High Martial: I Grind Professions

Remnants of the Blade Intent ravaged the mountain’s interior, triggering deep rumbles and countless hairline fractures.

For this slash, Li Wen hadn’t mobilized the power of his Primordial Spirit and fused it with his Astral Force or physical body. He had relied solely on his own King-level Astral Force cultivation.

He had also drawn upon the true essence of this blade technique, which had just crossed the threshold into the Venerable Level.

Its power had already surpassed the limits of a peak King-level expert, brushing against the might of a threshold Venerable.

Even more terrifying was the "Space-Sundering" true intent it contained.

It endowed the slash with the ability to ignore partial defenses and directly sever space and matter, drastically shortening the attack’s effective range.

Gazing at the earth-shattering effect of his slash, a blazing fire ignited in Li Wen’s eyes.

With a flicker of his body, he arrived in a more open and desolate stretch of the void.

He wanted to test just how powerful his Space-Sunder technique could become when fused with the power of his Primordial Spirit.

The first slash: fusing the power of his Primordial Spirit into his Astral Force!

With a single thought, the vast power of his 7th Layer Primordial Spirit surged like a mighty river, instantly pouring into the Astral Force within his Dantian.

The long blade’s body began to HUM and tremble, erupting in a blinding, purple-gold light. A destructive aura shot toward the heavens!

"Space-Sunder!"

He slashed!

A purple-gold blade light, several times more solid than before and as thick as a dragon, tore through the sky!

Wherever the blade light passed, space tore open like fragile silk, creating a massive gash dozens of yards long and several yards wide.

Turbulent spatial currents raged at the gash’s edges, preventing it from closing for a long time.

The terrifying Blade Intent spread out, carving an unfathomably deep trench into the vast land below.

The might of this attack had clearly reached the Venerable Level!

The second slash: fusing the power of his Primordial Spirit into his entire body!

This time, Li Wen took a deep breath. The immense power of his Primordial Spirit within his sea of consciousness was no longer confined to just his Astral Force.

Instead, like a raging fire, it instantly permeated his limbs, his bones—every single cell of his being.

His muscles, bones, meridians, and Astral Force were all imbued with a power and vitality that surpassed their limits.

The aura around him erupted violently, and an invisible shockwave compressed the very space around him until it warped and twisted.

"Space-Sunder!"

A slash into which he poured his entire essence, energy, and spirit!

The blade’s light was no longer blinding, but had become restrained and profound.

It was as if all its destructive power had been compressed to the absolute limit, condensing at the blade’s edge into a tiny yet terrifyingly heart-stopping point of purple-black light.

As the long blade swung down, that point of light abruptly stretched out!

A fine line—its color beyond description, seemingly capable of swallowing light itself—suddenly appeared, instantly extending to the edge of his vision.

TSSSK—

There was no deafening explosion, only the faintest sound of space being torn apart.

Ahead, a massive spatial fissure nearly a thousand feet long had silently opened!

The fissure was pitch-black and profound, its edges crackling with wild, chaotic energy and purple-black electrical arcs that annihilated everything they touched.

The fissure’s length and depth far surpassed that of the first slash, and its width had reached over a hundred feet!

Through the fissure, one could even glimpse distorted and chaotic spatial turbulence and the unknown, dark void beyond.

The spatial fissure created by this slash persisted for a dozen breaths before slowly mending itself under the self-repairing mechanism of the universe’s Laws.

’Close to a peak Venerable!’ Li Wen thought, retracting his blade. He stood tall, his eyes shining as his heart surged with turbulent emotions.

The instantaneous burst of power from that last slash, where he had fused his Primordial Spirit with his entire body, was infinitely close to the threshold of a peak Venerable.

Though this explosive state consumed an immense amount of energy and couldn’t be sustained, its power was more than enough to become one of his major trump cards.

As he watched the massive spatial fissure slowly vanish before him, he felt the ceaseless power coursing through his body and the nascent, Venerable Level Blade Intent.

Li Wen could clearly feel it: the gates to the once-distant and unattainable realm of the Venerables had now been thrown wide open for him.

He just needed to accumulate enough power to take that final step and complete the ultimate transition in his very state of being.

"A Venerable..."

His low murmur echoed through the desolate void of the Star Domain, carrying with it boundless anticipation and a heavy sense of responsibility.

Li Wen’s gaze pierced through the endless void, as if he could already see the path leading to an even greater summit.

With the birth of this slash, his journey to protect the Human Race had entered an entirely new Chapter.

...

In the core of the thunder region, raging purple lightning and silver serpents, like giant pythons in a frenzied dance, wove together to form a strange space where destruction and creation intertwined.

Li Wen had just finished testing the power of his breakthrough in the "Thunderclap · Space-Sunder" blade technique.

The slash that fused his Primordial Spirit with his entire body, unleashing power approaching the peak Venerable Level, had not even been executed with his full strength.

Yet, the resulting fluctuations in the Laws and the ripples of energy inevitably spread outward, like a boulder thrown into a raging ocean of lightning.

At the edge of this world of thunder, beneath a relatively sparse curtain of lightning...

...a figure with enormous wings, their membranes crackling with fine sparks of lightning, was deep in secluded meditation, resisting the tempering of the thunder while comprehending the Laws.

The violent fluctuation, like an invisible tide, slammed into his perceptive barrier, jolting him from his deep state of comprehension.

"Hm?" The peak Great Demon King’s eyes snapped open. A flicker of doubt crossed his golden, slitted pupils before being replaced by a wave of irrepressible excitement.

As he felt the shockwaves of natural energy emanating from the core region—far surpassing any ordinary thunder—his heart instantly blazed with fervor.

’Such intense Law fluctuations! So pure and yet so violent... Could it be that a worldly treasure, one that aligns with the Law of thunder, has just appeared?’

Recalling the infinite possibilities hidden in the depths of the Star Domain, the thought burned through his mind like wildfire.

He was known as the Thunder Wing King and specialized in the Law of thunder and incredible speed. Cultivating in this thunder region was exceptionally effective for him.

A year ago, he was merely a top-tier Great Demon King; now, he had successfully broken through to the peak level.

If he could obtain a major thunder-attribute treasure, the boost to his power would be immeasurable.

’The heavens are on my side!’ A flash of ecstasy crossed the Thunder Wing King’s face. The enormous wings on his back, covered in fine scales and wreathed in tendrils of electricity, gave a mighty flap.

BOOM!

The air was instantly torn apart with a sonic boom, his figure leaving behind a single afterimage.

He had already transformed into a streak of lightning that tore through space, rocketing toward the source of the fluctuations at an astonishing speed.

His surging Demon Power flared, displaying the powerful aura of a peak Great Demon King.

However, as he delved deeper into the core of the thunder region, his speed inevitably began to slow.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go faster, but the deeper he went, the power of the lightning—falling from the sky and spontaneously erupting from the void—increased exponentially.

Every bolt of purple-black lightning contained destructive power from the Laws.

Even his powerful demonic physique, considered top-tier among the Demon Race, did not dare withstand the bombardment of too many of these lightning bolts at once.

He had to divert more of his Demon Power into a protective shield, carefully weaving between the violent Thunder Serpents as he searched for a relatively safe path.

’Damn it, the lightning here is even more violent than the last time I came!’ the Thunder Wing King cursed inwardly, but the desire for the treasure in his eyes only burned hotter.

One could only imagine how precious a treasure born in such a core, amidst such violent lightning, must be.

He endured the discomfort of his Demon Power being constantly whittled away by the lightning, carefully evading the destructive pillars of thunder as he struggled to approach his target.

A dozen or so minutes later, the Thunder Wing King finally broke through a dense web of lightning.

By the time he reached the edge of the core area—the source of the fluctuations—nearly half of his Demon Power was gone, and his body bore several fresh, charred marks.

He eagerly looked ahead, his sharp demonic eyes instantly piercing through the raging electrical glare.

He locked onto the only figure in the center of the storm: a young human man, standing with a blade in hand, encircled by a faint, silver-gray domain.

It wasn’t the brilliantly glowing treasure he had imagined. It was just a person.

The ecstasy on the Thunder Wing King’s face instantly froze, replaced by the fury of someone who has been made a fool.

He instantly recognized the human—it was the very same human brat he had chased so relentlessly at the edge of this region, the one who had fled in a pathetic state!

"You?!" The Thunder Wing King’s voice boomed like rolling thunder, filled with astonishment and savagery.

Without a second thought, he attributed the intense energy fluctuation to this human having "gotten here first" and snatched the treasure that should have been his.

"It’s you again, you little Human Race brat! I let you get away by a fluke last time, and now you dare show your face here again? You dare covet this king’s fated opportunity?!

Hand over the treasure that just appeared, or I will personally obliterate your soul so that you can never be reborn!"

He roared, the terrifying demonic might of a peak Great Demon King erupting without reservation. It formed a tangible pressure, intended to cow his opponent.

He remembered that just a year ago, this human had been a mere fledgling who had just entered the Domain Realm, utterly helpless against him.

Now, a year later, he himself had advanced to become a peak Great Demon King, his strength having skyrocketed.

’Even if this human brat has made some progress, how strong could he possibly be?’

In the depths of this core region, no Human Race expert could possibly arrive in time to help.

Li Wen slowly turned, his deep eyes calmly meeting the furious gaze of the Thunder Wing King. A barely perceptible smirk seemed to touch the corner of his lips.

"Oh? Is that so," he said, his voice flat and emotionless, as if he were merely confirming some trivial fact.

He had, of course, already recognized this "old friend." Those signature thunder wings and that aura were unmistakable.

A year ago, when he had just comprehended his Blade Dao Domain Realm, he had barely escaped this demon’s clutches with his life.

A year later, his blade techniques had crossed the threshold of the Venerable Level, his Primordial Spirit had reached the 7th Layer, and his combat power could rival a peak Venerable. And now, they met again in the core of the thunder region.

Fate, sometimes, was a funny thing.

In the space of a single year, the tables had completely turned.

Unfortunately, the Thunder Wing King, his mind clouded by greed and fury, was completely oblivious to the terrifying power that lay hidden behind the human’s calm gaze.

He only saw the human’s indifferent attitude as the ultimate sign of contempt.

"Hmph! You court death! Since you’re so stubborn, I’ll be happy to oblige and teach you to know your place!"

The Thunder Wing King roared, his killing intent boiling over.

He wasted no more words. The massive thunder wings on his back gave a violent shudder.

KRA-KOOM!

A blinding flash of lightning erupted from his wings as countless tiny arcs of electricity leaped and converged frantically.

The Thunder Wing King’s figure vanished in an instant.

It wasn’t spatial teleportation, but the result of him pushing the "extreme speed" aspect of the Law of thunder to its absolute limit.

He became a bolt of lightning that tore across the field of vision, his speed far surpassing what it was when he had hunted Li Wen a year ago.