The Way of Restraint

Chapter 161: The Unending Pressure of the Vajra Body

Shen Dao’s arms moved in a series of rapid, whistling attacks, pressing down with murderous intent.

He positioned himself on Su Jie’s center line, drawing him in like a magnet, making it impossible for Su Jie to escape or shake him off.

Su Jie’s aura was high, but his was even higher. At this moment, his true strength was revealed; all the previous attacks were just for show. He couldn’t possibly lose to a college student.

Faced with the attack, in the eyes of others, Su Jie was in a precarious situation, facing a reversal of fortune.

But in Su Jie’s own mind, he had faced even more dangerous situations before; this was nothing.

Boom!

Su Jie crossed his arms and roared again, this time even louder.

Ah!

The burly men sitting around him all paled, covering their ears and scrambling to get away. Even Yu Jiang immediately fled far away. 

Su Jie’s roar exceeded a certain decibel level; if it continued, they would all go deaf.

Snap! 

Su Jie’s arm, during the encirclement, lashed out, striking Shen Dao’s wrist joint.

Shen Dao’s wrist sank; he wasn’t hit, but his attack route was disrupted.

Su Jie’s slight sweep of his wrist caused a burning pain; his opponent felt like a razor-blade meat grinder, capable of shredding and tearing a person apart.

Su Jie’s physical abilities were far more than that. Countless training sessions and cultivations had long since allowed him to see through many things. Through wind and rain, through hail of bullets, he had forged an extremely strong will.

Of course, Shen Dao had also experienced the horrors of war, but his physical abilities were still somewhat inferior to Su Jie’s.

This wasn’t his fault; it was simply the relentless passage of time.

The two were eighteen years apart.

“It’s turned around again.” Yu Jiang watched with bated breath. He had initially thought Su Jie would fail, as Shen Dao had begun a desperate counterattack, while Su Jie’s momentum had weakened.

But now, Su Jie’s momentum surged once more, his speed increased, his power grew, and his movements became even more ferocious, as if he had been injected with a stimulant, fully activating his motor nerves.

He suddenly felt a surge of emotion; Su Jie seemed to have no limit, unleashing increasingly stronger power and attacks with each strike.

Kill!

Shen Dao was also ignited with passion; he finally began to take things seriously.

His once clear eyes began to fill with bloodshot veins, his movements carrying a bloodthirsty glint, a ruthless and demonic aura.

This demeanor was terrifying; even a master would retreat in fear.

He was fully engaged, truly in the midst of battle, having forgotten everything else.

Swish, swish, swish!

He unleashed three consecutive slashes, piercing the air like spears nodding, then immediately withdrawing.

His attacks were strange; they were swung upwards, his hands acting like whips.

Each swish produced a cracking sound.

The blade, sharp as a knife, was swung out, striking a vital acupoint on Su Jie’s body.

This was his trump card, the “Rope Dart Hand.”

Like a steel dart bound to a rope, it was swung out, retrieved, and swung out again.

His entire body moved in tandem with his footwork, shifting erratically east and west, left and right, south and north, forward and backward, capable of striking from a distance.

Seeing him truly enter a state of focus, Su Jie took a deep breath, abruptly severing all five senses.

Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Only a sliver of consciousness remained.

That is to say, he no longer used the sensitivity of his skin to sense air currents, nor his hearing to judge his opponent, nor his sense of smell and sight to see his opponent.

But this, ironically, made his opponent even clearer in his mind.

At this moment, he seemed to have entered a mental state recorded only in the manuals of Tai Chi: “Others do not know me, but I alone know others; a hero is invincible.”

Recently, he had been researching the mental state of severing the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought, and was gradually making some progress. While sleeping, he could sever the five senses, but the sixth sense, thought, was difficult to sever.

If one severed the sixth sense, thought, one would enter a state of living death.

Now, in the midst of a dangerous battle, Su Jie was actually risking his life to experiment, severing his own five senses to fight against Shen Dao. This was an extremely dangerous act, yet he was completely unconcerned.

Ordinary people, when fighting, also experience a sudden, momentary lapse in concentration, a state of complete disorientation, a hysterical, frenzied attack, unaware of their opponent’s location or what they are fighting, wildly hacking and slashing, unable to hear, see, smell, or feel.

This state is similar to severing the five senses, only without any method, a waste of energy.

But in this state, strength is at its greatest, and no one dares to approach.

“Not good!”

The instant Su Jie severed his five senses, a tremendous danger surged into Shen Dao’s heart, and his body instinctively retreated.

Boom!

Sure enough, Su Jie’s strength increased again. His limbs seemed to have been injected with some kind of swelling agent; muscles bulged, stretching all the fat to one side.

Then, Su Jie’s arms, not fully extended, rose and fell, covering him.

Crack!

He swiftly plunged a hand chop into Su Jie’s chest, but the other seemed completely unharmed; instead, the impact nearly broke his hand.

Su Jie then brought down a “hoe strike” from the air. His body was incredibly hard, almost like an indestructible body; no amount of fist, foot, or bare-handed attack could cause him any damage.

This time, the power was even greater. When it fell, it was as if Mount Buzhou collapsed, and with a single strike, the earth itself was overturned.

Shen Dao took the blow head-on, feeling as if he’d been driven into the ground. His knees creaked, and his arms went numb.

‘This person’s physical abilities are truly formidable.’ Shen Dao shrank back again, accelerating his movements to dodge.

But this time, Su Jie didn’t let him have his way. Instead, he grew faster and faster, relentlessly pursuing him.

Bang!

One strike came like a dam bursting, deafeningly loud.

Another strike came like lightning striking, splitting mountains and shattering rocks.

Another strike came like a landslide and tsunami, obliterating the land.

The fourth strike came like a god creating something new, subduing all demons.

The fifth strike, however, returned to the ordinary, like an old farmer hoeing the field, sowing in spring and harvesting in autumn.

Su Jie delivered five consecutive “hoe-and-plow” strikes, each with the same moves and actions, but each imbued with a completely different feeling—sometimes sharp, sometimes heavy, sometimes peaceful, a hidden needle hidden in softness.

But each strike was impossible to escape.

No matter how Shen Dao dodged, he couldn’t escape Su Jie’s hoe. He could only parry and block, and after five consecutive attacks, his whole body was numb, his teeth ached, and a deep-seated fatigue seeped into his bones. Some of his old wounds throbbed with pain.

‘Not good, I’m running out of strength.’ Shen Dao knew what was happening. ‘In that case, then…’

He was about to think of a solution when suddenly, Su Jie stopped and took a few steps back. “I’ll let it go this time. It’ll be difficult for me to beat you.”

“That’s fine too.” Shen Dao was silent for a moment. He knew that if Su Jie continued to push him, he would probably lose. He did have a way to fight back, but it wasn’t worth it. Today was just a simple competition; turning it into a life-or-death struggle was simply not worth it.

“He actually fought to a draw with the instructor.” Many burly men began to discuss again.

They knew how powerful Shen Dao was, and even with his repeated outbursts, they had already used all their strength, yet they still couldn’t defeat this college student.

“Good lad.” Shen Dao adjusted his mindset. “Yu Jiang, this young man you brought is truly impressive; he hasn’t disappointed me.”

“I told you so,” Yu Jiang replied, genuinely surprised. His skills were considerable, and he could see that if the fight continued, Su Jie might have won, but he stopped at the crucial moment.

It was precisely Su Jie’s timely withdrawal that demonstrated his mastery of control.

“You all continue training!” Shen Dao ordered all the bodyguards, then beckoned to Su Jie and Yu Jiang. “Let’s talk over there.”

The three went to a tea room next to the training ground.

The tea room didn’t contain tea, only plain water, milk, and other beverages.

Su Jie knew that even though tea was beneficial to ordinary people, it could stimulate practitioners, affecting their mental state and causing hormonal imbalances.

True practitioners rarely drank tea.

“How do you train?” Shen Dao sat down, tossed Su Jie a bottle of water, and immediately asked. 

“My expertise lies mainly in psychological training,” Su Jie said. “Just now, I sensed you had a killing move at the end. What was it? A hidden weapon? There’s an iron object hidden in your belt. If I continued my attack, you probably would have used it.”

“You could sense that?” Shen Dao casually reached into his belt and pulled out a small dagger. It was thin, grayish-brown, and had no luster.

The dagger flashed slightly in his hand, then flew out and stuck into the table.

Following this, another dagger flew out, knocking the first one away.

‘This hidden weapon technique is impressive,’ Su Jie thought with a chill. If Shen Dao had used a hidden weapon during the fight, the outcome might have been different.

This hidden weapon technique is comparable to Gu Yang’s toothpick technique.

In a street fight, if he used a throwing knife, he would definitely be no match.

Both Gu Yang and Shen Dao are combat-oriented, prioritizing killing over victory, so they can use any means necessary. 

“Brother, you embarrassed Jiu Ding Security last time, and the higher-ups are furious.” Shen Dao sheathed his dagger.

“Jiu Ding’s bodyguards are rather low-quality; they’ll cause big problems sooner or later,” Su Jie said.

“That’s not my problem. I’m just an instructor they hired. They pay me, and I train these guys to be able to fight.” Shen Dao said, “But Jiu Ding’s boss is a shrewd and resourceful man. He asked me to tell you if you’d like to become an instructor.”

“Not for now. We’ll talk about it later.” Su Jie wasn’t very interested in that. He just wanted to focus on his studies and improve, and thwart Haoyu’s plot against Minglun Martial Arts Academyl in October.

“You started a club called Dian Dao Martial Arts, right?” Shen Dao asked. “You’re going to Minglun Martial Arts Academy for a competition in October? Liu Long will be there too; the champion’s prize is ten million. But, in the ring, with your current skills, you probably can’t beat Liu Long.”