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

As soon as Ma Liang stepped into the Hall of Hundred Beasts, he bumped into a figure!

He staggered back half a step after being hit, his heel hitting the door frame, and he lost his balance and almost fell over.

In that split second, a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him up with a slight effort.

Ma Liang steadied himself and then saw clearly that there was a man and a woman standing opposite him. Both of them were wearing the uniform of Huangfeng Valley. The one who had bumped into him was the male cultivator.

"Is this disciple alright?" the male cultivator asked.

Sensing the Foundation Establishment stage aura emanating from the other party, Ma Liang quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Disciple Ma Liang greets Martial Uncle! I was impetuous just now and inadvertently offended Martial Uncle. I hope Martial Uncle will forgive me. I apologize here!"

The male cultivator waved his hand, "It's alright. I was distracted just now too. It's good that you're unharmed."

After saying that, he and the female cultivator beside him stepped out of the Hall of Beasts, their figures quickly disappearing outside the door.

"This senior uncle is quite easygoing and didn't make a big deal out of it."

But the next moment, a figure recorded by the divine brush suddenly appeared in his mind, and Ma Liang's expression immediately became very interesting.

The divine brush did not transmit the image of a male cultivator at all; the recorded image of the true form was that of a woman!

What made Ma Liang's face burn even more was that the magic pen only recorded the true origin and never included anything unrelated to the original body!

Ma Liang quickly shook his head, forcibly blocking out the astonishing information in his mind.

This was his first time interacting with people since he transmigrated, and he never expected to encounter such an outrageous scene. He coughed lightly, his heart still churning.

Ma Liang patted his head again, finally managing to dispel the tumultuous image in his mind.

At this moment, a middle-aged man quickly stepped forward.

"Fellow Daoist, are you here to purchase a spirit beast?"

"Yes," Ma Liang nodded, and asked directly, "Do you have any powerful combat-type spirit beasts here? We don't need cute pets or the like."

"Then you've come to the right place, fellow Daoist! We may not have much else here, but we have battle-type spirit pets galore. Please follow me, sir!"

Ma Liang followed the middle-aged man through the main room and into a huge warehouse.

The warehouse was filled with cages, each containing a spirit beast.

There were agile blue wolves, lizards covered in scales, and some other mythical beasts whose names I didn't know.

As they walked, the middle-aged man introduced the beasts, saying, "These are the best of the best among the first-level spirit beasts! Further in, there are a few more formidable second-tier beasts. If you're interested, the price is negotiable."

Ma Liang walked up to a blue wolf and reached out to touch it.

The wolf immediately bristled, revealing its ferocious nature.

"This wolf is no good; it even dares to bare its teeth!" Ma Liang said to the middle-aged man. "Won't it kill its master if we buy it?"

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man immediately grabbed a thick pole from the side and shoved it into the cage twice with a "bang".

The wolf cried out in pain, whimpered twice, and instantly suppressed its ferocity, becoming much more docile.

Ma Liang reached into the cage again. The wolf's eyes still held a fierce glint, but it ultimately didn't dare to attack again.

He stroked it a couple of times, then shook his head: "No, this guy is too wild and untamed. I can't handle him when we get back."

He turned and walked towards the next cage. He touched each of the level one spirit beasts one by one, but never said he wanted to buy one.

The middle-aged man patiently said, "Fellow Daoist, if you go any further ahead, you'll encounter level two spirit beasts. You'll definitely find these formidable creatures worthy of your attention!"

Ma Liang followed the middle-aged man to the level two spirit beast area. He could tell at a glance that the spirit beasts here were completely different from the level one ones. They were generally much larger, and each cage was surrounded by a magic array that imprisoned the spirit beasts inside.

Although few in number, only seven in total, each one possesses an extraordinary presence.

A lion with a mane like flames and two lizards of different shapes crawled in the cage, each exuding the ferocity unique to a level two spirit beast.

Ma Liang touched each of the seven second-tier spirit beasts one by one, but still did not buy any.

But he had already planned it out. Although the magic brush could draw living things, those were ultimately just ink marks, not real entities. Once they died, they would turn into a puddle of ink, and there would be no possibility of further advancement.

He couldn't help but think of the spirit pets that Han Li had raised, each of which had been of great help to his cultivation path.

Thinking about it this way, why not find a few juveniles and carefully raise them, and experience the joy of raising them?

Ma Liang said to the middle-aged man beside him, "Shopkeeper, these spirit beasts don't quite suit my taste."

He pointed to the snake-like spirit beast covered in black scales in the cage and added, "Do you have any snake-like cubs here? Snake eggs would also be helpful."

The shopkeeper saw that Ma Liang had been wandering around for a long time, but in the end only chose the cub. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, but he still remained patient on the surface.

"Fellow Daoist has excellent judgment! This young beast has great potential; with careful nurturing, it will surely become a valuable assistant in the future. Please follow me!"

He led Ma Liang through the main warehouse and into a quiet side room.

Inside, there were several rows of wooden shelves, each shelf stacked with animal eggs of different sizes.

The shopkeeper walked to a row of shelves at the back.

"Fellow Daoist, please look. This shelf is full of snake-type demon beast eggs. Each egg has its species name engraved on the bottom. Just pick one, and I'll give you a detailed introduction if you find one you like."

Ma Liang looked at the inscriptions under each row of snake eggs one by one. Most of them were varieties with limited growth potential, with a maximum strength of only the top level one, which was not worthy of his attention.

Until his gaze swept over an egg covered in silver patterns, the inscription read "Silver-Armored Horned Python"—the very same breed as Li Huayuan's famous spirit beast!

His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but take a second look, memorizing the name.

Continuing to look down, another egg with a dark, lustery sheen made him stop in his tracks. The inscription read, "Ink-scaled Serpent - Can evolve into Ink Dragon."

After a moment's thought, he pointed and said, "Shopkeeper, I'll choose this silver-armored horned python egg!"

Seeing that Ma Liang had taken a liking to the egg, the shopkeeper immediately became interested. "Fellow Daoist has excellent eyesight! This Silver-Armored Horned Python is a top-tier existence among snake-type demonic beasts. Reaching level three is a certainty once it grows up. With careful nurturing and the aid of spiritual materials, it could even contend for level four!"

Ma Liang waved his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, I know all that. Just tell me how many spirit stones?"

"Four thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

Upon hearing the shopkeeper quote four thousand low-grade spirit stones, Ma Liang bluntly said, "That's too expensive, three thousand two."

"Oh dear, fellow Daoist!" the shopkeeper exclaimed, stamping his foot. "How can you haggle like that? One swing of your axe and you've cut eight hundred! That's almost up to my thigh!"

He rubbed his hands together urgently and said, "Okay, I'm sincerely willing to compromise, three thousand eight!"

Ma Liang shook his head. "Shopkeeper, you're still not being honest. I'll raise the price a bit more, three thousand three."

"Fellow Daoist! Your bargaining is too ruthless! You're practically driving the price down to its limit!"

He gritted his teeth, as if making a huge decision: "I'll give you my bottom line, three thousand six! There's really no profit to be made; the venue fee and training fee are already factored in. I'm just running errands for you!"

Ma Liang pointed to the silver-armored horned python egg, the surface of which had several black marks.

"Look at this egg, the outer layer is already turning black. It's uncertain whether it will hatch successfully. I'll give you my final price: three thousand five hundred. If you're willing to sell, I'll pay with spirit stones right now. If you're not, just leave it there. I reckon in a few more days, this egg will probably become a dead egg."

The shopkeeper knew perfectly well that although the silver-armored horned python egg had a pure bloodline, the black spots on its shell were really an eyesore. Several groups of customers had looked at it before, but all of them had given up because they were worried about the hatching rate.

Now that Ma Liang was sticking to his price of 3,500 and had even pointed out the hidden dangers of the egg, he hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed, "Alright, alright! Fellow Daoist, this is truly the first time I've seen you bargain so well. This is practically giving it to you at a loss!"

His face was contorted with grief, but his hands moved swiftly, as if afraid that Ma Liang might change his mind at the last minute. He quickly took the egg off the shelf and handed it to Ma Liang.

Ma Liang took the egg and felt that the shell was cold and quite heavy.

He immediately took out 3,500 low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and handed them to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper accepted the spirit stones and counted them carefully before the bitter look on his face faded a little.

Ma Liang held the egg, focused his attention for a moment, and could vaguely sense a very weak vibration coming from inside the egg, accompanied by a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.