Blossoms in the Veins

The Poison Courtyard was hushed that dawn, the mists thicker than usual, clinging to the stones like the breath of slumbering serpents. In the heart of Tang Yun's secluded dwelling, however, the silence had already been shattered. An eerie pulse thrummed through the air—soft, deliberate, venomous.

Tang Yun sat cross-legged, his breathing even, but his robes were soaked with sweat. Veins like winding black branches crept beneath his skin, pulsing with dark light. The Poison Body Baptism had begun.

Last night, beneath the full moon and amidst the awakening of his hundred Poison Bodies, Tang Yun had stepped into the mid-stage of the Qi Awakening Realm. But power, he understood, was not merely a surge of strength—it was evolution. And the process of that evolution was agony.

As dawn's light filtered weakly through the poisoned haze, the bamboo outside his courtyard trembled—not from wind, but from pressure. Pressure that made the very air feel as though it had been laced with toxins.

The Aftershock of Awakening

Elder Tang Mo sat at a tea pavilion atop a distant ridge, his eyes closed, savoring a cup of bitter lotus tea. He'd been watching Tang Yun from afar—not physically, but through a hundred silent watchers.

When the poisonous tremor echoed through the air, his fingers paused.

"He advanced again. And… something else awakened."

He turned to a shadow that appeared beside him. A young man in black bowed low. "It's as you said, Elder. The boy has awakened… something vast. His courtyard is saturated with unknown qi."

Tang Mo's eyes narrowed.

"Begin recording every fluctuation. Do not interfere. But tell the other Elders that the youngest son is no longer to be disregarded."

Within the Veins of Poison

Inside his cultivation chamber, Tang Yun remained still. Though his body radiated power, the real transformation was happening inside. The hundred poison bodies weren't simply innate traits—they were ancient bloodlines and constitutions locked by fate, now shattered and reawakened through his rebirth.

A transparent silhouette emerged behind him—a human form composed of swirling, colored toxins. Green, violet, gold, black, and silver venom energies danced like threads of smoke around his frame. Each color represented a distinct trait:

Emerald Venom Body – immunity to natural poisons.

Black Toad Veins – resilience against soul attacks.

Crimson Widow Heart – enhanced toxin amplification.

Silver Bone Corrosion Physique – body that can absorb poison to strengthen itself.

Glass Serpent Eyes – perception of toxin composition and qi fluctuation.

As the final thread settled into his meridians, Tang Yun exhaled, and with that breath, the very fog in his room hissed—burning the edges of his furniture.

His eyes snapped open. They no longer bore the dull gray of weakness. They gleamed—a poisonous green tinted with silver.

"Mid Qi Awakening… and the Hundred Venom Body unlocked. Finally, we begin."

Meanwhile, in the Inner Courtyard

A meeting was underway. Four Elders stood beneath the Thousand Scaled Wall, the place where matters concerning the future of the clan were debated. Behind them, faded murals depicted the clan's glory days—when Tang Clan assassins and poisoners struck fear into the Central Plains.

Tang Mo was the first to speak.

"The youngest has entered the mid Qi Awakening stage. But more concerning is the pressure of ancient poison auras around his courtyard. We may be looking at a divine-grade constitution."

Tang Ren, the Frostbite Venom Master, narrowed his eyes. "He was supposed to be born with a fractured core. That's why we left him be."

Tang Liansu, the guardian of manuals, frowned. "A hundred venom body… I've read of it. In the Myriad Venom Codex. Only once did such a constitution appear. That person became the Poison Emperor who melted the ten thousand-army march of the Zhao Clan with a single breath."

The final Elder, Tang Wuyi—known as the Jade Ghost Fang—stroked his beard and whispered, "And what did the records say about that emperor?"

Tang Liansu sighed. "He turned against the Tang Clan. Claimed we were unworthy. He vanished into legend."

The Elders fell silent.

Finally, Tang Mo chuckled. "Then perhaps this time, we cultivate him properly. Or ensure he does not outgrow his place."

Tang Yun's Plans Unfold

The next day, Tang Yun emerged. His hair had grown slightly longer, fluttering behind him like black silk. His robes were newly stitched and reinforced with poison-resistant thread. He looked like a noble heir—but still beneath notice to most.

He moved to the Outer Compound.

There, disciples sparred, trained, or nursed injuries. These were not the pride of the clan, but the overlooked, the shamed, the ignored.

Tang Yun saw potential.

He approached a quiet group. Five youths, all Outer Disciples.

"You." He pointed at one. "You can sense poison through smell."

The boy blinked. "I… yes. My nose is unusually sensitive."

"You," he pointed at another. "You fought off paralytic poison from an elder's failed concoction, didn't you?"

The girl flinched. "I—I did, but…"

Tang Yun smiled faintly. "You five. Come to the Withered Plum Garden tonight. Bring no one."

And he walked away.

They stared after him, confused.

But at dusk, they arrived.

There, Tang Yun awaited them with a bamboo scroll and five tiny ceramic bottles.

"Drink. Survive, and I'll make you my first Five Venoms."

They hesitated—but something in his tone made their hearts stir.

One by one, they drank.

Two collapsed immediately, writhing in pain.

One vomited black blood, then went still—but breathing.

The last two stood shaking.

Tang Yun's expression did not change.

"Good. Two dead, three alive. But none truly perished. This was only the awakening."

The three began convulsing.

"You will become immune to your first death. And learn from it. You'll wake stronger, faster, and reborn in toxin."

He turned and entered the garden.

Behind him, the three began to scream again.

In the Shadow Hall

Deep beneath the central compound, where even Elders rarely ventured, a sliver of shadow shifted.

A voice, ancient and weary, whispered.

"He awakens… the trait of the Poison Emperor returns. The Tang have long feared what they could not control."

An old man sat in a broken lotus posture. Poison scars laced his arms, and his left eye was a black pit.

"Let them try to chain him. If he bears the full Poison Emperor's Inheritance, then this Murim will once again burn with venom."

The Next Morning

The three survivors stood before Tang Yun.

They were pale, weak—but their eyes glowed faintly.

"You died last night," he said. "And now you live. I name you:

Fei Lan – Smoke Spider Fang

Ruo Min – Weeping Toad Vein

Chen Xu – Inkscale Scorpion Eye

"You are the first of my Five Venoms. The other two will return… or be replaced."

They knelt.

"Master Tang Yun."

He nodded. "Train in the Plum Garden. No one else is to enter. This courtyard is now forbidden to the rest of the clan. I will personally inscribe a Poison Warding Seal. Those who cross it… die."

From within his sleeve, he withdrew a jade token—a black serpent engraved with coiling vines. A token of authority he had reclaimed from the Poison Vault last night.

The seal burst forth, and the Plum Garden shimmered.

A boundary was born.

Tang Yun was no longer a forgotten child.

He was becoming something else.

A shadow within shadows.

A poison that even the clan could not swallow.

[Tags]: Reincarnation, Martial Arts, Poison, Scheming Protagonist, Cultivation, Weak to Strong, Anti-Hero, Cold Protagonist, Clan Wars, Hidden Identity, Revenge