"In other words, that Growth Pill originally had the effect of preventing natural height growth after consumption."
"..."
Upon learning this, Ryan looked at the Growth Pill and hesitated for a long time.
He himself was indeed relatively small; without counting the height of his ears standing up, he was only slightly taller than the Vanquisher of Evil.
That's why after the Vanquisher of Evil took the Growth Pill, his height suddenly surpassed Ryan's.
"No, it's already confirmed that I was malnourished before, and maybe that's why I didn't grow taller. If I eat this pill, it's over..."
"But if I eat a few more, will I continue to grow taller...?"
Ryan mumbled, conflicted.
But generally speaking, elixir is medicine, and if a person takes too much, they will develop resistance, so it's impossible for the medicinal effect to remain undiminished after repeated consumption.
"Forget it, I won't eat it for now..."
After much hesitation, Ryan decided not to eat it for now.
He decided to wait a few more years, until he reached his natural growth limit, and then swallow one.
By then, he could confidently say he was 1.8 meters tall.
Thinking of this, Ryan put away the elixir, grabbed the small tuft of hair on the head of the Electro Slime, which couldn't move because it was too full, and lifted it, returning to Mt. Aocang.
As for the ant kingdom it had established, it gradually decayed and disappeared due to the loss of its guardian.
"Hmm, your companion is named Rem, so from now on, I'll call you Lime."
Bringing the Slime back to his cave dwelling, Ryan first threw it a few electro crystals to eat as rations before continuing to refine the Longevity Pill, and also gave it a name.
Subsequently, Ryan began refining the Longevity Pill, which he had recorded in the Grand Pill Compendium, primarily using Geo Archon divine power ore.
The Electro Slime was originally trying to escape, but as Ryan began refining the elixir, the feeling of elemental power converging towards the alchemy furnace made it very comfortable. It quickly and obediently moved closer to Ryan, digesting the elemental power within its body while slowly absorbing more.
Soon, another day passed.
[Longevity Pill (3-star): Increases lifespan after consumption. The specific formula sets the lifespan limit to: {current lifespan × (degree of body aging + 1)}. Can be imbued with color.]
Previously, Ryan only knew that the Longevity Pill could extend life, but he didn't know the specific effects. This time, he finally clearly understood its function.
Longevity, longevity—the meaning of 'extend' is very clear. Therefore, the effect of the elixir is that the more lifespan a person has lost, the more lifespan will be extended.
"?"
"Wait?! Does that mean the Longevity Pill I fed Shenhe last time was a waste!"
Seeing the formula, Ryan's eyes widened. He, of course, understood simple arithmetic.
And when he fed Shenhe the elixir before, Shenhe was just a tiny little girl, and Ryan even had to lead her to pee in the middle of the night. There was no concept of body aging for her at all.
"It's fine, it's fine... At least this elixir can be imbued with color..."
Ryan, realizing he had wasted an elixir, could only comfort himself this way.
Ryan was not clear what factors determined whether an elixir could be imbued with color, but elixirs refined from the same recipe and having the same effect could still have individual differences, potentially resulting in some being able to be imbued with color and some not.
The Longevity Pill Ryan had once fed Shenhe was one that could not be imbued with color, unlike the current one.
"Come on, Lime, it's your time to shine."
Saying this, Ryan again grabbed the small tuft of hair on Lime's head, lifted it, and walked outside.
This Electro Slime had absorbed a lot of elemental power, and with a day's digestion, it must have become much stronger.
Thus, Ryan returned to the place where he had previously imbued color and began the process again.
It was the same procedure. Ryan, familiar with the routine, hugged the Electro Slime as they were struck by lightning together. After it reached its limit, he threw it out and continued to endure the subsequent tribulation lightning himself.
As one bolt of tribulation lightning after another struck, Ryan's fur stood on end, his body stiffened in place, entering a paralyzed state.
"..."
Ryan wanted to use immortal arts to block the subsequent tribulation lightning, but before he could cast the spell, he suddenly felt a chill down his back.
"Traveler! Good opportunity! Hit him!"
A familiar voice sounded from behind.
"It's you... bullying my Paimon, right?"
Lumine slowly poked her head out from behind Ryan, looking at him, her eyes flashing with red light as if with special effects.
"I always thought there was something wrong with you, you fox..."
"Starfell Sword!"
The next moment, Lumine clapped her hands and struck Ryan's back. After she retreated, a Starfell Sword was summoned, trapping Ryan within it.
Moreover, the top of the Starfell Sword was open... Ryan looked up from inside the Starfell Sword at the tribulation lightning brewing in the sky.
"This is bad..."
Boom—!
By the time Ryan escaped from the Starfell Sword, enduring the tribulation lightning, his fur was already scorched black, and his hairstyle had turned into an afro.
His fox ears were even almost hidden within his fluffy hair, barely visible.
"Pfft..."
Then Ryan opened his mouth, exhaled a puff of black smoke, and unceremoniously plopped down on the ground.
Lumine, however, stood in front of Ryan with her arms crossed, gently tapping her right foot.
The little guy named Paimon cowered behind Lumine, not even daring to show her head and make eye contact with Ryan.
"..."
Looking at Lumine's displeased expression, Ryan felt a little guilty.
It seemed that hiding in Jueyun Karst for a few days wouldn't make things simply go away.
"Why did you bully Paimon? Don't you know your behavior was extremely excessive?"
"Exactly, exactly."
Lumine glared fiercely with her golden pupils, questioning Ryan, while Paimon, not daring to show her head, hurriedly and angrily echoed her.
"Don't you know there's a saying in Liyue, 'Beating a dog...' *cough cough*, never mind, there doesn't seem to be a suitable proverb..."
"But in any case, bullying Paimon is wrong. You must give me a reasonable explanation, or else I'll go... go tell Zhongli."
Clearing her throat, Lumine changed to a hands-on-hips pose, looking down at Ryan, who was sitting on the ground.
"..."
Looking at Lumine with her hands on her hips, Ryan opened his mouth.
"Actually... I just wanted to take some of Paimon's body structure to refine elixir..."
Ryan, hesitating, suddenly rolled his eyes, and finally told the truth.
"Wah, Traveler, look at him!"
Paimon buried her head behind Lumine, crying out aggrievedly.
"Indeed... I knew it. The first time I met you, I had a feeling you had ulterior motives."
Lumine nodded understandingly.
From their first meeting, she felt that Ryan was deliberately being nice to Paimon.
At the time, it made Lumine a little suspicious, as she was a beautiful Damselette, yet she was completely ignored.
"But, all those paimon soup... uh, I mean Paimon's bathwater that you collected, you could have just asked Paimon for it. Weren't you always trying to get along with her? Why did you have to deceive her?"
Lumine was still a bit confused.
Although she intended to get justice for Paimon, Ryan leading Paimon away and then voluntarily letting her go left her somewhat perplexed.
Hearing Lumine's question, Ryan, whose body was blackened by lightning, finally revealed a set of white teeth and raised his hand to wipe his sooty face.
"I was waiting for that very question... Because my intentional approach inadvertently left an impression on Paimon's heart, but she travels with you, and a wider world awaits her. I don't want to shackle her free and pure spirit."
"Therefore, I revealed the truth to her, letting her know that I approached her with an ulterior motive from the start, so that she would completely give up on me and no longer have any attachments."
Ryan explained in such a gentle tone.
"!!!"
However, his gentle tone made Paimon somewhat agitated, because Ryan had always used this tone when he deceived her last time.
Ryan's gentleness = deceiving people—this formula had already been established in Paimon's mind.
"How touching..."
"Touching my foot! Traveler, he's lying to you!"
Paimon hurriedly tugged hard on Lumine's hair to bring her back to her senses...