TYDOFC 29

Chapter 29

A total of six types of poison had been prepared.

The test would use two basic poisons regularly employed by the Poison Dragon Pavilion, along with four additional poisons specially selected by Dang Rip.

The procedure was simple: drink each poison in turn and verify that there were no adverse effects. Just in case something went wrong, a physician was stationed nearby—though “nearby” still meant behind the martial guards, so it was some distance away.

It didn’t matter.

Through the five poisons tested so far, I hadn’t experienced a single problem.

I wasn’t afraid. I calmly faced the trial step by step.

At first, the hall was noisy, but as I neared the end of the test, the murmuring gradually faded into silence.

I couldn’t tell if that silence was a good sign or a bad one.

And then—when the hall was completely still—

At last.

Only one poison remained before me.

The Formless Poison.

The deadliest toxin of the Tang family was now sitting right in front of me.

The Ten-Thousand-Blood Divine Poison was said to be the most powerful poison in existence.

Yet even that had failed to harm me.

So this one should be fine.
It had to be fine.

But—

Ugh. Maybe not so fine after all.

No matter how many deep breaths I took, my nerves wouldn’t settle.

There was no doubt—I truly possessed a body immune to all poisons.

Ever since I first heard that from Tang Pae-jin just before my death, and even after returning to this life, I’d heard it countless times again.

I had drunk many poisons and come out perfectly unharmed.

But now, sitting before the Formless Poison, said to surpass even the Ten-Thousand-Blood Divine Poison—

Ugh… I’m nervous.

I lifted my head and looked at my grandfather.

He was watching me with an unreadable expression—neither worried nor pleased.

But I knew what that meant. He didn’t worry because he trusted me.

On the other hand—

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Father frowning deeply.

Even though he knew I was immune to poison, the moment he heard I’d been bitten by a Ten-Blood Snake, he had rushed straight to me.

The poison hadn’t harmed me at all; all I had gained from that day’s incident were three small fang marks.

Yet Father had said, “I should have been more careful,” and looked as though his heart itself had been pierced.

Was that what a parent’s love felt like?

Had my mother—whose face and name I didn’t even know—worried about me that way too?

The thought made my chest ache faintly.

I looked down at the porcelain cup before me.

The five cups already used for the previous tests were placed far away now, and only this single cup remained.

I unconsciously placed a hand over my lower abdomen.

Inside me was a small poison core I had recently formed.

Grandfather had said he’d never seen one so small before.

That I was the first to create such a tiny poison core—and at such a young age.

But still…

The poison energy gathered within it was real.

I brushed the faint bite marks from the Ten-Blood Snake on my finger.

I had learned The Divine Art of the Primordial Poison Body from Grandfather—
a foundational martial art that gathers internal poison energy to form a poison core.

I had offered my finger to the snake, and when the Ten-Thousand-Blood Divine Poison entered my body, I used that art to force it into the forming core.

“Bite me.”

“…”

“I said, bite me…”

The Ten-Blood Snake hadn’t wanted to bite me—it had taken some effort—but in the end, it had.

And that was how I obtained the Ten-Thousand-Blood Divine Poison.

The core I formed from it was naturally small; only a little of that poison had entered me.

But even so, the core had formed—proof of just how potent the poison was.

Thus, though my poison core was the smallest, it was also the most powerful.

And today, as I drank the five poisons, I had drawn their toxins into my core one by one.

Now, within it, five of the Tang family’s strongest poisons were neatly layered.

It was hard to collect them before they dispersed through my body…

But I had succeeded.

Just as Grandfather said, this trial was an opportunity for me.

But the Formless Poison was different.

Tense, I reached for the cup.

When I lifted the porcelain lid, I saw at the bottom not a liquid nor a vapor, but something in between.

This was the Tang family’s supreme poison—one that could only be taken out with the approval of the clan head, the council, and the elders combined.

The Formless Poison.

I carefully brought the edge of the cup to my lips.

The shapeless toxin gathered like dew upon my lower lip.

“…!”

I shut my eyes tightly and tilted the cup.

The poison—soft and hazy as mist—flowed instantly into my mouth.

There was no time to resist, no way to spit it out.

It was, after all, a poison without form.

I set the cup down and blinked.

Then—

“…Huh?”

A fierce surge of poisonous energy erupted inside me.

I immediately lowered the cup.

My body had withstood even the Ten-Thousand-Blood Divine Poison without issue—
but this time felt different.

The poison within me was boiling violently, overflowing, vast beyond what the amount I had drunk could explain.

It was as if every trace of poison hidden deep within my body had awakened all at once.

But why?

Grandfather had said that poison energy could never linger long inside me.

That it would disperse and vanish, leaving no trace.

Yet suddenly it felt as if every poison in the world was bubbling up within me.

“Ugh!”

I clamped a hand over my mouth as I heard chairs scraping and people jumping up.

“Dang Bi!”

“Bi!”

The shouting made my head spin.

My vision swam.

At the same time, the Ten-Blood Snake in my bosom writhed violently, as if sensing something.

No—I can’t lose focus now.

I shut my eyes and grabbed my knees tightly to keep from collapsing.

The venom coursing through me was like fangs tearing into my organs, leaving nothing untouched.

Too much poison for an eight-year-old body to endure.

But I had learned how to fight back.

The Divine Art of the Primordial Poison Body was a technique that guides poison energy, giving it a place within.

I steadied my breathing and began carefully leading the rampaging poison through my body.

I could feel it struggling, resisting violently.

Sweat beaded on my forehead—I had never experienced anything like this before.

But still—

I can do this.

Grandfather had told me:
If I could fully make the Formless Poison my own,
it would be a great blessing, a chance of destiny.

As I closed my eyes, all sound faded away.

It felt as though the world held only two things—
me, and the poison trying to destroy me.

“Bi!”

Tang Jin-hyun leapt to his feet.

But Clan Head Tang Cheon-gi blocked him with an outstretched arm.

He gave a firm look.

“Stand down.”

“But—!”

“The Formless Poison has no antidote. Even if something goes wrong, there is no way to help her.”

His voice was colder than ever.

He continued quietly,

“No parent can sit still while their child suffers.”

“…”

“Each time that little girl writhes in pain, it must feel as though your own entrails are being torn apart.”

Tang Jin-hyun said nothing.

“But right now, your interference would only harm her.”

Tang Cheon-gi’s gaze turned to Dang Bi.

That tiny child—his youngest granddaughter, who could easily be mistaken for five rather than eight—was grimacing in agony.

Seeing her like that—how could even Tang Cheon-gi’s heart not waver?

But stepping forward now, he or Jin-hyun—or anyone else here—would only make things worse.

Dang Bi was practicing the Divine Art of the Primordial Poison Body.

While performing it, no one could approach. Any disturbance could destabilize her internal poison and seriously injure her.

Right now, she was fighting the poison.

Even from this distance, Tang Cheon-gi could see it clearly—
his granddaughter was not merely collapsing or fainting.

She was enduring, guiding the poison with astounding willpower, exactly as he had taught her.

You can do it, Bi.

Dang Bi was a prodigy.

So much so that Tang Cheon-gi could not understand why Jin-hyun had kept her talent hidden until now.

Part of it was her unique body—one possibly beyond poison immunity, perhaps even a Poison Spirit Body.

But more than that… her innate comprehension is extraordinary.

Her physique might not be strong, but her talent more than made up for it.

Tang Cheon-gi believed without a doubt that Dang Bi would not lose.

She was, without question, immune to all poisons.

And not only that.

If she went one step beyond, she could become something even greater—
one with a Poison Spirit Body, a being harmonized with poison itself.

And considering that even the Ten-Blood Snake obeyed her, that seemed very likely.

For such a being to succumb to the Formless Poison—
it was unthinkable.

A body immune to all poisons, even the formless kind.

And so, Tang Cheon-gi had Jin-hyun sit back down.

He gestured for the Tang family guards to move.

They surrounded Dang Bi in a protective circle, forming a barrier so that nothing and no one could disturb her cultivation.

Tang Cheon-gi watched everything closely—every breath, every tremor.

And he waited.

Waited quietly for the granddaughter who would surely live up to all his expectations.