Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

He had just sparred with Chen Cheng for close to half an hour and had to use his full strength the entire time just to barely fight to a draw.

However, his stamina was clearly weaker than Chen Cheng’s. By the end, he couldn’t last more than three to five moves before he would "die" at Chen Cheng’s hands again.

"I had my glory days when I was young, but after I condensed the Sixth Pillar of Blood Qi, my progress nearly came to a standstill... After failing the Martial Selection, there was no longer any possibility of advancing further..."

Elder Wen recalled the past, sighing with emotion.

"About twenty years ago, my Blood Qi began to wane. Although the decline each day was minuscule... you can’t fight the relentless march of time..."

"Now, I am seventy-three. In another two years, I’m afraid I won’t even be able to maintain the strength of Five Pillars of Blood Qi..."

Elder Wen lowered his gaze, staring at his hands, which trembled slightly.

"Thankfully, the Master is benevolent and still gives me eight taels of silver a month as a stipend. It’s enough to live on... On the rare occasion she needs me to act, the Master pays me extra... If it weren’t for..."

Elder Wen paused, not finishing his sentence.

However, Chen Cheng knew what Elder Wen had forced back was surely related to his son, Wen Qingzhi.

He was Elder Wen’s only son, conscripted at the start of the year to march north with the army.

Since then, Elder Wen had been using every connection he had to try and keep his son away from the front lines.

Chen Cheng had once asked Elder Wen if he could pay to use those connections to inquire about his own father, Chen Shi.

The answer he received was that the Death Warrior Camp was a confidential matter, and no one dared to make inquiries.

So Chen Cheng had to drop it.

But for Elder Wen, those connections were like bottomless pits. In less than a year, they had devoured his life’s savings.

He had even told Shen Mi that once the Trade Document was settled at the year’s end, he planned to join a caravan and work as a full-time traveling merchant.

At his age, he should have been at home enjoying his twilight years. Instead, he had to travel and toil, facing the uncertainties and dangers of the trade routes, risking his old life just to struggle on...

In the end, it was all just to earn more money, to give his son a slightly better chance of survival.

Yet, as he grew older and his Blood Qi continued to wane, the outcome of many things was already set in stone...

The tragedy of a hero’s twilight isn’t the moment a blade strikes him down. It’s watching himself be hollowed out by time, gritting his teeth, giving his all, even putting his life on the line... only for it to change nothing.

In your youth, you stubbornly refuse to accept your fate. Only in your twilight years do you learn...

That everything is dictated by fate!

Chen Cheng chatted with Elder Wen for a while longer before returning to the trading company’s main courtyard.

Before his spar with Elder Wen, Chen Cheng had met with Shen Mi and given her a long list of medicinal herbs.

She had sent Granny Ding to Shen Xingguo’s apothecary to fill the list, and the herbs had just been delivered.

Starting today, Chen Cheng could begin building his resistance to poisons.

The only problem was that he had nowhere to take the regular medicinal baths.

Furthermore, practicing his Archery and the Inconstant Moon Step also required a private space.

For the past half-month, he had to wait until the dead of night, after everyone was asleep, to secretly practice the Inconstant Moon Step in the courtyard, making him feel like a thief.

Once Ye Yang recovered and returned to the Inner Hall, there would be a chance of being discovered even if he practiced in the dead of night.

It wasn’t a sustainable solution.

For this very reason, he had long been planning to find a place of his own in the Inner City.

Unfortunately, property prices in the Inner City were absurdly high.

Even renting wasn’t cheap. A small courtyard in the worst kind of area—near the brothels, gambling dens, and opium houses—would still cost upwards of fifteen taels a month.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it.

Rather, living in such an environment, with all sorts of shady characters and foul air, was no different than living in the Outer City.

He’d rather spend the silver on his training than waste it for nothing.

If he had no other choice, he’d have to bite the bullet and spend two to three times as much to rent a residence in a better neighborhood.

But that would be another huge expense, and ultimately not a good deal.

"Chen Honored Elder, all the herbs are here..."

Shen Mi helped Chen Cheng count and arrange the packets of herbs. Then she straightened up, took a red envelope that was still warm from her inner robes, and handed it to him.

"There are ten Golden Blade Coins in here. Take them, and don’t you dare refuse..."

She looked at Chen Cheng, a smile playing on her lips, but her tone was extremely serious.

"Now that you are a Dark Force master with Four Pillars of Blood Qi, it is only right that the third branch of the Shen Family raises your Monthly Allowance."

"Thank you, Master."

Chen Cheng knew of the third branch’s current difficulties and could guess that this money had come from Shen Mi’s personal funds. Things weren’t easy for her at the moment, which made the gesture all the more precious.

Chen Cheng knew her temperament, so he didn’t refuse. He took it and placed it inside his robes.

After a bit more small talk, Chen Cheng took the herbs and departed.

"Master..."

Granny Ding tiptoed into the study, closing the door behind her. Her eyes were filled with worry.

"In just over forty days, we have to compete with the Fuchang Trading Company for the Trade Document... Why were you in such a hurry to give Chen Honored Elder a raise? You barely have any savings left! If the company goes under... what will you do with the rest of your life?"

"Aunt Ding, don’t say such discouraging things."

Shen Mi shook her head.

"We have Elder Wen on our side, so we’re not without a chance... Besides, I received a reply yesterday."

"A reply?"

Granny Ding’s eyes lit up, and she asked eagerly.

"What did the Eldest Miss say?"

"She said in her letter... she’ll see. If she can make time, she’ll come and help."

Shen Mi’s voice grew quiet, the smile on her face hanging precariously, like a leaf about to fall from a branch.

Granny Ding’s brow furrowed deeply.

"And what if the Eldest Miss can’t find the time? Is the very survival of the company going to rest entirely on old Wen’s shoulders?"

Shen Mi didn’t answer, silently casting her eyes downward.

A thin line of sunlight squeezed through the crack of the door, landing at her feet.

Stepping across it was hope.

Failing to cross, an abyss from which there was no return.

...

Chen Cheng returned to the Inner Hall to put the herbs in his room. After changing into a new cotton jacket and trousers sewn by Mistress Li, he hurried out again.

His sparring session with Elder Wen today had been more than halved in length.

Chen Cheng finally had time to visit the used clothing market in the slums and buy some loose-fitting old clothes.

He stashed three sets in hidden corners of the slums.

He changed into another set, completely altering his appearance, and immediately headed for the Fuchang Trading Company.

For the past half-month, Chen Cheng had been there almost every day, keeping watch.

However, ever since the night Xing Xiong died, the Fuchang Trading Company had made no further moves.

Everything had gone completely quiet...

...except for the death of that old bastard, Zhang Gu.

"Did you hear? That old bastard Zhang Gu got himself stabbed to death!"

"That’s old news. Happened in a dark alley nearby. They say he was stabbed three times, right through the chest. Dead as can be."

"Tsk... Who did it?"

"Li Zhong’s older brother... some kind of minor Gang leader, I hear... He claimed Li Zhong died on a mission Zhang Gu sent him on, and he wanted Zhang Gu to pay five taels of silver for the burial..."

"Five taels of silver was more than reasonable, but that old bastard Zhang Gu refused to pay. He even ran his mouth and insulted the dead... Well, he got what was coming to him that same night."

"Serves him right!"

"Fucking serves him right!"

Though some time had passed, people inside the Fuchang Trading Company still talked about the incident occasionally.

Over the past half-month, Chen Cheng had also confirmed two other things.

First, Lin Fengxiao had essentially earned the trust of the Fuchang Trading Company’s Master, Fu Yunchen, and his second-in-command, Sun Dingjiang. He was now occasionally seen attending banquets with them.

Second, the Fuchang Trading Company was so desperate to secure the North Road Trade Document because they had some special cargo to transport north.

As for what the cargo was, no one in the company knew besides Fu Yunchen and Sun Dingjiang.

The only thing Chen Cheng could confirm was that the cargo was stored in a separate warehouse, its iron door always locked and guarded by Martial Artists day and night.

With his current strength, it wouldn’t be difficult for Chen Cheng to force his way in.

The hard part was getting away clean.

Fu Yunchen was quite strong, and Sun Dingjiang was even more unfathomable. If he alerted those two, Chen Cheng had no guarantee he could escape unscathed.

More importantly, who knew what kind of deadly behemoth might be backing this shipment?

The waters of the Fuchang Trading Company ran much deeper than they appeared on the surface.

To be safe, Chen Cheng decided to continue watching from the shadows and see how things unfolded.

"Heading out, Younger Brother Lin?"

Just then, Lin Fengxiao emerged from the trading company’s rear courtyard.

He wore a brand-new white martial arts uniform of fine fabric and make. His hair was tied in a high ponytail with a white silk ribbon. His complexion was much healthier than before, making him look strikingly heroic and handsome.

He held a small wooden box tucked under his right arm and walked straight toward a horse-drawn carriage parked beside the warehouse.

Near the carriage, a middle-aged Martial Artist on guard duty ambled over with a grin, squinting as he curiously sized up the wooden box.