Mortal: My name is Ma Liang, and I also possess a magic brush.

Ma Liang strolled slowly through the herb garden, reaching out to touch the medicinal herbs as he went.

Han Li frowned, already holding the restriction token for the herb garden in his hand. "Senior Brother Ma, what do you want with me?"

Ma Liang didn't even look up, still touching the medicinal herbs in his hand. "By the way, I called out to Uncle-Master Ma outside the garden just now, but there was no response after a long time. Isn't he here?"

"Master Ma has gone out and is not in the herb garden."

"Oh, that would be perfect."

Upon hearing this, Han Li abruptly put the hand holding the restriction token behind his back, his spiritual power already circulating silently. If Ma Liang made any unusual move, he would immediately activate the restrictions of the herb garden and kill him on the spot.

Ma Liang took in his little actions and pursed his lips.

This Han Li is indeed cautious to the core.

His hands didn't stop; he continued to touch each of the spiritual herbs one by one. At the same time, he took out two pill formulas from his storage bag, condensed a wisp of spiritual energy, and presented the formulas to Han Li: "Junior Brother Han, take a look, do you have all the spiritual herbs recorded on these?"

Han Li did not catch it with his bare hands, but instead condensed a wisp of spiritual energy to support the pill formula. After confirming that there was nothing abnormal about it, he focused his attention and examined it closely.

The two prescriptions were clearly for "Soul Nourishing Pill" and "Soul Condensing Jade Marrow Pill".

He had never seen these two pill formulas before, so he immediately took note of them, writing down the proportions of the medicinal ingredients and the effects of the pills word for word, not daring to miss a single detail.

After memorizing the entire formula, he withdrew his gaze. "These spiritual herbs are all available in the herb garden. Did Senior Brother Ma come here specifically to purchase these herbs?"

Ma Liang's hands didn't stop as he brushed the leaves of a spiritual herb. "I've come to buy spiritual herbs. Junior Brother Han, could you please help me gather all the herbs listed in the pill formula? I've already prepared the spirit stones."

He paused, his gaze falling on several tall, upright plants deep within the medicinal garden.

"However, I need the two main ingredients of the Soul-Gathering Jade Marrow Pill—Purple Condensation Grass and Jade Marrow Flower—to be at least 500 years old."

Han Li glanced at the pill formula again. "I'm afraid this will disappoint Senior Brother Ma. The oldest of these two spiritual herbs in the herb garden is only three hundred years old, far from the five-hundred-year level."

"Junior Brother Han, don't make any definitive statements yet. Just prepare the other medicinal herbs for me first. We can discuss these two main ingredients inside."

Han Li was increasingly puzzled. This Senior Brother Ma had been randomly touching spiritual herbs as soon as he entered the herb garden. If Uncle-Master Ma were here, he would probably have kicked him out long ago.

However, he had always been reluctant to cause trouble, so after a moment's thought, he replied, "In that case, Brother Ma, please wait a moment, I will go and prepare the medicine."

Han Li was about to prepare the medicine when he turned back and asked, "By the way, how many doses of spiritual medicine does Senior Brother Ma need?"

Ma Liang held up one finger and waved it.

One serving is enough.

"ha?"

"One serving? Who prepares only one serving of medicinal herbs for alchemy? These spiritual herbs aren't particularly rare, but who doesn't prepare several servings in case of failure when refining pills?"

He was filled with doubts, but he didn't want to ask any more questions. "If that's the case, I'll get on it right away."

Han Li picked medicinal herbs on one side of the herb garden with precise and efficient movements, and soon he had selected most of them.

Ma Liang continued to wander through the garden, caressing each of the medicinal herbs, moving back and forth without stopping.

Han Li felt a headache coming on when he saw his unbridled behavior.

If Senior Brother Ma accidentally damages any of the spiritual herbs, Uncle-Master Ma won't be able to explain it when he returns.

He didn't know that Ma Liang had precisely figured out his reluctance to cause trouble, which was why he acted so recklessly.

Han Li sighed inwardly, hoping to finish gathering the spiritual herbs as soon as possible and not bothering to care about these things.

With that thought in mind, Han Li's hands moved even faster, and the necessary spiritual herbs were picked one after another.

In contrast, Ma Liang was still searching for medicinal herbs one by one.

Han Li finally couldn't hold back and stepped forward to block him.

"Senior Brother Ma, the spiritual herbs you requested have been prepared."

With that, he flicked his wrist, and a wisp of spiritual energy surged out, causing several kinds of spiritual herbs to float in the air and arrange themselves in a row.

When Ma Liang saw Han Li blocking his way, his eyes already showing some impatience, he knew that the boy was about to get angry.

He glanced at the remaining untouched medicinal herbs in the garden.

Oh well, if I really anger this petty brat and he holds a grudge, it will only make things more difficult for him in the future.

His gaze swept quickly over the floating spiritual herbs in the air.

"Yes, the quantity and quality are both quite good."

After saying that, he took out the corresponding spirit stones from his storage bag and casually tossed them to Han Li.

Han Li caught the spirit stones, counted them briefly, and put them into his bag. Then, he waved his hand and used his spiritual power to send the pill formula and the spiritual medicine to Ma Liang.

Ma Liang put everything into his storage bag, then a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

"The matter of ordinary spiritual herbs is settled. Junior Brother Han, please come inside and let's talk. I have a deal I'd like to discuss with you."

Han Li glanced at the house not far away. "Senior Brother Ma, let's talk here. There's no need to come inside."

When Ma Liang saw that he had put his hands behind his back again, he couldn't help but click his tongue.

This kid is too guarded; dealing with him is really difficult.

"Alright, Junior Brother Han, please wait a moment."

After saying that, he went into Han Li's room and closed the door behind him.

Han Li stood there, puzzled: This Senior Brother Ma is even more informal than I am? What is he up to?

Ma Liang stepped into the house, too lazy to look at the surrounding furnishings, and with a sweep of his spiritual power, cleared a clean space on the ground.

He didn't care whether Xiang Zhili was spying on him or not; at worst, he would be exposed along with Han Li.

He then summoned the divine brush, took out two Soul Nourishing Pills, swallowed them, and then quickly sketched with the divine brush.

With just a few strokes, a spiritual light flowed between the lines, and the moment he finished writing, a top-tier clothing-type magical artifact—the Mysterious Silk Soft Armor—suddenly appeared on the open ground, surrounded by spiritual light, its material thin yet exuding an aura of indestructibility.

Ma Liang put away his magic brush, picked up his black silk armor, and pushed open the door to go out.

Han Li noticed that he had a soft armor in his hand.

He thought to himself, "Could this soft armor be something he just took off?"

Before he could even ask, Ma Liang spoke first: "Junior Brother Han, I know you are about to go to the Crimson Forbidden Land, which is extremely dangerous. Having an extra life-saving artifact means having an extra chance of survival."

He weighed the black silk armor in his hand. "This is a top-tier magic artifact, the black silk armor. I want to use it to exchange for two kinds of Purple Condensation Grass and Jade Marrow Flower that are over five hundred years old."

Upon hearing that Ma Liang was still fixated on the five-hundred-year-old elixir, Han Li's alarm bells suddenly went off.

Has my secret been exposed?

His hands, which were behind his back, unconsciously clenched the restriction token, his knuckles turning white.

"Senior Brother Ma, as I have said before, the highest age of these two spiritual herbs in the herb garden is only about three hundred years, and there are no higher ages."

Ma Liang had anticipated that he would say such a thing.

"Junior Brother Han, do you know why all the previous disciples who guarded the spirit garden were driven away by Senior Uncle Ma?"

Han Li answered truthfully, "Senior Uncle Ma said that those disciples did not understand the habits of spiritual herbs, and many spiritual herbs were ruined by them, which is why they were driven away."

"You only know one side of the story, not the other."

Han Li's eyes held a hint of inquiry: "I'd like to hear Senior Brother Ma's detailed explanation."

Ma Liang stated bluntly, "The truth is they were hiding rare medicinal herbs, and were discovered by Senior Uncle Ma, which is why they were driven away. Junior Brother Han has been guarding this medicinal herb garden for so many years, surely he hasn't hidden any precious medicinal herbs?"

He paused, and without waiting for Han Li to explain, said, "Alright, I won't make things difficult for you." With that, he threw the black silk armor over.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and the moment the soft armor got close, he immediately gathered his spiritual power to support it.

Ma Liang continued, "Try the quality of this soft armor first. I'll give you one night to consider it. If you think it's suitable, I'll come back tomorrow morning to collect the two kinds of spiritual medicine. If it's not suitable, you can return the soft armor to me."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Han Li was momentarily stunned. Senior Brother Ma suddenly threw out so many words and left behind a top-tier magic artifact, leaving him completely bewildered.

Just as Ma Liang was about to step out of the herb garden's protective barrier, he turned back and added, "By the way, Junior Brother Han, you must have inquired quite a bit about the Crimson Forbidden Land. The dangers inside are far beyond imagination. This black silk soft armor might just save your life inside."

After saying this, Ma Liang stepped out of the restriction.

The moment he stepped out, the divine pen in his mind suddenly trembled, and a surge of new information flooded into his consciousness.

This was the first time he had ever touched an array, and he never expected that the layout of the restrictions in the herb garden would be completely recorded by the divine brush.

Next time he comes to this herb garden, he won't even need to trouble Han Li to open the door.

With his current understanding of the restriction, he could break this not-so-profound formation on his own.