High Martial: I Grind Professions

The will projections of the three Demon Emperors dissipated, while their physical bodies tore through space, rushing toward the Celestial Fox Palace.

...

In the territory of the Human Race, on Blue Star, at the rear mountain of Enlightenment Peak, Xinhuo University.

The tea in the pavilion had long since gone cold. Ye Qin and Venerable Xingxuan stood shoulder to shoulder, the leisurely mood for sipping tea completely gone.

Their gazes were locked firmly on the sky above.

The projection of the Demon Realm had once been like a distant mirage.

Now, it was solidifying and expanding at an unprecedented rate, pressing down with an unstoppable momentum.

The scenery within the projection was no longer a blurry outline.

Towering, malevolent demon mountains; rivers flowing with lava; the dense, ant-like swarms of Demon Race figures...

All of it grew clearer and clearer, to the point where they could faintly sense the savage demonic energy emanating from within.

The vast shadow, like an ever-expanding, dark-red bowl, descended upon Blue Star, devouring the afternoon sun inch by inch.

"Senior Brother Ye..." Venerable Xingxuan’s voice carried a barely perceptible tremble.

Gazing at the terrifying projection, so close it felt as if it would come crashing down at any moment, she asked, "Junior Brother Li... can he really do this?"

The oppressive presence from the projection made even a Venerable like her feel her very soul tremble, leaving her almost breathless.

Venerable Ye Qin’s face was grim as iron, the worry in his eyes equally unconcealable.

But he straightened his back, his tone resolute and filled with unshakeable conviction. "He’ll win! Junior Brother Li will definitely win!"

He left the second part unsaid—the words that weighed heavily on both their hearts: the Human Race had nowhere left to retreat.

In this battle, victory was the only path to survival!

Defeat meant eternal damnation!

...

「Galactic Calendar, Year 247, January 21st, High Noon.」

It should have been a bright, warm, and sunny time of day.

On the streets of Changning City, children chased each other playfully in the squares, elders chatted over games of chess in the parks, and office workers enjoyed their brief lunch breaks.

Suddenly!

Without any warning, the sky abruptly darkened!

It was as if an invisible giant hand had snuffed out the sun in an instant.

The brilliant daylight was stripped away in a flash, as if the deepest night had suddenly fallen—only far more oppressive.

It was the crimson light of the Demon Realm projection that had replaced the daylight, blanketing the entire sky.

"WAAAH—!" In the square, a little girl building a sandcastle was so frightened by the sudden cataclysm and the suffocatingly vast, dark-red shadow overhead—a shadow that looked as if it would crush the city—that she burst into tears, her small shovel falling to the ground.

In the park, an old man’s fingers, poised to place a chess piece, froze in mid-air.

His cloudy eyes reflected the roiling projection, with its clearly visible demonic mountain ranges and innumerable, writhing fiendish silhouettes.

The chess piece fell with a CLATTER, dropping from the board and rolling onto the ground. He was completely oblivious, his lips trembling as he stammered, "The... the sky... it’s falling..."

Before the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of an office building, professionals holding coffee mugs stared dumbfounded at the scene outside. Cups slipped from their hands and fell, splashing brown liquid across the floor.

Some instinctively covered their mouths, letting out horrified whimpers.

The internet instantly exploded as panic spread like a plague:

"Is this the end of the world? The sky... what’s covering the sky?!"

"It’s the Demon Race! The projection! That huge projection is coming down! It’s so close!"

"We’re finished! We’re really finished this time! A projection this huge is a hundred, a thousand times more terrifying than the last one! The Demon Race inside is about to pour out!"

"Mommy, I’m scared..."

"Run! Where can we hide?!"

The people of Blue Star, who had just managed to rebuild a peaceful life in the dawn of victory brought by Li Wen, once again had their hearts seized by boundless terror.

An air of despair permeated every corner of the cities, the wilderness, and the oceans.

A planet that had just regained its vitality was instantly plunged into a shroud of panic.

Just then, a steady, resonant voice carrying a strangely soothing power broadcast through a global system, instantly reaching every corner and suppressing the clamor of panic:

"People of Blue Star, this is Ye Qin! Do not panic! Remain calm!"

The voice had a powerful, penetrating quality, reaching the ears of every terrified person with absolute clarity.

"This sight blanketing the sky is not the harbinger of disaster! It is the Demon Realm’s final act of madness, the very gateway to their doom! And we, the Human Race, have long been prepared!"

"Changning Saint Venerable—Li Wen!" Ye Qin’s voice suddenly rose, filled with immense reverence and confidence.

"He saw through the Demon Race’s plot long ago! The situation today is exactly as the Saint Venerable intended! Only by allowing this Demon Realm projection to fully materialize,

can the Saint Venerable shatter its foundation in one fell swoop, utterly destroying the Four Emperors of the Demon Realm and all their minions right here!"

"The Saint Venerable’s power is boundless! He purged the Demon Race from the stars of Blue Star, Chiyan, Cangwu, and Bingpo, and he sealed the Star Gates! How could such monumental feats be stopped by a mere projection of the Demon Realm?

The Saint Venerable protects the very land beneath our feet! The sky above our heads, he can support with a single hand!"

"Believe in the Saint Venerable! Believe in the power of the Human Race! This is not the end, but the final battle for our race to end a thousand years of war and welcome an era of eternal peace—the War for the Dawn!"

"My fellow humans, clench your fists, stand tall! And with me—"

Ye Qin’s voice boomed like a great bell, filled with a fiery battle spirit and absolute confidence, echoing through the heavens:

"Shout: The Human Race will be victorious!"

As his voice faded, a brief silence was followed by a response like a landslide and a tsunami.

The little girl, who had been slumped on the ground crying, was held tightly in her mother’s embrace.

Though her hands were trembling, her voice was incredibly firm. "Don’t be afraid, sweetie. Look, the Changning Saint Venerable will protect us!"