Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

”According to the surviving constables, those Blood Robes are not only incredibly strong, they also use strange and sinister techniques. An ordinary martial artist with Six Pillars of Blood Qi stands no chance against them—it’s a one-way ticket to death!”

”Tang Yunlong, the Inspector from the Southern Three Guards’ Inspectorate, is a bloody example! He fought one-on-one with a Blood Robe wielding a Wave Blade Short Saber. He died a horrible death, while his opponent escaped without a scratch!”

”That... That’s just too strong...”

Li Shun’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The color drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale in an instant.

”Go... going by what you’re saying, if we had run into that Blood Robe earlier, we would have been doomed, even if Shen Chun hadn’t left!”

Cao Zhao nodded grimly.

Li Shun sucked in a sharp breath. ’No wonder the Lord Captain specially assigned Cao Zhao from the Dragon Mountain Upper Courtyard to come. Anyone else would have just been throwing their life away!’

”What should we do now?” Li Shun asked urgently.

Cao Zhao’s brows furrowed. For the moment, he couldn’t come up with an effective plan either.

...

They didn’t need to rush on the way back to the Inner City. Chen Cheng took the detour Shen Chun had suggested, and the journey was quite smooth.

When they reached the Inner City, Chen Cheng presented his Travel Permit.

The moment the City Gate Guard saw that the Travel Permit was issued by the Inner City Patrol Office, the registration and inspection process was drastically simplified. They were practically waved right through.

Li Family followed behind him, her head lowered and her steps hesitant.

This was her first time entering the Inner City.

The instant she passed through the city gate, she was stunned by the sight before her. It was as if she had entered an entirely different world.

Her eyes glazed over and her body trembled. Her scalp and cheeks tingled with numbness. Her steps became awkward, and she even found herself swinging the arm and leg on the same side together as she walked.

When she realized it, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes growing wider and her breathing more rapid.

Chen Cheng didn’t hurry her, just stood quietly to the side and waited.

After a long moment, Li Family finally came back to her senses and continued walking with Chen Cheng.

Along the way, Li Family marveled at the Inner City’s cleanliness, prosperity, and liveliness, as well as the grandeur of its holiday celebrations.

But the one thing that struck her most, the one thing she couldn’t stop praising...

Was its safety!

In her eyes, the Inner City could have a thousand advantages, but safety would always be the most important one.

All those other advantages were only meaningful because of that foundation of safety.

If it were as chaotic as the Outer City, where life was so precarious, then no matter how many other benefits it offered, they would be as futile as trying to scoop the moon from the water—there for a moment, but gone the instant you touch it.

...

Li Family walked rather slowly, so by the time the two of them arrived at the South Third District, it was nearly dusk.

The Qingshui River flowed through the district, its surface reflecting the last rays of sunset, shattering the light into fragments of orange-red.

Young students in groups of two or three strolled along the riverbank, dressed in the green robes of the academy and holding book boxes. They chatted as they walked, their laughter carried over by the wind, light and faint.

Seeing all this, the calm that Li Family had just managed to regain was once again stirred by a wave of emotion.

”A place this wonderful... is... is someone like me really allowed to live here?”

She swallowed hard, her gaze filled with a clear sense of inferiority, of feeling unworthy.

Forget living here; she felt she wasn’t even worthy of looking at such a place.

Back when she used to chat with the neighbors in Anle Village, Little Sister-in-law Ma had mentioned the price of housing in the Inner City.

She had talked about astronomical figures, about how a single month’s rent was enough to cover what a poor family in the Outer City would have to struggle and save for several years to earn.

At the time, Li Family had treated it as an unbelievable story, hearing it and then forgetting it.

But standing here now, those words came flooding back, hammering into her heart one by one.

She knew very well.

If her son hadn’t become so successful, she probably wouldn’t even have been qualified to be a servant here.

”Mom, don’t overthink things.”

Chen Cheng stopped in front of a residence with a wide gate and high walls, took out a key, and opened the door.

”Come on in. From now on, we’ll be living here.”

”This... I...”

Li Family froze as if struck by lightning, stunned for several moments before she hesitantly took a step.

’If I hadn’t seen my son take out the key and open the door with my own eyes, how would I have ever dared to step over such a threshold?’

They stepped into the courtyard.

Although Zhuang Zhen wasn’t there, she had already had someone clean the place.

All the dust had been swept clean, and the few clumps of withered grass in the corners had been cleared away. The old, yellowed, and torn window paper in every room had been replaced with brand-new, snow-white mulberry paper that glowed softly in the twilight.

Li Family walked around the spirit screen, her gaze slowly moving from the spacious front courtyard to the main house, the side rooms, and the kitchen... She looked at them one by one, each one spotlessly clean, well-proportioned, and spacious.

Her eyes stared blankly. Her throat moved, and she swallowed hard again.

”Cheng... a house this big and beautiful, in such a nice area... even to rent it... it must cost seventeen or eighteen taels of silver a month, right?”

’Seventeen or eighteen taels?’

’You couldn’t even rent it for seventy or eighty taels...’

Chen Cheng’s heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained as calm as ever. He set the two large bundles he was carrying down under the eaves of the porch and turned around.

”Mom, don’t you worry about the rent.”

Chen Cheng said seriously.

”This is my senior sister’s house. She’s giving me a very cheap price. Don’t go spreading that around, and don’t ask her about the details. Just keep it to yourself, and that’ll be enough.”

”Alright... I understand.”

Li Family nodded emphatically. She couldn’t make promises about other things, but she could certainly keep her mouth shut. In fact, she had always been very good at it.

Afterward, Chen Cheng had Li Family pick a side room she liked in the front courtyard, and then he moved all their belongings inside.

The room was in a corner of the courtyard against the back wall, making it relatively quiet, and it also got good light.

The room was fully furnished with a table, chairs, and a bed—all of them old pieces. The wood was of high quality, and years of use had worn its surface to a gentle, warm patina that was wonderful to the touch and gave off a faint, woody scent.

”Mom, I still have some important things at the Martial Arts Hall that I need to go back and get before dark. You can start getting settled in here...”