The iron door of the cage clicked shut, but Jin Ryeong didn't lock it yet.
He stood inside the small, bloodstained enclosure with the unconscious monster.
Jiao lay face down, his massive, red-furred Ape Arm twitching sporadically—a side effect of the meridian rejection they had barely managed to stabilize.
"Clean him up," Baek had said.
Jin Ryeong held a bucket of water and a rag. But he wasn't cleaning. He was staring at Jiao's neck.
Specifically, at the C7 vertebrae, the bony protrusion at the base of the neck where the spinal cord acted as the central highway for the body's neural signals.
If twenty of these wake up...
Jin Ryeong looked at his own hand. He had the Thousand Venom Hand, but it was an active skill. It required him to touch the enemy, channel Qi, and wait for the rot to set in. Against a berserker like Jiao, he would be torn in half before the poison reached the heart.
He needed something faster. Something instant.
He needed a remote detonator.
Jin Ryeong sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, inches from the sleeping beast. He closed his eyes and visualized his inventory.
Skill: Thousand Venom Hand (Corrosive/Necrotic Qi).
Skill: Qi Needle (Ranged Injection/Flow Control).
Knowledge: Modern Anatomy (The Nervous System) + Cultivation Theory (The Meridian System).
"The body is a machine," Jin Ryeong whispered. "Every machine has a master switch."
He activated his Diagnosis Eye.
[Target: Chimera-01 (Jiao)]
[Status: Unconscious (Sedated).]
[Meridian Flow: Unstable. The Ape Arm is drawing 80% of the body's Qi.]
Jin Ryeong zoomed in on the neck.
He saw the Governor Vessel (Du Mai)—the main meridian running up the spine.
It was swollen, pulsing with the violent, hot Qi of the beast arm. It was like a pressurized pipe.
Hypothesis: If I place a blockage in the Governor Vessel at the neck, the Qi will backfire.
It won't just paralyze him; the pressure from the arm will rebound and blow out his own nervous system.
But a simple blockage would dissolve over time. The body naturally heals obstructions. He needed a blockage that was self-sustaining. A parasite.
Jin Ryeong extended his index finger. "Thousand Venom Hand. Condense."
Usually, the skill coated his entire hand in a grey mist. This time, he focused his will. He forced the Qi to retreat from his palm, from his fingers, concentrating it all into a single, microscopic point at the tip of his index finger.
Smaller. Denser.
It was agonizing. It felt like holding a burning ember. The grey mist compressed into a tiny, spinning sphere of black liquid Qi. It was no larger than a grain of sand.
[System Warning]
[Qi Density Critical. Skill Proficiency Check...]
[Pass.]
"Good," Jin Ryeong sweated. "Now, the casing."
If he inserted raw poison, Jiao's immune system would fight it instantly. He needed to hide it. He bit his own lip. A drop of blood welled up.
He touched the drop of blood to the black poison sphere.
Fuse.
The blood coated the poison. To the body, it would look like a simple blood clot. A natural occurrence. But inside the clot lay the necrotic bomb.
"The Ghost Cyst," Jin Ryeong named it.
He picked up his longest silver needle. He carefully transferred the bloody sphere onto the tip of the needle.
He leaned over Jiao. The Chimera snored, a guttural, wet sound. The Ape Arm twitched, its claws scraping the stone.
"Don't move," Jin Ryeong whispered.
He placed the tip of the needle against the skin at the base of Jiao's neck. He didn't jab.
He inserted it slowly, slipping between the muscle fibers, navigating toward the spinal gap.
[Diagnosis Eye: Guidance Active]
Depth: 1.2 cm...
Avoid the artery...
Target: Epidural Space, adjacent to the Governor Vessel.
He felt the resistance of the ligament. Then, a sudden pop as the needle entered the void space around the cord.
"Deposit."
He flicked his finger against the needle handle—a tiny pulse of Qi to dislodge the payload. The Ghost Cyst slid off the needle and settled against the spinal cord.
Jin Ryeong withdrew the needle. There was no blood. Just a tiny red dot on the skin that vanished under the dirt.
Now came the hard part.
Activation.
Currently, the Cyst was dormant. He needed to link it to his own Qi signature so he could trigger it remotely.
Jin Ryeong placed his palm over the insertion site. He didn't inject Qi.
He listened with his Qi. He felt the cyst pulsing. It was feeding on the ambient energy of Jiao's meridian, keeping itself alive.
"My frequency is..." Jin Ryeong hummed a low, specific pitch with his throat, matching it with a vibration of his Qi.
Three short pulses. One long.
The Cyst vibrated in response.
It worked. It was a receiver.
Suddenly, Jiao's eyes snapped open. The sedation had worn off.
The Chimera roared—a sound of pure, instinctive rage. "RAAAGH!"
Jiao didn't stand up; he exploded from the floor. The massive Ape Arm swung backward, aiming to crush Jin Ryeong against the cage bars.
"Die! Little thing!"
The fist was massive. It blotted out the light. Jin Ryeong didn't dodge. He didn't have room. He stared straight into Jiao's yellow, manic eyes.
Test 1.
Jin Ryeong snapped his fingers. At the same time, he sent the Qi pulse: Three short. One long.
[Trigger: Ghost Cyst.]
Inside Jiao's neck, the black sphere didn't explode.
It expanded. It shot out dendrites of necrotic Qi that wrapped around the spinal cord like a constrictor snake, squeezing the Governor Vessel shut.
CRUNCH. (Internal).
Jiao's roar cut off instantly.
The massive Ape Arm, inches from Jin Ryeong's face, went dead.
Jiao froze. His eyes bulged. He looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
He teetered for a second, fighting gravity. Then he collapsed face-forward.
THUD.
Jiao lay on the floor, conscious but unable to move. His eyes darted wildly in terror.
He tried to scream, but his diaphragm was paralyzed.
Only a high-pitched wheeze escaped his throat.
Jin Ryeong stood over him. He was unharmed.
He hadn't even drawn a weapon.
"Do you feel that?"
Jin Ryeong whispered, crouching down so Jiao could see him.
Jiao's eyes were filled with confusion and fear. Why couldn't he move? What happened to his power?
"That is a leash," Jin Ryeong said, tapping the back of Jiao's neck.
"You are strong, Jiao.
You have the arm of a Demon Ape.
But your spine... your spine belongs to me."
Jin Ryeong placed his hand on the neck again. Deactivate.
He commanded the Cyst to retract the tendrils. The pressure released.
Jiao gasped, air flooding his lungs. He coughed violently, curling into a fetal position. He scrambled backward, away from Jin Ryeong, pressing himself into the corner of the cage.
He didn't attack. Animals know when they have been dominated. He didn't know how Jin Ryeong had done it, but his instincts screamed one thing: The little one is the Alpha.
Jiao cradled his massive arm, shivering. He looked at Jin Ryeong and lowered his head.
[System Notification]
[Technique Created: The Ghost Cyst.]
[Rank: Forbidden Art (Biological Trap).]
[Effect: Implants a latent poison charge. Trigger causes instant paralysis.]
[Proficiency Gained: Medicine +15%.]
[Subject 01 Status: Broken.]
The heavy iron door of the lab creaked open. Elder Baek walked in, drying his hands on a towel.
"Is he clean?" Baek asked, not looking up.
Jin Ryeong stood up and kicked the water bucket casually.
"Yes, Elder. He woke up a moment ago.
He seems... docile."
Baek looked at Jiao, who was cowering in the corner.
"Docile? Strange. Usually, the magma blood makes them aggressive for days. Perhaps the sedative was too strong."
Baek walked to the cage and peered in. "Look at him. Terrified. You must have beaten him severely."
"I just asserted authority, Elder," Jin Ryeong bowed.
Baek chuckled. "Good. Fear is the only language beasts understand. Prepare the table, Jin. The Sect Leader sent word. Four more volunteers are arriving tonight."
Jin Ryeong smiled.
"Four more? Excellent."
He touched the needle pouch at his waist. He had enough blood. He had enough poison.
"I will prepare the reception, Elder."