Rise of the Alchemy God

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As soon as the battle in the sky ended, Ethan could feel his clone dissipate and return to his body, bringing with it the demonic Qi of the three demons he hadn't completely destroyed.

He had sealed them and sent them directly to the minor dimension, a suitable place to hold them while he finished his battle here.

He had to admit that the other side was quite persistent.

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The fight between the two continued for a while longer, and during this new exchange of blows, Ethan repeatedly pushed his opponent to the brink of death. Yet, every time, the latter managed to partially recover his energy.

Ethan had noticed that this seemed to be due to an artifact his opponent was carrying, and he was curious to know what it was.

After all, it had saved him so many times.

If he could acquire it and use it himself, it would be like having extra lives.

But he could tell the artifact came at a heavy price, and from what he could observe, the other side could no longer use it.

He prepared to finally put an end to this battle.

It had been a good fight, as it had allowed him to test some of his new techniques as well as his recently acquired strength.

Now he could say with absolute certainty that unless the other side had some strange and powerful artifact, as long as they were in the spiritual realm's first stage, it was impossible for him to lose.

Even more so after his stat limits had increased twice, reaching a very high point even for him.

Although he hadn't yet reached the high-level limit of the first stage, he was certain he'd get close to it after absorbing these four demons.

With that in mind, as Ethan was ready to make his next move, the other side, who at this point also realized they were nearing the end of the line,

looked toward the human who had pushed him to this state.

Finally, gritting his teeth, he couldn't help but say:

"Who would've thought that I, Yi Tiao, would be brought to this state, and by a mere human no less," he said, frustrated.

But he didn't care if the other side heard him and added:

"Since we've come to this point, let me leave you a parting gift. I'm sure you'll appreciate it," he said as a dark red aura began to emanate from him.

A cold presence began to spread from him, and with a deadly calm, the demon raised a hand.

His skin started tearing along the surface of his flesh, causing black, pitch-like blood to spill out.

The blood mixed with the surrounding water, creating a visible distortion in the current.

Each drop dispersed into the water, emitting a faint flame visible even in the darkness of the ocean depths, where no light could reach.

Seeing this scene, both Ethan and Bai Yu, who was at a safe distance, felt a bad premonition.

Bai Yu, in particular, narrowed her gaze as she noticed a detail. She quickly sent a mental communication to Ethan to warn him of the danger:

"Ethan, we need to stop him immediately! We can't let him comple-"

Unfortunately for both of them, her warning came too late, as Yi Tiao, with a decisive move, drew dark symbols in the water with his own blood.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The marks floated and intertwined, forming an ancient seal that pulsed with an unsettling power.

Each symbol created concentric waves that expanded across the vast sea, like ripples on a calm surface but with a force that shook the depths.

Then, with an agonizing scream that echoed in the darkness, the demon chanted an ancient spell, and the surrounding water began to twist and boil.

A deep tremor shook the ocean depths, and the marine currents froze, while the formation around him exploded into a vortex of purple energy.

The waves went wild, rising higher, and the demon, with a powerful gesture, directed his demonic essence toward the series of symbols he had created.

They quickly began forming a new sequence, and soon a beam of red light shot downward from them.

'Oh no.'

Directly beneath the area where the demon had erected the formation was the black-red sphere, which, struck by the beam, began to pulse with energy.

Soon, reality itself started to fracture around it.

Ethan, seeing all of this, immediately asked Bai Yu what was happening, only to notice that she seemed to have vanished.

And by vanished, he meant completely disappeared.

'Wait, what?!'

He usually wouldn't panic in a situation like this because he and Bai Yu shared a mental bond that allowed them to sense each other even if they were on opposite sides of the world.

Yet, in this moment, he couldn't feel her presence or that bond at all.

Just as he was wondering what was happening, the cracks that had spread further and further from the black sphere finally fractured, revealing what lay behind them.

"In the name of the heavens, what the hell is that?" he murmured as an almost unsettling sight unfolded before him.

The entire area, which moments ago had been filled with cracks, no longer showed the view of the ocean's deep waters but rather complete darkness that seemed to expand endlessly in every direction.

The demon Yi Tiao, who had now been almost entirely consumed by the formation he had just created using himself, spoke before even the last part of him was completely obliterated:

"Hahaha! If I were you, I'd get comfortable," he said, laughing like a madman who had lost his last shred of sanity.

"Now that the portal is open, both you and this plane are doomed," he said as the rest of him disappeared, leaving behind only his laughter, which echoed for a while before fading away as well.

"The portal? That lunatic actually activated the portal directly in the mortal plane!"

Ethan immediately realized that the situation was far more problematic than he had expected.

He had wondered what that thing was and why the amphora reacted to it.

It turned out that the sphere was precisely the means by which the demons intended to attack. And unfortunately for him,

the sphere had been activated right here in the mortal plane.