Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

Chapter 346: Chapter 169: Attitude

Just as he looked up, his gaze fell right on Chen Cheng’s face.

It was hard to say whether Huang Jiao had done it intentionally or not.

The lanky man had landed right next to Chen Cheng’s carriage.

This lanky man, with the strength of only Eight Pillars of Blood Qi, knew he was no match for Huang Jiao. He didn’t even have a chance to escape.

And now, a fair-skinned youth who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen had suddenly appeared before him.

‘Perfect for a hostage!’

With a hostage, he would have a sliver of hope for escape.

He gritted his teeth, enduring the searing pain in his chest, and shot up from the ground. His gaunt body lunged toward Chen Cheng, arms outstretched like a dying snake in its final throes.

Chen Cheng’s expression was placid. He leaned forward slightly, pushed off with his feet, and charged out of the carriage to meet the lanky man head-on.

‘This kid…’

‘How dare he!?’

In that instant, the exact same thought exploded in the minds of both the lanky man and Huang Jiao.

The lanky man saw Chen Cheng as just a wet-behind-the-ears brat and couldn’t fathom why he would dare to charge at him.

And Huang Jiao, who believed Chen Cheng was a Lower Rank Martial Artist with only Seven Pillars of Blood Qi, wondered how he could possibly face an Upper-Rank Eight-Blood Foe. Wasn’t that suicide?

In truth.

What Huang Jiao did just now had been deliberate.

But she hadn’t intended to harm Chen Cheng.

In her view, Chen Cheng would surely not dare to act. He just needed to cower in the carriage, and she would arrive in time to clean up the mess, thereby making him owe her a life-saving favor.

But she never in her wildest dreams imagined that Chen Cheng would actually charge out.

This completely shattered her plan.

If she were to act now, she would be half a beat too slow. There was no way she could save Chen Cheng in time.

‘Forget it…’

‘He brought this upon himself. I can’t be blamed.’

Huang Jiao sighed softly and decided to abandon the rescue.

On the other side.

Fang Lang, Su Bing, and Zhao Dongping had killed the burly man and were all looking over.

Up ahead, the fierce bandits besieging the caravan guards saw that their two strongest leaders were dead. They immediately turned and fled, not daring to linger for a moment.

For a moment, every member of the caravan also turned to watch the battle that was about to erupt at the rear.

In the distance, Ning Chong’s gaze was fixed on Chen Cheng, filled with utter shock.

Even in the carriage from which a sword strike like one from the abyss had emerged, there was a slight stir. The shockwave had lifted a corner of the curtain.

In an instant.

Almost every eye at the scene was focused on Chen Cheng.

The vast majority of them could not comprehend Chen Cheng’s almost suicidal act.

But.

Just an instant later, all the confusion and surprise in their eyes vanished completely, replaced by absolute awe and shock.

And then they saw.

Chen Cheng leaped into the air, extending his legs in a posture that could be described as elegant.

For a moment, he seemed to hover in mid-air like an Immortal.

The next moment.

His right foot kicked straight up from below.

The Transforming Force around his body gathered at the tip of his toe, circulating in the newest ∞ pattern of his Tai Chi Force, then collapsed into a single point.

His entire right leg was like a long Battle Spear thrusting toward the heavens.

It suddenly chiseled toward the lanky man’s chin.

This strike was a brand-new move Chen Cheng had created himself by combining the ‘Fuyao Soar’ from the Secret Cloud Peng Leg Technique with the ‘Thunder Spear’ from the Thunder Treading Skill.

It contained the kicking technique of Fuyao Soar, which was designed for the weak to overcome the strong, its essence being speed, ferocity, and cunning. When an opponent was airborne, it was nearly impossible to evade.

It also incorporated the extreme burst of speed from Thunder Spear, as well as its purely destructive and lethal properties.

And at this moment.

The lanky man was in mid-air, with no way to change his momentum.

The key was that Chen Cheng’s kick was far too fast for him to react. Even if he could somehow push off the empty air, he would have no time to dodge.

The tip of Chen Cheng’s foot landed flawlessly on the soft flesh behind the man’s chin.

To onlookers, the touch was as light as a dragonfly skimming water, and completely silent.

Only the lanky man himself knew…

The moment the kick connected, his own Transforming Force Barrier shattered like it was made of paper.

A majestic and ferocious power, like a true bolt of heavenly thunder, surged into him.

In the final moment before his consciousness faded completely, he clearly felt everything inside his head being blasted into a pulpy mess.

The next instant.

His skullcap cracked as if struck by a real lightning bolt.

The utterly pulverized mess shot straight up from the crack, spraying about ten feet into the air.

A strong gust of wind passed through, tearing the vertical column of gore apart and scattering it to the north.

From a distance, it looked as if a great banner of blood mist had been unfurled out of thin air.

The scene fell deathly silent.

Only the soft sound of Chen Cheng’s toes touching the ground remained.

The silence was finally broken by a dull thud when, after quickly looting the corpse, he kicked the body away.

“You… When did you form your Eighth Pillar of Blood Qi!?”

Huang Jiao stood frozen, her pupils trembling slightly.

“Last night.”

Chen Cheng’s tone was calm as he shook some broken silver out of the shriveled Money Bag in his hand.

He tucked the silver into his robes and casually tossed the empty bag aside.

For the past seven days, whenever he was in the carriage, he had been tempering either his Four Gods Profound Body or the Dapeng Soaring Cloud Painting.

With the support of the Nine Altars Blood-Nourishing Pills and the Golden-backed Exotic Bear Dried Meat, both his cultivation efficiency and training duration were maxed out.

Forming the Eighth Pillar of Blood Qi was entirely within his plans.

So when he said it, it was naturally an understatement, as if it were a trivial matter.

However, this was bound to arouse suspicion.

“Younger Brother Chen, did you really do it last night?”

Fang Lang’s eyes were full of suspicion.

“You weren’t deliberately hiding your strength and pretending to have just Seven Pillars of Blood Qi, were you? Otherwise, how could you have the power to instantly kill a Same-Tier opponent right after breaking through? It doesn’t make sense!”

“You’re overthinking it. Brother Chen wasn’t hiding his strength to deceive us.”

Su Bing spoke up.

“If Brother Chen had the strength of Eight Pillars of Blood Qi all along, how could the title of Lin Kui in the Zhao City Martial Selection have gone to someone else?”

“So you’re saying Younger Brother Chen can really instantly kill a Same-Tier opponent right after breaking through! A genius! A true genius!”

Ning Chong limped back, the look in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Cheng now holding a completely different warmth than before.

For the past seven days, he, Ning Chong, had first wanted to team up with the trio of Fang Lang, Su Bing, and Zhao Dongping. After being rejected, he set his mind on teaming up with Huang Jiao, but she paid him no mind.

It was only later, after Huang Jiao was also rejected from joining the trio, that she came back to team up with him.

But at this moment, Ning Chong suddenly realized he seemed to have chosen the wrong person from the very beginning.

‘I should have teamed up with Chen Cheng!’

‘A genius like Chen Cheng is the one among us with the best chance of joining the Mountain and Sea Sect!’

‘Idiot!’

‘Ning Chong! You goddamn idiot!’

Ning Chong slapped himself hard on the forehead, pulling at his wound and making him grimace in pain. But immediately after, he broke into a foolish grin.

On the other side.

In a corner no one was paying attention to, Zhao Dongping silently aimed his Thousand-Pound Bow at Chen Cheng, then silently lowered it.

Immediately after, he approached Chen Cheng with a broad, fawning smile, his mouth full of the most flattering compliments.

“Younger Brother Chen! Congratulations on successfully forming your Eighth Pillar of Blood Qi! Your chances of joining the Mountain and Sea Sect have just shot up! When the time comes, don’t forget to give your bro a hand!”

At the back of the column.

On the carriage from which the sword had been drawn, the corner of the curtain that had been lifted by the shockwave slowly fell back into place, returning to its original state.

Then, the young maid who had previously traded dried meat with Chen Cheng was called to the carriage window by a clear and pleasant female voice and was given some quiet instructions.

Immediately after, the young maid hurried over to Chen Cheng, her charming little face wreathed in a sweet and lovely smile.