High Martial: I Grind Professions

’Those openings... How did he see them?!’

[Zhou Kai has been eliminated!]

A cold, mechanical voice echoed across the virtual arena.

At the same time, a dense white light surged from Zhou Kai’s dissipating body and flowed into the pillar of light above Li Wen’s head, which displayed his score.

The number instantly skyrocketed! As a top-twenty contestant, half of Zhou Kai’s points was an immense sum.

The number indicating Li Wen’s real-time rank jumped and rolled, shooting up from the bottom. It broke through the top-twenty threshold in one go, stabilizing at 20th place.

"Hiss—!"

Zhou Kai’s elimination was like a ladle of cold water thrown into a sizzling pot of oil.

The furious battle came to a standstill.

Chu Feng forced Wang Shuo back with his spear. For the first time, his stern brows furrowed tightly as his gaze shot over like a bolt of lightning.

"Zhou Kai... was killed by him? That cleanly?"

He had seen footage of Li Wen’s fights and assessed that he had the potential to challenge the top twenty. But to single-handedly kill Zhou Kai, ranked 18th and a master of defensive saber techniques? That should have been impossible.

Elsewhere, astonishment flickered in the beautiful eyes of Nangong Xue, who was wreathed in the light of her sword. The attacks from the ice-crystal longsword in her hand slowed by a beat.

"This Li Wen... he was hiding his strength?!"

She heard her companions gasp beside her as well.

"Yes! A beautiful kill!" Wang Shuo, who had been miserably enduring Chu Feng’s pressure, roared hoarsely when he saw Zhou Kai turn into a flash of white light. It was like a shot of adrenaline; hope rekindled in his eyes.

The spirits of the third-party members, who had been on the verge of despair, were lifted.

The sudden and immense combat power Li Wen had displayed single-handedly pulled back the scales of battle, which had been tipped to the point of collapse.

"WHOA—!"

The public spectator area erupted in an instant.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators witnessed the scene, their shock mixed with excitement.

The students from Bluestone Third Middle School were so excited they leaped to their feet, waving their arms and shouting wildly. Many of them, faces flushed red, declared loudly to everyone around them:

"Look! That’s someone from our Bluestone Third Middle School! Senior Li Wen!!"

Their shared pride echoed to the heavens.

Even in the exclusive space separated by an invisible energy barrier, where representatives of the four major factions and observers from the Hua Country’s top Martial Dao universities were gathered, calm could no longer be maintained.

"What terrifying Insight," a high-ranking deacon of the Fire Hall from Bluestone City couldn’t help but exclaim.

"As expected of a technique-type Awakened whose focus is Insight. To be able to instantly lock onto the flaws in a defensive saber style as refined as Zhou Kai’s, and in such a chaotic melee... It’s simply incredible."

"It’s not just the talent for Insight," an observer from a Martial Dao university, dressed in a military uniform with a sharp sword insignia on his epaulets, added in a deep voice, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"His control over the rhythm of battle, his grasp of timing—that’s what’s truly terrifying. He seized a fleeting opening, launched a chain of attacks, and continued until he broke through the defense for the kill.

That calmness and ruthlessness... it’s not something an ordinary high school student should possess. He’s more like a frontline veteran who’s been through countless life-and-death battles."

Another observer from Kyoto Martial Arts University nodded slightly, his expression serious as he examined the footage of Li Wen on the field.

"Based solely on the burst of combat intelligence and control he’s shown in this fight... he’s undoubtedly worthy of an A+ rating. However..." He changed his tone, adding a note of caution.

"To contend for a higher, S-rank contract, he needs to display more stable and comprehensive potential.

The limitations of a technique-type Awakened are ultimately a problem. We’ll have to wait and see how he performs in the higher-level stages of this competition."

The other observers either nodded or fell into thought, clearly in agreement with this assessment.

On the arena platform, Li Wen didn’t pause for a moment after killing Zhou Kai.

He knew full well that the balance he had briefly established was extremely fragile.

Tapping the ground with his toes, his figure shot out again like a phantom. His target was a nearby third-party teammate who was caught in a bitter fight and about to be eliminated by two members of Chu Feng’s squad.

"Reinforcements!" the besieged student exclaimed, overjoyed.

Li Wen charged into the fray, his saber flashing.

It was another exquisite and lethal ambush. Coordinated with his teammate’s desperate counterattack, the gray-white light of his blade swept out. The two members from Chu Feng’s squad, who had held the absolute advantage and were about to reap some points, were caught off guard and instantly thrown into disarray.

One of them failed to defend in time. Li Wen’s blade grazed his shoulder, and his armor value instantly dropped below the warning line, forcing him into a messy retreat. The other was also pushed back.

The pressure let up in an instant.

Li Wen’s arrival was like a shower of ice-cold rain on a raging fire.

He was fast, his angles of attack were tricky, and every strike aimed for a vital point. He could always precisely interrupt the deadly encirclements that Chu Feng’s and Nangong Xue’s teams were mounting against the third-party members, or use powerful attacks to force opponents back and create breathing room.

Under his high-speed interventions and precise strikes, the third-party force, which had been at an absolute disadvantage and in constant retreat, managed to stabilize its position and even mount several counterattacks.

With Li Wen consciously controlling the flow of battle, the ratio of eliminated members among the three sides began to quietly shift.

While the elites from Chu Feng’s and Nangong Xue’s sides were certainly powerful, their casualties also began to quietly mount under the precise attacks of this "spoiler," Li Wen.

Meanwhile, the third party’s losses were kept within a manageable range, allowing some of their stronger seeds to be preserved. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The battle gradually stabilized into a balance.

Time flowed on amidst this brutal tug-of-war.

The number of figures on the field dwindled.

Finally, a blazing spear shadow, carrying Chu Feng’s signature calm and domineering aura, pierced through another prodigy ranked twelfth in the provincial mock exam. The cost was taking one of Wang Shuo’s desperate, life-or-death blows head-on. At that moment, the entire super-arena suddenly cleared.

Chu Feng’s squad—only Chu Feng himself remained.

Nangong Xue’s squad—only she was left, standing alone with her sword.

Nearby, the white light of a dissipating body marked her latest kill. Seizing an opportunity, she had shattered her final assailant’s defense with a heavy sword strike.

As for the third-party alliance...

Only two people were left on the field.

One was Wang Shuo, covered in blood, his aura weakened, but his eyes still fierce and unyielding.

The other was Li Wen, standing with his saber. Though he bore some signs of battle, his aura was as calm and steady as ever.

He had shockingly become one of the last two survivors of the third party, and his condition was clearly much better than Wang Shuo’s, who had just exhausted himself.

At this moment, above Li Wen’s head, the number representing his real-time rank had already broken into the top three.

Dead silence!

In the vast virtual arena, the hundreds of thousands of spectators, the representatives of the four major factions, the observers from the great Martial Dao universities... all held their breath.

All eyes were focused on the four survivors.

Chu Feng’s spear pointed diagonally at the ground, its dark silver shaft exuding an oppressive aura. His calm gaze swept past Wang Shuo and finally landed on Li Wen, showing a look of genuine seriousness and a hint of inquiry for the first time.

Nangong Xue’s stunning face was pale from the intense battle, tinged with a cold killing intent. The ice-crystal longsword in her hand glinted with a frosty light. Her gaze also paused on the edge of Li Wen’s blade, her expression complex.

Wang Shuo panted heavily, looking at Chu Feng and Nangong Xue opposite him, then glanced at Li Wen, who stood beside him in perfect condition. A mix of tragic heroism and hope welled up in his heart.

He knew he was at the end of his rope, but Li Wen... ’Maybe he can still fight?’ He tightened his grip on his weapon.

Li Wen stood ramrod straight, his expression as calm as still water.

The situation on the field was the result of him intentionally using his superhuman Primordial Spirit perception to guide and control the chaos of the melee. He needed balance, and more than that, he needed a suitable stage.

A brief stalemate.

In that fleeting moment of delicate balance, as the very air seemed to freeze—

BOOM!

Chu Feng moved!

"Go!" A low shout erupted from Chu Feng’s throat as his dark silver spear suddenly burst with a blinding light.

Without any warning, his entire being seemed to merge with his spear, becoming a single unstoppable thrust.

His target—Wang Shuo, one of the two remaining members of the third party.

He was going to use this moment, while his opponents were still catching their breath and Wang Shuo was especially weakened, to eliminate him with a single thunderous strike.

A sharp glint flashed in Nangong Xue’s eyes. At almost the exact same moment Chu Feng moved, she also shot forward like a streak of icy light, her target aimed straight at Li Wen.

She was well aware of the principle "to catch bandits, first catch the king." Right now, Li Wen was the true core threat of the third party.

"Damn it! Bring it on!" Wang Shuo roared, mustering the last of his Source Power to face Chu Feng.