The Way of Restraint

Chapter 136: A Year of Change, Reaching the Pinnacle

For this month, Su Jie was completely alone.

When he ran out of food and water, he returned to the small courtyard to fetch some, not speaking a single word to anyone.

In the small courtyard, he had long prepared a large amount of nutrient water and high-grade military canned food for his secluded life in the mountains.

In the mountains, he returned to the small courtyard every seven days, cutting his hair, shaving, and bathing by himself, truly living a peaceful and carefree life. Throughout June, he didn’t turn on his phone or computer, nor did he communicate with anyone, just like a profound monk practicing “Silent Meditation” in Zen.

This was to train his heart to be purer, not allowing impurities to enter.

In the mountains, he ate, drank, slept, listened to the wind blowing through the trees, heard the chirping of birds and insects, watched the sunrise and sunset, and observed the rolling sea of clouds.

At times, Su Jie would let out a long howl, sometimes run ‘naked’, sometimes sing, and sometimes dance, as if he had found the Zen essence of the hermit madman howling in the mountains from years ago.

Every day, he practiced the “Thirteen Protectors’ Golden Bell Iron Shirt Dragon-Tiger Vajra Qi Gong,” feeling his body becoming increasingly flexible, as if the rigid shell was being ‘kneaded’ into a malleable dough, yet deep inside, a certain will was becoming harder.

Bang!

One time, he casually threw a punch without using much force, hitting a large tree, and surprisingly, the trunk cracked open.

Such a level of training seemed very lonely to outsiders, but he felt increasingly at ease, able to continue for a long time.

One day, while facing the sunrise, he howled again, feeling different this time. He sensed that his spirit was connecting with the sun through his howl; each call seemed to establish a certain channel, and within this sound channel, a warm current seemed to flow into his body from the rising sun, forging his body like a furnace, completely refining the impurities within his consciousness and marrow, then circulating and flowing repeatedly.

Su Jie felt as if he was entirely bathed in the golden hue of the sun from the inside out.

The blood, bones, and soft tissues within him had all turned to gold.

Of course, this was just an illusion, a state of mind.

Gold represents immortality, a kind of symbolism.

In ancient cultivation, the Golden Core and Golden Body represented a psychological suggestion.

Just like some people who always feel ill, even when doctors confirm they are healthy, they still don’t believe it. They insist their psychological suggestion is correct, and now Su Jie felt that he had turned into gold inside and out, even though his body was still flesh and blood. He knew that this feeling was due to his increased physical abilities.

Whether it was strength or resilience, the vitality of his organs, or the firmness of his brain, all had reached a new level after a month of training.

Just like an athlete who could only lift three hundred kilograms, but after a long period of training, suddenly one day, he could lift four hundred kilograms. This is a leap in growth.

In this, there is an elevation of a certain realm.

“The horizontal training has reached a new level again,” Su Jie understood clearly in his heart. He was becoming increasingly sensitive to the control of his body inside and out, especially at the joints and the connections between bones, as well as the movements of his internal organs. As long as he calmed his mind, he seemed to be able to form an image in his brain, sensing any slight discomfort, and immediately make adjustments, keeping himself in a state of pleasure and comfort at all times.

Especially with the external muscles, he could control them freely.

Even the accumulation of lactic acid and slight soft tissue injuries, he could sense immediately.

This meant that in a fight, he could accurately protect himself from any harm.

Jumping in the mountains and forests, his jumping ability and balance had greatly increased. Sometimes he even learned to climb trees like Tarzan, jumping from one tree to another. Although he still couldn’t match the agility of a monkey, he could definitely amaze ordinary people.

Moreover, he disregarded danger, gazing over the cliff, moving without a hint of fear deep within.

Just like those extreme challenge athletes, running and jumping on rooftops dozens of stories high, performing various parkour moves, ordinary people watching the videos would feel their scalp tingle, but the participants felt exhilarated.

However, Su Jie didn’t feel excited.

He was calm, exercising at the edge of the cliff, feeling no different than on flat ground.

In reality, it was the same.

The edge of the cliff and flat ground were just psychological deterrents for people. Once this psychological deterrent was eliminated, he could run and jump as usual, without affecting his balance.

Those who felt excitement from extreme sports still hadn’t eliminated their psychological barriers; they could still feel the thrill of the cliff.

But Su Jie treated the cliff as flat ground and flat ground as a cliff, doing whatever he wanted deep within. This calm mindset allowed him to avoid any emotional fluctuations that could affect his brain’s judgment and thinking when faced with danger.

Su Jie thought about driving on the highway, for example, if a tire suddenly blew out, the correct response is to drive straight, not to turn the steering wheel, then slowly brake, reducing speed until coming to a stop.

Yet almost ninety-nine percent of people would lose their composure in such a sudden situation, wildly turning the steering wheel, leading to destruction and loss of life.

These are all influenced by external environments affecting brain thinking, swayed by external factors.

In the past, Su Jie understood this principle; he believed he could remain unaffected by external factors. But after visiting a war-torn area, he realized he was still lacking. Now, after a month of solitude and calm reflection, he had finally digested the experiences from the war-torn area, turning them into his own.

His psychological and physical qualities had both clearly improved a level.

“It’s been a year now.”

Standing at the edge of the cliff, watching the rising sun.

Su Jie slowly wrapped up.

It was now July 1st.

Around this time last year, he had come to the Minglun Martial Arts Academy to study, joining Gu Yang’s training class, and was introduced to what kung fu was and what the deepest cultivation entailed.

Now, a whole year had passed.

This year had seen many events that helped him grow.

This was also a crucial year for him, transitioning from youth to adulthood.

He packed his things, let out one last shout, left the mountains, and returned to the small courtyard to bathe, change clothes, wash laundry, and hang it out to dry.

After finishing everything, he opened his phone, which had various messages.

There were messages from Hua Xing, his dad, mom, and older sister, classmates, and even from Zhang Manman, Zhang Jinchuan, and others, as well as messages from Uncle Mang, Nie Shuang, Master Luo, and Master Ma.

However, there was nothing important.

“I really scored 745,” Su Jie logged onto the website to check his score, confirming his judgment with confidence; it was exactly one point more, one point less, even the teacher’s grading of his essay was guessed accurately.

After replying to each message, Su Jie opened the smart module computer for analysis, inputting the videos he had practiced over the past few days.

The smart module computer digested his videos, first calculating the amount of exercise.

“Hello, your exercise volume this month is five times that of a professional fighter,” the smart module provided the result, then began analyzing against Odell’s videos.

“Hello, your action accuracy rate has reached ninety-nine percent, and your posture is almost identical to the coach’s, very accurate.”

Seeing such ratings, Su Jie was very satisfied.

He also saved Odell’s horizontal training video, adding it to the smart analysis module, along with his own training videos, comparing and analyzing them with the smart module to find some errors and inaccuracies for correction.

The only thing that couldn’t be corrected was the activity of thought and the realm of the mind.

Of course, if it were the strongest artificial intelligence combined with the best hardware, it could obtain data on psychological activities based on human hormone secretion.

But Su Jie didn’t have that condition now.

Such powerful machines and intelligence might not even be available to Haoyu.

“What exactly is the realm of the Living Dead?” Su Jie’s progress in cultivation this month was significant, but he still hadn’t broken through in his mind. Until he broke through, he wouldn’t have any confidence against Feng Hengyi.

Su Jie wasn’t clear about Feng Hengyi’s mental realm, but his physical quality was above his own.

He once thought he could break through the “Living Dead” realm at any time, but now it seemed difficult to leap to the next level; a barrier was firmly blocking him, hard to surpass, like a chasm.

But at this moment, Su Jie was no longer anxious.

He knew that the more he felt it was out of reach, the easier it would be to break through. Conversely, the more he felt it was easy, the further away it would be.

Life always brings surprises.

“My physical quality has temporarily reached its peak; next, it’s time for the improvement of technical experience. The small Arena Competition at Minglun Martial Arts Academy is becoming increasingly popular. It wouldn’t be bad to seek out experts for exchanges and earn some money, but for now, I should go find Uncle Mang and Coach Gu Yang to catch up. I wonder if the second summer class has started yet, and if Coach Gu Yang is still teaching students to dig and turn the soil? Has anyone thought he was just scamming money?”

Su Jie recalled his experiences from last year, a smile unconsciously appearing on his face.

He strode into the Minglun Martial Arts Academy.

However, the Minglun Martial Arts Academy was different from what he imagined; it was undergoing extensive renovations. In a nearby vacant lot, high-rise buildings were being constructed, with signs for Haoyu Minglun hanging above. Everywhere he looked, there were advertisements for the Haoyu Cup competition.

“Million-dollar grand prize!” “Strongest event!” “Martial Arts Conference!” and other slogans were plastered everywhere, with many foreigners stopping to watch. The flow of people was much greater than last year.

This was Haoyu promoting the events.

Su Jie frowned, instantly sensing a feeling of purity being tainted.

Minglun was Minglun; what did it mean to add Haoyu?

Although many of his skills were taught by Odell, his enlightenment was at Minglun, and he had a deep emotional connection to the Minglun Martial Arts Academy. Even with Liu Zihao present, he still felt it was a pure land.