The Way of Restraint

Chapter 187: Reactions from All Sides

“Didn’t you defeat Zhang Manman from Dian Dao Martial Arts and win the Haoyu Cup Women’s Championship?” Xia Ping asked with a half-smile. “But I later heard that when you were having dinner, Zhang Manman confronted you and made you lose face.”

“Who’s so talkative!” Xia Yi raised her head, her face showing resentment.

Zhang Manman had a dagger to her neck in one move, and she felt extremely ashamed and indignant every time she thought about it.

“You learned ring fighting techniques, while the Zhang family’s fighting is all about brawling, gang street fighting, mercenary combat skills. In a private brawl, you simply can’t beat her, that’s normal.” Xia Ping reported familiarly. “Don’t dwell on this matter. The Dian Dao Martial Arts Club isn’t very big, and one of its important shareholders is that guy named Su Jie.”

“Him? Isn’t he the college student who fought Feng Hengyi to a draw? I think that match was fixed.” Xia Yi frowned. “So, his defeat of Song Hai couldn’t have been a fixed match, right? Song Hai of Zhonglong Martial Arts is a former special forces soldier who underwent rigorous combat training, yet he broke Song Hai’s arm,” Xia Ping said.

“That’s undeniably undeniable,” Xia Yi said after a moment of silence. “But I just can’t figure out how strong he really is. His match is just one word: fake! Is it because I’m not good enough, or is there some kind of shady dealing involved?”

“Do you know?” Xia Ping had another piece of information: “The reason Liu Long was able to defeat Bangalorn this time was because he and this Su Jie underwent two months of intensive training before the match. This is inside information I got from someone in the Dragon Club. Otherwise, why do you think Liu Long would have taken half of his prize money and betting winnings to jointly establish a fund with Dian Dao Martial Arts?”

“Is that so?” Xia Yi exclaimed in surprise.

“Do you think Liu Long is also a fake?” Xia Ping countered. 

“Of course not,” Xia Yi shook her head. “I’m just puzzled. This Su Jie looks like just a college student. According to the information, he’s never practiced martial arts before. The latest information shows that he enrolled in a short-term martial arts course at Minglun Martial Arts Academy last July, and then this October, he was able to defeat Song Hai? I can’t believe it. Even with the most scientific methods and the best nutrition, physical training still takes three to five years.”

“I don’t know. Maybe the information is wrong,” Xia Ping spread his hands. “Anyway, this student is quite mysterious. Perhaps we can get in touch with him sometime.” 

“Bring them to our club. If they really prove themselves, we’ll offer them a high salary.”

“Right now, Mingxia Sports lacks a true pillar, which leads to poor advertising revenue and a terrible influence,” Xia Yi said. “We’re completely inconspicuous among the departments. I must achieve results and show the company.”

“Dad thinks so too,” Xia Ping said. “If you can achieve results in the group’s worst sports department, then you can sit in a higher position. Otherwise, the people in the group won’t respect you.”

“Of course I know that,” Xia Yi nodded.

*****

S City, Zhonglong Group.

In a spacious training hall, Song Hai was boxing. After wrapping his hands with hand wraps, he was wearing boxing gloves and fiercely attacking a human target. It seemed that his injured arm had fully recovered, with no visible marks.

“Brother!” Song Qiong walked in, dressed in a snow-white judo uniform with a black belt around her waist. “I told you, you were no match for Su Jie. You didn’t believe me, and now you’ve suffered the consequences.”

“That kid is incredibly strong.” Song Hai threw two powerful punches, then stopped to take a deep breath. “I didn’t even have a chance to fight back. What’s worse, he apologized before hitting me.”

“Alright, brother, don’t be angry.” Song Qiong smiled brightly. “I told you, his future is limitless. My thirty million, even if it wasn’t an investment in martial arts, wouldn’t have been a loss for him. He’ll be very useful in the future. For example, when Grandpa goes abroad for business, could he be his bodyguard?”

“Being a fighter and being a bodyguard are two different things,” Song Hai still retorted. 

“Brother, if you’re not convinced, you can have a proper talk with him sometime.” Song Qiong knew Song Hai was proud and wouldn’t easily submit to someone so soon. “Also, this time Su Jie and Liu Long teamed up, trained together, and Liu Long defeated the Muay Thai king, Bangalorn.”

“I’ll call Liu Long right now.” Song Hai didn’t believe it.

He took off his boxing gloves and dialed Liu Long’s number.

After a long while, Liu Long’s voice came through: “Old Hai, what’s up?”

“Old Long, you’ve struck it rich this time. You really dared to gamble, betting everything on the foreign betting odds to win. After this, you’ll be set for life. Planning to retire?” Song Hai asked jokingly.

“More or less, I should retire. This way, my ring skills can’t improve at all,” Liu Long replied on the phone.

“Your fame is at its peak right now. Fight a few more matches, work for a couple more years, retire after you’re thirty, and you can make even more money,” Song Hai said. “Okay, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to ask about Su Jie from that martial arts school…”

“You were defeated by Su Jie, are you not convinced?” Liu Long laughed. “When will we get together? You’ll know how good he is then. I have other things to do, we’ll talk about it when I get back to China.”

“Alright.” Song Hai didn’t get any particularly useful information, but he was certain that Liu Long had indeed trained with Su Jie for a long time.

The two hung up the phone, and Song Hai fell into deep thought.

Liu Long’s victory over Muay Thai king Bangalorn has caused a sensation in the entire world of combat sports, but few people know that Su Jie was the one training Liu Long behind the scenes.

Just like behind the world’s strongest fighters, there’s the shadow of the “god-maker” Odell.

*****

In a corner of the world.

A person wearing a panda mask is training a small child.

The child, only seven or eight years old, asked the panda-masked man, “Coach, when can I have this mask?”

“You’ll have to wait,” the panda-masked man replied with a smile.

He was watching a news report.

It was a behind-the-scenes story about Liu Long’s battle with Bangalorn.

“So strong? He took that step so quickly? Will there be another miracle?” the panda-masked man murmured.

*****

Liu Long’s victory over Bangalorn didn’t affect Su Jie’s life much. He continued studying and training every day. 

Soon it was late January. 

After several exams, his first semester of university was coming to an end, and winter break was approaching.

The four students in his dormitory had become a true academic powerhouse, each achieving outstanding results, earning praise from the faculty.

Su Jie trained and managed the other three students with military-style discipline, starting with self-discipline. After about a hundred days, the results began to show.

Meanwhile, Su Jie’s own physical abilities were still rapidly improving.

Since entering the realm of the Living Dead on October 6th, it has now been January 27th of the following year. In these 112 days, Su Jie has not engaged in any life-or-death battles; he has simply focused on steady cultivation, exchanging knowledge, accumulating energy, and recuperating, essentially in a period of dormancy.

This behavior has led to a subtle transformation in his physical attributes that is incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Just over a hundred days after entering the “Living Dead” realm, Su Jie realized just how terrifying his ability truly was. Take reading, for example. He could pick up a recent textbook, skim through it, and finish it in thirty minutes, immediately memorizing all the knowledge, analyzing it, and truly mastering the key points.

Furthermore, he could spot any errors in the book.

In just a few days, he could complete four years of university coursework, and even understand the more advanced graduate and doctoral curriculum.

Absorbing knowledge, digesting knowledge, refining knowledge, exploring knowledge.

Su Jie’s brain is constantly operating at high speed. 

“To use an analogy, the average person’s brain operates at the speed of a handcart, while the brain of a genius is like a runaway horse-drawn carriage. Before breaking through to the ‘Living Dead’ realm, my brain speed was like a car traveling at over 100 kilometers per hour. Now, my brain is like a high-speed train traveling at over 300 kilometers per hour. The seven characters of Minglun are: Ding, Jing, An, Duan, Ming, Wu, Kong. I’m currently at the Ming realm; there are Wu and Kong realms to come. If I enter the Wu realm, my brain might be as fast as an airplane. And if I enter the Kong realm, my brain speed could be comparable to a rocket flying into outer space.”

Su Jie lay on his dormitory bed, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Wang Shun, Lin Tang, and Tan Dashi were packing their luggage, preparing to go home.

The university had already started winter break.

“Boss, why aren’t you packing to go home?” Tan Dashi asked.

“Even after I get home, you still need to maintain a regular schedule and not neglect training. If I check and you haven’t followed the rules when you come back for the break, you’ll be in trouble,” Su Jie said, still lying down. He wasn’t meditating in seated sitting; he was still lying flat according to the Great Corpse-Spreading Technique.

Having entered the realm of the “Living Dead,” Su Jie’s “Great Corpse State” of sleeping had entered a completely new level, truly experiencing the profound mystery of lying down.

Once he lay down, it felt like eternity, an eternity of time.

Especially lying under the starry sky in the wilderness, time seemed to have receded, leaving no trace on his body.

“Boss, we understand,” Lin Tang nodded quickly, indicating that he would definitely not slack off.

However, Su Jie could see that they hadn’t truly developed self-discipline and needed others to supervise them. They would definitely slack off and cheat when they went back home for winter break.

This was the tragedy of ordinary people; if they couldn’t even maintain self-discipline, even if they had unparalleled martial arts skills in front of them, it would be useless.

Watching the three leave, Su Jie continued lying down.

The dormitory was empty and increasingly quiet.