The central aim of Taoist alchemy is the attainment of immortality understood in a spiritual sense, not merely as the extension of physical life. This immortality is described as a transformation of body, energy, and spirit into a deathless state, often expressed as becoming a *xian* (immortal) or a “True Person” who exists in harmony with the Dao. Rather than clinging to the ordinary cycle of birth and decay, the practitioner seeks to transcend it altogether. Immortality here signifies a mode of being in which consciousness is no longer bound by the limitations of the perishable body.

To approach this goal, Taoist alchemy emphasizes an inner work of refinement, in which coarse aspects of existence are gradually transformed into more subtle ones. Through the cultivation and integration of essence (jing), vital energy (qi), and spirit (shen), a new, imperishable spiritual body is said to be formed, sometimes called the “immortal embryo” or *shengtai*. This process is also symbolized as achieving the “Golden Elixir” (*jindan*), an internal elixir of refined spiritual essence that grants freedom from ordinary death. Such images convey the sense that immortality is not something added from outside, but something distilled from what is already present within.

At its highest level, this alchemical transformation is described as a return to the original, undifferentiated nature of the Dao. The practitioner seeks to reverse the movement from unity into fragmentation and to re-enter the primordial state, likened to the “uncarved block” that has not yet been shaped by the world of distinctions. This return entails moving beyond the dualities of yin and yang, life and death, form and emptiness, into a state of profound union with the Dao. In this way, the goal of Taoist alchemy is both the realization of spiritual immortality and the restoration of one’s true nature as inseparable from the eternal Dao.