High Martial: I Grind Professions

"Damn it! The intel was wrong!" the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor roared in a mix of shock and fury as his form was forcibly ripped from the shadows.

Exposed to the terrifying pressure, his eyes filled with absolute horror.

"Fall back!!" The Bone-Eroding Demon Emperor was the first to react.

But the terrifying pressure that locked onto everything made him feel as if he had sunk into a bottomless mire.

His movements became incredibly sluggish.

For the four Demon Emperors, the shift from a world-destroying posture of certain victory to heart-stopping terror and despair happened in a single instant!

Then, the giant, dark-gold finger—representing the birth and death of all things, the return of the universe to ruins—gently descended.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no blinding light.

Only an absolute, utter annihilation!

The first to bear the brunt was the Tiger Emperor. His true form, as massive as a mountain and wreathed in the essence of Geng Metal, offered not a shred of defense.

His Primordial Spirit, which contained a wild and violent power, didn’t even have time to let out a scream.

Under the Law of Annihilation, it was instantly extinguished like a candle in the wind, completely obliterated!

The Tiger Emperor’s giant demon body, now devoid of all life...

...fell as if all its support had been ripped away, plummeting powerlessly and heavily from the sky toward the earth below.

Dead silence!

The entire world fell into a dead silence!

On the faces of the three remaining Demon Emperors, terror instantly morphed into boundless horror and disbelieving stupor.

They had watched with their own eyes as the Tiger Emperor, their peer in power...

...was utterly annihilated—body and soul—by that man’s casual point of a finger, completely unable to resist!

This completely overturned their understanding of reality.

A bone-deep chill instantly froze their souls and their blood.

Their forward charge came to an abrupt halt, replaced by an uncontrollable trembling born from the primal instinct of fear.

And across Blue Star, everyone watching this scene on their screens also fell into a brief, absolute silence.

It was as if someone had hit the pause button on time itself.

The next second.

BOOM—!!!

A cheer more ferocious, more fervent, and more hysterical than any that had come before it...

...erupted like a volcano suppressed for a billion years, sweeping across the entire planet.

"He... he killed it? With one finger?! Changning Saint Venerable killed the most ferocious Demon Emperor with a single finger?!"

Someone, so excited they were babbling incoherently, rubbed their eyes hard, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"The Saint Venerable is invincible!!" Soldiers raised their weapons high, letting out a deafening roar as tears of joy mixed with sweat streamed down their faces.

"I knew it! I knew the Saint Venerable could do it! The Human Race will be victorious!!"

The person who had been roaring with conviction earlier was now flushed red with excitement, their voice hoarse.

"Mommy! The Saint Venerable killed the big monster!"

The little girl’s tears turned to laughter as she clapped her hands, bouncing up and down in her mother’s arms.

"We won... We won! Long live the Saint Venerable!" Countless people wept with joy, embracing each other in celebration.

A Demon Emperor slain with a single finger!

Changning Saint Venerable Li Wen, with this earth-shattering, unimaginable attack, had completely ignited all the passion and faith of Blue Star’s Human Race.

He tore a massive, hopeful rift of light through the world-ending gloom.

Fear was dispelled, leaving only boundless ecstasy and a faith in the Saint Venerable that bordered on worship.

In the sky above, Bone-Eroding and the other two Emperors watched the Tiger Emperor’s corpse fall.

Then they looked back at the figure in green robes standing with his hands behind his back, his aura as deep and vast as the sea.

The fear and despair in their hearts soared to an unprecedented peak.

’This isn’t some stumbling block in our way! This is clearly a world-destroying god of slaughter descended upon the mortal realm!’

It all happened in an instant; the time between Li Wen’s attack and the Tiger Emperor’s demise was but a brief moment.

After killing the Tiger Emperor with one finger, Li Wen had no intention of holding back. He immediately unleashed the All Things Return to Ruins Finger once more.

This time, his target was the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor, who was second in the charge.

Faced with Li Wen’s All Things Return to Ruins Finger again, the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor was scared out of his wits.

The Tiger Emperor’s corpse was still falling through the air, the terrifying aftershocks of the attack still lingering.

He was on par with the Tiger Emperor in strength. If the Tiger Emperor couldn’t block that one attack, neither could he.

’The Human Race’s legacy? The treasures of Blue Star? In the face of the absolute terror of death, it was all bullshit.’

’He just wanted to live!’

The Shadow Claw Demon Emperor let out a strange shriek and, without hesitation, tore open the space before him, desperately trying to escape behind the Demon Realm’s projection.

But how fast was a Primordial Spirit attack?

Where the will went, the attack arrived!

Li Wen’s cold will locked onto him. The phantasmal, dark-gold finger, which seemed capable of shattering eternity and returning the universe to ruin...

...ignored the spatial barrier, striking first despite being launched second. It moved at a speed that transcended time and space, aiming for the center of the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor’s back.

In that moment, the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor felt the space around him was no longer a void, but a swamp of black ice that had been frozen for ten thousand years.

He frantically channeled his Demon Power, twisting the Space Law with his claws, but he was like a behemoth trapped in a mire. Every struggle was immensely difficult, and his speed plummeted.

The shadow of death clung to his spine like a maggot on a bone, cold and instantly growing larger!

"ROAR—!!!" Extreme fear ignited his most primal instincts.

The Shadow Claw Demon Emperor let out a desperate, sky-shattering roar and, without hesitation, began to burn his purest core bloodline.

Demonic blood-flames instantly enveloped his body, and his form expanded rapidly.

He revealed his terrifying true form: an ancient beast that seemed forged from shadows and blades, covered in hideous bone spikes, its claws tearing at the void.

The violent power temporarily broke through some of the spatial restraints. He twisted his body with all his might, trying to block the attack with his hardest back armor.

However, it was too slow.

The dark-gold finger, containing the true meaning of annihilation and ruin, had already gently tapped the center of his massive body.

"NO!!!!" A roar filled with endless fear, unwillingness, and regret exploded from the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor’s twisted maw.

It instantly spread across the entire battlefield, even penetrating space to faintly shake the Demon Realm’s projection.

The roar stopped abruptly.

Like a candle flame whose wick had been snuffed out.

The light in the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor’s huge, brutal, and bloodthirsty eyes receded like a tide, turning from a blazing, ferocious flame to a deathly gray.

On his massive demonic body, all the violent energy fluctuations and burning blood-flames were extinguished in an instant.

His life force was completely severed, his soul utterly annihilated by the terrifying power of that finger of ruin.

This peerless beast, which had rampaged across the Demon Realm and stirred up countless bloody storms, was now like a puppet with its strings cut.

It turned into a cold, rigid corpse and powerlessly followed the Tiger Emperor’s trajectory, plummeting toward the earth below.

「Before screens across the globe.」

First, there was a dead silence, as if time had frozen.

Then, like a volcano that could be contained no longer, a new eruption of sound burst forth.

The billions of people on Blue Star were instantly drowned in a tidal wave of ecstasy!

The cries of "Long live! Long live Venerable Li Wen! Long live the Human Race!" were no longer prayers of hope, but shouts filled with the elation of survival and the worship of a miracle.

Countless people wept tears of joy, embracing one another, their faces streaked with tears.

In the streets, some fell to their knees in excitement, kowtowing piously toward the figure in the sky.

Ye Qin, Xingxuan, and Venerable Gu He were the three closest to the battlefield, and their feelings were the most profound.

An unprecedented light burst from Ye Qin’s eyes. His tightly clenched fists trembled slightly—not from fear, but from extreme excitement and immense relief.

Venerable Xingxuan’s usually placid face was now filled with indescribable shock and awe. She murmured, "The Ninth Layer of Primordial Spirit... to think it’s this powerful!"

Venerable Gu He, who had only recently awakened, had turbid old eyes that were now frighteningly bright.

He stared intently at the two falling Demon Emperor corpses, his chest heaving violently, as if about to expel centuries of pent-up frustration in a single breath:

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! What a magnificent slaughter!"

The scene of Blue Star, faintly visible through the spatial rift behind them, was completely drowned out by the boundless waves of cheering.

...

Unlike the ecstasy on the Human Race’s side...

...the army that had just charged out of the Demon Realm’s projection had the bloodlust, excitement, and greed on their faces instantly doused, as if by a basin of ten-thousand-year-old glacial water.

It all vanished without a trace.

Replaced by unspeakable terror and confusion.

The Demon Kings and Great Demon Kings at the forefront of the charge froze abruptly in midair, as if an invisible hand had seized them by the throat.

Watching the two Demon Emperor corpses fall like trash, they felt as if the two celestial pillars holding up their world had just collapsed.

Fear spread like a plague through the heart of every member of the Demon Race. Their bloodshot, turbid eyes instantly became "crystal clear."

It was a clarity born from being washed clean by death, leaving only the purest fear and despair.

「Deep within the Demon Realm’s projection.」

The Demon Race forces that had not yet fully charged out stopped dead in their tracks, as if paralyzed by a spell.

Screeches of terror and a chaotic stampede erupted instantly. The entire edge of the Demon Realm’s projection descended into massive panic and disorder.

The instantaneous fall of two supreme Demon Emperors had completely shattered all their confidence and will to fight.

"Run!!!"

It is unknown which Demon King was the first to let out a shriek so shrill it was distorted, but the entire Demon Race army collapsed in an instant.

Like an anthill into which a boulder had been thrown, they completely lost all organization.

They scrambled over one another, turning back without any regard for their comrades, desperately trying to retreat behind the projection that now symbolized "safety."

They trampled and shoved each other in the chaos; the scene was both tragic and pathetic.

The moment the Shadow Claw Demon Emperor fell, all the color drained from the faces of the Talisman Emperor and the Bone-Eroding Demon Emperor, leaving only a deathly pallor and unconcealable, soul-crushing terror.

’The dignity of a Demon Realm Emperor? The grand ambition of eradicating the Human Race? None of it was worth a damn in the face of death.’

"Go!" the Talisman Emperor shrieked. The Bone-Eroding Demon Emperor didn’t even have time to speak. The two of them simultaneously erupted with their greatest speed, burning their core blood essence.

They transformed into two streaks of light that tore through space, fleeing for their lives toward the heart of the Demon Realm’s projection without a backward glance, wanting only to escape back to the Demon Realm as quickly as possible.

After killing two Demon Emperors in a row, Li Wen’s eyes remained as cold as an eternal, frozen abyss, showing not the slightest ripple of emotion.

He didn’t even spare a glance for the two priceless Demon Emperor corpses.

With a flicker, space itself seemed to lose all meaning beneath his feet. He took a single step and crossed an immense distance.

He gave chase to the desperately fleeing Talisman Emperor and Bone-Eroding Demon Emperor.

"Since you’ve come, you can all stay behind."