Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

Rapid advancement, more abundant Blood Qi, a more formidable physique, and corresponding boosts to speed, strength, defense, recovery, and reflexes... a complete domination of others at the Same Tier.

This was the most direct improvement the Secret Inheritance Entry Level brought to a Martial Artist.

And Chen Cheng manifested all of these qualities.

For this very reason, Zhuang Zhen had every reason to suspect that Chen Cheng had already achieved the Secret Inheritance Entry Level.

”I haven’t...”

Chen Cheng said calmly,

”I’ve never been exposed to any Secret Techniques. My current strength is purely the result of my own diligent cultivation.”

”...Just diligence?”

Zhuang Zhen was taken aback, then she furrowed her brow.

”I’ve seen how hard you work, and I genuinely admire it... But I’ve never heard of anyone rivaling a Secret Martial Artist through sheer hard work alone...”

”With your current strength, if you were to achieve the Secret Inheritance Entry Level later on... I can’t even imagine how powerful you’d become...”

”Hah, why think so much about it? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Chen Cheng shook out his arms, his gaze sharpening.

”Senior Sister, would you care to spar?”

”Gladly! I was just lamenting the lack of a suitable sparring partner for some real combat practice!”

Zhuang Zhen’s smile vanished. Her gentle, lovely face instantly took on a valiant air, her expression more serious than ever before.

The sun was shining brightly, and the snow on the eaves showed signs of melting.

A single drop of water slid off and, at the exact instant it hit the ground with a soft PAT...

...Zhuang Zhen moved first.

She stepped forward, her palm flipping up from her waist as she aimed a strike at Chen Cheng’s shoulder.

Chen Cheng slid to the side and dipped his shoulder, narrowly evading the edge of her palm before countering by placing his hand on her forearm.

In the next moment, her arm trembled, and a surge of Transforming Force erupted from her wrist, flicking his hand away before Chen Cheng could execute his follow-up.

Without pausing, her other hand shot toward Chen Cheng’s ribs, her five fingers poised to grab.

”You’re wounded, Junior Brother.”

”Not necessarily.”

Chen Cheng twisted at the waist, his entire body bending like a blade of grass in the wind.

As he twisted with Harmony, his muscles, major tendons, and bones all stretched to their absolute limit—and then beyond it—allowing him to evade Zhuang Zhen’s closing fingers in a way that defied all common sense.

Then, his muscles, tendons, and bones snapped back with Harmony. He used the momentum to unleash a hand-chop, aiming for Zhuang Zhen’s neck.

Zhuang Zhen used Transforming Force again to deflect Chen Cheng’s strike, but a flash of clear astonishment crossed her beautiful eyes.

”What a Body Technique! What a counter! If we were of the Same Tier, I would have already lost!”

As she deflected Chen Cheng’s hand-chop, Zhuang Zhen didn’t pause for a moment, immediately launching a counterattack with a move from the Hidden Dragon Fist.

”I’m turning up the heat.”

The moment she finished speaking, her speed suddenly spiked, and her fist shot straight for Chen Cheng’s face.

”BAM—!”

Wanting to test the waters, Chen Cheng didn’t evade the attack. Instead, he met her fist with his own.

A dull thud echoed.

Chen Cheng was forced back several steps.

He could clearly feel that Zhuang Zhen’s strength had also increased significantly since the start of the fight. Crucially, her fist was infused with a dense current of Transforming Force.

”Don’t say I’m bullying you, Junior Brother.”

Zhuang Zhen didn’t let up. With a flash of her long legs, she closed in on Chen Cheng again, giving him no room to breathe.

She was a prodigy in her own right. The density of her Seven Pillars of Blood Qi far surpassed others of the Same Tier.

Furthermore, she had also cultivated the Four Gods Profound Body. While the density of her first Four Pillars of Blood Qi couldn’t match Chen Cheng’s, who possessed the Four Gods Traits, it was still far beyond that of any ordinary practitioner at the Same Tier.

Now, with her Seven Blood fully unleashed, her speed and strength were already slightly superior to Chen Cheng’s.

And by channeling roughly fifty percent of her Transforming Force into her attacks...

...this was more than just ”turning up the heat.” She was clearly determined to teach him a proper lesson!

The two clashed again, and Zhuang Zhen undoubtedly held the advantage.

To a Lower Rank Martial Artist, Transforming Force was basically a cheat code. Not only was it impossible to break the Transforming Force Barrier, but any force you used against it would be reflected right back at you.

However, Chen Cheng had no intention of admitting defeat. He switched from offense to defense. Even though he couldn’t break her Transforming Force Barrier, it was impossible for Zhuang Zhen to secure an easy victory either.

With Zhuang Zhen only using fifty percent of her Transforming Force, Chen Cheng’s defense was completely impenetrable.

More than half of his defensive experience came from his previous spars with Zhu Mingyuan. He had taken the essence of Zhu Mingyuan’s style, comprehended it, and adapted it for his own use.

He used to dislike Zhu Mingyuan’s ’defense-only’ philosophy.

But now, he was embodying it completely.

’When facing a powerful opponent, to defend flawlessly and render yourself invincible... isn’t that a form of victory in itself?’

Crucially, Chen Cheng wasn’t just defending passively. As the battle unfolded, whenever he found the slightest opportunity, he would unleash a few exquisite counters.

Each one forced Zhuang Zhen to use her Transforming Force Barrier to block.

Without her Transforming Force Barrier, any one of those exquisite counters would have been enough to defeat her.

This was precisely why, despite her clear advantage, Zhuang Zhen grew more and more alarmed as the fight went on.

She couldn’t convert her advantage into a victory, while Chen Cheng precisely seized every opening to force her into a corner where she had no choice but to ’cheat’.

But what shocked her even more was that Chen Cheng seemed tireless.

Logically, an Upper-Rank Martial Artist’s physical stamina and Heart Power should be far superior to that of a Lower Rank Martial Artist.

And yet, after more than two hundred exchanges, it was Zhuang Zhen who first began to show signs of fatigue.

She had been keeping her Seven Blood fully active the entire time, constantly channeling fifty percent of her Transforming Force, all while maintaining a state of intense concentration—or rather, intense tension.

As a result, her physical stamina and Heart Power were draining at an alarming rate.

A thin sheen of sweat had long since formed on her brow. Her breathing grew ragged, her chest heaving, and she could even feel the blood fragrance circulating within her body beginning to fade.