Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

Over the past month, practicing Foundation Establishment Tai Chi had taken up roughly thirty percent of Chen Cheng’s training time.

As time went on, he gained a deeper understanding of this Martial Art, which had been derived from the Limit-Breaking of Health Tai Chi.

Infinite and limitless, without end! This was the Divine Essence True Intent of this Martial Art!

As he performed the forms one by one, the major tendons throughout his body felt as if they were spinning silk like a spring silkworm—continuous, unbroken, revealing every last fiber.

Every movement was the ultimate pursuit of stretching and extension, as if he were meticulously measuring the very boundaries of his body, inch by inch.

As he extended his fists, he could clearly feel the major tendons stretching from his shoulder blades all the way to his fingertips. Every fiber was pulled taut, elongated, and then stretched again, right to its absolute limit.

When he retracted his fists, the tension would slowly release. The tendons would snap back into place, becoming more flexible and sensitive than before. Their limits, too, would extend just a little further.

And in the process of continuous practice, as his body and mind aligned with the Divine Essence True Intent, he would feel as if his body had transformed into a boundless void.

Every gesture could touch the sea of stars; every breath could connect him to the great dao of heaven and earth.

After this period of persistent, high-intensity training, the most direct change Chen Cheng felt was in his tendons.

The major tendons throughout his body felt like an old vine shedding its tough bark, peeling away layer after layer of old, stiff, and stagnant blockages. Like breaking out of a cocoon and being reborn, they became extremely flexible and incredibly sensitive.

On the day this sensation reached a critical point, his Foundation Establishment Tai Chi naturally broke through, reaching the Minor Achievement Realm.

And with it came a new Trait.

"Loose Transparency: The major tendons of the body are extremely flexible and sensitive, instinctively buffering against external strikes. Can evenly disperse thirty percent of impact force throughout the entire body. Punches and kicks from Same Tier opponents will struggle to inflict fundamental damage."

Chen Cheng had tested this Trait by channeling Bright Force into his own body, and the effect was remarkable.

The moment the Power entered his palm, he could clearly feel the major tendons throughout his body tremble in unison.

It wasn’t a conscious exertion of force, but an instinctual reaction—they trembled on their own.

Immediately, thirty percent of that Power was redirected, spreading along his tendons and dispersing evenly to every last corner of his body.

That formidable thirty percent of the force was dispersed by Loose Transparency into countless tiny points.

It felt as if his body had been bitten by countless mosquitoes at once; in that instant, the thirty percent of Power was completely dissipated, as if it had never existed.

With this as a foundation, combined with the enhanced physical defense from his Four Gods Profound Body training, the two would complement each other, taking the final effect to an even higher level.

Afterwards, Chen Cheng composed himself and, as if taking stock of his chips, quickly reviewed his other relatively important Skills.

[Health Tai Chi]: Great Success (2551/3000), Traits (Nourishing Life, Harmony)

[Endless Moon Breath]: Minor Achievement (403/1000), Trait (Hidden Mechanism), Limit-Breaking (No)

[Inconstant Moon Step]: Minor Achievement (293/1000), Trait (Instant Shift), Limit-Breaking (No)

[Archery]: Minor Achievement (666/1000)

The progress on these four Skills was not yet enough for a breakthrough.

However, the gains from his daily practice were still quite significant.

Take Archery, for instance. His accuracy with throwing, flicking, and shooting with a bow had all improved dramatically. Under normal conditions, within ten paces, he had near-perfect accuracy with both small stones and arrows.

Unfortunately, practicing Archery didn’t yield any Traits, nor could it be Limit-Broken.

Therefore, Chen Cheng didn’t spend too much time on it.

He mostly practiced while resting after meals, casually grabbing a handful of gravel to shoot at the withered branches of the old locust tree in the inner courtyard. By doing this consistently every day, his progress slowly ticked upward.

"Oh, right, Junior Brother Chen."

Zhu Mingyuan asked in a low voice, as if he had just remembered something.

"When we sparred last time, I could clearly feel that your Blood Qi fluctuations were nearing the peak of Four Pillars. Are you about to condense the Fifth Pillar of Blood Qi?"

"I already did. Just last night."

Chen Cheng didn’t plan to hide it, he just fudged the timeline of his success.

In reality, he had already condensed the Fifth Pillar of Blood Qi five days ago—five days sooner than he had anticipated.

The reason he was ahead of schedule was that the improvements to his Root Bone had increased the training efficiency of his Hidden Dragon Fist and the Celestial God Hidden Dragon Painting.

[Hidden Dragon Fist]: Great Success (1223/3000), Traits (Penetrating Armor, Thunder Burst)

At his current rate, he should be able to condense the Sixth Pillar of Blood Qi in another month.

Factoring in the unused Three Treasures Nourishing Essence Pill and the daily improvements to his Root Bone, the time it would take to condense the Sixth Pillar of Blood Qi could perhaps be shortened to less than twenty days.

The mere thought of such rapid progress was incredibly satisfying to Chen Cheng.

He even began to worry. ’Will such a rapid breakthrough speed arouse the suspicions of certain people?’

’After all, the more pillars of Blood Qi one has, the harder they are to condense.’

’Condensing the first Four Pillars of Blood Qi quickly isn’t too conspicuous.’

’But if my progress continues at this absurd rate, it’ll be impossible to explain.’

This was why he had told Zhu Mingyuan that he had only just succeeded last night.

Of course, regardless of whether he aroused suspicion, he had no intention of slowing his pace of improvement.

’It’s just a matter of waiting a while after a breakthrough to reveal it, or perhaps concocting a story about some fortunate encounter to explain it away.’

As long as he could keep getting stronger, there would always be more solutions than problems.

Just as Chen Cheng finished taking stock of his progress...

...the second match over on the fighting stage had already concluded.

Qiao Qiao had taken the stage and, in no more than three moves, decisively knocked her opponent from the platform.

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