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

Upon hearing this, Zi Ling felt a strange sensation. He looked quite young, and it was rather odd that he called her "little girl" like that.

However, she knew that Ma Liang's strength was unfathomable, and having just witnessed his all-seeing wisdom, she dared not have the slightest objection and had no choice but to accept the title.

Seeing Ma Liang's relaxed tone and recalling his extraordinary wisdom just now, Zi Ling's desire to befriend him grew even stronger.

"I wonder if you have any plans to deal with this matter, senior?"

Ma Liang did not respond directly, but looked at Wen Siyue beside him, "Siyue, go out first and play with Jingzhe for a while."

He took out a translucent white jade box from his storage pouch at his waist and handed it over: "These contain some pills that Jingzhe likes to eat. Take this to her."

Seeing that Wen Siyue seemed hesitant, he added, "It's alright, go ahead."

Wen Siyue was quick-witted and had already realized that the two had something important to discuss, so she said no more.

"Alright, senior," he said, taking the jade box and quickly leaving the study.

Once only the two of them were left in the room, Ma Liang looked at Zi Ling and said, "Tell me the whole detailed plan, and I'll help you analyze and weigh it."

Zi Ling felt that since Ma Liang had already seen through most of it, it would only seem distant if she kept it to herself.

Without the slightest hesitation, he recounted the entire plan in detail.

Ma Liang shook his head as he listened, clearly quite dissatisfied with Zi Ling's plan.

After Zi Ling finished speaking, he bluntly said, "Your plan is too crude, it's full of loopholes."

Zi Ling was prepared and did not refute in the slightest. "Please enlighten me, senior."

"It's not your fault; the allies you chose were problematic to begin with. That Sect Master Sun is a disciple of Ji Yin, yet he doesn't know Ji Yin's methods and techniques?"

"Senior, our plan is only to lure out Wu Chou. Ji Yin is currently in seclusion and cannot possibly arrive in time!"

Ma Liang lightly tapped the table with his finger. "You just don't understand."

"Even though Ji Yin is in seclusion, Wu Chou is his own grandson. How could he not have left behind some means to protect himself?"

Seeing Zi Ling's blank expression, Ma Liang simply cut to the chase, "Do you know the art of possession? Most Nascent Soul demonic cultivators are proficient in this art. Even if they cannot be physically present, they can use another person's body to arrive from afar!"

The color drained from Zi Ling's face instantly, her fingertips trembled slightly, and she was filled with frustration and confusion.

She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a complete sentence; she could only stare at Ma Liang.

Ma Liang then dropped an even more chilling bombshell: "Did you know that besides this possession technique, that extremely yin person is also skilled at creating corpse puppets?"

"He also possesses quite a few of those Heavenly Capital Corpse Puppets. These corpse puppets are all at the mid-stage of Core Formation, but I haven't yet been able to ascertain the exact number of them."

The more Zi Ling listened, the heavier her heart became, and all her previous confidence turned into dejection.

She suppressed the bitterness in her heart, "Then, senior, do you have a plan to deal with this?"

"Of course, there are strategies."

"This time, we have a plan to catch him off guard. We just need to set up several trapping formations in advance at the ambush site to trap all his Heavenly Capital Corpse Puppets in the formations and cut off his wings."

"Then, we'll join forces and focus on dealing with that possession by the Extreme Yin!"

Zi Ling's face instantly lit up with joy. "Then, senior, could you set up the formation for the trapped corpse puppet?"

Ma Liang waved his hand, "I can certainly set up a trapping formation! My specialty is the Three Elements Locking Formation. Once this kind of formation is set up, it uses the spiritual veins of heaven and earth as its foundation. Not to mention the possession of an extremely Yin being, even if the person himself comes, we can trap and kill him."

"But setting up such a large formation takes too much time and has to be in harmony with the earth's veins, making it far less flexible than a small formation."

"On the contrary, I am not good at small formations that trap a few corpse puppets. I cultivate the Dao of Great Formations, which emphasizes using the power of heaven and earth to lock boundaries and seal domains."

Zi Ling was completely confused and blinked.

"I have heard that some people are proficient in small formations but cannot understand the intricacies of large formations. After all, large formations require the support of heaven and earth and consume a great deal of resources."

"You can set up a large formation, but you can't handle a small one. This... this is unheard of."

As soon as Zi Ling uttered the words, her expression changed drastically. She quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, "This junior misspoke! Senior, please forgive me. I was confused for a moment and presumptuously spoke ill of your Dao!"

Ma Liang's face darkened instantly, and he secretly grumbled to himself.

That's right. Without that magic pen, he wouldn't even be able to set up the simplest spirit-gathering array. Right now, he can only bite the bullet and keep going.

He cleared his throat, suppressing his unease. "It's alright. I'm not really good at this kind of small formation, but I can recommend someone to you. You can go find him."

Upon hearing that there was a lead, Zi Ling felt much relieved. "If there is a suitable candidate, that would be wonderful! I humbly request that you introduce someone, so that I may have a reason to visit you."

Ma Liang waved his hand, "I don't need to introduce myself. You'll know who I am when you get there."

He then changed the subject, "But there's one thing I need to emphasize: after you meet him, you absolutely must not say that I recommended him. And you must never reveal that I will be involved in this plan."

Zi Ling couldn't help but ask, "Since you're willing to recommend this person, you must have no grudge against him. Why are you avoiding using your name like this?"

A hint of unease flashed across Ma Liang's face. "This person is my junior brother. We had a misunderstanding over some trivial matter before, which has not yet been resolved."

"You don't need to ask anything else, just remember my words. His mastery of formations is enough to help you trap those Heavenly Capital Corpse Puppets, so just go find him without worry."

Since he was the senior's junior brother and claimed that she would know who he was as soon as she arrived, Zi Ling racked her brains and thought of all the cultivators she knew, but she still couldn't figure it out.

Ma Liang saw Zi Ling's expression and said, "Alright, stop thinking about it."

"He is the cultivator surnamed Han that your Left Envoy Fan was looking for, the one who recently reached the Core Formation stage. You must know where he lives."

"When you see him, you won't need to go to the Crimson Flame Monster to verify it anymore. You will naturally believe what I said today."

Zi Ling was a little confused. Ma Liang's words were very abrupt. One sentence was about his junior brother, and the next sentence was about the Crimson Fire Old Monster.

She increasingly felt that Ma Liang had an inexplicable strangeness about him, making him completely unpredictable.

Ma Liang waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, let's stop here for now. You should set off immediately to find my junior brother."

He seemed to remember something, "As for how to persuade him, I can give you a suggestion. Elder Zhao used that piece of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo when he approached him before, didn't he?"

"Just take the Thunder Bamboo with you. Don't bother discussing it with him first. Just explain the whole story and then force the Thunder Bamboo on him. Do it first and ask for permission later."

"Don't worry, as long as he accepts, the matter is settled. That's just how my junior brother is; a thousand words can't compare to real benefits. Don't try to reason with him; just pressure him with benefits, and you can't go wrong."

Upon hearing the words "Heavenly Thunder Bamboo," Zi Ling was startled again. "How did you know I possess Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, senior? I have never mentioned such a secret to anyone!"

Ma Liang didn't take it to heart and got up to walk to her side.

"I know a lot more than that."

"Alright, stop worrying about these trivial things and just do as I say."

"And don't worry, once you see my junior brother, I guarantee you'll willingly give away this Thunder Bamboo."

Zi Ling took two steps back, bowed, and said, "Then this junior will take her leave first."

Seeing her bowing, Ma Liang wanted to reach out to help her, but he pulled his hand back abruptly halfway and slapped it against the back of his hand.

He muttered to himself, "What am I thinking about! All day long!"

Zi Ling was bewildered by his sudden actions and mutterings, feeling that Ma Liang's behavior was becoming increasingly strange, almost neurotic.

She dared not say anything more, quickly bowed, and hurried away.

Ma Liang watched Zi Ling's departing figure, slowly closed his eyes, and secretly circulated his spiritual energy to suppress the turmoil in his heart.

"Having cultivated to this point, one should have already achieved inner peace. Why are you still thinking about these trivial things all day long, only adding to your inner demons?"