High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 230: Chapter 157: Protective Sword Seal, Flying Star Achieved

For two whole months, the stubborn ”99%” on the panel hadn’t budged (the panel’s lowest display precision was 1%, incapable of showing decimal values). Every introspection felt like a silent questioning of his choice.

His resolve had wavered, and self-doubt followed him like a shadow, but in the end, he chose to trust the panel.

That trust finally bore fruit yesterday—the final 1% was complete.

At that very moment, an ineffable sense of completion replaced the previous ”false perfection.”

It was as if the final piece of a puzzle had clicked perfectly into place, closing a complete cycle.

It wasn’t a violent surge of power, but a fundamental completion, an ascension of his very state of being.

It was a qualitative leap from ninety-nine to one hundred, a metamorphosis into a state of true, ”flawless perfection.”

The past three months had been fruitful.

His scholar experience had accumulated steadily. Honed by the Dawn Five Forms, his mastery of Blade Intent had surpassed 70% and was still climbing resolutely.

The only exception was his cultivation of the 4th Layer of the Shocking God Stab. It was limited by the bottleneck of his current Primordial Spirit reserves, preventing him from carving the required runes in a single attempt. Nothing short of a realm breakthrough could solve this.

And that breakthrough would happen today.

The Flying Star Level!

The realm he had long yearned for was now within reach.

It meant freedom from the shackles of the earth, the liberty to soar through the starry sky!

With intense anticipation and resolve gleaming in his eyes, Li Wen closed the panel.

Just then, the smart bracelet on his wrist vibrated gently. A holographic screen popped up, displaying several birthday messages from his parents.

’Twenty years old...’ The passage of time felt so tangible.

He made a video call back. His mother’s gentle smile and his father’s concerned words reached him from across the Star Sea as they chatted about mundane things and caught up on recent events.

This brief moment of affection added a touch of warmth to a day destined to be extraordinary.

After ending the call, he washed up and replenished his energy with a specially provided high-potency breakfast.

He didn’t rush to take the crucial step. Instead, he headed to the training grounds as he always did.

Flashes of his blade crisscrossed like bolts of silk. The biting, deadly chill of his Dawn Blade Intent cut through the cool morning air, tuning his body and mind to a state of perfect, harmonious peak.

This was his rhythm.

An hour later, Li Wen sheathed his blade. His breathing was steady and deep, his aura completely placid.

He returned to Villa #1 and walked straight into the tranquil cultivation chamber.

Within the chamber, the top-tier heavenly materials and earthly treasures provided by Torchflame University were already prepared—

Thunderstruck Wood Heart Marrow, Star Forging Essence Liquid, the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Fruit... Each one contained vast, pure Spiritual Energy, enough to completely transform an ordinary Super Martial Artist.

They radiated heart-stopping waves of energy.

This was the ”fuel” he needed to ascend to the Flying Star Level, and more importantly, the necessary support for his Ninth-Layer perfected Divine Body.

Seated cross-legged in the center of the quiet chamber, Li Wen slowly closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the deepest reaches of his spiritual sea.

’Let’s begin.’

Calm the mind, still the spirit.

The Heart Method of the Nine Heavens Divine Body’s Ninth-Layer Perfection Chapter flowed through his mind. The vast reserves of qi and blood within him, already accumulated to their absolute peak—the limit of level 29.9—ignited like a powder keg and began to churn violently.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

An overwhelming aura, far surpassing that of an ordinary high-level Super Martial Artist, erupted from the villa and shot straight toward the heavens.

The air atop Mingde Peak suddenly grew heavy. An invisible pressure sent the birds nesting there scattering in a panic.

The Dantian—a Cultivator’s source of power—seemed to transform into the singularity at the dawn of the universe.

Guided by Li Wen’s will, his violent and condensed, thunder-infused qi and blood began to spin and collapse inward with a frantic yet unprecedented order.

This process was far more complex than simply absorbing Spiritual Energy.

A true Ninth-Layer perfected body had a ravenous appetite for energy. Only the purest, highest-grade Spiritual Energy could satisfy its transformative needs.

The immense life force and thunder-fire power within the Thunderstruck Wood Heart Marrow, the refined Primordial Energy from the Star Forging Essence Liquid that seemed to originate from the depths of a Star Core, and the wondrous medicinal properties of the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Fruit that could harmonize all things—all were efficiently extracted and refined by the Heart Method of the Nine Heavens Divine Body. Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, they surged into the center of his violently collapsing Dantian.

CRACKLE!

It was no longer ordinary lightning flashing across his skin. Instead, countless fine, ancient, deep purple runes of lightning, seemingly imbued with the Laws of Heaven and Earth, began to quietly emerge and fade.

The air trembled violently, emitting a low, oppressive roll of thunder.

Just as the collapse at the core of his Dantian was about to reach a critical point—

CRACK!

An enormous, invisible shackle was violently shattered by the power that had been accumulated to its absolute limit.

HUMMM...

Throughout the entire mountain range where Mingde Peak was located, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi suddenly erupted into a frenzy.

Vast, purple thunderclouds gathered without warning from all directions, completely blanketing the sky above Mingde Peak in an instant.

Within the clouds, it wasn’t the dance of ordinary silver lightning. Instead, a rich, purple-gold light flowed—deep and majestic, carrying a terrifying pressure that seemed to descend from the Nine Heavens themselves.

A low rumble vibrated through every inch of space. A majestic, complete aura of life—one that transcended the mortal world—began to emanate from the phenomenon, blanketing almost the entire campus.

All across Torchflame University, countless horrified gazes turned toward Mingde Peak.

...

「Enlightenment Peak Plaza.」

The disciples performing their morning exercises all stopped, staring dumbfounded at the sky.

”What... What is this phenomenon now?!” a burly-looking disciple exclaimed.

”I don’t know. Judging by the location, it’s coming from Mingde Peak.”

Beside the burly disciple, another with a more mature look gazed at the source of the phenomenon and began to speculate,

”Everyone living on Mingde Peak is a junior brother or sister below the Flying Star Level. Could someone be breaking through?”

”A breakthrough to the Flying Star Level can trigger a phenomenon? Why didn’t I have one?” the burly disciple asked, slightly confused.

”People like you and me could never trigger a phenomenon,” the mature-looking disciple said pointedly. ”But if someone breaks through with Ninth-Layer perfection... that can.”