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

"Why did you get into the well?"

Li Ping frowned, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

Mustering their courage, they continued to peer inside. They saw the giant python in the well shaking its head restlessly, occasionally slamming its head against the well wall. Its thick body twisted violently at the bottom of the well, causing rubble to fall from the well wall.

Compared to its composed demeanor in the cave, the giant python was now completely disorganized and was clearly struggling desperately.

"Could it be that the giant python is bound by the dry well?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the giant python seemed to understand him. It suddenly opened its mouth wide and let out a deafening roar at Li Ping at the well opening.

Li Ping's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively pulled his neck back.

After waiting a moment and seeing that the giant python did not rush out, they breathed a sigh of relief.

He peered into the well again, and the giant python, upon seeing him, seemed to react and roared once more.

Several attempts to probe yielded the same result.

"As expected, I'm bound."

Li Ping's eyes lit up with joy, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally at ease.

As long as the giant python poses no threat to him, anything is negotiable.

After a moment of contemplation, a doubt arose in Li Ping's mind: how did this thing get in?

If it can get in, does that mean that other people can also come here?

Thinking of this, Li Ping's expression darkened slightly.

He naturally wanted to have the dry well all to himself and would never let anyone else touch it.

But given the current situation, it's hard to say.

He pondered by the well for a long time, unable to understand the origin of the giant python or the mystery of the dry well. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly, his face full of melancholy.

Suppressing his thoughts, Li Ping was about to leave when a sudden glimpse caught his eye, and his expression changed drastically.

Not far from the dry well, there was a book with several large characters on it, which was Gongshu Yan's travelogue.

"Wasn't this book in my storage bag? How did it get in here?"

Li Ping was completely bewildered, feeling that things were getting more and more absurd.

He walked over and carefully picked up the travelogue.

The book's cover was tattered, and the edges were wrinkled and worn, exactly the same as when he bought it, with nothing unusual about it.

Li Ping rubbed his head, feeling a lump in his throat.

After a moment's thought, an idea struck him, and he immediately took the book and left.

Suddenly everything went dark, and in the blink of an eye, they were back in the cave.

Looking around, the cave was in a mess, just as it had been when he left, with no changes.

But when I looked down, my hands were empty; there was no trace of the travelogue.

Li Ping's mind stirred slightly, and he silently recited a mantra as he returned to the dry well.

The travelogue was indeed still there, but in a different place than before.

"I can't even take it out."

Li Ping picked up the travelogue, looked at the three large characters "Gongshu Yan," and couldn't help but ask:

"Just who exactly is Gongshu Yan?"

In the following days, Li Ping kept his mind at ease and came to the dry well whenever he had the chance.

The giant python was still struggling, and the travelogue still couldn't be taken out.

The presence of both did not cause him any discomfort.

During this period, the benefits brought by the transformation of water and illusion were all smooth and successful, and the so-called bad luck did not come true at all.

Since it had no impact and he couldn't solve the mystery, Li Ping simply stopped worrying about it and devoted himself entirely to cultivation.

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Li Ping's cultivation progressed steadily. The cultivation cave in the mountain cave had also been rebuilt.

The entire construction was overseen by cultivators from the Mu family, with Li Ping assigning Hong Xing to supervise.

Every brick and tile inside the cave was made according to his wishes, with no array formations to speak of.

That day, inside the small courtyard house, the night was deep, and the candlelight flickered.

Li Ping sat cross-legged on the futon, his internal magical power flowing slowly like a stream, but always stopping abruptly at a certain point.

He took a deep breath and took out the last Gathering Yuan Pill.

The pill entered the stomach, and a warm medicinal power slowly dissolved within.

Li Ping dared not delay and immediately guided the medicinal power to flow through his meridians, eventually converging in his dantian.

A slight swelling and pain came from my dantian, as if something was slowly expanding.

As the medicine continued to work its magic, the bottleneck that had been plaguing him finally began to loosen.

Li Ping gritted his teeth and persevered, pushing forward little by little.

One breath, two breaths, ten breaths...

The boundaries of the dantian slowly expanded outward under pressure; though subtle, the expansion was real.

After an unknown amount of time, the throbbing pain finally subsided.

Li Ping opened his eyes and felt that his body was filled with more magical power than ever before, and his dantian was 30% larger than before.

I've finally reached the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"Everything on the island is settled; it's time to set off."

Li Ping exhaled a breath of stale air and entered a meditative state to regulate his breathing once more.

By the next morning, his cultivation had been completely stabilized.

Just as he was about to call Hong Xing over, he saw that she had already knocked on the door.

"Enter."

Hong Xing entered and sensed the remaining aura. Seeing Li Ping's calm demeanor, she immediately cupped her hands and said, "Congratulations, Master, on reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

"A tiny bit of progress, not worth mentioning." Li Ping waved his hand. "What brings you here?"

"A cultivator from the Mu family has come, specifically requesting to see the master," Hong Xing said.

"Who?" Li Ping asked, puzzled.

"Mu Yan".

Li Ping's eyes lit up, and he chuckled, "Quickly, invite him in."

After speaking, he set out the tea set, poured in the spiritual tea, and waited quietly.

A short while later, a burly man strode in, muttering curses under his breath.

"Who made my brother Yan so angry?" Li Ping asked with a smile.

Mu Yan snorted coldly, dissatisfied, and said, "Besides you, Li Ping, who else could it be?"

"What makes you say that?" Li Ping asked guiltily as he poured him some tea.

"Brother Li is really something else. To have to announce your arrival and wait for me just to see you, anyone who didn't know better would think..." Halfway through his sentence, Mu Yan glanced at Li Ping and suddenly realized, "So that's what happened. It turns out you've broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

Isn't this about Tie Fuhai?

Li Ping chuckled inwardly and immediately explained, "Brother Yan, you've misunderstood. I've been in seclusion breaking through to a higher level and it's been inconvenient for me to see anyone. Don't worry, from now on, I'll instruct my men that you don't need to be notified or waited for when you come."

"I wouldn't dare. If I disturb Brother Li's secluded cultivation and delay your path to immortality, wouldn't I, Mu Yan, become a sinner?" Mu Yan pouted.

Li Ping was taken aback by these words, then laughed and said, "That's not something you would say."

"I learned it from you."

Li Ping had no choice but to give a bitter smile.

Mu Yan was straightforward, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, he didn't take it to heart.

Then, the two got down to business.

Li Ping asked, "Have you come to pick up the cultivators from the island?"

"That's only one aspect," Mu Yan shook his head.

He took a sip of the spiritual tea, handed a piece of gold-inlaid jade to Li Ping, and then fell silent, staring blankly at Li Ping with envy in his eyes.

"I admit I have an extraordinary demeanor and handsome looks, but do you have to stare at me like that?" Li Ping said with a smile.

"You really know how to flatter yourself." Mu Yan sighed softly, pointing to the gold-inlaid jade, "This is Sister Yuebai's Foundation Establishment jade pendant, specially given to you."

"Oh, that explains why this thing is different from my jade pendant." Li Ping's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Is there anything special about it?"

"Of course," Mu Yan said enviously. "With this jade token, if you see a Foundation Establishment elder, all disciples will treat you with utmost respect. In addition, you can act freely within the clan and mobilize the clan's resources."

Li Ping was delighted upon hearing this and carefully picked up the jade tablet.

Looking at Mu Yan in front of him, a thought struck him, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Mu Yan instantly saw through his thoughts, his face darkening: "You dare?"