The cultivator smirked in my face and said, “Do you think if we had the antidote we wouldn’t have dipped ourselves in the pool and open the door ourselves? Foolish mortal, now die!” he said and lifted his leg to stomp on my face.

Yet the earth trembled and a shaking far worse than anything I have ever felt before started.

The scarce light that came from the exit of this dungeon was cut off. And the volume of the purple fog began increasing in the room.

The people who were chained began falling unconscious, it was sudden and silent. Like nothing I have ever seen before, it was like a spell to make everyone fall asleep. Yet, their bodies shriveled up and dried up right in front of my eyes.

Not even the cultivator who wanted to stomp my head into the ground was saved from this fate, even he was turned into a skeleton, then his skeleton turned to ash. All that was left of him was his clothes and a small brown pouch.

The cave was silent. For the first time since I got here, it was as silent as the night. No more came the sound of wailing and pained moans, not even the sound of the Cultivators who went into the room.

I can’t stay here, perhaps the purple ghost had ignored me at first was a coincidence, but I doubt it will do it again.

There was no way out from where we got in from. There is only the cave.

I dragged myself forward and entered behind the door. I expected to see a large room or a corridor spanning hundreds of meters underground, but I was met with a small room, no bigger than one of my sleeping chambers in my palace at Lucid Spring City. How I miss my comfortable life.

This is my first encounter with real cultivators, not those practitioners who barely know how to do alchemy or potion-making that claimed to be cultivators. The people here had utter disregard for mortal life, they were arrogant, boisterous, and domineering. They did what they wanted, with little regard to life or morality. These were evil.

But my fate is sealed with these people I can’t do anything in my current weakened state, no, I couldn’t even do anything even if I was fifty years younger.

But I have to move forward. And I did.

But there was no one there, not even the cultivators that entered, there didn’t seem to be a way out of this room and I didn’t see anyone leave. Looking around I noticed that the ground was riddled with ash, and among the ashen remains were the robes of the cultivators.

Everyone is dead. Even those people who could crush me like an ant, they too were crushed like one.

What madness is this? Why among all was I spared?

My mind couldn’t adapt to the current scope of things. Cultivators that were mighty as gods were destroyed and made to look like they didn’t account for a thing. They were a nonentity in the eyes of that purple ghost.

I looked back but didn’t see any signs of that floating skull. It was here no more, or probably it is hidden waiting to see what I would do.

I calmed myself, if that skull wanted me dead, I had no ability whatsoever to defy it. So as long as I still live, perhaps I still have a chance to get out of here.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I gathered the robes and pouches of the dead cultivators and tried to pry one open.

None of them opened up for me. They didn’t seem to budge or move. Disgruntled, I tore the red dress of the crimson-wearing cultivator and made a bigger pouch that I gathered all of the pouches in.

I looked around some more but didn’t find anything of interest. Nothing was here but old broken vases withered vines and mold.

Yet my eyes gleaned onto something, a small green book with golden engraving was on the ground almost fully covered by the ash of one of the cultivator's remains.

I went to the book and hesitated. Was this what they came here looking for?

My curiosity outbid my sanity and I grabbed at the book. Almost instantly my mind went blank then a surge of golden writings imprinted themselves in my mind.

“Life and Death, all handled by the hands of the mighty.

Yet life begot Death and Death begot reincarnation.

Life can be saved, and Death can be spared.

For in medicine, there exist poison, and in poison there exist medicine.”

I had no idea what these writings mean but one thing was certain. Under this passage, a sentence was written that made me shudder.

Poison God’s Heritage.

Cultivation manual.

Almost immediately, my excitement dulled. There was no way I could use this. I was not a cultivator. Perhaps I could sell it to get a good elixir.

I decided to flip one of the pages to see what was in the book and lo and behold. Fate has not given up on me yet.

***

To cultivate the Poison God’s Technique, one must first severe his meridians.

The meridians are the base of all spiritual cultivation paths. But the Poison God’s Technique is a path like none other. It doesn’t need Spiritual Meridian, but Poison Meridian. Seeing as you have the ability to read through this book, then you have survived the Bone and Body Grinding poison.

Your shattered meridians are unfit to use this manual, but once the Bone and Body Grinding Poison penetrates through them, it will mold them, refine them and make them into poison meridians.

You will be able to cultivate an energy unlike any other, a Spiritual Poison Energy. Consuming poisons will be your way of cultivating. Building a strong cultivation base depends on the quality of the poisons you have consumed. Seeing that you are my one and only disciple, I have left you a gift. It is the Pool of Bone and Body Grinding Poison.

Consuming it will establish a good cultivation base, and then you can go and venture into the world to find more poisons to consume so you can increase your cultivation.

After reaching certain stages, normal poisons will not harm you but rather benefit you. And even deadly ones that could turn a cultivator to ash will be like a fresh breeze to you.

However, this comes at a grave cost. You have to be smart about what you consume, as your body cannot sustain the top grad poison and they could still kill you if you eat them.

Lastly, you are going to die. This is a fact, know it, live with it, and fear it. The Bone and body Grinding Poison will destroy you unless you control it and morph it into your own poison and then use it to kill your enemies. But that is not all. To learn the Poison God’s Technique, you will have to live with a frightening secret.

This Technique will help you become stronger, younger, faster, and more powerful than anyone. But you are against the clock. This manual is a curse as much as it is a blessing.

You are urged to rise in your cultivation.

You have one year to reach Qi Condensation. Here is the method you will be using to circulate your Poison Qi.

***

Under that text block was a picture of a man, sitting in the lotus position and four points were marked in his body. If I remembered correctly these were one of the four points that the cultivators destroyed to those homeless-looking people then threw them in the pool.

These are locations for meridians. And I needed to circulate this Poison Qi thing exactly as the manual shows.

There were also tons of details on how to circulate energy and even a skill that can be learned once I reach the first level of Qi Condensation.

I have looked all my life for a way to cultivate, yet I failed many times over. I cursed the fact that I was unable to cultivate, and that my meridians were shattered. Yet, even those shattered meridians came back with a gracious gift, they helped me survive death, and they also helped me start on the path of cultivation.

I looked at the manual and sighed, this might not be the best start in a cultivation world. Where other people got a magnificent mentor, a great treasure, or a powerful cultivation skill. All I have gotten was an old hunched back body filled with pustules and disgusting tumors. And a cultivation manual that will kill me if I didn’t reach the next stage within one year. Not the best start, but definitely beats dying right here and there.

I was given a chance, and I’ll make sure to make the best use of it.