Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

「The next morning.」

The lead-gray clouds hung low in the sky.

Black Cloud Lake stretched between heaven and earth. The water’s surface hadn’t frozen solid, but it was covered in slush and broken ice.

Shards of ice, large and small, were packed together, rising and falling with the waves. Their sharp edges scraped against one another, creating a constant, soft grinding sound.

The Wu Family’s fleet sailed through the heart of the lake. A dozen or so large ships, carrying Treasure Fish, were at half-sail, slowly plowing dark channels through the icy water.

The shoreline had long since disappeared from view. All around them was nothing but water, ice, and the leaden sky.

On the deck of the lead ship.

Wu Ziyu wore a hat made of black fox fur. She adjusted the matching black fox scarf, wrapping it around the lower half of her face, leaving only her bright eyes visible.

The dark fur fluttered gently in the wind, making her face seem all the more fair and delicate by contrast.

Beside her, Chen Cheng wore a dark leather coat. The wind swept across the lake, carrying the sharp, raw smell of the ice, and whipped the hair on his forehead back.

He took a black leather gourd from his waist, uncorked it, and took a swig of Golden Ring Treasure Snake Medicinal Wine. A fiery warmth spread from his chest to his limbs, pushing back some of the chill.

"Miss Wu, it’s cold out here. You don’t have to stand in the wind with me."

Chen Cheng said casually, a constant stream of white vapor puffing from his mouth only to be instantly torn apart by the wind and vanish.

"It’s fine. I like the wind."

Wu Ziyu replied, then took a small medicine vial, still warm from her body, out from her robes and handed it to Chen Cheng.

"These are the Auxiliary Cultivation Pills you asked me to find for you last time, the ones that improve cultivation efficiency. There are only three in the vial, each a different type, but they’re all at least on par with a Red Jade Blood-Nourishing Pill."

She paused for a moment before continuing,

"Zhao City isn’t a metropolis, after all. The higher the level of the cultivation resource, the harder it is to find on the open market..."

"The trade routes are blocked for now. Let’s wait until spring. I’ll find someone to go to the Prefecture City and ask around to see if there are any reliable channels... Since these are things you’ll be consuming, reliability is the top priority."

"Thank you."

Chen Cheng took the vial and added,

"How much? I’ll pay you in silver. I’m the one who asked for these, after all. I can’t let you take a loss."

Wu Ziyu glanced at him sideways, her brow furrowing slightly. Her voice was grave as she said,

"I am your sponsor. When I give you something, you just take it. What’s this about money? If anyone else heard you, they’d think I couldn’t afford to support you."

"...Alright, then."

Chen Cheng smiled, tucked the small vial into his robes, and asked casually,

"I remember the last couple of times I came through this area, we always saw fishing boats from the Zhou Family. How come there’s not a single sign of them today?"

"There’s no guarantee with things like that."

Wu Ziyu said,

"The Zhou Family Fishing Village controls a large expanse of water. Their boats are always out, roaming around. If any of them spot Treasure Fish, a signal arrow is fired, and all the boats will converge on that location."

"...Speaking of which, I’ve never actually seen how Treasure Fish are caught."

Chen Cheng’s gaze lowered to the water’s surface, a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

"Encountering Treasure Fish is purely a matter of luck."

Wu Ziyu explained,

"As for how they’re caught, ordinary fishing or nets won’t work. It requires several Fisherman who are excellent swimmers to go into the water with nets. They have to coordinate to trap the Treasure Fish in an encirclement, then tighten the circle to finally capture them."

"What’s that?"

Chen Cheng suddenly raised a hand, pointing toward the water in the distance.

A puzzled expression crossed Wu Ziyu’s face. With her eyesight, she followed the direction Chen Cheng was pointing but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary at all.

It wasn’t until the ship beneath their feet had traveled some distance farther that she could finally make it out.

Against the gray-white backdrop where water met sky, a few dark shapes were faintly visible.

From their silhouettes, they appeared to be several half-sunken fishing boats.

Their hulls were tilted, most having capsized more than halfway, with only one side of the gunwale and the keel of the hull jutting out of the water.

"Stop the ships! Stop!"

Wu Ziyu shouted.

The lead ship immediately slowed, gliding forward for a while longer before coming to a stop.

The dozen or so ships behind it also came to a halt one by one.

"Young Mistress."

The captain of the lead ship had come out onto the deck. He spoke in a low voice,

"Those sunken ships up ahead... they look like they belong to the Zhou Family. Judging by the state they’re in, they either ran into a large, vicious fish or had their hulls breached by the Water Bandits from Cangying Fishing Village..."

"The Cangying Water Bandits?"

Wu Ziyu’s elegant brows knitted slightly. She said,

"The authorities have been holding back from eradicating Cangying Fishing Village because of the Black Cloud Water Stronghold. And now look, they’re brazenly attacking fishing boats... If the waterways aren’t safe, how are we supposed to run our Fishing Village business in the future?"

"It’s worse than that..."

The captain said, his face etched with worry,

"If the Cangying Water Bandits dare to attack fishing boats today, they’ll dare to attack other Fishing Villages tomorrow! If they actually manage to seize a few Fishing Villages, they might just become the next Black Cloud Stronghold—too powerful for the authorities to get rid of even if they wanted to!"

"There are survivors over there."

Chen Cheng suddenly spoke up. He pointed, his brow slightly furrowed as he said,

"I think that’s Senior Brother Zhou and Zhou Yonglu..."

Hearing this, Wu Ziyu and the captain both looked, but all they could see were two small black dots, like sesame seeds.

"That’s right, it’s them. I have to go save them."

After identifying them clearly, Chen Cheng no longer hesitated.

Upon hearing this, Wu Ziyu didn’t hesitate for a second. She ordered, "Old Zhang, take the ship closer."

"Young Mistress! We can’t!"

Old Zhang said, his brow deeply furrowed,

"There could be a large, vicious fish over there, or the Cangying Water Bandits... This is just a cargo ship, and the Martial Artist lords on board aren’t skilled swimmers..."

"If something were to happen... my worthless life doesn’t matter, but your precious self must not come to any harm!"

"Don’t worry."