Rise of the Alchemy God

Chapter 208: The Stick and the Carrot

.

Ethan ultimately decided to set aside the matter of how Bai Yu had acquired the objects.

Together, they agreed to find a suitable place within his minor dimension to safeguard them.

While they were still searching for an appropriate spot and preparing it to ensure the objects wouldn't be lost under any circumstances, he would keep them in his dimensional space.

It was as if they had been locked in an almost impenetrable safe, the location of which was unknown to all.

Bai Yu knew that Ethan had a dimensional space, so he wasn't surprised when he stored the objects there.

Ethan, however, had no idea where exactly this space existed.

Wherever it was, it seemed tied to the amphora. This made it sufficiently secure, and even she understood that.

Thus, she had no issues with him keeping the objects there.

With that being said, the amount of information Bai Yu had given him was hard to digest. If everything she had said was true, many of his future plans would have to change.

For example, he had been taking his time with his cultivation.

He had participated in the Imperial Tournament when he could have easily skipped it and secluded himself for further cultivation.

Even though he possessed all the means, he often diverted his attention to various tasks, which further slowed his progress.

Of course, his cultivation speed was already far superior to anyone else's, whether mortal or otherwise. Experience tales at M V L

However, he hadn't felt the need to rush before.

With his minor dimension, where time was abundant, he believed he could dedicate himself to everything he wanted while maintaining a good cultivation pace.

But now, with the revelation that the seal on the continents was weakening and that the demons had seemingly found a way to cross it, albeit in very small numbers, it put him on high alert.

Ethan and Bai Yu did not know the full extent of the demons' power. Thus, caution was necessary.

The demon Bai Yu had killed was, in her estimation, at a decent level.

In other words, Bai Yu could have also defeated it with relative ease.

She could destroy their bodies, but she couldn't eliminate their demonic Qi. This became evident when she brought back what seemed to be the demon's core, which contained all its corrupt Qi.

She could fight them in large numbers but she could not annihilate them completely.

So if they attacked in large numbers, she would face problems after a while.

That's where Ethan came in.

With the power of his special physique, he was capable of extracting and absorbing demonic energy.

In other words, he could truly kill them, permanently. Not only that, but he could also strengthen himself in the process.

Neither of them knew how many fifth-stage beings the demon race had, but they could safely assume there were more than just one or two.

Most likely, there were at least several dozen.

If Ethan wanted to face them all effectively, he needed to grow stronger, and quickly.

Ethan had already planned to retreat into closed-door cultivation after some time. However, now he knew he would have to accelerate some of his plans.

He decided that by the end of the year, he would enter closed-door cultivation. In the meantime, he would make some initial preparations.

He still wished to repay his debt to the White Phoenix Sect.

Alongside that, there were a few minor matters to address, such as his business relationship with the Peng family and the more immediate issue of the auction.

During last night's banquet, the ten judges had discussed the matter with him.

In the end, they decided to hold the auction a week after the tournament concluded.

Ethan resolved to settle some affairs during this period before focusing entirely on his cultivation until the day of the auction arrived.

Among the few things he did during this time was capture the three demonic cultivators.

Rather than kill them, he decided they would be more useful alive.

he extracted the demonic Qi from their bodies and placed soul seals on them, marks left on a person's soul to ensure they could never betray him.

Essentially, they became slaves.

His initial idea had been to kill them outright.

He knew they hadn't been forced to join the demon race but had done so willingly.

All except the woman, whose circumstances seemed special. But to Ethan's eyes, even she was no different from a traitor to her own race.

Although his soul puppets were performing well and growing more intelligent by the year, their overall work was still lacking in some areas. Ethan decided to remedy this by sending the three to his minor dimension.

With them there, he could always keep an eye on them and know if they plotted anything against him.

Moreover, with the soul seal in place, they couldn't disobey his orders. Thus, even against their will, they became Ethan's personal gardeners.

Initially, he had planned to simply execute them.

After all, with their cultivation regressed to the second stage following the extraction of all their demonic Qi, they would only have a little more than a century of life left.

In other words, they would die in just a year in the real world, as a century in his minor dimension passed in the blink of an eye.

To solve this problem, he decided to reward them if they achieved good results.

Essentially, he gave them a cultivation technique to properly reach the third stage and told them to cultivate in that place while tending to the innermost parts of his herb garden.

He also promised that if they did a good job, he would provide them with many resources to break through to the fifth stage without any problems.

At the mention of this, all three seemed pleased and willingly accepted the deal, which they would have had to accept regardless of resistance.

Ethan didn't mind having subordinates of this level.

In his mind, he thought that if he ever ascended, he could leave them behind to take care of his affairs.

In essence, he was using the strategy of the stick and the carrot.

Although they bore the soul seal and had no choice when it came to obeying his commands, he planned to reward them gradually over time.

This way, they wouldn't feel completely forced but more like employees working in exchange for substantial pay.

After settling the matter with the three demonic cultivators, he turned his focus to his own cultivation.

A day before the auction, he made the final breakthrough and stepped into the second level of the fifth stage.