Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

She fell completely still.

Her life force vanished, and she drowned on the spot.

Meanwhile.

Ruan Jinzhong detected the scent of blood a moment after Qi Yan had.

Now, he was slowly closing in.

At first, he just assumed the couple had started fighting amongst themselves over personal gain.

He still needed their help, so of course he had to come over and break it up.

However, he remained highly vigilant. As he drew near, he slowed considerably, inching forward at a snail’s pace until he could get a clear view of the situation.

A short while later.

He finally made out two figures suspended in the water above a reef.

Judging by their silhouettes, it was indeed the couple, Wang Han and Qi Yan.

But Wang Han’s silhouette looked odd, as if he were hanging his head in shame after a scolding from his wife.

’Those two morons! Of all times to be doing this, they still don’t have their priorities straight...’

Ruan Jinzhong cursed under his breath. Finally letting his guard down a little, he sped up and moved toward them.

’Something’s wrong!’

He had just sped up for a short distance when his expression changed completely.

As he drew closer.

He could finally see clearly that the couple wasn’t just suspended there—they were caught in a fishing net draped over the reef.

And Wang Han wasn’t just hanging his head. His head was gone entirely.

’How can this be!?’

Ruan Jinzhong’s heart seized. He immediately shot backward in a hasty retreat.

But he hadn’t gotten far before his face twisted, his expression turning into a magnificent contortion.

’I’m done for...!’

An intense feeling of exhaustion and weakness swept over him—the unmistakable sign of poison.

’I’ve been set up!’

’Who is this person? To be so cunning! To have such methods!’

Ruan Jinzhong racked his brain but couldn’t imagine who could have possibly orchestrated this trap against him, here and now.

He couldn’t think of anyone.

He truly couldn’t.

Crucially, he had no time to dwell on it.

Before the poison could spread through his every vein, he pushed all Seven Pillars of Blood Qi to their absolute limit.

His Transforming Force surged, violently suppressing the poison.

In the next instant.

His body plunged toward the seabed. His feet landed on a reef, and with a sudden bend and kick of his legs, the rock shattered beneath the force. Propelled by the recoil, he shot toward the surface like an arrow loosed from a bow.

He was exposed while his enemy was hidden. Every extra breath he spent in the water increased the danger.

His only hope was to swim back and board the Zhou Family’s lead boat before his strength gave out. Only then would his life be safe.

His decision was flawless.

Unfortunately for him, Chen Cheng had already anticipated every move long before he arrived.

Anything Ruan Jinzhong could think of, Chen Cheng had already considered.

SWOOSH—!

Just as Ruan Jinzhong was shooting upward, a figure like a White Dragon flashed into view from atop a massive reef.

It descended upon him, striking from above with the force of a thunderbolt.

’Why is it him!?’

Ruan Jinzhong looked up at the sound and came face-to-face with Chen Cheng.

He remembered this boy. He was with Wu Ziyu. Fair-skinned and clean-cut, with a decent temperament and presence. At first, Ruan Jinzhong had mistaken him for some young master who had come along for the excitement.

Who could have imagined that a boy not even as old as his own grandson could have orchestrated such a masterful ambush underwater?

He had managed to trap all three of them—veterans of the Jianghu who had spent half their lives in the water—without a single one escaping.

’The younger generation is truly fearsome!’

That was the first thought that flashed through Ruan Jinzhong’s mind.

But in the next moment, a cold sneer spread across his face, as if he were looking at an absolute fool.

’This kid... Does he not know that a Transforming Force Martial Artist can suppress the spread of poison? He’s just charging at me like a grinning fool? How is this any different from suicide?’

Ruan Jinzhong neither dodged nor evaded. He simply condensed his Transforming Force Barrier in front of himself, letting Chen Cheng crash right into it.

The harder the impact, the stronger the backlash.

In that instant.

An image had already formed in Ruan Jinzhong’s mind: Chen Cheng, head smashed and bleeding from the impact.

’The ignorant know no fear!’

Ruan Jinzhong’s train of thought shifted abruptly. A wide, unrestrained grin spread across his face.

Yet, in the very next instant, his smile vanished completely.

As Chen Cheng descended, his body suddenly accelerated at least five times, each burst faster and more ferocious than the last.

The surrounding currents and the immense pressure of the deep water, far from hindering him, were instead commanded by his will. They gathered around him, forming subtle whirlpools and undercurrents that propelled him, making his attack even fiercer.

In a flash.

He was already upon Ruan Jinzhong.

With fingers curled and wrists joined, he smashed down with the most ferocious and domineering move in the Hidden Dragon Fist.

’Great... Great Hidden Dragon Seal!?’

The color drained from Ruan Jinzhong’s face in an instant, his pupils contracting to the size of pinpricks.

In truth, Chen Cheng was using the Hidden Dragon Seal.

The Great Hidden Dragon Seal that had sprung to Ruan Jinzhong’s mind was, in fact, an advanced Martial Art from the Secret Techniques of the Hidden Dragon Fist.

Ruan Jinzhong had this misconception because the power and speed Chen Cheng unleashed were already clearly superior to those of a Secret Martial Artist of the Same Tier.

In that instant.

In Ruan Jinzhong’s eyes, Chen Cheng was a Secret Martial Artist! And one of the very best of his tier!

BOOM—!!!

The next instant, the Hidden Dragon Seal slammed squarely into Ruan Jinzhong’s Transforming Force Barrier.

Ruan Jinzhong felt a colossal force, like a bolt of lightning, crashing down on him, threatening to shatter his Transforming Force Barrier.

For a split second—he wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or if it was real—he distinctly heard the sound of something cracking apart.

At the same time.

He was slammed downward by the force, plummeting like a meteorite.

The water roared past his ears like blades, and his surroundings blurred into afterimages streaking past the corners of his vision.

BOOM—!!

A tremendous boom shook the entire body of water.

Ruan Jinzhong’s back slammed heavily onto a reef at the bottom.

The reef, as large as a small hill with jagged edges, was split right down the middle by the impact.

Instantly, sand and stone erupted, the undercurrents churned chaotically, and the water for dozens of feet around turned murky, as if the very world had been remade.