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

Li Ping looked closely and saw that behind the door was not the room or building he had expected, but a very spacious and open area.

There are more luminous pearls embedded in the dome than outside, and their light shines like moonlight, illuminating the entire space.

Before me stood a courtyard with blue bricks and white tiles.

A stream meanders past the courtyard, its waters crystal clear, revealing small fish and shrimp swimming within.

Not far across the stream, a medicinal garden is surrounded by a low stone wall, and inside it is lush and green, planted with many flowers, herbs and medicinal plants.

Further away lies the stone wall that marks the boundary of this space, covered with some kind of vines whose leaves are dark green and glossy.

The whole scene lacked any of the grandeur one would expect from a celestial abode; it resembled more of an ordinary farmhouse.

Li Ping and Mu Fangxu exchanged a glance, neither of them showing any contempt; on the contrary, they became even more wary.

The array on the door and the entrance hidden in the boulder were neither ordinary creations.

Such places, the more peaceful and harmless they appear, the more likely they are to harbor deadly dangers.

"Go, be careful," Li Ping whispered.

The two stepped in slowly, looking around as they went.

The stone path underfoot was neatly paved, with moss growing in the gaps, making it soft and spongy to walk on.

Several unnamed old trees stood by the roadside, their branches gnarled and their canopies like canopies, yet their leaves remained motionless, as if frozen in time.

Li Ping observed carefully for a while and found that there was nothing unusual, so he relaxed a little.

The two continued forward and came to the stream.

The stream flows gently, its surface shimmering with light.

Several small fish, about the length of a finger, swam in the water, their bodies silvery-white, and darted and played among the rocks.

There were also some small shrimp, their translucent bodies resting on the pebbles at the bottom of the water, occasionally flicking their tails.

Mu Fangxu squatted down, reached into the water, and gently scooped up a small fish into his palm.

The little fish thrashed a couple of times in his palm. Mu Fangxu turned it over and looked at it, his brows furrowing slightly. He then casually put the fish back into the water.

"It's not a demonic beast, just an ordinary silver-scaled fish."

Li Ping nodded without saying anything more.

The two crossed the stream and turned to stand in front of the herb garden.

The herb garden was not large, about three or four zhang square, and was surrounded by a stone wall that was waist-high.

The inside of the wall was covered with a layer of black soil, which was loose and moist, and gave off a faint fragrance.

A dozen or so spiritual plants, of different kinds, were scattered among them.

Li Ping glanced around and felt that each plant was ridiculously large.

A clump of green grass grows nearby. Its leaves, which should only be the size of a palm, are now as large as palm fans, thick and juicy, so green that they seem to drip with water.

Not far away, a golden vine, its tendrils as thick as a child's arm, clung to the stone wall, its golden lines gleaming.

There were also several spiritual plants that Li Ping couldn't name, with thick roots that broke through the soil, like coiled dragons on the black earth.

The most eye-catching thing is a spiritual plant in the very center of the herb garden.

It grows straight and tall, reaching a height of two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), with dark green branches and layers of leaves, each leaf the size of a millstone.

At the top of the tree canopy hung several fist-sized, vermilion fruits, their surface shimmering with a subtle sheen.

Li Ping stared at the spiritual plant for a long time before asking, "These spiritual plants are everywhere outside, so why have they grown so big?"

Mu Fangxu walked around the herb garden and frowned.

"Although spiritual plants have long lifespans, low-grade varieties only last for a hundred or two hundred years at most." Mu Fangxu squatted down and carefully observed the thick root system. "In such a short time, it is simply not enough for them to grow to this size."

He paused, his tone becoming somewhat grave: "At a normal growth rate, it would take at least a thousand years to grow to this size."

Li Ping looked surprised and turned to look at him: "You mean, this place has existed for at least a thousand years?"

Mu Fangxu nodded, stood up, and glanced across the entire herb garden, his meaning clear.

Li Ping remained silent for a moment, then suddenly walked to a spiritual plant.

This is a Qingye Orchid, a common item in the market that costs three spirit stones per plant. But the one in front of me has leaves that are five times larger than usual, with faint golden patterns on the edges.

He reached out and plucked a leaf directly from the plant.

With a tearing sound, the moment the leaf was ripped open, a surge of spiritual energy, so dense it was almost violent, burst forth from the break, as if an aura that had been accumulating for a thousand years had finally found an outlet.

A strong wind suddenly arose, causing their clothes to flutter loudly.

Li Ping took two steps back, and Mu Fangxu also swayed, almost being knocked over by the wave of spiritual energy.

The two steadied themselves and calmed themselves down.

A drop of emerald green sap, crystal clear and exuding a refreshing scent, was slowly seeping from the broken end of the torn leaf.

Just one sniff is enough to make you feel like every pore on your body opens up.

Li Ping looked down at the leaf in his hand, then looked up at Mu Fangxu.

The two looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter at the same time.

"It seems these spiritual plants have indeed grown for more than a thousand years." Mu Fangxu's face was full of smiles. "And they have long since broken through their original grade."

Li Ping casually picked up the leaf and said, "Outside, this one leaf alone would sell for at least a hundred spirit stones."

Upon hearing this, Mu Fangxu glanced around the herb garden, roughly counted the herbs, and then suddenly shook his head.

"With so many leaves, selling them one by one, don't you find it troublesome?"

"If the whole plant is sold, it will fetch at least five thousand spirit stones, and that's a conservative estimate."

Why?

"Because this is a spiritual plant that has broken through its grade." Mu Fangxu's eyes gleamed. "The grades of ordinary spiritual plants are fixed, but the ones in this herb garden, nourished by a thousand years of spiritual energy, have long since transformed into higher-grade beings. The medicinal effects of these mutated spiritual plants are more than ten times greater than those of plants of the same grade."

Li Ping's heart stirred, and he immediately understood the value of this.

The two immediately stopped chatting and carefully counted all the spiritual plants in the herb garden.

"Eighteen plants." Li Ping looked up, his eyes filled with excitement. "According to you, at least thirty thousand spirit stones?"

"That's too low." Mu Fangxu shook his head. "This is a spirit plant that's breaking through to a higher grade. Just that gimmick alone is worth at least 30,000 spirit stones. If sold as whole plants, all eighteen of them together..."

"Fifty thousand spirit stones, no less."

Li Ping gasped.

Fifty thousand spirit stones.

What does this mean?

His current monthly allowance at the Mu family is only worth a mere ten spirit stones.

Fifty thousand spirit stones would be enough for him to receive provisions for four hundred years.

"Don't rush to collect them." Li Ping suppressed his burning desire and looked at the small courtyard not far away. "We haven't finished exploring that area yet."

Mu Fangxu also composed himself and nodded.

The two walked around the herb garden and arrived at the gate of the small courtyard with blue bricks and white tiles.

The gate to the courtyard was ajar, the door panel was broken and cracked in several places, covered with a thick layer of dust, making it almost impossible to see the original wood grain.

Li Ping reached out and pressed his hand against the door, then gently pushed it open.

The door panel remained completely still.

He applied more force, and the hinges creaked as the door slowly opened inward.

Li Ping glanced down at the door panel, his gaze hardening slightly.

Despite accumulating dust for a thousand years, the wood has not rotted and still feels heavy to the touch.

"The materials used to build the courtyard gate are no ordinary items," Mu Fangxu also noticed.

Li Ping nodded, composed himself, and stepped over the threshold.

The courtyard looks even more tranquil than it does from the outside.

A gravel path leads from the entrance to the depths of the courtyard, with flowers and plants planted on both sides.

These flowers and plants are not spiritual plants, but just common ornamental varieties, yet they grow extremely lushly, with clusters of red and white flowers, which are quite beautiful.

On the left side of the courtyard, there is a stone pavilion.

The pavilion has upturned eaves at its four corners, and several bronze bells hang under the eaves. However, after a thousand years, the bronze bells have long since rusted black and can no longer make a sound.

Inside the pavilion is a stone table and four stone benches.

A chessboard sits on the stone table, with black and white pieces intertwined and locked in a fierce battle.

The game has entered the middle stage. White seems to have a strong position, trapping Black in a corner. However, Black has secretly laid a counterattack plan and is only a few moves away from turning the game around.

For some reason, the game of chess was never finished.

A lone white piece rests on the edge of the chessboard, as if the player holding the white piece was about to place it but put it down halfway.

Li Ping stood in front of the chessboard for a moment, then looked away from the game and around.

"I looked around, and there was nothing unusual." Mu Fangxu walked over from the other side of the pavilion.

"Hmm," Li Ping responded, his gaze falling on the three small houses in the courtyard.

The three rooms are arranged in a triangular shape, with the largest room in the middle and the two smaller rooms on the left and right.

The doors were all closed, and the paper pasted on the windows had long since turned to ashes, leaving only empty windows.

The two exchanged a glance, and Li Ping took the lead and walked towards the room in the very center.

Pushing open the door, the layout of the main hall is extremely simple.

In the center is a square table, with a grand master's chair on each side.

A tea set was placed on the table, the teapot and teacups covered in dust.

Li Ping walked around but found nothing of value.

"Let's go check out the one on the left."

The room on the left was slightly smaller than the main hall, but as soon as they entered, the two of them stopped in their tracks.

Inside the room stand two rows of bookshelves, one on the left and one on the right, stretching from the floor to the ceiling.

Each bookshelf was densely packed with books, some neatly stacked, some piled crookedly together, and some spread out on the shelves, as if they had been read.

Li Ping walked to the bookshelf on the left and randomly picked out a book.

The book cover was yellowed and brittle, but not damaged.

He opened the title page, where a line of words was written in neat small regular script: "Explanation of the Three Talents Formation".

Turning a few more pages, the content is extremely solid, providing a detailed analysis of the layout principles of the Three Talents Formation, spiritual energy nodes, and other related content.

What concerned Li Ping even more was that many places were filled with dense annotations.

The handwriting in these annotations is different from that in the main text; the handwriting is more messy, but each annotation is incisive, often explaining the complex principles of the formation clearly in just a few words.

Li Ping put the book back in its place and then took out another one.

In the same case, the content is detailed and the annotations are accurate.

Mu Fangxu also picked up a book from here and there, flipped through it for a while, and then looked up at Li Ping.

"They're all battle formation books."

"And each one has annotations." Li Ping closed the book in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the two rows of bookshelves. "It seems the owner of this place is a formation master."

After saying that, he walked to the desk next to him.

The table was fully equipped with writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The ink in the inkstone had long since dried up, and a hard crust had formed on its surface. Beside it lay a writing brush, the bristles of which were brittle and curled.

In the very center, a book lay open, clean and without a single word.

Judging from the layout, it seems like they wanted to write something, but they haven't written a single word.

"Have you found anything here?" Mu Fangxu's voice came from behind.

"No." Li Ping shook his head, closed the blank book again, and said, "Let's go to the room on the right."

The two left the study and went to the room on the right.

This room is clearly the owner's workspace.

Many array materials were scattered on the ground, piled up in various corners.

Li Ping recognized several pieces of spirit jade, some array base slabs, and several bundles of unknown silk threads.

Although these materials are not of high grade, they are of good quality; they've just been stored for a long time and are covered with a thick layer of dust.

Several battle flags were planted in the ground in the center of the room.

These flags are only the size of a palm, gray in color, and not yet fully completed.

Li Ping walked around the array flags on the ground and went to the table next to him.

Two wooden boxes were placed on the table, their surfaces undecorated, covered only with a thin layer of varnish.

Li Ping opened one of the boxes, inside which was a set of battle flags neatly stacked.

The thirty-six battle flags lay quietly, each about the length of a forearm, with a dark blue surface embroidered with fine silver patterns, and a faint glow emanating from them.

The flagpole was entirely black and cold to the touch; it was unclear what material it was made of.

Li Ping picked up a battle flag, and with a gentle shake in his palm, the silver patterns on the flag lit up for a moment.

Mu Fangxu noticed the commotion and came over as well.

He picked up another battle flag from the box, examined it from all angles, and his expression suddenly changed.

"The patterns on this flag... seem to be... the Formless Array Flag passed down by Gongshu Yan."

"The Formless Array Flag?" Li Ping asked, puzzled.

"This is Gongshu Yan's specialty." Mu Fangxu's expression shifted slightly. "It is said that the Formless Array Flag is ever-changing, able to borrow the power of heaven and earth to arrange all sorts of formations. More importantly..."

"No complicated setup steps are required. As long as you understand the principles of formations, you can directly activate the Formless Array Flags and form an array in an instant."

Upon hearing this, Li Ping was startled.

Although he didn't have in-depth knowledge of formations, he still understood the basics.

When an ordinary array master sets up an array, they need to select the location in advance, bury the array base, inscribe the array patterns, and inject spiritual power. They cannot make a mistake at any step.

The higher the level of the formation, the longer it takes to set up; some even require several days or months to complete.

In comparison, it is clear how incredibly powerful the Formless Banner is.

More importantly, the ability to instantly form formations allows you to pull enemies into the formation at any time during battle.

Li Ping suppressed his emotions and turned his gaze to another box.

It is the same size and contains the same thirty-six battle flags.

There was even a set of Formless Array Flags.

Li Ping closed the box lid and turned to look at Mu Fangxu.

"It seems that our biggest gain from this trip is these two sets of battle flags."

Mu Fangxu nodded and carefully placed the array flag back into the box.

Then, his gaze swept over the few unfinished battle flags on the ground, and he suddenly sighed.

"Unfortunately, the third set wasn't finished."