High Martial: I Grind Professions

At almost the same instant, the two Marquises, Li and Wang, felt a sense of foreboding.

Their powerful Primordial Spirit senses detected an unconcealed, surging wave of violent demonic aura.

"They're here!" Marquis Li's voice was firm and decisive.

"Go!" Marquis Qingyuan barked.

In an instant, the three figures transformed into streaks of multicolored light and burst through the roof.

They raced toward the southeastern city wall at astonishing speed, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek.

When they stood atop the towering alloy city wall, the distant skyline was already shrouded by a thick cloud of demonic miasma.

Seven figures of varying forms, all radiating a terrifying pressure, broke through the clouds. They hovered high in the sky outside the city, exuding a suffocating presence.

The demonic aura crashed against the city's energy shield like a tidal wave, sending ripples across its surface.

The Demon King in the lead was colossal, covered in dark-gold scales with a single horn sprouting from its forehead. Its eyes blazed like molten lava, and its body surged with Demon Power, radiating the immense aura of a Peak Level Marquis.

To its left and right were the Bone Wing Demon King, a giant avian creature whose talons glinted with a cold light,

and a bizarre female Demon King with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake. Their auras were slightly weaker, but both were firmly at the top-tier Marquis Level.

The remaining four Demon Kings were grotesque in appearance; some possessed immense strength, while others were as swift as the wind. Each one had the power of an ordinary Marquis Level.

Seven Demon Kings! One at Peak Level, two at the top tier, and four at the ordinary level!

A force like this was enough to easily obliterate a poorly defended fortress city.

The rushing demonic killing aura, thick with murderous intent, made the very air on the city walls feel viscous and heavy.

The faces of Marquis Qingyuan and the other two grew grim. They felt an unprecedented pressure.

"Seven Demon Kings. We stick to the original plan!" A sharp glint flashed in Marquis Li's eyes, his voice devoid of hesitation.

He knew that they could not retreat now, nor could they show the slightest sign of weakness.

The Demon Race, for their part, clearly had no intention of communicating.

The leading Unihorn Demon King let out a heaven-shaking roar, the sound waves materializing into a physical shockwave that slammed into the city wall's shield.

The battle erupted in an instant!

"Heaven-Sundering Sword Domain, arise!" Marquis Li was the first to attack.

A sword hum resonated between heaven and earth as a hazy, azure sword light suddenly expanded from his position, instantly covering a space several miles in radius.

Within the domain, countless incomparably sharp streams of Sword Qi materialized from thin air. As if alive, they formed a blade storm that viciously tore toward the Seven Demon Kings.

The air shrieked as it was sliced apart.

"SCREEE!" The Bone Wing Demon King let out a sharp cry. Its speed was incredible as it transformed into a blurry, skeletal shadow,

weaving through the dense storm of blades, attempting to bypass Marquis Li and charge directly at Marquis Qingyuan and Marquis Wang in the rear.

It flapped its wings, and countless bone feathers shot out like sharp arrows.

"Qingyuan Realm!" Marquis Qingyuan's white hair fluttered as his hands formed a seal.

A gentle yet incredibly resilient domain power instantly unfurled, cleverly overlapping with Marquis Li's sword domain.

Under the cover of the Qingyuan Realm, space itself seemed to be filled with a strange viscosity.

The Bone Wing Demon King's speed slowed visibly, and the trajectories of the launched Bone Arrow Rain became clear to the naked eye.

"Get the hell out of my way!" Marquis Wang roared. His body suddenly swelled, his skin taking on the metallic sheen of ancient bronze as his muscles bulged like coiling dragons.

He pushed the power of his War God Divine Body to its absolute limit.

He didn't dodge or evade. With his fists carrying the might to shatter mountains and sunder stone, he threw one punch at the dense Bone Arrow Rain and another, wreathed in wind and thunder, straight at the charging Bone Wing Demon King.

Where his fists passed, the air boomed, and the Bone Arrow Rain shattered to pieces.

"HSSS~" The snake woman Demon King let out a chilling hiss. With a flick of her serpentine lower body, she shot forward as fast as lightning, simultaneously spitting out a cloud of dark green poison mist.

Wherever the poison mist passed, the air corroded with a TSSSSS sound, and even the edge of Marquis Li's sword domain was eroded until it grew dim.

The other three ordinary Demon Kings roared and charged at Marquis Wang, attempting to overwhelm the physically formidable Marquis of the Human Race with sheer numbers.

The final top-tier Demon King, the snake woman, coordinated her attack with the Peak Level Unihorn Demon King, both focusing on Marquis Li.

The Unihorn Demon King swiped its massive claws, the attack tearing through space as it struck toward Marquis Li's physical body at the core of the sword domain with crushing force.

Marquis Li swung his sword to parry. The clash of sword and claw produced an earth-shattering BOOM, and the violent shockwave of energy caused the entire section of the city wall to shake violently.

His figure trembled slightly. Although he had blocked the blow, the pressure skyrocketed as he faced the combined assault of two Demon Kings at the top-tier level and above. The operation of his sword domain was clearly suppressed.

Marquis Qingyuan did his utmost to maintain the Qingyuan Realm, trying to weaken the enemy's assault and alleviate the pressure on Marquis Wang and Marquis Li, all while remaining vigilant against various ranged Demon Technique sneak attacks.

Marquis Wang fought three Demon Kings alone. Although he wasn't at a disadvantage for the moment thanks to his formidable physical body and Fist Skill,

and could even force one of the Demon Kings back with his blows, he couldn't quickly finish off his opponents.

Three against seven. The disadvantage in numbers quickly became apparent.

Marquis Li was already showing signs of strain under the pincer attack of the Unihorn Demon King and the snake woman Demon King, the range of his sword domain shrinking.

Marquis Wang was also tied down by three Demon Kings, unable to provide timely support.

Marquis Qingyuan's support was significant, but it couldn't bridge the massive gap in power.

The entire defensive line was forced onto the back foot.

"Requesting backup! Xihu City is under heavy assault by seven Demon Kings, including one Peak Level and two top-tier! Our team of three is in a bitter struggle! Require medium-priority reinforcements!"

Marquis Qingyuan decisively activated the distress beacon, instantly sending the battlefield information and coordinates to the core node of the region—Changning City.

...

「Changning City Stargate Fortress, atop the highest command tower.」

Li Wen stood with his hands behind his back, clad in a dark blue combat uniform. He was poised on the spire of the tower, straight as a javelin.

His gaze was calm as he surveyed the city's skyline, which for now remained peaceful.

The main force of the Demon Race invasion had broken out last night, but Changning, being one of the core fortresses and situated relatively far back, had yet to be attacked.

An invisible pressure hung over the city like a dark cloud.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP—!"

A rapid, piercing alarm suddenly shattered the silence, emanating from the tactical terminal on Li Wen's wrist.

His eyes narrowed. He quickly swiped his finger across the holographic screen, and the information instantly appeared:

Source: Xihu City (Coordinates: XXXX, YYYY)

Priority: Medium

Content: Under heavy assault by Seven Demon Kings, including 1 Peak Level, 2 top-tier. Three friendlies in a bitter struggle, require immediate reinforcements!

Distance: Approx. 2,800 miles

Xihu City!

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Wen's thoughts raced, and his figure instantly blurred.

"BOOM—!"

A low peal of thunder exploded, leaving only a distorted afterimage and faint, dissipating sparks of electricity in his place.

He had already reappeared in the empty sky, over ten kilometers away.

Below him, mountains and rivers flashed past, and before him lay the distant destination.

Without pausing, Li Wen's figure flickered continuously through the void. Each flicker spanned tens, or even hundreds, of kilometers, his speed defying all logic.

In the span of a few breaths, the dark blue figure completely vanished over the horizon of Changning City, becoming a streak of light, nearly invisible to the naked eye, that tore through the sky straight toward Xihu City.

A journey of nearly 2,800 miles was, to him, but a moment away.

Since it was a medium-priority request, he chose not to use his Divine Technique, "Body Transformation into Nine Heavens," for the entire journey.

This Divine Technique, a Body Technique derived from the "Nine Heavens Divine Body," granted him speed that far surpassed his peers and the ability to evade damage, but it came at a great cost. The consumption of energy was immense, and the burden on his physical body was even heavier.

Considering he might need to provide emergency reinforcements multiple times a day during wartime, he had to be meticulous with his energy, ensuring he could maintain his combat effectiveness.

He had to conserve energy where he could, especially for a medium-intensity reinforcement request like this.

Even so, just by flying at his normal high speed, he crossed a distance of several hundred miles in under thirty seconds.

However, just as he was passing over a mountain range, the alert on his wrist communicator suddenly switched from the yellow that indicated "medium" to a glaring, piercing red.

Xihu City's reinforcement request had just been elevated to the highest level of emergency.

'Hm? An urgent request?' Li Wen, streaking through the clouds as a beam of light, instantly noticed the change, and his heart tightened.

'The situation has worsened!'

Without any more hesitation, the True Essence and Primordial Spirit power in his body surged, and he instantly activated "Body Transformation into Nine Heavens."

His figure became indistinct as if it were merging with space itself. Each flicker now crossed an unimaginable distance as his speed soared to its absolute peak.

The air violently compressed, leaving a long, distorted vacuum trail in his wake that boomed with a low rumble of thunder.

'Just hold on. I'm almost there,' he thought, pushing his speed to the very limit.

...

「A few seconds before Li Wen received the urgent request—on the front lines of the Xihu City fortress.」

The three Marquis Level experts, Marquis Qingyuan, Marquis Li, and Marquis Wang, were relying on the defensive fortifications outside the fortress to arduously hold off the attacks of the seven Demon Kings.

Though the pressure was immense, Marquis Qingyuan's "Qingyuan Realm" was deployed, with strands of azure light descending like threads of rain. It continuously weakened the attack power of the Demon Kings while providing a degree of enhancement and protection for Marquis Li and Marquis Wang. The three of them were just barely able to maintain a fragile balance and hold the line.

But all of this was shattered the moment an eighth Demon King appeared and launched a brazen sneak attack.

This Demon King's true form was that of a dark purple scorpion, its carapace gleaming with a sinister, cold light. It seemed to be a master of some profound stealth Secret Technique.

It had been patiently lurking in the shadow of an inconspicuous rock crevice at the edge of the battlefield, its aura so perfectly blended with the stone that even Marquis Qingyuan's Primordial Spirit, which was constantly scanning the area, failed to detect it in time.

Its target was exceptionally clear—Marquis Qingyuan, the one providing crucial support for the trio.

It struck at the precise moment Marquis Qingyuan was focusing all his power on controlling the Qingyuan Realm to block a frontal assault from a massive tortoise demon, his attention simultaneously divided to bolster Marquis Li's defensive light shield.

The lurking Scorpion Demon moved!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a deep purple streak of light, moving at extreme speed. It was like a venomous stinger emerging from the void, silently tearing through the air at the edge of the battlefield.

Its grasp of timing and space was chillingly precise. It chose the subtle, fleeting instant when Marquis Qingyuan was shifting his defenses, when his focus was most divided, and when the True Essence protecting his body wavered for just a fraction of a second.