Longevity begins with alchemy master

An anomaly has occurred in the East China Sea, and sea monsters have appeared.

After years of peace, Zhongzhou, having fallen into disarray, could no longer suppress those restless individuals.

More than a decade ago, the shadows of sea monsters occasionally appeared near the Tiannan Continent. Recently, however, their numbers have increased, and they seem increasingly restless.

The Zhou family's recent sea patrol mission was interrupted by a sudden attack by a swarm of sea monsters.

At that time, there were not many high-level experts stationed there, and under the sudden attack, all the major families inevitably suffered many casualties.

The same is true for the Zhou family.

In total, seven Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than thirty Qi Refining cultivators died in the battle.

This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Zhou family, which is in the process of revival.

The atmosphere in the Zhou family has been quite somber these past few days, because of the funeral procession, the cries and wails have been going on for a long time in the dead of night.

Inside the council chamber, a voice filled with anger suddenly rang out.

"You bastard, who told you to tell him about your parents' death so directly three days ago?"

The current head of the family, Zhou Junxiao, glared angrily at the woman in front of him.

Zhou Shuzhen asked, puzzled, "Second brother, is there a problem? Zhou Fuyou is known for his precocious intelligence, and he is also the only pillar of the Baihan family. It's normal for me to tell him the news, isn't it?"

“The procedure was correct, but…” Zhou Junxiao shook his head, still dissatisfied, “He’s still just a child!”

Zhou Shuzhen's red lips parted slightly, and she seemed a little stunned.

To outsiders, Zhou Fuyou's early development makes it hard to associate him with children his own age; he seems almost indistinguishable from a normal teenager. His precocious speech further makes people forget his age.

He had been notifying the relatives of the fallen clansmen one by one, but he had overlooked these things.

Zhou Junxiao earnestly instructed, "Be more careful in the future. The ancestor is not involved in affairs now, my elder brother is focused on breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, and the other two have only recently formed their cores. The family depends on you and me to manage the overall situation. If anything happens, consult with me more often."

"Okay, Second Brother, I understand," Zhou Shuzhen said, then saw Zhou Junxiao lift his foot and walk out. "Second Brother, where are you going?"

Zhou Junxiao paused, recalling the order his ancestor had sent him, and sighed softly.

"I'll go check on the child."

He left the council chamber and headed towards the place of vigil.

A short while later, he stood outside the mourning hall.

Many of those standing or kneeling were relatives of their clansmen who had died in the battle, mostly young people, but there were also many cases of parents sending off their children.

The thin, effeminate boy knelt before a coffin, silently burning paper money.

He remained calm, his face showing sorrow, but no tears were visible.

Zhou Junxiao observed silently for a while, then nodded secretly.

"She's quite resilient."

……

The burial took place four days later, and the funeral lasted for a total of seven days.

On the day of the burial, all members of the Zhou family put aside their work and participated in the final ceremony dressed in white mourning clothes.

Zhou Fuyou stood in front of the tombstone, her lips tightly pressed together, holding the hand of her younger sister whose face was streaked with tears.

He seemed oblivious to the sympathetic and pitying glances he received from those around him.

"Brother, are Father and Mother really gone?"

My younger sister doesn't seem to be able to accept reality yet.

Zhou Fuyou had no choice but to pick her up and comfort her softly.

Seeing that the girl was still in a state of confusion and only knew how to cry, Zhou Fuyou said in a deep voice, "Father and Mother are gone, but you still have me. Your brother will protect you from now on."

Will my brother leave?

Zhou Fuyou looked at the tombstone and gently stroked her sister's head.

"My brother will never leave!"

The boy's words were soft, but resolute, as firm as a mountain.

With the patriarch Zhou Junxiao activating the protective array of the cemetery, the funeral came to a complete end.

Although the sounds of weeping and remembrance still echoed, the clansmen eventually returned to their respective homes and continued with their lives.

That night.

After putting her younger sister to sleep, Zhou Fuyou went to her father's study once again.

The scene was still incredibly familiar, but the tall man was nowhere to be seen, and the gentle voice was no longer there.

Recalling the warm memories of the past, the boy who had been so resolute in front of others had tears welling up in his eyes.

Suddenly!
He thought again of the bowl of medicine he had drunk, of Yin Si Niang's mysterious death, and of Elder Zhou Shuzhen's calm indifference when she announced his parents' passing.

A chill ran through me.

Even among powerful and influential families, there is warmth, but the most prevalent theme in stories is always power struggles, deceit, and treachery.

People who have no value do not deserve to be valued.

His parents, who used to be his and his sister's pillars of support, are gone. To survive and to help his sister grow up well, he can't rely on anyone but himself!

Zhou Fuyou wiped away her tears, walked to the bookshelf, and skillfully took out a few books.

Holding a thick stack of books, the boy was about to return to his desk, but after hesitating for a moment, he pulled out another book from the corner.

He unfolded all the books, and one by one, familiar names came into view. These were the Qi Refining Classics he had read in the past six months.

"I want to cultivate!"

"I need power!"

"I can't trust anyone, I must protect my sister!"

His gaze swept across the books, weighing and considering them in his mind, until finally his dark, ink-like eyes landed on "The Art of the Cicada's Dew".

Other cultivation methods are too slow and have various barriers and restrictions.

This demonic cultivation method is the fastest to learn and has no barriers to entry; anyone with spiritual roots can cultivate it.

Does Zhou Fuyou have spiritual roots?

He believes he does!

Without any magical artifacts or formations to test him, and given his young age, the boy made the most reckless judgment.

However, this judgment has its own basis.

That is what people often call "spiritual affinity"!
Without a spiritual root, one cannot sense the existence of spiritual energy. With a spiritual root, one can sense the spiritual energy existing in the world. Furthermore, the type of spiritual root determines the type of spiritual energy one can sense. The easier and deeper this sensation, the higher the affinity with the spiritual energy, indicating a better spiritual root attribute.

The legendary Heavenly Spiritual Root can even avoid interference from other chaotic spiritual energy and focus solely on sensing spiritual energy of the corresponding attribute, resulting in extremely fast cultivation speed.

The spiritual root actually exists in the human body from birth. The reason why it is only at the age of twelve is that teenagers at that age are relatively mature physically and mentally, and can clearly sense the existence of spiritual energy.

Even so, this sensitivity is still very low.

That's why cultivators need to set up corresponding formations to provide a large amount of balanced spiritual energy, and use magical artifacts to test specific spiritual roots.

But Zhou Fuyou is different!
From a very, very early age, when he was very, very young, even as far back as he could remember, he could feel an omnipresent energy surrounding him.

At first, he didn't know what that thing was.

But during a meal, his mother said that the food contained a faint spiritual energy that could help nourish their bodies, and that's when he realized what the energy surrounding him was.

Reiki!

I have been able to sense spiritual energy since I was a child, and it is highly likely that it is water-related spiritual energy, because the feeling is even stronger when it rains.

This means that I have the highest affinity for water-attribute spiritual energy!
In other words, I should possess a water-attribute spiritual root.

In this way, the constraints on cultivation techniques will no longer exist.

Before Zhou Fuyou was even twelve years old, he felt that he was surrounded by danger, that no one was trustworthy anymore, and that everyone wanted to harm him, except for his sister.

"Then let's begin our cultivation!"

Having made up his mind, the young man unfolded the "Cicada's Dew Technique" and sat cross-legged on the cold floor tiles of the study, following the posture described in the manual.

He made a hand seal in a seemingly professional manner and began to breathe rhythmically.

According to historical records, no difficulties arose during the initial cultivation. With just the first breath, the surrounding energy rushed into his body.

The boy was caught off guard, yet seemed to have anticipated it. Following the cultivation path of the "Cicada's Lament," he directed the energy to his dantian.

Throughout this process, the energy supply never ceases; and when things go sluggish, even more energy from the outside world flows into his body.

It seemed that as long as he wanted it, and as long as his body could handle it, this world would bestow upon him endless energy.

Outside the window, there was a flash of white light, followed by the sound of thunder.

Wow!
In the height of summer, torrential rain poured down.

The boy remained motionless through the half-open window.

Only when he felt a fullness in his body did he slowly open his eyes, gently exhale a breath of stale air, and look at the world in a daze.

It's daybreak.

The faint light of dawn shone through, illuminating Zhou Fuyou and giving her a shimmering glow.

As soon as Zhou Fuyou had a thought, that special spiritual energy fluctuation completely dissipated, as if nothing had ever happened.

But only the boy knew that he was already a cultivator.

"Entered the Dao overnight, reaching the first level of Qi Refining!"

……

The Milky Way stretches far and wide, the starry sky is vast.

In that deathly silence, a Taoist priest in black sat cross-legged in the void, motionless and seemingly without any breath.

The only indication that he was still alive was the sharp, swirling breath that occasionally escaped from his nostrils.

Not far away, a large gray cauldron stood beneath the stars.

The cauldron trembled incessantly, and from time to time, various sounds like those of wild beasts could be heard from within. Some roared angrily, others howled incessantly, interspersed with a chaotic mix of shouts, pleas for mercy, and threats.

But neither the deathly silence of the universe, the vastness of the stars, nor the roars of beasts that seemed to be right next to his ears could affect the black-clad Taoist in the slightest.

Suddenly!
The black-clad Taoist's eyelids twitched slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He moved his lips slightly and uttered three words.

"Qi Refining Stage!"

Then, the Taoist in black frowned, did some calculations with his fingers, and a look of doubt appeared on his face.

"Six years old?"

"Why did he start practicing cultivation at the age of six?"

A wisp of green smoke rose from the large cauldron beside them, then coalesced into a graceful woman exuding a captivating charm.

She spoke in a clear, crisp voice, asking curiously, "Master, what happened?"

The Taoist priest in black shook his head. "It's not a big deal, but... it happened too fast!"

The black-clad Taoist priest fell into deep thought as he murmured to himself.

half an hour.

He reacted.

"Little White, go to the Zhou family in Tiannan Continent and take a look at my clone."

The woman called Xiaobai nodded, then asked, "Should we take care of the protection?"

The Taoist in black thought for a moment and said, "Unless absolutely necessary, you don't need to interfere in anything related to him. Just keep an eye on him. Take this jade pendant. If anything unexpected happens, notify me immediately."

Before leaving, Xiaobai took the jade pendant and glanced worriedly at the gray cauldron.

“Master, the Kui Niu demon has reached the most crucial stage of refinement, and its resistance is becoming increasingly fierce. You must be careful not to let it escape.”

The Taoist in black smiled slightly.

"It's alright. Since I was able to capture it, I'm not afraid of it escaping."

Xiao Bai smiled and then drifted away.

Luo Chen wasn't worried that Xiao Bai would get into trouble.

After refining a considerable number of soul stones, Xiaobai has reached the mid-stage of the fourth rank.

Without the intervention of powerful cultivators, few could threaten her due to the characteristics of ghost cultivators.

On the Tiannan Continent, there are only two great cultivators, both of whom are in the Tiannan Dao Palace.

It's just a trip to the Zhou family. If she's careful, perhaps even Zhou Yun Shen won't notice her.

What he was more worried about was his clone, who had started cultivating at the age of only six, which was incredibly audacious.

Didn't he have any elders around him to teach him the proper way to cultivate?

Although I had told Zhou Yunshen not to interfere too much with the growth of my clone, shouldn't parents and elders guide me on such a basic thing?

"Perhaps something went wrong!"

Luo Chen muttered something to himself and then resumed refining the Crimson Sky Sword Qi.

Before going into seclusion, he glanced at the Hunyuan Cauldron with an extremely cold expression.

……

half year later.

In a square in Bailuze, more than thirty teenagers stood in neat rows, listening to the teachings of an elderly man with white hair.

"You are all over six years old now, and you must begin to prepare for the spiritual root test and cultivation six years from now."

"Next, I will teach you a set of body-strengthening techniques to improve your physical strength."

"Don't underestimate body tempering. If you are found to have spiritual roots that allow you to cultivate in the future, a strong physique will provide considerable help in the early stages of cultivation, at least enough to withstand the pain of spiritual energy entering the body. Even if you don't have spiritual roots, you can still use this to embark on the path of martial arts and protect yourself in the secular world, which can be considered a skill."

The group of teenagers all raised their voices and responded in unison.

The old man was very satisfied with everyone's reaction, and then gently began to perform a set of boxing techniques on the raised platform.

This boxing style isn't particularly powerful or lethal, but it's very beneficial for physical exercise, as it can work many parts of the body.

The group of teenagers also followed along with their training in a serious and disciplined manner.

After they had all memorized it, the old man stopped hiding it, sat down to the side, and let them cultivate on their own.

When people come to him with questions they don't understand, he patiently answers them without any airs.

The old man was very clear about his position. He was not a high and mighty cultivator, but just an ordinary innate martial artist who was assigned this job because his family valued him.

If done well, not only can one obtain the elixir of longevity, but one can also build a strong network of connections for one's descendants.

After all, among this group of teenagers in the square, there will definitely be those with spiritual roots who will become those lofty cultivators in the future.

Zhou Fuyou was among them.

Not only him, but his younger sister Zhou Qingyu was also practicing this body-strengthening boxing technique.

However, unlike Zhou Fuyou, who picked it up very quickly, Zhou Qingyu practiced very slowly and even became somewhat exhausted, soon sweating profusely.

"Mao Mao, if you're tired, go and rest."

"Brother, I'm not tired."

The little girl's face showed excitement, as if she was very interested in cultivation.

However, being frail and sickly, he tripped and fell to the ground without paying attention.

Zhou Fuyou quickly helped her up and gently blew on the red mark on her elbow.

Such a heartwarming scene was met with snickers from the sidelines.

"Sickly fellow, go and get better. What are you doing here causing trouble? Do you think you'll become a cultivator someday?"

All eyes turned to them.

Zhou Qingyu's big eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

Zhou Fuyou raised her head, her indifferent eyes falling on the boy not far away, and she uttered a chilling voice.

"Apologize!" (End of Chapter)