The Way of Restraint

Zhang Jinchuan’s ability to absorb information was very fast.

More importantly, both were young people with similar language and thought processes — unlike the significant generational gap between Old Master Zhang Nianquan and Su Jie.

As Su Jie explained the “Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method” to Zhang Jinchuan, Zhang listened intently, thought carefully, and continuously raised various questions.

The questions he raised were very novel — some touching on subtle points Su Jie hadn’t even considered.

Thus, during his explanations, Su Jie deepened his own understanding of the method.

Just as a teacher instructing a student deepens their own grasp of the material, truly conveying knowledge to others required completely absorbing and penetrating the subject matter to move the listener’s heart and make them understand.

Take Su Jie’s “Dian Dao Martial Arts Club” — he had taught there daily, and each session benefited him as well. New ideas for martial movements would arise, students would test them, and their feedback would provide him with inspiration.

This was the essence of research.

In academia, when conducting a scientific experiment, the teacher led the students together. Often, a student would accidentally discover some new pattern, everyone would analyze it together, and ultimately produce a research result.

Collective wisdom produces brilliance — whether in academic study or martial training, this was true.

Moreover, at this stage of cultivation, it was no longer about martial arts techniques. The “Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method” contained kinesiology, physiology, medicine, psychology, environmental science, architecture, and many other disciplines — all mutually compatible. It was about thoroughly understanding the relationships between body, mind, and nature.

Thought and reality communicate through the human body, circulating and influencing each other, forming the ancient Chinese philosophical theory of the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Man).

Yin-yang, five elements, three powers, four phenomena, six harmonies, eight trigrams — these were all ancient philosophical, metaphysical concepts without detailed logical formulas to support them. Thus, practitioners had to rely on enlightenment, which meant a proper scientific system would never emerge.

In Su Jie’s view, anything could become a science.

In terms of physical movements alone, ancient martial arts had already made considerable progress in modern times. No longer was it just master-to-disciple oral transmission — it had become precise down to bones, muscles, breathing, force generation, and even principles of endocrine application.

As long as a person trained according to this formulaic approach, they would progress faster than through any other cultivation method.

Of course, the formulaic knowledge of physical training hadn’t yet become widely available — it remained in the hands of a few research institutions. Unlike mathematics, physics, and chemistry, whose formulas could be learned anytime, anywhere.

By now, Su Jie fully understood that even human kinesiology was extraordinarily precise — no less sophisticated than any other vast scientific discipline.

For example: how should a child train to promote rapid development, strengthen bones and sinews, and build a solid foundation? And how should they train when they grow older?

Many martial movements were simply unsuitable for children and could affect their physical development.

Beyond that, another question: how should an elderly person exercise to maintain physical and mental health?

This was still just knowledge of human movement. When psychology was also involved, it became even more complex.

Take the “Hoe Strike” that Su Jie practiced — did he practice it with anger in his heart? Or with the hopeful expectation of harvesting and cultivating? Different emotional states produced different results in terms of power, speed, and physical condition.

Determining which mental state is better for training requires extensive data and research.

It was like Edison experimenting with light bulb filaments — testing thousands of materials, conducting experiment after experiment.

Human kinesiology was extremely complex; psychology was even more so. And the relationship between environment and the human body and mind was more complex still.

Just like the pyramids of ancient Egypt, scientists have conducted numerous experiments and scientific analyses of their structure. Some have discovered the pyramids’ anti-corrosion and rust-removing functions, others have found they can treat neurasthenia, and still others have discovered that the pyramids are microwave resonant cavities capable of sterilization and rapid dehydration of corpses.

These were actually knowledge of feng shui and architecture.

Many ancient things remained not yet fully understood by modern science.

Chinese feng shui was even more wondrous. Texts like the Book of Burial even claimed that burying ancestors in an auspicious location would bring lasting blessings to their descendants.

This again touched upon the fate of successive generations. Though considered superstitious, over time, it might not be that scientific principles couldn’t be extracted from it.

In Su Jie’s view, although modern science had ventured into outer space, it was still merely in its infancy.

Humans couldn’t even achieve longevity — couldn’t escape birth, aging, sickness, and death. What use was going to space?

For a full month, Su Jie came whenever he could to teach Zhang Jinchuan the “Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method,” gradually developing some insights of his own into the subject.

Relative to Su Jie, Zhang Jinchuan’s learning speed was very slow. Su Jie had mastered the entire art from Zhang Nianquan in just a few days, committing it thoroughly to memory.

Of course, this was due to the difference in their realms.

The gap between a Living Dead and an ordinary person was simply too vast — especially regarding cognitive ability.

In the basement, Zhang Jinchuan was painting.

Before him were canvas and paints. He kept switching brushes, and an image appeared on the canvas.

It depicted a high sky, thick with dark clouds. A golden-armored heavenly deity, holding a thunder mallet, struck mightily — overwhelmingly powerful, with the force to collapse the sky and rend the earth.

In the midst of the strike, a serpentine bolt of lightning came fiercely, seeming about to shatter the canvas and descend upon the human world.

This image of interwoven deity, thunder, and man — the resonance between heaven and humanity — was so vivid it seemed about to emerge, demonstrating Zhang Jinchuan’s profound skill as an artist.

When Su Jie had first met Zhang Jinchuan, he had seen his painting “The Cloud Dragon of Buzhou” — a dragon that revealed its head but not its tail, no less impressive than any great painter’s work.

Now Zhang Jinchuan’s “Thunder God Subdues Demons” was even more intense than “The Cloud Dragon of Buzhou.”

He had painted “Thunder God Subdues Demons” as a meditation on the “Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method.”

Within this martial art, there were many images for meditation — “Thunder God Subdues Demons” was just one.

After completing the painting in one breath, Zhang Jinchuan was drenched in sweat, appearing drained.

While painting, his mind was utterly focused, all his spirit and energy poured into the brush. At that moment, even a child could have successfully attacked him with a pencil sharpener.

“This Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method is truly exquisitely profound. I never expected that after studying it so long, I’d still grasp only the superficial aspects, not the essence. No wonder the Zhang family has stood firm through countless storms using this art, growing ever stronger.” Zhang Jinchuan sighed.

“You’ve learned most of it. The rest is for you to understand and comprehend on your own,” Su Jie said. “Old Principal Liu Guanglie’s daoyin technique — the seven characters of Minglun — is on par with this method; there’s no distinction of superior or inferior. But the Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method has immense power. If cultivated to its peak, one truly might have the might of the nine-day thunder god sweeping away demons. I haven’t started practicing it yet — mainly because I haven’t thoroughly researched it. I can’t quite grasp some of its points.”

“This method requires supercomputers and artificial intelligence to calculate. The human brain alone can’t research it further. Since you have a good relationship with Larry, why not have him analyze the data? You could get a lot of useful feedback,” Zhang Jinchuan said.

“I’ve already sent over this month’s data — including videos and my own analysis reports,” Su Jie said. “But Larry’s side is also slow in their calculations. There’s no precedent for this kind of advanced kinesiology. Still, our data sold for a considerable sum — I’ll split it with you later.”

“Data is truly valuable — especially data from someone like you,” Zhang Jinchuan marveled. “Larry actually underpaid you. If you’d given it to me, I could resell it on the dark web for three to five times the price. Experts at the Living Dead level are called ‘Extraordinary’ on the dark web, and ‘Extraordinary’ level individuals have various physical abilities…” “Testing data, motion data, all of that is incredibly expensive.”

“Larry is a reliable entrepreneur. The research value we get from having him study my data exceeds the value of buying and selling it on the dark web.” Su Jie waved his hand. “Besides, doing business with him requires integrity. Gaining his trust makes it even more valuable.”

“Of course I understand that value.” Zhang Jinchuan suddenly smiled. “You really know how to bide your time. If I’m not mistaken, when you called me a month ago, it was to go after the Feng family and find your sister’s whereabouts. But you never brought it up — instead, you patiently taught me for a whole month.”

“This month wasn’t wasted,” Su Jie said. “Your abilities have improved at least thirty percent. I’ve also made progress — my mind has become sharper. That’s accumulation. Now that you’ve brought it up, I’ll speak plainly — it’s time to discuss dealing with the Feng family.”

“The Feng family has deep foundations and wide-reaching connections — they’re not easy to handle. What’s even more troublesome is that behind the Feng family stands the Mao family. The two are joined at the hip, sharing the same cause. It’s said that Old Man Mao of the Mao family has extremely high attainment — his feng shui skills surpass even his ancient ancestors, perhaps even the Three Mao Lords. He found a location overseas for the Mao and Feng ancestors, buried them together, and arranged them into a formation. This binds the feng shui of both families together, combined with the overseas fortunes of Heaven and Earth, allowing both families to rise rapidly and become unshakeable — with the momentum of a thousand-year noble house.” Zhang Jinchuan spoke calmly, apparently knowing quite a bit. “To quickly bring down the Feng family, we would need to find the location of their ancestral graves overseas and directly destroy them. Then the Feng family would immediately decline, with no chance of recovery.”

“That’s nonsense.” Su Jie waved his hand, rejecting the idea. “Let’s think of something practical — like finding evidence of the Feng family’s crimes and bringing them to justice.”

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