The Way of Restraint

Chapter 179: Mu Chen’s Disappearance

After a series of tests, Su Jie discovered that his physical fitness was surprisingly at the top level in the world. He was taken aback, not expecting that after breaking through the Living Dead realm, half a month’s rest had caused various bodily functions to improve significantly.

His physical quality could easily be described as ‘superhuman.’ Breaking a world record is already quite terrifying, but being proficient in ten events truly means his physical capabilities far surpassed those of professional athletes.

He became even more curious about the connection between psychological and physical qualities. Although there are some exceptional cases that prove people can lift unimaginable weights or reach impossible limits in times of crisis, making such feats a norm is still impossible.

“This is so interesting. Principal Liu Guanglie divides psychological training into seven characters: ‘Ding’, ‘Jing’, ‘An’, ‘Duan’, ‘Ming’, ‘Wu’, and ‘Kong’. I am currently at the ‘Ming’ stage. If I advance further to the ‘Wu’ stage, my corresponding physical quality will also undergo significant changes. What exactly is the ‘Kong’ stage? Which character corresponds to the unity of heaven and man? Or is it the true ‘Dao’?” Su Jie pondered many questions.

Endless energy surged within his body, and his mind was clearer than ever before. This state of body and mind was exceptionally good.

After Uncle Mang completed the tests, Su Jie embarked on his return journey to City B, entering Q University to complete his studies.

“Boss, you finally returned! Why did you take such a long leave?” As Su Jie stepped into the dormitory, Lin Tang, Tan Dashi, and Wang Shun immediately surrounded him. “We followed your match this time. Unfortunately, you didn’t win the championship. But Boss, your grappling technique is really impressive; when you caught someone, you just took them down directly. We didn’t understand your match against Feng Hengyi in the final. We thought you would have a showdown with Liu Long!”

“Not having a showdown with Liu Long meant that your influence isn’t very strong this time, Boss. Everyone only focuses on the champion and doesn’t pay attention to the matches below. What a pity,” Lin Tang said. “Otherwise, the reputation of the Dian Dao Martial Arts Club would have been elevated again.”

“That’s a good thing; with fame comes trouble,” Su Jie replied contentedly. He tied for second place with Feng Hengyi, winning one million five hundred thousand in prize money. Originally, second place was three million, but since it was shared between two people, they each got one million five hundred thousand. After deducting taxes and other expenses, he ended up with around one million two hundred thousand.

Money wasn’t the most important thing; what mattered was that he had finally broken through the Living Dead realm—something that could not be bought for hundreds of billions.

“Boss, should we join the Martial Arts Club?” Tan Dashi hurriedly said. “Let’s take over the Martial Arts Club; Boss, you can be the president. We can do something useful through the Martial Arts Club. Our Q University’s Martial Arts Club still holds significant influence.”

“Your strength should be enough to at least compete for the position of president,” Su Jie said, not very interested in it. Right now, for his martial arts skills, only places like the ‘Typhon Training Camp’ could attract him. Not to mention a university Martial Arts Club; even national training teams couldn’t provide him with any technical assistance.

Especially after watching hundreds of hours of Odell’s instructional videos, he felt capable of becoming a top coach himself now.

“I did run for president but got defeated,” Tan Dashi said with a bitter face. “I didn’t expect that in such a small Martial Arts Club there would be hidden dragons and crouching tigers.”

“You got defeated?” Su Jie was somewhat surprised. Tan Dashi’s level was already that of a provincial-level professional athlete; although he was far from being the provincial champion, he had made significant progress under his training these days. He didn’t expect to fail in something as straightforward as running for president of the university Martial Arts Club.

“Our Q University is originally the top university gathering elite talents from across the country, with countless versatile experts. What’s so surprising about winning in martial arts?” Lin Tang found it quite normal.

Su Jie nodded, “That’s true. We should go take a look sometime.”

“No need to wait for a time, let’s go now! The martial arts club is organizing training activities right now! This year’s Haoyu Cup, the martial arts club also wants to organize a team to participate, but the registration fee is too expensive and they couldn’t find sponsorship, so they stopped. The president of the martial arts club is still looking for funding, preparing to participate again next year,” Tan Dashi couldn’t wait any longer.

“Let’s wait until the weekend. It’s better to choose the weekend,” Su Jie said. “Right now, I need to find my teacher to explain my absence and make up for the credits.”

As he spoke, he tidied up his dormitory bed and then left. He was still a freshman in his first year; having taken so many days off since the start of school, he needed to go explain himself, at least give his teacher an account.

Ding-dong! 

While walking on the campus road, a message suddenly popped up on the smart module in his hand. This message came from the internal system, not from any social software; it was a voice message from his older sister Su Muchen: “Little brother, I just entered a very advanced laboratory. The various computer technologies here far exceed those outside, but I don’t know where I am right now. I might disappear for a long time, so don’t come looking for me!”

“What happened?” Su Jie immediately tried to call her, but the number couldn’t be connected at all. Even if Su Muchen was abroad, she would still have weekly calls with Su Jie; the sibling relationship was very good. Even though Su Shilin had spoken confidently, Su Jie still worried about his sister’s safety.

Now, Su Muchen hadn’t called but had sent a message through a secret channel, which clearly indicated that she had lost some form of communication freedom and personal freedom. 

However, Su Jie did not get overly excited or lose his composure. After entering the realm of the Living Dead, all negative emotions had vanished. At the moment he received the information, he began to calmly analyze it while dialing his father Su Shilin’s phone number.

“Dad, my sister just sent a message…” Su Jie was about to say something when he was interrupted by Su Shilin.

“There’s nothing to worry about; just focus on your studies,” Su Shilin said the same thing as always. Then he felt that this wouldn’t reassure Su Jie, so he added a few more words: “This is indeed a bit dangerous for your sister, but it’s also a huge opportunity. You pursue martial arts, but your sister pursues higher technology and scientific research. That place can provide her with what she desires most. If there really is danger, I will go rescue her with you. Also, if she stays in Haoyu Group, it would definitely be dangerous, but being in that core research institute is actually much safer. The treatment there for scientists is very good, aside from losing personal freedom.” 

After saying this long speech, Su Shilin hung up the phone.

“Did my sister go to the artificial intelligence laboratory at Typhon Training Camp?” Su Jie speculated. “Haoyu Group has many connections with Typhon Training Camp. It’s very likely that my sister’s technology has caught the attention of forces involved in research there. If that’s the case, there really isn’t much danger; it might even allow her access to the highest technology. Master Luo and Master Ma were almost kidnapped while lecturing abroad; they were targeted to be taken for scientific research since Master Luo is an expert in architecture and also has a doctorate in brain anatomy, while Master Ma is a psychology expert. If my sister wants to learn artificial intelligence technology, going to such a place for research would definitely be top-notch. If I have a chance, I might also go to Typhon Training Camp for further studies to see what scientific methods they have for training.” 

After reaching this conjecture, Su Jie felt slightly more at ease but knew he had to obtain first-hand intelligence and information to keep himself informed.

Dad, Su Shilin, seems to know a lot of secrets, but he is unwilling to share them, and Su Jie has no way to find out. 

“Maybe Zhang Manman knows many things; I should ask her,” Su Jie thought to himself. 

At that moment, he sent a message to Zhang Manman. 

Zhang Manman was doing something at the moment and couldn’t reply in time. Su Jie didn’t mind; he wandered around the school, talked to various teachers about the situation, and sorted out the leave of absence before preparing to work out. 

In recent days, he had primarily focused on recovery and hadn’t engaged in any intense exercise. After his injuries fully healed, he would need to resume his training. 

He still needed to continue practicing hard Qi Gong, and he also wanted to experiment with some of Odell’s training methods. 

However, in the hundreds of hours of videos, Odell hadn’t detailed how to train after reaching the “Living Dead” state; he only conducted some explorations. 

Su Jie understood that this was because the “Living Dead” realm was indeed too powerful, and there was very little data available in this world, so naturally, no methods for further training had been passed down. 

These individuals were like the world’s top scientists, exploring secrets without any predecessors’ guidance, relying solely on their own discoveries and thoughts. 

“I wonder how long I would live if I remained disease-free? Over a hundred years is certain; maybe one hundred twenty? Or even longer?” A thought suddenly surged in Su Jie’s mind. 

As for knowledge related to his studies, Su Jie didn’t need to worry. During the half month on the hospital bed, he had already completed all the material for the next semester on the smart module and found a lot of academic resources that weren’t available in libraries or online. 

Now his brain was like a “super brain”; after flipping through a book for an hour, he could grasp all the key points and understand them deeply. It seemed like there were no limits to his brain’s capacity; even complex genetic maps could be comprehended in an instant and related to himself. 

The life sciences he studied greatly aided his cultivation—genetics, biological evolution, and so on—all unraveled the secrets of the human body and illuminated the principles of evolution. 

A wealth of academic knowledge accumulated and brewed in his mind, and many ideas emerged one after another; he felt an impulse to conduct various scientific experiments. 

But now, he didn’t have the conditions for that. 

Arriving at the gym, he set down his backpack and began to work out.