An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

While storms raged above the mountains, deep beneath them, it was quiet.

Somewhere in the pocket world under the ninth mountain, a gaunt figure sat alone inside a grand hall shrouded in mist and alive with crackling lightning. His eyes were tightly shut, and his body faintly trembling. From time to time, arcs of lightning danced across his skin. Thin strands of lightning wove in and out of his body like flowing water, never stopping, never resting.

At his feet lay a chaotic pile of items—enchanted artifacts, enchanted treasures, talismans, puppets, sword orbs, ores, formation flags, and shards of shattered storage pouches. There was no clear order, no indication of what was doing what. It was impossible to tell what kind of cultivator could possess such a mishmash of belongings.

Only Luo Chen knew what he had endured during these past six months.

The day he summoned the storm had changed everything. He had never expected the magnitude of the lightning that descended to be so strong. The lightning-warding capabilities of the Wandering Eighteen-Formation Disc were utterly insufficient to discharge the full wrath of that heavenly lightning.

Watching Di Wanyun fall in an instant, he had no choice but to activate one final backup plan. In a desperate gamble, he directed the heavenly lightning to smash open the ancient gate, no longer concerned with the consequences or who might follow.

Fortunately, it had worked. In that brief window, Luo Chen had forced his way into the pocket world. Yet though he had narrowly survived, it had not come without a price. A portion of the thunderstorm’s power had followed him in, flooding his body.

Had it been ordinary lightning, he might have endured. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could grit his teeth through this level of pain. But the sheer density and ferocity of that lightning had caused the energy to undergo a qualitative transformation. Because of that, ever since then, his body had remained in a perilous state, teetering on the brink of collapse. Luo Chen had tried using Cleanse to rid himself of the foreign lightning, but it had been nothing more than a drop in the ocean!

With no other choice, he had used his final resort, the Black Ice Talisman! In a flash, his entire body was sealed in ice.

He had hoped to hold out until Fairy Ruthless could reach him. Yet once frozen, Luo Chen quickly realized something was wrong: the lightning still raged within him. The ice enchantment began to crack inch by inch. Within a single day, it would shatter completely, and the lightning would once again ravage his body.

At the edge of life and death, Luo Chen forced his thoughts into calm clarity. If he had a lightning spirit root, he could’ve absorbed the energy and advanced his cultivation. He didn’t have one, but he had once used lightning to temper his body.

If I use this lightning to open acupoints, maybe I can burn it off?No! There’s too much. Even if I consume part of it, the rest will tear me apart. I need another way. I must either channel it out of my body, or fully consume it...

As his thoughts raced, Luo Chen’s mind fell upon his third-tier Physique Refinement technique—Sky Roc Transformation.

If successfully cultivated, the technique would induce a transformation akin to that of a beast. For that reason, Wang Yuan had scoffed at it, and Luo Chen himself had never been fond of it either. But the Sky Roc Transformation was not merely a method of transformation for combat; at its core, it was a path of Physique Refinement modeled after the ancient great demons. Not the path of taking human form, but the path of tracing back to primal origins through sheer physical cultivation.

In the Shanhai Realm, the ancient great demons rarely chose to take human form. Instead, they absorbed vast amounts of spirit energy, forging their bodies until they reached an undying, ever-reviving state.

The Sky Roc Transformation had been conceived with the same principle. Unfortunately, the technique was incomplete. The precise Physique Refinement methods were missing key sections. What remained was a framework to absorb the blood essence of three distinct demonic birds, each representing a separate path of physical cultivation. They were the Lightning Roc, the Golden-Winged Roc, and the Sky Sun Roc.

Their respective elemental affinities were lightning, metal, and fire; coincidentally, these three elements also happened to be the most powerful among human cultivators’ spirit roots. If one could master the Sky Roc Transformation, their combat prowess would outstrip others of the same realm!

Luo Chen possessed all five spirit roots, allowing him to pursue both the Golden-Winged and Sky Sun Roc paths. And during his Foundation Establishment, he had consumed Imperial Nectar refined from the corpse of a Blazing Cloud Roc. In a strict sense, he had already absorbed the blood essence of a fire-element demonic bird. In terms of attributes, he had already stepped onto the fire-path of Physique Refinement associated with the Sky Sun Roc. To complete the third-tier Sky Roc Transformation, it only made sense to proceed along that route. Sadly, nothing in this world is ever perfect!

I’ve already fulfilled the base requirement of infusing blood essence. Why not use fire to train with lightning, and lightning to refine my body? If the technique is incomplete, then I’ll simply complete it myself!

Time was running out. The Black Ice Talisman’s freezing power would last no more than a day. Without delay, Luo Chen summoned his status panel. Without glancing at any other entries, he scrolled straight to the bottom, where his achievement points were displayed.

Achievement Points: 65

It was the greatest accumulation he had ever achieved. From his experience, supplementing an alchemical formula across tiers typically required at least a dozen points. As for the upper limit, that depended on how many tiers were being crossed—less than a hundred for one tier, possibly a few hundred for two tiers crossed.

Since his Physique Refinement was halfway through the Blood River Realm, the gap wasn’t that large. Moreover, the more solid one’s foundation of the technique, the fewer achievement points would be consumed. The principle applied to alchemical formulas, so it made sense that it would apply to cultivation techniques as well.

Though Luo Chen was no expert in Physique Refinement like Wang Yuan, he had far surpassed most ordinary Initiates in that respect. Whether in daily practice or theoretical study, he had never slacked off. As for the Sky Roc Transformation in particular, he had been delving into it ever since he’d built his foundation. In other words, this was actually feasible.

With sixty-five achievement points, I should be able to complete it!

With the crisis looming, Luo Chen could no longer hesitate. He immediately began the process to complete this technique. His achievement points began to drain away like flowing water.

One, two, three, four... fifteen, twenty... forty...

Once forty-five points were spent, the completion process was finalized in an instant!

A complete cultivation art suddenly flooded his mind like divine enlightenment. The beginning was familiar, since he had long since memorized the earlier parts of Sky Roc Transformation. But the latter portion was something he had, of course, never seen.

Lightning races through the hundred meridians; it floods the body. Spirit energy is nourished; blood essence regenerated...

As the detailed explanations unfolded in his mind, Luo Chen was shocked to discover that the fully restored third-tier Physique Refinement art felt almost tailor-made for him. He had already gone through Marrow Cleansing, Organ Refinement, Meridian Unblocking, and even Acupoint Opening. Now, he simply needed to traverse that path once more through the power of lightning.

The subsequent section about nourishing his spirit energy and generating fresh blood essence clearly derived from his second-tier art Qi-Physique Origin Method. The method for Acupoint Opening, he’d gleaned himself during his time stationed at the sixth mountain. Beyond that, several unique techniques had been added. Bone-Forging, Blood Replacement, Divine Essence Preservation, Core Condensation, Qi Absorption, Armor Transformation...

Toward the end, it even hinted at further potential, as if the manual had not yet reached its full conclusion. That indicated this technique still had room for refinement and advancement. Glancing over those new techniques, Luo Chen realized they all closely aligned with the knowledge and skills he had cultivated so far.

Bone-Forging and Blood Replacement stemmed from Foundation Establishment using Imperial Nectar drawn from demonic beast flesh and blood. Divine Essence Preservation likely came from Divine Breaker of Malevolence. Core Condensation appeared to be inspired by his experience with the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation technique and the Clear Origin Mystical Pill method. Qi Absorption and Armor Transformation could be traced back to the Turtle Spirit Armor.

Faced with such profound development, Luo Chen could not help but feel immense delight. It was the first time he had ever actively used the system to complete a technique of such magnitude, and he hadn’t expected the result to be something so profound. The method it gave him was no patchwork; it was a perfect fusion of all he had studied, distilled from the finest of countless arts and refined into something that seemed tailor-made for him.

If he cultivated along this path, even without grasping the blood qi transformations or adhering at all to the orthodox Physique Refinement disciplines, Luo Chen would still temper a terrifying physique, comparable to the ancient great demons!

At this point, calling the technique Sky Roc Transformation no longer felt appropriate. He temporarily named it Heavenly Lightning Physique Refinement Method. The name was hastily chosen, as time was of the essence. There was no room for sentiment or poetic pondering.

As the Black Ice Talisman melted away, lightning surged violently within him. He could not hold it back, but now, he did not need to hold it back anymore. Without hesitation, Luo Chen began practicing his newly acquired third-tier technique, actively drawing in that rampant lightning to temper his body.

The first step was to repeat the four phases of Marrow Cleansing, Organ Refinement, Meridian Unblocking, and Acupoints Opening!

Crack!

The instant the black ice melted, torrential lightning surged violently, attempting to tear Luo Chen’s body apart. Luo Chen gritted his teeth and cast Heal and Spring Wind Rain Transformation without pause. Alternating between the two healing spells, he continually mended his ravaged body.

In those fleeting moments of respite, Luo Chen trod once more the path of Physique Refinement. His already formidable body began the cleansing anew. Five streams of internal qi burst from his chest like raging dragons, intertwining with the lightning and tearing through it. Though the five qi weakened in the process, what remained grew purer, more potent.

The lightning coursed smoothly through a hundred meridians. To assist it, Luo Chen consumed a supreme-grade Blood Fiend Pill he had kept in reserve. Next came Aperture Opening, which he had not yet completed.

Time passed, slowly and silently... Eventually, another crisis emerged.

Luo Chen’s spirit power was nearly depleted. Whether it was using the Qi-Physique Origin Method to nourish his body, or drawing in lightning and casting spells to heal, all of it consumed tremendous amounts of spirit power. His once-mighty sea of qi had dwindled to a mere puddle.

Without hesitation, Luo Chen dumped every last top-grade Ascending Dragon Pill from his storage pouch into his mouth. He then began forcefully cracking open every storage pouch left behind by fallen Foundation Establishment cultivators. If they opened willingly, good. If not, he shattered them with brute force. Even if some of the contents were lost to spatial collapse, he didn’t care.

All he cared about was finding pills or medicinal materials inside. Even unrefined spirit herbs were fair game; as long as they contained spirit energy, they were good enough! As for whether his body could endure the influx of so many random pills and herbs, he wasn’t concerned in the slightest. With so much lightning energy in his body, those second-tier pills would be digested without issue.

As he underwent this harrowing cultivation, half a year passed in a flash. The four foundational steps of Marrow Cleansing, Organ Refinement, Meridian Unblocking, and Acupoints Opening had long since been completed.

Now, all 720 acupoints in his body shone like stars, brilliant and resplendent. Within them shimmered silvery-white light, residual traces of thunderous power. Beyond that, Luo Chen had undergone a full Blood Replacement. His old blood had been completely replaced by newly refined one.

What was even more incredible was that a section of his spine now shimmered with silvery-white light, pulsing as if a coiled dragon were stretching awake. It was Bone Forging! He could not yet reconstruct his entire skeleton, so he had chosen to start with the most vital segment, the spine.

Luo Chen had a strong hunch that even with this incomplete change, his combat strength would skyrocket. It was a Lightningbone! A hidden dragon now slumbered within him, and when it stirred, the world would tremble!

The resources from over thirty Foundation Establishment storage pouches have brought me this far. I have to say, that’s a remarkable feat. But I will not stop here!

It may have seemed like merely thirty pouches, but each had belonged to an Initiate, a long-time cultivator who had hoarded valuable resources. There were many treasures within that had clearly been bought during this war, or rather, exchanged for merit points. Just the wildly potent Foundation Establishment pills alone numbered over a dozen.

Luo Chen’s eyes gleamed with light, as if two bolts of lightning were being born within them. By now, he had completely refined the overwhelming lightning energy inside him. The lightning crackling through the grand hall now streamed in from the outside world.

He grabbed several bottles at once, pouring every last miscellaneous pill down his throat. Then he took a deep, long breath. It was as if a void had opened inside him. From several li around, spirit energy came rushing inward.

A seven-colored qi-dragon spiraled through the air and dove into his body. This was the Turtle Breath from Turtle Spirit Armor, now evolved into a Qi Absorption Physique Refinement method! Once the qi-dragon entered his body, Luo Chen shut his eyes once more.

Something astonishing happened. Across his bare skin, plates of pristine white armor began to slowly form. They looked nearly identical to the armor conjured by Turtle Spirit Armor, yet, upon closer inspection, it turned out they were something else. Those white plates resembled both a tortoise shell and draconic scales at the same time; a beastlike, demonic form that seemed nothing like the common human flesh encased in metal armor.

Years of misguided effort had produced a chaotic foundation. A patchwork of disciplines, half-formed and cross-woven. But now, with the system’s help in integrating it all, he had at last stepped onto a path of Physique Refinement that was wholly his own! It was hard to imagine just how powerful his body would be when he awoke.

***

Within a silent grand hall, a man lay still like a dormant turtle, neither breathing nor moving in the slightest. Every now and then, silver-white lightning roared in from outside, crackling fiercely and shattering all peace, yet every time, it failed to rouse him from slumber.