High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 172: Chapter 133: First Place: Li Wen

At the Origin Ancestral Vein, before the massive light screen on the White Jade Plaza.

By now, a sea of people had gathered.

It wasn’t just the eliminated examinees; a large number of Kindling University students had rushed over after hearing the news. Even some of the powerhouses within the academy were drawn by the unexpected turn of events in the combat assessment.

The light screen was split into multiple views, but the main focus was on a single person—Li Wen.

From the ridicule sparked by Ron’s overconfidence, to Li Wen descending like a Divine Weapon from the heavens to instantly kill the wolf-headed demon general and save Ron.

Then to his magnificent feat of single-handedly turning the tide, rushing across the battlefield like a one-man rescue crew...

The entire sequence left all onlookers dumbfounded, their blood boiling with excitement.

The silence on the plaza was shattered by incredulous gasps, immediately followed by a thunderous wave of discussion.

”My God! He... he’s still rampaging through the Demon Race horde?!”

”Is he supporting the entire defensive line by himself?!”

”This Body Technique! This blade work! This awareness! Is he even fucking human?!”

”Look at the scoreboard! His points are in a league of their own. It looks like the combined total of everyone else is still less than his alone.”

As the screen showed Li Wen appearing again and again on the verge of the defensive line’s collapse, neutralizing each crisis with lightning-fast methods, a group of Kindling University students looked as if they had seen a ghost.

”Wait... if he keeps killing them like this...” a trembling voice piped up.

”This year’s class... they’re not actually going to... successfully defend against the Demon Race’s assault, are they?!”

This sentence was like a giant boulder dropped into a calm lake, instantly setting off even greater waves.

”Holy shit!”

”De... Defend?”

”Impossible! How many years has this combat assessment existed? In the last century, you can count the number of times anyone has successfully defended against the Stargate assault on one hand, right?”

”But... looking at the situation now, the number of demons is dropping fast because of him!”

”I remember the last time it was successfully defended was over fifty years ago, right? Wasn’t that the record set by the current Blade Lin King back in his day?”

”No way. Even three years ago when Senior Ling Feng led the team, they only barely held on until the final few rounds.”

”If... if he really leads them to a successful defense, that would be absolutely insane!”

”A monster! An absolute monster! With his combat prowess, he’s a one-man army!”

All eyes were glued to the light screen.

They watched the gray-and-white figure cut a swath through the demon horde, watched the number behind that one name on the scoreboard jump like crazy.

They watched the demon tide visibly thin out under the dual impact of his ”decapitation strikes” and ”mob-clearing efficiency.”

On the screen, Li Wen’s blade flashed like an unending storm.

One powerful Elite Level commander after another fell to his blade. No matter what innate abilities they used or what heavy warhammers they brandished, none could escape the precise killing blow of that gray-white flash.

His ”Ninth Layer of Overlapping Waves” combined with ”Fleeting Shadow” to slay the lightning-fast mantis demon general.

His ”Palace Guard, Mirror Return” perfectly blocked the mountain giant demon’s earth-shattering hammer strike. The rebound force stunned it, and the subsequent Heaven-Dropping Form cleaved it in two.

The heavy Blade Intent of his Guan Yue Form directly smashed the last, astonishingly defensive turtle-shelled demon general.

With the elite commanders nearly all slaughtered by Li Wen alone, the remaining ordinary demons lost their leadership and finally began to break and scatter under the fierce counterattack of Kindling’s geniuses.

The pressure fell away, and the defensive line was completely stabilized.

Across the battlefield, though every member of the Human Race was wounded and weary, their formation remained unbroken.

In contrast, the demon tide had been drastically reduced, its assault having lost its initial ferocity and order.

As Li Wen’s figure drifted down from a mountain of Demon Race corpses, his gray-white saber pointed diagonally at the ground. Its tip dripped not with blood, but with disintegrating motes of light and energy.

The last charging demon soldier had just shattered and dissipated before him, and the entire battlefield fell into a dead silence.

GASP—!

After a brief, deathly silence, a massive uproar erupted.

”He... he killed them all?”

”They really... held the line?!”

Everyone in the plaza, whether they were spectating examinees or current Kindling University students, was completely stunned.

They were struck speechless, collectively stunned by the historic feat.

The next second, thunderous applause and deafening cheers swept through the entire Star-Viewing Pavilion plaza like a tsunami.

Everyone was shouting a single name—”Li Wen!”

「Inside the virtual battlefield.」

Atop the thirty-meter-high Stargate, space warped, and the majestic figure of Marquis Qingyuan appeared, an undisguised smile on his face.

He looked around at the remaining geniuses below—exhausted but standing tall—and his resonant voice echoed across the battlefield. ”The assessment is over!”

”Excellent! Today, you have shown me the tenacity and courage of the Human Race’s younger generation... as well as the unyielding will to unite, cooperate, and protect your comrades in the face of desperation!”

His gaze finally landed on the blade-wielding young man in the center of the field. Though his aura was also considerably depleted, his back was still ramrod straight, and his eyes were as calm as still water.

”What is especially commendable is that in this assessment, under the leadership and valiant struggle of Student Li Wen, you have achieved something unheard of for nearly fifty years: completely annihilating the simulated Demon Race vanguard and successfully defending the frontline! This accomplishment shall be recorded in the annals of Kindling University’s new student examinations!”

Marquis Qingyuan’s words were like a searing current, pouring into the heart of every examinee who had participated in the battle.

They followed the Marquis’s gaze to Li Wen, their eyes filled with gratitude, admiration, and profound shock.

In that moment, in everyone’s eyes, the young man from a small, county-level city was as radiant as a blazing sun.

Chu Feng pursed his lips, his gaze fixed on that figure. The gravity in his eyes melted into an indescribable, complex emotion before finally dissolving into a silent sigh.

He understood that, for now at least, the gap between them was as wide as a chasm.

A genuine smile appeared on Nangong Xue’s cool face as she gave a slight nod in Li Wen’s direction.

Ron, however, stood in a corner of the crowd, head bowed and fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms. To him, the dazzling light of victory was particularly glaring.

Du Yun leaned on his long spear, looking at the monumental gap on the scoreboard and then at the profile of the blade-wielding young man. He took a deep breath, his eyes burning with nothing but fighting spirit:

’Li Wen... one day, I will catch up to you!’

...

「White Jade Plaza.」

All the geniuses who had completed the final combat assessment were gathered here once again.

The plaza was a cacophony of noise. Some excitedly discussed the battle they had just fought, while others sat cross-legged, hurrying to recover their strength.

But most eyes were filled with nervousness and anticipation, constantly glancing toward the empty space at the front of the plaza—where the final, fate-deciding Golden Roll of rankings would soon be projected.

Although everyone already knew their points and general performance from the end of the combat assessment, the final comprehensive ranking for admission would be calculated based on a composite score of the first three tests and the combat assessment.

This would determine who got a spot, and no one could remain calm.

The few minutes of waiting felt as long as centuries.

Suddenly!

BUZZ— A brilliant golden light flashed in the sky above the plaza.

A massive golden scroll unfurled like a celestial canopy.

Kindling University 226th New Student Recruitment Final Rankings and Admission List

First Place: Li Wen

Those two golden words hung at the very top of the list, shining with the most dazzling and eye-catching light.

Following closely behind was second place: Du Yun.

Third Place: Fang Chenghong.

...

Ron, the top-ranked prodigy on the Blue Star Youth Rankings, had only squeezed into the top twenty.

Chu Feng and Nangong Xue were ranked in the one-hundreds.

On the White Jade Plaza, the air grew heavy, as if it had solidified.

The Golden Roll, symbolizing glory and the future, hung high in the air, the first two hundred names shimmering brightly.

Everyone stared at the list before them with mixed emotions.

Li Wen’s name sat at the very top, like the brightest star in the night sky, drawing the vast majority of the gazes.

He himself stood quietly in the crowd, his expression calm, showing neither joy nor sorrow. Only the look of resilience in his eyes, forged through life-and-death struggles, had deepened.

’He knew this was just the beginning.’

Du Yun’s clenched fists slowly relaxed, his fingertips pale from the pressure.

’Second place... still one step short in the end.’

His gaze swept over Li Wen’s upright figure with a complex expression, but he quickly came to terms with it. Li Wen’s performance in the combat assessment had simply been too brilliant.

Fang Chenghong looked at his third-place ranking. His sharp, chiseled face showed no change in expression, and he merely gave a slight nod.

’The result was within his expectations. Although there was competition, he felt no shame in losing to an anomaly like Li Wen.’

’He was more concerned with the Nine Heavens Divine Body technique he was about to obtain.’

Ron made it into the top twenty, but there was no trace of joy on his face.

He looked at Li Wen at the top of the list, then recalled his own pathetic performance in the virtual world. His face turned pale, then flushed, finally settling into an expression of deep frustration.

’He would definitely wash away this humiliation on the front lines in the future! But for now, he just felt his cheeks burn with shame, unable to lift his head in front of Li Wen and the others.’

Chu Feng and Nangong Xue ranked in the one-hundreds. Although they had made it into the top-tier academy, their rankings were far lower than expected.

Chu Feng’s brow was furrowed. After dominating the rankings in Jiangnan Province for years, this selection process had finally made him realize the gap between himself and the true top-tier geniuses.

Nangong Xue let out a soft sigh. Her icy demeanor was now tinged with weariness and gravity. She was keenly aware of the gap between herself and the true monsters, and the road ahead was still difficult.

More people were anxiously searching the list for their own names.

Some let out quiet gasps of delight, while others shook their heads in disappointment.

”How could this be... Impossible! I clearly did well in the strength and mentality tests!”

After scanning the bottom of the list several times, a burly young man suddenly looked up, his face flushed with astonishment and disbelief, and shouted hoarsely,

”There’s a problem with the list! It has to be a mistake!”

His voice was like a stone thrown into stagnant water, instantly creating ripples.

Three or four other geniuses who had also failed to make the list or felt their rankings were too low couldn’t hold back either, and they began to clamor, questioning the fairness of the assessment.

For a moment, a small-scale commotion began to spread.

The geniuses who had just passed, still immersed in their joy or calculations, all turned to look.

Their expressions varied—some showed disdain, others sympathy, but most wore a look of detached indifference, as if it had nothing to do with them.