High Martial: I Grind Professions

The bottleneck of the first level of the Primordial Spirit—broken!

Level two of the Primordial Spirit!

An unprecedented sense of clarity and power flooded Li Wen’s entire spiritual world.

His consciousness grew sharper, and his thought speed seemed to leap to a whole new level. His perception of the world around him became clearer and more refined.

It was as if a light veil over his mind had been lifted even higher, revealing the world’s truth and details with greater clarity.

But this vast torrent of Spiritual Power didn’t stop there.

After pushing the Primordial Spirit through its breakthrough, the remaining power continued to surge. It nourished the jade-like Primordial Spirit, making it more solid and robust, while also constantly expanding the boundaries of his entire sea of consciousness.

His sea of consciousness, once a small pond, was now expanding into a lake.

A full few minutes passed before this immense spiritual influx from his class upgrade finally began to subside.

Silence returned to the private Martial Arts Room, broken only by Li Wen’s own slightly ragged breathing.

Li Wen eagerly opened his eyes. In the depths of his dark pupils, a divine light seemed to flash and vanish.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and immediately began to test the practical benefits of his Primordial Spirit’s breakthrough.

First up: detection range.

With a single thought, his Primordial Spirit power spread out silently in all directions.

With a detailed scan, his consciousness instantly swept over every corner of the Martial Arts Room.

The faint electrical currents in the walls’ energy conduits, the shape of individual dust particles on the floor, the most subtle vibrations in the air... everything was rendered in minute detail.

The range instantly expanded from its original several dozen meters to an astonishing two hundred meters.

The entire core area of the fourteenth floor was now within his perception; he could sense its structure without needing to look.

For a rough scan, his Primordial Spirit power extended even further. Like invisible tendrils, it passed through the thick alloy walls of the Fire Hall and spread out over the surrounding city blocks.

He could sense the hurried pedestrians on the street, hear the faint shouts from a distant martial arts dojo, and perceive the ambient noise from further out like a blurry backdrop. The range itself had skyrocketed from over 500 meters to nearly 2.5 kilometers.

The entire Bluestone Branch of the Fire Hall, as well as a large surrounding area, was within his blurry perceptual range.

’Two hundred meters for detailed scans, and a two-and-a-half-kilometer range for general perception.’ A sharp light glinted in Li Wen’s eyes.

’This improved detection ability will be a massive advantage in both combat and for early warnings.’

Having tested his detection range, Li Wen’s gaze immediately turned to the high-strength alloy pillar in the corner of the Martial Arts Room, an object specifically designed for testing explosive power limits.

The pillar was incredibly valuable—one of the exclusive pieces of training equipment the Fire Hall had provided him after he signed his contract—and was exceptionally sturdy.

’Time to see just how much my explosive physical power has increased when enhanced by my Primordial Spirit.’

With no fancy moves, Li Wen stood before the alloy pillar. With a flick of his wrist, using only his raw physical strength combined with a basic blade technique, he slashed!

CLANG!

Sparks flew everywhere!

Only a shallow white mark was left on the hard surface of the alloy pillar.

"A normal burst. Baseline established," Li Wen muttered to himself.

The next moment, his eyes narrowed. He mobilized his Primordial Spirit power, instantly merging it with the surging qi and blood within his body.

HUM! The muscles in the arm holding his blade tensed abruptly. Veins bulged slightly beneath his skin as a sense of power far beyond the ordinary flooded his body.

"Slash!" It was still just a basic blade technique.

SHREEE!

The sound of the blade cutting through the air was completely different this time.

An incredibly condensed blade glow flashed for an instant before viciously striking the alloy pillar.

SKREEECH! It was a piercing, tearing sound.

A gash several inches deep had been violently carved into the alloy pillar.

The surface of the cut was smooth! This was the pure destructive force of his instantaneously amplified strength.

’Merging it with my qi and blood... an increase of about five times.’ Li Wen’s gaze was sharp as he made the instant assessment.

This was a huge leap from the three-fold increase he’d had at the first level of his Primordial Spirit.

’And this isn’t even the limit!’

Li Wen took a deep breath. His gaze became incredibly focused, as if a searing light now burned within his eyes.

He mobilized the vaster, purer power of his second-level Primordial Spirit. This time, he didn’t just merge it with his qi and blood. Instead, he unleashed it with his full might, completely fusing it with his flesh and blood, his bones and sinews—with every single cell in his body.

An invisible, terrifying pressure erupted from his body, and the very air within the Martial Arts Room seemed to freeze for an instant.

His muscles began to tremble, humming under the strain of the immense power.

"SLASH!!!"

This time, his roar was accompanied by a grayish-white streak of light—impossibly fast, impossibly condensed, and sharp beyond description. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

SSSK! There was no piercing sound of impact.

Only the soft whisper of a hot knife slicing through butter.

The high-strength alloy pillar—a pillar he would have originally needed to channel the power of heaven and earth to even hope to break—was sliced cleanly in two, right down the middle. The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror.

The top half of the pillar slid slowly along the perfect cut before crashing to the ground.

’Ten times!’ Li Wen let out a long breath, his eyes filled with irrepressible joy and shock.

’Fusing my Primordial Spirit power with my entire body for a burst increases my power... by ten times! I can maintain it for... about seven or eight seconds! The duration of the qi-and-blood fusion state has also increased to nearly a minute!’

’This isn’t just a multiplier for my combat strength; it’s a trump card for saving my life and turning the tide of battle.’

Beyond the terrifying boost to his explosive power, Li Wen could clearly sense that the jade-like Primordial Spirit sitting in his sea of consciousness had become more solid and stable. Its functions were smoother and more effortless.

This meant his core divine skill, [Absolute Focus], had also been greatly enhanced.

’The active duration... has been extended to about three hours. The strain from spiritual consumption is lower, and its efficiency is higher. This means...’ Li Wen savored the new feeling,

’The time I can spend efficiently practicing my blade techniques each day has been drastically extended.’

The breakthrough to Scholar Lv. 9, combined with his Primordial Spirit reaching the second level, had resulted in an all-around, qualitative leap.

His Spiritual Power, Primordial Spirit Realm, explosive combat strength, core skill effects... all of them had taken a massive leap forward.

Li Wen looked at the smooth, cut surface of the broken pillar on the ground, then lowered his head to look at the hand gripping his blade.

A sense of power surged within him, and his sea of consciousness felt clear and strong.

’The resources from the S-rank contract are only just beginning to materialize... but this breakthrough, from my Scholar class, is a foundation I’ve built with my own two hands.’

A fiery battle lust ignited in Li Wen’s eyes, and a confident smile graced his lips.

’The foundation for my climb is now even more solid. So... let’s see how much faster I can grasp Blade Intent in my current state.’

He didn’t rest, instead tightening his grip on the long blade in his hand once more.

A new series of whistles from his blade began to build in the air, each one sharper and swifter than the last.

...

Time slipped by like fine sand through one’s fingers.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had slipped away.

The calendar had silently turned to Friday, May 10th.

The gentle light of early morning filtered through the window, softly illuminating his pillow.

Li Wen awoke from his deep meditation right on schedule. A sharp light glinted in his eyes as they opened, all fatigue from the previous night’s cultivation completely swept away.

Without a single extraneous thought, he calmed his mind. The familiar, light-blue information panel unfurled like a scroll within his sea of consciousness:

[Name: Li Wen]

[Age: 18]

[Realm: Unranked (Level 9.6)]

[Class: Scholar Lv. 9 (3614→6154/25600)]

[Skills: Blade Arts · Momentum (59%), Flowing Rainbow Five Forms (Shadow-Stealing Form 100%, Overlapping Waves Form 100%, Defensive Form 98%)]

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

’Level 9.6...’ Li Wen repeated silently, a clear flicker of joy passing through him.

Since his Primordial Spirit had unexpectedly broken through to the second level on the day his exam scores were released, his daily cultivation of the Splitting Blade Golden Killing Skill had seen another leap in speed and efficiency. His physical body, nourished by this purer, High Tier Primordial Spirit power, was improving at an incredible rate.

In just half a month, his physical level had skyrocketed from a fresh 8.7 to its current 9.6.

He was only 0.4 levels away from the threshold marking a life-changing leap—officially stepping into the realm of a Martial Artist.

This rate of progress was beyond just "fast"; it was a miracle born from the perfect synergy between his Primordial Spirit, his Cultivation Technique, and his resources.

His gaze fell on the entry for his blade techniques.

His eyes landed on "Defensive Form 98%," and his confidence grew.

This Divine Technique, renowned for its defense, was far more difficult to cultivate than the Shadow-Stealing Form and the Overlapping Waves Form. This was not only because its defensive nature was at odds with his own personal style, but also because its demands for precise control over the flow of power were incredibly strict.

But his relentless training, day and night, combined with the powerful support of his second-level Primordial Spirit and Lv. 9 [Absolute Focus], as well as daily combat trials in the infinite arena, had finally brought this last piece of the puzzle close to completion.

The last two percent was within reach, like a paper screen just waiting to be poked through.

He had a crystal-clear premonition, a sense of inevitable success—he would master it within a day or two.