Su Jie sipped his tea, knowing he had dealt a major blow to Feng Hengyi. Judging by Kang Gu’s attitude, it was essentially settled that he would leave Haoyu Sports.
Haoyu Sports relied on Kang Gu to uphold its reputation. Kang Gu’s potential was immense, his mind even purer than Su Jie’s had been back then, and he had clearly trained for much longer than Su Jie. Su Jie had studied with Odell for only a month, but Kang Gu appeared to have trained for at least a year.
This was because Odell believed Kang Gu had the potential to truly reach the peak.
If Su Jie put himself in Odell’s shoes, he too would think Kang Gu had greater research value than anyone else. First, having been deaf-mute since childhood, his inner world…cut off from external contact…would be extraordinarily rich. When God closes a window, He opens a door.
Kang Gu’s congenital deaf-muteness would certainly help him advance further in cultivating psychological quality.
Now that Su Jie had completed his transformation from human to exceptional, he could clearly sense that if Kang Gu continued on this path, his future would be boundless.
“Kang Gu, you can read lips. That’s quite rare…I’ve never actually seen it before,” Liu Long said as he drank tea and chatted with Zhuang Tianyun. He noticed that whatever he said, Kang Gu could read it by watching his lips.
Lip-reading was indeed a real skill, but very few people truly mastered it.
Kang Gu nodded and communicated through sign language.
His hand gestures represented his speech, while lip-reading allowed him to “hear” others…communication was smooth.
However, neither Liu Long nor Su Jie were proficient in sign language.
Though Su Jie was learned, he had never specifically studied sign language.
But he had a special ability…when Kang Gu signed, he could sense the gestures and roughly understand what Kang Gu was trying to express.
“Kang Gu, we want you to switch teams. As for your contract, I’ll take care of it. Don’t stay at Haoyu Sports…they’ll only drag you down,” Liu Long said. “I’ve seen the contract they gave you…the terms are harsh and the pay is low. If you come to the club Su Jie and I run, we’ll give you ten times the salary and complete freedom. The contract is very flexible…we’re about creating a collaborative research environment, not just making you fight for money.”
Liu Long made his pitch.
Knowing what contract Kang Gu had signed gave him confidence. He believed his offer would tempt anyone.
But Kang Gu wasn’t just anyone…he needed someone to convince him.
Now Su Jie had done that.
“Just now, you chose the path of humanity…that’s settled,” Su Jie said. “We can research this together. I have deep knowledge in this area and can share it with you.” He knew what Kang Gu valued most.
People like Kang Gu, like himself, weren’t motivated by money…they cared about the path ahead. On the journey of exploration, cultivation, and evolution, having someone to support, research with, and exchange ideas with was invaluable.
Su Jie lacked such companions too.
At Haoyu Sports, Kang Gu could only explore cultivation alone in silence…Feng Hengyi certainly wouldn’t communicate much with him.
Moreover, Su Jie knew that Feng Hengyi’s system was profoundly solitary…far less rich than his own.
On the path of extinguishing humanity and extracting “divinity,” everything else was irrelevant…only the self existed. I am god; god is me.
This cultivation path was terrifyingly dry and lonely.
The path of “unity between heaven and man,” by contrast, involved perceiving all beings, heaven and earth, everything…flowers blooming and falling, each blade of grass, great rivers, high mountains, vast oceans…all giving one rich emotions.
Su Jie had felt immense joy just playing with the koi for a while, losing himself completely, as if returning to childhood.
In his heart, his feelings for all things hadn’t diminished with deepening cultivation…they had grown richer and more profound.
This was another insight he had just gained.
In truth, before this, he had still harbored doubts.
But now, he was unwavering…convinced his path was the right one.
This shift in his presence, the subtle changes in his heart, was acutely sensed by Kang Gu.
In fact, during their exchange, Kang Gu had also realized they shared the same coach…both had been trained by Odell.
“I agree.”
After hearing Su Jie speak, Kang Gu was silent for a moment, then made a gesture.
He agreed to switch teams and leave Haoyu Sports.
An ordinary fighter would need negotiations, demands for higher pay, internal hesitation, weighing pros and cons.
But Kang Gu was so decisive. His choices were simple…ignoring worldly complications, following his heart directly. If he felt something was worthwhile, nothing could stop him. If it benefited his cultivation and aligned with his path, he would join.
And after being convinced by Su Jie to take the path of “unity between heaven and man”…preserving humanity…he and Feng Hengyi were now on opposite paths: “different paths, no common purpose.”
“That’s great.” Liu Long hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly. He still couldn’t fully grasp the inner worlds of Kang Gu and Su Jie.
He also couldn’t fully understand the gravity of choosing between two cultivation paths…one pursuing “divinity” by abandoning humanity, the other preserving humanity with rich emotions.
How difficult that choice was.
But once Kang Gu chose, he wouldn’t look back.
“Don’t worry about the contract…I’ll take care of it,” Liu Long said. “I’ve brought a new contract. Please sign it, and we’ll make it official. Starting today, you’re a member of Diandao Martial Arts and Dragon Club.”
Liu Long produced a new contract.
Kang Gu didn’t even look at it…he signed immediately.
He was different from Su Jie.
Su Jie would scrutinize every contract, examining every legal detail meticulously. Kang Gu simply trusted Liu Long and Su Jie.
He judged people, not trivialities.
It seemed that aside from cultivation choices, everything else in the world was just a game, a chess match…something that could be restarted at any time.
In his heart, money, status, position, even disputes were meaningless. Even if he faced imprisonment for breaching the contract, he wouldn’t care much.
What he cared about was the path of cultivation.
Su Jie could see that Kang Gu handled life very differently from himself.
Su Jie still valued life’s details, but Kang Gu was completely indifferent.
After signing, Liu Long even filmed Kang Gu signing as evidence…preparing for the legal battle with Haoyu.
In the sports or entertainment industry, such recruitment was simple…normal business practice.
But in the business world, Haoyu only poached others; no one had ever successfully poached from Haoyu Group. Even though Haoyu paid low wages and exploited employees heavily, they always succeeded in keeping them.
This was something of a miracle in business.
The contract was settled in minutes. Liu Long was overjoyed…he could see his Dragon Club had a successor.
After his retirement, the club had maintained momentum for a few years, but as his fame faded, the club would inevitably decline.
With Kang Gu, whose achievements would surely surpass his own, the club could peak again and go even further.
“Next, just deal with Haoyu’s legal challenges, and everything will be perfect,” Liu Long said, patting the newly signed contract.
“We also need to guard against them resorting to murder,” Su Jie said. “Now that Kang Gu has left, the Feng family won’t let it go. This is the first time we’ve successfully poached from Haoyu…and such a heavyweight figure at that. If Haoyu Group doesn’t respond, it’ll basically signal their decline.”
“Haoyu wouldn’t dare do that domestically, would they?” Liu Long said. “I know Haoyu’s reputation. But they seem to be declining lately…pulling many assets out of the country, even selling their most important film and television business to Hedao Group.”
“It’s a scheme.” Su Jie didn’t want to elaborate.
He still had no surefire way to deal with Wen Ting…only the opportunity to wait for him to slip up.
Both sides had been quiet lately, but surely they were preparing their major moves.
For now, Su Jie felt his priority was to break through to the next realm again. That would not only enhance his combat ability but also elevate his spiritual vision…allowing him to see many things more clearly.
“I need to make preparations immediately.” Liu Long stood up with the contract, ready to leave. “I’ll assemble a top legal team to prepare the lawsuit. Su Jie, you should inform Liu Guan about this…I hope he can help too. I’ll give him a portion of the shares, join forces, and grow bigger.”
“No problem,” Su Jie nodded…this was his intention as well. “I’ve already arranged for Lin Tang to connect with Liu Guan with that in mind…unite all forces to accomplish great things.”
Zhuang Tianyun watched these developments without comment. He had no interest in business operations…he just wanted to see how this “miracle” of Su Jie had been forged.
He had thought Kang Gu was an impressive young man. But now seeing Su Jie, he realized there were heavens beyond heavens, people beyond people, mountains beyond mountains.
That someone could reach the Living Dead realm at eighteen…how formidable would they become with time?
“Liu Long, go handle your business, but I’d like to chat more with this young friend Su Jie,” Zhuang Tianyun said. “I noticed your grappling technique when you fought Kang Gu…it seemed to have elements of Uncle Mang’s massage techniques.”
“You know Uncle Mang too?” Su Jie asked.