip. "This Spirit Control Treasure Scroll comes from the top-tier Beast Taming Sect, the Holy Court of Hundred Beasts."

There are no places to buy them on the eight islands in the outer sea, so I have to go all the way to Qingfeng City every time I want some.

A boat ticket to Qingfeng City costs fifty spirit stones. Considering the labor fee, selling it for this little bit is already a bargain for you.

For a moment, Li Ping really wanted to turn around and leave.

But the thought of that iron-backed whale made him itchy to go.

"Ten yuan less, I'll take it," Li Ping said.

Upon hearing this, Butcher Zhang put away the Spirit Control Talisman.

"Are they sure they can take me down?" Li Ping steeled his heart and immediately counted out spirit stones.

"That's right."

Butcher Zhang grinned, and seeing that Li Ping wasn't in high spirits, he tried to appease him:

"Why are you so gloomy, fellow Daoist? Once you've subdued the demon with this precious talisman and have a spirit beast by your side, you can go all out and make a name for yourself."

After saying that, he pointed to two round seals in the yard.

"It was thanks to these two that I was able to find the monsters and open this shop."

Whether the contract can be successfully signed is still a question, so Li Ping had no time to say more. He put away the precious scroll and left.

Behind him, Butcher Zhang smiled and saw him to the door. After the man had gone far away, Butcher Zhang quickly went into the medicine shop, took out twenty spirit stones and threw them to the fat shopkeeper.

Li Ping was unaware that he had been slaughtered.

He walked along the street and found a shop selling magic formations.

The shop was empty; there were neither staff nor manager in sight.

Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, Li Ping turned to leave.

"You can choose whatever you want to buy: formations, materials, and diagrams."

Behind the counter, an elderly man with white hair got up, glanced at the counter, and then lay down again.

With no one around to watch over it, it's convenient to look through and browse.

Li Ping chuckled inwardly, then turned and walked back into the shop.

He remembered the layout of the cave clearly, and by comparing it with the array diagrams, he should be able to find some clues.

With that in mind, Li Ping went to the shelf displaying the array diagram.

I flipped through the books one by one, then put them back one by one. After flipping through dozens of books, a nameless anger began to rise in my heart.

Not to mention anything similar, these array diagrams and cave layouts are completely unrelated, not even remotely related.

"What, didn't you find anything you liked?"

The white-haired old man got up at some point and came to Li Ping's side.

"Are there any... rather strange, ruthless formation diagrams?"

"Young friend, are you looking for something really good?" the white-haired old man asked with a smile.

Are you sure the shop has it?

"If it's not high-quality stuff, I'll give you this shop for free."

The old man chuckled and led Li Ping to the second floor.