Chapter 16: The Hope of Entry

After leaving the secret room, Lin Qing took the elevator out along the special corridor made of glass and metal.

When he returned to the second squad's office on the first floor, both Squad Leader Han and Qin Qin were there.

"Finished learning the combat technique?" Squad Leader Han glanced at him.

"Yeah, but I still don't know if I can even enter the threshold." Lin Qing said.

He truly had little confidence, since the success rate for entering the threshold with the Zizai Body series was only 4.1%.

That raspy voice had said he had a three or four in ten chance—but it was still only three or four in ten.

"As long as the visualization image in your mind hasn't grown fuzzy, there's still a chance."

Squad Leader Han said: "These few days are when your visualization is clearest; your chance of entering the threshold is highest. If you can't enter during these days, once the memory fades, you'll have even less hope."

Lin Qing nodded slightly.

"The key is entering the threshold."

Squad Leader Han said: "Once you enter, it becomes much simpler—just accumulate slowly. Once you adapt and become familiar with the technique's changes, you'll be able to unleash forty to fifty percent of its power."

"As for higher?" He shook his head slightly. "That depends on fate."

Lin Qing understood his meaning.

The first step is 'entering the threshold.'

The second step is 'mastering'—with enough practice, you'll always adapt to the technique's changes; once mastered, you can unleash nearly half its theoretical power.

The third step, 'instinct,' is the only way to unleash the technique's true theoretical power—you must integrate its changes into your instinct, making them part of your body.

This is the hardest hurdle; many people, even after ten or twenty years of practice, never succeed.

"But if you fail to enter the threshold, can you learn the same technique again?" Lin Qing suddenly asked.

"Learn it again?"

Squad Leader Han glanced at him and said: "Theoretically, yes—but if you fail the first time, it means your talent for this technique is average. Even if you enter later, adapting and becoming familiar will take much longer."

He seemed to fear Lin Qing might despair, and said patiently: "Others who succeed on their first try might master it in a year or two, but you might need several years—or longer. And once you've learned it, switching to another series of techniques will be affected. If you fail your first attempt, you'd be better off trying a new technique."

Lin Qing nodded slightly and said: "I understand."

Of course, he still planned to stick with the Min technique.

Because he was different.

Others think that way because they have no chance of reaching the 'instinct' level.

But as long as he enters the threshold, he can directly pre-claim the 'instinct' level of the Min technique.

That way, when he learns other techniques in the Zizai Body series, he'll gain bonuses! Then, entering the threshold won't be so hard.

With enough merit, even if the visualization memory fades, learning it again will make it clear again—given enough time, he'll eventually enter the threshold!

This was his plan.

So even if he fails once, it doesn't matter—he can just try again next time.

"Lin Qing, which combat technique are you learning?" Qin Qin asked curiously.

"Little Qin, that's confidential," Squad Leader Han glanced at her.

"Oh, I forgot," Qin Qin immediately covered her mouth. "I didn't ask."

Lin Qing understood.

Even if he were to tell someone, he could only tell the squad leader—since the squad leader needed to plan operations based on members' strength.

……

Days passed one by one.

Besides practicing the Morning Practice Method version 4.6 three times daily, studying for exams, and night patrols, Lin Qing kept trying his newly learned technique.

With his current memory and the Memory Master ability, stabilizing the visualization was easy.

The difficulty lay in what came next.

The mental state brought by visualization could theoretically make the mysterious energy inside the body mimic human bioelectricity—but far stronger.

Only when this step succeeds is the threshold entered.

Only after entering the threshold can you use the mimicked bioelectricity to stimulate the body and nerve conduction, enhance electrical signals, and gradually acclimate the body.

Whether you enter the threshold depends on the individual.

Talent, luck, compatibility, and condition all influence it.

"Even if you fail, it's not the end—but succeeding on the first try is obviously best."

"A three or four in ten chance isn't small…"

As days passed and Lin Qing kept trying, he felt the mysterious energy inside him grow increasingly restless, even causing faint tingling sensations.

It seemed… just a tiny bit away from mimicking into bioelectricity.

But if it was even a little short, it wouldn't work—the technique stubbornly refused to enter the threshold, leaving Lin Qing frustrated.

Still, if you can't enter the threshold, worrying won't help.

"I hope I succeed before the visualization image fades."

"Otherwise, I'll just have to wait for the next chance…"

Lin Qing's mindset remained calm.

With a 4.1% success rate, he had long prepared himself for failure.

If all else failed, he could pre-claim the Qiqi Practice Method—it would still grant decent self-defense capability.

After all, with the Anti-Entropy talent, as long as he seized opportunities, his achievements wouldn't be poor.

……

Before he knew it, it was the night of December 24th—tomorrow he would take the professional exam.

But at eight p. m., his cousin Chen Yanan suddenly sent a WeChat message, asking him to come to the hospital to discuss exam essentials in person.

Xiaoshan District People's Hospital.

"Sis, the exam is tomorrow, and you're only telling me the key points today?"

Lin Qing sat somewhat helplessly beside the hospital bed, holding a fruit knife in his hand, peeling an apple for Chen Yanan.

"The key points I'm talking about aren't stuff from books." Chen Yanan leaned against the hospital bed, shot him a look, and said, "Telling you earlier wouldn't have done any good."

"Fine." Lin Qing cut the peeled apple in half and handed one half to Chen Yanan. "So what is it?"

Chen Yanan took the apple, took a bite, and said with a smile, "Very simple — keep your written exam score low. It'll be good for you."

"Keep the written exam score low?" Lin Qing asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Chen Yanan glanced at the ward door, then said softly, "After you become part of the Patrol Bureau, it won't be long before they set up a team for you, and the Municipal Bureau will assign you team members, right?"

She took another bite of apple and asked, "Do you know how the Municipal Bureau handles a new team leader like you when assigning people?"

"The branch bureau definitely won't have enough hands, so they'll probably transfer new patrol officers from the Municipal Bureau, right?" Lin Qing said.

"Exactly."

Chen Yanan nodded and said, "But the key is, the leaders at the Municipal Bureau often arrange for some well-connected juniors to gild their resumes at the Patrol Bureau, and then use that record to transfer laterally into other public security systems or the military, where they can get better positions."

Lin Qing nodded.

He'd heard about this recently while chatting with colleagues from the second team.

Because the patrol system is essentially about looking for trouble everywhere, it's relatively easy to earn merit, and as long as the merit is enough, you can learn combat arts — which is also a huge temptation.

Therefore, it's actually not uncommon for second-generation officials to gild their resumes in the patrol system and then use connections to transfer laterally into other systems.

It looks like a lateral transfer, but it's actually a hidden promotion.

After all, they can't just let a Patrol Bureau officer who's learned combat arts go be an ordinary military officer or ordinary police officer, right?

"These second-generation officials coming to gild their resumes like nothing more than a team leader whose cultural knowledge doesn't pass muster."

Chen Yanan said, "They've never learned combat arts, so they have no advantage in martial ability compared to you, and they still have to follow your command. So they actually hope that you, as team leader, are lacking in cultural knowledge — that you don't know enough — so they have a chance to grab more of the merit."

Lin Qing asked, puzzled, "Isn't that just them coming to split the merit? Then I should score higher, right?"

"It is splitting the merit, but it's also your opportunity."

Chen Yanan said, "These second-generation officials basically all have backgrounds, so they definitely know more than you. Since they're coming to gild their resumes, they've naturally prepared."

Lin Qing understood.

In the half month since he'd entered the Patrol Bureau, he'd only been lucky on the first day, earning one third-class merit, and after that, he'd never run into such good fortune again.

And those second-generation officials coming to gild their resumes might know where the opportunities to earn merit are.

Even if he was just tagging along to split the merit, he could accumulate merit faster.

"This is a good thing."

Chen Yanan said, "So keep your written exam score as low as possible, and in other assessment areas — like marksmanship, combat, physical fitness — perform as well as you can. When those second-generation officials see your transcript, they'll feel safe following you and will prioritize choosing to come to you."

"Got it, I understand." Lin Qing nodded.

No wonder his cousin had to tell him in person — this kind of thing really wasn't convenient to say over the phone.

To the authorities, isn't所谓的 personal privacy just the Emperor's new clothes? "Cousin, your Patrol major exam scores were so bad — was that also because…" Lin Qing suddenly realized.

"Oh, that's not it."

Chen Yanan slightly raised her chin. "You think someone like me, a slacker who scored under three hundred on the college entrance exam, needs to deliberately keep her score that low?"

……You're actually pretty proud of that…… Lin Qing was speechless.

"Right, didn't you get lucky and earn one third-class merit?"

Chen Yanan suddenly said, "Counting the two third-class merits I gave you, that's enough to learn one combat art, right? Have you gone to learn it?"

"I did." Lin Qing nodded and sighed helplessly. "But I haven't even gotten started yet."

"Which one?" Chen Yanan asked with interest.

"The 'Agility' from the Zizai Body series." Lin Qing answered frankly.

Although he couldn't tell other people, telling his cousin didn't matter — he could learn combat arts all thanks to his cousin.

"Oh? You learned this one too." Chen Yanan laughed. "Worthy of being my little brother — you even picked the same combat art as me."

"Sis, you also…" Lin Qing said in surprise.

Chen Yanan laughed and said, "Right, I've practiced tai chi before, so I learned the three combat arts 'Softness,' 'Agility,' and 'Subtlety' that are better suited for bringing out tai chi. But I've only just started 'Subtlety' — I've only mastered 'Softness' and 'Agility.'"

Lin Qing suddenly understood.

Tai chi overcomes hardness with softness, and also emphasizes keen perception — the 'Softness' and 'Agility' combat arts really were a good fit.

"How long have you been studying 'Agility'?" Chen Yanan asked.

"Five days now." Lin Qing said.

"Five days…"

Chen Yanan thought for a moment, then suddenly broke into a smile and said, "Anyway, sis can't move around right now, so I'll just have to work a bit harder and help you out."

"Help me?" Lin Qing couldn't help asking, "How?"

"The key to getting started with the 'Agility' combat art is simulating bioelectricity."

Chen Yanan said, "I can transmit the bioelectricity I simulate to you, so you can feel it carefully. Even though you can't make it your own, you'll get a real sense of it, and your chances of getting started will be a bit higher."

"You can do that?" Lin Qing's eyes lit up.

"Give me your hand."

Chen Yanan grabbed Lin Qing's palm and muttered, "Your little hand is actually softer than mine…"

(End of chapter)