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

Ma Liang found a cave on the outermost edge of the forbidden area. Inside the cave was a level one demon beast. He casually killed it, lit a campfire, and roasted the beast's meat over the fire.

After a hearty meal, he cleaned the cave thoroughly and then took out a book on alchemy from his storage bag and began to read it.

He was determined to refine pills here. No one knew how long he would have to stay in the forbidden area. He needed to have enough of life-saving items like Soul Nourishing Pills to feel at ease.

While Ma Liang was diligently preparing for alchemy inside the cave, time was quietly passing by outside.

Occasionally, a monster would follow the scent and approach the outer edge of the cave, but before it could even take a step inside, it would be pounced on and killed by the venomous python guarding the entrance. It would bite the monster to death and swallow it whole, and no living creature would dare to approach it again.

The pillar of light in the forbidden area still hung high, and there was no progress in breaking the formation, as if it were an unchanging phenomenon since ancient times.

Under such calm, almost a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

"Bang"

A deafening explosion rang out from the cave where Ma Liang was, shattering the surrounding silence.

"Cough cough cough—"

Thick black smoke billowed out of the cave, and Ma Liang rushed out coughing, his face covered in soot, his robes tattered from being burned by sparks, and his hair a mess.

He wiped his face, dusted off the ashes, and stared at the black smoke rising from the cave entrance. "Why is alchemy so difficult!"

At this moment, the venomous python swam over, its tongue flicking out, and rubbed its head against Ma Liang, then stuck out its tongue to lick his cheek, which was covered in cigarette ash.

Ma Liang chuckled and patted it, "It's alright, it's just one failure. I'm sure I can succeed!"

As he turned to go back into the cave, the venomous python blocked his way, its head constantly shoving to the side.

Ma Liang sensed something was wrong: "What's wrong? What's the matter?"

Seeing that he understood, the venomous python immediately turned and crawled to the side, and Ma Liang quickly followed.

After walking several dozen steps, a large cave was hidden ahead. In the center of the cave, a broken eggshell lay scattered, and a small white snake, about the size of a palm, was coiling around the eggshell.

Ma Liang was overjoyed upon seeing this.

Long before he planned to refine pills, he had entrusted the silver-armored horned python egg he had previously bought to this venomous python for incubation. Unexpectedly, it actually hatched in just one month!

Ma Liang immediately rushed over and reached out to grab the little white snake, but the little white snake was very wary and quickly dodged his hand, hiding under the venomous python.

Ma Liang slapped his forehead, realizing that he hadn't fed it any essence blood or formed a beast-taming contract, so naturally it didn't recognize him.

He quickly pulled out a beast-taming manual from his storage bag, rapidly flipping through the records of spirit communication techniques and master-servant contract formation methods. After a moment, he closed the book: "I've got it!"

He activated his spiritual power, and a beam of light shot out, instantly imprisoning the little white snake and dragging it in front of him.

The little white snake was still struggling desperately. Ma Liang looked at it and laughed, "Haha, just follow me obediently, and I promise you'll be well-fed and well-dressed from now on!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly formed a hand seal and forced out a drop of essence blood from his fingertip, which floated in front of him.

He then cast several more spells, infusing his spiritual light into his blood essence.

Taking advantage of the moment when the little white snake was struggling, he guided his essence blood into the little white snake's mouth.

The moment the little white snake swallowed the blood essence, it suddenly stopped struggling and froze in place.

Ma Liang immediately changed his hand seals, placing his fingertips on the top of the little white snake's head to begin imprinting a divine mark.

Fifteen minutes later, he withdrew his finger, dissipated his spiritual power, and placed the little white snake on the ground.

Unexpectedly, the little white snake did not run away this time. Instead, it climbed up his leg and all the way to his arm, raising its little head and staring intently at Ma Liang's face.

Ma Liang reached out and stroked the snake's head with his finger, and the little white snake immediately showed a look of enjoyment.

Then, Ma Liang took out a Qi Condensation Pill from his storage bag, held it between his fingertips, and handed it to the little white snake.

The little white snake first licked the pill with its tongue, and after sensing the spiritual energy of the pill, it opened its mouth and swallowed it.

After swallowing the Qi Condensation Pill, the little white snake let out a small burp and stuck out its tongue at Ma Liang, clearly indicating that it wanted to eat more.

Ma Liang chuckled and flicked its little head: "You've only just hatched, if you eat any more you'll get stuffed."

The scene between the man and the snake was heartwarming, and the venomous python beside them nudged Ma Liang with its large head.

"Okay, of course you'll get your share too."

As he spoke, he sent a wisp of his divine consciousness into the venomous python's body, and the python immediately rubbed against him obediently.

Inside the cave, a person and two snakes nestled together, creating a scene that was both heartwarming and somewhat eerie.

Ma Liang stared at the small white snake on his arm, pondering it.

We can't keep calling it Little White Snake; we need to give it a name.

He picked up the little white snake and brought it close to his eyes to examine it: "Are you male or female?"

The little white snake was held suspended in the air, constantly twisting its body.

"Sigh, I can't tell either. I have absolutely no idea how to tell the sex of a snake..."

After thinking for a moment, Ma Liang decided to stop worrying about the gender: "You've just hatched, just like all things are reviving, so let's call you Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects)."

Although the little white snake was confused, it was bound by a contract and vaguely understood that this was its own name, so it immediately stopped making a fuss.

Ma Liang put it back on his arm, and it immediately climbed up his arm to his shoulder, even sticking out its tongue to lick Ma Liang's cheek, as if it was very satisfied with the name.

"Alright, alright." Ma Liang patted Jingzhe on his shoulder and casually put it into the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

He turned to the venomous python beside him, "I'm going back to continue refining pills."

The venomous python swam outside the cave to continue its vigilance, while Ma Liang returned to the cave where he had been refining elixirs, cleaned the furnace, and prepared to try refining elixirs again.

Ma Liang buried himself in his cave refining elixirs, his perception of the outside world becoming increasingly blurred.

At first, only the weeds at the entrance of the cave sprouted tender shoots, but they gradually grew wildly to waist height, and the vines climbed up the rock wall, covering most of the cave entrance.

The surrounding vegetation withers and flourishes in turn. Last year's withered branches are still piled up together, while new year's wild grass sprouts again. Even the stones next to the cave are covered with a thick layer of moss.

The pillar of light deep within the forbidden area still hangs silently in the sky, as if it has never changed.

And so, the seasons changed, and two years passed in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Ma Liang was inside the cave, putting away the newly refined Soul Nourishing Pill.

After two years of honing his skills, he had become adept at refining Soul Nourishing Pills.

Even if it was successfully refined at first, the spiritual energy consumed was far more than that could be replenished by the pills, resulting in a severe deficiency.

As the technique became more and more proficient, one was gradually able to achieve a balance between income and expenditure, and eventually, there was a surplus after each batch of pills was refined.

He now has a large number of Soul Nourishing Pills in his storage bag, enough to last him for several years, and he has no worries about the future.

Ma Liang stretched out a big yawn, easing his stiff back. Jingzhe also emerged from his robes, yawning lazily as if she had just had a good nap.

"How much time has passed? Why hasn't the formation been broken yet?"

Ma Liang couldn't help but complain, got up and walked to the cave entrance. He raised his hand and waved it, and a wind blade whistled out, cutting down all the weeds that were blocking the cave entrance.

The venomous python guarding outside immediately sensed the movement and poked its head out from the dense grass.

Ma Liang leaped onto the venomous python's head. "Let's go see Senior. So much time has passed; we wonder how he is doing."