Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

”Just stop talking... Whether he could carry it or not, that’s not something for us to covet... It’s only because Chen Cheng is kind-hearted. Any other Martial Artist would’ve probably slaughtered us by now!”

Liang Guang said in a low voice,

”All you know is your books. The day a real Martial Artist decides to teach you a lesson, you’ll see how formidable they are! Take my advice: never, ever get any ideas about Chen Cheng again!”

”Hmph! What’s so great about Martial Artists?”

Cao Bado pursed his lips and said defiantly, neck stiff,

”Once I pass the official examinations and become a Civil Servant with rank and status, Martial Artists will be good for nothing but guarding my estate!”

”You’re talking about Low Tier Martial Artists...”

Liang Guang’s brow furrowed.

”The way I see it, Chen Cheng is probably already a Dark Force expert, and he’s only sixteen... Just think about it. A Dark Force user at sixteen will almost certainly earn Military Merit in the future. Even if you become a Civil Servant, you’ll still be a cut below him.”

”You... How...”

Cao Bado was backed into a corner by Liang Guang’s words, unable to hide his wounded pride. He stammered for a long while but couldn’t come up with a single rebuttal.

He had fantasized more than once about passing the official examinations and hiring a few Martial Artists of the One Pillar of Blood Qi realm to serve as his guards. He’d have an entourage, an imposing presence wherever he went.

But a Dark Force expert? He, Cao Bado, could probably never dream of hiring someone of that caliber in his lifetime.

It was an indisputable fact, and he had no way to argue against it.

”AH... AARGH...”

Down the street, from the mouth of an alleyway, a series of terrified, wretched screams suddenly erupted.

Immediately after, several men scrambled out of the alley, tumbling and crawling. Judging by their attire, they looked like a group of Gang thugs.

Their usual swagger and brutality were gone. Their faces were ashen, some had even run out of their shoes. They shrieked and screamed unintelligible words, their voices cracking horribly.

The man running at the very back glanced over his shoulder. His body went limp as if his bones had been ripped out, and his legs gave way, sending him sprawling into the snow.

Out of the darkness, a figure in a blood-red Cloak slowly emerged.

The figure was extremely tall, their Cloak’s hood pulled so low it completely obscured their face. All that was visible beneath it was a chin wrapped in black cloth.

He carried an iron hammer. Its head was the size of a soup bowl, its edges sharp and glinting coldly, still dripping with blood.

THUD!

With a sickening thud, the heavy hammer smashed the fallen man’s head to a pulp.

Before the sound even faded, another running man’s head was abruptly crushed. His body stumbled forward two more steps before collapsing.

The Blood Robe’s pace seemed unhurried, yet in the blink of an eye, he had stepped over the bodies and caught up to another victim. The hammer flashed, and another corpse fell to the ground.

In an instant, the snow at the mouth of the alley was stained a deep, dark red.

Liang Guang’s pupils contracted. His face was deathly pale, and his entire body trembled.

”A Blood... a Blood Robe? Weren’t they all wiped out by the Evil Extermination Bureau? How... How are they back...?”

”Run, you idiot! What are you standing there stunned for...”

Cao Bado’s expression was even more ghastly, but his mind remained surprisingly clear. He spun around to run.

However, he had just turned when his feet froze to the spot.

On the street behind them, another figure in a blood-red Cloak had appeared.

This one stood perfectly still, as if waiting for Cao Bado and Liang Guang to run toward them.

Moonlight spilled down. This one also had their face hidden by a large hood, but a slender, pale hand emerged from the sleeve. The nails were long and narrow, painted with what looked like red polish. It had to be a woman.

Cao Bado stared, only to realize that the red coating the long nails wasn’t polish. It was fresh blood, still dripping to the ground.

”Oh, god...”

Cao Bado’s legs gave out instantly. His trembling body slumped against Liang Guang, as if all his strength had been sucked away.

Liang Guang was in even worse shape. Not only did his body go limp, but a hot, foul-smelling wetness immediately spread between his legs.

...

「Some time later.」

Chen Cheng arrived on the street. With his keen eyesight, he could see the bodies on the ground from a great distance.

He recognized two of them at a glance.

Liang Guang’s torso had been smashed by a blunt object, his upper and lower body tossed to opposite sides.

Cao Bado had five finger-sized holes punched into his head. The blood had frozen into icy rivulets that streaked down his face.

Chen Cheng didn’t go any closer. After confirming their identities from a distance, he quietly retreated into the darkness of a corner.

On his way here, at least three signal arrows from the Captain’s Mansion had already risen from various parts of the South Outer City.

This meant that the Red Moon Demon People were once again causing widespread chaos tonight.

Of course, this wasn’t surprising. The Evil Extermination Bureau was out of the city on assignment tonight, so the number of Evil-slaying Red Armors stationed in the South Outer City was drastically reduced.

It was undoubtedly a wise move for the Red Moon Demon People to seize this window of opportunity to wreak havoc.

’The Outer City is bound to be chaotic tonight.’

Chen Cheng understood the situation perfectly. He had no intention of getting drawn into this disaster and quickened his pace toward the Inner City.

However, he had only gone a short distance when he heard the sounds of children shouting and crying from an ordinary home.

Then, one after the other, the two cries stopped abruptly, vanishing completely.

Not even the faintest whimper remained.

’These animals... they even kill children...’

A coldness entered Chen Cheng’s eyes. His leaping, flying stride came to a halt.

He stood firm on a street corner, facing the house, and set the wooden box he was carrying upright beside him.

The lid of the box opened, and a sliver of cold light seeped out from the gap.

The light spread out, slow and deliberate, casting one half of Chen Cheng’s face in a cold, pale glow and stretching his shadow long and thin across the snow.

The bright moon was still overhead, a lantern still swayed on the corner, yet in the space of a few yards around the wooden box, all other light seemed to dim for an instant.

At the same time, from a distance, an Evil-slaying Red Armor was rushing toward his location at top speed.

Under the moonlight, her graceful figure and delicate features were in stark contrast to the armor she wore and the sword she carried.