The Tang Clan's inner compound was a fortress of shadows. Once you passed the Vine Trial, you weren't a child anymore. You were an asset. A blade to be sharpened or discarded.
Tang Yun, despite ranking fourth, had become the talk of the clan. Not for his place but for his method. Even now, whispers echoed in the corridors:
"That vine didn't bloom. It fed."
"Did you see how it devoured the viper? I've never seen a cultivation plant behave like that."
"He smiled. As if he knew."
Tang Yun didn't care. Rumors were blades, but he had been bled dry in his past life. Now, he wielded rumors like a scalpel.
The Inner Compound, Second Floor
The second floor was where the venom truly began.
It wasn't luxury. It was danger.
Rows of sealed scrolls pulsed faintly with malicious qi. Large jars held pickled mutant insects, their chitin twitching even in death. Shelves of poison manuals, bone-white and bound in beast skin, lined the walls.
Tang Yun stepped inside slowly. The air was heavier here, as if soaked in decades of failure and madness.
Waiting for him was a figure.
A woman.
Her robes were a simple brown, but lined with gold embroidery in the Tang Clan's sigil. Her face was veiled, her posture straight. Two long needles rested in her sleeve, one tipped with black, the other with green.
"You are Tang Yun," she said. Not a question.
"I am."
"I am Instructor Zhen. Assigned to you for the Vine Year. I do not care for rankings. I care for results."
Tang Yun bowed. "Then I believe we will get along well."
She tilted her head.
"I've read your report. A parasitic vine. Rare. Dangerous. Most fail to control them. Some are eaten alive by their own plant."
"Then I shall not fail."
"Confidence is poison. Hope is fatal. But obsession… obsession is sometimes useful."
She turned and gestured to the shelves.
"Your first task. Choose one of the four foundational poison paths. Once chosen, you cannot easily change it."
Tang Yun stepped forward.
On the shelves were four sealed scrolls, each resting atop a spirit-locked pedestal:
1. Path of Venom Qi Enhancement: Strengthens internal poison energy. Direct, aggressive, power-focused.
2. Path of Neurotoxic Arts: Targets nerves and mind. Control-focused, subtle, feared by assassins.
3. Path of Corrosion: Dissolves flesh, bone, and even qi barriers. Requires intense constitution.
4. Path of Symbiotic Poisoning: Merges user with poisons. High risk. High adaptability.
Tang Yun reached for the fourth.
Path of Symbiotic Poisoning.
Instructor Zhen said nothing at first. Then, her eyes narrowed.
"Many who walk that path never sleep again. The poison dreams."
"Let it dream," he said.
She gave a short laugh.
"Very well. Come. You'll begin with the Three Veins of Toxin Circulation."
First Lesson: The Toxin Veins
Instructor Zhen led him to a chamber below the second floor. It was dark, lit only by three floating lamps filled with glowing green fireflies.
"To cultivate symbiotic poison arts, your meridians must become vessels. The body must not just endure toxins it must host them."
"There are three primary toxin veins:"
1. The Bitter Root Vein – Connects to the stomach and dantian. Stores poisons safely.
2. The Whispering Vein – Links brain and spine. Used for poison-based spiritual arts.
3. The Thousand Needle Vein – Small channels through arms and fingers. Used for poison transfer and emission.
Tang Yun listened carefully. He already knew this in theory. But Zhen's explanation went deeper.
"You must open the Bitter Root Vein first. Swallow this."
She handed him a vial. Inside, a black, slug-like creature writhed.
"That is a 'Swamp Leech Ember'. Its essence will burn through your inner walls. If your will is weak, it will kill you. If you survive, your vein will open."
Tang Yun did not hesitate.
He swallowed it.
The pain came instantly.
Pain, Poison, Progress
The creature dug into his insides like molten glass. He felt it crawl, burning every inch of flesh as it went. His stomach heaved. His limbs convulsed. He bit into his own tongue until blood flooded his mouth.
And yet…
Tang Yun smiled.
He remembered this pain. Not from this life. From before. He had once used this exact same method, except without guidance, and had nearly crippled his dantian.
Now he breathed slowly. He guided the pain.
"Merge. Do not resist," Zhen said. "Let it become part of you."
With his Reverse Qi Absorption technique, he did more than merge. He fed on the pain. The creature screamed as his poison qi overwhelmed it, turning its essence into black steam that flowed into his veins.
A snap.
A crack.
Then–calm.
Zhen raised an eyebrow.
"Three minutes. Most take three hours. Or die."
Tang Yun exhaled slowly.
"I have a high tolerance."
"No," she said. "You have no fear."
A Lesson in Death
For the next week, Tang Yun trained in silence.
Each morning began with venom breathing exercises. Each afternoon with toxin circulation drills. Each evening with corpse examination—learning which poisons left which signs, how to hide or reveal them.
Instructor Zhen taught without praise. Without cruelty. She simply delivered knowledge.
Tang Yun soaked it all in.
But she was watching.
On the sixth day, she tested him.
"There are two vials here. One is a strong paralytic. The other is distilled death. You must drink one. And tell me which is which."
"No smell. No color. No taste. Choose."
Tang Yun looked at the vials.
He did not analyze. He did not hesitate. He took the left vial and drank it.
Zhen stared.
He remained standing.
"Paralytic," he said. "Based on the temperature. This vial was half a degree colder. Poison disperses heat. Paralytics do not."
Zhen nodded.
"That was not in any manual."
"No. It was a trick I used on a wandering assassin once. Long ago."
Her voice became softer.
"You are no beginner. Are you?"
Tang Yun looked at her. He offered a smile that never reached his eyes.
"I am who I am."
"Then you may be useful after all."
She handed him a new scroll.
"The Widow's Blanket: A Poison Field Technique."
"This will be your next training. It can cover a battlefield in poison mist. Very few in the clan still know how to use it properly."
"It was my clan's pride once," Tang Yun said quietly.
"Then make it proud again."
At Night: A Whisper in the Dark
That evening, as Tang Yun practiced alone, his vine shuddered.
He knelt beside it.
The bulb had grown a second eye. It blinked.
He reached out. The vine's qi met his fingers. Hungry. Curious.
"Not yet," he whispered. "Soon, you'll feast again."
He fed it a drop of his blood. The bulb purred softly.
Then he opened the scroll of the Widow's Blanket.
Tang Yun smiled.
The poison arts had begun.
And this time–
He would master them all.
[Tags]: Reincarnation, Martial Arts, Poison, Scheming Protagonist, Cultivation, Weak to Strong, Anti-Hero, Cold Protagonist, Clan Wars, Hidden Identity, Revenge