The Man Who Is Always First

If you don't understand that, you'll never reach the Throne.” The pressure remained after the door closed. Su checked the access log. Gu had entered at 11:48 the previous night and never left. He had trained across midnight, leaving the system unable to identify today's beginning. “That's not discipline,” she murmured. “It's exploiting a rule.” Lu watched the empty ring. “Exploit the same rule for five years, and it becomes terrifying discipline.” Jiang usually began at 6:10. They still had time. Su programmed eight lights to flash randomly. Lu had to strike the matching targets. For ten minutes his results were awful. Punching was familiar; reaction training required eyes, brain, and feet to close a circuit.