High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 196: Chapter 150: The Peak Master’s Expectation

When Li Wen pushed open the door of the breakthrough chamber and took a breath of fresh air, a few senior disciples in the hall happened to see him. His aura was calm, he had a subtle inner glow, and he had clearly achieved a successful breakthrough.

One of them was the same senior disciple who had guided Du Yun earlier.

That senior disciple stared at Li Wen, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He opened and closed his mouth several times but couldn’t manage to utter a single complete sentence.

’Li Wen clearly went in to cultivate the First Layer. How come his aura now feels... like he’s broken through to the Second Layer?’

The entire first-floor hall of the Thunder Attraction Tower fell into a brief, suffocating, dead silence because of this quiet yet shocking scene.

...

「That night.」

The news that Li Wen had mastered the First Layer of the Nine Heavens Divine Body and boldly stepped into the Second Layer was like dropping a super-bomb into the deep waters of Spark University. The resulting shockwave far surpassed the commotion from when he first guided thunder into his body half a month prior.

His initial success could still be attributed to his Extraordinary comprehension and control, but to complete the cultivation of the First Layer’s Cultivation Technique and successfully break through to the Second Layer in just over ten days?

The word ”genius” was no longer enough to describe it.

This inhuman speed completely electrified the entire student body.

Virtual communities, campus forums, word-of-mouth among the disciples of various peaks... whether they were new or senior disciples, there was only one core topic of discussion—Li Wen!

”A little over a month! From foundation to the Second Layer of the Nine Heavens Divine Body! Is he even human?”

”Is he cheating? What’s his body made of? Isn’t he afraid of getting blasted apart by the lightning?”

”So this is what it means to be the world’s top freshman? He’s completely wiping the floor with us...”

”Nine Heavens Peak really struck gold this time. Not only did all top three from the Gold List choose it, but they also have a monster like him leading the way!”

”I heard that when the Peak Master was in Nine Heavens Hall that day, he felt the fluctuations of Li Wen’s breakthrough and his hand froze while holding his teacup. He didn’t even notice the tea spilling out.”

The waves of discussion grew higher and higher, filled with shock, disbelief, and above all, a deep sense of awe.

...

On the Nine Heavens Main Peak, inside the hall at its summit.

The Peak Master of Nine Heavens Peak, Fang Qinghan, sat on the main seat in the hall, his fingertips unconsciously tapping on the hard, cold jade armrest.

Two virtual screens floated before him. One displayed all of Li Wen’s cultivation progress records, from his entry to his breakthrough. The other was a top-secret monitoring report on the energy fluctuations and expansion trends of the Stargates.

The hall was filled only with a cool, dim light and the sound of his steady breathing.

His attention to Li Wen’s progress was no longer just about valuing an outstanding disciple.

Looking at the steep upward curve on the screen and the note ”Nine Heavens Divine Body Second Layer”, even Fang Qinghan’s usually placid state of mind, as still as an old well, couldn’t help but be stirred.

A thought—no, a heavy expectation—grew clearer and clearer in the depths of his heart:

’Eighth Layer... If this boy can successfully master the Eighth Layer of the *Nine Heavens Divine Body* and then break through to the Flying Star Level, perhaps...’

His gaze shifted to the other report on the screen. There, the number of red Star Gate zones, representing extreme danger, was slowly increasing.

Below the massive marker representing the strongest containment line, a note read: ”Projected time until threshold breach: 60 years.”

’How many more years of peace does Blue Star have?’ Fang Qinghan’s gaze grew sharp.

The Human Race’s current situation was stable on the surface, but in reality, it was as precarious as a pile of eggs.

Across all of Blue Star, the total number of Stargates stable enough for Marquis Level Demon Race members to pass through had already reached over twenty.

It was only by relying on the twenty-odd King-level experts of the Human Race standing guard that they could barely maintain the defensive line.

And the one core Star Gate, already large enough for King-level Demon Race members to traverse and requiring a Venerable to personally suppress it, was a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

Every time it stably expanded, it shortened the time the Human Race had left.

What was even more terrifying was that the Star Gates that could currently only allow low-level Demon Race members to pass through were like silently growing malignant tumors, crazily absorbing spatial energy and expanding their apertures at a visible rate.

Perhaps in a few years, those Star Gates that can now only let Great Sun-level Demon Race members through will be able to accommodate the Marquis Level; in a dozen or so years, King-level Demon Race members will be able to pour in on a massive scale.

And what about the Human Race of Blue Star? It had only been a little over two hundred years since the resurgence of Spiritual Qi and the full reboot of the Martial Dao.

The time to accumulate High Tier combat power has been too short! Venerable Level experts are few and far between.

The Demon Race, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, their foundation so deep it was despairing.

The day the core Star Gate expands enough to allow a Venerable Level Great Demon to set foot on Blue Star... Fang Qinghan closed his eyes. That, he feared, would be the apocalypse for the Human Race.

Under the immense pressure of survival, despair would breed betrayal.

Among the upper echelons of the Human Race who knew some of the core secrets... ”Shadow” was by no means an isolated case.

There were probably more people than expected who hoped to collude with the Demon Race, to ”leave a way out” for the future.

’...A seedling who can break through to the Eighth Layer is not just an opportunity for Nine Heavens Peak to be revitalized, but a future pillar for Spark University, and even... could be called one of the embers of hope for the Human Race’s survival.’

Fang Qinghan opened his eyes. His gaze fell upon the brightly lit area of townhouses down the mountain, the expectation in his eyes far exceeding what it was before.

’Li Wen... you must not disappoint me. You must not disappoint the entire Human Race.’

...

Under the brilliance of Li Wen, which was as dazzling as the scorching sun, another piece of news circulating within Nine Heavens Peak seemed much dimmer in comparison.

”Did you hear? Du Yun also succeeded in guiding thunder into his body today.”

”Hiss, that’s impressive! He succeeded on his first try? Looks like our Nine Heavens Peak has a whole bunch of beasts this year.”

”He is pretty amazing... but compared to the guy upstairs...” The disciple who spoke pursed his lips and pointed upwards, his meaning obvious.

”Yeah, next to a monster like Li Wen, even the brightest star would be overshadowed by his light.”

”But it’s a good thing in the end. The more geniuses there are, the stronger the Human Race will become.”

The news of Du Yun’s successful thunder induction was like a small pebble tossed into a deep pool. It only created a few ripples within the small circle of Nine Heavens Peak before quickly being calmed by the tidal wave of amazement for Li Wen.

It was only mentioned occasionally.

Du Yun himself sat in the top-floor cultivation chamber of his own townhouse, feeling no major emotional fluctuations.

He paid no mind to the discussions of his classmates and the senior students of the peak.

He looked at the thunder pattern on his arm, which had not yet fully subsided and still had a faint scorched feeling. Sensing the faint but real power of the Nine Heavens thunder within his body, he was already very satisfied.

Although he was more than half a month slower than Li Wen, succeeding on the first try was definitely something to be proud of.

It wasn’t that he, Du Yun, was weak, but that Li Wen was too strong.

So there was no need for him to belittle himself. In fact, being in the same class as Li Wen was a stroke of good fortune for him.

At least he would always have a clear goal ahead of him, like a bright lamp guiding his way.

The immense pressure from Li Wen didn’t make him shrink back. Instead, it became the fuse that ignited the fire of ”battle” in his heart.

...

Time passed quietly in cultivation.

A few days later, another piece of news was confirmed within Nine Heavens Peak: Fang Chenghong, ranked third on the Gold List, had also succeeded in guiding thunder into his body on his first try.

Although he was once again overshadowed by Li Wen’s blinding radiance, it was still enough to prove the caliber of this batch of top freshmen.

At this moment, in the exclusive top-floor quiet room of Townhouse No. 1.

Li Wen sat cross-legged, an invisible yet tangible and powerful aura surrounding him.

After several days of high-intensity, immersive deduction and digestion, aided by the terrifying comprehension bonus from Scholar LV11, he had finally and thoroughly grasped the core Heart Method of the *Nine Heavens Divine Body*’s Second Layer, its energy circulation pathways, and all subsequent key points, reaching 100% understanding.

That sense of clarity, rooted in the very essence of knowledge, made the path ahead of him incredibly clear.

With the days of comprehension and consolidation over, the fatigue in his body was swept away, and his condition was adjusted to its peak.

He stood up and, without hesitation, headed once again toward the Nine Heavens Peak, which was shrouded in violent thunderclouds.

Stepping into the first-floor hall of the Thunder Attraction Tower again, that familiar, oppressive feeling of Thunder Energy, carrying a sharp, ionizing sting, washed over him once more.

Only this time, what Li Wen felt was completely different.

He glanced at the cultivation chambers in the depths of the hall, which were divided into areas of different grades.

This time, he did not walk toward the area marked with the character ’C’. Instead, his gaze calmly locked onto the central area of the first floor, on a row of chambers marked with the character ’B’.

He pushed open a heavy metal door with arcs of lightning dancing on its surface and walked into the cultivation chamber labeled ”B-15”.

”CRACKLE—BZZZZ!”

The moment he entered, a concentration of thunderous energy, more than twice as dense as before, instantly enveloped him.

The air itself seemed to have turned into a viscous plasma of lightning, filled with destructive energy.

Rampant Electric Snakes writhed, collided, and exploded wantonly in the air, creating a sound that made one’s scalp tingle.

Just by breathing, he could feel a faint burning and numbing sensation deep in his throat.

Li Wen took a deep breath—”Haaa...”—and even the air he inhaled carried tiny electric sparks.

His body’s instinctive stress response made his muscles tense slightly, and a more intense stinging sensation pricked his skin.

’But unlike the first time, this pain isn’t a threatening alarm anymore. It’s more like a... friendly greeting?’

He could clearly feel every cell deep within his body humming with a faint, eager buzz, like a thirsty traveler who had found sweet dew.

That was the natural attraction and resonance of his fiendgod body—thoroughly baptized by the first layer of the thunder tribulation and branded with the Nine Heavens thunder patterns—to the High Tier energy of the same origin.

The discomfort lasted only for a brief moment.

The next moment, Li Wen’s eyes became as calm as an abyss.

An invisible yet extremely powerful force of control emanated from him, precisely covering the entire space of the chamber.

It was an absolute domain formed by the combined power of his Primordial Spirit and his Lv11 [Absolute Focus].

Under the control of his powerful mind, the giant lightning pythons, which had been rampaging violently like unbridled wild horses, were instantly and gently but firmly soothed by countless invisible hands, their wild momentum tamed.

The energy was still surging and torrential, carrying with it the physical properties to destroy everything.

But under Li Wen’s guidance, they began to follow the trajectory of the *Nine Heavens Divine Body*’s Second Layer Heart Method and became orderly.

Like a ferocious river being guided into a wide, sturdy riverbed, it flowed ceaselessly but no longer overflowed its banks wantonly.