The Way of Restraint

Su Jie had only one ultimate goal: to settle his sister’s debt issues and free her from the Feng family’s control. But now it seemed his sister had fallen even deeper into trouble — she had vanished entirely.

Thinking about this, deep down he felt both unease and anger.

Even having reached the realm of the “Living Dead,” he was powerless to do anything about it.

But now that he had gathered momentum, he began to lay plans against the Feng family.

The Feng family’s Haoyu Group was currently thriving, almost unstoppable. But Su Jie had also come into his own. Having reached the “Living Dead” realm, his physical strength aside, even if dozens of people attacked him at once, he could take them down instantly with concealed weapons. Even guns couldn’t touch him — his bullet-dodging skill was otherworldly. These were his own abilities, which no one could take away.

Beyond that, the most formidable aspect of the “Living Dead” realm was that his brain’s learning and thinking capacity was dozens — even hundreds — of times greater than an ordinary person’s.

Knowledge that would take a top student a year to learn, Su Jie could probably master in less than a week — and retain it perfectly, without forgetting anything.

Psychological training had the greatest impact on brain development; physical ability was secondary.

And that wasn’t all. He had now become Larry’s bodyguard, establishing credentials that, once revealed, would have wealthy Chinese businessmen flocking to him.

But Su Jie’s power was still insufficient. Without substantial wealth and connections, taking on a behemoth like the Feng family would be difficult. A full-scale assault was out of the question — he needed to find a breach, a way to bring them to justice.

The Feng family had done many unclean things, but they were careful and left no evidence. If Su Jie could find such evidence, he could cause trouble for the Feng family and gradually clip their wings.

Of course, the even more critical point was ensuring the Feng family didn’t discover he was behind it — otherwise, his sister would be in danger.

After thinking through a detailed plan, Su Jie called Zhang Jinchuan.

This partner of his was also a genius. His business was growing larger by the day, and the Haoyu Group could do nothing about it. After receiving investment from Mingxia Group and leveraging the resources of that top domestic private enterprise, he had rapidly seized many of Haoyu Group’s users and market share, especially in entertainment and media.

And under Mingxia Group’s protection, Haoyu could only watch as Zhang Jinchuan took bite after bite of their flesh.

Seeing Zhang Jinchuan’s impressive results, Mingxia Group became increasingly eager to continue cutting away at Haoyu piece by piece. This further supported Zhang Jinchuan, creating a virtuous cycle.

“Su Jie, what made you think to call me today?” Zhang Jinchuan’s voice over the phone was clearly surprised. “I heard you’ve become the bodyguard for that big shot Larry. Do you have time to discuss potential cooperation?”

Zhang Jinchuan was well-informed and highly skilled at networking. Of course he understood the value of Su Jie’s “bodyguard” position. Good martial arts skills alone weren’t that special — but being able to connect with someone like Larry was what truly maximized their worth. As the saying went: “Learn civil or martial arts and sell them to the emperor’s house.”

There were no emperors anymore, but the ultra-wealthy conglomerates, within their own circles, were just as powerful.

“I’m coming to your company now. Let’s talk about the future.” Without further words, Su Jie hailed a cab and headed over.

Zhang Jinchuan’s company had grown tremendously. With ample funds, he had moved from the old tech park to a building he had acquired outright.

This time last year, Zhang Manman had taken Su Jie to see Zhang Jinchuan before heading to the war zone. Even back then, Su Jie had recognized Zhang Jinchuan as a dragon among men. Now, that dragon had completed its hibernation and accumulated strength, soaring into the sky with the momentum of a dragon in flight.

But flying too high wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Ever since stepping into the “Living Dead” realm, Su Jie had faced repeated dangers — first nearly killed by Zhang Hongqing, then nearly killed by that mysterious young man in the dragon mask.

These were the drawbacks that came with a dragon in flight.

Su Jie arrived at Zhang Jinchuan’s building, and Zhang Jinchuan came out personally to greet him — a fact that amazed many employees. At Zhang Jinchuan’s current status, he rarely came downstairs to meet anyone.

The two went to the basement, because Zhang Jinchuan’s office was located there.

It was peculiar: Zhang Jinchuan usually worked upstairs, but when discussing truly important matters, he went to the basement. Many assumed this was just the boss’s eccentricity. But Su Jie understood that Zhang Jinchuan felt his recent rise had been too conspicuous and might exhaust his future luck. So he had painstakingly worked on the feng shui layout, placing his core strategic discussions in the basement as a sign of continuing to lie low and conserve strength.

“This basement is quite nice.”

Once inside, Su Jie found the lighting excellent — glass skylights above allowed them to see the sky. The space was softly lit, clean, and free of any gloomy corners. Staying here, one felt wrapped by the earth — central energy gathered without dispersing, earthly qi flowing in. It was very safe, conducive to contemplation and cultivation, with a view of the sky — very comfortable.

This demonstrated that Zhang Jinchuan’s feng shui skills had also reached considerable refinement.

“With your physiognomy and feng shui abilities, you should understand what I’m getting at,” Zhang Jinchuan said, looking at Su Jie with no small amount of envy. His business was flourishing and his cultivation was deepening daily, yet he simply couldn’t break through to the “Living Dead” realm.

With his current insight, he couldn’t fathom Su Jie’s depth at all — which told him that in cultivation, Su Jie had truly pulled far ahead, and this gap would only widen.

“You should indeed lie low for a while, but even this isn’t enough,” Su Jie nodded. “I think your company’s strategy should change — focus on research and development and expanding overseas markets. Don’t engage Haoyu in open conflict domestically. Conserve your strength, wait for another chance to soar, slow down a bit, descend, and do a deep squat.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Zhang Jinchuan said. Their thoughts aligned. “Since you know Larry, could you connect me with him?”

“Larry wouldn’t trust me on business matters,” Su Jie said. “If I meddled in business as his bodyguard, he’d probably kick me out. But Zhang Manman has many ideas — you could talk to her. As for your cultivation, if you have any questions, you can ask me.”

“Actually, my confusion is simple — I can’t cross from ‘Severance’ to ‘Clarity.’ It seems there’s something I haven’t cut cleanly.” Zhang Jinchuan smiled wryly.

His current level of attainment was remarkably good, but he wasn’t yet “transcendent.”

“It should be because you’re too entangled in business. You’re deeply attached to it, which prevents you from cutting through.” Su Jie immediately identified Zhang Jinchuan’s psychological state.

Hearing this, a complex expression flashed in Zhang Jinchuan’s eyes.

Being as intelligent as he was, he had certainly considered this problem.

But abandoning his current enterprise in exchange for psychological severance — and thereby stepping into the Living Dead realm — was absolutely unacceptable. He had poured countless efforts into building this enterprise, combined with good fortune he might never replicate even if he could live his life over.

This enterprise had become bound to his very existence — impossible to abandon.

“Are you thinking about abandoning your business?” Su Jie smiled. “That would be walking the demonic path. Cutting away too completely — becoming absolute and unfeeling — would make it forever impossible to enter the Living Dead realm. Truly cutting clean means not having an absolute desire to control what you love. Human nature includes particular attachments — the more you love something, the more you want to control it. That creates attachment. ‘Severance’ means continuing to love it, but being able to let it be free. It can exist anywhere, and that doesn’t diminish your passion — that’s what severance means.”

“Is that so?” Hearing Su Jie’s words, Zhang Jinchuan felt as if a fog had lifted from his mind — as if a knot that had been troubling him for days had come undone.

But this alone wasn’t enough to elevate him to the “Living Dead” realm.

“Here’s the thing — I learned a martial art from the Zhang family’s great-grandfather Zhang Nianquan called the Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method. It’s the culmination of his lifelong research. Last time, you taught me the seven characters of Minglun at a critical moment — consider this my repayment. Anyway, Old Master Zhang doesn’t care who learns it, as long as his research gets passed down. And if we can develop something new from it, he’d be very happy.”

“The Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method?” Zhang Jinchuan perked up immediately. “Old Master Zhang Nianquan is a legendary figure, profoundly accomplished in cultivation. When he was ninety, he stormed a US mafia stronghold with a machine gun, killed dozens, and escaped unscathed. After he passed hundred, he stopped fighting. I’ve also heard that his signature art is this method — it’s said to be extraordinary, that when cultivated to the highest level, one becomes like an immortal of old, able to summon wind and rain, spit thunder from the palm, slay demons, and move like lightning.”

“‘Summon wind and rain’ is just a metaphor — it refers to extreme sensitivity to weather patterns, the ability to predict meteorological changes and grasp the structure of the four seasons,” Su Jie said. “No one can actually create rain. Otherwise, what would we need artillery for?”

“True.” Zhang Jinchuan could barely contain himself. “No time to lose. I’m eager to know what secrets this unparalleled martial art holds.”

“Very well.” Su Jie began explaining it to Zhang Jinchuan on the spot.

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