The Way of Restraint

Su Jie actually stood there, letting the two combat fighters hit him hard, without dodging, without evading, without counterattacking, without even blocking. He had the look of “you have a wolf-teeth club, I have a skull cap.”

This state almost made people suspect he wasn’t human, but a machine.

When the fists and kicks struck his body, Xia Yi couldn’t help but close her eyes. She knew how heavy the fists and legs of Greenland Club’s fighters were, and what it felt like when they landed solidly on a person.

An ordinary person would die from a single punch, let alone a chopping kick like an axe.

After the sound of breaking bones came through, Xia Yi couldn’t bear to imagine Su Jie’s fate after being hit.

But she still opened her eyes, and then discovered with astonishment that it wasn’t Su Jie who had broken bones—it was the two fighters, Lant and Barto, who had fractured.

Lant’s leg bone was broken, and Barto’s fingers were all snapped.

Barto’s punch had been aimed at Su Jie’s chin, which easily knocks people unconscious. The jaw connects to the brain’s nerves—it is a key striking point in boxing.

Thus, in traditional martial arts, there is emphasis on tucking the chin back and not sticking it out—first, to protect the cervical spine, and second, to guard the throat.

Boxing tucks the head even deeper between the shoulders, with both hands covering the head, like a tiger emerging from a cave fearful of beasts ambushing at the entrance.

But Su Jie neither protected his head nor his chest. He let them strike.

Yet they couldn’t budge him.

When Lant and Barto hit him, it was like punching a solid block of iron. Compounding this, they weren’t wearing gloves. They struck too violently and broke their own hands and legs from the recoil.

Su Jie had mastered the “Thirteen Guardians Iron Shirt Golden Bell Cover Iron Cloth Dragon Tiger Diamond Hard Qigong” long ago. After stepping into the Living Dead realm, he had reached an unpredictable level. Later, at Larry’s life sciences laboratory, conducting data analysis and research on kinesiology and human body science, he made some minor fine-tuning adjustments. As a result, his body became even more perfected.

Against unarmed attacks in combat, very few people could break through his defense.

Unless it was someone like Zhang Hongqing.

“They need medical treatment,” Su Jie said, looking at the two people with fractures who had already lost their combat effectiveness. They weren’t wailing, only staring at Su Jie in shock. From their eyes, Su Jie could see that they suspected he wasn’t human, but a titanium alloy machine.

Huang Mulan, Zhu Qing, and even Xia Shang were greatly startled.

Additionally, Greenland, the world’s second-ranked bald-headed man, abruptly stood up. All the members of his club also stood up in complete shock, following him as if ready to pounce and strike at any moment.

Zhang Jinchuan was extremely satisfied.

He knew that Su Jie would repay in kind. Just now, Lant had “chopped” and broken Peng Haikun’s leg, so Su Jie also let him break his leg to show fairness.

Even more impressive was that Su Jie hadn’t even moved his hands—he had broken their hands and legs through recoil alone, making it seem even more miraculous and incomprehensible.

At this moment, even Xia Shang, who didn’t understand fighting, felt that there was indeed a reason Larry had taken an interest in Su Jie.

*”Just now, Su Jie actually moved very subtly. He used the part of his body receiving the punch to quiver slightly, neutralizing the force at that contact point, then violently recoiled. This kind of ‘close-body neutralizing’ skill is something I simply cannot execute,”* Zhang Jinchuan thought to himself. *”This past month, he and I have been mutually practicing the Nine Palaces Great Yu Thunder Section Orthodox Method. I feel my strength has improved considerably, but he has improved even more.”*

In traditional martial arts theory, there is an extremely high-level realm called “close-body neutralizing.”

When a fist lands on your body, you use a slight wriggling force to neutralize it within a hair’s breadth. This requires strong computational ability and control over the body. However, this technique is very difficult to apply, and if you make a mistake, you get hit.

“Mr. Greenland, what do you think of my bodyguard here? Is his ability sufficient?” Zhang Jinchuan asked Greenland with a smile. He knew he had won back face for Xia Shang and gained many points in his estimation.

“Which training camp does this Mr. Su Jie come from?” Greenland, the bald foreigner, sat back down as he watched the doctors carry out his two fighters. “Also, I will transfer one hundred thousand US dollars to your account. I will honor our bet.”

“Let me cover this bet instead,” Xia Shang said, his expression relaxed, clearly pleased inside. “Mr. Greenland, you are a guest from afar. I cannot let you spend money. Also, all medical expenses for your club’s fighters will be our responsibility. Now, we can discuss business cooperation.”

“Your club has such a powerful fighter, but fighters are fighters, and training systems are training systems. Your two fighters, I noticed, have not received good training,” Greenland said, still adding leverage to his negotiation position.

“Mr. Greenland, my bodyguard comes from the world’s most mysterious training camp. The training system he received is something you probably know as well. Looking at his body’s hardness and the intensity of his impact resistance, I wonder if you would be interested in playing with him? I can put up another five million US dollars for a bet. If you win, take the five million. If you lose, you won’t suffer any loss whatsoever. What do you say?” Zhang Jinchuan issued another challenge.

He was determined to reinforce Su Jie’s impression in front of Xia Shang. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Xia Shang watched with interest. Zhang Jinchuan had read his psychology very accurately. Whether this deal succeeded or not was, for him, just a strategic direction. What displeased him was the foreigner’s exorbitant demands.

If someone could now suppress the foreigner’s arrogance, he would be very happy. Additionally, if Su Jie truly was a good coach, he would naturally want to use Su Jie to train the people in his sports division and achieve good results internationally.

At the same time, deep down, he was very curious about who was stronger—Greenland or Su Jie.

Although he didn’t understand fighting, he knew that Greenland was the world’s second-ranked top-tier figure. This was proven by his fists, backed by cutting-edge training. He had never believed that some expert emerging from the general public could defeat a professional.

Professionals do professional work.

But Su Jie also seemed to be a professional, conducting research on human kinesiology at Larry’s life sciences laboratory.

Seeing Zhang Jinchuan’s confident demeanor, believing Su Jie could definitely defeat Greenland, Xia Shang found Su Jie increasingly mysterious.

“Fight me?” Greenland touched his bald head. “Five million US dollars? Acceptable. But regardless of victory or defeat, I want that five million US dollars. Not as a bet—as an appearance fee.”

“Are you not confident in yourself?” Zhang Jinchuan used a provocation tactic.

“No, no, no…” Greenland extended a finger and waved it. “Do not try to provoke my emotions. An appearance fee is an appearance fee. Every match I fight requires an appearance fee. I will never fight because of emotion or pride. This is business, Mr. Zhang Jinchuan. I hope you understand.”

*”This foreigner is not simple,”* Su Jie thought upon hearing their conversation. He could see that Greenland knew very clearly what he wanted—money. Beyond that, no amount of provocation would work on him. Such a person was indeed very frightening. When he fought, he would truly lose himself. Su Jie had watched his matches—in competition, he was completely different from his usual self, as if a beast were sealed inside his body, and during a match, he would unseal it.

“Five million US dollars is a bit high as an appearance fee. Your usual commercial match appearance fee is around two million US dollars,” Zhang Jinchuan actually began to haggle.

“Fine. Two million US dollars appearance fee,” Greenland said. “The other three million will be a bonus. If I win against this Mr. Su Jie, I take it all. If I cannot win, I only take the two million US dollars.”

To outsiders, he had none of the dignity of a martial artist.

A martial artist should fight for their own honor, never mentioning money.

But he prioritized money above all else—no money, no fight. He didn’t even care much about winning or losing, first securing his own interests, still getting paid even if he lost.

“Deal,” Zhang Jinchuan agreed after some consideration.

But at this moment, Su Jie returned to his original spot and showed no intention of proceeding with the fight.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Jinchuan asked.

“It’s meaningless. Two million US dollars is no small sum,” Su Jie said. He himself had risked life and limb for Larry, conducted research, sold his own body data, worked an entire winter break, and only earned one million five hundred thousand US dollars. For Greenland to take two million just for one fight against him—of course he wasn’t willing. Although the money would come from Zhang Jinchuan, he felt it was a wasteful expense. Even if the opponent were replaced by Suo Luo, he still wouldn’t pay that kind of money.

In the past, some foreign entrepreneur had auctioned off his own lunch and ended up getting two million US dollars for it. In Su Jie’s view, he himself would never do such a thing.

“Sorry, my bodyguard is unwilling,” Zhang Jinchuan said. He had actually understood Su Jie’s reasoning after a few seconds.

“What a pity,” Greenland said, showing a helpless expression, grieving over the two million US dollars he had just lost. “I hope that in the future, in a competition, this Mr. Su Jie can defeat me. But it won’t be so easy to fight me. And by then, my appearance fee will be even higher.”

“Mr. Greenland, we will have the opportunity to face each other,” Su Jie nodded.

“How exciting today has been.” Xia Shang, who had remained silent the entire time, clapped his hands. “Mr. Greenland, I still have matters to attend to. Discuss the cooperation with my daughter. You were once her coach, so you know each other well. Jinchuan, come with me. I have something to tell you. Privately.”

“Wait here for a moment,” Zhang Jinchuan said to Su Jie in a low voice, winking. He knew this had been very satisfactory. He stood up and left with Xia Shang, heading to the office for a private conversation.

Inside Xia Shang’s office, the decor was very simple. A large screen dominated the space, with intelligent software ready to pop up important matters at any time.

According to feng shui, this office was not good. But Xia Shang could stabilize it—nothing ever went wrong.

Zhang Jinchuan knew this was a matter of personal ability. A strong person could improve their surrounding environment, rather than letting the environment improve them. As the saying goes: A mountain need not be tall to be luminous—it needs an immortal. Water need not be deep to be numinous—it needs a dragon.

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