Rise of the Alchemy God

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It had been some time since Ethan locked himself inside the minor dimension, and since then, almost 20 days had passed in the outside world, which meant 5 years had passed in the minor dimension.

Inside the dimension, everything was calm and serene as always, and the rich vegetation continued to grow in peace.

What had once been a fairly large herb garden had now nearly doubled in size.

Given the time that had passed inside, the total dimensions of the garden should have been even more enormous, but Ethan eventually decided that further expansion wasn't necessary.

For almost all the herbs he was cultivating here, there was already more than enough space, and expanding it further was pointless.

So, he decided to stop and simply store the herbs that grew regularly here.

If one were to look at his dimensional pocket, they would notice several compartments filled to the brim with every type of plant and medicinal herb.

This amount alone would last him for several years if used sparingly.

If converted into pills, it would yield at least a few thousand level 2 pills, tens of thousands of level 1 pills, and so on.

One of the many reasons he decided not to expand the garden further was due to the maintenance it required.

If he wanted the herbs to keep growing healthily, he needed to constantly tend to the garden.

Some of the herbs were, in a sense, self-sufficient and didn't need any special care, but many others required that every few months, Ethan would harvest them and tend to the soil, ensuring it maintained its properties.

It was during moments like these that he contemplated the idea of hiring staff to work here.

He had thought about it many times, and the idea was feasible.

The basic problem was the risk of revealing the existence of his minor dimension, but if he made the staff sign a soul contract and agreed to live here permanently, it could save him from this concern.

Of course, this plan had several flaws, not to mention that morally, Ethan didn't think that was quite right, so he found himself back where he started.

This was until, at one point, the system underwent an update.

Two years after he had been inside, he finally reached the peak of the third cultivation stage, and now the only thing left was to wait for the cocoon of light to hatch and for the creature inside to finally be born.

Although he had already reached the limit of this stage and had completely strengthened his Dantian, he couldn't move on to the next step until he had assimilated the spirit beast inside the cocoon.

Even the system didn't give him the option to advance to the next stage in exchange for a certain number of SP this time.

This only confirmed what Bai Yu had told him about the fragility of the human soul and how it wasn't advisable to take the next step without that crucial element.

An element that, over the last five years, had drained his Qi like a bottomless parasite.

Finally, three years after reaching the peak of his current stage, a change occurred in the cocoon of light within his spiritual sea.

Both Ethan and Bai Yu were already present, ready to witness the birth of the creature inside.

They had both been waiting for this moment for five years and were eager to finally discover what creature was inside.

Ever since Bai Yu had told him she felt some suppression of her bloodline, Ethan had been wondering what kind of creature was inside the cocoon.

After all, according to what she had said, her bloodline should technically be one of the purest dragon bloodlines in existence, so it was rare to find another dragon that could have such an effect on her.

According to her, even the current emperor of the dragon race had never had such an effect on her.

Needless to say, after hearing this information, Ethan was even more wary of the creature inside the cocoon.

"Are you sure it'll be safe to let it be born?" Ethan asked for confirmation while both of them observed the changes happening in the cocoon of light.

"I can't say for sure, but the fact remains that you've already formed a bond of sorts, so there shouldn't be any danger," she said.

The intensity of the light emitted by the cocoon increased, and the figure inside began to twist more violently.

The process continued for a while, and then it finally happened.

CRACK!

A crack appeared, and blue-green light leaked out.

CRACK!

And another, and then another.

Within a few seconds, the cocoon began to fracture, covered in cracks, and then, without warning—

BOOM!

The cocoon of light exploded, sending a wave of black-green energy rippling out for at least 1,000 meters in Ethan's spiritual sea.

Though neither he nor Bai Yu suffered any backlash from this energy wave, Ethan felt his spiritual sea tremble as a black-blue-green cloud began to gather around the cocoon's area.

The cloud gave off a menacing feeling, and once released, as if it had its own will, it began to swirl, condensing at the center of the vortex it created.

In no time, the vortex, which had a diameter exceeding two meters, shrank smaller and smaller until it was the size of a basketball.

At last, the vortex began to calm, and the mist that had formed it started to dissipate.

As the mist cleared, some features of the newly born figure became visible.

A half-meter-long body, entirely covered in shiny black-gray scales.

Two pairs of glimmering eyes that seemed to be a mix of black, blue, and green, and a slender, snake-like snout with an elegant, sharp form.

Its mouth opened, revealing razor-sharp teeth, ready to catch any prey.

Two small horns, resembling tree branches, extended backward from its head as it lifted its head majestically.

Though the creature was newly born, Ethan could feel a strange, almost ancient aura emanating from it.

Just as he was wondering what kind of being this creature was, a familiar sound echoed in his mind.

DING!

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a primordial chaos beast.]

[Would you like to proceed with binding it to your soul?]

[Y/N]