Rise of the Alchemy God

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When Lin Yu heard it for the first time, she glanced at Ethan with an expression that seemed to say:

Isn't it obvious why?

But who would have thought that Ethan wouldn't care, and instead, the next day, they found themselves outside the city in a small clearing in the nearby forest, with her holding a sword and him standing calmly in front of her, looking at her with an expression that sent chills down her spine.

"Wait, you don't mean I have to take the test too, right?" she asked in a slightly trembling voice, fearing what was probably about to happen.

"Well, yes, isn't it obvious?" he replied as if it were no big deal.

"I know I said I'd follow you, but there's really no need for me to take the test, you know?

The team allows the participation of slaves who will do the work of porters or material gatherers. There's really no need for me to go to such lengths," she said, thinking that Ethan hadn't considered this alternative.

But unfortunately for her, it didn't seem like she had a choice.

"You asked to follow me, and in exchange, you agreed to follow my instructions. I can't take you around and have to take care of you every time.

It's time for you to start cultivating and becoming stronger.

You can't always rely on others to save your skin," Ethan said, noticing the elven girl's childish behavior.

Due to her mature demeanor, he often forgot that the girl was still very young, but he was glad to see that her childish side was still present.

He might not have gone through her life experiences, but he had faced his fair share of problems as a young man when he was still a student, and his parents had passed away.

Back then, he had learned that it was better to grow up quickly if one didn't want to be swallowed up by the rest of the world.

Seeing the elven girl now, he couldn't help but compare her to his younger self, so he decided to help her, even if just a little.

The girl had all the potential to become a powerhouse that would stand out compared to many others.

The only thing she lacked was resources, and Ethan, who had the means to help her, decided to do so,

at least enough for her to stand on her own two feet without having to seek help from others, as she had done so far.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Relying on others wasn't a problem, but he knew that continuing to do so was unsustainable, and in many cases, it would do more harm than good. It was better to make her understand this as soon as possible.

"Cultivate? Me?" she said in a low voice, thinking about it for a moment.

The elven girl had, in the past, thought about secretly cultivating and becoming strong enough to escape from here, but there was one problem.

In this place, there wasn't any positive spiritual energy to use for cultivation.

Since she wasn't a demonic being, she couldn't use demonic Qi for cultivation, as doing so would slowly corrupt her body. She would end up becoming a being without a mind, driven entirely by her primal instincts.

A brainless beast, so to speak.

Given this, she thought it was better to remain a slave and wait for another opportunity rather than risk cultivating in these conditions and dying by absorbing demonic Qi.

So hearing the other party say that she had to cultivate brought her neither joy nor anything else.

She was about to tell him that she couldn't cultivate because she wasn't a demon like him, but just as she was about to do so, she heard a rustling sound and saw something small flying toward her.

Instinctively, she caught it.

The object's speed wasn't too high and it hadn't been thrown with too much force, so she was able to see it and catch it quite easily.

Huh?

She opened her palm and saw a small round object, similar to a bead.

The object had a smooth and durable surface, as if it were made of transparent glass. Inside, there was a strange white light that seemed to be contained by the outer layer, preventing it from emitting any rays of light externally.

As she observed it, she felt a faint aura emanating from it, and for some reason, it had a strange effect on her.

'I feel… refreshed?'

She was a bit confused by this object and looked at Ethan, who had thrown it.

"That's a Spiritual Qi Pearl. It will help you by providing refined spiritual Qi, ready to be absorbed into your dantian," he explained as if he already knew what she was thinking.

"What? This is refined spiritual Qi?" She realized that this was likely condensed spiritual Qi in the form of this bead.

This explained the refreshing effect it seemed to have on her, just from inhaling its faint aura.

Naturally, she didn't know that spiritual Qi could be condensed into something like this, but that wasn't what surprised her the most.

What astonished her was the fact that the demon before her possessed such an item.

She could have guessed that it was something he might have collected during a journey to another dimension, but why keep it with him?

After all, it was known that spiritual energy and demonic energy were like the poles of two magnets.

They repelled each other, and it was impossible to assimilate both because they were opposites.

Just as she was about to ask more about the pearl, she stopped herself.

She knew the other party had a mysterious background, and although he was a demon, he was very different from others she had encountered.

His knowledge of this place itself was too limited, something that shouldn't have been possible, even if he were a soldier from another demonic base.

But all of this didn't matter to her then. What mattered was the fact that her instincts told her that following him would benefit her, and from how he had treated her during this short period, it seemed she hadn't been wrong.

She naturally had her doubts about him, but she didn't dare to ask.

She understood that the other party had his secrets, and it wasn't wise to meddle too much in other people's affairs, or she might risk being abandoned by him.

She might still have her slightly childish side, but she had also developed a level of maturity over the past three years. So she tightened her grip on the pearl and gave a slight bow to Ethan, saying:

"Thank you, Master."

This time, however, the word "Master" didn't mean "owner," but more like a teacher who had decided to help her become stronger.