Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

This was everything Zhang Wen could manage in that instant.

In fact, he had already done very well. If it had been Shen Chun... she probably wouldn’t have even been able to draw her saber.

The mental pressure in that moment was immense. An ordinary person truly wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

This was also the reason why certain Martial Arts Sects placed such a heavy emphasis on one’s Heart Nature.

In the next instant, the Cloth-Wrapped Demon arrived.

One of its fists shot up from below at a tricky angle, as fast as a viper striking from its den.

The fist was the size of a bucket, its knuckles coarse and protruding. A layer of deathly-gray, hardened skin covered its surface, with bulging green veins coiling over it like earthworms.

There was nothing fancy about this punch, no technique—just pure strength and speed, a direct, brutishly unreasonable strike.

Zhang Wen only had time to press his saber down a fraction.

CLANG—!!

The sound of metal on metal exploded, echoing across the hillside, a ceaseless hum.

The monster’s fist smashed solidly against the saber’s edge.

The blade cut into the flesh of its fist...

No, it didn’t cut in.

That layer of deathly-gray, hardened skin was like cast iron. The blade only left a shallow dent, failing to actually break through.

In contrast, Zhang Wen felt a tremendous force surge through the saber. His arms went numb on impact, the web of his thumb split open, and fresh blood trickled down the hilt.

The expensive Refined Iron Long Saber let out a mournful cry as its edge instantly chipped and curled, the blade bending noticeably.

As for Zhang Wen himself, his feet left the ground, his body thrown backward like a leaf swept up by a gale.

He heard the ominous creak of his own arm bones, the shriek of the air past his ears, and Shen Chun’s cry of alarm trailing off behind him.

BOOM!

His back slammed into a tree as thick as a bucket, snapping the trunk cleanly in two. His body crashed into a thicket of withered vines, tumbled twice, and finally came to a stop against a rock.

The Cloth-Wrapped Demon did not pursue. It stood its ground, rhythmically puffing two streams of white vapor, each as thick as a child’s arm, from its nostrils.

It kept its eyes fixed on Zhang Wen, tilting its head. Its two rows of sharp teeth parted, and a viscous liquid dripped onto the snow with a sizzling sound.

Zhang Wen lay in the rubble, bloody foam trickling from the corner of his mouth, his chest heaving violently.

He was badly injured, but his Red Armor had absorbed much of the force, so he hadn’t completely lost his ability to fight.

He had intended to play dead and wait for an opportunity to strike.

But the monster kept staring at him, as if it could see right through his thoughts, and had no intention of giving him a chance to breathe.

At the same time, the monster dropped to all fours again. Its shoulder blades jutted high, its spine arching like a bridge, and then it violently kicked off the ground.

The frozen earth exploded into two large craters as rubble and dirt blasted backward. Its momentum was even more ferocious than before.

’This is bad!’

Terror doubled in Zhang Wen’s eyes. Wang Peng’s brow furrowed even deeper. Du Wenshun didn’t dare to look at all, prostrating himself on the ground with his head buried completely behind Wang Peng.

As for Shen Chun, she moved!

She herself didn’t know where the courage came from.

She kicked off with her right foot and shot out from the side. Her waist-saber left its sheath, and with both hands on the hilt, she slashed upward toward the monster’s throat.

Her speed couldn’t match the monster’s, but her position was perfect for an interception, and the timing of her strike was excellent.

Moreover, the angle of her slash was incredibly tricky, and she poured all her strength into it. Even if it couldn’t decapitate the monster, it could at least disrupt its offensive rhythm...

Not far away, Zhang Wen also saw an opportunity.

He spat out the bloody foam in his mouth, propped himself up on his right arm, and knelt on his left knee. He coiled all his muscles and then abruptly sprang up.

He abandoned the bent and broken saber in his hand. Mid-charge, he hoisted the massive tree he had snapped and rammed it straight at the monster’s head.

This move wasn’t meant to injure the enemy, nor could it.

The goal was to meet brute force with brute force, to momentarily impede the enemy’s movements.

Within the Evil Extermination Bureau, they had summarized some of the Cloth-Wrapped Demon’s characteristics. One was that this type of monster would prioritize what it perceived as the greatest threat, and it was stubbornly single-minded, almost incapable of adapting.

Sure enough, the moment Zhang Wen moved, the monster completely ignored Shen Chun’s saber.

It swung its arms in a wide arc, smashing them toward Zhang Wen.

In the next instant, Shen Chun’s saber arrived.

She had already poured every last bit of her strength into this strike.

Her waist and hips twisted, her spine whipped forward, and her arms drove the saber, even putting the entire weight of her body behind it.

A cold glint tore through the darkness. The shriek of the blade cutting through the air was ear-piercing, so much so that even the surrounding snow seemed to tremble.

CLANG—!!

A dull thud, as if striking a wooden stake wrapped in Iron Skin.

The blade struck the monster’s neck with precision, but the expected sight of a severed head did not materialize.

Where the blade landed, only the few layers of tattered cloth wrapped around the monster’s neck disintegrated into shreds, swept away by the force of the blow.

The deathly-gray skin underneath was revealed—not even a scratch had been left.

This was terrifying!

You have to understand, Zhang Wen’s earlier move had just been a reflexive block with his saber.

But Shen Chun’s current strike? She had pushed her Six Pillars of Blood Qi to their absolute limit, channeled every wisp of her Dark Force into the blade, and compressed her Bright Force to her personal Peak, concentrating it all on the saber’s edge.

The moment she saw the result, only despair remained in Shen Chun’s eyes—an unshakable despair!

BAM!

At the same time, not only was the monster completely unscathed, but its movements were also unaffected.

Its massive fists easily shattered the tree trunk in Zhang Wen’s arms. It retracted its left fist, and its right continued onward, slamming straight into Zhang Wen’s chest.

Zhang Wen’s reaction wasn’t slow. He crossed his arms in front of him, circulated his Blood Qi, channeled his Dark Force into his arms, and defended with all his might.