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

The cargo ship slowly docked, and the ferry crossing in Xikou Market was still bustling with activity, with boats of all sizes coming and going, and the shore filled with the sounds of people.

Li Ping jumped off the boat first, glanced around, and saw Manager Lin standing by the ferry, followed by two employees of Jieyoufang, craning their necks to look in their direction.

Upon seeing Li Ping and the others, Manager Lin's eyes lit up. He rushed forward, cupping his hands in greeting, and said, "You've all had a hard time. Did everything go smoothly?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Junyi jumped off the boat and snorted sarcastically, "It went smoothly, but someone messed up and we almost failed."

Manager Lin's smile froze, and his gaze swept over the crowd, landing on Zhu Huaijin.

Zhu Huaijin shuddered at his gaze, stumbled, and nearly fell off the diving board.

After finally managing to stand up, he came closer with an awkward smile, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, but couldn't utter a single word.

Manager Lin stared at him coldly for a long time before saying, "Zhu Huaijin, from now on, Jieyoufang will only accept half of your goods each month."

Zhu Huaijin's face fell instantly, as if he had been slapped in the face.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when he met Steward Lin's piercing gaze, he swallowed the words back down.

He lowered his head, filled with deep regret.

If I had known this would happen, I would have held my breath longer on the ship, and I wouldn't have ended up like this.

Manager Lin stopped looking at him and turned to face Mu Ming, a smile returning to his face: "Fellow Daoist Mu, the Relief House has prepared a feast of spiritual food and wine. You have all worked hard this time, why don't you come with me to relax?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Ming felt relieved.

This is not about relieving fatigue; it's clearly about making up for Zhu Huaijin's shortcomings.

But then I thought about it again. They were just helping to make the connection. Zhu Huaijin was just a supplier after all, and he didn't have much of a relationship with Jieyoufang. It would be unreasonable for him to blame them.

He waved his hand and said politely, "Manager Lin, there's no need for such expense. We have other matters to attend to and cannot stay any longer."

Manager Lin's smile froze again, and he stood there awkwardly, unsure whether to raise his hand or lower it.

Seeing this, Li Ping stepped forward and smoothed things over with a smile: "We appreciate Manager Lin's kindness. We still need to go to Jieyoufang, but we'll have to wait a while. When we do, please save us a few jars of good wine, don't hide it away."

Upon hearing this, Manager Lin finally felt relieved and quickly replied with a smile, "Of course, of course. When you come to Jieyoufang, we will definitely welcome you with open arms."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Manager Lin and his men took their leave. Zhu Huaijin followed behind dejectedly, his back hunched, looking as if he had aged ten years in vain.

After they had gone some distance, Li Ping turned to look at Feng San, who had remained silent.

Half of his face was still swollen, and his mouth was bruised, making him look quite pitiful.

"You did well this time. The clan will arrange a place for you. Stay in the market for now and don't wander off," Li Ping said.

Feng San responded, said nothing more, and turned to walk deeper into the market.

After watching him leave, Li Ping and the other three returned to their residence.

The courtyard is still the same courtyard, with stone tables and benches, a few old trees, and it's very quiet.

Mu Ming sat down at the stone table, opened Feng Yuan's storage bag, turned the bag upside down, and poured the contents out with a splash.

A pile of things fell onto the stone table.

There were spirit stones, about a hundred in total, followed by a few bottles of pills, a few talismans, and some miscellaneous items, nothing else.

Mu Junyi reached out and flipped through them, his expectation gradually turning into disdain.

He picked up a bottle of pills, shook it, and threw it back, shaking his head and saying, "This Feng Yuan is not as good as Man Du. At least Man Du has a giant axe, which is worth some spirit stones."

The old man was stripped clean from head to toe; all he had left was this tattered junk.

As he spoke, his hand suddenly stopped.

Mu Junyi pulled out a neatly folded object from the pile of spirit stones. It felt soft to the touch, and when he unfolded it, he found it to be a yellowish animal hide.

The animal hide is quite old; the edges are worn and frayed, but the patterns on it are still clear.

The painting depicts a mountain of rocks with a peculiar shape, resembling some kind of marker.

Beneath the rocks, the outline of a cave dwelling is faintly visible, its lines simple yet exuding an indescribable sense of antiquity.

"A treasure map?" Mu Junyi's eyes lit up.

Upon hearing this, Mu Ming's spirits lifted. He reached out and took the animal hide, examining it carefully for a moment before his brows slowly furrowed.

He spread the animal hide flat on the stone table and pointed to it, saying, "This cave seems to be underwater."

Upon hearing this, Mu Junyi's excitement vanished almost instantly, and he said with a sullen face, "The ocean floor is so vast, how are we supposed to find it?"

Mu Ming gave a wry smile and handed the animal hide to Mu Chengyuan.

Mu Chengyuan examined the stones twice, then shook his head and sighed, "Based on the shapes of these few stones alone, finding a cave on the seabed is like finding a needle in a haystack. This is highly unlikely."

The three looked at each other, clearly having given up hope on the cave depicted in the picture.

After a moment of silence, Mu Ming pondered and said, "How should we classify this? After all, it was found in a storage bag, so it's also spoils of war."

Mu Chengyuan had a sudden inspiration and said, "Why don't we send it to an auction? Maybe we can find a sucker and get a good price for it."

Upon hearing this, Mu Junyi scoffed and rolled his eyes: "Sell at a high price? Have you never been to an auction?"

The last time I participated in a gathering on Crescent Island, there was a whole table piled high with these kinds of sea charts and animal hides of dubious origin.

The seller made all sorts of extravagant claims, like ancient ruins or a fairy cave, but nobody believed them at all.

"A hundred spirit stones would be the best they could get."

"Even a mosquito bite is still meat," Mu Ming said. "A hundred spirit stones is still spirit stones, and it's better than letting them rot in your hands."

"I'll put it up for auction at the Crescent Island auction house later, and I should be able to recoup some of it."

In just a few words, the ownership of the animal hide was settled.

At this moment, Li Ping, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"I'll take this."

All three of them were stunned for a moment, and then turned to look at him.

Without saying much, Li Ping reached into his waist and pulled out one hundred spirit stones, neatly stacked them on the stone table, and pushed them forward.

"Brother Li, there are plenty of these nautical charts in the open sea." Mu Junyi paused, "Why waste spirit stones?"

Li Ping smiled and said, "A fortune teller told me when I was a kid that I'd have good luck. Maybe I really will find it?"

Mu Junyi advised, "Putting aside whether we can find the place, this sea chart itself isn't necessarily authentic. Who knows if some unscrupulous person just drew it up to deceive people? A hundred spirit stones isn't much, but at least you can make a splash when you throw it in the water."

He spoke sincerely, and he truly had Li Ping's best interests at heart.

But seeing Li Ping's resolute expression, he swallowed back the words he was about to say.

Mu Junyi and Mu Ming exchanged a glance, a hint of helplessness flashing in their eyes.

In their view, taking animal skins to the bottom of the sea to find a cave was pure fantasy.

As for luck?

This thing is the most unreliable.

Li Ping insisted on buying it, and they couldn't persuade him too much, since it wasn't their own spirit stones that were being spent.

"In that case, let's do as Brother Li says." Mu Ming folded the animal hide and handed it to Li Ping.

Li Ping took it and casually put it in his pocket.

Next up are the spirit-dividing stones.

Feng Yuan had a little over one hundred spirit stones, plus the bottles of pills and talismans, which came to about two hundred spirit stones. The four of them split it equally, fifty spirit stones each.

Li Ping carefully put away his copy, stood up, and said, "I have some things to take care of, so I'll go out for a bit."

The three of them didn't ask any more questions and watched him leave the courtyard.

Li Ping didn't stop and went straight to Mu Fangxu.

Seeing Li Ping walk in carrying another head, Mu Fangxu smiled.

"This time it was done efficiently."

Li Ping placed Feng Yuan's head aside and smiled, "We need to earn contribution points, how can we not hurry? If we keep dawdling, all the other teams will wipe out the Tribulation Cultivators."

"That's an exaggeration." Mu Fangxu shook his head. "Cultivators aren't that easy to kill, and besides, some teams have recently come up empty-handed."

Upon hearing this, Li Ping raised an eyebrow slightly: "The Tribulation Cultivator reacted so quickly?"

"A small number of those who were alert have already disappeared," Mu Fangxu said. "After all, we've been clearing them out for so many days, the news has inevitably spread. Those with undercover agents have long since retreated back to their hideouts, and it won't be easy to find them again."

Li Ping silently did the math in his mind.

Only five days have passed since the start of the operation.

Within five days, the news spread, the robbers reacted, and the team found nothing; this was much faster than he had expected.

"How are the other teams doing?"

Mu Fangxu flipped through the booklet beside him and said, "Not bad. The worst I've managed to clear out are a few mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, earning me a little over a hundred contribution points. The best I've managed to earn are over five hundred contribution points."

More than five hundred.

Li Ping quickly calculated that Man Du and Feng Yuan were both in the late stage of Qi Refining, each with 150 contribution points, totaling 300 contribution points for the two of them.

Three hundred contribution points, converted into spirit stones, amount to only a little over four hundred.

If the four people divide it again, there will be even less.

Li Ping sighed inwardly.

Time was tighter than he had imagined. Once the cultivators completely retreated, it would be difficult for them to earn contribution points again.

We need to hurry.

Thinking of this, he was about to take his leave when Mu Fangxu suddenly asked, "By the way, how did Feng San perform this time?"

Li Ping came to his senses and said, "That's right, you pierced Feng Yuan's dantian with one strike, saving us a lot of trouble."

A hint of surprise flashed in Mu Fangxu's eyes: "He's quite ruthless."

"He's not only ruthless, but also pragmatic," Li Ping said. "He knows he has no way out, so he's willing to go all out."

He paused, then asked, "What are your plans for him?"

Mu Fangxu already had a plan in mind.

People like Feng San, who make a living at sea year-round, know the hydrology and sea conditions of the Black Sea like the back of their hand.

Moreover, although his cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining is not top-notch, he has the advantage of sharp eyesight and high vigilance.

These old seals, placed in the right place, are more effective than ten novices.

"The route from our clan to Qingfeng City is in dire need of guards," Mu Fangxu said.

Li Ping thought for a moment and nodded, "It is indeed a suitable position. After all, it's a new route, and having an experienced person in charge is a good thing."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Li Ping took his leave.