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

The sky over Xikou Market seemed brighter than usual.

As Li Ping walked on the stone-paved road, he could clearly feel that there were many more people.

There are more vendors at the dock, and two new shops have opened on the street.

This change probably began around the time of the purge of the bandit cultivators.

The operation continues, but the scale of it is growing larger and larger.

Even though the teams tried to conceal their movements, they couldn't withstand the large number of people and eyes around them.

Originally there were more than 20 patrol teams, but now more than half of them are gone. Anyone could tell something was wrong.

Rumors began to circulate in the market that the Mu family had made a ruthless decision and was hunting down bandits and cultivators in droves.

Some gossip, partly true and partly false, gets distorted as it's passed around.

However, one thing is true: the cultivators were indeed alerted.

Some have moved away, others have gone into hiding, and most of the intelligence that was painstakingly gathered has become distorted.

The various patrol teams repeatedly came up empty-handed, and gradually, many teams, like Li Ping and his group, temporarily stopped their operations and ceased their attacks.

Of course, there are also teams that want to contribute points and continue the cleanup.

Mu Guang's team was one of them.

This group is among the top-tier in terms of strength among the clearing teams.

Mu Guang himself was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and his team members were all skilled members of the Mu family, well-equipped and coordinated perfectly.

Logically speaking, such a configuration should be ranked in the top three.

But for some reason, they reaped very little reward and ended up at the bottom of the list.

Seeing other teams reaping the rewards, Mu Guang's team members inevitably felt resentful.

Some people whispered among themselves that Mu Guangxuan's chosen locations were wrong, while others complained that the intelligence was inaccurate and they had made many wasted trips.

When these rumors reached Mu Guang's ears, he could only keep a dark face and remain silent.

As time went on, it became increasingly difficult to find Jie Xiu, and Mu Guang's team had been wandering around aimlessly lately, with disharmony within the team becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

They had no choice but to stop.

Seeing that there was no point in continuing the cleanup, Mu Fangxu called a halt to the operation.

From a holistic perspective, although this campaign to eliminate the bandits was somewhat anticlimactic, the results were still gratifying.

Most of the "stubborn problems" that used to surround Xikou Market have been eliminated, and the robbers who escaped the calamity have also moved away from the market due to their relocation.

It can be said that the safety of Xikoufang Market has improved significantly.

When the environment improves, the flow of people will increase.

Li Ping has been walking around the market these past few days and has seen many unfamiliar faces, including independent cultivators, disciples of small families, and even merchant caravans that have come from afar.

It is foreseeable that the market will usher in a period of prosperity.

Therefore, Mu Fangxu specially gave the teams involved in the clearing operation a long leave so that they could digest their gains.

Therefore, most of the team members are currently in seclusion.

Mu Ming, Mu Junyi, and Mu Chengyuan had already begun their seclusion after stopping their training ahead of time.

Before going into seclusion, Mu Ming made a special trip to see Li Ping and gave him a storage bag containing the cultivation resources he had received during the cleanup operation.

The courtyard was quiet at the moment, with only Li Ping busy at work.

On the desk, several sheets of Xuan paper were spread out, on which were drawn the halo around the entrance to the cave.

The circular outline is about three feet in size, with four ancient beast patterns arranged on the four sides of the edge, and several small characters neatly arranged in the center.

Li Ping's gaze darted around, constantly scanning, trying to find something out from above.

In fact, after returning from the underwater cave, he drew the circle from memory.

I looked at it for a long time, but still had no clue.

Later, he changed his strategy and drew several more pictures, breaking down the aperture and studying it carefully, hoping to find some patterns in it.

Unfortunately, there is still no result to this day.

Li Ping sighed and withdrew his gaze: "Although my knowledge of formations is quite extensive, I am ultimately not a proper formation master. It is still too difficult for me to understand this profound restriction."

He had consulted several books on formations about those ancient beast patterns, but none of them matched.

As for the small characters in the center, he was completely baffled, as they were unlike any other script he had ever seen.

"It seems we still need to find a formation master to help us."

Li Ping suppressed his thoughts, put away the Xuan paper on the table, straightened his robes, and then left the courtyard.

He stopped in front of a magic array shop as he crossed the street.

The shop was small, and the signboard read "Zhenge".

Two rows of shelves were set up at the entrance, with some array-setting materials scattered on them, priced from a few spirit stones to dozens of spirit stones.

Li Ping glanced at it, then suddenly shook his head and turned to leave.

It's not that this shop is bad.

According to his original plan, he was to cut out the pattern on the aperture, divide it into several parts, and give them to different array masters to identify, piecing together the answer from various sources.

But upon closer examination, this method has quite a few problems.

Firstly, the patterns in the aperture are complex, and three or five array masters are far from enough. If they are to be broken down into enough detail, at least ten shops would be needed.

However, with a large number of people involved, it becomes difficult to control and there is a risk of leaks.

Secondly, the method of that halo was extremely sophisticated; the ancient beast patterns on the edge alone were more exquisite than any array or restriction that Li Ping had ever seen.

Things of this caliber are probably completely unknown to low-level array masters who run shops in the market, just like him.

Li Ping kept walking, his mind racing.

Instead of trying my luck piecemeal, I might as well go directly to Mu Fangxu and tell him everything.

He thought about it carefully and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the idea was appropriate.

Mu Fangxu controlled the market and held considerable prestige.

By having him personally summon the array masters, the risk of leaks could be avoided, and the trouble of running around to each one himself could be saved.

Furthermore, although the restrictions on that cave dwelling are sophisticated, they may not be difficult for a large clan like the Mu family to reside in.

As the son of the family head, Mu Fangxu has connections and might be able to persuade a skilled array master to join him.

Furthermore, it's unclear whether opening the cave will cause a major disturbance.

If the commotion gets too big, Mu Fangxu's presence can help cover things up and prevent unrelated people from getting involved.

Furthermore, if there is danger in the cave, Mu Fangxu's strength can help share the burden.

Finally, there is trust.

Having spent so much time with Mu Fangxu, Li Ping had come to understand the man's temperament quite well.

He acts justly and has a righteous character.

When the raiders were first cleared out, each team was assigned tasks without favoritism. Later, when contribution points were distributed, they were also distributed according to work done, without any selfish motives.

Such a person would never commit murder and robbery.

Li Ping felt relatively at ease exploring the cave with him.

Suppressing his thoughts, he turned and walked towards the seaside courtyard.

There was no one guarding the courtyard gate. A light knock on the door knocker was met with Mu Fangxu's voice from inside.

"Enter."

Pushing open the door, Li Ping walked through the front yard and went straight to the inner room.

The room was simply furnished, with the most eye-catching feature being the huge nautical chart on the wall.

The map is made of animal hide, with yellowed edges, and is densely marked with various islands, reefs, and ocean currents.

Mu Fangxu stood in front of the drawing, his gaze slowly shifting, his expression serious.

Seeing this, Li Ping smiled and said, "You've wiped out so many Tribulation Cultivators this time, aren't you satisfied yet?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Fangxu sighed and turned around: "What you're saying..."

Despite the considerable success, the cultivators will not stop after just one or two operations.

Once the storm passes, within a year at the earliest, they will gather again around the market town.

Li Ping was taken aback upon hearing this.

He originally thought that this crackdown was over, but he didn't expect that in Mu Fangxu's eyes, it was just a temporary reprieve.

"There's nothing we can do about it." Li Ping's mind raced, and he immediately understood the crux of the matter. "If we want it to last, we'll have to eradicate the Tribulation Cultivators of the Great Black Sea completely."

Mu Fangxu knew perfectly well what the Great Black Sea was.

There are at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, cultivators entrenched there.

Let alone Xikou Market, even if the entire Mu family came out, they might not be able to shake it in the slightest.

Mu Fangxu knew that Li Ping's claim was impossible to realize, so he didn't continue the conversation.

He walked to the table and sat down, then asked, "Why aren't you in seclusion? What are you doing here?"

"I've only recently broken through to the next level, why would I need to go into seclusion?" Li Ping said, taking the animal hide from his robes and placing it on the table.

Mu Fangxu glanced at it, showing little interest.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then quipped, "Everyone says Li Ping is resourceful and clever, how could he be fooled by this?"