The Way of Restraint

Chapter 182: Liu Long Arrives: Strangers with Deep Hostility

“You’ve got some skills,” Jiang Nanzhou nodded. “Alright, I’ll exchange ideas with you after the match.”

“Okay, I’ll be the referee then,” Su Jie said. “What rules do you want to use for your match? Kickboxing, boxing, judo, wrestling, or MMA? Pure Muay Thai rules, or full-contact karate?”

“Do you know all these rules?” Jiang Nanzhou asked skeptically.

“I can referee any of them,” Su Jie nodded calmly.

As a top student, getting certified was commonplace for him.

“Then let’s use MMA rules, allowing both striking and ground techniques,” Jiang Nanzhou said. 

“Ground techniques are not allowed,” Fang Hong objected. “Everything is purely standing, freestyle fighting rules, but elbows and knees are allowed. No gloves, no finger gloves. Unarmed combat is the most realistic.”

“Okay, but no groin kicks, eye gouges, or head strikes. Takedowns count as points, no chasing…” Su Jie rattled off the rules fluently. “Do you agree? If you agree, let’s start now.”

“Has this guy really been a referee?” Many students were taken aback by Su Jie’s practiced and professional style. His words and actions were extremely professional, not like he was faking it.

“Okay.” Jiang Nanzhou and Fang Hong both agreed.

The members of both sides stepped forward.

The martial arts club members wore snow-white martial arts uniforms and black belts, looking dashing and unique.

The combat club members had taken off their vests, leaving only shorts, their muscular physiques like Spartan warriors from a movie, full of wildness.

“Ready?” Su Jie asked both sides, explaining the rules of the match again with professional precision.

After both nodded, Su Jie said, “Begin!”

Roar!

The fighting club student, like a mad bull, grabbed his head and charged forward, grabbing the martial arts club student by the waist and trying to twist him behind his back, then strangle him.

Caught off guard, the martial arts club student was thrown into disarray by the close embrace. He flailed his arms, trying to grab the fighting club student’s body to regain his balance and regain his footing.

But the fighting club student wasn’t wearing clothes, and his skin was covered in sweat and oil, making it impossible to grip him. He only managed to scratch a few bloody marks.

Suddenly, in pain, the fighting club student slammed his elbow into the student’s waist, simultaneously kneeing him in the abdomen.

The martial arts club student, in excruciating pain, flailed wildly, accidentally hitting the fighting club student near the corner of his eye.

Instantly, the fighting club student appeared to have an injury near his eye, seemingly unable to open it.

“Stop!” Su Jie, who had witnessed this, immediately stepped forward and separated the two: “It’s a draw.”

He declared the verdict.

“Why a draw!” At this point, members of both the fighting club and the martial arts club started arguing.

“Is this how you referee?” a fighting club student suddenly stepped forward: “Didn’t you see him grab his eye? That’s a prohibited rule! Are you biased towards the martial arts club? Are you asking for a beating?!”

“I think he’s biased towards you. We all agreed that grabs and grappling were allowed, and it wasn’t a grab on the face, his face just came to him.”

The martial arts club and the fighting club members started arguing.

“We don’t need you as a referee anymore, get out of the way.” Two other fighting club students stepped forward, trying to push Su Jie away.

Slap!

Su Jie grabbed the wrists of both students with one hand, and with a slight squeeze, the two students cried out in pain and immediately knelt on the ground.

“Good heavens.” Jiang Nanzhou was slightly angered. Suddenly, he stepped forward and delivered a low, downward kick. His leg moved like an axe chopping down a tree, his shinbone the blade. This kick alone had reached a national-level skill.

The kick was fast and powerful, whistling through the air. An ordinary person would have been knocked to the ground, possibly even suffering a broken leg.

But Su Jie didn’t move, letting the blow land directly.

Clang!

It felt like hitting a piece of iron. Cold sweat broke out on Jiang Nanzhou’s body. He immediately squatted down, clutching his shinbone, which instantly turned purplish-blue.

Su Jie’s “Thirteen Protectors’ Qigong” had become much more powerful than before, as his mental fortitude reached the level of the “living dead.” He was truly beginning to step into a state of “indestructibility.”

Of course, “indestructibility” was just an exaggeration; he couldn’t possibly be immune to blades and spears.

But withstanding punches, kicks, and blunt force strikes was a minor matter.

“Jiang Nanzhou’s leg strike is like an axe, unparalleled in the fighting club. Countless students have fallen victim to it. I was hit once, and I cramped up on the spot; the bruise is still there.” Tan Dashi rolled up his trouser leg, revealing a deep purplish-green bruise on his leg—a shocking sight. He looked at Jiang Nanzhou, who was now squatting down, and felt a surge of satisfaction: “The boss is the boss, completely unharmed.”

Su Jie was indeed unharmed; it was even less severe than a mosquito bite. His muscles had spring back when the opponent struck, easily deflecting the blow.

This was without using any force. If he had used even a little “Diamond Force,” the muscles would have tensed instantly after the long roar, and Jiang Nanzhou’s leg would have been fractured.

“It’s nothing, just a superficial wound, no fracture.” Su Jie also squatted down, took out a bottle of Minglun Martial Arts School’s liniment from his backpack pocket, applied it to Jiang Nanzhou’s shinbone, and suddenly began to rub it vigorously.

Ah! Jiang Nanzhou let out a wounded beast-like roar, writhing in pain.

But Su Jie held him tightly, making him unable to move.

Su Jie rubbed his leg hundreds of times before stopping, clapping his hands: “Alright, the bruise has dispersed. Rest for a day or two and you’ll be fine.”

“Let me see where you were kicked,” Jiang Nanzhou suddenly said. “I don’t believe you’re completely unharmed.”

Su Jie rolled up his trouser leg, revealing the calf muscle where he had been slashed. Sure enough, there wasn’t even a mark, not even a hint of redness on the skin.

“This is hard qigong.” Fang Hong stepped forward, now recognizing Su Jie’s skill, his eyes wide with surprise. “But hard qigong only allows you to stand still and take hits; some muscles are just very hard. You can’t train that to reach your face. A punch to the face can still break it.”

“Pretty much,” Su Jie didn’t argue, but stood up. “I just declared it a tie because the fighting club student used his knee to hit the lower abdomen, but he actually shifted his position and almost hit the groin. And your martial arts club member, although unintentional, still managed to grab the corner of the eye. Both violated the rules, and according to the rules, both should be disqualified. Any objections? If not, then follow the referee’s decision. And the fighting club, you came up and assaulted the referee. According to the rules, your entire club should be suspended, but I won’t pursue it. Let the match continue.”

His professionalism was on full display at this moment.

His formality left Fang Hong and Jiang Nanzhou exchanging bewildered glances, unsure whether to continue the match. 

“What are you all doing? Such a mess! Do you think this is a market?” A stern voice rang out. “Liu Long is almost here, and you’re still causing trouble.”

From the direction of the voice stood four or five people. The leader was a burly student with a serious face and an air of authority. The other men and women also possessed considerable presence, making them look like leaders on an inspection tour.

“These are some student council officers,” Lin Tang said to Su Jie.

“I’ve seen them on the school website,” Su Jie replied. He didn’t need Lin Tang to tell him; he wasn’t someone who was oblivious to the outside world and focused solely on martial arts training. He collected information from the outside world every day.

Every day, he spent at least two hours reading various news reports: world affairs, national policies, business and finance, the school website, news from the fighting world, and the latest research papers in foreign scientific journals.

In this information age, with an explosion of knowledge updates, one must constantly grasp various trends to establish oneself in society and seize opportunities. Especially the latest papers in some foreign academic journals, which many people wouldn’t even read, were incredibly helpful to Su Jie, even benefiting his martial arts skills.

The student council officers in front of him, led by a burly man, a junior named Qin Hui, were the vice president.

Q University’s student council was unlike those of other schools; these officers were the elite of the elite, the cream of the crop. Some even had opportunities to meet high-ranking leaders, as many high-ranking leaders were also Q University graduates and frequently visited the university.

Qin Hui exuded authority. His shout upon entering seemed to intimidate even Fang Hong and Jiang Nanzhou, who dared not disobey.

The members of both the martial arts club and the fighting club fell silent.

“What kind of behavior is this, having your martial arts and fighting clubs fighting here?” Qin Hui’s eyes swept across the room, then lingered on Su Jie for a second before moving on.

An ordinary person wouldn’t notice this detail, but Su Jie instantly sensed that Qin Hui was filled with hostility towards him, as if he might ambush him at any moment; deep within Qin Hui’s heart lay malice.

“What’s going on?” Su Jie pondered. “I don’t know this Qin Hui at all, and we’ve never had any interaction. Why does he treat me like this? Like an enemy?”

Even a true sage wouldn’t be able to discern deep malice from the eyes of a complete stranger.

But Su Jie’s mental cultivation surpassed that of a sage; he was a “living dead.” Even the founder of the Quanzhen School, Master Chongyang, who spent three years in arduous cultivation in his tomb, comprehending life and death, only reached this level.

Qin Hui, the vice president of the student council, had already been sensed as hostile by Su Jie, but he seemed oblivious to this and continued speaking: “Don’t you two clubs have rules? Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are for division of labor, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Today, the combat club is hosting Liu Long, so we applied to the student council to use your martial arts club’s space for a day. No objections, right?”

“I have no objections, but our martial arts club members would also like to hear some guidance from Liu Long. Is that alright?” Fang Hong said.