The blood circulated.
A low heat spread through Arin's body.
"…This is so much better," he muttered.
[What a monster. Who even does that?]
"Shut up," he thought back.
"I am a literal monster now. They would've eaten me if I hadn't done anything."
[Tch. Tch. Tch. Keep telling yourself that.]
The system's voice tilted, mocking.
Arin ignored it.
Excuses didn't matter.
Results did.
If he was going to cultivate—
then he would do it properly.
His focus tightened.
Coiled Foundation Method
He opened the description.
Coiled Foundation Method (Incomplete)
A foundational cultivation method designed for organisms possessing both structured meridians and adaptive flesh.
The method establishes a dual-flow state.
One stream of qi circulates through newly formed meridian pathways.
The other diffuses into muscles, scales, and organs—reinforcing the physical vessel.
The two flows do not merge.
They resonate.
Improper use may result in internal conflict, tissue rupture, or loss of bodily control.
(Again. You should really try that.)
Compatibility Requirement: Extremely High.
"They don't merge… they resonate," Arin muttered.
He coiled instinctively.
His focus settled on his meridians first—thin, unfamiliar pathways threading through his body.
Qi moved.
Cold. Sharp.
Then he shifted his attention outward.
Muscle. Scale. Flesh.
The cultivators' blood stirred, responding.
A second flow formed.
The moment both moved at once—
Pain exploded.
His body seized.
Scales scraped stone as his control shattered.
"F**k—!" He gasped, instinctively halting the circulation.
The pain lingered, burning deep.
"…How the hell did that hurt so much?"
He breathed heavily.
Then his eyes narrowed.
He resumed.
Qi flowed through his meridians again.
He stopped.
A thought surfaced.
"…What if I'm doing it wrong?"
He frowned.
"What if I don't force qi into individual muscles over and over…"
His gaze sharpened.
"…but let it flow—like meridians do."
The idea clicked.
Muscle wasn't a single point.
It was a network.
Fibers, tension lines, movement paths.
He adjusted his breathing.
The first stream continued through his meridians—stable, precise.
Then, instead of pushing qi into one muscle
—
He guided it along motion.
Across groups.
Across structure.
The second flow spread.
Something overlapped.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
But this time—he didn't stop.
He continued.
Time passed.
Not violently.
Not chaotically.
The pain dulled.
Not gone.
But… manageable.
His flesh trembled, adapting.
"So that's it," he whispered.
The two flows didn't collide.
They vibrated.
Resonance.
He didn't stop.
Power accumulated.
Control followed.
He continued until his body could take no more.
He opened his eyes—
and the moment felt frozen.
A system window appeared.
[How does it feel… eating your former species?]
"Fuck off," he thought, dismissively.
"…Where are my rewards?"
[Reward Granted:]
1. Combat Record Archive
Performance data stored.
Learn faster.
Or die faster.
2. Translated External Vision
Cognitive risk acknowledged.
His vision darkened.
Not blindness—
emptiness.
Then light.
A massive white gorilla.
Golden fur along its spine.
Kneeling.
Before a black-haired child.
Then—
it snapped.
"What the fuck was that…" he thought.
A child.
No—
not a child.
Something wearing the shape of one.
His mind rejected the image, instinctively searching for an explanation.
That wasn't normal.
That couldn't be.
"…Where was I even born into?" he muttered.
Silence answered him.
His gaze dropped.
A body lay nearby.
Ragged clothes.
Broken throat.
"So you were bottom of the barrel too," he said quietly.
The cave didn't respond.
He looked at the other serpents.
They twisted around each other clumsily, unaware—too busy playing, too small to understand danger.
"…We have to grow stronger," he muttered.
His scales tightened.
Not from fear.
From instinct.
Beyond the tunnel they had crawled through—
an eye opened.
Crimson.
Unblinking.
It stared from the darkness, not at the
serpents—
but at him.