Jiang Wuqi's life had been short.
From that winter night in the 38th Year of Yuanfeng to this morning in the 55th Year of Yuanfeng.
For seventeen years, he had dragged his ailing body onward.
The Emperor of Qi had summoned famous physicians from across the land and offered them lavish rewards, yet no one believed Jiang Wuqi would live past ten.
And now he was seventeen.
Those extra seven years were ones he had wrested back from death, alone, one day at a time.
The Cold Poison had entered his life in the womb. The higher his cultivation, the more fiercely the poison struck.
To cultivate was to walk toward death. To abstain from cultivation was to wait for death.
Jiang Wuqi had known from an early age that fate had given him no more choices.
Both roads, forward and back, led to a dead end.
Every day and every hour he lived, he endured tremendous pain. Every bowl of medicine he drank was bitter beyond words, and every treatment he underwent was a torment.
Yet he stubbornly stayed alive.
Imperial Physician Wen had said that the Inner Palace had reached its limit. One step further, and the Cold Poison would immediately flare up and kill him.
He had only asked, "What if I take one step into Divine Presence?"
Imperial Physician Wen had said that entering the Outer Tower would mean death, and entering Divine Presence would mean death too. Only True Insight could sever the Cold Poison from his life, but reaching True Insight in a single step was all but impossible.
He had only said, "Then I'll take one step into True Insight."
With the Cold Poison lodged in his life, he had set out to create infinite possibilities.
Enduring pain with every passing moment, he