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

Mu Fangxu's hair was messy, his eyes were slightly sunken, and he looked listless, unlike his usual energetic self.

Upon seeing this, Li Ping knew that he probably hadn't discovered anything.

Sure enough, Mu Fangxu plopped down on the stone bench next to Li Ping and shook his head: "None of my books on formations are related to the formations in the cave."

Li Ping nodded calmly: "It's alright, I already have some leads."

Upon hearing this, Mu Fangxu perked up, jumped to his feet, and raised his voice several decibels: "Really?"

Li Ping gestured for him to calm down, pressed him back onto the stone bench, and then told him about his discovery.

Of course, he didn't say that he learned these things from travelogues, only that he found them in a book on battle formations.

After listening, Mu Fangxu raised an eyebrow: "So, what we need now is to find a fire-attribute spiritual object or talisman?"

"This is exactly the strategy for breaking the formation as recorded in the Formation Book." Li Ping nodded.

Mu Fangxu immediately made the decision: "Alright, I'll take care of it."

After saying that, he got up and started to walk out.

Li Ping raised his hand to stop him, reminding him, "Prepare a little of each kind of talisman and spiritual item, so that if there are any problems, you can try them in rotation."

"Okay." Mu Fangxu replied and strode out of the courtyard.

……

……

The next morning, the two met in the courtyard.

Mu Fangxu took out three talismans from his sleeve and placed them on the stone table.

The talisman was dark red, with intricate crimson patterns drawn on the paper, and faint heat waves emanated from it.

"This is a Rejuvenation Talisman, a top-grade first-tier item, containing abundant fire elemental power," Mu Fangxu explained.

Li Ping picked up a talisman, and as soon as his fingertips touched the paper, he felt a surge of heat running up his arm.

He nodded slightly and put the talisman down: "Where's the spiritual object?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Fangxu took out another precious pearl from his bosom.

This bead is the size of a pigeon egg, entirely red, with a smooth, mirror-like surface. When held in the palm of your hand, it feels warm, like holding a hot stone.

"This is the Crimson Mystic Pearl, produced from the Earth Fire Mine. It has absorbed the fiery energy for a long time, and its fire spiritual power is more abundant than that of the Rejuvenating Talisman."

Mu Fangxu paused for a moment, then explained, "Although the Rejuvenation Talisman is a top-grade first-tier item, it is still a talisman after all. The fire elemental power within it diminishes with each use. The Crimson Profound Pearl is different; it is itself a small source of fire. As long as the fire elemental energy within the pearl is not exhausted, it can continuously output fire elemental power."

Li Ping held the Crimson Pearl in his palm and sensed it carefully for a moment.

The fire elemental energy within the pearl is abundant and stable; it is indeed a good thing.

"It should work." Li Ping said, then put away the Rejuvenation Talisman and the Crimson Pearl together, stood up and said, "Let's go."

The two left the courtyard and headed towards the ferry.

Upon reaching the ferry, Mu Fangxu summoned a Mu family spirit boat.

The two boarded the spirit boat, with Mu Fangxu at the helm. The spirit boat cleaved through the waves and headed straight for the underwater cave.

About half an hour later, the spirit boat came to a stop.

The surrounding waters are extremely desolate, with not even a single seabird in sight, let alone any islands or reefs.

Mu Fangxu looked around, then glanced down into the water a few times, and asked in confusion, "Have we arrived?"

Li Ping nodded: "It's downstairs."

Without another word, the two jumped into the water.

The seawater was icy cold, and sunlight pierced through the surface, transforming into swaying beams of light.

Li Ping activated his water magic, his body diving downwards like a swimming fish.

After revising the "Hanshui Jing", he felt more at ease in the water than on land.

Although Mu Fangxu cultivated a non-attribute technique, his Qi Refining Level 8 cultivation was still impressive, so he kept up with Li Ping at a relatively fast pace.

After diving down for about fifteen minutes, the pile of rocks came into view.

Large and small stones are scattered on the seabed, some half-buried in the mud and sand, and some leaning together crookedly, appearing to have no pattern at first glance.

Mu Fangxu looked around, a puzzled expression on his face: "Where's the cave dwelling?"

Li Ping smiled and pointed to the huge rock above: "It's inside."

Without offering any explanation, he moved swiftly and swam straight toward the boulder.

Mu Fangxu was puzzled, but he still followed.

Li Ping walked around to one side of the boulder, pressed his hand on a protrusion, and disappeared completely.

Mu Fangxu's pupils contracted, and without thinking, he swam over as well.

Suddenly everything went black, and when I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the sea.

Above the dome, several luminous pearls emitted a soft glow.

The walls were white all around, and the floor was a smooth stone slab.

Directly ahead, an ancient cave dwelling stands quietly, its gate tightly closed.

Mu Fangxu looked around at everything, his expression shifting slightly. After a long while, he sighed, "Truly miraculous."

He turned to look at Li Ping: "Are we inside that boulder?"

"Exactly." Li Ping nodded.

"How did you find this place?" Mu Fangxu couldn't help but ask.

Li Ping smiled and casually said, "I noticed the stones were oddly shaped, so I tapped on them one by one and stumbled in by chance."

"You're just lucky." Mu Fangxu shook his head. "If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't even be able to find the entrance when they got to that pile of rocks."

His words were not a compliment.

If Li Ping hadn't known the location of the entrance beforehand, no one would have imagined that this seemingly ordinary boulder actually contained a cave.

Mu Fangxu withdrew his gaze and looked at the cave dwelling before him: "Is the formation on the gate?"

Li Ping remained silent, channeling his magical power into his palm, and a jet of water shot out from his palm, heading straight for the gate.

With a buzzing sound.

A halo suddenly appeared on the gate, slowly rotating and enlarging.

Once the Returning Origin Forbidden Zone is triggered, it will not retaliate; it will simply turn all external forces into its own.

Last time, when Li Ping unleashed that water jet, not only did it fail to shake the formation, it actually made the light circle even brighter.

This time, Li Ping did not act rashly.

He focused his attention and looked around the circle of light. After a moment, he found the two figures, Kan and Li, mentioned in the travelogue.

The Kan position is in the north and represents water.

The Li position is in the south, and it represents fire.

The two locations are not far apart on the aperture, each containing a place where spiritual energy nodes are most concentrated, which is the key to injecting spiritual power.

Li Ping pointed to the spot and said to Mu Fangxu, "Wait for my command. When I shout, activate the Crimson Pearl and fire at that spot."

Mu Fangxu's expression turned solemn, and he immediately took out the Crimson Pearl and held it in his palm.

The two retreated to the white wall and each found their own position.

Li Ping took a deep breath and slowly circulated the Han Shui Jing.

The magical power in his dantian surged out like a long river, flowing along the meridians in his arm and gathering in his palm.

He didn't rush to attack, but instead continuously compressed and condensed his magical power.

The magical power cultivated by the Han Shui Jing is profound and enduring, but in terms of instantaneous bursts, it is not as domineering as fire-attribute techniques.

He must win by sheer quantity, unleashing a massive amount of water elemental power in one go to create a clash of water and fire with the fire elemental power within the Crimson Pearl.

A few breaths later, the water elemental power that Li Ping had gathered in his palm had reached the limit of what he could control.

With a push of his left hand, an extremely pure water elemental force surged from his palm, transforming into a beam of azure light that shot straight toward the threshold of the gate.

Almost simultaneously, Li Ping shouted, "Now!"

Mu Fangxu had been preparing for this moment, and upon hearing this, he immediately activated the Crimson Profound Pearl.

A crimson light shone from the bead, and a burst of blazing fire elemental power shot out, leaving a pale red trail in the air as it headed straight for Li Wei.

One on the left and one on the right, one blue and one red.

Two completely opposite spiritual energies struck the light circle simultaneously.

hum.

The aperture suddenly jolted.

At the Kan position, water elemental power was continuously poured in, and the azure light rippled outwards like water waves.

Upon leaving the position, the fire elemental power burned fiercely, and the crimson light surged like flames.

The two forces collided fiercely within the light circle, but were forcibly bound together by the Five Elements Cycle of the Return to Origin Forbidden Formation.

The aperture began to vibrate violently, its rotation speed suddenly increasing, faster and faster, until the patterns on the array became a blurry blur of light and shadow.

Li Ping stared intently at the halo, continuously channeling water elemental energy from his palm, not daring to relax for a moment.

Mu Fangxu gritted his teeth and pushed the Crimson Profound Pearl to its limit.

Time passed by, one breath at a time.

The aperture spun faster and faster, and the tremors became more and more intense, causing the entire cave entrance to buzz.

Suddenly, the light circle seemed to be stuck by something, and its rotation speed suddenly slowed down.

a bit.

Two times.

Three times.

The aperture slowly stopped rotating.

Click.

A crisp cracking sound rang out.

A thin crack appeared right in the center of the aperture.

The gap quickly spread outwards, filling the entire halo in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, with a soft whooshing sound, the halo transformed into countless tiny specks of light, like fireflies scattered by the wind, slowly dissipating into the air.

The Return to Origin Seal has been broken.

Li Ping withdrew his magic and let out a long breath.

Mu Fangxu also put away the Crimson Pearl, looked down at his palm which was scalded red, shook his hand, and grinned.

The two looked at each other and saw joy in each other's eyes.

They arrived at the entrance of the cave.

Li Ping reached out and gave it a gentle push.

With a creak, the door slowly opened to the left and right with a long, muffled sound.

An ancient and weathered aura wafted in from the crack in the door.