Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

In front of Su Jie, lines of text projections appeared, followed by a selection of scenarios, including apocalyptic crisis, wilderness survival, and ancient dynasties.

Now Su Jie understood.

This virtual combat room was essentially a rudimentary version of the Taixu Illusory Realm. All kinds of environments could be manifested here; the only difference was that one physically entered this space.

"Jos, which one should we choose?" Su Jie asked. "How about we practice a bit?"

"No, no!"

Jos hurriedly waved his hand, his eyes widened, his expression exaggerated: "You have 1.6 life force, and I'm only at 1.1. If we really fight, dealing with me would be like dealing with a three-year-old child."

If he naively agreed, he would surely embarrass himself.

Although losing to Su Jie was not a big deal, he didn't want to engage in a battle that he was sure to lose.

"Jos, you need courage."

Su Jie advised, "To know something is impossible and still to go ahead and do it, that's wisdom. We study martial arts to have the courage to face any difficulty with fiery passion."

"Jos, muster your courage. Don't give up just because my life force is higher than yours."

"This isn't a battle to the death, simply sparring practice."

Jos thought for a moment and said, "Fine, but go easy, I'm afraid I'll break bones if you hit me for real."

"Don't worry, it's just sparring," Su Jie said with a smile. "Which scenario should we pick?"

"Apocalypse," Jos said without hesitation. "I always love playing apocalyptic games, holding a gun feels absolutely fantastic."

"Then apocalypse it is."

Su Jie nodded, guessing that the simulated scenario probably couldn't produce real firearms.

As his words fell, the floor flickered with blue halos, and the white space was replaced by desolate streets with buildings on both sides overgrown with moss and no intact window glass.

Whoosh—

A gust of wind blew, stirring up the dust from the ground, which slowly lifted into the air, as if imbued with an unknown silence and desolation.

Jos looked around and could even hear the creaking of windows, shivering: "This place is just as real as in the Taixu Illusory Realm."

Su Jie walked over to a nearby house and touched the half-open glass door with his hand, feeling the solidity and even the rough texture of the grime, which felt utterly real.

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether this was an illusion or a simulated virtual reality.

"Perhaps this is a part of the Taixu Illusory Realm."

Su Jie speculated, then turned to Jos: "Jos, we are here to spar, not to explore the simulation equipment of this place. Are you ready?"

Watching Su Jie pose in a boxing stance, his legs slightly spread, as steady as Mount Tai, unmoving, his fists clenched tight, simple and plain, yet seemingly capable of endless variations.

Jos danced on the balls of his feet, moving left and right as if he was a loaded spring.

His eyes were sharp like a hungry predator, his fists moved back and forth, and his legs jumped left and right as if employing a hypnotic technique, bewildering Su Jie.

He was waiting for Su Jie to reveal a flaw, which would be his cue to strike.

But Su Jie remained still, as imposing as Mount Tai, with no apparent weakness.

Left with no choice, Jos took the initiative, his right leg lunged forward as if a spring recoiling, propelling his whole body forward.

Within arm's reach, Jos's right fist was like a bullet being chambered, the bending elbow providing the kinetic energy of gunpowder.

"Bang!"

His punch roared out, and before hitting Su Jie, it made a resounding sound with the air.

Feeling the breeze that punch brought with it, just as Jos's fist was about to strike his nose, Su Jie's fists abruptly dropped six inches downward, slipping past Jos's punch.

And then.

Whack!

His fists were like hoes being swung upward.

Jos's straight punch was suddenly pushed upwards.

Jos punched at nothing!

At that moment, Su Jie's fists were just above his head.

It was like an old farmer wielding a large hoe, about to swing down at the ground!

In a daze, Jos seemed to see a god-like figure wielding an ancient and sharp hatchet, ready to cleave through chaos and create the world.

Was this the essence of his fist taken form?

Or the skill of a hypnotist?

Jos wanted to counter, but the instant change happened in a flash, leaving him no time to react.

The fists had already swung down!

In Jos's eyes, the divine ax was chopping down, and his flesh and blood body simply couldn't stop it.

But would Su Jie really injure Jos?

The fists merely passed by Jos's chest, tearing open his shirt, yet not harming a single hair on his skin.

In that brief moment, Jos snapped back to reality and leapt backward to dodge.

"Whew~"

"That scared me to death."

Jos rubbed his cool belly, feeling a lingering fear, and said, "Su Jie, I thought you were going to beat me to death just now. That feeling was as if I was completely unable to dodge, and my heart had already completely given up on escaping, willingly accepting death."

"What's that term from the East, how does it go?"

"Inescapable doom!"

Su Jie laughed at Jos's exaggerated expression, "It's not that exaggerated; you were just scared stiff by me, that's all."

Jos, unconcerned with his ripped shirt, then asked, "Su Jie, what kind of technique was that? Was it the so-called tangible boxing intent from the legends, or was it a technique of a hypnotist?"

Su Jie replied, "There was boxing intent, but with my current vitality, it's impossible for it to coalesce into anything tangible. Instead, I did use some techniques of hypnosis."

When hypnotists hypnotize others, they perform various bodily movements, and when applied to combat, they can affect a person's mind and thus secure victory.

In battles between masters, aside from martial arts, it is the mindset that is compared.

Just like in "Journey to the West," when Sun Wukong fought with Yang Erlang, at first, he didn't fall behind and was even designated by the narrator, "Jingu Bang is a treasure from the sea, transforming and soaring to achieve victory."

But what happened later?

Because Huaguo Mountain was stolen, his mindset collapsed, and he lost the will to fight, until he fled to Guan River Mouth. After he stole Yang Erlang's home, his mentality became balanced once again, and he managed to fight Yang Erlang and the six saints of Meishan all by himself without falling behind.

This shows just how important mindset is in combat.

Jos's vitality was lower than his, and his mindset was already somewhat unstable. Just a little use of hypnotic techniques could make him completely lose his bearings.

Over the next period, Su Jie explained to Jos the application of hypnotic techniques in combat, "Jos, in fact, your stepping technique can also be considered a form of hypnosis, which can be used to confuse others, but for a master, this is well known. The true competition still lies in the mindset."

"Is it about focusing on spiritual cultivation?" Jos asked.

"Though mindset is related to spiritual cultivation, they are not one and the same. After all, even those in deep meditation can have moments of madness," Su Jie shared his perspective.

Jos nodded in agreement, "You're right. Just like those centenarians, their state of mind is very high because they've seen a lot. But if you anger them, they will chase you down and beat you up."

Su Jie looked puzzled, "Have you ever provoked an old person?"

Jos hastily denied it three times in a row.

"Not me!"

"I didn't!"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

But the more Jos denied, the more Su Jie suspected.

"Alright." Faced with Su Jie's inquisitive gaze, Jos sighed helplessly, "My grandfather is just like that, lived over a hundred years. No matter what I did, he would always laugh it off, except for that one day I took his tobacco pipe. His furious look was like an erupting volcano."

"I swear, I never want to experience—"

"That ordeal of being violently kicked in the butt by a boot."

Su Jie laughed, "That translation tone of yours isn't quite authentic, is it?" Enjoying the story? Find more at MV-LEMPYR.

Jos: "..."

The two chatted for a while and then prepared to leave. They walked out of the room, crossed the corridor, and came to the spiral staircase, slowly making their way downstairs.

"Why do you think they don't install an elevator here?" Jos, holding the stair rail, asked curiously.

"In martial arts, you must avoid being impatient for success. Perhaps the Minglun Martial School is trying to cultivate our patience as students. After all, who can become invincible in a year of training?" Su Jie retorted.

But faced with Su Jie's counter-question, the look in Jos's eyes was peculiar.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Su Jie asked.

"Aren't you the one who is invincible in the world?" Jos said with a tinge of envy, "With a talent like yours, anyone who meets you would think of 'impatiently striving for success' until they can no longer see your back and finally regain their composure."

Su Jie's mouth twitched.

This Jos...

Having reached the ground floor, Su Jie greeted the elder, seeking some wisdom.

The elder was kind and chatted with Su Jie about many aspects of life and his views from a lifetime of experiences, teaching Su Jie a great deal and expressing that he would often come for conversation in the future.

This elder was truly just an ordinary man, but his rich life experience made his spirit even higher than that of the average person in deep meditation.

It is just that his body was too aged and had lost the potential for improvement.

Even in this era, when all kinds of food are filled with nutrition and energy, an old body lacks the digestive capacity and ultimately struggles to regain new vitality.

Unless there's spiritual energy.

Unfortunately, Earth's spiritual energy is almost nonexistent.

Luckily, the elder's mindset was excellent, and he didn't mind not being able to cultivate. Thanks to Ming Lun's guidance, the entire Jiangnan City was moving closer to a real state of tranquility.

He, too, enjoyed his current life.

After leaving the eggshell-like building, Jos complained, "That old man is as long-winded as my grandfather. I really don't know how you can listen to him, Su Jie. I can't stay there even for a moment."

Su Jie sighed, "Every elder is a living history."

Jos grimaced, "But I saw on some social media that some old people act disrespectfully and even scam others."

"That is also history. Setting aside their direct actions, we can contemplate why such things occur," Su Jie broadened Jos's horizon, "Ordinary people may think that societal norms are deteriorating, and people's hearts are not as they used to be, or that bad people are getting old. But they don't consider the essence of what's happening."

"What is it?" Jos was curious.

"Their behavior is linked to their experiences during their youth. We can learn about past eras through them," Su Jie said calmly.

"To see the essence through the appearance!"

"Whether it's life or spiritual cultivation, the same principle applies."