Chapter 6 — Venom in the Shadows
The days that followed were unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
Chin Lin noticed it first.
The insects around the house thinned. The night air felt tense, as though something unseen had disturbed the natural balance. Even the Qi drifting through the environment felt agitated, unstable.
External interference, he concluded.
That night, while his parents slept, Chin Lin activated the system.
First Official Body Refinement Session
[Body Refinement Session: Initiated]
[Stage: Mortal Refinement — Level 2]
Warmth spread through his limbs, deeper and stronger than before. This was no longer passive reinforcement—it was active cultivation.
He guided the refinement carefully:
Bones first
Then organs
Finally, muscle fibers
Every step was measured. No shortcuts.
[Body Refinement: Level 2 Achieved]
Chin Lin exhaled slowly.
Good timing.
He did not yet know why—but instinct told him he would need this strength soon.
The Poisonous Visitor
It happened near dawn.
A hiss cut through the silence.
One of Chin Lin's soul fragments—stationed in a dead crow nearby—reacted instantly. Through its fading senses, he saw it.
A snake.
Black-scaled. Thick-bodied. Its eyes glowed faintly green.
Poisonous.
Worse—
Qi rippled along its body.
[Threat Detected]
[Target: Qi Refining Beast — Level 1]
[Bloodline Trace: Cobra King (Dormant)]
Chin Lin's thoughts sharpened.
A cultivated beast… sent deliberately.
This was no accident.
Family enemies.
Training in the Shadows
Chin Lin did not panic.
He split his soul—once.
Pain flared, but his stability held.
The fragment slipped into the body of a dead dog near the fence, guiding it silently to intercept. The snake struck instantly, venom spraying.
Too fast.
But the corpse did not bleed.
The delay was enough.
Inside the house, Chin Lin flexed his small body.
Level 2 Body Refinement vs Level 1 Qi Refining beast, he calculated.
Direct combat: impossible.
Indirect interference: viable.
He guided Qi subconsciously through his meridians—not forming techniques, but reinforcing perception.
The snake hesitated.
Its bloodline stirred—but incompletely.
[Bloodline Suppression Detected]
Interesting.
The Cobra King bloodline is unstable.
The Breaking Point
The snake lunged toward the house.
Chin Lin released a pulse of soul pressure—weak, unfocused, but unnatural for an infant.
The snake recoiled.
Just for a heartbeat.
Then—
It convulsed.
The poison inside its body reacted violently with the unstable bloodline. Black veins spread beneath its scales.
The snake collapsed, thrashing.
Minutes later—it lay still.
[Qi Refining Beast Defeated]
[Resource Points +25]
[Bloodline Fragment Acquired: Cobra King (Incomplete)]
Chin Lin did not smile.
He felt cold.
That was close.
Village Ripples
At sunrise, villagers gathered.
"A poisonous snake this close to the settlement?"
"That thing had Qi!"
"This isn't natural."
An elder crouched near the corpse, face pale.
"This beast was sent," he said quietly. "And not for adults."
His gaze drifted—briefly—toward Chin Lin's house.
Inside, Chin Lin's parents held him tightly.
"Enemies…" his father whispered. "We thought we left that behind."
So there are secrets, Chin Lin realized.
This family is not as simple as it appears.
Early Bloodline Hints
That night, Chin Lin examined the system.
Name: Chin Lin
Bloodline: None (Trace Detected)
Body Refinement: Mortal Refinement — Level 2
Soul Refinement: Stable (2 Fragments)
Cultivation: Mortal Foundation
Resource Points: 46
[System Note: Bloodline compatibility unknown.]
[Recommendation: Observe. Do not integrate yet.]
Chin Lin agreed.
"Bloodlines are variables," he thought.
"I don't integrate unknown variables."
Outside, the village remained uneasy.
Enemies had acted once.
They could act again.
Chin Lin closed his eyes, calm but resolute.
"Next time," he thought,
"I won't rely on coincidence."