High Martial: I Grind Professions

With every swing of his blade, his muscles and bones seemed to hum with satisfaction. Guided by the power of his Primordial Spirit, his vital energy surged like a tide as he strove to perfectly merge multiple layers of force into a single explosive point.

The process was arduous, and the surging vital energy brought intermittent, tearing pain, but he felt unusually exhilarated.

He could clearly feel his understanding of how to layer force deepening. His insight into the very essence of the technique was a significant step clearer than it had been the day before.

Sweat soaked through his training clothes, clinging to his increasingly defined physique.

As an entire afternoon of high-intensity training drew to a close, Li Wen lowered his blade and stood still, his chest heaving violently as he exhaled scorching breaths.

Although a tide of exhaustion washed over him, his eyes shone with an irrepressible light of joy.

With a thought, he summoned the personal panel that only he could see:

[Name: Li Wen]

[Age: 18]

[Realm: Unranked (Level 8.4)]

[Class: Scholar Lv8 (1696 → 1912/12800)]

[Skills: Bladework · Intent Realm (22% → Steadily Improving), Five Luminaries Celestial Rainbow Skill · Five Flowing Rainbow Forms (Shadow-Stealing Form 100%, Overlapping Waves Form 8% → 18%)]

[Cultivation Technique: Splitting Blade Golden Killing Skill (Perfection)]

’18%!’ Staring at the striking figure on his panel—the [Overlapping Waves Form] jumping from 8% to 18%—Li Wen was filled with immense satisfaction.

A 10% increase in a single afternoon was an astonishing speed, far surpassing his initial, fumbling pace when he had just begun learning the technique.

Clearly, the feedback from yesterday’s battle, combined with his strong motivation, had greatly accelerated his comprehension.

’Excellent! If I keep improving at this rate, I should have no problem completely mastering the Overlapping Waves Form before the second provincial mock exam.’

A confident smile touched Li Wen’s lips, and his exhaustion seemed to melt away.

He even began planning his next move. ’Once I’ve solidified my mastery of the Overlapping Waves Form, I’ll still have time to try learning the third form.’

As for which third form to choose, Li Wen had already made up his mind: the [Five Flowing Rainbow Forms · Defensive Form].

It was a technique focused primarily on defense.

He was well-versed in the rules for the skill assessment portion of the second provincial mock exam.

To best cultivate the adaptability of top-tier Martial Artists, the assessment format was completely random every year.

Solo defense, breakout scenarios, simulated combat against Demon Beast hordes, environmental obstacle courses... There were no fixed patterns, which put a Martial Artist’s comprehensive abilities to the ultimate test.

Li Wen’s goal was to place in the top three in the province; he couldn’t afford to leave anything to chance.

He knew that for offense, he had the [Shadow-Stealing Form] and the soon-to-be-mastered [Overlapping Waves Form] as his spearhead.

But when facing intense sieges or specific defensive scenarios, a powerful, defense-oriented combat skill was indispensable.

The [Defensive Form] would perfectly compensate for his current shortcoming of having a strong offense but a relatively weak defense, increasing his overall margin for error and his defensive limits.

As for the other two forms, the [Heaven-Dropping Form] and the [Guan Yue Form], they were certainly powerful. However, considering the highly unpredictable nature of the upcoming mock exam, the [Defensive Form] was undoubtedly the best short-term choice to ensure a more stable overall score.

’Time spent sharpening the axe is never wasted. Offense may be the spear, but how can you last long without a solid shield? I am determined to place in the top three in the second provincial mock exam! The Defensive Form... has to be next on my list.’

Li Wen took a deep breath, fighting spirit burning like fire in his eyes. He planned to enter the Cultivation Technique’s inheritance world to access the jade slip for the [Defensive Form] as soon as he had completely mastered the Overlapping Waves Form.

The soft lights of the Fire Hall’s training area cast down, stretching Li Wen’s determined silhouette into a long shadow.

Gazing at the data on his panel and contemplating the future, his figure resembled a young lion gathering its strength, waiting for the right moment to unleash a power that could shake mountains.

His blade’s Intent had been forged. Though barriers remained on the path ahead, they no longer seemed like insurmountable peaks.

In his mind, the countdown to the second provincial mock exam silently turned to a new page.

...

After an energy-rich dinner fit for a Martial Artist, Li Wen cultivated the > for another two hours in a private Martial Arts Room, pushing his physical body to its absolute limit.

Only when he felt an aching fullness deep within his very cells did he contentedly conclude his training for the day and leave the Bluestone branch of the Fire Hall.

Late at night, the Fire Hall was completely silent.

Li Wen took the exclusive elevator—a symbol of his status as a contracted member—and descended slowly from the 14th-floor training area.

The cold, silver-gray metal walls reflected his perfectly calm face.

Just as the elevator was about to pass the 12th floor, it abruptly slowed to a stop.

DING!

The elevator doors slid open without a sound.

Light from the hallway spilled in, revealing a young man with a neat buzz cut and a posture as straight as a pine tree.

Li Wen looked up, slightly taken aback. A flicker of complex emotion passed through him.

It was Jiang Lingyun.

He was once the chosen one, the prodigy who stood at the pinnacle of all high school students in Bluestone County. The undisputed star of the First Middle School, an existence whom countless peers, including Li Wen himself, could only look up to.

Now, in just a few short months, their positions were worlds apart.

Jiang Lingyun, standing outside the elevator, clearly hadn’t expected to encounter Li Wen at this time and place.

His gaze froze the moment it fell upon Li Wen.

In fact, half a month ago, when the results of the first provincial mock exam were announced and word got out that Li Wen had secured an A-level contract with the Fire Hall, he had immediately looked up information on this rising star from his own county.

After all, someone as proud as him had only managed to obtain a B-level contract.

The fact that a student from Bluestone Third Middle School had managed to get a higher, A-level contract was enough to arouse intense curiosity and scrutiny from him, the former number one.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, that file, combined with Li Wen’s increasingly astonishing accomplishments, had already forced him to acknowledge Li Wen as a rival who had to be taken seriously.

For a few seconds, time seemed to stand still in the space between the sliding elevator doors.

Jiang Lingyun stepped inside just before the doors could automatically close.

The air grew tense. In the confined space, the two young men stood just inches from each other.

Jiang Lingyun dispensed with the pleasantries. His sharp gaze landed on Li Wen as he got straight to the point, his voice laced with a barely perceptible tightness.

"Did you really achieve the Intent Realm?"

Li Wen tilted his head slightly to meet the other’s scrutinizing gaze. The corner of his mouth curved into a faint, almost invisible arc as he nodded calmly.

"Yes."

Even though the news of Li Wen slaying a Demon Beast had caused a huge stir among the high school students of Bluestone County the previous night, and Jiang Lingyun had already been ninety percent sure, the impact of hearing those two words—"Intent Realm"—spoken so calmly by Li Wen himself was on another level entirely.

Intense shock, tangible envy, and a flicker of deeply hidden resentment and frustration churned violently in Jiang Lingyun’s eyes.

He vividly remembered stepping into the Unity Realm at the very beginning of his second year of high school.

For nearly two years, he had poured in an unimaginable amount of effort, trying time and again to break through the profound and elusive threshold of the Intent Realm.

Yet it always felt so close and yet so far, every attempt like smashing against an invisible, unbreakable wall.

And yet, this guy before him—this Li Wen who had only emerged in the last few months...

...the Intent Realm that he had struggled for, that he viewed as a monumental achievement, seemed to have come to Li Wen so... easily? As naturally as breathing?

The stark contrast was like an icy awl piercing deep into Jiang Lingyun’s pride.

A brief silence descended in the elevator, broken only by its faint hum.

Nothing more was said beyond that brief question and answer.

A few seconds later, the elevator arrived smoothly at the underground garage.

DING!

The doors opened again.

Li Wen’s gaze swept over Jiang Lingyun’s face, now lost in a complex silence. Without showing any further emotion, he calmly stepped out first.

He walked with a steady gait toward his silver-gray maglev limousine, waiting in its designated spot.

’A Skill-based Awakened.’ Watching Li Wen’s straight, yet remarkably relaxed, back disappear into the shadows of the garage, Jiang Lingyun clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked.

The intense bitterness in his eyes threatened to erupt, finally resolving into a nearly inaudible murmur filled with utter resentment.