This man was Liu Shi’s son. Su Jie discovered that he was actually an expert—in his breathing, his gait, his presence, and the powerful vitality within his body—he was even above Song Gua.
Su Jie had seen the sons of wealthy men before. The strongest among them was Song Gua from Zhonglong Group, who was himself a soldier king. His physique was already exceptionally powerful, and he had studied various fighting techniques diligently, training hard to achieve remarkable skill, nearly on par with Liu Long.
But in terms of aura alone, he was no match for Liu Shi’s son.
On the surface, Liu Shi’s son showed nothing extraordinary—average build, average appearance, everything moderate.
Not only were his appearance and temperament moderate, but he was also unknown to the outside world. Unlike the Feng family’s Feng Yuxuan and Feng Qiancang, who flaunted themselves everywhere as if afraid the world wouldn’t know of them.
The outside world knew nothing of Liu Shi’s family—not even how many children he had. They were very well protected.
“This is my son, Liu Guan, and my daughter, Liu Xiaoguo,” Liu Shi introduced them to Su Jie.
“Wind moves over the earth—Guan. The ancient kings used this to observe the people and establish teachings.” Su Jie said, “Guan is one of the sixty-four hexagrams of the Book of Changes. The upper trigram is Wind, the lower is Earth. Wind travels over the earth, like an emperor inspecting the four directions. This hexagram is extremely grand and can stabilize one’s destiny—especially fitting for your son. As for Xiaoguo, this hexagram has Thunder above and Mountain below. Thunder rolls over the mountain, warning people. Its judgment says: Xiaoguo, prosperity, perseverance is beneficial. Small matters may be undertaken, but not great ones. The bird’s cry fades away—it is better not to ascend, but to descend. Great fortune. The meaning of Xiaoguo is that when encountering small matters, one must go a little beyond, and then great fortune will follow. In modern terms: the more attention you pay to details, the better your results. Women are naturally attentive to detail and good at discovering small things. Using this hexagram to remind oneself brings great fortune and smooth sailing in all matters. It seems your children’s names were given after careful consideration by a wise person.”
Su Jie knew at once that these two names were far from simple.
Naming a person must be done with great care.
Because a name is the designation that accompanies a person throughout their life. It connects to the real world. Without a name, no one would know who anyone was. With a name, people can be distinguished and categorized.
All achievements, high or low, are remembered only by that name.
Fame is tied to one’s fate.
Although Su Jie was not superstitious, he understood that names had scientific reasoning behind them—they were a form of mass psychology.
Liu Shi’s children’s names were both taken from Book of Changes hexagrams. The son was Guan—Wind over Earth, like a king inspecting the land—grand in scale, commanding a high position, seeing everything clearly below.
The daughter was fine and precise—seeking detail within detail, small within small—great fortune.
Liu Guan, Liu Xiaoguo.
These two names appeared ordinary on the surface, but anyone familiar with the Book of Changes would understand that, combined with Liu Shi’s wealthy family environment, the names were perfectly chosen.
After studying the Book of Changes, Su Jie had also gained some understanding of his own name.
The character “Jie” (劫) — in its grand form, it means formation, existence, decay, and emptiness—the birth and death of the universe itself is also a “jie.” In its small form, it means a person’s minor misfortunes and calamities—also a “jie.”
The character “jie” runs through everything.
Whether the universe, time and space, nations, families, down to the individual—every moment, one passes through a “jie.”
A person’s entire life could also be a “jie.”
Su Jie knew that his name was not just less than ideal—it was greatly inauspicious. It destined him for a life of turbulence, great rises and falls, and if handled poorly, complete ruin.
Perhaps his father, Su Shilin, had given him this name to teach him to master the “jie.”
But mastering the “jie” was incredibly difficult. Even the sages of antiquity, with their great talent and extraordinary wisdom, having seen through past and future, could not escape the “jie.”
This was a path of no return.
By taking this name, Su Jie was destined to be consumed by it.
Nevertheless, he was filled with heroic spirit and determined to fight it.
Hearing Su Jie immediately explain the hidden meaning behind his children’s names, Liu Shi felt a chill of respect. He realized that Su Jie’s study of the Book of Changes was quite profound, capable of perceiving many subtleties.
Liu Shi had thoroughly investigated Su Jie’s background, knowing that he had studied physiognomy and feng shui with Master Ma and Master Luo. But being young, he couldn’t have attained much mastery. Yet now, it seemed this was far from the case.
The longer one stayed with Su Jie, the more one felt his unfathomable depth.
In truth, after stepping into the Living Dead realm, Su Jie’s cerebral cortex had developed, and his learning and memory abilities were ten times that of an ordinary person. Coupled with his youth and strong learning capacity, knowledge that took a typical top student a month to learn, he could completely absorb and master in a single day.
Now was also the age of information. As long as one was willing to study diligently, countless resources were available online.
Su Jie had entered the Living Dead realm in October of the previous year. By now, more than half a year had passed. In that time, he had studied with dedication, accumulating knowledge that was in no way inferior to any postdoctoral researcher—or rather, several postdoctoral researchers combined would not match the depth of his academic research or the breadth of his knowledge base.
“Su Jie, I know you. A long time ago, I saw a short video of you defeating Zhou Chun,” Liu Guan extended his hand to Su Jie. “I also like fighting. I’ve trained since childhood—first at Solomo’s club for three years, then at Blackwater Training Camp. I have some modest experience in combat.”
“This is no modest experience—you’re a true master,” Su Jie said, waving his hand. Liu Guan was Liu Shi’s son—a billionaire’s heir with money, power, and connections. If he loved something and couldn’t achieve excellence, that would be laughable. “If you competed in tournaments, the national championship would be well within your reach. Since Liu Long retired, no one in the country can match you.”
“Mr. Su Jie thinks so highly of me. Would you be willing to give me some guidance?” Liu Guan suggested.
“Certainly. Push-hands competition?” Su Jie asked.
Tai Chi push-hands was the safest form of competition and could test a person’s skill. Having gained experience in this area, Su Jie had gradually come to appreciate it.
“Push-hands can only test skill level—it’s completely different from actual combat ability,” Liu Guan shook his head. “I can’t even push past Master Yang Shu’s disciples, yet I can beat two or three of them in a real fight. If you’re interested, how about we compete with weapons?”
As he spoke, Liu Guan flipped his hand and produced two military-style daggers from somewhere, clearly extremely sharp—tools for killing.
He tossed them, and the daggers flew toward Su Jie.
Su Jie moved his hand slightly, and the daggers were in his grasp.
“You want to compete with daggers? That’s quite dangerous,” he said, slightly surprised.
“I trust in your ability to control the situation,” Liu Guan said. Outwardly calm, he was extremely combative at heart. Seeing a true master made him eager to test himself.
Competing with Tai Chi masters never satisfied him. Only in life-and-death combat could he find room for improvement.
“Alright. Come at me,” Su Jie said. He did not ask Liu Shi’s opinion. He was not Liu Shi’s subordinate, but an invited expert.
Roar!
Liu Guan’s dagger flashed like lightning across the sky, arriving before Su Jie in an instant.
His footwork was like a wolf’s charge, his dagger like a snake’s tongue, his body like a bullet.
With this single move, few could withstand him.
Who would have thought that a rich second-generation heir could possess such skill?
But in that flash, just as the dagger reached Su Jie, Liu Guan’s dagger vanished completely, and a blade was pressed against his throat.
In a single move, Su Jie had knocked the dagger from his hand and subdued him.
Liu Guan felt the coldness at his throat—the fear of having his windpipe slit at any moment. Every hair on his body stood on end. Then he saw a dagger embedded in the carpet—the one Su Jie had knocked away.
In that brief moment of contact, Liu Guan knew that when the daggers had clashed, Su Jie’s force had been both great and skillful, wrenching the dagger away. Victory and defeat were decided.
“Incredible. Truly incredible.” Liu Guan’s admiration was genuine. “This is true technique—not something like Tai Chi push-hands. In a life-or-death fight, Master Yang Shu wouldn’t even last one move against you.”
“Who taught you your dagger skills?” Su Jie asked. Watching Liu Guan’s attack, he noticed that the assassination techniques were very similar to Odell’s dagger techniques. For a moment, Su Jie even suspected that Liu Guan had been taught by Odell himself.
“Master Blackwater,” Liu Guan said. “He is one of the founders of Blackwater Training Camp. Many people don’t know him, but his strength is godlike. I don’t know his real name—he calls himself Master Blackwater. I’ve never seen his real face either—he always wears a pitch-black mask.”
“I’ve never heard of this person,” Su Jie shook his head.
He knew a little about Blackwater Training Camp—it was an old-school mercenary training camp. Compared to it, Typhon Training Camp and Honey Badger Training Camp were juniors.
Blackwater was the elder brother of the mercenary and security world.
But in the last decade, the elder brother had been surpassed. Nevertheless, its foundation was still extremely deep.
Su Jie had never heard of Master Blackwater.
In truth, the dark world was filled with many experts—a level above the internationally known fighters. Just as Odell could instantly defeat any world fighting champion.
Of course, most world fighting champions were trained by him.
Liu Shi quietly watched his son’s exchange with Su Jie, saying nothing—he actually found it quite gratifying.
Having tested Su Jie’s strength, Liu Guan was thoroughly convinced. He was no ordinary man himself, yet Su Jie had defeated him in a single move. From Su Jie, he saw the shadow of Master Blackwater, whom he revered as a god.
Every time he competed with Master Blackwater, this same move would disarm him and end in defeat.
In truth, everyone has a natural reverence for their coach—even Su Jie felt this way about Odell.
“Mr. Su Jie, what would it take for me to reach the realm of the exceptional?” Liu Guan asked.