Chapter Three: Hiding One’s Light and Biding One’s Time (Part One)

Keeping a secret for a long time is a heavy burden, yet if that secret concerns one's future freedom for most of the rest of one's life, any price is worth paying.

“Hey, Li Zhao, how is it that in this exam, you’re third place again?” Johnny was baffled. Everyone studied for the same amount of time, so how could Li Zhao always stay in the top three? Or rather, Li Zhao was always third—neither ahead nor behind.

It was painstaking to carefully maintain himself in a normal state of cultivation, but it brought unexpected benefits. The extra time allowed Li Zhao more opportunities than his classmates to study other subjects, and since the start of high school, his academic performance had always been among the best.

“How’s your Physical Enhancement Technique training going?” On the way home after school, everyone took the city’s automated bus. Despite living close by, Johnny was cautious as he sidled up to Li Zhao, glanced around, and then whispered his question.

Li Zhao was startled, instantly alert. “Just average, not particularly good or bad. Why do you ask?” Could Johnny have discovered his secret?

“Let me tell you in secret—I’ve been adding an extra hour to my training every day.” Johnny checked that no one was nearby, then leaned in to whisper.

“Are you crazy?” Li Zhao was shocked. Johnny was a childhood friend, and in this era, East and West lived together—pure communities no longer existed. Johnny’s actions, according to their instructor, were highly dangerous.

“Come on, it’s not as bad as that gorilla man says.” Johnny waved dismissively, unconcerned. “It’s just Physical Enhancement Technique, laying the foundation. The deeper the foundation, the faster future cultivation. You know as well as I do, most of our classmates do the same. Only you, foolishly, still stick to the gorilla man’s rules.”

Johnny eyed Li Zhao up and down, not quite believing him. “Be honest—are you secretly training more too? Otherwise, how could your progress always match ours?”

“Heh heh.” Li Zhao didn’t know what to say, so he just chuckled twice. Johnny seemed satisfied with their mutual understanding, patted Li Zhao’s shoulder, and dropped the subject.

“I plan to keep training the Mighty Force Technique and the Steel Body Technique. Which first-level technique are you planning to learn?” Johnny changed the topic to future plans.

Li Zhao merely smiled, unsure how to respond. “I haven’t decided yet. I’ll discuss it with my parents,” he said, brushing the matter aside.

Though he said little, Li Zhao remained extremely cautious at heart. With the basic Physical Enhancement Technique, even when deliberately reducing his training time, he managed to keep pace with most of his classmates, fitting squarely among the most average. Not outstanding, not slow.

There was no other way. During these foundational high school years, to avoid any accidents, every student’s training was monitored weekly by instructors, with records kept. If nothing abnormal occurred, this situation would continue until the end of sophomore year.

Abnormalities meant a student suddenly showing far greater progress and stability than usual during cultivation. If that happened, their assessment would be recalculated, and based on the results, they might be admitted to a school for prodigies. After all, cultivation was not always linear—there were countless stories of sudden breakthroughs.

Li Zhao’s caution was precisely because of this. It wasn’t enough to slip through at the beginning; at least, he needed to keep up the act until the end of sophomore year. By then, even normal completion of the Physical Enhancement Technique would serve the purpose of laying a solid foundation, and he could begin studying advanced techniques.

Despite all this care, he still ended up matching his classmates. Fortunately, everyone assumed he was also secretly increasing his training, and no one questioned him. Even so, Li Zhao broke into a cold sweat. If everyone had followed the rules, he might have accidentally become a prodigy!

In society, ordinary techniques were divided into nine levels, but the Physical Enhancement Technique was not part of that hierarchy—it was the most basic foundational technique, upon which all others were built. If it had to be classified, it would count as level zero.

Once the foundation was established through two years of high school, students could begin learning more advanced techniques. With deeper cultivation, the techniques grew ever more profound.

Typically, an ordinary person could reach about level six in their lifetime; only rare prodigies could break through the level six bottleneck and advance to higher levels, up to level nine.

Techniques above level nine never appeared in ordinary society; only certain special military departments held traces of such skills. These were all rumors—no one had ever witnessed a technique above level nine. However, it was a fact that the military possessed advanced cultivation methods.

After joining the military, anyone not exceptionally dull could usually break through level four quickly and begin level five training. But regardless of how rapid their progress, they could only jump from level one or two to five; to go higher, deep dedication and hard work were the only ways.

In senior year, students could choose which first-level technique to cultivate. The first-level technique was just a step above the basic Physical Enhancement Technique, but unlike the foundation, which only established the minor meridian pathways, the first-level techniques targeted specific meridians according to the practitioner's needs.

If one wished to be strength-oriented, the Mighty Force Technique was the choice. As the name implied, cultivating it greatly increased one's physical strength, and muscle development followed. Anyone who completed the second-level technique could achieve a physique like Schwarzenegger.

For those who didn’t want to be musclebound, there was the Flexibility Technique. Cultivating it rendered the muscles and joints astonishingly supple, though it was mostly favored by women; few men chose it.

There was also the Brain Enhancement Technique, designed for mental training. After cultivation, the mind became much sharper than average, though improvements were limited and generally unnoticeable without long-term persistence.