Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

Wang Han and Qi Yan were both at the Peak of Six Pillars of Blood Qi, and they worked together with exceptional coordination.

Ruan Jinzhong was an even more formidable Transforming Force expert, capable of crushing anyone of the Same Tier in the water.

What would happen if Chen Cheng recklessly charged in...

Wu Ziyu didn’t dare to dwell on it.

Zhou Yonglu and Zhou An couldn’t help but picture the worst-case scenario.

...

About two hundred zhang away, three heads broke the surface one after another to catch their breath.

”Brilliant, Elder Ruan!”

Wang Han sneered.

”In any case, the three of us together can definitely take down that Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel. By getting rid of the Cai Family brothers, we get a bigger share and two fewer rivals to compete with down the line... Brilliant! Truly brilliant!”

Ruan Jinzhong didn’t respond. He just focused on breathing as deeply as possible, expelling all the stale air from his lungs.

Qi Yan shot Wang Han a look and whispered,

”This isn’t the time for nonsense. If we let that Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel get away, this whole trip will have been for nothing!”

”It won’t get away.”

Wang Han laughed.

”That palm strike from Elder Ruan earlier was a solid hit! I saw it with my own eyes—that ugly thing’s Iron Bone Armor cracked open, and its flesh and blood spilled out! Once we’ve caught our breath, we’ll go down again and finish it off for sure!”

”If you ask me, we can already start planning the celebration! That beast is at least twenty or thirty years old; its prime meat is as valuable as a Mutant Tiger’s! After we split it and sell it, we’ll have enough to move to the Prefecture City!”

”Haven’t the Red Moon Remnants already started killing people in the Inner City? We can’t afford to mess with them, but we can afford to run! Once we move to the Prefecture City, who cares if they cause a river of blood or pile up mountains of corpses?”

Wang Han rambled on. He seemed naturally talkative and straightforward, speaking his mind without a filter. He said whatever came to his head, giving off the impression that he wasn’t very bright.

In reality, however, his eyes were always subtly communicating with Qi Yan as he spoke.

The couple had been together for the better part of their lives and had long since cultivated a deep rapport. Underwater, many Fishermen needed hand signals to communicate, but the two of them could convey their intentions with simple, subtle glances.

As Wang Han spoke, Qi Yan had already, as if by chance, drifted with the current into Ruan Jinzhong’s blind spot.

Yet Ruan Jinzhong seemed completely oblivious, still focused on taking deep breaths.

”Elder Ruan,”

Wang Han continued.

”When we divide the spoils from that ugly beast, I think we can’t split it evenly... You take sixty percent, and my wife and I will take forty. What do you say, Elder?”

WHOOSH—

Ruan Jinzhong offered no response. His body suddenly tensed, and as if his weight had skyrocketed, he sank beneath the water in the blink of an eye.

”He...”

Qi Yan quickly sidled up to Wang Han, her voice barely a whisper.

”Did he spot me?”

”I don’t think so.”

Wang Han shook his head and replied in a near-inaudible whisper,

”Still, we need to watch our backs with that old fox! Judging by how he killed those guys earlier, he’s not the type to share the spoils peacefully!”

”That’s for sure,” Qi Yan nodded emphatically.

Wang Han continued, ”Right now, he can’t catch the Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel by himself. He needs our help to corner it...”

”In other words, we’re safe until he succeeds! We find an opportunity and take him out first!”

”Alright, let’s go!”

Qi Yan grunted in agreement. With a sharp twist of her body, she dove beneath the surface.

Wang Han followed right after her. Despite his burly, powerful frame, he twisted through the water like a loach. He used the current to his advantage, weaving and turning with effortless grace.

The three of them soon swam into a chaotic, reef-strewn area thick with aquatic plants.

What little light filtered down from the surface was nearly gone here. Only a dim, green gloom remained, faintly outlining the contours of the reefs.

The larger reefs loomed like small mountains, their sharp edges worn smooth by the currents. Their surfaces were coated in slick moss and unfamiliar types of shellfish.

Caves and deep trenches were often hidden at the base of these reefs. The occasional cave mouth that appeared was pitch-black and profound, like the gaping maw of some unknown creature.

Aquatic plants grew in a frenzy from the crevices in the reefs. Their dark green fronds, taller than a full-grown man, swayed in the undercurrent. There was an indescribable, eerie rhythm to their movements.

The three briefly regrouped, communicated with hand signals, and then split up again.

Based on the scent of blood in the water, they could confirm that the Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel was somewhere in this area.

Their next step was to form an encirclement, slowly close in to trap the Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel, and deliver the fatal blow.

As for the treacherous schemes each of them harbored, they were bound to surface when the time was right.

Someone would have the last laugh.

But whether it would be Ruan Jinzhong or the couple, Wang Han and Qi Yan, remained to be seen.

But for now.

Putting aside what came next, they all considered killing the Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel a foregone conclusion. There was no doubt in their minds.

Massive profits were already within reach.

Even their movements through the water became a little lighter.

However.

They were unaware that in the distant darkness, a pair of pitch-black eyes had already silently locked onto them.

Then, as the three of them separated according to their plan and the distance between them grew,

a figure emerged from the distant darkness, silently gliding with the current.

He skimmed along the bottom, silent and traceless, like a phantom seeping out of the deepest darkness.

As he passed, the water was barely disturbed.

A few large fish drifted above, swishing their tails lazily. They remained completely oblivious to the presence passing beneath them, hovering in place as their gills gently pulsed.

He swam on, unhurried and utterly silent.

His skin, immaculately white, was stark against the surrounding gloom. He looked like a newborn White Dragon, swimming along the border of Yin and Yang.