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

After confirming that the cultivator was completely dead, Ma Liang manipulated the water lines to bring over the two magical treasures and the cultivator's storage bag. He then used the water threads to break open the cultivator's remains and pulled out a shattered golden core.

He collected all of these things, and after doing so, he threw the monk's remains into the sea.

At this moment, Jingzhe flew over joyfully.

As soon as it approached, it nuzzled Ma Liang with its slightly cool snake head, its movements full of dependence, clearly showing how much it missed Ma Liang after being separated for so long.

Ma Liang smiled and nudged the snake's head with his hand.

"Okay, okay, look, you've made my face all wet and sticky."

But Jingzhe showed no sign of stopping, continuing to rub his cheek with the snake's head.

Ma Liang had no choice but to pat its head again, "Alright, alright!"

As he spoke, he took out the shattered golden pill from his storage bag and threw it directly in front of Jingzhe's mouth. "Here, have this. Consider it compensation for that cultivator who hit you earlier."

Upon seeing the shattered golden elixir, Jingzhe's eyes lit up, and she swallowed it in one gulp.

This time, it stopped bothering Ma Liang and obediently swam around him.

Ma Liang, sensing the progress of the Awakening of Insects, couldn't help but praise, "Wow, you've actually advanced to level four! Not bad at all!"

After praising it, he looked around at the ravaged sea and then at the deserted island.

"I don't know how long this seclusion has actually lasted."

He remembered why he had been in seclusion, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Ugly Crow, you'd better not be dead yet!"

After muttering these words, he flashed back into the stone chamber, and Jingzhe immediately followed.

He quickly scanned the stone chamber and was immediately left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Jingzhe tore the storage bag to shreds, scattering pieces of cloth all over the ground, leaving not a single spiritual item inside.

Ma Liang glanced back at it and said, "You glutton really can eat. That was a whole storage bag full of spiritual creatures, and you ate them all."

He complained, but didn't pay much attention. He turned around and looked into the small stone chamber, where there were only some pieces of clothing and nothing else.

With a wave of his hand, Ma Liang conjured a large stream of water that instantly washed away all traces of life in the two stone chambers.

He flipped over and sat on Jingzhe's head. "Let's go to the nearest island and ask what time it is now, and how long we've been in seclusion."

With a hiss, Jingzhe, clearly eager to leave the deserted island, leaped into the sky and carried Ma Liang away in an instant.

Once the spiritual energy around the deserted island returned to normal, the seabirds that had been startled flew back.

Ma Liang flew swiftly for a while, but couldn't find any islands on the vast sea. Instead, he encountered three cultivators.

A thought struck him, and he immediately released his divine sense to investigate, discovering that the three people were only at the Foundation Establishment stage.

He directly used his divine sense to shout coldly, "Stop!"

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators were already startled by the approaching Jingzhe, and before they could react, they were stopped by the imposing voice.

Upon sensing the terrifying aura belonging to the Core Formation stage, the three instantly fell silent, respectfully waiting for Ma Liang to approach.

As Ma Liang approached, the three cultivators promptly clasped their hands in greeting, "Junior greets senior!"

Seeing that the three were somewhat polite, Ma Liang asked, "Where is this place?"

One of them replied, "Reporting to senior, this is the waters of Nüluo Island."

"How far is this place from Kui Xing Island?"

The cultivator raised his hand and pointed in a direction, "Senior, go in this direction. At the speed of a Core Formation cultivator, you can reach Kui Xing Island in about five days."

Ma Liang glanced in the direction the monk pointed, then looked at the sun in the sky, and memorized the location.

He then asked, "Has anything major happened on Kui Xing Island recently?"

The cultivator thought carefully for a moment, then replied, "Senior, nothing major has happened on Kui Xing Island recently, but there was a significant incident more than sixty years ago."

"It is said that humans and demons colluded to release the demonic beasts that were suppressed on Kui Xing Island, and even the great formation in the outer star sea was broken. The cultivators of the Star Palace were busy for a long time before they were able to quell the situation."

"What? More than sixty years ago?" Ma Liang exclaimed in shock.

The cultivator thought he had misspoke and carefully confirmed, "Yes...yes, senior, it was indeed more than sixty years ago."

Ma Liang never imagined that more than sixty years would pass since he went into seclusion.

He was shocked and began to calculate rapidly.

"Fortunately, if the calculation is correct, there is still some time before the Void Heaven Palace opens, so Wu Chou should not be dead yet."

With this in mind, he knew that going to Kui Xing Island again was pointless.

"Do you know where the nearest teleportation array to Tianxing City is?"

"Senior, there's a teleportation array leading to the Star Palace on Nuwa Island!"

"Where is Nüluo Island?"

The cultivator pointed and said, "Fly in this direction. At your speed, you can arrive in half a day."

Ma Liang nodded, ignoring the three of them, and patted the snake's head.

Jingzhe understood immediately, circulating his spiritual energy and dashing off in the indicated direction, creating a sharp gust of wind as he instantly passed by the three Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After Ma Liang left, the three Foundation Establishment cultivators finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The female nun behind him patted her chest.

"Oh my god, that scared me to death! How come this Core Formation cultivator gives off such a strong sense of pressure?"

One of the people next to him rolled his eyes. "Which Core Formation cultivator doesn't exude a strong sense of oppression? It's a miracle you're still alive."

The cultivator who had spoken earlier frowned. "Let's go back to the island. Let's stop looking for any more treasures. With our luck, we probably won't find anything."

"Besides, that strange phenomenon just now will definitely attract other powerful individuals. If we run into someone in a bad mood, they could wipe out the three of us with a single move. Where can we go to complain then?"

The three of them no longer hesitated.

They immediately changed direction and followed in the same direction Ma Liang had gone.

Ma Liang sat on Jingzhe's head and took out a large scroll from his storage bag. The scroll was now completely blank.

He summoned his divine brush and pondered to himself: before going into seclusion, he had managed to kill an ordinary early-stage Core Formation cultivator by drawing a large number of low-level talismans.

However, if you encounter a stronger opponent, these low-level talismans will be useless no matter how many you have.

At higher levels, magic weapons are ultimately the most effective.

He was about to draw a few magical artifacts when he changed his mind and thought, why not try drawing those ancient treasures instead?

He is now at the early stage of Core Formation, and he doesn't need to worry about his life when activating ancient treasures; he only needs enough spiritual power.

Moreover, he possesses a water-elemental body, so he has no shortage of spiritual power and can easily control two or three ancient treasures.

If one could cultivate the Profound Water Refining God Technique for a longer period of time, enhance one's divine sense, and control the ancient treasure with even greater precision.

Without hesitation, he decided to draw a Gengjin Poling Sword to test it out.

But as soon as the pen tip touched the silk cloth, there was no reaction at all.

Just as he was about to draw again, the magic pen in his mind suddenly vibrated with a buzzing sound.

Ma Liang immediately realized that with his current level of spiritual energy, he simply couldn't draw it. If he forced himself to draw it, he would probably be completely drained.

This magical pen seemed to have acquired some sentience. Although it was still absorbing his divine consciousness, it was already able to transmit information to him, telling him what he could and could not do.

Since ancient treasures cannot be drawn, there is no need to waste divine sense to draw ordinary magic treasures.

Now, one's spiritual consciousness cannot be restored by consuming pills; it can only be gradually replenished through cultivation techniques, so it must be used sparingly.

He then remembered the method of drawing monsters.

I used to think that monsters of higher levels were stronger, but I couldn't even withstand a slightly stronger enemy.

As I pondered this, the same thought from before resurfaced.

It would be better to use monsters to form a formation.

He made up his mind to start with the basics, drawing a few level-five demonic beasts that were at the same level as himself.

While traveling, they studied the corresponding formations, arranged these monsters in formations, and trained a monster team that could fight together.

He can only draw two types of level-five demonic beasts at present.

After thinking it through, he no longer hesitated and immediately picked up his brush and began to draw the two monsters on the scroll.

Just as he was engrossed in his drawing, the azalea beneath him let out a hiss, and the outline of Nüluo Island became clearly visible on the distant horizon.