Rise of the Alchemy God

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Ethan's breath almost caught in his throat as he admired the sight of the person sitting not far from him.

'W-wait, is that Bai Yu?'

He thought, as his mind struggled to process the image of the woman sitting in front of him.

He had already seen Bai Yu's physical form, and although he found her very beautiful and attractive, he had developed a certain level of resistance against her natural beauty.

But now, all that resistance seemed useless as the goddess-like woman, with a slight smile on her face, looked at him.

'Damn, why the hell has she suddenly become even more beautiful than before?

Is it possible I'm still dreaming?' he thought, instinctively trying to pinch himself.

With some effort, he managed to pinch his extremely resilient skin, and noticed that the scene in front of him didn't change.

'Wait a second... why does her appearance seem so... real?'

It didn't take long for Ethan to realize that, aside from the fact that she somehow seemed even more beautiful than before, everything about her appeared so real, almost as if she wasn't a spiritual manifestation but rather a real body.

Thinking about this possibility, his eyes widened as he said:

"Have you regained your physical body?" uncertain about his own assumption.

Upon hearing Ethan's words, Bai Yu's smile widened, and Ethan, noticing this change, received yet another critical blow.

'This woman has become even more dangerous,' he thought, referring more to her natural beauty.

"So, what do you think? Don't you agree I've become even more charming than before?" she said, finally standing up and dispersing the cloud chair.

Hearing her, Ethan almost instinctively wanted to give a positive response but held himself back with great effort and said:

"You're not much different from before," he said, but in his mind, he was thinking something else.

'Come on, Ethan, don't fall into temptation.

Resist, for the sake of your pride as a man,' he told himself mentally, trying to strengthen his resolve against her.

After finally calming down a bit, he asked:

"Now that you have regained your physical form, will you still be able to enter my spiritual sea?" he asked, considering this possibility.

He could sense that under the surface of his spiritual sea, Bai Yu's gigantic draconic form seemed to have disappeared.

This instinctively made him wonder if she could still enter his sea of consciousness, and the answer was:

"Yes, although I've almost completely freed myself from the seal of the amphora, a part of me is still inside it.

For example, at this moment, my cultivation base is only slightly higher than a cultivator at the Fifth Stage who has just broken through.

A large part of my original cultivation is still sealed inside the amphora, which resides in your spiritual sea.

I can still manifest a piece of my soul in your spiritual sea," she said.

At this information, Ethan felt a certain sense of relief.

He wasn't sure why, but knowing this reassured him a bit.

'Maybe I've gotten too used to her presence in my head,' he thought, shaking his head a little.

Finally, he brushed off these thoughts and asked what she intended to do now.

Although her cultivation base was only at the early Fifth Stage, there were few individuals in the mortal realm who could pose a threat to her, so she could easily go out and explore the outside world.

Ethan thought this was what she wanted; after all, she had spent centuries inside the amphora.

If he had been in her position, he would have done what he had avoided doing multiple times in his previous world.

Go out and touch some grass.

Literally, in this case.

"I think I'll stay here with you inside.

The environment here isn't bad at all.

It's serene, and not much different from what's outside," she said, glancing at the vast plantations of various herbs that, from a distance, gave a beautiful picturesque view.

"Although, I wouldn't mind going outside for a while once you've finished your isolation in here.

What do you say?

You've got such a beautiful woman in front of you, and you're not even proposing to take her out?" she teased him once again.

Ethan didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this new side of Bai Yu.

And without holding back, he responded.

"A beautiful woman, huh? Where is she? Why doesn't she show herself?"

With that said, he was glad to see that she hadn't turned out to be the typical ice-cold woman often depicted in the novels he used to read in his old world.

Although his initial impression of her was indeed that, over time, she had opened up a bit, showing her true personality, which apparently was quite playful.

Ethan would never admit it, but deep down, he didn't mind this side of her.

He realized that even his initial wariness toward her had faded over time.

He didn't know if this was a good thing or not, but he knew it made no sense to dwell on it now.

It wasn't bad to have someone to rely on for once in his life.

In his previous world, he hadn't had such a person, and in this one, he had almost two.

Thinking for a moment about the second person, Ethan corrected his thoughts.

'Well, maybe one and a half.'

Poor Da Shu, without any reason, ended up being treated this way.

Ethan then remembered someone else who was not currently present here.

'Hm, I wonder what happened to Zhong Hei.'

He did a search mental check, and soon found him.

Apparently, the little creature had fallen asleep inside his sea of consciousness.

Ethan wondered if he could bring him out of his spiritual sea and tried sending a mental transmission to the creature.

The little being, who was peacefully asleep, woke up upon receiving Ethan's thoughts and was confused for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Then, as if a light bulb went off in his head, it moved as its body vibrated slightly, releasing a thin layer of greenish light.

That layer completely enveloped it, and as if by magic, it disappeared from his sea of consciousness and appeared before him.

'Hm? So I can summon it mentally?' he thought, wondering if he could also reverse the process.

The small creature, resembling a black serpent with horns, recovered and looked around, examining its new surroundings.

Now with this issue resolved, Ethan thought it was time to resume cultivating.

He had already taken a long enough break due to his problem with the cocoon of light.

Now that he had settled that issue and successfully broken through to the Fourth Stage,

it was time to resume cultivating and lay the foundations for the next cultivation stage.