External Threat

For the first time in a decade, the wind that swept across the Tang Clan carried a scent that didn't belong to poison. It carried bloodlust. Unfamiliar. Cold. And foreign.

At the very edge of the Tang Clan's outer perimeter, beneath the obsidian-blossomed Thornswept Trees, a ripple passed through the concealed formation barriers. It was subtle, expertly woven, but it did not escape the notice of a single soul within the Poison Courtyard.

Not anymore.

Tang Yun stood alone in the stillness of dawn, deep in the secluded Hollow Serpent Garden. His breathing was steady, his spine straight, arms relaxed at his sides. A jade slip hovered before him, humming with residual qi as a faint green hue pulsed through the air. It was one of the newly unlocked manuals from the restricted archives — a gift granted to outer disciples, supposedly by chance.

But it had not been chance. Tang Yun had made it happen. Quietly. Precisely.

The Forbidden Manual: "Hundred Venoms Body Scripture.""

A cultivation method once considered too unstable, its effects unpredictable. It was said to require a constitution immune to ordinary qi poisoning. For anyone else, it would spell death.

But Tang Yun was no ordinary twelve-year-old.

His veins now flowed with the toxin-infused essence of the Hundred Poison Body (백독체 – Baekdokche). After consuming and refining 99 rare poisons, each one deadly in its own right, he had reached the final layer. His dantian no longer resisted venom. It welcomed it.

"Now," he whispered, his breath misting in the air. "The final poison."

From within a sealed jade gourd, he withdrew the last toxin—Nine-Scorch Serpent Blood.

The blood hissed as it met the open air. A scarlet vapor curled upwards, burning the leaves of a distant tree. Tang Yun drank it without hesitation.

His eyes widened. A thunderous surge of qi tore through his meridians. Pain flared. Heat surged. Muscles strained.

Then—stillness.

In a single heartbeat, Tang Yun crossed the threshold.

Qi Awakening Realm - Mid Stage (기각성경 중기)

His dantian expanded. Poison qi flowed freely through his body, without resistance or blockage. No longer diluted, his energy surged, steady and dangerous like a coiled snake in perfect harmony with the world around it.

"This," Tang Yun muttered, "is only the beginning."

Within the Inner Pavilion - Moments Later

The signal flare lit up the eastern sky. Black smoke. Three bursts. Emergency alert.

The inner courtyard reacted immediately. Elders descended from their cultivation chambers. Disciples scrambled to arm themselves. Formation masters adjusted the clan's outer defense array.

Tang Mo, now seated in the Silent Fang Tower, narrowed his eyes.

"Someone dared to touch our borders," he murmured.

His voice echoed as Elder Tang Ren appeared behind him.

"One intruder. Alone. Masked cultivation."

"Their intention?"

"Unclear. But bold."

Tang Mo stood. "Then let the clan's fangs test the bold."

Cultivation Levels of the Tang Children:

The confrontation brought with it a natural call to arms. For the first time, the true strengths of the twelve Tang heirs were formally recorded for preparation.

1. Tang Jinhai (Age 20) - Peak Inner Core Realm (내핵경 후기)

2. Tang Feiyan (Age 19) - Late Inner Core Realm (내핵경 중기)

3. Tang Wuhen (Age 18) - Mid Inner Core Realm (내핵경 중기)

4. Tang Rouxi (Age 17) - Early Inner Core Realm (내핵경 초기)

5. Tang Huian (Age 16) - Peak Meridian Opening Realm (경맥개방경 후기)

6. Tang Mingzhe (Age 16) - Late Meridian Opening Realm (경맥개방경 중기)

7. Tang Ruolin (Age 15) - Mid Meridian Opening Realm

8. Tang Bao (Age 14) - Mid Meridian Opening Realm

9. Tang Lixue (Age 13) - Early Meridian Opening Realm

10. Tang Shenli (Age 13) - Early Meridian Opening Realm

11. Tang Jiayi (Age 12) - Late Qi Awakening Realm

12. Tang Yun (Age 12) - Mid Qi Awakening Realm

A cold chuckle echoed through the courtyard as Tang Jinhai passed the names.

"Let the weak watch. The strong will protect the clan."

But Feiyan, elegant and cold, said nothing. Her gaze lingered on Tang Yun's name longer than necessary.

Eastern Perimeter – The Threat Revealed

As the barrier weakened, a figure stepped through. Clad in black, a straw hat veiling his face, the stranger exuded the aura of someone confident in his solitude. He walked casually, stopping just beyond the Tang Clan's third perimeter.

He bent down and plucked a violet-black herb from the soil. "So this is where the Widow's Blanket grows wild."

Tang Mo arrived first, flanked by three core elders.

"You stand on Tang soil, outsider," he said. "Leave or bleed."

The man raised his head, revealing a mask shaped like a centipede.

"I merely came to speak. But if your clan draws blades first, I will not retreat."

"Speak then. But know that your life balances on your next breath."

The stranger didn't flinch. "I bring a message from a faraway place. A name your ancestors knew. We are waking again."

He turned.

"And when we do, the Poison Throne will not be empty."

Before Tang Mo could move, the figure vanished, leaving behind a single severed root of Widow's Blanket — blackened and rotted.

A warning.

A declaration.

The Poison Emperor's bloodline had been noticed.

Back in the Hollow Serpent Garden

Tang Yun returned to his meditation. But this time, something was different.

A thread of qi not his own was coiling through the ground. It carried traces of the foreign intruder. His poison qi responded instinctively, rejecting the thread, devouring it.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Someone... left a mark here."

It wasn't an attack.

It was an invitation.

Tang Yun stood slowly, dusting off his robe. "So the world remembers the Tang Clan."

He looked at his hand. Poison qi coiled around his fingers like mist. Silent. Deadly. Obedient.

"Let them come. I'll be ready."

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