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

Ebony is a high-grade spiritual plant.

With moderate hardness and tough texture, it can grow up to ten zhang tall when mature, making it an excellent material for building ferries.

When the Hong family first arrived on the island, they had their eyes on this and specially planted a large area of ​​it.

However, the ebony on the island will take another five or six years to fully mature.

The Hong family has worked so hard for so many years, but in the end, they may not reap any rewards and will only benefit the Mu family for nothing.

The hour of Yin (3-5 AM) is the time when one is most tired and relaxed.

The Hong family cultivators patrolling the island huddled together in twos and threes, all looking tired and their steps unsteady.

Seeing this, Li Ping and his group secretly cheered.

"What's next?" Mu Jin asked.

"Enter the water."

Li Ping took out water-repelling talismans from his storage bag and distributed them to everyone.

The group received the talismans and each used them, immediately enveloped in an invisible halo.

Li Ping nodded, raised his hand and patted Tie Fuhai on the back, signaling him telepathically.

With a splash, Tie Fuhai swayed and silently submerged into the water, slowly diving towards Wumu Island, following the direction of the island's edge.

The people on his back were also on high alert, on guard, and ready to deal with any unexpected situations.

Without any unexpected incidents, Tie Fuhai quickly carried everyone to the shore of Wumu Island.

It swam slowly around the rocky shore, exploring the area. After circling a few times, it finally stopped in a place with lush aquatic plants.

As planned, Li Ping helped it part the water plants and indeed found a dark hole about two zhang wide.

Concentrating their attention, they ventured deeper into the cave. The waterway inside was deep and bottomless, likely a secret passage leading to the heart of the Hong family's territory.

Li Ping nodded, indicating that there was no problem, and then went inside with the others.

Inside the waterway, mud and dust swirled, and the light was dim, forcing everyone to use their divine senses to explore ahead.

Fortunately, Tie Fuhai continued forward without encountering any accidents.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, the seawater in front of them suddenly became clear and transparent. When they looked closely, they realized that they had passed through the secret passage and arrived at a pool of water.

The pool was spacious, about several dozen square meters in size, and five iron-backed whales were floating in the water, fast asleep.

Without a doubt, this pool must have been built by the Hong family specifically for raising iron-backed whales.

Li Ping and his group exchanged glances, and immediately understood the situation.

Then, Tie Fuhai carried everyone slowly to the surface. Just as they were about to emerge from the water, Mu Rou suddenly moved and shot out like an arrow.

Li Ping and the others were all taken aback and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Upon reaching the pool, they discovered two corpses lying beside it. Judging from their clothing, they were the pool-guarding cultivators from the Hong family.

"Foundation Establishment cultivators are truly terrifying."

Li Ping felt a chill and couldn't help but look at Mu Rou.

She stood with her feet on the corpse, her eyes no longer showing languor, but rather ruthlessness, completely different from the charming woman she had been before.

"We'll split up and proceed as planned. I'll be overseeing the entire operation from above, and I'll notify you promptly of any unexpected situations," Mu Rou said coldly.

Everyone responded in unison, concealed their presence, and quietly dispersed.

Just as Li Ping was about to leave, Mu Rou stopped him, saying, "You stay here and don't wander off."

"Ancestor, this..."

"What?" Mu Rou sneered, sizing up Li Ping. "What are you doing, a mere Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator getting involved? Don't you want to die already?"

"When the fighting gets chaotic, I won't have time to save you."

She paused, then said meaningfully, "If you get hurt, I won't be able to explain it to Yuebai."

Li Ping was thinking about contributing points and wanted to try again, but he was interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Behave yourself. If you really feel the urge, I'll save you a Qi Refining Level 3 skill to practice on later," Mu Rou reassured her.

Upon hearing this, Li Ping felt uneasy. Was he being treated like a child?

In a daze, Mu Rou had already soared into the sky, leaving him standing there alone.

Li Ping stared at the red figure and secretly hardened his resolve.

Mu Yuebai will deal with this sooner or later, and so will you, Mu Rou.

Suppressing his thoughts, he turned to look at the pool, where he saw that the Ironback Whales had all woken up. Fu Hai was gathered around them, constantly emitting low buzzing sounds, as if they were communicating with each other.

What are you babbling about?

Li Ping shook his head and plopped down on the edge of the pool.

I picked a bunch of tidal vines to pass the time, when I saw Fu Hai swimming over.

"Master, can you do me a favor?" Tie Fuhai asked.

Tell me about it.

"They have nowhere to go, could we let them stay on Qing Teng Island temporarily?"

Perhaps fearing that Li Ping would not agree, Tie Fuhai quickly added, "I can take fewer pills."

"There's no need for that." Li Ping shook his head and smiled. "Qingteng Island is a good place to stay, but the underground cavern is a bit small; it probably can't accommodate so many people..."

"It's okay, we can dig bigger."

"Whatever you say."

Seeing that Li Ping readily agreed, Tie Fuhai immediately swam back to report the good news to the other iron-backed whales.

Upon hearing this, the iron-backed whale in the pool couldn't contain its excitement and swam around, creating waves.

It wasn't until Li Ping was splashed that Tie Fuhai made them subside a bit.

Then, it beckoned the whales over, mysteriously took out a porcelain bottle, and kept making a buzzing sound, as if showing off.

Suddenly, a loud roar came, causing the entire pool to shake slightly.

Li Ping quickly looked away, got up and ran to the window by the pool.

Outside, flames soared into the sky, and shouts of battle and screams of agony mingled together in a chaotic cacophony.

The Hong family cultivators on the island were all in a panic, running around like headless flies.

Seeing that the view was poor, Li Ping climbed onto the roof beam and looked down from above.

From this angle, the view was much clearer, and he could see the direction of the Hong Family Ancestral Hall at a glance.

The houses there had collapsed, and dust was flying everywhere.

The two members of the Mu family who had reached the Qi Refining stage fought against the two members of the Hong family who were only at the ninth level of Qi Refining, resulting in a truly earth-shattering battle.

Talismans were thrown out like they were free, and everyone had two magical artifacts.

Looking at the four cultivators, their clothes were torn and their faces were covered in blood.

Li Ping shifted his gaze and turned to look at the other Hong family cultivators.

The Hong family had many mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and they could have held their ground and resisted, but they lost their composure and fell into chaos when those early-stage cultivators charged at them.

This gave Mu Jin and his two companions an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

They lay in ambush in the shadows, first targeting those at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. Once they found them, they surrounded and killed them. They moved so fast that by the time the Hong family cultivators reacted, the three had already vanished.

However, all three of them appeared to be injured.

Amidst the carnage, it seemed that only Mu Rou, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, could remain uninvolved.

She was suspended in mid-air, holding a red lantern and muttering incantations.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked in a certain direction, and Mu Jin and the other two below immediately rushed over.

In a single encounter, he dealt with a Hong family cultivator who was trying to escape.

"At this rate, the Hong family will be completely wiped out in less than two hours."

Li Ping smacked his lips, his heart filled with unease.

Although he had been living overseas, this was the first time he had ever seen such a tragic situation.

The law of the jungle prevails... I imagine my second uncle and his men went through something similar when they occupied White Rock Island.

After a long time, the fighting on the island gradually intensified.

The Hong family members probably realized that the newcomers were there to exterminate their clan and that there was no way to escape, so they stopped running around and began to fight for their lives.

Mu Jin and the other two were quickly found.

Having failed in their sneak attack, they were left with no choice but to confront the enemy head-on.

Fortunately, they had dealt with many mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators earlier, so although the three of them were struggling, they were still unstoppable due to their overwhelming cultivation level.

The two Qi Refining Stage 9 members of the Hong family saw this and were anxious, wanting to lend a helping hand, but were always blocked by the two elders of the Mu family.

The two felt a chill in their hearts. When they saw the red figure standing in the air, they had only one thought: the Hong family is finished.

Li Ping was engrossed in observing the fighting style when Mu Rou suddenly transmitted her voice into his ear.

"A cultivator from the Hong family is coming this way. Hold him off for now and wait for Mu Jin and the others to arrive. If you really can't beat him, run first."