High Martial: I Grind Professions

His power never stopped growing.

These past two weeks had been for consolidation, for a final sprint, and most importantly, for gathering strength for the next leg of his journey.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. After having breakfast with his parents, Li Wen left home and headed for Bluestone Third Middle School.

...

Today was an important milestone.

The atmosphere on campus was different from the usual grim silence of the morning training grounds.

The third-year floor was filled with a clamor of excitement, anticipation, and a hint of anxiety.

Today was the registration day for the college entrance exams.

An invisible energy seemed to have been injected into the entire third-year class of Bluestone Third Middle School.

Even the most diligent students, who usually had their heads buried in their books, wore expressions of solemnity and unconcealable hope.

The hallways were filled with chatter, and the classrooms were even more boisterous.

Liberal Arts or Martial Arts? This was a topic that had likely been debated in many households for a long time.

Today, the thin form in each person’s hands would be the first seal stamped upon the path of their next few years.

The atmosphere in the Flying Star Class was even more fervent.

Everyone in the class had set their sights on a martial arts university since the very beginning of their Martial Dao enlightenment. Now, the focus of their discussions had long since moved beyond the choice itself.

They debated who could get into first-rate martial arts universities and who had a shot at the top-tier ones.

They discussed top local schools in Jiangnan Province or the potential to enter one of Hua Country’s traditional "Big Four."

But inevitably, with an ineffable excitement, all discussions converged on a single name, a single goal—Li Wen, and whether he could get into Fire Hall University.

Fire Hall University!

The name itself was like a Holy Hall standing amidst the clouds.

In the hundred-year history of Bluestone Third Middle School, no one had ever gotten into a global, top-tier institution like Fire Hall University, which represented the pinnacle of Martial Dao education in the Human Alliance.

In fact, no student from their school had ever even managed to push open the gates of one of Hua Country’s traditional "Big Four" top-tier martial schools.

For any previous generation of students, if someone had claimed that a student from Bluestone Third Middle School could get into Fire Hall, it would have been dismissed as an absurd joke for the entire county to laugh at—a pipe dream so ludicrous that even "a tale from the Arabian Nights" couldn’t begin to describe it.

Yet now, this myth they had never dared to dream of had appeared among them, so real and dazzling, sitting alive and well in the Flying Star Class classroom.

Each year, Fire Hall University only recruited a mere two hundred prodigies from across the homeworld, Blue Star, and the other three major human colony planets under the Human Alliance’s jurisdiction.

Although the spots seemed spread out, as the homeworld, Blue Star took the absolute majority.

Admission records from previous years showed that the total number of students from the other three planets was usually only twenty to thirty. The remaining one hundred seventy to one hundred eighty precious spots were fiercely contested by the most supreme geniuses among Blue Star’s nearly one hundred million youths.

In the eyes of the Flying Star Class, Li Wen possessed both the "entry ticket" and the "fundamental qualifications" to aim for this goal.

Second place overall in the Jiangnan provincial mock exam!

First in the province for academics, first in the province for combat skills!

What a brilliant dual achievement.

The first place in combat skills was especially significant. It was an honor earned through real blades and spears in an ultimate free-for-all that included top-tier Force Realm prodigies from the provincial capital like Chu Feng, Nangong Xue, and Lin Xuan. It carried immense weight.

This was enough to prove his top-tier level in combat—the metric that Fire Hall University valued most.

"Brother Wen is first in academics and first in skill. He’s got a great shot at Fire Hall University!"

"Yeah, combat and potential are what Fire Hall University values most."

The only thing that caused a flicker of worry in their hearts was Li Wen’s physical level.

Even compared to the monsters in the top ten of the provincial mock exam, the gap was still significant, let alone when compared to the geniuses from all of humanity.

"It’s just a shame about Brother Wen’s physical level..."

Huang Hao sighed under his breath, voicing everyone’s thoughts. "He’s at a disadvantage compared to freaks like Chu Feng and Lin Xuan, not to mention the top geniuses from every country around the globe."

And it was true.

Among the top ten in the provincial mock exam’s overall score, aside from the anomaly that was Li Wen—who had fought his way to the top as an Unranked individual—all the others were existences who had long since stepped into the High-level Martial Artist realm.

Under the scoring rules of the mock exam, they all received full marks for their physical level.

Li Wen’s Level 8.7 at the time had left a huge gap in this single category. This was the main reason why, despite holding two first-place titles, his final score was still slightly lower than Chu Feng’s.

"But Brother Wen still has time." A voice full of anticipation rang out, dispelling some of the worry.

"Fire Hall University’s independent assessment is on June 1st. That’s still more than half a month away."

More than half a month might not be enough for an ordinary person.

But for Li Wen—who possessed top-tier resources from an S-rank Core Seed contract, whose Primordial Spirit had entered the second layer, whose cultivation speed defied common sense, and who also had the divine cultivation-accelerating skill [Absolute Focus]—it meant infinite possibilities.

"Right, with Brother Wen’s freakish growth rate, breaking into the Martial Artist Realm shouldn’t be hard..." Nothing more needed to be said. A hopeful light ignited in everyone’s eyes.

The ten a.m. class bell, like a rest note in music, instantly silenced the campus clamor.

The Flying Star Class’s homeroom teacher walked into the classroom carrying a neat stack of forms. His expression was as stern as ever, but a special light was hidden deep within his eyes.

He cleared his throat and announced in a resonant voice:

"Class, registration for the college entrance exam begins now. Class Monitor Wang Yu, come up and get the forms to distribute by seat order."

You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom. All eyes were focused on the papers that would decide their fate.

Class Monitor Wang Yu walked to the podium. Teacher Zhang personally handed him the stack of plain "General Higher Education Institution Application & Preference Forms (Liberal Arts/Martial Arts)."

As the students received the forms, some lowered their heads to read them carefully, while others exchanged knowing glances with their deskmates. A low rustle of paper filled the room.

It was Li Wen’s turn.

Class Monitor Wang Yu passed him an ordinary application form in order.

However, at that very moment, Teacher Zhang’s voice rang out clearly, "Li Wen."

Under the focused gaze of the entire class, Teacher Zhang personally and carefully plucked a single form from the very top of the stack on the podium, bypassed the class monitor, and handed it directly to Li Wen.

The moment the form appeared, it captured everyone’s attention.

Its material was clearly different. It wasn’t ordinary paper but a special, resilient material with a soft texture, a warm ivory-white background, and a fine grain.

The most striking feature was at the very top of the form. Instead of a printed title, there was an emblem etched from a special metallic foil—a totem of leaping silver flames encircling a deep, dark star.

Under the light, the emblem shimmered with a reserved yet noble silver luster, exuding an indescribable sense of majesty and profoundness.

The Fire Hall University emblem.

The entire Flying Star Class held its breath.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to that small form, filled with an indescribable envy.

This form wasn’t just an application; it was the ultimate pass to the summit of the human Martial Dao.

This was a threshold set by Fire Hall University—only those who achieved the Force Realm before the age of twenty and had signed a contract with the Fire Hall in advance were qualified to receive it.

It was itself an ironclad rule for filtering out true geniuses, eliminating all delusional, overreaching hopes.

The news of him slaying the Iron-Armored Earth Dragon had rocked the county. On the provincial mock exam stage, he had revealed his Force Realm Blade Intent, instantly killing Zhao Xiao as if dicing vegetables. And now, seeing this special application form—representing the approval of humanity’s highest martial institution—placed directly into Li Wen’s hands, any lingering traces of bitterness or complex feelings the Flying Star Class students might have felt upon learning of his A-rank contract were gone. They had long since been replaced by a purer, more intense emotion: profound envy and heartfelt admiration.

It was even a sense of awe, the kind one feels when facing a mountain so tall its peak is out of sight.

When someone is only one step ahead of you, you might feel jealous, unwilling to accept it, and think about catching up.

But when a peer has already soared into the clouds, standing at a height that makes you dizzy just to look up, all that remains in your heart is the purest admiration and reverence.

Li Wen calmly accepted the application form, which felt infinitely heavy in his hand. His fingertips could clearly feel the cool, three-dimensional texture of the emblem.

His face showed none of the excitement or ecstasy everyone expected, only a tranquil composure.

He gently placed this "Proof of Fire Hall"—a symbol of a new beginning on his journey—squarely on his desk, awaiting the moment to fill it out.

The final leap—advancing his physical body to a ranked level and completing his saber forms—was right before him.

The gates to the highest seat of learning in the human Martial Dao were slowly opening for him.

...

「Two days later.」

Just as Li Wen had estimated two days prior, the last trace of sluggishness in his Defensive Form vanished completely while he was in his exclusive training room at the Bluestone branch of the Fire Hall that afternoon.

As this defensive saber form reached perfection, a more profound and harmonious artistic conception flowed into his mind.

[Technique: Saber Arts - Force Realm (60%)]

The crystal-clear epiphany brought a faint smile to Li Wen’s lips.

Three of the Five Forms of the Flowing Rainbow Shocking Magpie Chapter—Skimming Shadow, Stacking Waves, and the Defensive Form—had now reached their peak. With three out of five mastered, only two remained.

Without any delay, he walked toward the virtual pod.

With a single thought, his figure appeared the next second in the virtual world’s Cultivation Technique inheritance space.

It was the same vast, starry sky, with the brilliant Star River flowing beneath his feet.

He confidently headed straight for the [Technique Inheritance Area - Saber Arts Category]. As his mind focused, the virtual Saber Grandmaster from last time, holding the archaic, dark-gold wooden saber, instantly materialized.

"Teacher, I’ve come to learn the fourth of the Five Forms of the Flowing Rainbow Shocking Magpie Chapter—the Heaven-Dropping Form," Li Wen’s voice carried a hint of anticipation and fighting spirit.

The virtual mentor’s face was blurry, yet it seemed to convey a trace of approval.

He didn’t say much. The seemingly ordinary wooden saber in his hand suddenly lifted, and in an instant—

The world changed color!

There was no earth-shattering explosion of power. Instead, a "domain" that enveloped everything appeared.

With a slight movement of the virtual mentor’s saber tip, streams of seven-colored rainbow light poured down like waterfalls descending from the highest heavens.