High Martial: I Grind Professions

The hazy field that perceived the aura of heaven and earth spread at an unprecedented speed. It easily crossed its previous five-li boundary and rapidly expanded to cover a range of nearly seven li.

The auras of all surrounding life, the fluctuations of energy particles, the microscopic tracks of wind currents—all of it unfolded in his perception like a scroll painting, clearer and richer than ever before.

The two lit runes between his eyebrows flickered violently. They even began to faintly sketch out and weave together the illusory outline of a third, more complex and profound rune.

A powerful throbbing sensation, as if about to break free from some invisible shackles, emanated clearly from the miniature Primordial Spirit.

WHOOSH...

Li Wen, sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion in his quiet room, trembled slightly. His breaths were deep and long, each one seemingly containing a massive tide of Spiritual Power.

He focused his entire mind, circulating the concealment technique his principal had taught him. The light from his miniature Primordial Spirit dimmed, the fluctuations of the runes between his eyebrows were forcibly suppressed, and the terrifying pressure from his Primordial Spirit, which was about to reach a critical point, was firmly contained within his Sea of Consciousness, not leaking out in the slightest to affect the outside world.

Under the guidance of his Primordial Spirit, the vast storms in his Sea of Consciousness began to swirl, compress, and settle in an orderly fashion. The outline of the third rune, representing the Third Layer of Primordial Spirit, flickered in and out of existence, growing clearer and more solid with each pulse.

He was only a paper-thin barrier away from breaking through to the Third Layer of Primordial Spirit; all he needed was the right opportunity for things to fall into place.

He estimated that the next time his Scholar class leveled up to Lv. 12 would be when his Primordial Spirit broke through to the 3rd Layer.

Li Wen slowly opened his eyes. A divine light was contained within them, as deep as an abyss.

Outside the window, the morning light of the Fire Ancestral Vein was just right.

The brief clamor brought by his title of National Literary Champion had quietly faded. A higher step on the path to gods and demons was now clearly revealed before his more powerful mind and Primordial Spirit.

...

Li Wen felt an unprecedented clarity and vastness in his mind, as if he could easily perceive the subtle fluctuations of both the material world and the energy plane.

Before this joy could fade, another thought eagerly rushed into his mind.

’My Scholar level... it finally broke through to Lv. 10.’

Li Wen’s eyes suddenly lit up. He immediately recalled a key turning point from the game in his past life.

In the game’s design, reaching Lv. 10 for any class was a watershed moment.

At that point, the game had its first major version update. The most important change after the update was that the ways for all classes to gain experience points became more varied and simpler.

Before that, every class had to go through a relatively long and difficult period of accumulation to break through Lv. 10.

’I was worried that if the experience acquisition mechanism for the Scholar class didn’t change, I’d get stuck at Lv. 10 and find it impossible to advance... It seems my worries were for nothing.’

Realization dawned on Li Wen, his thoughts racing. ’Since I jumped straight past Lv. 10 to Lv. 11 this time, the way I gain experience must have been updated simultaneously.’

He instantly grasped the key point:

’The root cause is me. It seems this "version update" is tied to my Scholar class’s level. Only when I actually reach the Lv. 10 "threshold" is the restriction lifted and the experience acquisition method optimized. If I hadn’t been able to break through, I might have been stuck in that "vanilla version" forever.’

Having figured this out, Li Wen no longer hesitated.

With a flicker, his figure shot into the study like a gust of wind.

His gaze swept quickly across the bookshelf, and he casually pulled out a Martial Arts theory book he had browsed before—*Basic Domain Appreciation*.

The theories in this book were profound, covering the preliminary principles of constructing space and Energy Fields. It was an important guide for Martial Artists looking to build their own domains.

Li Wen calmed his mind, focused his spirit, opened the book, and quickly became immersed.

After the new surge in his Spiritual Power and Primordial Spirit, his comprehension of text, analysis of concepts, and deduction of internal logic all reached a completely new level.

Theories that were once obscure and difficult to understand now became clear and well-organized under the effects of his powerful mental attributes and the "Eternal Proof" buff.

He wasn’t just reading; he was efficiently absorbing, deconstructing, and reconstructing the entire system of knowledge.

[You have diligently studied ’Basic Domain Appreciation’ for ten minutes. Scholar EXP +10]

[Class: Scholar Lv. 11 (6014 → 6024/102,400)]

A golden notification box quietly appeared in his vision.

’Just as I thought.’ An irrepressible light of joy bloomed in Li Wen’s eyes as he closed the book. ’It’s a tenfold increase.’

This boost in efficiency was a timely blessing.

If this mechanic hadn’t updated, he figured it would have been very difficult to gain Scholar experience from now on.

This was because at a supreme Martial Dao institution like Fire University, the entire focus was on Martial Dao cultivation, divine and demonic techniques, and actual combat.

Academic courses? Those were almost completely hands-off.

Unlike ordinary universities that had a structured curriculum, Fire University’s model for academic learning was extremely unusual.

At the start of each semester, they only distributed books containing vast amounts of Martial Arts theory, Secret Technique analysis, and various other fields of knowledge, with no mandatory classroom instruction whatsoever.

Students were expected to study on their own. If they had questions, they could go to the Fire World to receive explanations from virtual tutors. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The "textbooks" here had long since moved beyond the scope of high school subjects like math or language. They were, without exception, fortresses of knowledge related to High Tier Martial Dao.

If it weren’t to make it easier for students to understand various techniques later on, this aspect of their education would probably be eliminated entirely.

The more advanced the Cultivation Technique manuals became, the more they contained the fundamental principles of the universe and the true meaning of the Great Dao. Their language was archaic and profound, their logic esoteric and wondrous.

If you couldn’t even read the books, how could you possibly talk of understanding, mastering, and applying them?

Li Wen understood this deeply.

Over the past ten-odd days, it had taken him less than a day to study the core information of thirty-six divine and demonic techniques, leaving the other geniuses of his cohort, who were still struggling to comprehend them, completely dumbfounded.

And when it came to reading the cultivation notes and insights of their seniors, others would need several days or even longer to get through a single volume. He, on the other hand, relying on his profound foundation and the Scholar’s high-efficiency learning trait, could easily digest one or two books a day.

This was partly due to the advantage from his "Eternal Proof" passive, but more importantly, it was thanks to the terrifying foundation of cultural knowledge he had built by racing against time without a moment’s rest for the past half-year.

All that effort at Bluestone Third Middle School, once considered useless, now burst forth with astonishing value.

’The Scholar class... this is its truly overpowered aspect in this world,’ a powerful sense of confidence welled up in Li Wen.

’In the early stages, it might just speed up cultivation. But the further I go, when faced with increasingly profound and unfathomable Cultivation Techniques, Secret Techniques, and principles of the Great Dao, this terrifying advantage in comprehension, deduction, and learning ability will be amplified infinitely.’

With the confirmation that he no longer had to worry about gaining Scholar experience, a great weight was lifted from Li Wen’s mind.

But he was even more eager to experience another huge improvement—the 110% comprehension bonus from Scholar Lv. 11.

He turned, almost bursting with impatience, and rushed into the spacious and brightly lit Martial Arts Room.

The room’s layout was simple and practical, with various standard-issue weapons arrayed on racks against the walls.

Li Wen’s gaze was sharp. He precisely drew a Standard Rapier of moderate length with a straight blade from the weapon rack. It was the best choice for practicing his Flowing Rainbow Saber Skill.

He took a few steps to the center of the Martial Arts Room, standing on an open area paved with a special metallic material. Li Wen took a deep breath, and his mind instantly sank into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

’[Absolute Focus]—Activate!’

In an instant, all the noise of the outside world and the stray thoughts in his mind were as if wiped away by a pair of invisible hands.

Li Wen’s pupils contracted slightly. All the color drained from his vision, and the cold, gleaming rapier in his hand became the sole focus of his world.

His sense of time became both blurry and precise, and space itself seemed to freeze.

All his senses existed only for the blade.

An invisible field enveloped his entire body. Every muscle fiber, every path of circulating qi and blood, reached an unprecedented state of harmony under the precise control of his Primordial Spirit.

An absolute, heart-pounding silence filled the air.

Li Wen moved.

A blade flashed, like the first ray of a flowing rainbow at dawn tearing through the night’s curtain.

"Flowing Rainbow: Fleeting Shadow!"

Fast! So fast it surpassed the limits of visual perception.

His entire being seemed to transform into a faint, almost invisible shadow.