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

The three books on battle formations are "Introduction to Battle Formations", "Thirty-Six Battle Formations", and "Thirteen Forbidden Battle Formations".

Li Ping was the first to open "An Introduction to Battle Formations".

This book uses twelve basic array patterns as its foundation, explaining the relationship between the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and array formations from easy to difficult.

The book is richly illustrated, explaining in great detail the direction of each array pattern and the construction of each spiritual energy node.

Li Ping observed carefully, pausing from time to time to jot down a few notes on the Xuan paper beside him.

But after half an hour, his brows gradually furrowed.

This book is good, but it's too basic.

It only covers introductory material and has absolutely no connection to the halo above the entrance to the underwater cave.

Li Ping closed the book, rubbed his temples, and picked up the second one.

The Thirty-Six Formations.

This book uses illustrations as its core and includes thirty-six standard formations that formation masters must master.

Turning to the title page, one sees four categories: Kill, Defend, Trapped, and Support, each with nine formations, subtly corresponding to the numbers of the Heavenly Gang.

Upon seeing this, Li Ping's spirits lifted.

He spread the halo pattern on the table and compared it with the array diagram in the book.

The nine killing formations are all offensive, with sharp array patterns and spiritual energy flowing as sharply as a blade.

Li Ping glanced at it a few times and shook his head, saying, "That's not right."

The Nine Diagrams of the Defense Formation are primarily defensive, with thick array patterns and a self-contained circulation of spiritual energy.

Li Ping looked at it a few more times, but it still didn't look right.

The Nine Trapping Arrays are designed to imprison and trap spiritual energy. The array patterns are winding and labyrinthine, locking away spiritual energy.

Li Ping compared them carefully, but still couldn't find any similarities.

He took a deep breath and flipped to the last category.

The so-called auxiliary formation is neither for killing nor for defense, but is used to assist cultivation, stabilize space, and regulate spiritual energy.

Li Ping's gaze lingered on the first auxiliary array diagram for a moment, then turned to the halo pattern in his hand.

His breath hitched slightly.

They are somewhat similar.

The patterns on the halo subtly correspond to the layout of a certain formation within the auxiliary array, especially the distribution of the spiritual energy nodes, which clearly follows the pattern of the auxiliary array.

But it's only similar.

Over the next half hour, Li Ping disassembled the nine auxiliary array diagrams one by one and compared them with the aperture pattern.

The more he compared them, the more certain he became that they were just similar in approach, but not the same kind of formation.

As for how to break the formation, they had absolutely no clue.

Li Ping put down the book and picked up the last one, "Thirteen Chapters on Forbidden Formations".

This book no longer discusses conventional formation principles, but instead focuses on those forbidden formations.

The formations described in the book are all heretical and unorthodox.

There are spirit-gathering arrays activated by human blood sacrifices, trapping and killing arrays that use souls as a guide, and spirit-devouring arrays that can drain the life essence of cultivators.

Li Ping frowned as he looked at it.

These forbidden formations are completely unrelated to the formations on the cave entrance.

He laid the three books out in a row, his gaze moving back and forth between them.

After a long while, he let out a long sigh.

After reading through the three books on formations, aside from confirming that the formation on the cave entrance belonged to the auxiliary formation category, there were no other gains.

"What if we spend all that time and still can't break the formation and get into the cave?"

Li Ping sat in the chair, looking up at the roof beam, feeling somewhat resentful.

He flipped through the three books again from beginning to end, reading every single word, afraid of missing any details.

But the result was still the same; there was no similar formation.

Li Ping closed the book, picked up the teacup on the table, drank it all in one gulp, then got up and went out, heading towards the seaside courtyard.

In the courtyard, Mu Fangxu was sitting at a stone table, with three books on array formations in front of him.

His complexion wasn't much better than Li Ping's.

The two sat facing each other, both looking rather listless.

After a moment of silence, Mu Fangxu spoke first: "I have no clue on my end."

Li Ping nodded: "It's the same where I am."

Another silence followed.

The only sound in the courtyard was the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Mu Fangxu picked up his teacup, took a sip, looked at Li Ping, and said slowly, "That underwater cave can't be escaped, let's take it slow."

Li Ping nodded but did not reply.

That's right, the cave dwelling can't grow legs and run away.

The fact that the animal hide points to the cave indicates that someone knows of its existence.

If someone else beats them to it one day, that would be a huge joke.

Li Ping pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Do you still have Gongshu Yan's battle formation manual?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Fangxu chuckled dryly and shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Li Ping felt disappointed.

Even the son of the Mu family patriarch doesn't have one, then it really is...

Just then, Mu Fangxu suddenly spoke up: "We don't have any, but the array masters in the workshop do."

Li Ping was taken aback and looked at Mu Fangxu.

A ruthless glint flashed in Mu Fangxu's eyes.

"I'll take care of this."

……

……

That afternoon, Mu Fangxu summoned all the array masters in the market under the pretext of discussing array formations.

Although Xikou Market is not large, there are seven or eight array masters who make a living here year-round.

Mu Fangxu is the son of the head of the Mu family. No one dares to disobey him when he gives a word.

After everyone settled down in the small courtyard by the sea, Mu Fangxu laid out several jars of spirit wine and had his servants prepare spirit fruits. Amidst laughter and conversation, he steered the conversation toward Gongshu Yan's array book.

"As you all know, although Gongshu Yan's battle formation book is banned, its ingenuity is truly admirable."

Mu Fangxu raised his wine glass, smiling broadly: "I invited you all here today to borrow a few of Gongshu Yan's books on battle formations, so that I may broaden my horizons."

The array masters present looked at each other, their expressions varied.

Some people looked hesitant, some avoided eye contact, and some simply shook their heads and declined.

Mu Fangxu's smile remained unchanged; he simply placed his wine glass on the table.

With a soft thud, the atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly turned cold.

Several Mu family disciples had appeared at the entrance, each with a cold and stern expression.

Mu Fangxu picked up the wine pot, poured himself a cup, and said slowly, "Please rest assured, everyone. I'm only borrowing it for a few days. I will definitely return it in its original condition."

These words were spoken politely, but the meaning behind them was clear to everyone.

After a moment of silence, an older array master took out a yellowed book from his storage bag.

Once someone took the lead, the rest followed suit.

Before long, several books on battle formations were placed on the table.

Mu Fangxu smiled warmly, thanked them one by one, and personally saw them out of the courtyard.

After everyone left, he divided the array books on the table into two piles, pushing one pile to Li Ping.

"Let's split the search and keep each other informed as soon as we make progress."

Li Ping carefully put away the books on battle formations and nodded.

He gave Mu Fangxu a deep look, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

……

……

Three or four days passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the room, Li Ping's eyes were covered in dark circles.

He sat in the chair, the borrowed books on formations spread out in front of him, his gaze lost in thought.

He looked at it much more carefully this time than last time.

He would compare each array pattern and each spiritual energy node three or four times, not letting go of any similarities.

However, the result was far from satisfactory.

None of the formations in these books are similar to those on the gate of the cave.

Li Ping leaned back in his chair, looking up at the roof.

"Could it be that we really can't get into the cave?"

He sighed softly, his heart filled with resentment.

The cave is clearly there, and the array on the gate is clearly visible, yet it cannot be broken.

It feels like having a mountain of gold, but not being able to scrape together a single copper coin.

Li Ping closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the books on formations he had read over the past few days.

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

"etc……"

"Did I forget something?"

Li Ping's mind raced, and he finally thought of Gongshu Yan.

The clues to the Hong family's Eclipse Formation were discovered through his travelogue.

Maybe we'll gain something this time too.

Li Ping acted immediately, turning around and arriving at the territory of the Opportunity Well.

The scene before my eyes suddenly changed.

A gray sky, barren land.

The space where the Well of Chance was located remained as desolate as ever.

Li Ping glanced around and walked straight toward the dry well.

Not far from the well, the travelogue lay quietly.

He bent down to pick it up and sat down cross-legged by the well.

Time passed slowly.

About half an hour later, Li Ping's gaze suddenly fixed.

His eyes widened, and all traces of fatigue vanished from his face.

After a moment of silence, a burst of hearty laughter echoed across the barren land.

Li Ping laughed so hard he almost choked.

It's no wonder he was so happy, because the exact same battle formation was drawn in the third volume of his travelogue.

The patterns on the halo and the distribution of the spiritual energy nodes perfectly matched the illustrations in the book.

Next to the diagram, there were a few lines of tiny characters, which contained the solution.

Li calmed himself down and looked at it carefully.

According to the book, the formation on the cave entrance is called the Returning Origin Forbidden Formation.

This formation is based on the mutual generation of the five elements, forming a self-sustaining cycle.

External forces attacking the formation not only fail to destroy it, but also recharge it.

This statement perfectly matches the situation Li Ping encountered that day.

He continued reading.

The book records three methods for breaking the formation.

The first method is to break the formation by brute force, which requires power dozens of times greater than the formation's tolerance limit to blast it open in one strike.

Li Ping skipped over this, saying, "What a joke! Even if you added up all the people in Xikou Market, they might not have that kind of power."

The second method is to break the formation with the formation itself. This requires setting up a special formation to counter the Returning Origin Restriction, using the formation against the formation to dismantle its five-element cycle from within.

Li Ping glanced at it a few times and felt it was too complicated.

The third method is the simplest: attack the formation simultaneously using two mutually restraining attributes from the Five Elements.

Taking Li Ping as an example, when he cultivates water magic, he needs to inject water spiritual power into the Kan position, while another person injects fire spiritual power into the Li position.

When water and fire clash, the five-element cycle of the Returning to Origin Restriction can be broken.

This method is simple and clear, and is the most suitable of the three.

Li Ping read this passage several times and memorized it.

He closed the book and let out a long sigh.

"After all this hard work, we've finally found a solution."

But then, his brows furrowed again.

Water and fire are mutually destructive, and he cultivates water magic. When the "Han Shui Jing" is activated, its magical power is profound and enduring, and it is no problem to inject water spiritual power into the Kan position.

But what about fire elemental power?

Mu Fangxu cultivates the Three Revolutions Returning to Origin Technique, which is a non-attribute cultivation method.

"It seems we need to think of another way."

Li Ping pondered for a moment, then his brows gradually relaxed.

Once you have a strategy for breaking through the formation, there are many more ways to do it.

To use fire magic, one doesn't necessarily need to be a fire magic practitioner.

Fire-attribute talismans, fire-attribute spiritual objects, or even a specially set up array that can be infused with fire spiritual power can all be used as substitutes.

He considered several options in his mind and secretly noted them down.

Suppressing his thoughts, Li Ping slowly stood up.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and returned to the dry well.

He stood on the edge of the well and peered inside.

At the bottom of the well, the giant python was curled up in a ball, its head drooping, motionless.

Compared to its ferocious appearance when they last met, the giant python now seemed to have lost all its strength, and even its breath was weaker.

It noticed Li Ping's gaze, but only opened its giant eyes to look at him before closing them again.

"Huh? Is it behaving itself now?" Li Ping thought to himself.

Although he didn't know the specifics of the giant python's situation in the well, judging from its appearance, it seemed unlikely to cause any trouble.

Li Ping looked away and ignored him.

Back in the courtyard, he stood up and was about to go out to find Mu Fangxu.

But then, the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open.