The Way of Restraint

Chapter 159: The Beginning of Military Training

After an hour of standing meditation instruction, the three dormitory members didn’t see much physical improvement, but they all expressed their determination to persevere.

However, military training was about to begin, and there was no time for further practice.

Su Jie arrived at the training location according to the regulations and found the instructor already waiting there. It turned out to be an acquaintance—Yu Jiang, who had trained students at his mother’s university in S City last time.

Yu Jiang immediately recognized Su Jie and greeted him.

“Brother, I knew you could get into Q University!” Yu Jiang rubbed his hands excitedly. “My master also mentioned you, saying you’re a once-in-a-century genius. I wonder how your kung fu is progressing?”

Yu Jiang’s master was Old Chen, a highly skilled Tai Chi practitioner. During that month at Master Ma’s courtyard, the three of them conducted research, and Su Jie learned a great deal from him.

As his kung fu skills, physical fitness, and mental fortitude improved, Su Jie’s understanding of Tai Chi deepened.

For improving physical fitness and cultivating character, Tai Chi can indeed be remarkably effective.

Tai Chi is a required subject in university physical education classes, even affecting academic credits. Su Jie was curious about his PE teacher and the quality of his Tai Chi.

Before Su Jie could speak, Yu Jiang stepped forward and said, “My skills have improved recently, let’s try it out.”

He grabbed Su Jie’s wrist with his five fingers, pressed down, and used a Tai Chi wrestling technique, his waist spinning like a top, violently swinging outward, generating immense centrifugal force.

Su Jie, following his momentum, slightly deflected the attack, causing Yu Jiang to miss.

This was also Tai Chi skill.

If Su Jie had used the Thirteen Taibao external martial arts technique, directly attacking Yu Jiang, Yu Jiang would certainly be no match, but that wouldn’t be the true essence of Tai Chi; it wouldn’t contain the true principles of “leading the opponent’s force to emptiness” and “avoiding the weak and attacking the strong.”

Yu Jiang used Tai Chi techniques, and Su Jie used Tai Chi’s “listening to the force” to neutralize it.

Yu Jiang felt as if he had pushed against a greased, high-speed spinning ball; all his force missed its mark. If he pushed too hard, he might even twist his hand.

The more force he used, the more likely he was to miss.

He repeatedly tried to throw Su Jie, but it was all in vain because he wasn’t applying any force.

Su Jie seemed to be invisible; he was hitting thin air.

After trying for a while, he finally realized the difference between himself and Su Jie. He waved his hand and gave a thumbs up: “You’re really impressive.”

He knew that Su Jie could easily throw him down with one move, but Su Jie was giving him face by constantly backing down. After all, he was a military training instructor, and being thrown down would be very embarrassing.

“In a few days, I’ll take you to meet my comrade-in-arms. He’s a three-time consecutive champion of the All-Army Martial Arts Tournament. He can’t beat Liu Long in the ring, but off the ring, Liu Long can’t beat him. You two can have a chat,” Yu Jiang patted Su Jie’s shoulder. “To beat Liu Long off the ring, that’s top-tier skill.” Liu Long is the number one fighter in the country, a perennial champion in the ring. With that kind of physical ability, beating a few ordinary people is child’s play. With a little care, he’d be a “super fighter” off the ring.

Anyone who can beat Liu Long off the ring is definitely a master among masters, someone worth learning from.

In a month, Su Jie will participate in the Haoyu Cup competition, where he will face Feng Hengyi. But his current strength is still insufficient; he needs to intensify his training and seek a breakthrough.

Given his current state, how to break through is something he must figure out on his own. Even O’Dell is probably powerless to help.

The whistle blows, and military training begins.

Marching, goose-stepping, running, and other training exercises are unbearable for ordinary students, but for Su Jie, it’s as easy as a stroll. However, he doesn’t slack off; instead, he practices with focused concentration. Others train their physique; he trains his spirit and energy, treating himself as a soldier, meticulously using military training to strengthen his discipline.

The highest level of a soldier isn’t how strong you are, but how well you obey orders, every movement as precise as a machine.

This is also a form of “moving like a machine.”

The military training lasted for half a month, with non-stop drills every day. Most importantly, they had to learn a set of military boxing techniques.

The September weather was scorching hot. Under the blazing sun, these college students trained relentlessly, and many fainted on the first day. But Su Jie’s roommates, even the physically weak Lin Tang, persevered.

In the following period, Su Jie recommended nutritional supplements and liniment from Minglun Martial Arts Academy to his roommates. Wang Shun, Lin Tang, and Tan Dashi found them very effective.

Sometimes, Su Jie would even give them a massage to relieve fatigue.

He also managed to get a small bottle of the internal strengthening wine that Lin Tang had asked him to buy from Nie Shuang.

After trying a little, combined with daily exercise and standing meditation, Lin Tang’s health improved significantly; he seemed to have inexhaustible energy every day.

After two weeks of military training, the three men were noticeably stronger. Even Tan Dashi seemed to have grasped some of the key points of stance training, going from being restless and agitated after only three to five minutes to standing calmly and composed for half an hour.

During Su Jie’s observation, the three men’s “foundation” was beginning to take shape.

In fact, military training also improves one’s spirit and energy. While the forms of military posture and martial arts stance training differ, they share a similar effect in cultivating character.

Even a scruffy, uncouth hoodlum would return as a dignified and clean-cut soldier after a year in the military.

The two weeks of military training passed quickly, and university life returned to normal.

Life sciences, as a discipline, encompasses many subjects: animal biology, plant biology, microbiology, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, genes, neuroscience, molecular biology, and more—far more than other departments.

However, Su Jie didn’t mind. He was a top student, studying even during military training. He quickly grasped and understood the textbook material, and he also used his older sister Su Muchen’s AI learning machine to acquire even more knowledge, including research findings from foreign laboratories and papers and experimental results from various scientific journals.

Actually, university learning relies heavily on self-study, far less rigorous than high school. Many high-achieving high school students succumb to temptations in university, playing games and surfing the internet, leading to failing courses and retaking them.

But for a self-disciplined person like Su Jie, this relaxed academic atmosphere allowed his learning abilities to reach their peak.

Before he knew it, it was a weekend in mid-to-late September, and Su Jie was preparing for the competition in October.

He didn’t need to ask for leave because the Haoyu Cup competition at Minglun Martial Arts Academy was during the seven-day National Day holiday.

He had already made arrangements with Zhang Manman and Zhang Jinchuan.

Zhang Jinchuan didn’t get into Q University, but instead went to B University, a university of equal prestige. His business was thriving, and he recently secured a multi-million dollar investment from Mingxia Group, a behemoth even larger than Haoyu Group.

The two largest private enterprises in China both have market capitalizations exceeding one trillion yuan, ranking among the top ten globally. First is Mingxia Group, second is Hedao Group, third is Zhonglong, and fourth is Haoyu.

However, Mingxia and Hedao Group take turns dominating the international stock market, their share prices fluctuating, making it difficult to definitively say who is number one.

In short, these two companies are true behemoths that Haoyu cannot challenge.

Haoyu Group is aggressively pursuing them, with a long-term strategic plan.

Now that Zhang Jinchuan’s company has secured investment from Mingxia Group, he has essentially found a powerful backer and is no longer afraid of Haoyu’s tricks.

However, Su Jie knew that behind Hao Yu was a force that even the combined might of the Mingxia and Hedao conglomerates couldn’t match. For example, the mysterious Typhon training camp, the mysterious force that created virtual currency—what they were showing now was just the tip of the iceberg.

The phone rang.

It was Yu Jiang calling.

“Su Jie, my comrade is free and wants to meet you at the Jiuding training camp. I’ll send you the address. Can you come?” Yu Jiang asked.

“Sure,” Su Jie agreed, and Yu Jiang hung up.

“Jiuding Training Camp?” He checked the map and found that the training camp was in the suburbs, quite remote. He’d have to spend a little over a thousand yuan to hire a car to get there. “Isn’t that Jiuding Company’s security training base? Last time my roommate and I went out to eat, the security clearance was handled by Jiuding security guards. To be fair, those guards are quite capable, it’s just a pity they ran into me.”

He booked a car through the app and left. A little over a thousand yuan is roughly a month’s living expenses for a university student.

Su Jie now has over two million yuan and is living quite comfortably.

The roads in City B are very congested; it took two hours to get out of the city, and another hour to reach the outskirts. Following the map, he arrived at a large training ground.

The grounds consist of single-story buildings surrounded by barbed wire and walls. The sounds of drills could be heard from inside, suggesting military training.

The main gate was tightly shut, guarded by bodyguards who were watching closely, preventing anyone from entering or leaving freely.

Su Jie called Yu Jiang again from the entrance.

Yu Jiang hurriedly came out and escorted Su Jie inside. The two entered a large combat gym.

From afar, the sounds of “Hi!”, “Ha!”, and “Uh-huh!” could be heard. 

Entering the gym, they found hundreds of punching bags, hundreds of burly men punching them furiously, and many other large men sparring and grappling, none wearing protective gear or gloves—it was extremely brutal.

These men were bodyguards, not martial arts fighters. Naturally, they wouldn’t wear boxing gloves or protective gear; they had to undergo rigorous, realistic training, even to the point of taking bullets for their employers if necessary.

An ordinary person entering this training hall would be terrified.

“That’s my comrade-in-arms, Shen Dao,” Yu Jiang said, pointing to a man in the center of the training area instructing a group of burly men in combat.

The man was wearing a vest, and Su Jie could even see obvious gunshot scars on his back.

Su Jie closed his eyes, not looking at the man’s appearance or even his muscles and bones, but sensing his “root.” Instantly, he discovered that from head to toe, this man was a central axis, not just a pillar, but a pyramid.

In other words, Su Jie didn’t see a person, but a tall, stable, and mysterious pyramid.

Just like the story in Liezi of Jiu Fanggao judging horses for Duke Mu of Qin, saying he had chosen a yellow mare, but the horse brought back was a black stallion. Bo Le praised Jiu Fanggao, saying that this man’s judgment of horses was a thousand times better than his own, as he valued the horse’s inner spirit rather than its outward appearance.

Su Jie, based on the theory of “root” in martial arts by Omoto Mukoka, the first person in Japanese judo, combined with feng shui and physiognomy to judge people, gained much insight.

This Shen Dao before him was strong! Very strong! Super strong! Surpassing Daru.