Rise of the Alchemy God

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Ethan summarized what had happened before and after the incident with the four demons of the spiritual realm, explaining how he ended up in that state.

They knew that Ethan had gone to deal with those demons, so they immediately assumed that these demons might have been too powerful, and as a result, Ethan ended up in that condition. However, after his explanation, they understood that this was not the case.

Naturally, Bai Yu's absence worried everyone, especially because even Ethan himself was unable to contact or perceive her, which was a cause for concern for all.

Guo Lan, in particular, had already grown very fond of Bai Yu, and although they had a master-disciple relationship, to Ethan's eyes, they seemed more like sisters.

Ethan could tell that the wolf girl had started to see Bai Yu as an older sister, and personally, he thought this was a good thing.

Clearly, the two siblings had their fair share of difficulties after their parents' death. Thus, seeing them now healthy and strong, capable of standing on their own two feet, made Ethan feel that perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to have taken them in.

That being said, he naturally omitted the part where he had ended up in his spiritual sea, as well as the matter of the three beasts, whose whereabouts even Ethan himself had no idea of.

He had thought of taking a look at his sea of consciousness after recovering, and now that he had, he figured it was the right moment to do so.

So, after explaining the situation and calming the others, he materialized in his sea of consciousness.

'Let's hope to find some answers here,' he thought as he raised his gaze to locate the enormous amphora suspended in the sky of his sea of consciousness.

"Wait, isn't that..."

Ethan had expected to see some changes in the amphora, more specifically in the runes on it, but he certainly hadn't anticipated the sight of what was floating beside it.

Due to the series of events that had unfolded, Ethan had almost forgotten about the reddish-black sphere, which, just like him, had been absorbed by the amphora.

Who would have thought that the thing would end up in his sea of consciousness?

'It seems like the amphora has sealed it,' he thought as he observed a large rune surrounded by thin inscriptions forming chains wrapped around the black sphere.

Ethan studied the rune and discovered that it was written in the ancient language of the demons.

"Seal of the Heavenly Prison."

Ethan naturally managed to read the characters used, and he had to admit that the naming sense for these sealing techniques was rather peculiar.

Ethan wasn't sure what this "Heavenly Prison" referred to, but he had a feeling it had nothing to do with the Celestial Plane.

That said, he could tell that while the seal was very powerful, he would have been capable of releasing it, though he had no reason to do so at the moment.

Although the large amount of demonic Qi to absorb was tempting, he had a more pressing matter to attend to.

He shifted his gaze toward the enormous body of the amphora and immediately located the section of runes representing Bai Yu's seal.

"The runes... they're missing."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He had a vague idea of why Bai Yu might have suddenly disappeared, but he didn't want to believe it. After all, they had agreed to resolve the matter on the mortal plane and ascend together afterward.

He had the feeling that she hadn't deliberately released the seals. After all, though the situation had been problematic, it wasn't so dire as to force her into making such a decision.

Moreover, there was the matter of the other three beasts that had been awakened in his sea of consciousness.

He immediately noticed that, along with the runes that formed part of Bai Yu's seal, several others were missing. He could tell that those were most likely the runes that represented the seals on the other three beasts.

But now the question arose spontaneously.

Why were all four completely freed? And why during that particular incident?

He knew that the amphora was an extremely powerful artifact, perhaps one of the most powerful of all time. Thus, he was sure it had its own consciousness,or at least a level of awareness substantial enough to make decisions, such as releasing Bai Yu's companions as well.

But if it had done so, then it must have had a reason. And what that reason was, Ethan didn't know.

"Haa... I don't think I'll find answers here," he thought.

Even though his bond with the artifact had grown stronger, he still couldn't understand its intentions, much less communicate with it.

He could tell that it could perform small actions, like releasing the seal that had remained on Bai Yu, but aside from these minor things, there wasn't much else he could do at the moment.

So, he didn't waste any more time and exited his sea of consciousness.

Now that he had recovered, it was time for him to figure out what kind of place he had ended up in.

Yao Hua had asked if she could accompany him, saying she could be of help, but he refused.

He had his means to save himself in case of extreme danger, but he wasn't sure if he could save her as well.

He was in an unfamiliar place, most likely brought here by the previously semi-open portal. As such, danger could very well be lurking around every corner.

So, he took no further risks and set off alone.

He reappeared on the boulder he had climbed earlier to get a better view of the area.

Once there, he expanded his spiritual sense again, trying to see if this time it would work. Unfortunately for him, he failed once more. Continue your journey with empire

"It's as if the medium to expand it is missing," he thought.

Usually, spiritual sense could take various forms.

From the kind where he perceived the surrounding auras emitting invisible waves he could detect, to the one where he emitted an imperceptible wave of spiritual energy to scan the area he could cover, but none of this was working.

Or, to be precise, the waves of spiritual energy he tried to release dissipated immediately, as if this place itself did not allow their existence.

It was as though they refused to function here, but in a more metaphorical sense.

He reflected on this for a while, then decided to try something else.

"Let's see if this works."

This time, he didn't use his pure Qi. Instead, he released his demonic energy and attempted to launch a spiritual wave.

"It works."