Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

’I... I can read it now!’

The characters on the letter, which Chen Cheng hadn’t understood at all before, were now perfectly clear to him.

’That Vertical Eye Mark... it seems to have seen through the essence of this world’s writing... It didn’t give me knowledge... but a Skill, an ability!’

[Broken Character Recognition]: Entry Level (0/300)

At Chen Cheng’s thought, the Skill’s information once again appeared in his mind.

’Entry Level... The Skill’s Realm is solidified by the panel, doesn’t that mean...’

’Once proven, forever proven! Once obtained, forever obtained!’

’Hiss—’

’If I used the Vertical Eye Mark to see through the essence of Martial Arts, could I also...’

But the thought came to an abrupt halt.

Where could he even find a Martial Arts Hall?

How much silver would the gift to a master cost?

Try to learn in secret? And if he got caught...

More than one gruesome rumor flashed through Chen Cheng’s mind.

In this world, forget about secretly learning martial arts; even just stealing a normal trade skill would lead to a terrible fate if discovered.

His own worthless life probably wouldn’t be enough to pay the price. If things went wrong, he might even drag his mother down with him.

A spark seemed to flash in Chen Cheng’s eyes, blazing for an instant before quickly fading back to darkness.

”Cheng? What are you thinking about?”

Seeing Chen Cheng silent for so long, his eyes flickering between light and shadow, his mother couldn’t help but worry.

”...It’s nothing.”

Chen Cheng steadied himself, his gaze quickly sweeping over the few lines on the letter—written by someone else, a notice disguised as a family letter.

”Did you learn to read at the trading company?” his mother asked.

”...I learned a little.”

Chen Cheng’s voice hitched. He steadied his emotions before continuing.

”I still can’t quite make it out... I’ll hold onto this letter for now and ask someone to help me look at it later.”

”Okay, let’s go back.”

His mother nodded, not sensing anything amiss. In this world, learning to read characters was hard enough; understanding what they meant was even harder.

Back then, the Chen Family had spent a lot of money and effort to support Chen Hao’s studies, but hadn’t he still turned out to be a half-wit? He couldn’t even meet the threshold for the ’scholar candidate selection’.

Chen Cheng folded the letter and tucked it into his clothes.

But the words from the letter kept replaying in his mind.

—Chen Shi has voluntarily requested to enter the Death Warrior Camp. His loyalty and bravery are commendable. The Captain has specially bestowed a reward of ten taels of silver to honor his resolve. Enclosed with this letter is a military voucher, which can be used to redeem silver at any Officially Approved Money Shop in the Northern Cities.

It wasn’t that Chen Cheng couldn’t understand; it was that he couldn’t say it out loud.

What kind of place was the Death Warrior Camp? For a man as honest and timid as his father to end up there, the outcome was self-evident.

Was his father truly a volunteer? Chen Cheng had no way of knowing.

But he knew very well that saying any of this now was pointless. It would only make his mother worry day and night, her anxiety harming her health.

As for the ten taels of reward silver...

In this world, one tael of silver could be exchanged for one thousand copper coins. Ten taels was ten thousand coins.

After the Gang’s exploitation and all the exorbitant taxes, the remaining money probably wouldn’t be enough to learn Martial Arts.

But it was enough for him and his mother to survive at a minimal standard for about two years, unlike their current hand-to-mouth existence.

This was undoubtedly life-saving money, yet it had been sent to the old family residence.

Chen Hao could read. And with a personality just like his mother’s, how could he possibly not take advantage of such a windfall?

The key was, Chen Hao had already joined a Martial Arts Hall.

Chen Cheng knew without even having to think.

If he rashly went to their door to demand it, forget getting the money back; he’d most likely just suffer another round of humiliation.

Not only would there be no benefit, but it would also make the other party even more wary of him.

For now, he could only grit his teeth, chew on this injustice, and swallow it down.

But this debt would be settled, sooner or later!

...

”Well now, Young Cheng is back?”

Just as mother and son returned to Kuhuai Village, a woman’s voice, shouting at the top of her lungs, suddenly called out from a distance.

”That we are, Aunt Zhang.”

His mother forced a smile.

”Still working at Yongsheng Trading Company, are you?”

Aunt Zhang, carrying a battered wooden bucket, bustled up to them excitedly.

Behind her, several other women with rolled-up sleeves trailed along.

Their hands, covered in chilblains, all carried wooden buckets filled with clothes. They had clearly just returned from doing laundry at the old well on the east side of the village.

”Yongsheng Store? That’s a big name, an iron rice bowl!”

”Tsk, Young Cheng is so promising!”

”If my Gou Dan had half his ability, I’d wake up laughing in my sleep.”

”Aunt Zhang’s Xiaoxu is apprenticed at the Weapon Forging Shop. When he finishes his training, he’ll have really made it!”

”And Xiaolong from the Zhou Family is even more capable! At such a young age, he’s already made a name for himself in the Qinghe Gang. He’s a full-fledged Martial Artist now!”

Kuhuai Village was full of women like them, who made a living by mending and washing clothes for others.

The work was piecemeal, and there were too many mouths to feed from too little porridge. It was common for them to secretly compete over a pile of clothes or a few copper plates.

Over time, they had developed a habit amongst themselves.

Their words were warm and fawning, but their eyes held a probing, calculating gaze, assessing which family was strong and who could be bullied. The news would spread throughout Kuhuai Village in an instant.

On a normal day, they were all peaceful, greeting each other with smiles.

But as soon as real interests were at stake, the scales in everyone’s hearts would immediately tip.

They knew very well who to praise, who to trample on, and which soft persimmon to pinch.

Chen Cheng politely greeted each of them by name.

Their smiles were the same as ever, but their gazes drifted, intentionally or not, to the pitiful bundle of dry firewood and wild vegetables in Chen Cheng’s hands.

Two of the more perceptive ones already had a shadow of suspicion in their eyes.

”What the hell are you all doing standing around here like corpses?!”

A fierce curse suddenly rang out. From around the corner of the alley, a sturdy figure slowly emerged, drawing closer.

The man wore the Black Wolf Gang’s signature gray-black short tunic, its front open to reveal a hairy chest and a hideous old scar.

”If you have time to stand around running your damn mouths, you’d be better off finding more work! Let me tell you all—”

He had a wide, brutish face and a vicious glint in his eyes, a stalk of grass dangling crookedly from the corner of his mouth.

”In seven days, it’ll be time to pay this month’s peace coins again. Same old rules, thirty copper plates for every person who’s still breathing!”

”If anyone dares to be short a single coin, or tries to drag their feet...”

He grinned without a hint of a smile, revealing a mouth full of blackish-brown, rotten teeth.

”I’ll skip the usual beatings and curses. I’ll just find a rope, strangle you, and sell the body to the Red Moon Nunnery!”

At these words, the group of women fell silent as winter cicadas. They shrank back, grabbed their buckets, and scurried away, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

His mother tremblingly called out ”Lord Scar,” then quickly pulled Chen Cheng away.

This man’s nickname was Scar Bear. He was a leader in the Black Wolf Gang, responsible for collecting the peace coins from the twenty-odd households nearby.

In the past, Chen Cheng and his mother had always paid their peace coins on time, so he had never come looking for trouble with them.

But now, Chen Cheng’s rice bowl was broken, and his mother’s income from odd jobs was extremely unstable.

Seven days from now... if they couldn’t produce sixty copper plates...

His mother’s face was already deathly pale, her legs weak.

Chen Cheng’s heart was also strung tight, but his mind remained calm, thoughts racing as he searched for a way out of their predicament.

...

「Back home.」

His mother moved the small stove to the doorway and started a fire. Taking the half bowl of thin bran soup left over from noon, she added some torn wild vegetables.

After the soup came to a boil, his mother claimed she wasn’t hungry. Only at Chen Cheng’s insistence did they share it, taking one sip at a time.

The wild vegetables were mostly bitter and considered ”cold” in nature, so they didn’t dare eat too much.

The tiny amount of bran at the bottom of the bowl wasn’t even enough to get stuck in their teeth. It was rough and scratched the throat as it went down, and had a stale, moldy taste.

Bran couldn’t even be considered grain. Outside the slums, it was animal feed.

No, even the animals ate better than this.

When Chen Cheng was at the trading company, the fodder he mixed for the sure-footed mountain horses had salt, cornmeal, and beans mixed in. Occasionally, they even added eggs.

Unfortunately, the Steward kept a close watch. If any of the handymen dared to steal a bite, they’d be fined a whole month’s wages if caught.

Chen Cheng had worked there for three years and had never dared to sneak even a single bean from the horse troughs.

But perhaps it was precisely because of this almost wooden honesty that he’d been able to keep his job until now. Even when the goods were stolen, the beautiful female Master hadn’t given him a hard time.

’...That damn Lai Tou!’

As his thoughts reached this point, Chen Cheng once again cursed the culprit who had cost him his job and nearly his life.

This enmity must be avenged!

However, the greatest problem lying before him was still...

Money!

Saving up the gift for a Martial Arts Hall was a distant dream, the Black Wolf Gang’s peace coins were an imminent threat, and he and his mother didn’t even know where their next bowl of porridge would come from.

This world... The road to the underworld is packed, while the path for the living is a dead end!

It was hard!

So damn hard!

’Wait! If this world offers no path... why don’t I seek a way out from my past life?’

A flash of inspiration struck Chen Cheng.

’That Vertical Eye Mark only needs to ’see’ something to comprehend it... So, as long as the image in my memory is clear enough... shouldn’t it be able to ’see’ it clearly as well?’

Chen Cheng closed his eyes.

Deep within his reincarnated memories, a sealed deity opened its eyes.

[Health Tai Chi]: Entry Level (0/300), Traits (None), Limit-Breaking (No)

In his past life, he’d been caught up in the rat race of school, and even more so at work. His health had never been great.

He had wanted to learn Health Tai Chi to improve his health, but like most corporate drones, all he wanted to do after work was weld himself to his bed.

He tried ”cloud learning” on his phone, and the result was...

His brain: I’m terrifyingly strong now.

His body: Abba abba.

That was how it had been in his past life. But just as Chen Cheng suspected now, his reincarnated memories were fresh. Those fragmented memories, once forgotten, were now exceptionally clear and complete.

The Vertical Eye Mark instantly saw through its essence, bestowing the art of Health Tai Chi upon Chen Cheng in the form of a Skill.

In an instant, he had reached Entry Level.

’It worked!’

Chen Cheng’s eyes snapped open, an irrepressible tremor of excitement flashing within them.

He immediately shut their drafty, broken wooden door and assumed a stance right there in the room.

The indoor space was cramped. Any other form of Martial Arts might have been impossible to practice.

But Health Tai Chi emphasized harmonious movement within a small space, so it was actually a perfect fit.

”Cheng, what are you doing...?” His mother was a little surprised.

”I learned a few Nourishing Life exercises at the trading company...”

Chen Cheng said, ”Mother, you can practice along with me. It’s good for your health.”

His mother sat on the edge of the bed, silently shaking her head and sighing softly.

”If I move around too much, I’ll get hungry faster... I need to save my strength and figure out how to get more work...”

Hearing this, Chen Cheng felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He wanted to say a few comforting words to share her burden, but in the end, he said nothing. A thousand pretty, empty words were not as good as taking a single, solid step forward.

He took a deep breath, suppressing all distracting thoughts.

In the dark, cramped room, he slowly began to practice the art of Health Tai Chi.