Rise of the Alchemy God

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She calmly took a sip from her cup of tea, and Ethan didn't rush her.

He had to admit that, although it was just a simple gesture of drinking tea, there was a certain elegance to it.

This was perhaps natural, considering that the woman in front of him exuded an incredible feminine charm, and even someone like him, who normally didn't lose his composure around beautiful women, had to admit that he struggled to maintain complete calm.

He shook his head to dispel the thoughts that were beginning to arise and waited for the person in front of him to talk about the people they had encountered in the Spirit Forest two days ago.

More precisely, he wanted to know about this strange Qi that the enemies had used in their attacks.

Having fought one of them for a while, he could tell that the energy they were using was not the same as anyone else's.

Whatever it was, it was strong and clearly also a bit malevolent, considering the effects it seemed to have on the person hit by it, but also on the one using it.

Ethan had avoided the attacks heavily infused with that energy and had prevented the enemy from preparing new ones by never giving them enough time to strike.

Ethan didn't know if his battle would have gone so smoothly if the enemy hadn't been caught off guard by him.

Even using Dragon Gaze had helped him a lot in the fight since it constantly stunned the opponent.

The effect of Dragon Gaze was very powerful, but against stronger enemies, its impact was greatly reduced.

Thus, he was only able to stun them and nothing more.

There was also the issue of the spiritual energy consumption it caused, which for his current state was still too high.

In short, he had used what little he could, but it was enough to put the enemy in difficulty.

If only he hadn't used that object, they might have avoided all the subsequent trouble.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw that she was about to begin.

Placing the cup of tea on the saucer on the table, Bai Yu looked at Ethan and opened her mouth.

"Tell me, how much do you know about Qi and spiritual energy?" she asked with a calm expression.

Ethan, hearing the unexpected question, couldn't help but think for a moment before answering:

"The difference between the two is not much, and in a certain sense, you could say that both are two sides of the same coin," he began, saying what he knew about these two types of energy present in this world.

Bai Yu neither nodded nor denied, continuing to listen in silence.

"This is because spiritual energy is the energy present in nature, and we can find it in all living beings.

This is the energy we absorb to strengthen our bodies and our souls to become stronger, thus extending our lifespan and improving our understanding of the world around us," he said.

"All living beings, to use this energy, need an important organ, the dantian.

It is thanks to this organ in our bodies that we absorb the energy present in the environment and convert it into Qi, a refined derivative of spiritual energy that is compatible with our bodies.

Using the refined Qi in our core, we elevate our cultivation little by little, starting from the body, then reaching our soul, and finally merging these two parts into one, achieving what is considered the peak of cultivation, the Fifth Stage," he said, without considering the subsequent stages, as he still knew little about them.

So, he limited himself to the five stages of cultivation in the mortal realm.

She nodded and finally spoke:

"Yes, everything you've said is essentially correct, but there's one thing you haven't grasped," she said.

Hearing her, Ethan wondered what it was.

He didn't immediately understand what she was referring to, but then, thinking back to the sensation he had when encountering those enemies, a spark lit up in his mind.

"Are you referring to the nature of this energy?" he asked.

She nodded and spoke again.

"As you may know, the spiritual energy present in nature doesn't have a real nature of its own.

It is harmless and pure, and only when it is absorbed and refined does it take on a different form," she said, and Ethan nodded.

"We see cases of this when, for example, a cultivator with a certain affinity absorbs and refines it into Qi aligned with their affinity, or when in certain places, there are plants and animals of a specific kind that absorb and release it, modifying it accordingly."

"In this sense, we can consider this energy positive, as its adaptability allows almost anyone to use it without causing harm to the individual," she said, and Ethan finally understood where she was going with all this.

"For a long time, it was thought that there was only this unique energy, which could take on completely different forms, and the researchers who studied it to find other uses had taken it for granted.

This was until word spread that a similar but at the same time opposite form of energy had been found.

The rulers at the time, who were at the peak of cultivation, discovered the existence of a higher-level dimension.

The existence of alternative dimensions was known, and beings at their level were even able to create their own, but those were different from the ones that had formed naturally.

It's not known exactly what happened, but in the pieces of history that have been passed down to our time, it is said that the 10 gods who ruled above the two heavens decided to join forces to open a rift into this dimension.

And they succeeded.

It's not clear what they found inside, but when the group of gods who ventured in emerged, they caused great shock at the time.

Almost half of the gods who had gone into that dimension never returned.

In the texts, it was only said that the gods who returned did everything they could to close the dimension again, and they succeeded, but not without consequence.

From the dimension, a strange energy had leaked out, and once it reached the outside, it began to spread little by little everywhere.

This energy was similar in some ways to spiritual energy, but unlike the first, which tended to adapt to the living being it came into contact with, this one tended to corrupt it."

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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:

Here's today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, or errors to report, you know where to do it.

See you tomorrow.