The faint sunlight filtered through the dormitory window. Thuong Sinh sat cross-legged on his bed, his back straight, breathing steadily and slowly, each rhythm merging with his body's heartbeat.
True Essence was circulating throughout his body. When he opened his eyes, it was already noon; perhaps engrossed in cultivation, he had lost track of time. He took a deep breath and looked at the system interface before him.
[ Thuong Sinh ]
[ Cultivation ]: 350/1000
[ Realm ]: Essence Gathering (Early Stage)
[ Combat Skills ]: Blade Wind (Minor Accomplishment), Phantom Steps (Entry Level), Sword Kinesis: Gale Transformation (Entry Level)
[ Accumulated Points ]: 364
Throughout his time outside, he had not killed many zombies, which was why his accumulated points this time were so few. Flicking his gaze over to his cultivation points, he noted that he had never once neglected his practice. To him, the concept of cultivation was sleep; by replacing sleep with cultivation, his progress had increased significantly.
If he maintained this pace, he would break through to the Middle Stage of Essence Gathering in one or two weeks. However, he was not satisfied with this speed. Although it felt fast, there was still no news or clues regarding his family in Nam An, causing him to feel a heavy pressure.
His Source Breath Cultivation method was merely the initial technique received from the system—a common low-grade manual. At most, it could only take him to the peak of his current realm before the next great stage of Foundation Establishment; going further was nearly impossible.
"If only my realm were one level higher..." Thuong Sinh muttered. "If I reach the Middle Stage, I will ask to leave this place."
To leave this safe zone, to leave the protected perimeter and head toward Nam An. Once that thought appeared, it could not be extinguished. He opened the system interface again, his gaze no longer lingering on combat skills or equipment, but scrolling straight to the cultivation methods section.
He needed something else—perhaps unsafe, perhaps unstable, but it had to be fast enough and ruthless enough. A path where every passing second was traded for power. At that exact moment, his eyes stopped at a name.
The characters on the system panel slowly appeared as if waiting for him to make his own decision.
[ Vile Blood Heart-Corroding Art ]
[ Grade ]: Mortal Rank - Low Grade (Poison / Blood Attribute).
[ Effect ]: Reverses blood and Essence flow, transforming bodily blood into highly toxic True Essence. Greatly increases the corrosive nature of techniques and one's own poison resistance.
[ Price ]: 350 Accumulated Points
[ Description ]: Use blood as the lead, use poison as the soul. As long as blood flows, the lethal toxin exists.
Thuong Sinh's gaze lingered on that name for a long time.
The system panel showed no red alerts, no "danger" lines, and certainly no "forbidden to cultivate" warnings. There were only cold rows of text, displaying a commodity and silently waiting for the buyer to take responsibility.
But because of this, he understood. This system only described effects; it never took responsibility for the consequences.
Reverse blood and Essence flow.
Those few words were enough for anyone to understand. Essence traveling against the meridians, blood acting as the medium for True Essence—this was essentially a demonic and unorthodox cultivation method. If he practiced it, the consequences of a single mistake would be severe.
"Mortal Rank - Low Grade..." he repeated softly, his fingers instinctively tightening. This was already a cultivation method that far surpassed the Source Breath Cultivation he was currently using. It was not only faster but would directly change the nature of his combat.
Poison.
This manual was not a source of "stable" power, but a power that traded life for strength if necessary. His accumulated points appeared in his vision.
[ Accumulated Points ]: 364
He looked back at his points. That number seemed framed specifically for this choice. Not too much in excess, nor lacking. It was as if the system had known long ago that he would stand at this threshold.
Thuong Sinh hesitated no longer.
Purchase.
The moment the thought concluded, a manual colored deep crimson like blood mixed with the purple of poison appeared, hovering before him. As he looked at it, it was as if he could see a scene—a sea of blood before him, severed heads everywhere; the sight made one's scalp go numb.
The manual hovered for a moment then fell; he caught it just in time. Upon touching it, the sensation was like human skin. He could not resist flipping through the pages. After some time, when he had finished reading, the operational methods were imprinted clearly in his mind—step by step, rhythm by rhythm, every way to force blood and Essence to flow against the natural human body.
He did not cultivate immediately. He read the system panel again, from beginning to end, as if confirming he had missed nothing. There were no limits, no recommendations, no failure rates—only a single path laid out.
"Fine."
He took a deep breath, adjusted his posture, straightened his back, and sat cross-legged. The True Essence in his lower abdomen began to circulate, but this time, he did not guide it into the familiar meridians.
He forced it to turn back. In that instant, his heart skipped a beat. The sensation was not intense pain, but a kind of misalignment, as if his entire body was telling him: You are doing it wrong.
True Essence pressed into his blood vessels, and the pressure surged. The blood in his body felt as though it was being heated from within, but it did not ignite; instead, it became viscous and heavy.
Thuong Sinh frowned. He did not stop. Beneath his skin, the pathways of his blood vessels began to appear vividly, their color gradually shifting to a deep purple. A numbing sensation spread from his chest to his four limbs, as if thousands of poisonous ants were crawling through his blood.
Flesh and bone were being compressed—not adapting, but being forcibly changed. His breathing slowed, each breath being brought back under normal control. If he lost the rhythm for even one beat, this highly toxic True Essence would directly destroy his body.
A thin layer of black gas began to seep from his pores, very faint but heavy with a metallic stench. Then it gradually stabilized; the poisonous force did not explode but was being held and locked within every drop of blood.
Thuong Sinh opened his eyes.
His pupils were now as red as blood, his gaze sharper and colder than before, yet he maintained his reason. He looked at his own hands, which displayed dense, deep purple veins. He was no longer out of control, but he felt that his body was no longer the same as before.
It took a long while for his body to return to normal. His eyes shifted back to white, and the protruding deep purple veins receded. He did not know where this thing would lead him, but one thing was clear: from this moment on, his path would be faster and accompanied by much greater danger.
He let out a long sigh.
There was no feeling of fatigue in his body; instead, there was a sensation of his internal True Essence power gradually increasing. Though only by a little, he sensed the change. Perhaps now, his very blood could be a lethal toxin.
If he continued to strain his own blood like this, his body would likely run dry or destroy his internal organs. He needed to find toxins from the outside to absorb.
He stood up and went outside, heading toward the Safe Zone's medical sector. There, he could find "medicinal" materials for himself: expired or degraded drugs, or the zombie blood that researchers had called for collection.
The hallways of the medical sector were emptier than the living quarters. Old fluorescent lights emitted a pale white glow, shining on walls mottled with handprints and scratches that no one bothered to wipe.
The smell of disinfectant mixed with the smell of metal. Thuong Sinh slowed his steps. Since entering this safe zone, he had never visited this place even once; the reason being that if he were to be injured, it would happen out there, never in here.
The moment he stepped inside, the Vile Blood Heart-Corroding Art within his body reacted. It was not excitement, but hunger. A vague sensation, as if every drop of blood was trembling slightly, sensing something nearby that it could "eat."
He frowned slightly, forcing the True Essence to stabilize and preventing it from spreading outward.
"No unauthorized entry to the medical sector."
A voice rang out from ahead. A man in a silver-white coat stood blocking the auxiliary warehouse door, a research badge on his shoulder. His gaze toward Thuong Sinh was slightly wary but lacked malice.
"Do you have a permit?"
Thuong Sinh did not say much, taking out the Supreme Commander's passage tag that Ly Hong Quan had given him earlier when he requested the independent mission. Although he had returned, he had not yet had the chance to return it to him.
The man glanced at it, and his expression softened slightly. "Only take Type B and C items. Do not touch anything still usable for the living."
"I don't need the good stuff."
Thuong Sinh's concise answer stunned the man, but he still made way for Thuong Sinh to enter.
Inside the warehouse, the light was significantly weaker. Metal cabinets were lined up in rows; many compartments were distorted, and locks had been pried open. Labels on the trays were mostly yellowed: Expired, Degraded, Below Biological Standards.
Thuong Sinh walked straight to the deepest corner.
There stood an industrial refrigerator that had long been powered off. Inside were containers of coagulated blood, inconsistent in color—some dark red, some brownish-black, and even some of a bizarre gray.
Zombie blood.
The kind that researchers collected for analysis and then discarded because it no longer held value. As soon as he stood before it, the blood essence within him vibrated slightly—not with a desire for violence, but with its instinct to absorb screaming out.
"Do not drink it directly."
The researcher's voice from before rang out from behind, low but serious. "That blood is full of all sorts of impurities, viruses, and unidentified mutations."
Thuong Sinh turned his head to look at him. His gaze had returned to normal, yet it still made the person opposite instinctively avoid his eyes.
"I know."
He chose the smallest bag. The blood inside had coagulated almost like jelly, dark black, and no longer held the pungent stench of the other bags.
"What are you taking that for?" the researcher asked.
"Personal experiment."
It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
Thuong Sinh took the blood container and left the medical sector. No one stopped him.
Back in his dormitory room, he was ready. He closed the door, drew the curtains tight, and placed the blood bag before him. He did not absorb it immediately but circulated the Vile Blood Heart-Corroding Art, though this time he did not force the blood to reverse as violently as before. The toxic True Essence was guided outward, enveloping the opened container.
The zombie blood in the bag began to transform—not boiling or smoking, but slowly dissolving as if being corroded from the inside by something. The dark black color shifted to deep purple, and then was pulled into thin streams that ran back toward Thuong Sinh's arm.
The moment the first stream of blood touched his skin, a burning sensation spread throughout his arm—not painful, but heavy, as if something non-human had just been added to his blood.
He immediately circulated his technique, locking down the absorption process. It was only a very small portion, but it was enough to make his entire body vibrate slightly once. Thuong Sinh opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.
In his chest, his heartbeat remained stable, and his organs showed no signs of damage. However, he clearly felt that the toxic power in his blood was significantly denser than before and more stable; the sensation of being drained dry from relying solely on his own blood essence was gone.
This path could not rely only on pushing himself to the limit. He needed more external poisons—things the world had discarded—to grow stronger.
Zombies, ruined medicine, or mutated organisms.
Everything was a resource.
Thuong Sinh stood up, his gaze darkening. From the moment he chose the Vile Blood Heart-Corroding Art, he no longer walked the same path as the majority of the living.
But in exchange, every time he went out there, he would be stronger than anyone else.