In his sparring with Su Shilin, Su Jie experienced just how powerful his father was.
Whether in footwork variations or the precision of his strikes, Su Shilin was truly superior…even with Su Jie’s tremendous progress over the past year, there was still a gap.
Moreover, Su Jie could sense that Su Shilin wasn’t using his full strength…he was fighting with only seventy or eighty percent of his capacity.
Of course, it couldn’t be called playing around either. Against a master like Su Jie, no one could afford to take things lightly. He was no longer the amateur he once was…he was now a peerless figure rarely seen in the world.
When his thirteen strikes failed to land on Su Shilin, Su Jie had already anticipated that as his momentum waned, Su Shilin would seize the opening…this was a matter of vital energy interaction.
It was like water: when water is removed from one area, the surrounding water rushes in to fill the void.
As Su Jie’s energy flagged, Su Shilin’s kick came in…a natural consequence.
Against any other expert, that stroke-of-genius kick would have left no chance for recovery.
But Su Jie was Su Jie.
In the instant the kick reached his abdomen, the muscles on his belly suddenly contracted inward, then shifted left and right…like a fish fin cutting through water, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. With hair’s-breadth precision, he neutralized the force while simultaneously redirecting Su Shilin’s power.
At that moment, the muscles on his stomach had come alive.
They had their own soul, capable of executing profound Tai Chi techniques to dissolve force.
His belly was also a hand…he had reached the realm where his entire body was spiritually connected, and any attack was kept out.
He felt his boxing skill had advanced another level. This was something he had gleaned from Tai Chi push-hands, and after his life-and-death battle with Wen Ting, he had finally comprehended certain truths.
He had succeeded in applying the profound push-hand theory of Tai Chi to actual combat.
Even in ancient times, such individuals were exceedingly rare.
Wen Ting’s mastery of traditional techniques had given him deep inspiration. Every exchange with a true master brought Su Jie significant progress.
At his current level, fighting ordinary opponents offered no room for improvement. Even sparring with the world’s second-ranked fighter, Greenland, would yield little benefit.
Only by crossing hands with other “exceptional” beings could he be sparked to greater heights by their abilities.
Su Shilin hadn’t expected his “certain-kill” kick to be neutralized so effortlessly.
The muscles on Su Jie’s belly had actually “come alive” and executed advanced Tai Chi force-manipulation techniques…truly miraculous.
But this was still far from posing any real threat to Su Shilin.
Su Shilin’s leg suddenly traced an arc, reversing direction and chopping down toward Su Jie’s chest.
His leg was even more agile than his hands…swiveling left and right, standing firm on one leg. Each movement…stomp, arc, chop…flowed naturally, like a spear piercing the heart, a whip cracking, a snake slithering, a python constricting, an axe splitting a mountain.
This variation in legwork revealed his true capabilities.
Swish, swish, swish!
A series of leg techniques, like butterflies dancing through flowers, suddenly chopping down like a heavenly blade cutting through flowing water…making Su Jie feel like there was nowhere to run.
Su Jie’s momentum had now waned; he could only shift from offense to defense.
He concentrated all his power in his footwork and began evading.
His steps combined the Magic Step and the Nine Palaces Great Yu Step…the latter was used by Yu the Great in taming the floods, measuring mountains and rivers, carrying the momentum of harmony between heaven and earth.
The combination of these two footwork styles was what had allowed Su Jie to hold his own against Wen Ting.
Otherwise, he might have been wounded.
At this moment, Su Shilin suddenly accelerated, lunging forward with the tread of dragon and tiger. His arms curved yet were not curved, straight yet not straight…straightness contained within curvature, curvature contained within straightness.
In that single lunge, Su Shilin’s arms wound around, crossing left and right, making it impossible to predict where they would strike.
His body also swayed left and right, like the head of a cobra…in that swaying, he seemed to sprout multiple arms and heads. This was afterimage from the speed of his motion.
In that instant, Su Shilin seemed to have three heads and six arms.
Su Jie had seen this technique in Feng Hengyi as well…but Feng Hengyi’s execution was nowhere near as natural and fluid as Su Shilin’s.
Facing this attack, the only option was to dodge…but there was no longer enough room. Behind Su Jie was the corner of the wall.
The home was very cramped, unsuitable for fighting. A single step could send one crashing into a wall or tripping over furniture.
Yet both had been observing the terrain, calculating meticulously, anticipating all scenarios, avoiding serious damage to the house during their fight.
Especially Su Jie…wherever he was, the surrounding environment would instantly imprint itself on his mind. He could predict countless complex situations, knowing how to use terrain advantages to counter or escape when danger arose.
His computational precision was nearly on par with certain artificial intelligence systems.
Before waiting for Su Shilin at home, he had also analyzed and calculated the home environment…how to maneuver if a fight broke out.
Yet he was still cornered by Su Shilin.
This was because Su Shilin’s assault was too ferocious, leaving Su Jie no time to analyze his surroundings.
Su Jie was human too…under excessive pressure, computational errors would occur.
He was instantly trapped in the corner, with no moves left.
He could only watch as Su Shilin pressed forward, his momentum at its peak, his three-heads-six-arms boxing crashing down.
At this point, the only option was to cover his head and endure the blows, waiting for the opponent’s momentum to wane before counterattacking.
This phenomenon was common in boxing matches…when one fighter drove the opponent into the corner, the cornered fighter would hunker down, cover his head, and weather the storm. If he survived the flurry without being knocked out, he could then counter.
But Su Jie knew he couldn’t just cover his head and endure.
Because this wasn’t a boxing match…it had no rules.
Boxing matches had strict restrictions on where you could strike, and prohibited knees, elbows, and legs…not to mention weapons.
In this situation, Su Shilin could even use daggers, knives, or any weapon. What good would covering his head do?
The only option was a mutually destructive counterattack.
Find the opening in the opponent’s assault and strike with lethal force!
Sure, the opponent could pummel you to death with their fists…but you could kill them too.
And indeed, in that instant, Su Jie spotted a slight opening in Su Shilin’s attack…under his armpit. At that moment, if Su Jie threw himself forward with reckless abandon, he could force a mutually destructive outcome.
In truth, this wasn’t really an opening…no martial arts movement offers absolute defense. There are always openings, like the Great Expansion number: originally fifty, but that “one” is missing, leaving only forty-nine…that is the flaw.
Martial arts is about constantly shifting these flaws in motion, attacking the opponent’s flaws while concealing your own.
But at this moment, Su Jie suppressed his attacking instinct, covered his head, and prepared to endure.
However, the storm of Su Shilin’s attacks never landed. Instead, he withdrew and stood still, gathering his energy.
“Just as I lunged in, you spotted the opening, yet you didn’t attack. In the heat of such intense combat, you could still suppress your instinct…truly remarkable,” Su Shilin said with admiration. “It seems your martial arts have truly developed their own philosophy…that is to say, as your skill has progressed, your humanity hasn’t been eroded. You really have something unique. Even I, in that situation, would have sought the opening to attack, rather than suppressing that urge.”
Su Jie said nothing, simply straightening up.
Su Shilin gestured for him to sit down. “You came home looking for me…there’s something on your mind, isn’t there? That was our first real sparring match, father and son. I’ve seen your caliber now. Given time, you’ll go far. At this point, I have little left to teach you. Follow your core conviction and keep walking…you’ll achieve great things.”
“Dad, I came back today because I need your help dealing with two people.” Su Jie explained the situation with Feng Hengyi and Wen Ting. “I’d struggle to handle either one alone. If they team up against me, I’m dead for sure.”
“Truly, each generation produces its own talents,” Su Shilin sighed. “In our time, there weren’t many experts. Now, with technological advances and much deeper analysis of the body and mind, there are more young people reaching the exceptional realm. Typhon Training Camp truly deserves its reputation as the foremost technological institution. But this matter, you’ll have to resolve yourself. I have something even more important to attend to.”
“What could be more important than this?” Su Jie pressed. “This concerns my sister’s safety. You always tell me not to worry, but I can’t even contact her now…I don’t know if she’s alive or dead. It weighs on my mind every single day.”
“Your sister has become a scientist at Typhon’s artificial intelligence supercomputer laboratory…this is what she’s always wanted to do. Her life’s dream is to build an AI system with human emotions and intelligence. No other group could give her those research conditions. Only within Typhon Training Camp does such an opportunity exist. Don’t you want to see her dream fulfilled?” Su Shilin asked.
“But that’s too dangerous. Typhon Training Camp is no place for good people…countless atrocities in the world can be traced back to them,” Su Jie said.
“Atrocities are atrocities; research is research. Once scientists are inside, Typhon values them highly. You could say your sister is actually safer there…losing a scientist of her caliber can’t be compensated with money. Typhon places great importance on talent.”
“Setting that aside for now…what’s so important, Dad, that it’s more crucial than rescuing my sister?” Su Jie steered the conversation back.