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

Li Ping calmed his mind, found a flat rock in the cave, sat down cross-legged, and began to regulate his breathing.

Although the battle just now was won easily, setting up the formation, controlling the Thousand-Pound Pearl, and drawing upon the Cold Moon Sword Qi all took a considerable toll on my spiritual sense and magical power.

With the whereabouts of the skeleton currently unknown, he must remain at his peak condition at all times.

Tie Fuhai also quieted down, lying on the large seashell with its small eyes half-open and half-closed, and the light blue lines on its forehead flashing from time to time, clearly monitoring the movements of various sea areas through the swimming fish.

The cave was silent except for the low hum of the distant seawater, one breath after another, like some ancient breath.

Time passed slowly.

After a long while, Tie Fuhai suddenly opened his eyes.

"Master, we've found it."

Li Ping's spirits lifted, and he abruptly stood up. He walked a few steps to Tie Fuhai, squatted down, and asked, "Where is it located?"

"Near Qingluo Island," Tie Fuhai said.

Upon hearing this, Li Ping pictured a map of the nearby sea area in his mind.

Qingluo Island is located to the east of the underwater cave, about two or three hundred miles away.

Xikou Market is to the west, in the opposite direction.

Thinking of this, Li Ping breathed a sigh of relief.

He was about to ask for more details when he noticed that Tie Fuhai's expression was gradually becoming serious.

Li Ping raised an eyebrow and asked in a deep voice, "Something happened to the fish?"

Tie Fuhai shook his head: "They're fine, all right."

"But that skeleton is a little different from what you described before."

"What's different?" Li Ping asked, puzzled.

Tie Fuhai spoke slowly, somewhat uneasily, "According to Yu'er's report, the skeleton only has bones on its upper body; the lower body... already has flesh and blood."

Upon hearing this, Li Ping's pupils suddenly contracted.

"What does the flesh and blood of the lower body look like?"

Tie Fuhai said, "The fish dare not get too close; they can only watch from afar."

According to them, the skeleton's lower body was covered with a dark red substance, like newly grown flesh, with many fine blood vessels wrapped around it.

Upon hearing this, Li Ping's mind raced.

In the world of cultivation, it is common knowledge that the rebirth of flesh and blood is often a sign of a significant increase in strength.

Even before the skeleton had flesh and blood, the Mu family judged its strength to be at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Now that flesh and blood have grown in his lower body, to what extent has his strength increased?

Foundation building complete?

If we calculate it this way, what about the upper body?

Once he recovers, will his strength directly break through the Foundation Establishment stage and enter the Purple Mansion stage?

Upon realizing this, Li Ping was suddenly startled.

There isn't a single person at the Purple Mansion Realm, not even in the entire Qingfeng City, let alone in the outer sea.

If that skeleton really becomes a Purple Mansion and stirs up trouble in the outer sea, who can stop it?

The Mu family is no good, the Huang family is no good, and even all the forces in the outer sea combined are probably not enough.

As for Li Ping, a mere Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator, he's not even worth mentioning as an ant in front of the Purple Mansion realm.

Things are gradually getting out of control.

Li Ping stood up and paced back and forth in the cave a few times, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

A moment later, he turned to look at Tie Fuhai and said in a deep voice, "Shorten the communication time again. From now on, report back every quarter of an hour."

Although Tie Fuhai didn't understand why his master had suddenly become so nervous, seeing Li Ping's dark face, he didn't dare to ask any more questions and obediently closed his eyes.

The pale blue lines on his forehead flickered continuously, silently transmitting commands.

Li Ping sat down again, took out a pen, and started drawing on the ground.

He first marked the location of the underwater cave and wrote the character "Li" next to it.

Then draw a small cross where the skeleton passed by.

From the underwater cave, to the several small islands along the way, and finally to Qingluo Island.

Soon, a winding trail gradually emerged.

The skeletons moved around without any discernible pattern.

Before reaching Qingluo Island, it had stayed for a long time in three rocky areas, each time for about an hour.

But after arriving at Green Snail Island, it only circled around once and then left, as if it were looking for something.

Time passed slowly, and more and more small forks appeared on the ground.

The third report stated that the skeleton left Green Snail Island and traveled about forty miles north, stopping on an unnamed reef.

On its fourth report, it turned back towards Qingluo Island, intercepting and killing two passing cultivators along the way.

The fifth report stated that the skeleton had gone to its underwater cave.

When Li Ping heard the news, his hand tightened suddenly.

He took a deep breath and heavily enclosed the area of ​​sea where the underwater cave was located.

The sixth report stated that the skeletal skeleton had entered the underwater cave.

Li Ping's expression shifted slightly, and he asked, "What is it doing now?"

Tie Fuhai closed his eyes and sensed for a while before saying in a strange tone, "It circled around in the cave a few times and then came out again. It seems it was just passing by and didn't stay for long."

Li Ping was taken aback upon hearing this. Was he just passing by?

Just then, Tie Fuhai spoke again: "Master, it went west."

"West side?"

Li Ping felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

To the west is the direction of the market town.

Without the slightest hesitation, he stood up abruptly.

"Fu Hai, I'm leaving."

Li Ping reached into his storage bag, took out a talisman, and placed it in the seashell in front of Tie Fuhai.

Tie Fuhai's small eyes narrowed: "Master, this is...?"

"Two second-tier talismans; they might come in handy in a critical moment."

Li Ping didn't say anything more, turned around and strode out of the cave.

He channeled his magic power, his body shooting upwards like a sharp arrow, breaking through the sea surface in just over ten breaths.

As dawn broke, a misty fog enveloped the sea, refracting countless tiny spots of light when illuminated by the morning sun.

Li Ping released the spirit boat and poured his magical power into it as if it were free.

The spirit boat shuddered suddenly, then cleaved the sea surface, leaving a straight white wave trailing behind, and sped towards the market town.

The wind howled, and my robes billowed.

An hour later, the outline of Xikou Market finally appeared in the morning mist.

Li Ping packed up the spirit boat and headed towards the east gate.

Looking from afar, a large group of cultivators, at least forty or fifty people, were densely packed outside the gate, all craning their necks to look into the market and shouting incessantly.

"Let us in, why are you closing the gate?"

"The skeleton is coming soon, your Mu family can't just stand by and watch it die!"

"Open the door, open the door quickly!"

The crowd was outraged, and the noise was deafening.

Inside the gate, more than ten disciples of the Mu family stood in two rows, each holding a magical artifact, their expressions solemn.

The disciples guarding the entrance had their hands on their weapons, watching the cultivators outside warily, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The main gate was tightly closed, leaving only a narrow gap for one person to squeeze through sideways.

Li Ping took a deep breath and walked over.

Before he even got close to the gate, a burly rogue cultivator reached out and blocked his way.

"Brother, you want to go in too?" The rogue cultivator glanced at him and lowered his voice, "I advise you not to waste your energy. The Mu family has sealed the gates and won't let anyone in."

We've been waiting here since before dawn, and we haven't even gotten a glimpse of the door.

Li Ping didn't say anything, walked straight past him, and continued walking forward.

Upon seeing this, the rogue cultivator curled his lip, crossed his arms, and stepped aside, looking like he was watching a good show.

Li Ping walked to the gate, and just as he stepped half a step through the gap, a long sword was placed in front of him.

"Halt." The Mu family disciple with the knife remained expressionless. "The market is under martial law; no one other than members of the Mu family is allowed to enter."

Li Ping didn't say anything, but reached into his waistband, took out a jade pendant, and handed it over.

The disciple took the jade token and looked at it. He didn't release the person immediately, but turned around and called out to those behind him, "Brother Jizhou, this person says he wants to go in. Could you come and take a look?"

Mu Jizhou came out from inside, saw Li Ping, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"So it's Fellow Daoist Li."

Mu Jizhou nodded to the disciple and said, "One of us."

Upon hearing this, the Mu family disciple sheathed his sword and took a step back.

Mu Jizhou stepped aside, cupped his hands in greeting to Li Ping, and said in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist Li, please forgive me. In these special times, we must be cautious."

Li Ping waved his hand, his tone calm: "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. There's nothing wrong with being more vigilant."

"It's good that Fellow Daoist Li understands." Mu Jizhou breathed a sigh of relief, then asked curiously, "By the way, didn't you go out to sea last night? Why are you back so early?"

Li Ping paused, turned around and glanced at him: "Naturally, I have something important to report."

Mu Jizhou didn't ask any more questions, only saying, "Then you'd better hurry, it's not easy to squeeze in over there with Senior Brother Fang Xu right now."