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

Ma Liang drove the demonic beast to carve out a cave on this deserted island.

Amidst the flying rubble, it took half a day of hard work to dig out two relatively spacious stone chambers, one large and one small.

Once the cave dwelling had taken initial shape, he put the flying birds and demonic beasts into his spirit beast bag and then summoned Jingzhe.

Ma Liang reached out and stroked Jingzhe's still-healing wounds. His fingertips touched the rough scales and scabbed bloodstains, and he sighed.

He himself was pale at the moment, and even raising his hand was somewhat unsteady.

As if sensing his weakness, Jingzhe obediently lowered her head and nuzzled the back of his hand with her tongue, a gesture of soothing.

Ma Liang chuckled and rubbed its forehead.

"Jingzhe, we'll settle down here from now on. It's supposed to be for recuperation, but it's really more like a period of seclusion."

As he spoke, he took out a storage bag from his bosom and placed it in the corner of the stone chamber.

"There are healing elixirs and spiritual items for cultivation here. You should heal your injuries first before we talk about cultivation."

After saying that, he patted Jingzhe's neck again.

As if it understood, Jingzhe let out a low hiss and nuzzled him with its large head, its eyes full of affection.

After calming the insects, Ma Liang summoned his magic brush. With a flash of light at the tip, he drew a mysterious concealment formation on the open ground.

He did not set up any more defensive formations, as those formations would leak spiritual energy when in operation, making them easily detectable by other cultivators.

The moment the formation was completed, he felt a sharp pain in his head and his vision went black.

He hurriedly pulled out a few pills and stuffed them into his mouth, but this time, the pills were far less effective than before, barely suppressing the dizziness.

He leaned against the rock wall, panting for a long time, before managing a weak smile as he looked at Jingzhe curled up to the side.

"Jingzhe, you should focus on your cultivation in this large stone chamber. I'm going to the small stone chamber for seclusion. This time... it might take a long time, so don't worry."

"Let's have another competition and see who advances faster."

hiss--

Jingzhe flicked its tongue and nodded its enormous head, acknowledging its acceptance of the bet.

Ma Liang laughed and called out, "Alright, see you later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he held the magic brush and drew an isolation array between the large and small stone chambers.

Then he brought over a stone slab, drew reinforcing runes on it with his magic brush, and then pushed it hard. With a loud crash, the stone slab sealed the door of the small stone chamber shut.

The moment the stone slab closed, the faint light was completely shut out, and the small stone chamber was plunged into complete darkness.

Jingzhe stared at the sealed stone gate, tilted her head, and a hint of confusion flashed in her snake eyes, as if she did not understand why it was necessary to isolate herself so completely.

But it quickly flicked its long tail and coiled into a ball in the center of the large stone chamber, its body radiating a blue spiritual light. It absorbed spiritual energy to heal its wounds while focusing on cultivation.

Inside the small stone chamber, Ma Liang took out a fist-sized fluorite from his storage bag and embedded it into the stone wall.

A soft, white light instantly spread out, illuminating most of the cramped stone chamber.

He walked to the center of the stone chamber, brushed away the pebbles on the ground, and sat down cross-legged.

Ma Liang focused his mind and looked inward, only to feel a bone-chilling, stagnant sensation spreading throughout his limbs and bones.

Many of his meridians were already riddled with holes, and the broken veins were wrapped around his internal organs like a spider web, with strands of spiritual energy slowly flowing away from the gaps.

Even the life force is slowly fading away.

A sharp headache suddenly struck, and he couldn't help but gasp.

Looking at his broken body, Ma Liang forced a self-deprecating smile.

He once had wild ideas, relying on the knowledge he had gained from his previous life and some self-righteous intelligence, he thought he could stir up trouble in the world of cultivation, and even try to fool those old monsters who had been immersed in this path for hundreds or thousands of years.

Ironically, those supposedly brilliant schemes backfired, leading them into this desperate situation and becoming the biggest joke of all.

The decades of worldly experience from my previous life are nothing but petty tricks in the face of this perilous world of cultivation.

It might fool people for a while, but it can't fool those cunning and shrewd cultivators in the end.

Thinking of this, he let out a long sigh of relief, and the frown between his brows eased somewhat.

That's fine, let's leave it at that.

Although I have only been in this world for a few decades, I have spent most of that time in seclusion.

On the contrary, those five years in the Tianyuan Pagoda, without fighting or scheming, became the most joyful and carefree time of his life.

Thinking of this, Ma Liangqiang mustered his spirits and took out a Dust-Reducing Pill from his storage bag.

The pill felt slightly cool to the touch. He looked at this pill, which had once been coveted by cultivators, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"With my current crippled body, even if I forcibly form my core, I'm afraid I'll still die."

But since I've come to this world of cultivation, even if it's a dead end, I should still make the most of it.

Without further hesitation, he tilted his head back and swallowed the Dust-Subduing Pill.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the throat, and a scorching medicinal power surged straight up the throat to the dantian.

Immediately afterwards, he took out Heavenly Fire Liquid and Snow Spirit Water, paused for a moment with his fingers hovering over the two bottles of spiritual liquid, and finally put down the Heavenly Fire Liquid.

That substance is extremely potent; injecting it into the meridians at this moment would be tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst.

He unscrewed the jade bottle of Snow Spirit Water, and the clear liquid slid down his throat, carrying a bone-chilling coolness. It barely suppressed the surging medicinal power in his dantian and stabilized the chaotic and dissipated spiritual energy a little, but the effect was negligible.

Just then, the effects of the Dust-Subduing Pill began to burst forth wildly. Without further hesitation, Ma Liang immediately closed his eyes and concentrated, activating the Core Formation method recorded in the "Azure Wave Gathering Yuan Technique," guiding the violent medicinal power towards his dantian.

As the "Canglan Gathering Yuan Technique" was activated, Ma Liang gritted his teeth and forcefully pushed the spiritual power condensed from the medicinal effects towards his dantian.

But his dantian was already badly damaged, how could it withstand such a brutal impact?

The next moment, a muffled bang exploded from his abdomen!

Ma Liang felt a sweet taste in his throat, and a mouthful of blood spurted out, splashing onto the fluorite in front of him, spreading a dazzling red.

But a mad, stubborn glint burned in his eyes as he endured the excruciating pain, gritting his teeth and urging his cultivation technique in an attempt to continue condensing his core.

But once the dantian was shattered, the spiritual power, now completely unrestrained, instantly became a wild horse, roaring and rushing through every meridian of the body.

A sharp, excruciating pain swept over Ma Liang's entire body like a tidal wave. His body convulsed, and cold sweat soaked through his clothes, yet he still gritted his teeth and refused to give up.

"Come on, let me experience this feeling of cultivating immortality one last time!"

Before he finished speaking, the water-attribute spiritual energy surging through his meridians became even more violent. Wherever it passed, the already riddled meridians cracked inch by inch, making a series of fine "crackling" sounds.

Strangely, these abundant water elemental energies did not dissipate. Instead, they seemed to have gained their own consciousness. While tearing his meridians, they seeped into his flesh and blood, and began to ruthlessly alter his body!

Just then, bang—!

A deafening roar suddenly erupted, causing the entire small stone chamber to shake violently, and rubble rained down from the stone walls.

Inside the large stone chamber, Jingzhe, who was diligently cultivating, suddenly raised its head, its snake eyes warily looking towards the direction of the small stone chamber, its long tail sweeping across the ground.

It merely tilted its head slightly before lowering it again to continue cultivating by inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy.

Inside the small stone chamber, however, the scene was completely different. Ma Liang's figure had vanished without a trace, and thick water vapor permeated every inch of space. The misty water vapor, tinged with specks of blood, enveloped the entire stone chamber in a hazy mist.

……

At the summit of Rotten Chess Mountain, a sturdy and upright pine tree stands tall, its shade perfectly covering the stone chessboard.

Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, two immortals sat facing each other, playing chess.

A man in a white robe trailing on the ground, with a white beard reaching his chest.

The other person was dressed in black robes, with white hair and beard, and his body was surrounded by a faint spiritual light, all exuding an otherworldly and ethereal beauty.