Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

The two people Chen Cheng was looking at were Qin Zhao and Qin Xiangyun, the pair of stepsiblings.

Qin Xiangyun was the legitimate daughter of the Qin Family’s main branch.

Qin Zhao, on the other hand, had been adopted into the main branch from a minor collateral branch of the Qin Family only after he achieved Secret Inheritance Entry Level.

However, their relationship had always seemed quite good. Anyone who didn’t know the truth would have mistaken them for actual siblings.

Zhuang Zhen, of course, knew all these details.

The unusual glint in her eyes, however, wasn’t directed at the siblings, but at the two other figures sitting with them.

”Senior Sister Zhuang, is something wrong?” Chen Cheng had noticed her strange expression.

”That Cloud Platform Upper Courtyard Disciple sitting next to Qin Xiangyun is named Zhan Mubai. Three years ago... he was the one who injured me.”

Zhuang Zhen’s hushed voice held a hint of surprise.

”Back then, after he defeated me, the Qin Family, who had been sponsoring him, sent him to the Prefecture City to advance his career. I thought he would never come back.”

’Zhan Mubai?’

Chen Cheng glanced over.

He was a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six with handsome features and an impeccable posture. Dressed in snow-white martial attire, his mere presence was eye-catching. Many of the young women present couldn’t help but steal glances at him, including Zhu Qian, of course.

”Do you want revenge, Senior Sister?”

Chen Cheng asked casually.

”...I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.”

Zhuang Zhen said in a low voice,

”but he’s been in the Prefecture City for three years. I’m afraid his strength is now far beyond mine...”

”Not necessarily.”

Chen Cheng said calmly,

”Perhaps he hasn’t improved much these past three years. The reason he’s back in Zhao City might be that he stood no chance at all in the Prefecture City’s Martial Selection.”

”...Putting it that way, I suppose that’s a possibility.”

Zhuang Zhen said,

”The Prefecture City’s Martial Selection offers a chance at better and more official posts with actual authority, but the competition is also far fiercer than in Zhao City... If he really is back for the Martial Selection, then perhaps I’ll have my chance for revenge at the event in two months.”

As she spoke, Zhuang Zhen’s fists clenched.

Of course, she wanted to get her revenge fair and square, but a hint of anxiety lingered deep in her eyes. She wasn’t very confident.

After all, the idea that her opponent hadn’t improved was just Chen Cheng’s speculation.

For all she knew, he could have made incredible progress over the past three years and already reached an entirely new level. He might have returned to Zhao City just to play it safe. After all, this year’s Martial Selection was different; a low ranking meant being sent to the front lines. It was only natural to want a more certain outcome.

”And who is that?”

Chen Cheng’s gaze shifted to the old man sitting in the seat of honor in the Cloud Platform Hall’s section.

The old man’s hair and beard were completely white, yet his face had few wrinkles, making it impossible to guess his age. He wasn’t tall, but his back was ramrod straight, like an old blade planted in the ground.

His eyes were slightly closed as if in meditation, but an indescribable aura emanated from him, blanketing the area.

Very few dared to look at him directly.

Even Qin Zhao and Qin Xiangyun, sitting beside him, were impeccably behaved. Their expressions were deferential, their auras reined in, and they didn’t even whisper to each other.

”That’s the Cloud Platform Hall Master. He’s also an ancestor of the Qin Family. Even though he’s over one hundred and twenty years old, he’s still making progress in his Martial Arts. His power is unfathomable...”

Zhuang Zhen lowered her voice to a bare whisper, a look of clear reverence in the depths of her eyes.

Chen Cheng’s expression remained calm, but inwardly, he couldn’t help his surprise.

For the Martial Artists of this world, there was one inescapable measure: a person’s individual Martial Arts ceiling.

Some trained their entire lives yet could never condense their Blood Qi. Others hit a bottleneck at a certain stage of their Martial Arts training and could never advance another inch for the rest of their days. There were even those whose cultivation would regress instead of advancing due to hidden injuries or the decay of old age.

This was the invisible suppression of the Martial Arts ceiling on every Martial Artist.

Every Martial Artist’s ceiling was different.

And yet this Cloud Platform Hall Master, at over one hundred and twenty years of age, was still able to advance in his Martial Arts.

This meant his ceiling was still far higher.

Because of this, no matter how slow his progress, it was enough to ensure that his own status—as well as that of the Qin Family and Cloud Platform Hall—remained unshakeable.

As long as he lived, his potential on the path of Martial Arts was limitless.

Of course, Martial Artists like him with such an incredibly high ceiling were few and far between.

Being suppressed by one’s ceiling was the reality for the vast majority of Martial Artists.

For example, the Black-Plaque Disciples in the Middle Courtyard who couldn’t even condense two pillars of Blood Qi.

Or Elder Wen, whose Blood Qi began to decline when he was in his fifties.

Or the decline of Zhuang Zhen’s own family line, which was because a past Patriarch’s cultivation had stagnated at a certain stage—and what doesn’t advance, recedes.

For this very reason, the Great Martial Arts Halls and other major powers placed special importance on a young person’s Martial Arts ceiling.

The factors that determined this ceiling were largely Root Bone and Comprehension, and perhaps a bit of elusive luck.

Qin Zhao had benefited from some incredibly mysterious luck. With merely above-average Root Bone and Comprehension, he had achieved Secret Inheritance Entry Level, becoming the Qin Family’s only new Secret Martial Artist in the past several years.

The Secret Techniques themselves also represented an artificial ceiling, one monopolized by a select few.

For any Martial Artist unable to achieve Secret Inheritance Entry Level, the absolute ceiling of their Martial Arts path for their entire life was the Peak of Transforming Force with Nine Pillars of Blood Qi.

Only by achieving Secret Inheritance Entry Level could one break through this ceiling and reach the Martial Arts Realms beyond Transforming Force.

Thus, after Qin Zhao achieved Secret Inheritance Entry Level, it wasn’t just his Martial Arts ceiling that was raised, but also the ceiling of his power and status—and even the ceiling of his entire life.

「A moment later.」

In the row of Grandmaster’s Chairs where the Military Officers were seated, the three middle seats that had been empty were now occupied.

Chen Cheng recognized the old man on the right: it was none other than Elder Pang, Pang Shixun.