The afternoon schedule consisted of one physics class, one history class, and one extended kendo class.
The extended kendo class took up two periods. It was similar to the physical education classes of his previous life, but far more important. Academic subjects never took up its allotted time.
When the young were strong, the nation was strong.
The reason cultivation had flourished in this world, to the point of nearly becoming a pursuit for everyone, was not merely that it granted extraordinary, transcendent power. More importantly, it tempered the will and spirit.
It could nurture qualities like composure, courage, fearlessness, and integrity.
Even a little exposure to it could greatly benefit the growth of young people.
Therefore, the nation had invested heavily in this area.
The results were naturally remarkable. Each generation was stronger than the last!
In the gym's changing room, Zhao Cheng changed into a loose white training uniform.
A clean-cut young man was reflected in the mirror. He was neither handsome nor ugly, the sort who would be hard to pick out in a crowd.
But look closely, and one would notice that his eyes were exceptionally calm, carrying a sense of resolve.
His appearance had changed little over the past six months, aside from his frame growing a little broader. Inside, however, he had undergone a tremendous transformation.
From careless and fragile, he had gradually become resolute, like loose sand tempered by flames until it turned to stone.
Of course, it had not been long. The stone might not yet be very solid. But as long as he persevered, one day the stubborn rocks would gather into hills, perhaps even become the very earth—steady and weighty as the ground itself.
"Unshakable, like the earth."
These words from Buddhist scripture were used to describe bodhisattvas.
Yet in reality, there were people whose spirits could truly grow that powerful.
As for Zhao Cheng, he had only just begun.
After changing, Zhao Cheng walked out of the changing room with his classmates. What greeted him was a vast, bright, spacious arena.
The gym before him had a massive domed roof, supported by silvery-white steel beams and covered with highly transparent, reinforced glass. At a glance, it seemed to draw the whole sky inside. Plain in design, yet unmistakably luxurious.
Zhao Cheng attended Qingyuan Middle School in Xiangnan City. Xiangnan was only a third-tier city, and by all rights its educational resources could not compare with those of schools in first- and second-tier cities.
And that had indeed been the case before.
The reason the school had produced a famous senior student was simply that her hometown was Xiangnan and she had attended the middle school division of a school there before she became famous. That was why she had also kept her name on the high school rolls here.
That had brought the otherwise unremarkable Qingyuan Middle School a sudden burst of fame.
But that was all.
The internet had no memory. After a brief moment in the spotlight, Qingyuan Middle School returned to normal.
Then, four years ago, everything suddenly changed. Back then, Qingyuan Middle School was still called Xiangnan Third Middle School.
According to local talk in Xiangnan, some big shot from the upper echelons had old ties to the city and decided to lend it a hand. Resources immediately poured in, and Qingyuan Middle School made a huge leap in both its teaching environment and faculty. In some respects, it was already on par with schools in first-tier cities.
Under those circumstances, Qingyuan Middle School, once among the worst in Xiangnan City, suddenly became the best in Xiangnan.
With the school growing stronger, the admissions bar naturally shot up as well.
Fortunately, Qingyuan only admitted students entering middle school, and enrollment lasted six years.
At the time, Zhao Cheng had just started his first year of middle school at Qingyuan, so he caught the wave of good fortune.
Zhao Cheng remembered that the admissions changes had caused quite a stir in Xiangnan.
Many people online had said it was unfair to other students in Xiangnan, especially those taking the high school entrance exam.
Qingyuan's response at the time was that it would not abandon any of its students.
Of course, the school also offered a batch of transfer admission spots, which amounted to an expansion of enrollment.
The gym had been built around that time. Construction took three months, and according to rumors, it had cost nearly two billion. It was Qingyuan's most expensive building.
As for the faculty, setting academic classes aside, kendo classes were a good example. Qingyuan used to hold one every two weeks. It wasn't that the school didn't want to hold more; it simply didn't have enough qualified teachers. It could barely manage the minimum required by the state.
Now, there were two extended classes every week, and the teachers' abilities had risen several levels. They were all genuine swordsmen.
The Swordsman level was the second realm of cultivation. In ancient times, reaching it meant mastering the fundamentals and being capable of upholding the reputation of an entire lineage.
In ancient times, there might not have been a single person of this caliber among a hundred thousand.
With cultivation widespread in modern times, it was still one in ten thousand—one person for every ten thousand.
Xiangnan City had a population of several hundred thousand, so it had only a few dozen people of this caliber.
Among those hundreds of thousands of residents, there were nearly ten middle schools in Xiangnan alone. Add to that the fact that people sought to climb higher and such talents all went to big cities to develop their careers, and their scarcity was plain to see.
A swordsman who offered private lessons could charge thousands per hour for one-on-one instruction. With more students, the price only went up.
Naturally, the energy it took to guide one person was worlds apart from what it took to guide a whole group.
Two extended kendo classes a week might not sound like much, but consider how many classes and students a school had, and one could see the cost of the school's investment.
What was more, Qingyuan's tuition was the same as that of other middle schools.
The tuition paid by students in a single semester could not cover the cost of the extended kendo classes. The school was already operating at a loss in that area.
As for the kendo teachers who had once taught extended classes at Qingyuan, their skill might not have surpassed Zhao Cheng's current level. Their advantage lay in their wealth of experience.
Of course, in their prime, they would certainly have been more formidable than Zhao Cheng was now. But as people aged, most saw their vitality and spirit decline.
There were "monsters" who only grew fiercer with age, but clearly, those kinds of monsters would not be found in a school like this.
That was the faculty. As for the teaching environment, the arena before him spoke for itself.
"Close your eyes, but leave a sliver of light in them. This captures the meaning of dawn breaking."
"In the instant when night gives way to dawn, the sun leaps into the sky, transforming yin and yang."
"The transformation of yin and yang may seem far away, but its meaning is not. Grasp it well, and you can cultivate the spirit!"
"At the same time, keep the form of the sword ever-present in your heart. Meaning can only truly become your own when it has a root, and the sword in your heart is the root of that meaning!"
"You must remember this. Without the form of the sword, everything is just a rootless duckweed, unable to withstand wind or rain."
"Now, breathe in!"
A warm, resonant voice echoed through the quiet room. Everyone inside, Zhao Cheng included, followed the instructions.