Rise of the Alchemy God

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For Guo Tao, the following sequence of events happened far too quickly.

Somehow, his ordinary day had turned into being abducted by a stranger.

Now, in the room where Bai Yu and Ethan were staying, Guo Tao sat trembling in front of Ethan, who stared him down with piercing eyes.

"Well, are you finally ready to talk?" Ethan asked in a low, menacing voice.

Under Ethan's intimidating gaze, Guo Tao was shaking, wondering if he could escape this situation at all.

He wanted to ask for their help to cure his sister, but at the same time, he feared that making such an abrupt request might bring trouble upon himself.

Seeing the boy tremble, Ethan was about to speak again when,

Bump!

Bai Yu smacked him on the head as she approached the frightened boy.

"I told you not to scare him,

Don't worry, he's just teasing you" she said as she approached him, smiling warmly.

Witnessing the scene, Ethan thought in frustration

'Woman, why do you make me look like the bad guy?'

Feeling more at ease with the blue-eyed woman, Guo Tao decided to take a chance and, with great difficulty, said:

"I-I just wanted to find a cure for my sister."

Hearing this, an invisible question mark seemed to appear above both Ethan's and Bai Yu's heads.

"My sister… It's been years since she fell ill.

The doctor who examined her doesn't know what disease she has, so now she's bedridden.

When I saw you two, I thought maybe you'd know something about her illness," Guo Tao explained.

"Hmm? What makes you think we could help? You don't even know us," Ethan responded coldly.

Bai Yu nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's because you're strong…?" Guo Tao answered hesitantly.

"…"

"…"

'What kind of logic is that?' Ethan thought as he was about to say something but was stopped by Bai Yu's gaze.

She turned to the boy and asked gently, "Why do you think we're strong?"

"Because of your complete human forms," Guo Tao replied, somewhat confused.

Bai Yu and Ethan exchanged puzzled glances.

Then, noticing something unusual, Bai Yu asked,

"Wait, can you see our true forms?"

Guo Tao nodded uncertainly, not understanding why the question was significant.

Ethan couldn't fathom how the boy could see through his illusion spell, but then an idea struck him.

'Wait, I might be able to use that.'

When Ethan broke into the spiritual realm, he unlocked new system features, one of which was an intriguing item in the system's shop.

He opened the system interface and navigated to the shop section.

'There it is.'

He selected the item he was looking for and issued a mental command.

'Analyze the boy in front of me.'

As soon as the command was given, a familiar sound echoed in his mind, and a screen appeared before him.

Ding!

Ding!

[Analysis of the beastman in progress...]

[Analysis complete.]

[Information is ready to be viewed.]

[Cost: 100 Sp]

Without hesitation, Ethan paid the price, and a status screen listing Guo Tao's information appeared before him.

.

[---------------------------------

Name

: Guo Tao

Age

: 15

Cultivation

: N/A

Description

: A boy from the White Wolf race, originating from Tiān Shù City.

...

Abilities

:

> Eye of Clarity (lvl. 1)

----------------------------------]

.

Aside from the boy's basic information, there wasn't much else to see until Ethan checked the abilities section and noticed he had one.

'Eye of Clarity?'

One of the system's functions allowed him to "Analyze," an ability to discern detailed information about living beings or objects.

So far, Ethan hadn't found much use for it, but now he decided to test its effectiveness, and the results didn't disappoint.

He wondered if this ability was what allowed Guo Tao to see through their illusion spell.

Ethan selected the ability, and another screen appeared before him:

.

[--------------------------------

[Eye of Clarity]

Level

: 1

Description

: This ability grants the user the power to pierce through illusions and deception, revealing the hidden truth behind any facade.

----------------------------------]

.

Reading the description, Ethan couldn't help but be impressed.

'What a broken ability,' he thought, imagining the various uses for such a skill.

However, he wondered how a boy with no cultivation base could possess such an ability.

Judging by their earlier interaction, it seemed Guo Tao didn't even know he had this skill and considered it a normal trait.

Ethan was confident in this assessment, as his current cultivation level made it easy to detect lies or inconsistencies in others.

When the boy said he could see their true forms, Ethan could tell he genuinely didn't know about the illusion spell Ethan had cast on himself.

The illusion spell wasn't particularly powerful, and Ethan had thought it sufficient for their needs.

But now, reconsidering the situation, he thought he should have strengthened it a bit more.

In an unfamiliar territory, even a simple stroll through the city could lead to exposure.

Not that it was a huge problem, but Ethan preferred to avoid unnecessary complications.

With that in mind, he asked the boy,

"I don't know what made you think we could help, but even if we could,why would we?

What's in it for us?"

His tone was serious.

Personally, Ethan wasn't too interested in the situation.

Apart from his curiosity about the boy's unique ability, nothing else drew his attention.

He might feel a bit of sympathy for the boy, but that was all.

Ethan knew firsthand how harsh the world could be, but that didn't mean he'd go around helping everyone in need.

His harsh demeanor toward Guo Tao was also a way to teach the boy a lesson, that running to strangers for help could lead to trouble or even death.

Hearing Ethan's serious tone, Guo Tao felt a heavy pressure descend on him, making it hard to maintain eye contact.

Clenching his fists, he struggled to push away the fear.

He was certain these people could help his sister.

To him, they were high-level cultivators, perhaps even members of a noble family.

Surely, they had access to better doctors who could cure his sister.

Gathering all his courage, he kept his gaze fixed on Ethan's eyes and said:

"I-I'm willing to do anything to save my sister," tears streaming down his face.

"Anything, you say? What if I asked for your life?"