High Martial: I Grind Professions

The migration routes were no longer flanked by desolation and ruins, but by land that was reviving with life.

The government organized strong logistical support and security escorts to ensure the migration proceeded smoothly.

Changning City. Atop its tallest watchtower.

Li Wen stood there quietly, dressed in simple clothes, his aura as contained as an abyss.

He was no longer the sharp-edged Venerable from the heat of battle, but more like a gentle Guardian.

His calm gaze swept over the city below, across streets that were gradually returning to their daily order after the celebrations, yet still brimming with life.

He looked toward the migration columns in the distance, winding their way into the vast world.

He saw face after face.

No longer ashen with despair, but radiant with the glow of hope.

He saw parents reminding their children who were about to travel far to be safe, their eyes filled with reassurance rather than worry.

He saw young couples, hand in hand, planning their lives in their new homes.

He saw the rekindled light of exploration in people’s eyes...

A gentle breeze brushed the hair on his forehead, carrying the faint clamor of the city below and the vitality of the distant wilderness.

An indescribable, profound sense of satisfaction and relief, like a warm current, filled his heart.

All the life-and-death battles, all the painstaking efforts, all the lonely journeys, all the sacrifices made...

In this moment, it all seemed to find its perfect validation.

For these smiles, blooming once more; for the hearth smoke of a land that has regained its peace; for the Human Race to stand tall again.

Everything was worth it.

The corners of Li Wen’s mouth lifted slightly, forming an incredibly warm and resolute smile.

This smile, like the first light of dawn, dispelled the last vestiges of cold and shadow on Blue Star, symbolizing the true rebirth of the Human Race.

...

「September 15, Year 246 of the Galactic Calendar.」

「Changning City.」

Over a month had passed since Li Wen had completely refined Blue Star’s control core and purged the subterranean Demon Race and the shadow traitors.

The Human Race of Blue Star was enjoying long-awaited peace and the hope of vigorous development.

Meanwhile, the Guardian who had brought all this about was seated cross-legged inside a quiet chamber in his private courtyard, its surfaces covered with intricate formation patterns.

The chamber was silent, with only form-less Spiritual Power slowly flowing and converging within.

Li Wen’s eyes were tightly shut. Deep within his sea of consciousness, his Primordial Spirit manifestation stood fifty thousand feet tall, as radiant as a Star Core, and emitted vast, profound fluctuations.

He was not comprehending the Laws, nor was he deducing the Way of the Saber.

He was instead cultivating a technique that had been sealed away deep within the ancient records of the Human Race.

It was a Primordial Spirit Secret Skill that had remained untouched for countless ages: the All Things Return to Ruins Finger.

This Secret Technique was considered one of the pinnacle legacies of the Human Race’s offensive Primordial Spirit arts.

Its cultivation threshold was dauntingly high—the minimum requirement was the eighth level of the Primordial Spirit.

It wasn’t that one couldn’t start without reaching this realm, but that if one’s Primordial Spirit strength and control had not reached that level, forcibly cultivating the technique would, in a light case, damage the Primordial Spirit and cause one’s cultivation realm to fall.

In a severe case, one’s sea of consciousness would collapse, and their soul would scatter and disperse.

Its power far surpassed that of the Shocking God Stab, which Li Wen had previously mastered.

The Shocking God Stab’s strength lay in its incredible penetrating power and superb stealth, like an invisible, fatal, poisoned needle that focused on a single point.

The All Things Return to Ruins Finger, however, was just as its name suggested.

It used supreme Primordial Spirit power to simulate the mighty force of the birth and death of all things, of the universe itself returning to ruin.

It condensed a colossal Primordial Spirit finger imbued with the terrifying will of annihilation and disintegration.

Once the finger was unleashed, it could not only directly annihilate the target’s Primordial Spirit but also throw the surrounding Space Law into chaos.

This formed a small-scale "Return to Ruins" domain, inflicting an indiscriminate, source-level disintegration and destruction upon all matter and energy within its range.

This was a truly devastating, wide-range, Saint Realm Level Primordial Spirit Secret Skill.

Inside the cultivation chamber, Li Wen’s Spiritual Power was pushed to its absolute limit.

Within his sea of consciousness, countless pale golden runes of extreme complexity, formed from pure Primordial Spirit power, were slowly condensing, combining, and assembling.

Each rune carried the ancient Dao rhythm of annihilation, disintegration, and returning to ruin.

The construction process was exceptionally difficult, like trying to build an intricate crystal palace in the middle of a raging sea.

The slightest instability in his Primordial Spirit power would cause the runic structure to vibrate violently.

It seemed as if it could collapse and dissipate at any moment, bringing with it a needle-like stabbing pain in his Primordial Spirit.

Li Wen’s expression remained calm throughout, the powerful control of his eighth-level Primordial Spirit on full display.

His will was like a blade, precisely guiding every wisp of Primordial Spirit power, constantly adjusting and correcting the construction of the runes.

He gradually brought them toward stability, causing them to link together along the profound trajectories described in the Secret Technique.

Time slipped by quietly amidst his absolute concentration.

Li Wen was completely immersed in the grand project of constructing this finger of annihilation.

His Spiritual Power was consumed like a flood bursting through open gates; if not for the profound foundation of his eighth-level Primordial Spirit, he would have been unable to continue long ago.

His brow would sometimes furrow as he endured the backlash from a failed rune construction.

At other times, it would smooth out in delight at the successful formation of a critical node.

With each successful construction, the faint, illusory image of a pale golden, colossal finger deep within his sea of consciousness grew a fraction more solid.

The aura of annihilation it emanated grew increasingly terrifying, to the point that even the space within the quiet chamber seemed to become viscous and fragile.

...

「Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.」

「October 1, Year 246 of the Galactic Calendar.」

The quiet chamber was as before, Li Wen’s figure seemingly merged with his meditation cushion.

After a full month and a half of sleepless, single-minded, arduous cultivation, the first level of the All Things Return to Ruins Finger had finally reached its most critical moment: condensing the finger and giving it form!

Within his sea of consciousness, the scene was horrifying.

The light of his once-brilliant, eighth-level Primordial Spirit manifestation had dimmed, a clear sign of massive exertion.

Before it, a massive, illusory finger perfectly constructed from tens of thousands of pale golden annihilation runes had already taken shape.

Its entire form, stout and dense, shimmered with a destructive, dark-gold luster.

Wherever its tip pointed, spatial ripples were constantly born and extinguished.

It was as if the sea of consciousness itself was about to be devoured and disintegrated by the intent of ’ruin’ contained within the fingertip.

However, the illusory image still lacked a final touch of spiritual essence.

Like a dragon in a painting without its eyes dotted in, it had not fully transformed into a tangible Divine Technique possessing true power of annihilation.

’Condense!’

Li Wen’s will boomed like thunder.

He unreservedly poured all the remaining, vast Primordial Spirit power in his sea of consciousness into the core runes of the colossal, illusory finger.

VMMMMM—!

A grand tremor that only a Primordial Spirit could perceive resounded throughout his sea of consciousness.

His entire Primordial Spirit manifestation trembled from it.

The colossal, illusory finger suddenly erupted with a blinding, dark-gold light.

Countless runes instantly came to life, frantically circulating, collapsing, and condensing.

The space in his sea of consciousness distorted violently, forming what looked like a miniature whirlpool of ruin that frantically devoured all spiritual energy.

’Stabilize!’

Another command echoed in his mind.

Li Wen’s powerful willpower forcibly restrained the frenzied energy collapse.

The intense struggle sent waves of tearing pain through his Primordial Spirit.

But his gaze was as sharp as a blade, locked tightly onto that single point at the core.

BOOOOM—!

A silent, world-sundering boom exploded at the core of his sea of consciousness.

All the light, all the runes, and all the collapsing force converged on a single point in an instant, then abruptly blossomed outward.

A colossal finger—dark-gold all over, as dense as a physical object, its surface flowing with profound Dao patterns of ruin—hovered quietly before the eighth-level Primordial Spirit manifestation.

It was no longer illusory, but emanated a terrifying aura of annihilation that could freeze the very soul.

Wisps of dark-gold lightning snaked across the finger’s body.

Wherever its tip pointed, the space of the sea of consciousness silently annihilated, leaving behind tiny black cracks that refused to heal.

The first level of the All Things Return to Ruins Finger—complete!

The moment the Secret Technique was fully mastered, an indescribable and profound power fed back into him.

Li Wen felt as if his Primordial Spirit had undergone a tempering.

Although its total volume was temporarily diminished from the massive expenditure, its very essence had become more condensed and pure.

His affinity for and control over the Laws of "Annihilation" and "Disintegration" had increased by a large margin.

He could clearly sense the change in his overall strength.

With the mastery of this Saint Realm Level Secret Technique, he had crossed that all-important threshold and stepped into the ordinary Saint Realm.

"It’s done!" Li Wen’s eyes snapped open.

Two dark-gold whirlpools of ruin seemed to flash and vanish within his eyes, and the very air in the quiet chamber seemed to freeze for an instant.

He rose to his feet, feeling the vast power, far greater than before, surging within him.

An irrepressible urge to test its power surged within him.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Wen took a step, his figure instantly blurring.

RIIIP!

Solid space was torn apart as easily as cloth, revealing a deep, dark void passage.

His figure plunged into it and vanished.

The next moment, in the deep space outside Blue Star, a figure tore through space and emerged.

Li Wen’s gaze was like a torch, instantly locking onto the familiar Trial Star in the distant cosmos.

His body flickered, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward his destination at a speed far exceeding anything he had previously achieved.

...

「Trial Star. Surface.」

Desolation, deathly silence, and unyielding rock were the eternal themes here.

The rolling black mountain ranges were like the spines of colossal beasts, unchanging since time immemorial.

Li Wen’s figure abruptly appeared high above a vast black plateau.

He hovered in the void, his gaze sweeping over several towering black peaks below, each thousands of meters high and with a hardness comparable to an ordinary Divine Weapon.

’All Things Return to Ruins Finger, first level... Let’s test your power,’ Li Wen thought, taking a deep breath as his gaze became incredibly focused.

VMM!

Within his sea of consciousness, the colossal, dark-gold finger of ruin was instantly activated.

Vast and majestic Primordial Spirit power was poured into it without reservation.

This time, it was no longer a drill with an illusory image, but a true killing art of the Saint Realm.

’All things... return to ruin!’

As Li Wen recited the words in his mind, he made no hand gestures, merely using his unparalleled will to lock onto the vast area one hundred li in radius below.

BOOOOM—!!!

The world lost its color!

An illusory, colossal, dark-gold finger, one that seemed condensed from the universe’s very will of annihilation, suddenly appeared above the Trial Star, spanning the entire sky.

Its size far surpassed the mountain ranges, blotting out the sky and sun!

An indescribably terrifying pressure instantly descended, shoving aside the Trial Star’s entire atmosphere.

It formed a ring-shaped shockwave, visible to the naked eye, that swept out in all directions.

Upon the colossal finger, dark-gold Dao patterns of ruin flashed wildly.

Countless fine, black spatial cracks spread like a spiderweb around the finger’s body, collapsing and regenerating in an endless cycle.