Birth of the Demon Seed

A crack echoed through the dim forest clearing as Tang Yun's poisoned needle struck the final pressure point of the outer sect disciple. Blood bubbled from the boy's lips, his veins turning black with searing toxin. He collapsed, twitching, before falling still. The mist hung low around the trees, darkened by the rot of venom herbs Tang Yun had scattered beforehand. His breathing remained calm, his expression tranquil.

But to the onlookers, he had become a nightmare.

"You… you're a demon, Tang Yun!" one of the surviving disciples cried out, stumbling back in horror. His eyes were wide with disbelief and fear, locked onto the body of his fallen comrade. "No, worse… you're a monster!"

Tang Yun turned his head slowly, his gaze cool and piercing.

"A demon?" he echoed, his voice soft, as if tasting the word.

The disciples, ten of them originally sent to discipline the weakest outer member for an incident Tang Yun himself had orchestrated, now stood as half their number wounded, poisoned, or trembling.

The boy stepped forward, his long black robes rustling softly, the green serpent embroidery gleaming under the moonlight. He raised his hand three fingers extended, the rest curled a hidden sign that triggered the final mechanism. Behind the disciples, vines erupted from the trees, infused with venom, wrapping around ankles and wrists, injecting paralytic toxin.

They screamed.

One by one, they fell.

Only a single one remained untouched, a boy named Liu Ming, a distant cousin to one of the Tang clan branch families. He stared at Tang Yun, eyes flooded with terror.

"Please… we were only following orders… We didn't know–"

Tang Yun's footsteps stopped before him. He knelt slowly, meeting Liu Ming's gaze.

"I know," Tang Yun said gently. "You were pawns."

He placed a single talisman on the boy's chest, infused with a mild antidote and a sleeping charm.

"You'll wake with your memories scrambled. But the pain will linger. Let it remind you to never be someone else's pawn again."

Liu Ming blacked out.

Tang Yun stood, exhaling slowly. The woods around him were still. The stars above blinked quietly. In the aftermath of slaughter, clarity came.

A demon, they say…

He turned his gaze inward.

The poison body within him had begun to shift. It had started with the One-Hundred Venoms Constitution awakening a few days prior, a hidden legacy of the Tang bloodline now fully harmonized within him. Venoms no longer harmed him they nourished him. His blood was turning into a hybrid toxin that adapted and countered poisons instinctively. The spiritual core of his Qi was no longer merely Poison Qi it was Demonic Venom Qi, a variant no one in the clan yet recognized.

His internal qi stirred. The low buzz across his meridians grew sharper.

A rush of power swept through him.

He sat down immediately, legs crossed.

His breathing slowed. He entered a trance.

---

Tang Yun's Cultivation: Mid Qi Awakening Realm

The breakthrough wasn't violent it was silent, serpentine, coiling through his bones and nerves like ink in water. His core expanded, and his dantian spiraled with new motion. Tendrils of venomous qi wrapped around his inner world, forming a refined spiral of control.

Three new poison techniques, dormant in his bloodline, awakened:

Serpent Coil Meridian Flow – channels qi through hidden meridians for explosive bursts.

Demon Bloom Fang – an internal fang construct that releases toxin when bitten in combat.

Breath of the Thousand Plagues – a passive exhale technique that poisons weaker cultivators slowly when near him.

When he opened his eyes, the forest had changed.

It was darker. Quieter. As if the trees themselves feared him.

He rose.

Later That Night – Tang Clan Outer Pavilion

The bodies of five disciples were discovered at dawn.

Elders rushed to the scene. The signs were unmistakable poison techniques known only to Tang bloodlines, but modified in ways never seen. One elder paled upon seeing the markings.

Elder Tang Ren narrowed his gaze.

"This was… intentional. Calculated."

"They say it was the twelfth son," whispered another outer elder.

"Nonsense," scoffed Tang Liansu. "Tang Yun? That cripple?"

Tang Mo said nothing. He only stroked his beard, eyes unreadable.

"Regardless," Liansu continued, "the clan cannot tolerate such killing within its own walls. This must be declared a tragedy a beast attack. Otherwise, the elders' incompetence will be questioned."

Tang Mo's lips twitched. "And what if the boy truly has begun to walk the poison path?"

Silence.

He looked toward the northern quarters, where Tang Yun's modest courtyard stood.

"Then we must decide soon," Tang Mo murmured, "whether to crush him early or let the world meet its newest demon."

Meanwhile – Tang Yun's Courtyard

Tang Yun brewed tea. Carefully.

His hand stirred a mixture of dried moon-lotus petals, snake gall powder, and blackroot dew. He was not just cultivating power he was cultivating fear, myth, and memory.

By morning, the outer sect disciples were speaking in hushed voices.

"They say he smiled as he killed them…"

"He used one look to freeze their blood!"

"He's the Demon Seed of the Tang!"

Tang Yun heard it all.

He sipped his tea, eyes calm.

If they needed a demon he would become one.

But he would choose the terms.

He would not rage.

He would scheme.

He would not roar.

He would whisper.

And one day, when the gates of the martial world trembled, they would remember the name:

Tang Yun – The Poison Demon Emperor.

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