Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

The founding emperor of the Great Shang rose from humble beginnings. In the early days, three thousand of his personal guards followed him through life and death, as close as his own limbs. Yet, by the time the nation was founded, not one in a hundred had survived.

On the day the dynasty was established, the assembled court officials requested he choose a name for the nation.

Proposed names included ”Qian,” for the creation of a new world; ”Sheng,” for everlasting prosperity; and ”Shun,” for the fulfillment of Heaven’s Mandate.

The founding emperor rejected them all.

That day, in a side hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, three thousand everlasting lamps were lit.

The founding emperor entered alone, personally poured three libations to the earth.

When the rite was finished, he emerged. He summoned his officials before the hall and, against all objections, declared the nation’s name to be ”Shang.”

Its purpose was to forever remember the heroic spirits and comfort the souls of the fallen.

From that day forward, on the ninth day of the eleventh month each year, the entire nation was required to hold the Festival of Mourning Souls, which lasted for seven days.

This became known as the Mourning Rite Festival.

It was the grandest festival of the year.

However, the only ones who truly celebrated were in the Inner City.

「At this moment.」

Chen Cheng and Zhu Mingyuan were walking side-by-side down the main street of the An Nan District.

Wind tore from the depths of the surrounding streets and alleys, colder than ever before. It slammed into them in gusts, like a sharp knife carving its way into the seams of their bones.

Withered grass by the roadside was pressed flat against the ground. Frost clung to the base of the walls in ghastly white patches.

Chen Cheng pulled his silver-gray fur coat tighter. The soft, fine fur of the collar brushed against his chin, making it itch slightly.

Zhu Mingyuan shrank his neck down, burying half his face in his collar. His voice came out muffled.

”These past few days, people have started freezing to death in the slums... I hear it’s quite a few. Most are found in some forgotten corner, their bodies already stiff.”

He paused, breathing out a puff of white vapor that was instantly ripped away by the frigid wind.

Chen Cheng listened in silence, planning to find some time to go back and see his mother.

Every winter, as the number of people freezing and starving to death in the slums increased, chaos was inevitable. To survive, people would become more terrifying than wild beasts.

Right now, Fatty Fang was no longer at the Lower Courtyard.

Although Chen Cheng had spoken with the new Tutor assigned to the Lower Courtyard and asked him to look after the Li Family, he didn’t know the man well and, at the end of the day, couldn’t feel completely at ease.

”Oh, right, Junior Brother Chen...”

Zhu Mingyuan seemed to have suddenly thought of something and changed the subject.

”These past three or four days, when we’ve been sparring, I can clearly feel that your Four Pillars of Blood Qi have been growing denser...”

”The key thing is, even with your almost self-torturous training every day, your physique hasn’t been depleted. In fact, it’s strengthening in sync with your Blood Qi, getting stronger each day...”

”Are you using some kind of special nourishing resource? Treasure Beast Dried Meat? Or something else?”

Zhu Mingyuan paused, then quickly added,

”I don’t mean anything by it, I just wanted to ask if you have some kind of connection. Could you introduce me?”

”You know I’ve always wanted to buy nourishing resources on the level of Treasure Beast Dried Meat, but I’ve just never had a way in...”

”...Senior Brother has a sharp eye. I have indeed been using some special resources.”

Chen Cheng’s tone was calm, but he steered the conversation in a different direction.

”It’s just that I acquired those resources by chance. I don’t have a stable supply route.”

”Sigh... I guess I was overthinking it...”

Zhu Mingyuan sighed and didn’t press the matter further.

He knew in his heart that unless a normal Martial Artist was deeply tied to a major power, it was impossible to have a stable channel for acquiring high-end resources.

Seeing that Zhu Mingyuan wasn’t suspicious, Chen Cheng, however, grew more vigilant.

In the past nine days, Chen Cheng had finished the Treasure Snake Dried Meat given to him by Fatty Fang within the first five.

For the last three or four days, he had been relying on Exotic Tiger Dried Meat for his physical nourishment.

The so-called Exotic Tiger also fell under the category of Treasure Beast.

However, adult Exotic Tigers were far rarer than the likes of Treasure Snakes or Treasure Fish.

Of course, after the Exotic Tiger Essence Meat was specially prepared into dried meat, its nourishing effect on the physique was also much better.

A piece the size of a knuckle had a nourishing effect roughly three times that of Treasure Snake Dried Meat.

As for where this Exotic Tiger Dried Meat came from, Chen Cheng would naturally never tell anyone.

「Nine days prior.」

Inside the package, which didn’t look large but was unusually heavy, were twenty neatly arranged pieces of dried meat that glinted with a red metallic sheen, plus a bottle containing six cyan pills.

The quantities matched up, so Chen Cheng guessed at the time that Lin Fengxiao had someone deliver all the rewards he had received.

But, to be cautious, Chen Cheng still took a piece of the dried meat and one of the pills to have Shen Mi inspect them.

She was worldly and knowledgeable, and extremely familiar with all sorts of resources and medicinal ingredients.

After her inspection and appraisal, it was fully confirmed: they were indeed Exotic Tiger Dried Meat and Three Treasures Nourishing Essence Pills, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. He didn’t have to worry about them being tampered with.

Chen Cheng was then completely certain that the package was Lin Fengxiao’s way of repaying him with everything he had.

Chen Cheng knew Lin Fengxiao’s personality; there was no way he could refuse these items. Besides, Chen Cheng was in dire need of nourishing resources, so he simply kept them.

For the past three or four days, Chen Cheng had been eating some of the Exotic Tiger Dried Meat every day, and its nourishing effect on his physique was surprisingly good.

As for the six Three Treasures Nourishing Essence Pills, Chen Cheng hadn’t taken them yet.

He still had enough Red Jade Blood-Nourishing Pills on hand. He would wait until those were finished before using the higher-level Three Treasures Nourishing Essence Pills.

And with this new supply of resources, Chen Cheng’s cultivation for the next month or so would be stable and smooth. Success was sure to follow naturally.

At this thought, Chen Cheng decided to take advantage of today’s trip into the Inner City to look at residences in better locations. Even if it cost more money, he was determined to rent one.

Once he had a safe and private environment, he even planned to go directly into seclusion for the next month or so and not return to the Middle Courtyard.

He wanted to see what kind of results he could achieve by training in seclusion straight through to the end of the year.

...

As they reached the city gate, Zhu Mingyuan took his Travel Permit from his robes and handed it to a Guard for inspection.

After it was approved, he acted as Chen Cheng’s guarantor, signing his name in the ledger. He then had Chen Cheng register his own name, place of origin, reason for visit, and expected date of return in the adjacent column.