Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

’I did it!’

As the information on his status panel changed, Chen Cheng clearly felt his heart become a great drum pounded by Divine Thunder. Each beat boomed through him, shaking his bones and making his Blood Qi boil.

The Fourth Pillar of Blood Qi had formed naturally at the Lingxu Acupoint over his heart!

A bloody fragrance rose from him, surging like a great wind.

The other Three Pillars of Blood Qi were drawn into motion. His long-tempered Bright Force erupted throughout his body, his bones humming like a Dragon’s Roar, and his pores opened wide as if to drink in the air of heaven and earth.

The Divine Thunder crackled through him, a great wind filled the heavens, and the bloody fragrance billowed like clouds.

All these images perfectly matched the Celestial God Hidden Dragon Painting.

Elder Wen had once said that tempering Dark Force required the ’Inner Three Harmonies’: the heart aligning with the intent, the intent with the qi, and the qi with the force.

But at this moment, Chen Cheng felt it wasn’t so complicated.

He just needed to circulate his Bright Force once through his body, following the Force Manipulation Technique of the Celestial God Hidden Dragon Painting.

The Dark Force...

...formed all on its own!

"You... How..."

Yan Huaiqing was still reeling from being knocked back, his mind struggling to understand what had just happened. Then, the fluctuations of Blood Qi emanating from Chen Cheng’s body left him utterly speechless.

Chen Cheng said nothing.

He merely raised his hands, slowly clenched them into fists, and then let them relax.

But this simple, almost casual action made Yan Huaiqing’s pupils contract sharply.

He saw only a pair of ordinary hands.

But what he could feel was a surging, majestic torrent of Blood Qi. It was as if two volcanoes, on the verge of eruption, were hidden beneath those palms.

The magma churned unseen, its fiery tongues held in check, and this restrained power made him feel all the more threatened.

The invisible pressure was so immense it nearly suffocated him.

At the same time, the brows of several masters with keen Perception Power twitched in unison.

The wine cup Song Che was raising froze in midair, his gaze snapping toward Chen Cheng.

Wang Peng shot to his feet.

Even the perpetually cold, arrogant, and expressionless Ji Hongshan showed a visible contraction of his pupils.

WHOOSH—

In the next instant, Chen Cheng took a step forward.

The stone pavers beneath his feet seemed to tremble, and fine bits of rock burst from the cracks.

But he was no longer there.

A chill shot down Yan Huaiqing’s spine in an almost conditioned reflex. His feet blurred against the ground as he threw himself into a hasty retreat.

’Faster!’

’Even faster!’

Yan Huaiqing frantically channeled his Blood Qi, pushing his Lingfeng Leg Technique to its absolute limit. He weaved left and right, his body a blur that left a trail of afterimages.

He changed direction with every step, putting all his strength into each evasive maneuver.

His mind was consumed by a single thought: ’This Chen Cheng’s Blood Qi is too tyrannical! I have to avoid a direct confrontation!’

However, reality was a cruel slap across Yan Huaiqing’s face.

No matter how he dodged, how he weaved, or how desperately he tried to accelerate, he couldn’t shake Chen Cheng, who stuck to him like a shadow.

’No!’

’Chen Cheng isn’t my shadow!’

’He’s a storm cloud that has completely enveloped me!’

Yan Huaiqing felt as if he would be trapped under Chen Cheng’s shadow forever. He could only leave if Chen Cheng allowed it. If Chen Cheng didn’t, he would never see the light of day again!

The spectators had fallen completely silent.

Some held their wine cups, forgetting to drink. Others stood with their mouths agape, forgetting to close them.

Only the charcoal in the man-sized braziers crackled, occasionally spitting out a flurry of sparks.

Yan Huaiqing’s breathing grew ragged.

He was still executing his Leg Technique with all his might, but his rhythm had become unsteady as his stamina failed. Consequently, his Body Technique grew sloppy, and his panic nearly shattered his composure.

Without realizing it, he had retreated to the edge of the sparring grounds. His back slammed hard into the brazier nearest the main table, and the searing pain of burning charcoal shot up his spine as a large patch of his clothes was instantly scorched.

He had nowhere left to run.

And Chen Cheng’s fist was already roaring toward his face.

"I surrender!!!"

Yan Huaiqing’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Without the slightest hesitation, he shrieked at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking from the strain.

Before the words had even left his mouth, he ducked, covering his head.

Whether from exhaustion or sheer terror, his legs gave out. He tripped and tumbled sideways, scrambling away in a pathetic heap.

BOOM—

A muffled explosion, like Divine Thunder detonating inside the brazier.

Chen Cheng’s fist struck the brazier. The wall of the massive container didn’t even tremble, not showing so much as a hairline crack.

But the charcoal fire within it jolted violently, as if stirred by Divine Thunder. The flames surged, twisted, and spun, rotating faster and faster, growing larger and larger, until they rapidly coalesced into a massive fireball that rolled madly within the brazier.

FWOOSH—

The next moment, a Fire Dragon erupted from the ball of flame, soaring thirty feet into the air, where it lingered without dissipating.

Sparks rained down. They landed on tables, burning black spots into the wood. They fell into wine cups, sending up hissing plumes of white smoke. They burned small holes into people’s clothes, yet no one moved to bat them away or dodge.

Everyone just stared upward, their gazes blank, their minds in turmoil.

They let the Fire Dragon surge, rise, breathe, and roar in the cold winter air.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

After a long moment.

An unknown person gasped, and like a boulder dropped into a placid lake, the sound instantly triggered a tidal wave of shouts and cheers that spread through the crowd.

"A mid-battle breakthrough! He formed the Fourth Pillar of Blood Qi! Congratulations, Little Brother Chen!"

"He just broke through and hasn’t even had time to consolidate his Realm or tame his new Blood Qi... Yet he could completely suppress an opponent of the Same Tier... This means his foundation is incredibly solid!"

"And the key is his Dark Force! When a normal person first generates it, it’s nowhere near this pure or powerful!"

"..."

Listening to the discussion, Song Che glanced at Chen Cheng, then at the pathetic figure of Yan Huaiqing. His expression remained placid, but the wine cup he brought to his lips trembled slightly, its rim bumping against his chin.

Song Yingzhi stared at Chen Cheng, a complex look in her clear, beautiful eyes. They quivered, and her lips parted as if to speak, but in the end, she simply pressed them tightly together.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

Wang Hengyu leaped up in excitement, completely forgetting that just moments ago he’d been cursing out Yan Huaiqing. He slapped Wang Chuang on the shoulder so hard that Wang Chuang stumbled.

Wang Chuang wasn’t the least bit annoyed. His gaze swept over Chen Cheng and Yan Huaiqing, and he suddenly burst into thunderous laughter. All the pent-up frustration and indignation in his chest was released. He could sum it up in one word: ’Sweet!’

"That kid is so damn lucky..."

Gu Lan’an frowned and sighed resentfully.

"Breaking through is an arduous process for most people... For him to stumble upon the opportunity in the middle of a fight and succeed in one fell swoop..."

"Perhaps it isn’t all luck?"

Wu Ziyu, who sat at the same table, gripped her teacup so tightly she could feel the cold ceramic against her palm. The tea had gone cold long ago.

"Everyone! Are there any other juniors who wish to challenge the new genius of my Jiuan Hunting Manor?"

Wang Peng’s eyes narrowed as he slowly scanned the crowd, the corners of his mouth turned up in a grin he couldn’t suppress in the slightest.

Today, his Jiuan Hunting Manor was the host. Chen Cheng’s display had not only saved their face, but had also proven that he, Wang Peng, had a keen eye for talent.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Cheng stood quietly in the center of the arena, his gaze also sweeping slowly across the crowd.

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