High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 109: Chapter 88: Blue Star Platinum Youth Ranking

He didn’t choose to retreat in a straight line.

Instead, at a near-impossible angle, he twisted his waist, took a light step, and pivoted.

His movements were fluid and seamless to the extreme, like a light feather drifting down into a torrent of molten lava.

The Crimson Flame Fist Seal whistled past the lapel of his clothes, the terrifying heat wave searing his skin.

At the same time, his right hand, which had been building up power, finally moved.

ZING!

A clear, ringing cry of a blade echoed.

It was no longer a series of afterimages, but a single strike, impossibly fast! A nearly transparent, pale line of light!

That was the ultimate expression of the Shadow-Stealing Form at 85% mastery, enhanced by ”Absolute Focus” and the power of his Primordial Spirit!

Fast! Faster than the speed of thought!

The target of this strike wasn’t Cang Yan himself, but the minute delay and core nexus that inevitably appeared in the flow of his energy as he unleashed his killing move with full force.

PFFT!

Before the Crimson Flame Fist Seal, which contained all of Cang Yan’s power, could travel much further, its key energy nexus was pierced with unerring precision by the pale blade light.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a muffled sound, like a balloon being popped.

The Crimson Flame Fist Seal, once overwhelmingly powerful, had its energy structure instantly destroyed. The red light froze for a moment, then, like a scattered firework, it violently twisted, dimmed, and disintegrated mid-air, finally dissipating into a chaotic gust of hot wind.

”What?!” Cang Yan’s confident and ferocious expression instantly froze, replaced by utter, incredulous shock!

’My strongest attack... was just unraveled at its core in such an inconceivable way?!’

’What kind of terrifying insight, courage, and pinpoint control would that require?!’

In the instant his mind reeled from the shock, his old power spent and new power yet to be gathered, the pale blade light had not fully vanished.

After shattering the fist seal’s core nexus, the residual blade gleam twisted and accelerated like a venomous snake.

In Cang Yan’s eyes, Li Wen’s figure seemed to pause for a moment after dodging, but in the next instant, that fatal, pale blade light had already crossed the distance and appeared before his throat.

The icy breath of death instantly seized his senses.

The energy in his body was in turmoil from his killing move being broken, and his body’s defensive reflexes couldn’t keep up with this speed that defied all limits.

”I...” He couldn’t even get a second word out.

SHIING!

The blade light passed through the throat of his virtual avatar without any resistance.

”Victor: Li Wen!”

A cold, grand system notification echoed throughout the arena.

The entire arena, the entire livestream, fell into a dead silence.

A few seconds later, the bullet comments erupted like a volcano:

”!!!!!!!!!”

”HOLY SHIT??????????”

”What happened????? An attack with Potential was broken??? And then he got one-shotted?????”

”REPLAY!!! WATCH THE REPLAY!!! Is this really a Gold fighting a Platinum???”

”MONSTER!!! AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER!!! The weak defeating the strong? This is a cross-tier slaughter!”

”That last strike of his... what kind of speed was that??”

”That high school kid... his name is Shadow???”

The viewers in the livestream were, without exception, completely stunned.

The ruthless combat instinct to defeat a stronger opponent, an instinct that could only be honed through cruel and bloody trials, had just been displayed by someone so young. The impact was unparalleled.

In the arena, Cang Yan’s virtual figure slowly dissipated, but his shock and bewilderment seemed to linger in the air.

Li Wen’s conscious avatar stood its ground, the virtual combat knife in his hand slowly lowering.

He was panting slightly, and fine beads of ”sweat” dotted his forehead. The explosive burst just now, simultaneously driving his perfected physical body, the Shadow-Stealing Form, ”Absolute Focus,” and a small portion of his Primordial Spirit power, had consumed far more energy than his usual practice sessions.

But his eyes were as bright as cold stars, filled with the exhilaration of breaking through his limits and a trace of imperceptible exhaustion.

A screen of light flashed:

[Third Promotion Match: Victory!]

[Congratulations, Shadow. Rank Promoted: Gold → Platinum!]

[Current Rank: Platinum 4 (0 Victory Points).]

Li Wen glanced at the screen, a smile of relief mixed with a hint of ruthlessness finally touching his lips. At the same time, an alarm went off in his mind:

’This explosive burst after perfecting my body is powerful, but the strain on it seems to be greater too... It looks like on the road to breaking into the provincial top three, I’ll have to get used to this state.’

The afterglow of the fierce battle in the virtual world had not yet faded, but the joy of his victory and promotion to the Platinum rank was diluted by the huge screen of light that suddenly popped up before him.

The screen was archaic and imposing. At the top, in large golden characters, were the words: [Blue Star Youth Platinum Leaderboard].

Li Wen’s eyes quickly scanned the top of the leaderboard:

1. Ron Zaka (United States of America)

2. Kenny Gobert (Rus)

3. Barry Morgan (Ind)

4. Du Yun (Hua Country)

...

His gaze shot down the list, finally locking onto one entry:

3587. Li Wen (Hua Country)

”3,587...”

The cold number struck his mind with tremendous impact. Li Wen was silent for several long seconds.

This meant that before him, there were already 3,586 geniuses of his age on Blue Star who had not only reached the Platinum rank in the virtual battlefield but, more crucially, had already comprehended their own ’Potential’ during high school.

What an enormous number. These names were no longer just symbols on a leaderboard; they had become real, tangible competitors with whom he would engage in a brutal struggle on the heavenly path to Fire Hall University.

Fire Hall University, the most coveted supreme institution for young Martial Artists on Blue Star, only accepted 200 students from all of humanity each year.

To earn a spot among them, he, Li Wen, had to fight his way through these three thousand-plus Platinum Level prodigies in the next two months and at least break into the top two hundred.

His nerves, which had just begun to relax after his promotion to Platinum and his victory over Cang Yan, instantly tensed again like a fully drawn bowstring, radiating an intense sense of urgency.

’Time... competition... rank... two hundred...’ The words exploded one by one in his mind.

’I must comprehend Blade Potential as soon as possible!’ This thought was clearer and more intense than ever before.

His control over his body was already at one hundred percent. He was separated from Blade Potential—the threshold of a true master—by only a thin layer of paper.

However, for different Martial Artists, this final step could be a world away or a moment of sudden enlightenment.

Li Wen didn’t know how long it would take him, but he had a unique advantage others couldn’t match—he could clearly see his own progress.

The mastery percentage of his Shadow-Stealing Form was his progress bar toward Blade Potential.

When it reached 100%, the Blade Potential would form on its own!

*Huuu...* He took a deep breath and mentally closed the [Blue Star Youth Platinum Leaderboard] screen that brought him such immense pressure.

His consciousness withdrew from the virtual world and returned to reality.

He pushed open the virtual cabin door. A CREAK echoed with particular clarity in the quiet, private Martial Arts Room.

He subconsciously steadied himself against the cabin wall as a wave of intense fatigue and slight exhaustion, originating from the depths of his sea of consciousness, washed over him.

*Hahh... hahh...* He panted lightly. The price of that all-out, near-limit-breaking burst he had used against Cang Yan’s ”Red Sun Sky-Breaking Fist” in the virtual world was finally manifesting in his physical body.

’Spiritual Power... it really feels like it’s been completely drained.’

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Wen endured his headache and immediately picked up the tablet on the console, quickly logging into the exclusive software for Fire Hall members.

The interface was clean and efficient. He went straight to the ”Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion” section and typed ”spiritual recovery” into the search bar. He maxed out the filter criteria: recovery speed first, effectiveness first, and price... temporarily not the primary constraint.

A list popped up. The top-ranked spiritual recovery potions caught his eye, their prices all starting at one hundred thousand Fire Hall points.

”[Sea God Meditation Dew]—Highly effective in repairing Spiritual Power damage, nourishes the Primordial Spirit, accelerates recovery. 200,000 points.”

”[Starlight Concentration Liquid]—Extract of starlight essence, can rapidly refill the spiritual sea of consciousness. 200,000 points.”

”...” Without agonizing over cost-effectiveness, he decisively selected the Starlight Concentration Liquid, whose description best matched his current, nearly depleted state, and placed the order!

Final price: 140,000 Fire Hall points.

”BEEP! Order payment successful. [Starlight Concentration Liquid] has been shipped. Estimated delivery time: 10 minutes.” The system’s notification sound chimed.

After placing the order, Li Wen finally let out a small sigh of relief. He leaned back, sinking heavily into the soft, exclusive training and recovery chair.

A throbbing pain from deep within his brain finally began to assault his senses. He closed his eyes, raised his fingers, and pressed the pads of his fingers firmly against his temples, rubbing them slowly to alleviate the torment of his spiritual exhaustion.

Taking advantage of the short wait, he focused his thoughts. A panel of information that only he could see appeared in his vision:

[Skills: Saber Arts · Unity Realm (Body Control 100%), Five Luminaries Celestial Rainbow Skill · Flowing Rainbow Five Forms · Shadow-Stealing Form (88/100)]

The text on the panel was concise and powerful.

Especially when he saw that the mastery of his Shadow-Stealing Form, which had been at 85% from his previous practice, had jumped by 3% in one go to 88% after that peak battle with Cang Yan.

A surge of indescribable joy instantly washed away his physical and mental exhaustion.

The feeling of emptiness in his sea of consciousness and the stabbing pain in his head, originally caused by depleting his Primordial Spirit power, now seemed much more bearable.

In less than ten minutes, accompanied by an extremely faint humming sound, a small drone was already hovering outside the dedicated delivery window of his private Martial Arts Room.

After his identity was verified, a special, temperature-controlled box with a cooling function was precisely delivered into the room.

Li Wen stood up, took the box, and opened it. A vial containing a dreamlike, pale purple liquid, within which countless tiny specks of starlight seemed to glitter and flow, lay quietly inside.

The label on the vial read: [Starlight Concentration Liquid].

With no time to admire the potion’s beauty, he twisted off the cap, pulled out the inner seal, and tilted his head back, downing the 200,000-point purple liquid in one gulp.