Sure, here's the English translation based on your guidelines:
Chen Xu was not present before people, yet seemed to exist within everyone's hearts.
His opponents went into seclusion one after another, and apart from the surface-level war of opinions, they were secretly deploying various tactics.
These were not meant for outsiders to know, so there's no need to elaborate.
Actually, the preparation before exams, no matter how many methods were used or how much effort was made, was par for the course, and Chen Xu himself did not slack off.
He seemed to spend most of his days cultivating, but he also took time to read in the Fire and Smoke Kitchen.
He read them repeatedly, even if it was the classics he had worn out from reading, he still would peruse and ponder over them again and again.
Even if they were familiar enough to recite backward.
Yet truly classic works often possess the charm of being endlessly fresh, even after countless re-readings.
