493: Chapter 493 The Movements in the Ideal Land, the Intent of Tai Chi

After several sunrises and sunsets, the scenery outside the window seemed to have inadvertently changed its appearance.

The lights were not turned on in the room, and the darkness locked the interior as silent as the deep sea.

Fang Cheng turned over and got up, stepping barefoot on the soft carpet.

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Walking to the French windows by feel, he reached out to grip the edge of the velvet curtains and pulled them apart to both sides in one go.

Whoosh——

Along with the soft sound of the metal slide rail, the glimmer of dawn eagerly poured in.

At the skyline, the originally deep night was being diluted, slowly turning into an indigo blue.

Cui City at the foot of the mountain was still asleep, the outlines of high-rises flickering in the sparse lights.

On the surface of Cuihai Lake, a layer of grayish-white mist slowly dispersed, rendering the distant shoreline hazy.

Fang Cheng gazed at this slightly unfamiliar city scene, the glimmer reflected in his deep pupils, bright as the morning star.

This was a private vacation home arranged by the Family, located halfway up the mountain by Cuihai Lake, with a broad view, quiet and secluded.

Ever since the meeting held at the Chen Family Manor ended, four days had quietly passed.

During this time, everyone followed the established plan, performed their respective duties, acted separately, and methodically Advanced various matters.

I have to admit that facing the juncture of the Family's survival, Second Young Master Chen Xuan displayed a decisive will that made people look sideways.

Taking the excuse of the recent ongoing disturbances, on the very day the meeting ended, he resolutely and secretly settled most of the Family members into that Secret Realm of Legacy.

As for the original servants and guards in the manor, except for a few trusted aides who knew the roots, the rest were dismissed with generous hush money, or sent to work in out-of-town properties under some pretext.

Today's Chen Family Manor was like a fortress that seemed to operate normally, but had actually been emptied long ago.

Only a few unfamiliar faces urgently dispatched from other places remained to barely maintain daily operations.

Professor Ye Zhiren accompanied Second Young Master Chen Xuan step for step under the identity of an "Advanced Business Consultant".

It was both to monitor every Move of the Chen Family, ensuring they cooperated according to the agreement, and to observe changes in the situation and adjust coping strategies at any time.

As for Fang Cheng, Lin Chuqiao, and others, they lurked in this vacation home less than two kilometers away from the manor, waiting for news at any time.

Once an abnormal situation occurred over there, or a formidable enemy that could not be dealt with appeared.

Relying on Fang Cheng's footwork, he could rush to the scene to support in an instant.

Of course, the most critical step was the establishment of the intelligence network.

Previously, in order to find Crow and the professor, the Chen Family had already used the power of money to summon the leaders of several local Gangs for tea.

Now, only by slightly changing the mission objective, this huge underground machine operated at full speed again.

Gangs and societies of all sizes moved at the wind's call, releasing countless informants and setting up a posture of searching the whole city.

Whether it was brokers reselling news, snakeheads walking in the gray zone, or even the inconspicuous parking attendants and protection-fee-collecting hoodlums on the street, they all received a strict order from above.

In just a day or two, a massive monitoring net targeting outsiders quickly covered every corner of Cui City.

The efficiency was so high that it even put the local police's sense of duty to shame, making professional investigators blush.

Any unfamiliar face, anyone with suspicious whereabouts, as long as they stepped into the territory of Cui City, would soon be captured by these ubiquitous eyes, and gathered into intelligence to be sent back to Second Young Master Chen Xuan's desk.

As the saying goes, a powerful dragon does not suppress the local snake.

In this city, the Chen Family was the undisputed hydra, and this operation fully demonstrated its overlord's Absolute Control.

No matter how supernatural the experts sent by Utopia were, under this high-density monitoring, they would likely show their tails.

Fang Cheng and the others lurked secretly in this vacation home, awaiting battles in full armor, and this wait lasted for four days.

However, during these four days, the entire Cui City appeared unusually calm.

There was no noteworthy abnormal news, nor any trace of suspected Utopia members found.

Even because all street hoodlums carried the task of "staring at strangers", they had no time to stir up trouble.

Overnight, the security condition of Cui City turned out to be surprisingly good.

Fighting and brawling decreased, theft and robbery vanished, and even those urban villages and slums became places where lost property was not picked up.

Citizens who didn't know the truth probably thought the police had launched some thunderous raid action, turning Cui City into a national model safe city.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze looking into the distance and gently let out a breath.

The white mist blurred a small damp trace on the window glass.

Although he didn't know what plot Utopia had, the peace of the past few days seemed to corroborate the professor's previous speculation.

There were simply two possibilities.

First, the bombing at Haoting Hotel was too loud and its impact was too malicious.

Although the police publicly claimed it was a gas explosion, it would inevitably attract the attention of the Special Investigation Team and various forces to secretly investigate the truth.

Coupled with Second Young Master Chen Xuan fanning the flames, exposing the Utopia organization originally hidden in the dark and pushing it to the opposite side of the authorities.

Cui City now was a powder keg, with countless eyes staring at any slight movement here.

"Utopia" to avoid affecting the overall situation and implicating the entire plan to be exposed, decisively abandoned subsequent actions here.

Even if they planned to retaliate, they would probably have to wait for several months or half a year until the limelight completely passed before choosing to make a Move.

Second, and a more likely one, the importance Utopia attached to the Chen Family was not as high as imagined.

According to the professor's understanding of that organization, its structure was loose, its functions simple, and it looked more like an elite club.

The core members of the decision-making level were few in number, usually distributed around the world, with different identities, either leaders of other forces or elites in the political and business circles.

Right now they were planning the so-called event of "subverting the world pattern", and manpower must be stretched thin.

Especially the strength Fang Cheng displayed that night could be called terrifying, actually blowing up the space channel with his fists.

This made the opponent clear that wanting to take down the Chen Family protected by an expert of this level required dispatching at least two S-grade experts to be certain.

You must know that S-grade experts were not cabbages by the roadside.

Looking across the entire Xia Country, aristocratic families, idle anomalous humans, and adding all official institutions and the Special Investigation Team, it at most would not exceed a hundred people.

Under the circumstance of having higher priority tasks, mobilizing such high-end combat power at this juncture for a mere Chen Family was obviously not cost-effective.

Therefore, they chose to sit still and temporarily shelved actions against the Chen Family.

No matter the reason, this temporary peace was an eagerly desired good thing for Fang Cheng and the newly established Illuminati.

This meant they had precious development time to make more adequate preparations and plant their Foundation more firmly.

During this time waiting for the target to appear and quietly observing the changes in the situation, Fang Cheng took time to call home to report he was safe.

He told his mother and grandfather on the phone that he had successfully found his uncle.

As for why his uncle lost contact for a period of time before.

Fang Cheng casually made up a reason, saying he went to the deep mountains of the border to inspect the timber business, and the signal base station there was broken, so he couldn't be contacted.

Now they had returned to the provincial capital Cui City, intending to play here for a few days, incidentally handle some finishing work, and return to Dongdu in a few days.

Hearing this explanation, Mom and Grandpa on the other end of the phone obviously breathed a sigh of relief, only repeatedly telling him to pay attention to safety outside and go home early.

After Fang Cheng agreed, he chatted with the two about some Family matters before hanging up the phone.

At this moment, he was calculating in his heart, waiting for at most two more days.

If Utopia still had no movement, he would lead the team to retreat back to Dongdu first.

After all, consuming here all the time didn't make much sense.

As thoughts flowed, a trace of fish-belly white vaguely appeared on the edge of the sky, outlining the distant city silhouette a bit more clearly.

Fang Cheng's eyes condensed slightly, expelling distracting thoughts from his mind.

It was time for morning exercises.

During the few days of lurking in the vacation home, he was not idle.

Except for eating, sleeping, and regularly patrolling around the Chen Family Manor, almost all other time was spent exercising the body and practicing skills.

Facing the threat of that legendary man like a god, Fang Cheng had no fear in his heart, but instead produced a strong incomparable desire.

He longed to make himself stronger, strong enough to have a head-on showdown with that overbearing existence.

For this, he was willing to give up all entertainment activities and devote himself heart and soul to the boring Cultivate.

No, it should be said that Fang Cheng was enjoying it.

Every time he watched the skill proficiency on the panel jump "+ 1", "+ 1", he would feel great pleasure and excitement.

That feeling of being able to clearly control every bit of his own progress was more addictive than any entertainment in the world.

Although the current environmental conditions were limited, making it impossible to fully let go and conduct high-intensity training.

But relying on long-term accumulated bodyweight training and repeated Move drills, the experience of several combat and fitness skills still increased a lot.

Among them, the progress bars of the two skills Running and Tai Chi Advanced steadily according to plan, already approaching a Breakthrough.

Fang Cheng's thought moved.

In the dim air before him, a light blue glow flickered slightly.

[Tai Chi lv1 (246 / 250)]

[Running lv1 (230 / 250)]

Staring closely at the data presented on the panel, Fang Cheng's mouth curved up slightly, thinking secretly:

"Today is the time for a Breakthrough upgrade!"

Then he turned and walked toward the wardrobe, neatly putting on a loose blue sportswear and shoes.

Then he walked into the washroom, casually wiping his face with cold water to thoroughly wake himself up.

Pushing open the room door, the corridor was quiet, with only a few wall lamps emitting a dim halo.

In the next room, the undulating snores of his uncle and Pan Wendi vaguely came out.

The two had nothing to do last night and stayed up late playing cards again, obviously sleeping very late.

The door on the other side was also tightly shut, pitch black under the door crack, Lin Chuqiao and Bailing should still be in dreamland.

Fang Cheng did not disturb them, his feet as silent as a cat, quickly passing through the corridor, going down the stairs, and pushing open the villa's door.

The morning wind rushed over his face, mixed with the smell of grass and trees.

This villa area was built against the mountain, surrounded by green trees, and the environment was extremely quiet and secluded.

At this time it was still early, the road was deserted, and it was exceptionally quiet.

Fang Cheng took a deep breath, the cool air poured into his lungs, instantly igniting the heat in his body.

He stretched his arms, moved his ankles, and then took steps to jog along the road in the villa area.

The speed gradually increased, and his figure soon plunged into the morning mist.

...

In early May, Tiannan Province had long shed its spring reticence.

In the morning air, there was a moisture unique to the subtropics.

Cuihai Lake was wide and boundless, true to its name, as deep green as the sea.

Large patches of white mist surged against the water surface, covering the distant dark green mountains to make them loom faintly.

The vegetation on the bank was extremely lush, with crystal clear dew hanging on the wide banana leaves, and unknown wildflowers spreading wantonly in the grass.

Several ancient banyan trees formed a forest on their own, countless brown aerial roots hanging down like long beards, reaching into the water, gently rippling with the morning waves.

Da, da, da.

A rhythmic sound of footsteps broke the lakeside quiet.

On the lakeside Running track, a vigorous figure wearing sportswear gradually appeared through the milky white mist.

Fang Cheng had just run nearly fifteen kilometers along Cuihai Lake.

This amount of exercise for him, who now had up to 67 points in Physique, was just waking up the sleeping body.

Only a thin layer of sweat seeped from the surface of his skin, and upon contact with the surrounding humid air, it vaporized and dissipated.

He stopped in front of a secluded grove near the lake.

The terrain here was slightly higher, surrounded by dense woods, which just blocked the sight from the Running track, making it quite quiet and secluded.

Through the gaps in the treetops, one could faintly see the expanding fish-belly white on the eastern horizon.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze and took a deep breath.

The forest fermented the fishy smell of mud and the fragrance of grass and trees, which was inhaled into the lungs, full of vibrant flavor.

After a slight adjustment, his feet were separated left and right, shoulder-width apart, and his knees were slightly bent.

The moment his waist and back straightened, his spine ran through segment by segment like a Dragon, yet it was loose, heavy, and natural.

This was one of the starting movements of Tai Chi Internal Skill Cultivate, the Wuji Stance.

Along with a turbid breath slowly exhaled, Fang Cheng's whole person seemed to merge with the surrounding humid air and luxuriant trees.

The Qi and blood that had been stirred during the run were now like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, submissively sinking into the Dantian.

As the opening stance unfolded, his arms slowly raised, his wrists loose and heavy, and his fingertips slightly relaxed.

Wild Horse Parts Mane, White Crane Spreads Its Wings, Brush Knee and Twist Step...

Every Move was as smooth and unobstructed as pouring mercury on the ground.

Fang Cheng did not hit fast, but there was an unspeakable sense of rhythm.

The center of gravity transitioned smoothly between the two legs, and the footwork was as light as if the feet didn't touch the ground.

The occasional chirping of birds around could not disturb his calm-as-water mood at all.

And as the movements became more rounded and effortless, Fang Cheng clearly felt that the breath inside his body was continuous like lake water, vaguely having the momentum of gushing out.

Traditional Tai Chi emphasized "intent comes first", adhering to the principle of "using intent instead of force".

Therefore, when practicing Punching techniques in the past, Fang Cheng paid more attention to the fit between the Move and the Concept.

He was accustomed to using thought to guide the movement of actions, rather than simply relying on muscle brute force.

In this way, although the Move appeared stretched and beautiful, and the Concept was far-reaching, it lacked substantive lethality.

In usual battles, he only relied on the skill special effect of Tai Chi, "Force Dispersion", to neutralize opponent attacks, only exerting a defensive role.

But at this moment, feeling the surging Qi and blood in his body, and thinking of his formidable Physical Body strength, Fang Cheng's heart suddenly moved.

Since the intent had arrived and the body was prepared, why couldn't he take a step further?

A thought subsequently sprouted in his mind.

If that invincible True Qi in his body was no longer just a simple explosion.

But instead integrated into the Moves of this Tai Chi and cast smoothly, what kind of scene would it be?

(End of Chapter)