High Martial: I Grind Professions

Just as Li Wen was returning home.

At Torchbearer University, on the rear mountain of Enlightenment Peak.

Venerable Ye Qin was discussing with Venerable Gu He and Venerable Xingxuan how to handle the stabilization of the Core after Li Wen finished refining it.

Suddenly, the special communicator on his wrist emitted an extremely urgent buzz.

He quickly activated the device, and Li Wen’s calm yet world-shaking voice sounded out:

[Senior Brother Ye, the Demon Race and their shadow traitors beneath Blue Star have been completely purged. Wujing Demon Saint has been slain.]

ZZZT—!

Venerable Ye Qin froze as if struck by lightning, his entire body going rigid.

The hand holding the communicator trembled uncontrollably.

His eyes were wide, and the muscles in his face twitched from the immense shock.

"The Demon Race... completely purged?"

He muttered to himself, each word seemingly squeezed through his teeth, filled with incredulous disbelief.

Although the power Li Wen had previously displayed was world-shaking, and although refining the Core signified hope...

The meaning behind the phrase "Demon Race purged" was the ultimate dream that the Human Race of Blue Star had struggled for centuries and sacrificed countless generations to achieve.

It was the deepest gloom that had shrouded the heart of every person on Blue Star, now vanished in a single day.

"The Demon Race... is wiped out?" Venerable Gu He looked equally stunned, his composure lost.

"It actually happened," Venerable Xingxuan, standing to the side, had a look of utter shock and bewilderment.

Ye Qin snapped his head up and took a deep breath, as if trying to suck all the air on Blue Star into his lungs.

His eyes erupted with an unprecedented light, like an exploding star.

That light contained wild joy, excitement, the relief of a burden lifted, and even more, an infinite yearning for the future!

"GOOD! GOOD!! GOOD!!!" he roared three times, his voice booming like a great bell, shaking the clouds and mist on the rear mountain of Enlightenment Peak until they roiled.

He immediately issued an order into the communicator:

"Highest priority! Global announcement!"

"Content of announcement: The Human Race’s Venerable, Li Wen, on August 15, 246, Galactic Calendar, successfully purged all Demon Race strongholds beneath Blue Star,

and personally slew the Demon Saint Wujing! From this day forward, Blue Star is free from the threat of the Demon Race! The Human Race is victorious!!!"

Almost at the same moment Ye Qin gave the order, the official communication network covering every corner of Blue Star—city-wide broadcast systems, public light screens, and even all personal communication devices—was forcibly switched to the highest-priority channel.

A clear, excited official voice, trembling uncontrollably, resounded across the globe.

Whether in a bustling metropolis or a remote outpost, whether awake or asleep.

Every single human being heard, at the exact same moment, the celestial sound that would change their destiny:

[Urgent broadcast! To all of our fellow humans!]

[It is with incomparably激动 and exultant hearts that we announce to all of humanity a historic and great victory!]

[Venerable of the Human Race, Li Wen!]

[Today, August 15, 246, Galactic Calendar,]

[has, with his supreme might, completely purged all hidden Demon Race strongholds beneath Blue Star!]

[And in the great ocean abyss, he personally slew the Demon Race’s Demon Saint—Wujing!]

[Henceforth—]

[Blue Star! Is free from the threat of the Demon Race!]

[The gloom that has shrouded us for hundreds of years has been utterly dispelled!]

[We are victorious!]

[Long live the Human Race! Long live Venerable Li Wen!]

The announcement was repeated three times.

The first time, the entire world seemed to hit pause.

The second time, the dead silence was broken, like a spark igniting dry tinder.

The third time, as the words "We are victorious!" echoed out, the entire Blue Star erupted!

...

「At the same time.」

On the eastern coast, in the giant metropolis of New Sea City, once a heavily fortified bastion against the demon threat.

A young man with disheveled hair and sunken eyes had just finished a grueling 14-hour workday.

He was dragging his exhausted body through his cramped partitioned rental, worrying about the rent reminder on his communicator.

He was one of the people who had been consolidated into New Sea City, barely managing to eke out a living on the fringes of the metropolis after giving it his all. The weight of life was nearly suffocating him.

Suddenly, the massive public light screen on the street outside his window lit up.

The solemn announcement pierced through the thin walls, every word landing like a heavy hammer on his heart.

"...Blue Star! Is free from the threat of the Demon Race!...We are victorious!...A great migration will soon begin again."

He shot his head up, his bloodshot eyes staring intently at the wall, as if trying to see the light screen outside.

The numbness and exhaustion on his face began to crack and fall away, replaced by extreme shock, then ecstatic joy.

Tears streamed down his face like a bursting dam. He didn’t bother to wipe them as he leaped from his bed.

He rushed to the small window and, facing the brightly lit city, screamed himself hoarse:

"We won! We won! There are no more demons!!"

His voice was raspy, yet it was filled with a hope and strength he had never felt before.

From the next room came similar long-suppressed cries and cheers.

At this moment, a warm current seemed to have been injected into this cold jungle of steel.

...

In the northern wilderness, deep within a solemn martyrs’ cemetery.

A woman in a military uniform knelt quietly before a tombstone engraved with multiple names.

The wind and frost had carved deep lines into her face, and her eyes were as still as a pool of stagnant water.

Her parents, her husband, and her young child had all died in a surprise attack by the subterranean Demon Race.

On this day every year, she would come here to silently pour out her endless longing and bone-deep hatred.

The sound of the broadcast abruptly shattered the cemetery’s silence.

When the words "purged," "Wujing slain," and "free from the threat of the Demon Race" clearly reached her ears, the woman’s body shook violently.

She snapped her head up, her cloudy eyes staring fixedly at the tombstone, as if to confirm she wasn’t dreaming.

She tremblingly reached out, stroking the cold names on the tombstone again and again, her fingertips tracing over every character she so deeply loved.

Finally, the grief and elation that had been suppressed for so long erupted like a volcano!

"Dad! Mom! Ah Qiang! Nannan! Did you hear that?!"

She collapsed onto the cold tombstone, wailing, no longer a desperate lament but a roar of release and consolation.

"They’re gone! They’re all gone! Venerable Li Wen... Venerable Li Wen has avenged us! You can rest in peace now! Rest in peace...!"

Her tears mixed with the dirt, soaking the earth beneath the tombstone.

The wind, too, seemed to grow gentle, sweeping away the heavy gloom that had accumulated for so many years.

...

In the western Gobi Desert, at a lone border outpost.

The signal was intermittent, but the highest-priority announcement still stubbornly came through.

The young sentry who heard the news was stunned at first, then he bolted to the top of the watchtower and, with all his might, rang the alarm bell reserved for the highest-level alerts.

The piercing ring shattered the Gobi’s silence.

"Brothers! Get up! Get up and listen to the broadcast!" he yelled into the communicator, his voice distorted with excitement.

Soon, all the off-duty soldiers were roused and gathered in the small communications room.

When the broadcast came through clearly again, confirming the dreamlike news, the small outpost instantly exploded.

Helmets were tossed into the air, and weapons were slammed onto the ground with a clang.

The normally stoic and silent men embraced each other excitedly, thumping each other on the chest and letting out wolf-like howls of celebration.

Someone rushed to a lookout post and, facing the empty desert, facing the distant horizon they once had to watch with constant vigilance, screamed at the top of their lungs:

"To hell with you, you bastards! We won!!"

Tears mixed with sand and wind streamed freely down their dark faces—the most cathartic release after having a mountain of weight lifted from their shoulders.

...

Changning City, the city that became famous because of Li Wen and had shouldered so much pain and hope, was the first to be completely drowned in elation.

On the streets, people poured out of their homes like a tidal wave. Strangers embraced, weeping with joy.

Firecrackers and fireworks vied for attention in the night sky, illuminating the city as if it were day.

The blare of car horns, the cheers of the people, and the sound of singing converged into a deafening wave of sound that battered every inch of space.

The slogan "Long live the Human Race! Long live Venerable Li Wen!" echoed to the heavens.

Li Manor, in particular, became the absolute center of the celebration.

The area inside and outside the manor was already packed so tightly with a spontaneous crowd that not even a drop of water could pass.

People waved makeshift flags, with words like "Li Wen," "Guardian God," and "Light of the Human Race" written on them.

When Li Hong and Wang Juan appeared at the manor gate and waved to the crowd, it triggered a tsunami of cheers and blessings.

Countless gazes of gratitude were cast upon them, this ordinary couple who had raised the hero that changed the destiny of humanity.

The ecstatic mood spread like wildfire, from Changning to every city and every wilderness.

Whether in the bustling city squares or the clearings of remote settlements.

Whether they were soldiers at frontline bases or scholars in laboratories.

All human beings, regardless of race, region, or status, were united in heart at this moment.

It is unknown who was the first to shout that name:

"Li Wen—!"

Then, a second, a tenth, a hundredth, ten million, hundreds of millions of calls merged together.

They formed the most unified, most resounding, most reverent and grateful cry ever uttered by humanity, like the mightiest tide in a sea of stars:

"LI—WEN—!"

"LI—WEN—!!"

"LI—WEN—!!!"

This voice pierced the clouds, resounded in every corner of Blue Star, and even seemed to travel into the deep, starry cosmos.

This was the highest tribute to a hero who had saved his race and ended an age of darkness.

This was the great bell tolling the dawn of a new era!

...

「Several days later,」

Blue Star once again began a great population migration.

The migration that once symbolized danger and isolation now held a completely different meaning.

There were no blaring air-raid sirens, no tense and oppressive atmosphere.

Processions of migrants set out once again, their destinations no longer the crowded fortress cities.

Instead, it was the settlements that had once been abandoned.

People carried simple luggage, with their families in tow, their faces no longer numb with fear.

In its place were excitement, anticipation, and an infinite yearning for the life to come.

Children ran and played among the procession, their laughter crisp and clear.

The elderly gazed at the distant lands they had once not dared to tread, tears shimmering in their eyes.