The rain showed no mercy that night. Each droplet lashed against the cobbled streets of Ironclad City's Undercity, carving cold trails down the cracked stone walls. Cai Ren leaned heavily against an alley corner, his tattered cloak barely shielding him from the storm's fury.
His breaths were shallow and uneven. Every step he took sent waves of pain through his core, a grim reminder of the shattered dantian that had once held so much promise.
Three years....
Three years since his brother poisoned him and the same year since his family cast him aside. Like trash which needed to be cleaned one day and the day he was poisoned was the day he was discarded by his parents and siblings.
Just thinking about the face of his half-elder brother who was smiling and looking down on him, after he knew his scheme was successful.
That double-face bastard when he saw my state that bastard was enjoying my fall and pretending to be worried about me. When I was about to smash his face, even though I was crippled and only average level of strength remain. Under the pretense of hallucination caused by poison, he beat me until he was satisfied.
Later, elders and guards came into my room instead of treating my wound they just worried about that bastard being injured.
Cai Ren's gaze flicked to the distant skyline, where the towering spires of the Cai Clan's main estate pierced the storm clouds. The thought of returning there ignited a faint spark of rage in his chest -but it flickered and died, swallowed by the cold emptiness left behind by betrayal.
What's the point.... he thought bitterly, pushing back such thought in his mind. His hands clenched around the small, obsidian totem in his pocket - the Venomheart Totem. It had been his final gamble, a relic whispered about in his hushed tones by desperate old men in the slums.
He found this relic in the black market when he was trying to find another way to recover his core and strength. The black market sells all kinds of stuff like medicine, martial arts text, mutated beast's corpse, or hiring people for different purposes. The black market can be an opportunity to rise many martial artists came to sell their stuff to earn more money.
Government and official traders take a small amount of money as a fee for selling goods for regulating these stuff in the market, the price of these items in store and auction increased by an enormous amount.
To buy things related to martial artists or products made of mutated beasts needed to be a martial artist or join a clan. Whereas the black market doesn't take any kind of information about the seller and where they obtain goods. Anyone in this market is free to buy anything as long as they have money.
Thus, a black market is a land of opportunities where many figures rise to the point even the government cannot touch them. Ren was in hope to find opportunities like this, to change his fate and take revenge on his clan.
After roaming for three years in slums and the black market, trying anything that helps him regain his strength. But no relic or elixir could not restore his broken cultivation.
A week ago he bought something in the black market, something that Ren doesn't know that this thing will change his life. It was the "venomheart totem" he bought from a strange old merchant in the slums.
Like usual he was searching elixirs or relics from stalls in slums and found nothing useful. Left with disappointment Ren was about to leave when a small stall in the corner came into view. The owner of the stall was an old man, what caught his eyes was his look, or rather his eyes that lost all light and their nothing left with only emptiness.
For a moment Ren and this old man share the same fate abandoned by everyone. When Ren thought this his lips tightened and started walking towards in the direction of the old man's stall.
Perhaps, Ren sees himself in old man or what would happen when he gave up on his dream and revenge on his clan. Truly, fate was cruel to the weak and they had no choice but to resist his destiny.
When Ren reached his stall the old man looked at him with his empty eyes. He didn't say anything to the young man nor he was interested in trying to pursue this mysterious young boy to buy his thing.
Ren didn't say anything to him either and started to look for something useful in the old man's stall. Most of the things in the stall were junk, but there was something that caught his eye a scorpion carved on a stone.
"That one." Cai Ren pointed.
Suddenly, the old man whispered to Ren in a hushed tone.
"Many say this item is cursed if they are not worthy they are devoured by this stone. The number of lives this item has taken is not small, do you still buy this thing? Listening to old man he really doesn't care, because his life was already hell, and what more worse would happen to him.
The young boy in front of the old man doesn't back off or afraid of losing his life. Seeing his eyes filled with vengeance and doesn't matter anything as long as he could get his revenge. The old man said something to him again. "But for those who survive it, this relic provides strength beyond imagination follows."
When Ren grabbed this totem in his palm it pulsed faintly on the the thought of nothing left to lose, as if responding to his thoughts. On the close look of the totem, its smooth surface was carved with the intricate form of a scorpion, poised to strike.
"I'II take it." He placed a small pouch of coins on the table, ignoring the warning.
In the black market money used here is coins exchanged by credit to make sure no one knows the flow of money where spent or transferred.
After buying this item he left without saying anything to the old man. It's been a week since he purchased this totem and tried everything from destroying to feeding the beast, but nothing happened to the item.
As Ren was lost in thought while turning down to the next alley, shadows shifted behind him.
"You shouldn't be out this late, young master."
His feet froze. The voice slithered from the dark, calm yet laced with unmistakable malice.
Three figures emerged from the shadows, each clad in tight black robes. Blades glinted at their sides, barely visible beneath the folds of their cloaks.
Assassins.
Cai Ren's pulse quickened. His back pressed against the cold wall, eyes darting for an escape route. There was none only one exit was blocked by assassins and the walls were twenty meters high, which was impossible to jump with normal physical capabilities.
Only a cultivator is capable of such feet with their core reinforcing his body with primal energy to increase their physical strength to an insane level.
"Young master?" Cai Ren's voice trembled with bitter amusement. "I haven't been called that in a long time. Who sent you?"
The central figure took a step forward. His head tilted slightly, face hidden beneath his hood. "Cai Lin sends his regards. he says it's time to finish what we started."
Of course.
Cai Ren's heart pounded against his ribs, but his expression hardened. "Typical. Too much of a coward to do it himself."
The assassin on the left shifted slightly. "Let's make this quick. The storm will cover the body."
They moved as one. The first lunged forward, blade flashing. Cai Ren twisted instinctively, narrowly avoiding the strike, but his weakened body betrayed him. A sharp pain tore through his side as the second assassin slashed across his ribs.
He stumbled, collapsing to one knee.
Damn it... I'm not strong enough.
Blood mixed with the rain, staining the ground beneath him. The assassins circled him like wolves around a dying prey.
"Pathetic." The lead assassin raised his blade for the final strike. "A waste of talent."
One of the assassins silently went Cai Ren's back holding on to his blade and putting strength in his hands then thrust his blade into Cai Ren's back.
Cai Ren was shocked his focus was on the front and let his guard down suddenly pain surged in his chest as a blade passed through his chest. A mouthful of blood was spitted due to his injuries.
Even though the blade didn't pass through his heart, he will eventually die due to blood loss and started to lose his strength falling to the ground with a thud!
"Tch. He's still breathing. Cai Lin ordered us to ensure the job was done," one assassin growled, stepping forward with his blade.
Cai Ren's hand tightened around the totem. His vision blurred, but in that moment, something inside him screamed-Live!
The totem burned in his grasp and scorpion eyes burned in crimson light and started to move taking a predatory stance.
A surge of foreign energy flooded his veins, searing through his body like liquid fire. His eyes widened in shock as the pain vanished, replaced by a strange, cold clarity.
[System Activation]
Apex Venom System initializing....
Host Detected. Compatibility: 100%.
Path to Ascension Unlocked.
The assassins hesitated as a faint crimson aura began to coil around Cai Ren's form.
"What the-"
Before The assassin could finish, Cai Ren shot forward with unnatural speed, his fist striking the nearest assailant in the gut. The man gasped, staggering backward, clutching his abdomen as venom seared through his bloodstream.
Cai Ren blinked in disbelief. His own strength felt foreign, amplified beyond reason.
"Auto-defense mode engaged."
His body moved on instinct, weaving between the remaining two assassins with fluid precision. The second attacker's blade descended, but Cai Ren caught in mid-swing, venom seeping from his palm and corroding the weapon in seconds.
Panic flashed in the assassin's eyes. "He's-he's not normal!"
"Kill him!" the leader barked, but it was too late.
Cai Ren's arm lashed out, his hand forming the shape of a scorpion's claw. He struck the leader's chest, sending him crashing into the alley wall. The assassins choked, venom spreading rapidly through his veins.
The last assassin, seeing his comrades fell scrambled to flee.
"No." Cai Ren's voice cut through the rain like steel. "None of you leave here alive."
His fingers twitched. A ghostly scorpion tail materialized behind him, lashing out with lightning speed. The tail impaled the fleeing assassin, lifting him momentarily before tossing him aside like a ragdoll.
Breathing heavily, Cai Ren stood amidst the bodies. The crimson aura around him slowly receded.
[Host Defense Complete.]
Venom Points Earned: 150
Skill Unlocked: Venom Fang strike.
Cai Ren stared down at his trembling hands. The mark of the scorpion now glowed faintly across on his right hand.
He exhaled sharply, wiping blood from his lip.
"I'm not the same weakling you cast aside anymore." his eyes narrowed, filled with renewed purpose.
Cai Lin.... I'm coming for you.