High Martial: I Grind Professions

With a light tap of his left foot in the void, invisible ripples seemed to spread out beneath it. The instant they expanded, Li Wen’s figure drifted like a willow catkin in the wind, shifting aside by a hair’s breadth. The movement was minimal to the extreme, yet he masterfully dodged the very heart of the claw’s shadow.

As the Roaring Fierce Tiger Demon’s sure-kill strike met empty air, an opening instantly appeared in his lunging form.

Simultaneously, Li Wen’s right hand moved.

He didn’t raise the silver long saber high, merely thrusting it casually upward and to the side.

The blade didn’t slash down. Instead, like a nimble snake, it moved with extreme precision to lightly tap the very tip of the devastating Universe-Sundering Golden Gang descending from above.

TING!

It was the crisp sound of metal striking metal.

With incomprehensible skill, Li Wen’s blade gently guided and deflected the rampaging Metal Element Demon Power that the Lingfeng Peng Demon had poured into the Universe-Sundering Golden Gang.

As if redirecting flowing water, the trajectory of the supposedly unstoppable golden spear of light bizarrely shifted in an instant. Now moving with even greater speed and force, it shot diagonally toward a spot behind Li Wen—

BOOM!!!

—and struck the very core of the Thousand Peak Aegis, the force field the Panyan Turtle Demon was maintaining with all its might.

Caught completely off guard, the dense force field that had firmly locked down the space was viciously pierced by the full-powered Universe-Sundering Golden Gang from its own ally.

"ROAR—!" Panyan let out a heaven-shaking roar of agony.

The runes on its shell flickered wildly before nearly half of them disintegrated in an instant. Its massive body was sent tumbling backward as if struck by a colossal hammer. The earthy-yellow barrier dimmed and fell into chaos, its ability to lock down the space completely gone.

Almost at the very instant Panyan was sent flying, the Dark Pupil Snake Demon’s insidious Soul-Snatching Gaze pierced into Li Wen’s sea of consciousness like a shadow.

A subtle ripple finally appeared in Li Wen’s eyes. It was not pain, but a boundless depth, as profound as the cosmos itself.

Within his sea of consciousness, a faint golden light rippled around the small, seated figure of his Primordial Spirit. A righteous, resilient, and incredibly condensed Blade Intent spontaneously rose, forming an invisible, unyielding wall.

PFFT!

Like a steel needle striking ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice, the insidious Spiritual Power of the Soul-Snatching Gaze hit the barrier of Blade Intent and was silently annihilated, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.

The Dark Pupil Snake Demon felt its gaze slam into an invisible iron wall. The backlash sent a violent tremor through its serpentine body, and for the first time, its cold, vertical pupils revealed a look of utter horror.

’How is this possible! My Soul Attack couldn’t even faze him?’

Meanwhile, Fu Ye’s Spirit Bewitching Heart Poison had already completely enveloped Li Wen.

The all-pervasive pink mist tried to seep into Li Wen’s seven orifices and permeate his skin, seeking to stir his innermost negative emotions and interfere with his control over his power.

However...

The space around Li Wen rippled slightly as an indescribably profound Dao rhythm spread outward.

Upon contact with this invisible Dao rhythm, the mind-bewitching pink mist was like snow hitting boiling oil. It let out a soft SIZZLE as it rapidly dissolved and evaporated.

It couldn’t even get close to him.

The triumphant madness on Fu Ye’s face froze, replaced by utter bewilderment and terror. Its signature bloodline Divine Technique... was useless?!

The five prodigies had unleashed their ultimate killing moves, creating a world-shaking spectacle.

Yet before Li Wen, their attacks were like a child’s clumsy juggling. In a mere instant, with unbelievable composure, he had countered every move, used their own power against them, and even turned their own techniques back on them to neutralize the assault with ease.

The Roaring Fierce Tiger Demon, whose attack had missed; the Peng Demon, struck by his own golden light; Panyan, tumbling backward in retreat; Dark Pupil, spiritually wounded; and Fu Ye, whose Divine Technique was useless...

The fervor and hope on the five demons’ faces shattered, as if doused with ice water. In its place was an irrepressible, bone-deep chill that seemed to seep from the very marrow of their bones.

They finally understood. His composure didn’t stem from some Secret Technique, but from absolute and total mastery over his own strength.

’That speed isn’t from a secret treasure. That Primordial Spirit defense is absurdly powerful. That Dao rhythm around him nullifies all interference... This man can’t be measured by common sense.’

In an instant, despair once again coursed through their every nerve.

Having dealt with the hindrances of confinement and interference, Li Wen’s gaze finally settled.

Profound, silver-purple lightning patterns instantly lit up on the blade, emitting a soft CRACKLE. The primal energy of the world began to gather frantically at the edge of the saber as a terrifying, world-destroying aura rapidly condensed.

"It’s over." His voice was as calm as still water, without a hint of emotion.

The flash of his blade was like purple lightning tearing through the long night.

The first strike, fast enough to break the bounds of time. "Profound Sky: Star Rush."

Its target was the Roaring Fierce Tiger Demon, who was close at hand and whose spirit was broken. The arc of the blade was not a straight line; it sliced in from an impossible angle, leaving no trace of its path.

In the face of that blade-light, which condensed both ultimate speed and piercing power, the formidable demonic body the Tiger Demon was so proud of was as fragile as paper.

Before its massive body could even emit a scream, it was split in two down its central axis. The remains were instantly incinerated by violent lightning-flames, turning to scattered ash.

The second strike. Before the blade even fell, its oppressive might arrived.

"Profound Sky: Thunder Execution!"

It locked onto the Lingfeng Peng Demon, which had just forced itself steady and was attempting to muster another attack.

Before the saber arrived, a colossal phantom blade formed of pure, destructive lightning had already materialized, spanning the sky. It crashed down with the will to pass judgment on all creation.

The power of heaven and earth was being frantically drained, making this strike seem like a punishment delivered by the heavens themselves.

The speed the Lingfeng Peng Demon prided itself on was a joke before this celestial pressure. All it had time for was a piercing, distorted shriek...

...before it was devoured by the colossal blade of lightning. Under the absolute annihilation of energy, its powerful demonic body and magnificent golden wings dissolved inch by inch, like thin ice under a scorching sun.

The third strike...

No, there was no third strike.

When Li Wen’s gaze, as cold as a saber’s edge, swept over the remaining Dark Pupil Snake Demon and Fu Ye Fox Demon, the two demons completely broke down.

’Run! We have to run! At any cost!’