An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”Yinlingquan, Qiuxu, Yongquan, Dadun, Xiangu, and Li Neiting. The six major acupuncture points on both feet have finally been stimulated once.”

Inside the dim cave, Luo Chen grit his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging as sweat dripped freely down his face. Despite days of brutal training, the pain of stimulating all six acupuncture points simultaneously was still overwhelming—blinding and bone-deep. Yet he endured.

Yet, Luo Chen stubbornly endured it. To put it plainly, it was just pain—it didn’t pose any real threat to his life.

Moreover, he had used spirit energy to shield the meridians around the six acupuncture points, greatly reducing the risk of internal injuries. . So all that remained was sheer, unrelenting agony. Nothing life-threatening. Just... intense.

To keep himself sane, he tried to reframe the torment. It’s just a vicious foot massage, he told himself, the kind where the masseur goes straight for the kidney reflex zones with full force. The thought almost made him laugh—almost.

Time crawled forward like a wounded beast. It felt like an eternity before he finally ended the current round of training. Luo Chen slumped against the cave wall, completely drenched in sweat and finally ended his session of practicing the Divine Breaker of Malevolence.

He released the spirit needles embedded in the six points and let out a long, ragged breath.

Just six acupuncture points, he thought bitterly. And it already feels like I’m being torn apart. What happens when all thirty-six are stimulated at once? Will I ascend to heaven on the spot?

Luo Chen shuddered at the thought, unable to imagine the full-force operation of Divine Breaker of Malevolence in the future.

He checked the time. In reality, not even a full incense stick had burned down. And yet the ordeal had felt like an entire lifetime. The harrowing sensation of being worse than dead lingered in Luo Chen’s mind, filling him with a newfound respect for Wang Yuan and the martial arts grandmaster who had pioneered this technique.

Among mortals, only a rare few could rise above the rest and claim the title of martial prodigy. If nothing else, their immense willpower alone was far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Even the vast majority of Qi-Refining Realm cultivators couldn’t compare to them.

As for Luo Chen, he was currently just at the Beginner level, merely confronting the most common negative emotion—pain. To cultivate an indomitable willpower that feared neither life nor death, he still had a long, a very long way to go.

”Today’s Divine Breaker of Malevolence practice ends here. Next up is the cultivation of my primary technique.” Luo Chen muttered to himself.

Compared to the excruciating pain of Divine Breaker of Malevolence, the Long Spring Art felt almost adorable. In the past, repeating the cycle multiple times per day would leave his body and soul drained. Even with the aid of calming incense and essence-nurturing liquid, Luo Chen had often felt taxed to his limits.

But now? After surviving far worse, those days felt like child’s play. Mere drizzle compared to a storm.

After completing his preparations, Luo Chen began practicing the Long Spring Art as usual. His body acted like a vortex, capturing, absorbing, and refining the wood-element spirit energy gathered by the spirit array, transforming it into his own unique spirit power.

Time passed. Darkness gave way to the faint hues of dawn.

Suddenly, Luo Chen’s eyes snapped open. On his status panel, a glowing line of text shimmered like starlight.

Long Spring Art: Perfected Mastery

There was no great surprise—this was something Luo Chen had anticipated. The day he reached Perfected Mastery in the Long Spring Art had been drawing near for some time, and he’d already prepared himself mentally for the moment.

He gained another achievement point.

However, Luo Chen ignored it entirely. Taking a deep breath, he began practicing the Long Spring Art once more, seeking to identify any changes from before.

At first, nothing seemed different.

The efficiency with which he captured and refined spirit energy remained the same. His dantian’s capacity hadn’t expanded. His twelve principal meridians and eight extraordinary vessels were as they had been before—no broader, no clearer. The characteristic of automatic energy recovery still persisted.

So, where was the change?

Luo Chen halted the Long Spring Art practice and instinctively unleashed a palm strike imbued with spirit power.

Boom! A section of the rock wall was reduced to fine powder.

Noticing the slight increase in power compared to usual, Luo Chen suddenly understood.

“So I was right...” he muttered under his breath, realization dawning in his eyes.

Perfected Mastery of the Long Spring Art has restored the purity in my spirit power—the purity that the Medicine King Sect’s early tampering had stripped away. Now, whenever I cultivate, my spirit power undergoes an active refinement...

It was a subtle change, nearly imperceptible. But under Luo Chen’s careful scrutiny, the transformation became clear. The effect wasn’t passive—it only took place when he deliberately circulated the technique. Still, even if it required effort, it was enough.

“Foundation Establishment is within reach!” Luo Chen declared inwardly, his heart alight with a quiet, fierce joy.

Luo Chen exhaled a long breath of stale air, feeling as though countless worries and troubles had left with it.

According to Mi Shuhua’s Qi-Refining Insights, Foundation Establishment required overcoming three hurdles, divine soul, physical body, and spirit power.

The divine soul affected the spirit consciousness born after Foundation Establishment. The stronger the divine soul, the stronger the foundation of the spirit consciousness, enabling better control of spirit power during Foundation Establishment. Afterward, the extended spirit consciousness would also be more potent. If one’s innate soul was incomplete, Foundation Establishment was almost impossible.

This was one aspect Luo Chen wasn’t overly concerned about. Having once survived a Heart Tribulation, his soul strength had already doubled compared to before.

The second hurdle was the physical body. This one was straightforward. Any cultivator who reached the Perfected Mastery of Qi-Refining typically had a body honed through years of practice and tempered by mild spirit energies. The only concern was that if Foundation Establishment failed, a weak body could easily sustain irreparable injuries.

Again, Luo Chen had little to fear here. He had consumed plenty of demonic beast meat, spirit rice and frequently used essence nurturing liquid to boost his vitality. Although most of that vitality was used to aid in refining external spirit energy, the remainder constantly contributed to strengthening his foundation.

The only hurdle that had worried Luo Chen for a long time was the third one—spirit power.

Throughout his journey, Luo Chen had relied heavily on pills. So much so, he’d developed a resistance to qi-nourishing pills In theory, using pills for cultivation shouldn’t pose a significant issue. However he had heard that even disciples of great sects, despite their generous benefits, faced strict limits on their monthly pill consumption. It was said that this was to avoid excessive reliance on pill cultivation, which could result in unstable and impure refined spirit power.

During the Foundation Establishment breakthrough, insufficiently refined spirit power could easily lead to failure.

Cultivators were once called ”Qi-Refining Scholars” and their practice revolved around the energy in their chests. If the energy wasn’t pure, how could they overcome barriers or achieve longevity?

Even the great sects, with their abundant resources, were cautious. So for a rogue cultivator like Luo Chen, it was no wonder he had exhausted every means to purify his spirit power. Fighting and practicing Divine Breaker of Malevolence were among his efforts.

Now, with the Long Spring Art having reached Perfected Mastery, that long-standing concern had finally been put to rest.

”Next up...” Luo Chen murmured, ”I need to consider the Foundation Establishment pill required for my breakthrough.”

Then he caught himself and chuckled. ”No—not yet. I should reach Perfected Mastery of Qi-Refining first.”

Luo Chen glanced at his cultivation progress bar and couldn’t help but smile. He was still at the seventh stage of Qi-Refining, yet his thoughts had ventured so far ahead.

As for how to acquire the Foundation Establishment pill when the time came, Luo Chen already had a plan in mind.

Mi Shuhua’s promise couldn’t be trusted. Who knew if Mi Shuhua would even want to help him? If he thought Luo Chen would become harder to control after Foundation Establishment, he might go beyond to obstruct him instead.

Luo Chen could only rely on his own efforts!

The direction of his efforts was straightforward.

Save money!

Save spirit stones!

Save enough spirit stones and actively participate in every auction. The major sects hadn’t completely excluded rogue cultivators. Whenever Foundation Establishment pills were put up for auction, one or two would always be reserved for rogue cultivators.

That would be Luo Chen’s chance!

Buzz! A faint rumble echoed, jolting Luo Chen out of his thoughts.

What was going on outside? He quickly got up and dressed.

After putting away the spirit-gathering array and leaving the hidden spirit array active, he hurried to the Alchemy Hall.

As he stepped outside, the sound grew even louder.

Boom! Another thunderous crash resounded, and a silver-white lightning bolt appeared across the sky.

”Thunderstorm!”. Luo Chen muttered in realization and reached out through the cliff wall.

Fine raindrops landed on his hand.

Winter had passed.

With spring thunder, all things came to life! [1]

1. In ancient Chinese culture, the passing of winter and the arrival of spring were celebrated as a time of renewal, growth, and vitality. Spring was more than just a season; it was a symbol of hope, prosperity, and harmony with nature. This seasonal transition was deeply tied to the agrarian lifestyle, where spring marked the beginning of the planting season and the reawakening of life. ☜