Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

His heart skipped a beat. He yanked his arm back almost by pure instinct, raising the short fork to block.

TING!

The Refined Iron Short Fork’s steel handle met the dagger’s edge.

A sharp, high-pitched ring echoed out as the sound wave and Power erupted in unison, pulling at the water near the blade’s edge and creating strange distortions and eddies.

’Thank goodness...’

Wang Han’s nerves eased, and he couldn’t help but let out a long breath. That instinctive block had truly saved his life.

However,

Before he could even finish his sigh of relief, his expression changed drastically once again.

The Refined Iron Short Fork in his hand...

Had snapped in two!

The fork’s head, still attached to half of the steel handle, went flying off at an angle, leaving him holding nothing but a bare shaft. The break was perfectly clean, as if it were a blade of grass effortlessly sliced by some sharp implement.

His expression twisted instantly. His mind was still half a beat behind, and this time, even his instincts couldn’t keep up with the sudden, shocking development.

Chen Cheng pressed his left arm forward, the dagger’s momentum unbroken.

In the next instant,

The blade’s edge slid across the side of Wang Han’s neck.

His eyes flew wide. He raised a hand, trying to clutch the wound.

However,

As the current stirred by his rising hand tugged at it, his entire head tilted gently and slid right off his neck. The stump first revealed a ring of white before thick clouds of blood billowed out, churning and spreading through the cold water, dyeing an area of about ten feet a dark crimson.

The headless body hovered in place for two breaths, as if it hadn’t yet realized what had happened.

Meanwhile, the falling head’s eyes were fixed on the Profound Black Dagger in Chen Cheng’s hand. He had realized it was a weapon forged by a master craftsman from Profound Iron, capable of slicing through metal as if it were mud.

Unfortunately, by the time he realized it, it was already too late...

Chen Cheng sheathed his two daggers, then deftly pulled a fishing net, rolled into a small ball, from the headless corpse’s waist. He wrapped the body in the net and hung it on a nearby reef to prevent it from floating to the surface and attracting unwanted attention.

Next, Chen Cheng took a small, translucent leather pouch from his own waist.

This small pouch appeared to be made from the inner membrane of some beast’s bladder, repeatedly tanned until it was completely waterproof.

The pouch had a narrow neck at the top, tied tightly with silk thread. The end of the thread was tucked inside the opening, leaving only a rice-grain-sized hidden clasp visible.

Chen Cheng gently flicked open the small clasp and then squeezed the body of the pouch hard.

The white powder contained within was squeezed out.

It quickly dispersed around the corpse.

Once this powder dissolved in the water, it was colorless and odorless. Even Chen Cheng himself couldn’t detect anything unusual.

And this colorless, odorless poison would drift away with the current.

When Qi Yan and Ruan Jinzhong detected the scent of blood and followed it against the current, the poison would have already entered their bodies silently.

This poison was likely the one Yu An of the Immortal Bone Sect had brought from the north; it had been used at Huangxiazi Ridge to incapacitate Wang Peng and even a Sect’s noble daughter, Yun Shuanglin.

Taking care of Qi Yan and Ruan Jinzhong with it now should be a simple matter.

If all went according to plan, Chen Cheng just had to lie in wait and reap the benefits.

He steadied himself and scanned the area, confirming he had left no flaws in his plan. Then, he dove deeper, vanishing back into the darkness.

「Two hundred meters away.」

Qi Yan had been using the current and the scent of blood to pinpoint the Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel’s location, but her brow suddenly furrowed deeply.

Her senses of smell and taste clearly detected another faint scent of blood that definitely did not belong to the Iron-Bone Crocodile Eel.

’That direction is... Did Ruan Jinzhong attack Old Wang?’

Her heart jumped in alarm, but after a moment’s thought, she dismissed the idea:

’That old dog isn’t very fast underwater; he needs help from my husband and me... Could Old Wang be injured?’

’No, I need to go over and see. If Old Wang is really hurt, then we absolutely can’t afford to get mixed up in this mess today...’

Steeling herself, she immediately swam toward the source of the blood.

It wasn’t far, and at her speed, she quickly neared the area. But the depths were too dark, forcing her to move closer to where the scent of blood was strongest.

She was extremely cautious, however. She slowed down considerably, all five senses on high alert for the slightest disturbance. Making sure it was safe, she crept forward, inch by inch.

At first, she didn’t notice anything wrong.

But as time passed, just as she could finally make out something caught in a fishing net on a reef ahead...

’Something’s wrong... Why... why do I feel like I’m losing all my strength...’

By the time she had this feeling, it was already too late.

Her body rapidly went limp, as if all her bones had been removed.

Her limbs were the first to lose their strength. Her arms and legs drooped heavily, and her fingers went slack, unable to muster the strength to even lift a fingertip.

Her torso went next. Her spine sagged, completely limp, and her internal organs felt as if they’d lost all vitality. She couldn’t even circulate a sliver of her Blood Qi.

Her technique for holding her breath and circulating her Inner Breath underwater collapsed in an instant.

She desperately tried to seal her mouth and nose, but her lips, the root of her tongue, her throat—every muscle had lost its strength, like a shattered door that could no longer be closed.

Driven by immense pressure, the frigid water, thick with seaweed and silt, flooded violently into her trachea and esophagus.

Her trachea felt like it was about to burst. An icy, piercing pain burned from her throat down into her chest, as if someone had shoved a block of ice into her lungs.

Her esophagus felt as if it would split open. Her stomach and intestines froze and cramped, roiling with the urge to vomit, but even the muscles required to heave had no response.

GURGLE, GURGLE—

After a long moment, a large stream of bubbles escaped from her mouth.