Lían remained motionless for several moments.
He slowly looked down at his restored body.
Then—
he let out a quiet breath.
"...I miscalculated."
His gaze lowered.
*I used my last restoration.*
*I had already exhausted it before I even realized how far the poison had spread.*
A faint trace of frustration appeared in his eyes.
*I was careless.*
*I noticed the poison.*
*I knew it was dangerous.*
*Yet I still underestimated it.*
He slowly clenched his fist.
*Stupid mistake.*
There was nothing he could do about it now.
What happened had already happened.
Whatever came next—
he would have to face it without another chance to return.
Lían lifted his head.
His gaze settled upon Lizarius, who hovered silently above him.
"...Are we done?"
Silence.
Lían stared at him for another moment.
"...If we are, can you take me out now?"
His expression softened slightly.
"I've already lost track of how long I've been here."
He paused.
"Though..."
He glanced around the endless white.
"...I guess it hasn't been too long outside, like you said, right?"
A brief silence followed.
"...But I want to go home."
Lizarius didn't answer.
He simply stared down at him.
Lían's brows slowly furrowed.
"...Master?"
Still nothing.
Then—
the endless white suddenly changed.
Lían's expression shifted.
The empty space beneath his feet dissolved.
The surrounding environment began transforming.
The endless white stretched outward.
Then—
images began appearing around him.
Lían's eyes widened.
They weren't illusions.
They were memories.
Scenes from the past.
Lían remained completely still as the first image took shape.
A man stood within a dark chamber.
Bloody spiritual energy surrounded his body.
Several corpses lay scattered across the floor around him.
Their bodies were pale.
Their faces were frozen in expressions of terror.
Then—
the scene changed.
Another living person was dragged before the cultivator.
The person struggled desperately.
The cultivator reached out.
His fingers wrapped around the person's neck.
The victim's body immediately began trembling.
Then—
something was pulled from within them.
A faint stream of life essence flowed from their body and entered the cultivator.
The cultivator's spiritual energy began growing stronger.
His cultivation steadily increased.
Lían watched in silence.
The process continued.
The person's struggles gradually weakened.
Their face became pale.
Their body became thinner.
Their vitality rapidly disappeared.
Until eventually—
the person stopped moving.
Their body collapsed.
What remained was nothing more than a dry, lifeless corpse.
Lían's expression hardened.
The scene changed again.
Another person.
Then another.
And another.
Hundreds of lives were drained.
Their life force.
Their blood.
The vitality within their flesh.
Everything was absorbed.
The cultivator's strength continued rising.
Until finally—
after absorbing the life force of hundreds of people, the cultivator reached the threshold of Foundation Establishment.
But instead of breaking through normally—
the enormous amount of accumulated energy within his body began undergoing another transformation.
His own life force was drawn into the process.
The spiritual energy.
The absorbed vitality.
The cultivator's own essence.
Everything was compressed together.
Then—
it was refined into a single pill.
A dark-red pill slowly formed within the cultivator's hands.
Lían's eyes widened in shock.
"...What..."
The scene disappeared.
The endless white returned.
Silence.
Lían remained motionless.
His expression was unusually serious.
For several moments—
he said nothing.
Then—
his voice finally emerged.
"...So..."
He lowered his gaze.
"...That's what the technique does."
His eyes remained fixed upon the empty space where the scene had been.
"The Blood Nourishing Pill..."
He slowly clenched his fists.
"It's supposed to allow people without spiritual roots to cultivate."
His expression became increasingly complicated.
"But..."
He looked toward Lizarius.
"...that's not really what it does."
His brows furrowed.
"Instead of allowing someone to cultivate..."
His voice became quieter.
"...it turns their life force into a pill."
A pause.
Lían swallowed.
"Isn't that..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...a demonic technique?"
Lizarius simply stared at him.
Lían's gaze sharpened.
"...It uses living people as the foundation."
He paused.
A cold feeling slowly settled within him.
"So it really is."
Silence filled the endless white.
Lían remained quiet for several moments.
Then—
another thought surfaced.
"...But I don't understand."
His eyes returned to Lizarius.
"Why did you show me this?"
Lizarius remained silent.
Lían's expression slowly changed.
"...Don't tell me..."
He stopped.
His eyes widened.
A terrible realization suddenly struck him.
"You want me to—"
Lizarius finally spoke.
"Learn it."
Lían froze.
"...Learn it?"
Lizarius' voice remained completely calm.
"Learn the technique."
Silence.
Lían stared at him.
His expression gradually changed.
Confusion—
became shock.
Shock—
became horror.
"...So..."
His voice trembled slightly.
"...That was your plan this entire time?"
He took a step backward.
"To turn me into a pill?"
His eyes widened.
"Is that why you said you wouldn't harm me?"
"Because you wanted me to become your Blood Nourishing Pill?"
Silence.
Lizarius simply looked at him.
Several seconds passed.
Then—
he answered.
"No."
Lían froze.
Lizarius continued.
"I have no use for the pill."
"And I have no reason to harm you."
Lían remained silent.
A long breath slowly escaped his lips.
"...That's good to know."
He rubbed his face.
"Seriously..."
He shook his head.
"I was beginning to wonder if everything you've done was just preparation for that."
He looked toward Lizarius again.
"Though..."
His expression became thoughtful.
"If that really was what you wanted..."
"You could have just done it from the beginning."
"You wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble."
A faint, helpless smile appeared on his face.
"It's not like I could have stopped you."
He looked down at himself.
"Even now..."
"I still can't do anything to you if I tried."
He paused.
"So I suppose..."
"...I'm safe from that, at least."
Silence returned.
Lían's expression gradually became serious again.
His gaze remained fixed upon Lizarius.
"But then..."
"Why do you want me to learn it?"
Silence filled the endless white.
Lizarius remained motionless.
Then—
his calm voice finally sounded.
"I want to see how it works."
Lían blinked.
"...What?"
"After reconstructing the technique..."
"I want to observe its actual limits."
His golden eyes remained fixed upon Lían.
"I have already simulated its operation."
"However, simulations cannot completely replace actual cultivation."
"I want to see how quickly you can grow by using it."
Lían stared at him.
His expression slowly became strange.
"...You want me to learn it just for that?"
Lizarius gave no immediate response.
Within his mind—
the reasoning was simple.
*The technique has already been reconstructed.*
*The harmful effects have been removed.*
*The process no longer requires the user to sacrifice their own vitality.*
*Nor does it require another person to be refined into a pill.*
*The only variable I cannot obtain through simulation...*
*is an actual cultivator using the modified technique.*
His gaze remained calm.
*He will serve as the observation target.*
*His cultivation speed.*
*The efficiency of the technique.*
*Its limitations.*
*Its effects on his physique.*
*All of these can be observed directly.*
Lían, however, clearly didn't share his enthusiasm.
"...Wait."
He stared at Lizarius.
"If you want to know how quickly I can grow using it..."
"Why don't you learn it yourself?"
Lizarius looked at him.
"I can't."
Lían froze.
"...You can't?"
A moment of silence followed.
Then Lían frowned.
"But you just said you want to see how it works."
"You're stronger than me."
"If you want to test it..."
He tilted his head.
"...using it yourself would be the best way."
His expression became suspicious.
"Or is there some reason you can't?"
Lizarius answered calmly.
"Because I have already learned it."
Lían's expression became confused.
"...You already learned it?"
"Yes."
"Then why don't you use it?"
"I have no need for it."
Lían stared.
Lizarius continued.
"I consume the creatures I kill."
Lían blinked.
Lizarius' expression remained unchanged.
"If I were to use the technique on them instead..."
He paused briefly.
"...I would be unable to consume them afterward."
Lían's expression slowly stiffened.
"...You..."
He swallowed.
Lizarius continued.
"The process would leave behind nothing useful for me to consume."
Lían fell silent.
He remembered the scene he had just witnessed.
The cultivator draining the life force from others.
The bodies becoming lifeless corpses.
The accumulated energy being refined.
The Blood Nourishing Pill.
His expression became increasingly complicated.
He slowly looked toward Lizarius.
"...I see."
Silence followed.
Then—
Lían shook his head.
"Even so..."
"I still don't want to learn it."
Lizarius watched him.
Lían's expression became firm.
"I know you said you've removed the dangerous parts."
"But I can't stop thinking about what the original technique required."
His gaze lowered toward his hands.
"And I definitely don't want to turn myself into some kind of pill."
His voice became quieter.
"Especially after seeing what happens."
A brief silence followed.
Lían raised his head again.
"...I'm sorry, Master."
"But I don't want to learn it."
Lizarius continued staring at him.
There was no anger in his eyes.
No disappointment.
Only calculation.
That calm, emotionless gaze made Lían slightly uneasy.
Lían shifted his weight.
"...You aren't going to force me, right?"
Silence.
Lían swallowed.
"...Master?"
Still no response.
The silence stretched.
Lían's expression slowly became more nervous.
He stared at the tiny white lizard hovering above him..