High Martial: I Grind Professions

On the bench, Li Wen chugged down the last of his energy drink.

The cool liquid slid down his throat, bringing a touch of relief.

Yet it couldn’t suppress the peculiar sensation receding like a slow tide from the depths of his brain. It wasn’t just that his fatigue was being swept away; it was more like he had undergone a cleansing at the soul level.

Half a minute ago, the instant his [Scholar] level had leaped from lv3 to lv5, a wave of mental clarity—far more intense and distinct than the one from leveling up to lv3—had swept through his sea of consciousness.

It wasn’t a simple cooling of the head, but a soul-deep sense of ascension. It was as if gentle yet resilient threads had thoroughly combed through his tangled, chaotic mental pathways, brushing away the dust and leaving every thought crystal clear and incomparably swift.

His mind had never run so smoothly, so actively. It was as if he had broken through some invisible shackles, gaining a greater capacity for processing and comprehension. A solid sense of support, originating from his very Life Origin, welled up within him.

’Spiritual attribute...’ Li Wen thought silently, his eyes closed. He gently pressed his temples with his fingertips, savoring the unprecedented clarity of his consciousness.

’Last time I reached lv3, it was just a brief moment of clarity, nowhere near this intense. In games, leveling up increases a character’s four main stats. For the [Scholar] class, that corresponding stat must be the spiritual attribute.’

He recalled the hyper-realistic game he had played in his past life, where strength, constitution, spirit, and agility were the foundational stats for measuring a character.

Since this world had a heaven-defying skill like [Absolute Focus], technology similar to virtual reality pods, and even the classifications of the Martial Arts Realm, a hidden system of attributes didn’t seem so impossible.

But reality wasn’t a game. There was no stat panel displaying the four core attributes. This felt more like a fundamental, intrinsic enhancement to his being.

’So, what are the benefits of a high spiritual attribute? Stronger perception? Faster thinking? Or... could I awaken some kind of Spiritual Element ability?’ Li Wen’s brow furrowed as he searched his memories.

Yet, in his eighteen years of life—from trivial family matters to his school education, and even the Martial Dao knowledge he had been exposed to—he couldn’t recall a single word about "spiritual attributes" or any related training.

’Is this information strictly controlled by the higher powers? Or does this world’s Martial Arts System itself reject or has yet to develop the spiritual domain?’ He shook his head, pushing the unanswerable question to the back of his mind.

Dwelling on it was pointless without more information.

What he was now more eager to test was the change to [Absolute Focus] that came with [Scholar] lv5.

According to his experience from the game in his past life, lv5 [Absolute Focus] would unlock a crucial new function: the ability to control its activation and deactivation to some extent, preventing a complete drain of his body’s energy.

To be perfectly safe, and to fully map out the limits of this new function, Li Wen took a deep breath and began a meticulous experiment.

He activated and deactivated [Absolute Focus] again and again, carefully observing the subtle feedback from his body and the clarity of his consciousness during each transition.

The first activation.

The moment his consciousness submerged, Li Wen noticed a completely different experience.

Previously, whenever he used the skill, his subjective sense of "I" would be completely suppressed deep into his subconscious, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep. His body would be entirely driven by a cold, hyper-efficient, computational instinct.

But this time, he sensed a difference—his conscious mind wasn’t completely dormant! It felt as though it was wrapped in a tough, transparent membrane, suspended above a surging torrent of data.

He could vaguely perceive his external surroundings and the actions his body was performing. He could even faintly form the thought to ’Stop,’ though actually executing the command was still difficult.

This membrane was the new buffer zone between his conscious mind and the overclocked computational instinct.

’So that’s how it works!’ Li Wen realized.

’The key to autonomous control is that my conscious mind isn’t completely stripped of its authority! In the game, it was just a cold "cancel" button, but in reality, I’ve truly been given the chance to observe and intervene.’

He then went back to repeatedly activating and deactivating the skill, carefully gauging the consumption rate of his Spiritual Power, the smoothness of interrupting the skill, and the resulting discomfort in his body and mind.

After a few cycles, the drain on his Spiritual Power became noticeably faster, but a triumphant smile spread across his face. The experiment was a success.

The lv5 [Absolute Focus] function was exactly as he had anticipated.

Minimum activation duration: five minutes.

Within these five minutes, once the skill was active, his conscious mind could not forcibly stop it.

Manual deactivation: After five minutes, his conscious mind could, by will, interrupt the skill at any time. He had full control over when to stop.

He tested it three more times in a row. When he finally stopped, a wave of profound exhaustion washed over him, far more intense than what he felt from simply practicing his saber skills.

Switching the overclocked state on and off with such high intensity and frequency took a far greater mental toll than he had imagined. His steps were unsteady as he walked back to the bench in the rest area. He leaned back, tilting his head up, his chest heaving slightly.

HUFF... HUFF... He took a few deep breaths before he felt some of his strength return.

He pulled out another energy drink and GULP GULP, chugged more than half of it. The icy liquid seemed to extinguish the burning heat in his brain.

Once his breathing steadied, Li Wen called up the panel in his mind:

[You have practiced saber arts for one hour. Your Rainbow Light Saber Skill has improved.]

[You have focused on practicing your saber arts for 20 minutes. Rainbow Light Saber Skill +2]

[Art: Saber Arts · Pinnacle (Initiate 27→29/100)]

Looking at the experience points on the panel, which were only displayed as whole numbers, Li Wen couldn’t help but smile.

The panel seemed to be a bit obsessive-compulsive; it never displayed decimal values.

However, as the one who had actually earned the experience, he could vaguely sense that his true progress in Saber Arts was somewhere greater than 29 but less than 30, and much closer to the 30 mark.

"Phew..." Li Wen let out a long breath, the satisfaction on his face growing even more apparent.

’Lv5 [Absolute Focus] is incredible! A 50% boost to comprehension, coupled with the bonus from my enhanced spiritual attribute... in just twenty minutes of focused practice, I gained more than 2 points of Saber Arts experience! That efficiency is terrifying!’

Extrapolating from this rate of improvement, his comprehension while [Absolute Focus] was active definitely surpassed that of the genius student from Bluestone First Middle School—the one who had already been signed to a B-rank contract by the four major powers.

That student was widely acknowledged as having the greatest comprehension in all of Bluestone County.

’The only downside is,’ he thought, a trace of resignation tempering his excitement,

’other people’s superior comprehension is a 24/7, effortless passive talent. My boost in comprehension is more like a potent drug, one I have to pay for by burning Spiritual Power and enduring immense pain. The time limit... that’s the real key.’