Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

”Cheng! I never would have guessed. In such a short time, you’ve already reached Seven Blood Transforming Force. Not only that, but the intensity of your Power and your control over it are already at an intermediate level for someone of the Same Tier!”

Yu Feng squinted and asked in a low voice,

”Tell me the truth. Have you already reached the Secret Inheritance Entry Level? Or did you stumble upon some special opportunity? Otherwise, how could you have progressed so quickly?”

”Neither...”

Chen Cheng shook his head.

”I just train like my life depends on it every day, and my Realm improved naturally... I have eaten my fair share of Treasure Fish, though. Perhaps there’s some hidden opportunity in them that I’m not aware of.”

Hearing this, his mother, though silent, nodded repeatedly.

She knew better than anyone how hard her son trained, and those strange-looking Treasure Fish certainly didn’t seem like ordinary creatures.

”Yu, don’t be so suspicious.”

Zhuang Hui Xian shot Yu Feng a look before turning to Chen Cheng with a broad smile.

”Who knows? Our Cheng might have some kind of legendary special constitution that’s particularly compatible with the benefits of the Treasure Fish!”

His wife had spoken, so how could Yu Feng object? He just nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Zhuang Zhen first went back to the Dragon Mountain Hall group, exchanged a few words with Cao Miao and the others, and then walked over.

She greeted everyone in turn, and then her eyes landed on Chen Cheng.

”Cheng, when did you break through?”

”Just a few days ago.”

Chen Cheng smiled but didn’t elaborate.

”How could you be so fast? You’re just... I... Ugh...”

Zhuang Zhen’s eyes went wide. Her lips parted and closed, but for the longest time, she couldn’t string together a sentence to describe how she felt.

After taking a moment to compose herself, she continued,

”Judging by the first-round results, the gap between us was already minimal. Now, in the second round, with your incredible combat experience in both offense and defense... if I have to face you, I’ll definitely lose.”

”Will we have to face each other?” Chen Cheng asked.

”Not at first, but it’s hard to say what will happen later.”

Zhuang Zhen explained,

”The second round of combat sparring pairs the first-place winner from round one against the last-place contestant, second place against second-to-last, and so on.”

”This arrangement is designed to quickly weed out a group of obviously weaker participants. Of course, most of them will just forfeit voluntarily.”

As she said this, before Chen Cheng could even respond, Shen Chun, who was standing not far off, began to cry even more sorrowfully.

Zhuang Zhen, not knowing why the other girl was crying, continued,

”After that first group of weaker participants is eliminated, it’s possible we could be matched up...”

”However, this year, in addition to the four spots on the Golden List and eight on the Silver List, they’ve also added ten off-list grants of Military Merit for those being dispatched to the front lines in the Northern Lands.”

”In other words, once there are only twenty-two contestants left, a Military Merit is guaranteed. Unless you want to improve your ranking, you can just forfeit your matches from that point on.”

Zhuang Zhen paused, then added,

”If we both make it that far and end up facing each other, there’s no real need to fight. We can just talk it over.”

”Got it.”

Chen Cheng nodded, then asked, ”For the remaining twenty-two, if they have to fight again, they’re probably not allowed to injure each other, right?”

”Exactly.”

Zhuang Zhen said,

”In the final ranking matches, you have to pull your punches. Injuring anyone at that stage would be a loss for the officials.”

「A moment later.」

The matchups for the second round were set.

An examiner stood on the central ring and announced the pairings. When a pair of names was called, they were to ascend the stage and fight.

This round, however, was mostly just a formality.

Those who performed poorly in the first round were now up against those who had excelled. What other option did they have but to forfeit?

Only a handful, who believed they could pull off an upset, insisted on fighting. The results were not in their favor. Not a single one managed to win.

As it happened, Chen Cheng’s opponent was none other than Shen Chun.

She didn’t even dare to look Chen Cheng in the eye, let alone get on the stage. She forfeited immediately.

And so, the second round of combat sparring concluded after only a handful of matches.

A little over sixty participating Martial Artists remained.

The vast majority of them were at the Seven Pillars of Blood Qi Realm.

Only a very few were Martial Artists at the Peak of Six Pillars of Blood Qi who had achieved the Secret Inheritance Entry Level and were hoping to gamble on a victory against a higher-Realm opponent.

”For the third round, opponents will be determined by drawing lots.”

This time, the examiner stood below the stage, a large wooden box placed in front of him.

The participating Martial Artists went up one by one, each drawing a slip of paper from the box.

The slips came in five colors, corresponding to the five fighting rings.

Those who drew slips of the same color and number would be opponents for this round.

”Most of these sixty-odd people who are left are very close in strength. The only major gaps are between those at the very top and those at the very bottom.”

Zhuang Zhen said in a low voice,

”If you’re lucky and draw one of those at the Peak of Six Bloods, this round should be a sure win. But if you draw one of the top contenders from the first round...”

As Zhuang Zhen spoke, her gaze slowly swept across several figures in the arena.

Chen Cheng followed her gaze.

He saw familiar faces, like Pang Wanhe, Zhao Tianlai, and Qin Zhao...

And some new ones he was seeing for the first time.

”Barring any surprises, this year’s Golden List and Silver List will be completely dominated by them.”

Zhuang Zhen couldn’t help but sigh softly.

”With my level of strength, if I draw any of them, I’m pretty much guaranteed to be eliminated...”

”If I draw Senior Brother Zhao, or a Martial Artist on good terms with our Dragon Mountain Hall, I can at least get on stage and have a proper sparring match. But if I draw a hostile Martial Artist, I’ll definitely just forfeit.”

As she said this, her gaze lingered on Qin Zhao and two other disciples from Cloud Platform Hall.

”Cheng, if—and this is just a ’what if’—you draw a powerful, hostile opponent, please don’t try to force it...”