High Martial: I Grind Professions

Stepping out of the villa district, he walked along the roads within the Source Net branch. The auras of everyone he saw along the way were extraordinary.

Even though Li Wen didn’t deliberately extend his consciousness to probe, he could clearly sense the subtle yet immense energy fluctuations coming from these people with just his Primordial Spirit’s perception and Martial Dao intuition. The weakest among them were at the Saint Realm, and Star Lord Level experts were a dime a dozen.

’The foundation of the Imperial Star’s core district is truly remarkable.’

He observed the environment, a weave of futuristic technology and dense natural energy, while hurrying toward his destination according to the holographic map provided by the Star Pivot.

Soon, a towering pagoda came into view.

Merely standing in the plaza before the tower, Li Wen could clearly feel that the aura of the Time Law it emanated was far denser than that of the Time Tower at the Moluo Empire’s Base Seven.

At the same time, he confirmed through a query on his Star Pivot that the time flow inside this Imperial Star-grade Time Tower could be adjusted to a staggering 200 times the normal rate!

Just as Li Wen landed on the edge of the plaza and was about to walk toward the tower’s entrance,

a few familiar figures happened to walk out from within, preparing to leave.

"Li Wen?!"

The leader, a tall and powerfully built man exuding a golden luster, was none other than Ares Titan.

Beside him was Naraku, whose aura was somewhat gloomy, but whose eyes now held no trace of hostility.

Seeing Li Wen, Ares was stunned for a moment before a hearty smile broke out across his face. He strode forward to greet him. "Li Wen!"

"Ares, Naraku. What a coincidence."

Seeing these two old friends—ones he’d fought into friendship and who had contributed a great deal of martial artist experience points to him in the Ultimate Fighting Arena over the past year—Li Wen also smiled and stopped.

"Ha! You’re not being a very good friend, are you!" Ares slapped Li Wen’s shoulder with a hand as large as a cattail fan.

"You came to the Imperial Star without saying a word? If we hadn’t run into you here, we would’ve never known!"

"Exactly," Naraku chimed in from the side, his tone carrying a hint of friendly complaint, the arrogance from their first meeting long gone. "Are you treating us like strangers?"

Li Wen smiled, shook his head, and explained, "I just settled in less than half a day ago. The original plan was to come to the Time Tower to attempt a breakthrough first, then contact you guys to get together."

"Tsk, still the same old cultivation maniac!" Ares nodded emphatically with an ’I knew it’ expression.

"Alright! Understood! Cultivation comes first. Once you’re out of the Time Tower, you have to contact us. We’ll throw you a proper welcome feast! The fine wine and Star Beast banquets of the Imperial Star are guaranteed to be an eye-opener!"

"No problem. I will," Li Wen readily agreed.

The group stood at the edge of the plaza and exchanged a few more pleasantries, sharing what they had seen on the Imperial Star and their cultivation insights.

It wasn’t until the Star Pivot notified Li Wen that his appointment time had arrived that Ares and the others waved goodbye, agreeing to meet again after he came out of his seclusion.

The moment he stepped into the Imperial Star’s Time Tower, Li Wen felt as if he had been plunged into the core of a vortex within the river of time.

An aura of time so dense it was almost liquefied washed over him. Every wisp of air contained the profound rhythm of the Law.

The space inside the tower was far vaster and more profound than it appeared from the outside.

Countless silver threads of the Time Law moved through the void like living creatures, weaving, intertwining, and flowing.

They formed a dynamic and indescribably magnificent tapestry.

The clarity and affinity of the Law here were far beyond what the trial base could compare to.

Li Wen took a deep breath and took out the Source Net internal badge that had transformed into a Time Token.

With a slight stir of his will, he began to manipulate the time flow within the tower.

20x... 50x... 100x... 120x... 150x... 200x!

The instant the multiplier reached its limit, Li Wen felt everything around him begin to boil.

The torrent of the Time Law became violent and turbulent.

He was certain that an ordinary Cultivator under such a flow rate would have their perception of time instantly washed away, becoming lost or even suffering soul collapse.

However, the passive skill [Eternal Heart] triggered instantly!

A cool, constant power originating from the core of his soul spread throughout his body.

It was like an immortal dam being erected in the middle of a raging temporal storm.

It perfectly insulated him from all negative effects like temporal erosion, mental derangement, and perceptual distortion.

He felt as if he had become an eternal reef in the torrent of time; no matter how the rapids battered him, he remained steadfast and unmovable.

’As expected of the [Eternal Heart]!’ Li Wen marveled internally. This was the source of his confidence to challenge the maximum multiplier.

He immediately activated his Scholar active skill: [Absolute Focus]!

HUM!

The world instantly became incredibly clear, slow, and transparent.

Under the terrifying enhancement of [Absolute Focus]’s +200% comprehension, the violent torrent of Law from the 200x time flow was no longer a chaotic rush.

Instead, it was deconstructed into clear, traceable trajectories of the Law.

Those once-blurry and elusive threads of the Time Law were now revealed before his eyes in minute detail.

The texture of the Law, the flow of energy, the ripples in spacetime... everything became tangible.

Li Wen cleared his mind of all distracting thoughts, his body and soul completely immersed in this ocean of time.

He sat cross-legged, suspended in the center of the tower. His Primordial Spirit’s power was highly condensed, and his consciousness acted like the most precise probe.

Following the trajectories of the Law analyzed by [Absolute Focus], he delved deep into comprehending the true meaning of time—

Flow, acceleration, deceleration, pause, reversal... all sorts of profundities flowed, collided, and merged within his mind.

At 200 times the speed, time flew by madly.

During the eight hundred hours inside the tower (four hours in the outside world), Li Wen’s consciousness underwent a long period of exploration and accumulation.

A brilliant light erupted from his Dantian.

The patterns of the Time Law upon it were becoming clear and complete at an unprecedented rate.

Finally, at a certain critical point!

BOOM!

An formless sound of the Dao that only Li Wen himself could "hear" exploded in the depths of his soul.

It was as if a silver bolt of lightning that pierced through the past and future had split apart chaos itself.

A dazzling silver radiance suddenly erupted from his body.

Countless tiny, tadpole-like silver runes materialized from thin air, joyfully spinning and leaping around him.

Around him, time became both chaotic and orderly—

To his left, an illusory plant made of pure temporal energy completed its entire life cycle—from sprouting, growing, and blooming to withering and decaying—in an instant.

To his right, a rock was infinitely accelerated through its process of erosion by time, going from sharp-edged to smooth and round, then weathering away into nothingness.

Behind him, space warped and light distorted, faintly revealing the phantom of a silver river that flowed ceaselessly through the endless void, exuding a vast and ancient aura.

Li Wen slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he did, the hands of a silver clock seemed to spin rapidly in the depths of his pupils for an instant before vanishing.

At this moment, the world in his eyes had completely changed.

It was no longer composed of simple matter and energy. Innumerable interwoven, flowing silver "threads of time" had been added.

He could "see" the traces of long ages deposited within the floorboards beneath his feet.

He could "see" the cycles of temporal energy contained within the flowing Law patterns on the tower walls.

He could even faintly perceive the weak temporal ripples created by the movements of pedestrians in the plaza outside the tower.

In his eyes, the entire world had gained a completely new dimension!

A joy and understanding originating from the essence of life filled his heart. It was as if he had broken free from an invisible shackle, and his perception of the universe had suddenly become clear.

The bottleneck that had plagued him for so long was finally shattered by the combined force of the 200x temporal torrent and the ultimate comprehension granted by [Absolute Focus]!

"I did it!" A genuine smile touched the corners of Li Wen’s mouth, his voice carrying a subtle trace of excitement and emotion. "The Time Law... I’ve finally achieved initial mastery!"

He could clearly feel that a silver Dao Seed, condensed from the pure Time Law, had formed in his Dantian.

This Dao Seed was the cornerstone for his path to a higher realm.

Feeling the True Essence within him become more active due to his initial mastery of the Law, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. ’Physical Saint Realm, here I come!’

Suppressing the urge to head to the Star Marrow Chamber immediately, Li Wen knew well that his agitated mind, having just had a breakthrough in a Law, was not in an optimal state.

He closed his eyes again and circulated his Heart Method.

Under the 200x time flow, he spent some time completely stabilizing his newfound mastery of the Time Law and calming the surging lake of his mind.

Only when his state was adjusted to a peak of perfect harmony did Li Wen slowly turn the Time Tower’s flow rate back down to 30x.

He took one last look at the treasured place that had helped him achieve his breakthrough, then turned and stepped out of the tower’s doors with steady, resolute steps.