Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

[Foundation Establishment Tai Chi]: Great Success (177/3000), Traits (Loose Transparency, Entwining), Limit-Breaking (No)

[Entwining: The muscles of the entire body extend and stretch, their texture becoming like a whip coiling around the bone. Combat techniques gain a coiling and twisting momentum, with force transferred from joint to joint until it reaches the tip of the whip. Explosive power is increased by thirty percent.]

”SHIIING—”

The moment he flicked his fingers, an exceedingly sharp and piercing sound ripped through the air.

The black cloth around the Cloth-Wrapped Demon’s ribs was sliced clean open. The powerful force tore the fabric strips, sending them fluttering to either side and revealing the deathly gray skin beneath.

This skin was abnormally hard and tough.

Shen Chun, who also possessed Six Pillars of Blood Qi, had channeled all her strength into a strike with her priceless Refined Iron Long Saber, yet she hadn’t managed to so much as scratch it.

But now, the skin on the Cloth-Wrapped Demon’s ribs had suddenly split open, revealing a smooth, straight gash deep enough to see bone.

The moonlight revealed the deathly gray, pulsing muscles within, as well as blackish-gray ribs that glinted with a metallic luster.

Blood gushed from the cut. It was a bizarre, grayish-white color, and it hissed and steamed as it flowed onto the snow.

”This... How is this possible?”

Shen Chun’s eyes were wide, her pupils trembling. Disbelief was written all over her pale face.

’The strange skin that I couldn’t even scratch with my Refined Iron Blade and all my strength... he cut it open with his bare fingers! And the wound is deep enough to see bone.’

’The gap between us... it’s just indescribably vast.’

’If he hadn’t refrained from using Transforming Force from start to finish, I’d never believe he was a Martial Artist of the same Six Pillars of Blood Qi tier as me.’

On the other side, the expression on Wang Peng’s face was a sight to behold.

’I can’t be mistaken!’

’Brother Chen must have cultivated Secret Techniques!’

’This means he must have an unfathomably powerful background, at least on the level of the Eight Great Races.’

’Of course, his background isn’t the main point.’

’The Wang Family has Secret Techniques of its own, but among the disciples of my generation, not even five have managed to reach the Entry Level.’

’I couldn’t do it. And neither could Wang Chuang, the prodigy I poured all my resources into training.’

’In short, regardless of his background, the fact that Chen Cheng could master a Secret Technique to the Entry Level already puts him ahead of ninety percent of all Martial Artists in the world.’

’And that... that is Chen Cheng’s true core advantage.’

At this thought, Wang Peng’s entire body trembled with excitement. Recalling his brilliant decision to sponsor Chen Cheng back then, an irrepressible sense of accomplishment swelled within him.

”ROAR—!!!”

At the same time, the Cloth-Wrapped Demon opened its massive maw of jagged, sharp teeth and let out a terrifying roar.

The sound wasn’t forced from its throat but erupted from the depths of its chest, carrying a nauseating stench. It was powerful enough to make the surrounding dead branches tremble, shaking loose flurries of snow.

Within its giant, ghostly red eyes, two vertical pupils, writhing like Exotic Snakes, suddenly dilated for an instant.

Naturally, Chen Cheng wasn’t about to give it a chance to recover.

He used Thunder Stepping, riding the momentum to rise.

His figure shot upward.

He didn’t leap, but ascended, as if lifted by an invisible force, moving so fast that only a blurred afterimage remained.

As he rose, the muscles all over his body again coiled to their absolute limit. Every single fiber twisted taut like a whipcord, winding around his very bones.

In the next instant, his body spun and his right arm whipped out again.

The power erupting from every muscle fiber, coiled to its absolute limit, was instantly layered and transferred forward.

This time, however, the force wasn’t focused into his fingertips, but spread throughout his entire right palm.

Simultaneously, he mobilized the Blood Qi throughout his body.

The first Four Pillars of Blood Qi, located at the Great Dragon, Hundred Gatherings, Dantian, and Spirit Ruins, erupted with an unprecedentedly potent blood fragrance.

This, too, was an effect of Chen Cheng’s arduous cultivation of the Four Gods Profound Body.

[Four Gods Profound Body - Taming God Chapter]: Minor Achievement (221/1000), Trait (Four Gods), Limit-Breaking (No)

[Four Gods: The Blood Fragrance Divine Shadow manifests, strengthening the first Four Pillars of Blood Qi by thirty percent and condensing them until they are like solid entities.]

Chen Cheng’s Blood Qi was already far denser and more substantial than others of the same tier.

With the enhancement from the Four Gods Trait, its density and substance increased by another thirty percent. The potent blood fragrance surged, condensing into four blurry divine shadows above the corresponding Four Pillars of Blood Qi.

In an instant, the Dark Force within him surged like six rushing rivers. Four of these flows were especially tyrannical and unstoppable. The remaining two, though a notch weaker, were still far superior to those of others at the same tier.

Finally, the six rivers of force converged in his right palm. Together with the power delivered by the Entwining of his muscles, everything was channeled through the methods of Tai Chi Force, compressed into a ball, and then collapsed into a single point.

In that instant, Chen Cheng’s entire right palm turned from fair to crimson, glowing like a piece of red-hot Profound Iron freshly pulled from the heart of a furnace.

The very air around his palm seemed to burn, distorting and shimmering.

The Cloth-Wrapped Demon’s dilated vertical pupils suddenly contracted.

It had clearly sensed the danger, but it seemed incapable of fear and had no thought of escape.

It simply bent forward, arching its spine to the absolute limit. Its massive maw snapped open to an impossible angle, the brute force of the action tearing its cheeks all the way to the base of its ears.

Its jagged, disorderly teeth, like a row of daggers, lunged straight for Chen Cheng’s head.

”Danger!”

Shen Chun cried out in alarm.

Wang Peng’s face also turned deathly pale, his brow furrowed deeply.

Du Wenshun, trembling, turned to steal a quick glance before quickly burying his face again.

They knew Chen Cheng was powerful, of course, but the Cloth-Wrapped Demon was no pushover.

If that bite landed, Chen Cheng’s entire head, and even half his shoulder, would be torn off.

”CRACK!!!”

A tremendous crack echoed across the Cloth-Wrapped Demon’s face, and it felt like an explosion in the hearts of Wang Peng, Shen Chun, and Du Wenshun as well.

The massive maw of jagged teeth had only managed to bite down on the afterimage Chen Cheng left behind.

Meanwhile, Chen Cheng’s right palm, which concentrated a terrifying destructive power, whipped forward like the snapping end of a lash, striking the Cloth-Wrapped Demon squarely on its left cheek.

His five fingers were splayed wide, the palm striking right on the cheekbone. The very air between them was crushed by the force, forming a visible vortex.