While Ryan was diligently practicing his spear, Lime began to suffer.
Although Ryan was practicing his spear in a dream, his real-world body would have some physical reactions, as if he were having a nightmare.
The white fox, originally curled into a ball, suddenly kicked a leg here and scratched with a paw there, making Lime miserable, his expression once again turning into (＞_＜).
He was only freed when Ryan woke up.
After resting well, Ryan continued to refine pills.
Ever since he made paimon soup, he had wanted to clear out a batch of collected materials, and now he still had some left.
A moment ago, a failed refinement resulted in a discarded pill, so Ryan decided this time to put every single material in.
Except for the paimon soup and Osial materials, which were too much to use all at once, Ryan put in all the remaining materials.
The remaining bit of Yiyan Hall incense ash, immortal ancestor Exuvia dragon scale powder, hair from the immortal ancestor Exuvia's back, immortal ancestor Exuvia's dragon horn powder, Pure Yang Blood, Ley Line Dead Branches, and Abyss Mage hair.
And of the two dragon whiskers that had been cut off, the other one, which was easy to cut because it had no Geo Crystalize.
Though it seemed like a lot, each item was basically just a tiny bit, so Ryan still had to add a bit more paimon soup and Osial's blood... A day later, Ryan left the external space from the sun and moon cup, but the expression on his face was a bit strange.
"After Senior Sister Ganyu… did I just refine the child of the Archon and Osial…?"
He muttered, full of doubt and surprise, then put away the sun and moon cup from the cliff.
Recalling the dragon-like existence inside that had no life or consciousness, Ryan subconsciously shrank his neck.
"No wonder I never heard of Gods marrying; it turns out they give birth to such terrifying things…"
It was a lifelike dragon, at least at first glance it seemed to be.
After it burst out of the alchemy furnace due to imbalanced pressure, it fell in front of Ryan and instantly transformed into a dozens-of-zhang-long creature coiled on the grass.
Ryan stared at it for a few moments, only to find that this dragon was not solid, or rather, its body was entirely composed of lines that wriggled like earthworms, pieced, arranged, and combined together.
But to call them earthworms, they actually resembled malt sugar more; when they wriggled and touched each other, they would merge, and after a while, they would be pulled apart into other fine lines.
Each claw of the dragon's talons was formed by their interweaving, and the shape of the scales on its body could also be seen to warp and twist with the wriggling; each strand of the fur on its back was a separate line, and the dragon whiskers by its mouth were longer individuals.
And they simulated the movement trajectories of fur and dragon whiskers when blown by the wind, even though there was no wind right now… Furthermore, by changing the colors on their surface, they made the overall appearance similar to the Geo Dragon color of the immortal ancestor Exuvia.
This thing gave Ryan a very eerie feeling, making him disinclined to study it further, and instead made him suspect if one of the materials had been left too long and grown maggots… Finally, Ryan instructed Lime to watch over it for him, while he himself left the qiankun bag first.
Although he was very reluctant to admit this thing was a pill, Ryan still tried to appraise it before leaving.
"Dragon Pill (Hatchling Pill): If a non-dragon devoutly worships with the heart's essence blood of a loved one for three days, they can shed their mortal body and weave themselves into a dragon fetus with dragon fibers. A dragon who swallows its flesh and blood or this dragon fetus pill can achieve evolution."
"Hiss… I'll ask the Archon about this thing later. If he doesn't understand it either, I'll find a way to destroy it…"
Although it also had the effects of a pill, Ryan feared it even more than the Three Souls Seven Spirits Pill.
"Whew… First, I'll go deliver the medicine to Master. I'll be back around evening, which is perfect for going to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to find the Archon."
Exhaling a breath, Ryan arranged his schedule for the day, then immediately leaped down from the mountain, using adeptal arts to rush towards Jueyun Karst… Several days had passed since Shenhe followed Ryan down the mountain, and during these days, Cloud Retainer had been busy tinkering with her new invention.
Automated mechanisms were no challenge for her, but what she wanted to create was a dialogue-type, all-weather intelligent companion shenji.
If the answers and conversations were too rigid, it would be boring.
Fortunately, Guizhong had conducted similar research quite a while ago, and most of Guizhong's mechanical legacy was with her, so it wasn't like starting from scratch. After a few days, she had made some progress.
"Ahem, hello, Xiao Pai."
Cloud Retainer coughed lightly into her wings, then called out.
"Click-clack—"
Hearing Cloud Retainer's call, the mechanism on the table quickly sprang into action.
A mechanism resembling Paimon slowly floated up, turning its head to look at Cloud Retainer.
"I am here. What are your commands?"
A very mechanical voice emanated from it.
"Tsk, this voice won't do. The simulated voice of the mechanism is too sharp. It seems I need to find someone to simulate the timbre…"
Hearing the voice of this response, Cloud Retainer mumbled, clearly dissatisfied.
She certainly didn't intend to use her own voice; after all, she was making it to chat with herself, and using her own voice would be pointless.
"Master!"
Just then, a familiar call came from outside the cave dwelling.
To avoid being disturbed during her research, Cloud Retainer had specifically activated the adeptal prohibition on her cave dwelling, so Ryan couldn't enter.
"Why is this child back? Could it be that he misses his Master?"
Cloud Retainer mumbled, then deactivated the adeptal prohibition on her cave dwelling.
Seeing the prohibition lifted, Ryan immediately walked in and quickly found Cloud Retainer's location.
"Ryan, come quickly and see your Master's latest invention."
After a slight adjustment to the dialogue device, Cloud Retainer tilted her head slightly and spoke to Ryan with a hint of pride.
"Latest invention? Is this… Mechanical Paimon?"
Ryan curiously leaned in for a look at the device floating on the table. Upon realizing its appearance was very similar to Paimon, he scratched his head in confusion.
"This is the all-weather intelligent dialogue-type shenji developed by your Master."
"Your Master will demonstrate it for you. Hello, Xiao Pai."
Cloud Retainer proudly patted Ryan's head with her wing as he leaned in, then called out to the dialogue device.
"I am here."
Under Cloud Retainer's recent adjustments, the dialogue device's voice was no longer as sharp, but it was still clearly distinguishable as a mechanically simulated voice.
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Hearing the dialogue device's response, Ryan's eyes lit up.
"Hmph hmph."
Cloud Retainer was a little smug.
"Thank you, you are also very amazing."
The dialogue device responded politely.
"Then go fry me two Teyvat fried eggs, and steam the rice while you're at it. I still have some ingredients here; just make a few dishes for me as you see fit."
Then Ryan pulled out ingredients from his qiankun bag and placed them on the table.
Returning to see Cloud Retainer this time, he had also thought of having a meal with his Master.
"…"
"Huh?"
"Master, it seems to have died a little!"
...