The Way of Restraint

Chapter 38: There’s Always Someone Stronger

“This guy is really arrogant.”  

Su Jie noticed that the young man ignored his greeting. Feeling wary, he observed him carefully from the corner of his eye.  

Since this young man was his opponent, Su Jie had to know his enemy well—only then could he be invincible.  

After secretly observing for a while, Su Jie couldn’t find anything particularly special about him. His physique was average, his breathing and demeanor showed no signs of a master, and he didn’t exert any overwhelming presence. No matter how he looked at it, the young man seemed like an easy opponent.  

“Never mind. The champion’s prize money this time is 500,000. If I win, I can truly achieve financial independence and free up a lot of time to do what I want.” Su Jie cleared his mind and adjusted his state.  

“Su Jie, Feng Hengyi! Get up here!”  

The referee on the stage called out their names, and both Su Jie and the young man immediately stood up.  

The previous match had just ended, and it was now their turn. The competition was tightly scheduled, just like dumplings being dropped into boiling water one after another.  

Su Jie put on his gloves and stood in position, waiting for the referee’s signal to begin the fight.  

His opponent, the young man, also put on his gloves but then closed his eyes, placing one hand behind his back as if he were lost in his own world, completely disregarding Su Jie.  

If his earlier indifference was just cold aloofness, this was outright contempt and humiliation.  

Su Jie’s eyes narrowed. In that instant, he suddenly felt a sharp sense of danger from Feng Hengyi. This person was truly confident—there seemed to be something terrifying hidden within him, ready to erupt at any moment, with the power to destroy him.  

Even though Feng Hengyi had his eyes closed, Su Jie felt as if he were being watched by a ferocious beast, sending shivers down his spine.  

‘I’m no match for Feng Hengyi.’ 

A thought suddenly surfaced in Su Jie’s mind, one he couldn’t suppress no matter how hard he tried.  

The referee glanced at Feng Hengyi’s posture but said nothing—he had seen all sorts of unusual fighting styles in the ring, even students using drunken boxing.  

“Begin!”  

At the referee’s signal, Su Jie began moving. His steps were as light as a chicken walking, exceptionally balanced and stable. As he moved in a circling pattern, he gave off the impression of a bird perched on a branch—ready to take flight at the slightest disturbance.  

In other words, his movements made it nearly impossible for his opponent to land a hit.  

He had mastered the alertness of a chicken—always ready to flutter away at the slightest sign of trouble.  

“One.”  

As Su Jie circled, searching for an opening, Feng Hengyi remained still, merely uttering a single number.  

“Two.”  

“Three!”  

On the third count, Feng Hengyi moved.  

In a flash, he lunged forward, and his fist was already inches from Su Jie’s face.  

“So fast!”  

Even though Su Jie was being extremely cautious, he hadn’t anticipated Feng Hengyi’s explosive power. In that instant, Feng Hengyi didn’t seem human—he had transformed into a human-shaped beast, his energy and spirit condensed into a single blade.  

No, it was more like a bullet.  

For a split second, Su Jie felt as if Feng Hengyi’s punch had ignited like a gunpowder barrel, expanding rapidly before his fist shot forward like a bullet.  

The speed and explosive force of that punch far exceeded Su Jie’s limits.  

Bang!  

Su Jie raised both arms to shield his face, and even with the gloves cushioning the impact, the sheer force sent him airborne. His feet left the ground as he completely lost balance.  

Before he could recover, Feng Hengyi’s second punch arrived. The first had been a jab; this one was a cross—heavier and more powerful.  

Already off balance, Su Jie had no way to withstand it. However, he instinctively maintained a defensive stance known as “Tiger Covers Head”—like a tiger emerging from its cave, keeping its head protected to avoid a sneak attack.  

Boom!  

The arena trembled as Su Jie crashed to the ground. Even with his arms shielding him, the punch had knocked him down hard. His blood surged chaotically, and his arms felt numb, as if he had been hit by a car.  

“Stop!”  

The referee immediately stepped in and asked, “Can you get up? Counting down… ten, nine… five, four, three, two, one. Feng Hengyi wins!”  

It took Su Jie nearly twenty seconds to regain his senses. He forced himself to use his body’s conditioning techniques to restore some feeling in his arms. If this had been an MMA fight, where his opponent could continue striking after he went down, he would have already been knocked unconscious.  

“My gloves are shredded.”  

As Su Jie got up, he noticed that his gloves looked like they had been mauled by a wild beast—completely torn apart after just two punches.  

“You should be grateful you had gloves on,” Feng Hengyi said coldly. “Without them, those two punches wouldn’t have just knocked you out for a few seconds.”  

With that, he turned and left the stage without even glancing at Su Jie.

“To think I lost, eliminated in the first round. What happened to those thoughts of winning the championship?” After stepping off the stage, Su Jie felt deeply frustrated, not even wanting to see anyone, feeling embarrassed. 

After all the training over the past few days, he thought he was a master. But then, this arrogant and cold young man appeared, someone his age, and with just two punches, shattered all his confidence.

‘Can’t be discouraged, need to keep a calm mindset,’ Su Jie warned himself again. ‘I’m just a beginner, a newbie who has been training for less than two months. It’s normal to be defeated. That said, my speed and physical fitness are already strong. Why is Feng Hengyi so strong? His explosive power is something I can’t compare to. It’s like pulling a trigger, and the bullet is out of the chamber. This seems like boxing, or some techniques from traditional martial arts. But for him to achieve this, his physical and mental strength must be far superior to mine.’

Within three minutes, he quickly calmed down, dispelling all his frustration, then began to think about his weaknesses, why he lost, and how to improve moving forward.

After ten minutes of thinking, he had everything figured out and walked out of the gym, feeling light-hearted.

Gu Yang was still on the field, teaching the class members hand-to-hand combat techniques. When he saw Su Jie come out, he waved him over, “Why are you out so quickly?”

If Su Jie kept winning, he would have had to stay in the venue to await further news. It would have been impossible to come out.

The only reason for him to come out so quickly was that he had been eliminated.

“I got eliminated in the first round,” Su Jie said honestly. “It really is true that there’s always someone better. Two punches and I was on the ground, my gloves were even shattered.”

“Shattered gloves?” Gu Yang was initially skeptical, but when he saw the gloves Su Jie brought out, he couldn’t help but fall into thought. “This power is extraordinary. Come, let’s go see your opponent.”

Leaving the class members to continue practicing their techniques, Gu Yang took Su Jie back into the gym, just in time to see Feng Hengyi in the second round of the competition.

Whoosh!

The two merely touched, and Feng Hengyi’s opponent collapsed onto the ground, clutching his stomach and convulsing in pain, and even the referee didn’t notice what had happened.

However, Su Jie barely saw it clearly. Feng Hengyi had landed a clever hook to the abdomen, a technique from boxing. It was elegant and fast, almost like a bullet leaving the chamber.

Of course, no human speed can match that of a bullet. But the essence of a punch, as fast as a bullet’s exit, could be learned from such a moment.

“Impressive. The heart is like gunpowder, the punch like a bullet, quick-witted and deadly,” Gu Yang said. “Let’s go. You didn’t lose unfairly. So it was him. If I’m not mistaken, he’s from the Typhon Training Camp.”

“Typhon Training Camp?” Su Jie was surprised. “I’ve heard of Typhon. It’s a giant from Greek mythology with a hundred heads, called the king of all beasts.”

“In this world, there are several secret training camps dedicated to researching the limits of the human body. The US has long had its so-called ‘Superman’ program. The Typhon Training Camp is the most famous one. They use big data, AI, and all sorts of high-tech methods, collecting all the martial arts data and analyzing it through scientific systems to train practitioners. They have the most advanced training methods, the best supplements, and countless clinical trial data, offering the most effective ways to train the body and mind. This is something our Minglun Martial Arts Academy could never match. But the Typhon camp is a secret base, not open to the public. No one knows where it is. You could think of it like America’s Area 51,” Gu Yang shook his head. “This Feng Hengyi must be from the Feng family. I don’t know why he’s here to stir up trouble. Our league is sponsored by Haoyu Group, and it’s not like there’s a lot of money involved. The Feng family is so petty that they want to take it back?”

The founder of Haoyu Group was Feng Shoucheng, who had turned a small business into a massive multinational enterprise. He had several sons and daughters.

Su Jie’s older sister, Su Muchen, worked there.

“Another person from the Feng family,” Su Jie’s anger rose again, but he quickly calmed down and became very composed.

“This guy has killed people, and not just one,” Gu Yang suddenly lowered his voice.

“Coach, what do you mean? How do you know?” Su Jie was startled.

“I can feel it. My instincts are never wrong,” Gu Yang waved his hand. “Su Jie, your skills, physical fitness, and mental toughness are all top-notch, but you haven’t experienced the cruel side of martial arts. You can’t understand the terror and essence of life-and-death struggles unless you go through it. That’s your flaw. I told you before, the primary goal of martial arts is survival. Farming and production are for survival, but killing in battle is also survival. You’ve already mastered the farming and production part.”

“I understand now,” Su Jie nodded.

“How do you feel about this loss?” Gu Yang asked.

“Actually, it’s normal. There’s no fighting without losses. I’m just a beginner who’s been training for two months. I just need to keep my mindset calm and learn from my mistakes,” Su Jie shook his head. “The road in life is long, and I’m still at the starting line. I just need to focus on every detail.”

“If you have the chance, you could also go to the Typhon Training Camp and see it for yourself,” Gu Yang said.

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