High Martial: I Grind Professions

In the sky, several flying Demon Kings with wings that blotted out the sun dived repeatedly, spitting venomous fire and corrosive acid.

On the city walls, the soldiers were exhausted. The energy cannons were overloaded, belching black smoke.

A young soldier watched a savage beast’s claw lunge toward his face and closed his eyes in despair.

The excruciating pain he expected never came.

He opened his eyes in astonishment, only to see the ferocious beast’s claw hovering just inches from his face. And then...

Its bloodthirsty eyes instantly lost all their light.

The massive beast’s body, as if a switch had been flipped, crashed to the ground.

He looked around in a daze, horrified to discover that as far as he could see, all the Demon Beasts...

...whether they were rampaging on the ground or soaring through the sky, were like kites with their strings cut.

They all lost their vitality at the same time, plummeting to the ground in droves!

A dead silence fell over the city walls.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Then, a deafening cheer erupted, echoing to the heavens!

...

Outside Molten Iron City, a streak of light tore through the air and slammed onto the city wall. It was the Cloud Dragon King, who had finally arrived.

Sparks of electricity crackled around him, his aura surging. He was ready for a fierce battle to save the desperate situation.

However, what greeted him was a bizarrely silent battlefield.

There were no thunderous war cries, no roars from the Demon Race—only the thick stench of blood and... the ground littered with the corpses of the Demon Race.

The members of the Demon Race, who had been frantically attacking just a second ago, now seemed as if they had all been hit by a mass Petrification Skill.

They were frozen in various attack poses, yet devoid of any sign of life.

The surviving defenders were helping each other up, their faces a mixture of dazed confusion and ecstatic joy at having survived.

The Cloud Dragon King’s gaze instantly locked onto the most conspicuous corpse on the battlefield—that of a Great Demon King.

Its terrifying aura, comparable to that of a King, had already dissipated, leaving only a cold shell.

He recognized its signature jagged bone saber.

"What... What is... What happened?!" The Cloud Dragon King was completely baffled. His mouth hung slightly open as his powerful King-level perception swept across the entire city in an instant.

There were no new energy fluctuations, no traces of a hidden powerhouse having taken action.

It was as if an invisible, immense power that covered the entire battlefield had, in a single instant, precisely annihilated the souls of every member of the Demon Race.

He snapped his head up toward the sky, at the dark, seemingly frozen canopy above.

A name exploded in his mind like a clap of thunder—Li Wen!

’It could only be him!’

’Only Li Wen, the man who refined the Star Core on Blue Star, purged the Demon Race traitors—the number one expert of the Human Race!’

’Only he could possess such inconceivable power, the terrifying might to decide the outcome with a single thought!’

’To wipe out a city’s worth of demons with a single thought... No...’ The Cloud Dragon King’s gaze shifted to the distance.

He could feel the intense energy fluctuations and the soaring demonic auras all across Red Flame Star subsiding at almost the exact same time.

His body trembled slightly from the profound shock.

’It was... with a single thought... that he wiped out every member of the Demon Race on the entire surface of Red Flame Star!’

This realization made the battle-hardened King feel an unprecedented sense of smallness and awe.

The young man from the Human Race who once needed his silent protection from the shadows...

...had now grown into a divine mountain propping up the heavens for the entire Human Race!

On the ruined walls of Molten Iron City, the survivors began to embrace each other and weep.

The cheers gradually merged, eventually becoming a single cry that shook the heavens.

This was not just a cry for their own survival.

It was for the great being who had come from nowhere, who had saved them—and all of Red Flame Star—like a god from the heavens!

Li Wen’s figure did not appear.

He hovered silently beneath the atmosphere of Red Flame Star, his Primordial Spirit’s power extending like invisible tentacles.

It had precisely and ruthlessly completed the spiritual annihilation of every invading member of the Demon Race on the planet’s surface.

To him, it was merely exterminating some insignificant pests.

He had cleared the surface of Red Flame Star of all members of the Demon Race.

The smoke of battle and the stench of blood had not yet dissipated from the planet.

Li Wen’s immense Primordial Spirit power had already swept over the scarred planet like an invisible tide.

The unique energy fluctuations and dense life signatures of the Mercenary Alliance headquarters stood out like a lighthouse in the dark, and he locked onto them instantly.

He raised a hand and casually swiped at the empty space before him.

SHRIIIIIP—

A smooth spatial rift appeared without a sound, its edges shimmering with fine slivers of silver light.

Li Wen took a single step forward and vanished into it.

In the core area of the Mercenary Alliance headquarters, the Fierce Lion Venerable was pacing anxiously in a command room filled with Star Maps.

The calls for help coming from all over Red Flame Star were like death summons.

Every second, warriors were falling and cities were being overrun.

The immense pressure was nearly suffocating him, a Venerable known for his ferocity.

Suddenly, an extremely faint yet unbelievably clear spatial fluctuation emerged without warning less than ten meters behind him.

The moment this fluctuation appeared, the golden fur all over the Fierce Lion Venerable’s body stood on end as if he’d been electrocuted.

His blood ran cold!

The entire Mercenary Alliance headquarters was protected by layer upon layer of spatial jammers, energy shields, physical defenses, and the most advanced warning systems.

Even a Venerable who specialized in the dao of space could never have appeared so silently and precisely right behind him, the supreme commander!

’What does this mean? It means if the other party wanted to kill me, I’d already be a dead man!’

’It means the entire defense system this headquarters prides itself on is completely useless against them!’

"Who’s there?!" The Fierce Lion Venerable spun around, his muscles tensed.

His violent, Venerable Level true energy was about to erupt instinctively, his golden pupils filled with terror and disbelief.

The moment he turned, the spatial rift had already stabilized.

A figure in a simple training uniform stepped out calmly from within.

The newcomer had a youthful face, but his eyes were as deep as an abyss.

His aura was restrained to the absolute limit, yet it seemed to contain a terrifying power capable of tearing the starry sky asunder.

He looked at the Fierce Lion Venerable, who was on high alert with his fur standing on end, and a gentle smile touched his lips.

"Fierce Lion."

The familiar voice, carrying an indescribable, calming power, instantly shattered the fear and hostility rising in the Fierce Lion Venerable’s heart.

"Li... Li Wen?!" The Fierce Lion Venerable’s pupils contracted violently, and then the immense shock was replaced by boundless, ecstatic joy.

His tense body suddenly relaxed, and he let out a long breath as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"You... You’re finally here!"

"I am." Li Wen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the flickering Star Map in the command room, where points of light symbolized the brutal battles raging across the planet.

"Good! That’s great!" The Fierce Lion Venerable took a step forward, so excited he nearly grabbed Li Wen’s shoulders.

His voice trembled with uncontrollable emotion and relief.

"If you hadn’t come, we really wouldn’t have been able to hold on! After the news spread that the Demon Race on Blue Star was completely wiped out,"

"the Demon Race here went crazy! Their attack frequency multiplied several times over. They’ve been launching all-out assaults, completely heedless of the cost!"

"We... We were already preparing to abandon most of the cities again and pull back to our core defensive line!"

He spoke rapidly, his words carrying the light of hope seen after a long period of suppression.

"I’m aware of the situation." Li Wen’s voice was still calm. "The members of the Demon Race on the surface have been cleaned up."

"’On the surface? Cleaned up?’" The Fierce Lion Venerable was taken aback, not immediately understanding what "cleaned up" meant.

"Oh, right!" the Fierce Lion Venerable suddenly remembered and asked, "The Mountain Rain King, Marquis Rongxin, and a few other main commanders are scheduled to return to headquarters soon to report and recuperate. Should I call them over to see you? They’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time!"

"There’s no rush." Li Wen waved his hand, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of rock and into the deep underground of Red Flame Star.

"Let me exterminate this group of underground rats first."

Before his voice had even faded, Li Wen’s figure dissolved into the void like a phantom.

The spatial rift sealed itself shut just as quickly, as if it had never been there.

"’Exterminate the underground...’" The Fierce Lion Venerable stared at the spot where the rift had vanished, subconsciously repeating Li Wen’s words.

Just then, the emergency communicator on his wrist began to vibrate wildly.

Countless top-priority messages from every frontline outpost flooded in at almost the same time.

"Report! All Demon Race members in Molten Iron City... instantly killed! Cause unknown!"

"Red Ridge Mountain Range mines! All Demon Beasts have suddenly collapsed, rigid! No signs of life!"

"Southern Plains agricultural zone! Invading Demon Beasts... wiped out! Completely wiped out!"

"Ling City is secure! The Demon Race... they’re all dead! All of them!"

...

The Fierce Lion Venerable stared at the words "wiped out" and "killed" that instantly flooded his screen—shocking and yet exhilarating.

He thought back to Li Wen’s casual remark: "The members of the Demon Race on the surface have been cleaned up."

An indescribable shock swept through his entire body.

It made even him, a Venerable who had survived countless bloody battles, tremble involuntarily.

’A single thought? Just one thought?’

’Across the entire surface of Red Flame Star, on countless battlefields, every member of the Demon Race—regardless of strength or location—was annihilated at the same time?’

’I thought Li Wen would be strong, strong enough to change the course of the war by himself.’

’But I never dared to imagine he would be this strong—so unfathomably powerful that even gods and demons would flee from him.’

Staring in the direction where the spatial rift had long since vanished, the Fierce Lion Venerable was speechless for a long time.

Only the violent pounding of his heart in his chest spoke of his extreme shock and elation.

...

「Deep beneath the surface of Red Flame Star, in a hidden lair.」

Inside a massive, damp, and cold cavern, a few members of the Demon Race in humanoid form were gathered around a bonfire.

Their auras were formidable; they were all Demon Generals, comparable in power to God-Demons of the Human Race’s Great Sun Realm.

Beside the bonfire, a female God-Demon of the Human Race was tightly bound by runic chains.

Her battle armor was already shattered, revealing large patches of her fair skin.

Her eyes burned with unyielding fury, but even more so with deep despair and humiliation.

Traces of blood stained the corners of her mouth, clear evidence of a fierce struggle and painful torture.

"Heh heh, these God-Demon women of the Human Race really are something else."

A lizard-like member of the Demon Race, covered in scales, flicked out its scarlet tongue and licked its lips.

A lustful and cruel light glinted in its eyes. "Especially the stubborn ones. They’re the most fun to play with!"

"Boss, stop dragging your feet. It’s my turn now, right?" another member of the Demon Race with wild boar tusks said, rubbing its hands together as it approached eagerly.

"What’s the rush? Good things should be savored slowly!"

The leader, a member of the Demon Race with the coldest aura and a face as pale as paper, slowly stood up.

It walked toward the female God-Demon, who struggled and writhed in vain, its withered, foul-smelling fingers...

...reaching greedily for her last remaining, tattered undergarments. "Despair! Struggle! The more your soul suffers, the more nourishment it provides for me..."

Tears mixed with blood rolled from the female God-Demon’s eyes. She bit her lower lip so hard it nearly bled.

Endless grief, indignation, and despair washed over her like an icy tide.

...