Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

”No, not two pillars! It’s three... three pillars!”

The disciple who brought the news saw their misunderstanding and stomped his foot in frustration. His voice cracked as he pointed at the approaching Chen Cheng outside the window, speaking quickly and anxiously.

”Just now, Senior Brother Chen exchanged his token for the Inner Hall’s Golden Waist Token. Master Ye is going to see him personally in a bit! I was grinding ink for him when he registered! It’s the absolute truth!”

”...Three pillars!?”

Those words struck them like a silent thunderclap, exploding deep in their Heart Spirits.

The provocation and arrogance on Su Ziyang’s and Guo Chun’s faces vanished, replaced by incredulous shock and poorly concealed panic.

Luo Boqing, Sun An, and Dong Li, the Black-Plaque Disciples who only had One Pillar of Blood Qi, turned even paler, swallowing hard.

They didn’t dare to stay. They didn’t even dare to look at Chen Cheng as he drew closer.

They all lowered their heads and beat a hasty retreat, scattering completely in the blink of an eye.

Su Ziyang and Guo Chun remained frozen in place, their minds buzzing. ’Three Pillars of Blood Qi? How is that possible? With the lowest-grade Root Bone... and it’s only been this long?’

Doubt filled their hearts, but they knew the disciple who brought the news would never joke about something like this. They had no choice but to believe it.

If they had truly offended a senior brother from the Inner Hall who had condensed Three Pillars of Blood Qi... They didn’t dare to even think about the consequences.

Saving face, showing loyalty to Xiao Yi—none of it mattered more than getting out of this trouble spot right now.

The two of them didn’t even dare to exchange glances. They stiffly lowered their heads, avoiding Chen Cheng’s potential gaze, and practically scraped against the wall as they hurried out.

They were terrified that if they were a step too slow, they would run right into him.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly warmed.

Both Lin Fengxiao, who was still catching his breath, and Qian Baolu, who was still shaken, felt an indescribable surge of excitement.

A moment later, Chen Cheng walked in. He seemed unaware of what had just happened and sat down again across from Qian Baolu.

Lin Fengxiao gave Chen Cheng a deep look but said nothing. He quietly retreated to an inconspicuous corner in the distance and continued to eat his meal.

His own troubles weren’t over yet, and he knew his place. He would never get Chen Cheng involved.

Almost as soon as Chen Cheng sat down, a White-Plaque Disciple rushed out from the back kitchen and deftly replaced the food for both him and Qian Baolu.

This time, the rice was packed down and piled high, forming a trembling mound.

The stew was also heaped as high as it could go. Besides the top layer of glistening, perfectly marbled slices of pork belly, pushing aside the sauce-soaked vegetables underneath revealed a generous portion of lean meat buried within.

”Senior Brother Chen...”

Qian Baolu stared, dumbfounded, at the unprecedented portion of food. His Adam’s apple bobbed. He hadn’t yet recovered from his earlier terror, and now he was completely stunned by how fast the staff had changed their tune.

”Eat.”

Chen Cheng just smiled and said nothing more, immediately digging in.

...

「In the latrines.」

Shi Lei was by himself, head down, cleaning up the filth and excrement. His movements weren’t practiced, but they were steady, and he showed no resistance to the task.

To an ordinary person, this chore might be unbearably degrading, but for someone who had crawled out of the muck of the slums, it was nothing.

To say nothing of the pervasive, almost tangible stench of the slums, which lingered year-round and was ten, even dozens of times worse than the smell in these latrines.

The problem was, according to the Outer Hall’s rules, the White-Plaque Disciples were supposed to take turns cleaning the latrines.

But recently, the Steward had been deliberately refusing to rotate the duty, which left Shi Lei feeling deeply aggrieved.

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to do the work; he just felt it was unfair. A knot of resentment was stuck in his chest.

But being new, he had no one to appeal to, and he didn’t want to bother Chen Cheng with such a trivial matter, so he had been silently enduring it.

”Shi Lei!”

Just then, the Steward strode into the latrines, and without a word of explanation, he slung an arm around Shi Lei’s shoulders and led him out.

”The past few days, I was so busy I must have lost my mind. I completely forgot to arrange the rotation. Starting today, you don’t have to clean the latrines anymore. Go help in the back kitchen... The perks are better there.”

”This...”

Shi Lei froze on the spot. His first reaction wasn’t surprise or gratitude, but a bloom of suspicion.

’There has to be a hidden reason for this good fortune that’s suddenly fallen into my lap,’ he thought. ’If I accept this favor, what enormous price will I have to pay?’

”What are you spacing out for? Afraid I’m trying to trick you?”

The Steward was a sharp one. He instantly guessed what Shi Lei was thinking. Far from being annoyed, he leaned in closer.

”You’ve got a good senior brother, kid! The one who always nods and says a word to you when he sees you! He’s already condensed his Third Pillar of Blood Qi and is about to enter the Inner Hall!”

”...What!?”

Shi Lei’s eyes shot wide open. His Adam’s apple bobbed again and again, and his mouth opened and closed, but for the longest time, he couldn’t get a single word out.

’Three... Three Pillars of Blood Qi?’

’Cheng?’

Shi Lei could hardly believe it. That quiet younger brother from the Lower Courtyard, the one who had crawled out of the very bottom of the slums just like him, who only knew how to bury his head and train relentlessly—had now reached such heights!

Even with a master backing him now, Shi Lei feared it would be difficult to catch up to Chen Cheng anytime soon.

...

「Anle Village.」

Lu Song and Xu Chengfeng had just finished searching Madam Li’s home with their men. Finding nothing unusual, they promptly took their leave.

Fatty Fang stayed with her the whole time, which put Madam Li at ease. It also made the constables mind their tempers; they didn’t break anything during the search.

”Thank you so much, Tutor Fang...”

Madam Li’s face was still a little pale, her fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of her clothes.

”If you hadn’t been standing here with me just now, I... I would have been sick with worry.”

For poor people like her from the bottom rungs of society, the most frightening people weren’t gang members, but these public servants in official uniforms, wielding the law.

When gangsters came to your door, at most they’d extort a few peace coins. But when these officials showed up, it could very well mean they were there to take your life.

”You’re being too kind, Aunt Li.”

Fatty Fang kept a cheerful smile on his face. His pale, chubby features looked quite likable.

”Cheng and I aren’t just senior and junior brothers from the same Martial Arts Hall, we’re good buddies who see eye-to-eye. To put it plainly, we’re family!”

”From now on, if you need anything at all, big or small, just come find me next door. I’ll help without a second thought!”

”Oh... alright.”

Hearing this, Madam Li felt much more at ease and quickly said,

”Tutor Fang, have you eaten? If you don’t mind simple food, why not stay and have a bite? We have... we have meat and vegetables.”

As she spoke, she nervously wrung her hands on her apron.

On one hand, she was genuinely grateful to Fatty Fang. On the other, she had a selfish motive: she wanted to do her best to maintain this rare connection.

Her son, Chen Cheng, couldn’t always be there to look after the family.

But this Tutor Fang lived right next door. His mountain-like, sturdy build, combined with his status as a Dragon Mountain Middle Courtyard Disciple and a Tutor at the Lower Courtyard, made him seem solid and reliable no matter how you looked at it.

”I won’t stay for food.”

Fatty Fang waved his hand and added,

”But there is something I wanted to talk with you about, Aunt Li.”