Drawback system

Ah Yue had already reached Level 3.

He was now just beneath the Zhao family's strongest expert.

But strength was not enough. Not when his position remained unchanged, not when his every breath still carried the scent of the kitchen, and not when the collar of a slave still hung around his neck.

So he prepared for another leap.

The Five Poison Palm had brought him this far—scorpion, snake, centipede, toad, spider. Five venoms. Five foundations.

What if five wasn't the limit?

The idea gnawed at him for days until he couldn't ignore it. So, one evening, he mixed a new batch using leftover pest poison powder from the storeroom. When it didn't backfire, he dared more.

Every night after that, he scoured the alleys, shadowed apothecaries, and bribed medicine boys with leftover scraps. In a month, he had gathered every toxin, venom, and corrosive agent that could be found in the city.

Beetle blood. Wasp larvae. Bone-rotting sap. Withering leaf powder. Fungus oils that blackened skin. Tinctures that killed livestock with a single whiff.

He ground them all into pastes, soaked his limbs, drank measured drops, let them rot in his bloodstream.

His skin erupted with boils, peeled, healed, then hardened.

His muscles cramped, then grew leaner.

His nails darkened, his breath stank of bitter herbs, and his sweat carried death.

But when he pushed his art further—

> Martial Art Updated: Hundred Poison Body Method

Status: Incomplete

Rating: Level 5

The transformation wasn't just physical.

A day later, while circulating his energy, something new stirred.

It wasn't Yang Qi from the Sunflower Art. This was colder. Slicker. Toxic.

> Warning: Poison Qi Detected

Internal Energy Generation: Confirmed

His Poison Body Method—once entirely external—had formed its own internal Qi.

For a brief moment, he felt invincible.

But the joy vanished quickly.

The Poison Qi began to clash with the Yang Qi of the Sunflower Art already inside him.

The conflict erupted like oil and water set ablaze.

One moment, his body ran cold; the next, it flared with heat. His heart pounded out of rhythm, and blood vessels bulged and darkened under his skin.

He collapsed onto the ground, hands clutching his chest. Breath shallow. Veins twitching.

Then, the system chimed.

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> ⚠ Two Internal Energy Sources Detected

① Merge both

② Sacrifice one to strengthen the other

③ Retain both (Warning: unstable foundation)

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He didn't hesitate.

Option two.

He chose to sacrifice the Sunflower Art.

Not because it was weak—but because it was no longer his path.

The internal heat of Yang Energy surged violently, as if sensing its end. But instead of dissipating, it clashed with the Poison Qi one last time—and then something strange happened.

It didn't vanish.

It burned.

His Poison Qi caught fire.

It hissed, turned purple-black, and flowed through his meridians like a molten toxin. He screamed, his voice hoarse, every inch of his body feeling both poisoned and reborn.

> New Art Created: Poison Flame Art

Internal Qi Type: Poison Flame

Rating: Level 6 (Incomplete)

A dark fire coiled in his dantian.

It wasn't hot in the traditional sense—but anything it touched corroded, withered, and died. A flame that didn't give life. A flame that destroyed.

He sat still for hours afterward, letting the new power stabilize.

The pain faded. The Qi calmed.

He opened his eyes, and the air felt heavier.

Stronger.

> Cultivation Level Increased: Level 4

Status: Stable

He rose slowly. No fanfare. No lightning strike. No explosion.

But a presence had awakened within him.

The kitchen boy who once ran errands was gone.

And in his place stood a man whose blood flowed with flames of poison, whose hands carried the strength to rot flesh and dissolve bone.

The strongest in the Zhao family was still unaware.

But Ah Yue had already surpassed him.

Ah Yue studied the faint poisonous flame flickering in his palm. The new Poison Flame Art was vastly different from the Sunflower Art he had relied on before. The Sunflower Art was a cultivation method known only to eunuchs—its practice demanded the sacrifice of one's manhood, a fact widely known and feared. Anyone who tried to cultivate it without such a sacrifice would immediately draw suspicion and scorn.

If others ever discovered he was cultivating the Sunflower Art without being a eunuch, they would doubt his identity and question his legitimacy. He could be targeted, humiliated, or worse.

But the Poison Flame Art was different. It carried none of the stigma or taboo. It was a completely new path—born from poison and flame, fierce yet free of the dark mark that came with the Sunflower Art.

With this new method, no one could doubt or suspect him simply because of his body. No one could claim he was hiding some shameful secret.

This freedom meant he could cultivate openly, steadily growing stronger without fear of discovery or persecution.

The Poison Flame Art was not only more powerful—it was his safeguard.

Later that night, Ah Yue acquired a rare martial technique from the black market—Burning Blood Art, a forbidden cultivation method known for its brutal efficiency. The art allowed one to burn away their lifespan to forcefully raise their strength for a short time. It was a desperate path, often used by dying warriors who had nothing left to lose.

Curious, Ah Yue activated the technique.

But the moment he did, a strange reaction occurred. Instead of gaining strength, his cultivation realm regressed slightly—yet his lifespan increased.

It was the Drawback System at work again.

The art's drawback—shortening lifespan—had been reversed. And since the method had no lasting power apart from that sacrifice, it became useless to him. His strength dipped, and all he gained was time.

With a frown, he closed the scroll and stored it away. This one isn't worth using, he thought. Burning away cultivation for more years of life? Useless if I can't fight.

He decided to shelve the technique—for now.