Venom in the Veins of Power

Morning mist coiled around the Tang Clan's outer pavilion like smoke rising from a battlefield. The corpses of the five disciples had been removed before sunrise, yet the air still smelled of poison and dread. The outer disciples kept their distance, avoiding even the mention of Tang Yun's name unless whispered in shadow.

But behind closed doors, the storm was already brewing.

Tang Clan Inner Council Hall – Secret Elder Chamber

Four elders sat within the circular chamber. It was silent, save for the soft clinking of tea cups and the rustling of robes.

Elder Tang Mo, known as the Silent Fang, leaned back, eyes half-lidded. He was the one who had been watching Tang Yun silently for years. Today, he was not silent.

"He is no longer just a child," Tang Mo said, voice low, dangerous. "He has killed, calculated, and erased evidence. He's awakened the One-Hundred Venoms Constitution. And… I suspect his cultivation has risen."

Opposite him sat Elder Tang Ren, the Venom Scholar, who frowned. "We do not know for certain it was him."

"It was," Tang Mo replied flatly. "The wounds, the toxins, the style… They were all textbook Tang techniques but elevated. Transformed."

Beside him, Elder Tang Liansu the Iron Spine slammed a hand against the stone table. "Then we deal with it. Kill him. The twelfth son is a mistake. We don't need another rogue poison heir."

"Or…" whispered the last, Elderess Tang Mei, a former prodigy of the Moonflower Sect before her marriage into the Tang Clan. Her eyes gleamed with insight. "We let him bloom."

The room quieted.

"We've lost much in these decades," Tang Mei continued. "Our clan was once feared, second only to the Namgung Sword Clan. But now? We're a shadow of our past. What if Tang Yun is not a threat—but a spark?"

Tang Liansu sneered. "And what if he's a wildfire that burns us all?"

"He's a child," Tang Mei countered. "Let him believe he is rising. And while he climbs, we observe. If he falls, he saves us the trouble. But if he succeeds… perhaps he will rebuild what we lost."

Tang Mo finally spoke again. "He needs to be tested. Not with swords, but with politics."

A slow smile crept across his face. "Let us promote him… unofficially."

Later That Week – Outer Sect Courtyard

Tang Yun sat beneath the shaded archway of his humble pavilion, sipping bitter tea brewed with Silent Bell Leaf. His skin glowed faintly green still adjusting to his new mid-stage Qi Awakening. The 100 Poison Body within him now pulsed like a separate heart.

When the messenger arrived, Tang Yun already knew what he carried.

"From Elder Tang Mo," the servant said, kneeling and presenting a jade scroll.

Tang Yun accepted it without expression. He unsealed the scroll and read:

Tang Yun is to serve as junior liaison to the Outer Hall Poison Vault. All requests, ingredients, and manuals must pass through him. Report to Elder Tang Mo within three days.

Tang Yun raised an eyebrow. This was a trap but also an opportunity. It gave him access to the clan's lower vaults and the right to read and distribute poison arts.

A test.

He smirked. "Very well."

Tang Clan Outer Vaults – Hall of Serpents

Tang Yun descended into the Poison Vault three days later. Rows of stone tablets, scrolls, and sealed urns lined the corridor, guarded by low-ranking poison attendants. His role was not yet high, but it was visible.

For the first time in years, disciples began to approach him not with mockery but fear.

Some bowed slightly. Others avoided eye contact.

He noticed it all.

Over the next few weeks, Tang Yun quietly built his influence. He approved rare ingredients for certain disciples, delayed access for others, and tracked who came to request which poisons. Every choice was a web.

He made allies of desperate talents, supplying them with diluted recipes that improved their minor breakthroughs.

He starved the arrogant, hiding key formulas behind "missing records."

And above all, he studied each night taking secret copies of forbidden manuals, inscribing them with his own improvements. His poison path evolved.

Breath of the Thousand Plagues became Mist of a Million Agonies.

Demon Bloom Fang refined into Venom Lotus Heart a core method that allowed him to form a spiritual poison seed inside his dantian.

Whispers began to grow.

"He's not a cripple anymore." "They say Elder Tang Mo favors him now." "Didn't you hear? He redesigned a venom script thought lost."

Even the inner disciples began to murmur.

Tang Clan Inner Grounds – Elder Tang Mo's Garden

Tang Mo poured wine for Tang Mei.

"Well?" she asked.

Tang Mo nodded slowly. "He doesn't seek power blindly. He builds foundations. He plants information. He manipulates even his own myth."

"You admire him."

"I fear him."

"Good."

Tang Mo's eyes narrowed. "Liansu still wants him dead. He's moving behind the scenes, trying to incite inner disciples against him."

Tang Mei shrugged. "Let him try. The boy has survived worse. The real danger…"

"…is if the Patriarch hears."

Both fell silent.

Tang Clan Main Hall – Night

Deep beneath the central pagoda, seated upon an ancient throne wrapped in shadow, the Patriarch of the Tang Clan opened his eyes for the first time in months.

Tang Zhenhai, the Crimson Fang Monarch, a relic of the old generation, remained shrouded in robes of black and blood red. His body no longer moved like it once did, but his mind… was steel.

He stared at the reports before him.

Tang Yun… Twelfth son… Demon Seed… One Hundred Poison Body…

A faint, amused smile curled his lips.

"Finally," he whispered.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned his shadow guards.

"Bring me everything on the boy. Bloodline, lineage… mother's history. And place him under the Eye of the Night Serpent."

"As you command."

The guards vanished.

Tang Zhenhai leaned back.

"The poison must bloom again."

---

Tang Yun's Pavilion – That Night

Tang Yun meditated beneath the moonlight. His dantian was swirling full, yet compressed. The first layer of the Venom Lotus Heart was nearly complete. Once it bloomed fully, he would reach the late stage of Qi Awakening. No longer would outer disciples dare breathe his name lightly.

But as his consciousness floated, he felt it a sensation like being watched.

Not by a person.

By something older.

Eye of the Night Serpent.

He opened his eyes. A shadow shifted behind the tree.

He smiled.

Let them watch.

Let them think they control the board.

For Tang Yun, the game had only just begun.

And the poison? The poison had a plan.

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