His earliest explorations had been driven by responsibility and perseverance.
Facing lethal poison head-on brought instinctive terror in an instant.
As he suffered through agonizing pain, Shennong Shi had once felt a flicker of dread toward death and moments of wavering.
Yet each time he was pulled back from the brink of life and death, as he watched the warnings on his charts grow ever clearer and knew they could prevent more innocent clansmen from perishing, that heavy responsibility rose into a sense of mission born of compassion for all living beings.
"Identify one more poisonous herb, and one fewer clan will weep tears of grief!"
Weariness was etched across Shennong Shi's face and branded into his body, yet it could not extinguish the light in his eyes—the light that sought to carve out a path to survival for his people.
Through repeated tempering in the fires of poison, Shennong Shi's soul became ever purer and more resilient!
After years upon years of trekking and tasting hundreds of herbs, the accumulated toxins coiled through Shennong's bloodline like countless tiny venomous snakes. Even with Daoist Duobao's protection, he often felt sluggish and weak.
One day, Shennong Shi sat wearily beside a mountain spring wreathed in spiritual mist.
The spring water was crystal-clear to the bottom, nourishing the lush and varied vegetation in the surrounding area.
He took out the thick beast-hide chart, soaked in blood and sweat and worn at its edges, and ran his fingers over the marks upon it, each one representing death and suffering.
An indescribable heaviness swept through his heart.
"The Primordial World is so vast—how could its grasses and trees number anything less than hundreds of millions?
"As the Human Emperor, bearing the destiny of an entire race and guarded by an unparalleled expert like Teacher