The Way of Restraint

Chapter 175: To Win the Championship

“What a pity.” Feng Hengyi knew he had lost the chance to kill Su Jie the moment the foreigner lunged at him. He quickly slid to the side, supporting himself with one hand, standing up as if he had suffered no injuries at all.

Su Jie also stood up.

“Doctor, doctor,” the foreign judge shouted.

In the next moment, a professional doctor came onto the stage, instructing Su Jie and Feng Hengyi to separate for examination and treatment. 

At this point, the match could no longer continue. Su Jie did not witness the announcement of the victor. But it didn’t matter to him; by now, he was no longer concerned about winning or losing, nor did he care who would be the champion.

Because he had already obtained what he desired most.

That was stepping into the realm of the “Living Dead.” 

The moment he entered this realm, he felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, akin to the feeling of a child receiving their most beloved toy.

However, as time passed in this realm, that sense of achievement began to diminish and could not be sustained.

Su Jie understood that this sense of non-material gain was what “Waking” meant after reaching the “Living Dead” realm.

The “Childlike Heart” of “Initial Understanding.” 

The “Living Dead” realm is about maintaining the clarity one has before death at all times, which is why this state is summarized by the character “Ming” in Minglun Guidance Techniques.

And the confusion after reaching the “Living Dead” realm is about continuously maintaining the joy of a child’s innocent “initial heart.” 

Ming and Wu, two different realms. One is the state before death, while the other is that of an infant child. One represents death, and the other life, embodying the fascinating philosophy of yin and yang regarding life and death in ancient China.

These two realms are challenging not because of sudden bursts of inspiration but because they require constant maintenance without regression.

Soon, Su Jie found himself lying on a hospital bed as the doctor began his examination, confirming that he indeed had broken bones. The doctor was a specialist in sports injuries.

Uncle Mang also arrived. Nie Shuang appeared here as well. Gu Yang followed closely behind.

“Is everything alright?” Uncle Mang asked the doctor, and they were extremely familiar with each other.

“It’s nothing serious,” the doctor replied. “Injuries like these are quite normal in combat sports. With today’s medical conditions, even an average person can recover quickly without any sequelae; it just takes a long time. His bone resilience exceeds that of ordinary people by a lot. With the trauma medicine from Minglun Martial Arts Academy combined with treatment, he might recover in half a month. However, during this recovery period, he cannot engage in intense exercise; he cannot compete again.”

“Su Jie,” Gu Yang said with evident joy on his face, “I honestly didn’t expect you to be able to tie with Feng Hengyi. Although continuing to fight could be life-threatening, he cannot kill you at will anymore… Haha, the Typhoon Training Camp is nothing special; despite nearly twenty years of training since birth, they still can’t kill someone who’s only been practicing for a little over a year. Now that you’ve reached the realm of the Living Dead, your physical abilities will continue to strengthen; these minor injuries are nothing at all.”

“What?” Uncle Mang was very surprised, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “Is this true?”

“Uncle Mang, this is indeed a miracle, but it’s not entirely illogical. In history, there have been instances where saints achieved enlightenment overnight,” Gu Yang said. “The improvement of psychological quality differs from physical quality; there’s no shortcut to enhancing physical abilities—it requires long-term scientific training.”

“I know that,” Uncle Mang replied. “Su Jie, you should stay here from now on. During this time, I will keep an eye on you and conduct various tests. Of course, I will provide you with the best medical conditions and medicine for your recovery.”

“But I still need to attend classes…” Su Jie was still in university.

“It’s fine, I’ll issue you a medical certificate here. In just half a month, you will be completely healed.” The doctor nodded: “And you are indeed injured; for an ordinary person, it would take at least six months.”

“Then there’s no other choice,” Su Jie understood that after being injured, the most important thing is to follow the doctor’s advice and not to recklessly rely on his good physical condition.

At this moment, Zhang Manman and Zhang Jinchuan also entered to check on Su Jie’s injuries. Zhang Manman asked the doctor for confirmation, and upon hearing the answer, she sighed in relief: “I couldn’t win the championship in the women’s group either; it seems that our team has no hope of winning the championship this time.”

“Who defeated you?” Su Jie was taken aback: “I glanced at the women’s group; although there were many participants, none seemed to be your match.”

“We all underestimated someone; there was a female contestant who played the pig to eat the tiger,” Zhang Manman said. “Her name is Xia Yi, a contestant from Mingxia Group. During the competition, she suddenly unleashed her power and defeated me. However, her strength is indeed impressive, especially on the ring. If it were off the ring, I would have an eighty percent chance of defeating her.”

“What a pity…” Su Jie realized that he had been too focused on his upcoming match with Feng Hengyi and had failed to notice several hidden experts in the women’s group who were playing tricks.

“Liu Long is really lucky,” Zhang Jinchuan said. “The judges ruled that your match was a tie, and now a draw means a lottery for the next round. But since both of you are injured, you cannot compete, which means Liu Long automatically wins the Haoyu Cup championship. This time, our team didn’t win either the team championship or the individual championship; it’s a complete failure.”

“How can it be a tie?” Zhang Manman exclaimed. “Feng Hengyi used a banned move during the match—the Heavenly Dog Throw.”

“Feng Hengyi did violate the rules, but he landed several hits on Su Jie; although Su Jie managed to deflect them, the computer still counted them as valid strikes,” Zhang Jinchuan explained.

“A champion is still a champion; it’s all about luck,” Su Jie sighed. If it weren’t for him being a roadblock, Liu Long’s legend would have been shattered. Feng Hengyi could definitely defeat Liu Long; unfortunately, he was hindered by Su Jie, which caused him some injuries as well.

Of course, Su Jie was certain that Feng Hengyi’s injuries were lighter than his own and that he would recover in two or three days.

But at least for these two or three days, he couldn’t compete, which meant he was automatically forfeiting.

This had also been agreed upon in Liu Long’s contract. Liu Long remained the champion. It could only be said to be luck.

In any profession, such things are common; there are many people with championship strength but without championship luck.

“At least we stopped Feng Hengyi’s plans; he couldn’t win the championship either,” Su Jie said. “The Haoyu Cup will definitely hold a second edition, and when that time comes, we will come back stronger and absolutely seize the championship.”

“The second edition will take place next year,” Gu Yang said. “By then, your strength will be much greater than it is now; this is also an anomaly. The earlier one advances to the Living Dead realm, the more vigorous their vitality becomes. If someone enters that realm at fifty or sixty years old, their physical abilities may improve somewhat, but they will not experience explosive growth; they will only enjoy health and longevity.”

Su Jie nodded, knowing that no matter how strong one’s psychological quality or realm might be, one must still adhere to the physiological rules of the human body.

“What if a child of several years old enters the Living Dead realm before losing their baby teeth? How strong would their body become as they grow? Could they become a superhuman?” Uncle Mang raised a question.

“That’s not possible; it has never happened in history. A child’s mind is not mature; they don’t understand things, and self-discipline is very hard for them to achieve,” Su Jie understood that this was impossible.

However, after entering the realm of the “Living Dead,” Su Jie no longer had any negative emotions. He felt clear-headed and joyful at all times, with his brain cells super active. He believed that whether it was learning knowledge or conducting research, his ability to learn and analyze was ten times stronger than before. This was the most terrifying aspect.

In sci-fi terms, Su Jie’s brain had taken on the early form of a “super brain.” A person’s physical strength is not significant; true strength lies in intellectual prowess, as one can devise various methods to enhance their physical capabilities through wisdom.

Su Jie chatted for a while with Gu Yang and the others, who then stepped out to let him rest quietly on the hospital bed. In truth, Su Jie didn’t need to stay in bed, but the doctor said it would aid in a quicker recovery, so he complied without being stubborn. Deep down, he could clearly sense that his injuries were healing rapidly.

With nothing to do on the hospital bed, he picked up the chip that Odell had given him, inserted it into his smart tablet, and began watching Odell’s videos. The chip contained over a hundred hours of instructional videos. Su Jie studied a technique called “Magic Step” but didn’t continue watching further, fearing it might distract him. Now it didn’t matter; after entering the realm of the “Living Dead,” he could instantly comprehend any amount of knowledge.

“In the last lesson, we introduced the practice of the Magic Step. Next, we will cover breathing techniques and various flexibility training, as well as exercises to strengthen the human body’s structure…” Odell in the video not only explained various concepts but also used 3D simulations of human organs for further clarification, deepening the understanding of kinesiology.

In the video lessons, the knowledge summarized by Odell, along with various diagrams and the connections between organs, was simply more exquisite than that of even the most brilliant medical doctor. He discussed and explained aspects of health maintenance, medical care, exercise, and even sometimes combined it with psychological meditation. During that meditation process, he detailed the subtle changes in the functions of various endocrine organs in the human body—this was not something that could be derived from human scientific experimentation; it should be the result of analysis by a supercomputer AI.

A scientific experiment might take a group of scientists a week just to analyze basic data for projections, but a supercomputer AI could do it in just one second. A single day’s computation could equate to thousands of years of experiments conducted by scientists. This was incredibly terrifying.

As Su Jie watched the video, he slowly immersed himself in a sea of knowledge. With his greatly enhanced comprehension ability, what he once thought to be true about exercise and martial arts now appeared incorrect or significantly lacking when viewed from a higher perspective. He aimed to improve all his shortcomings in martial arts.

Although he had entered the realm of the “Living Dead,” his physical functions wouldn’t suddenly enhance; they needed gradual improvement. However, this improvement wouldn’t take long—about two to three months or even up to six months—before he would completely transform and significantly enhance his physical abilities.