High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 416: Chapter 256: The Demon Emperor’s Fury

They looked at their junior brother—impossibly young, yet with accomplishments that had already surpassed their own.

They saw the pursuit of power burning in his eyes.

’That’s right. Li Wen isn’t like us.’

They recalled Li Wen’s unbelievable rate of advancement.

From King to Venerable, then refining the core, purging the Demon Race, reaching the 8th layer of the Primordial Spirit, and mastering the All Things Return to Ruins Finger to possess the combat power of the Saint Realm... It all seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye.

Blue Star was indeed too small for him, like a pond that could not contain a true dragon destined to soar through the nine heavens.

His sights were likely already set on the depths of the Star Sea, on the legendary realm beyond the Saint Realm, and even on places more distant and unknown.

Binding him to the position of leader, forcing him to handle matters as trivial as grains of sand to someone like him, was truly a colossal waste, a heavy shackle preventing him from flying higher.

Looking at Li Wen, the three of them felt a sense of loss, but it was overshadowed by a complex understanding and relief.

Ye Qin nodded slightly and said no more, but his gaze said it all.

A weight lifted from Li Wen’s heart, and a genuinely relaxed smile spread across his face.

”Go,” Venerable Ye Qin said, his voice gentle and tinged with a hint of imperceptible emotion.

Li Wen cupped his fists again and said no more.

He took one last look at the three seniors who guarded Blue Star like its very cornerstones, then his gaze passed over their shoulders.

It settled on the boundless azure sky beyond Enlightenment Peak, and on the profound cosmic Star Sea.

That was where his heart truly belonged.

His figure shifted, and a nearly imperceptible ripple spread through space.

He vanished on the spot, as if he had merged into the vast blue sky.

Not until Li Wen’s senses had completely departed from the rear mountain of Enlightenment Peak...

...did Venerable Gu He shake his head with a resigned smile.

”That kid... This is the position of leader of the Human Race. Countless people dream of it.”

Venerable Xingxuan gazed in the direction Li Wen had disappeared, a strange light glinting in her eyes.

It was a mixture of gratification at being surpassed by a junior and an indescribable, complex feeling.

”For him... this position might really be a shackle.”

”Make him attend meetings? Approve documents? Coordinate resource allocation between cities? Handle all that petty squabbling?”

She pictured it and couldn’t help but shake her head.

Venerable Ye Qin stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distant sky. The relief on his face had completely melted away, replaced by a profound sense of anticipation.

”Senior Brother Gu He, Junior Sister Xingxuan, let’s not dwell on it. Li Wen is right. His path is not in the halls of power, but in the Star Sea, at the very end of all Law.”

”His value doesn’t lie in managing this corner of the universe called Blue Star, but in the unimaginable heights he can reach. The power to protect is what’s fundamental.”

”If he truly reaches the Saint Realm, or even surpasses it, he alone will be enough to intimidate all the myriad races of the heavens.”

”That will be the greatest protection for Blue Star and the Human Race, far surpassing anything the three of us old folks could achieve by racking our brains here by a millionfold.”

He turned to his two companions, his tone becoming exceptionally solemn.

”Our perspective was too narrow. Let the three of us continue to worry about Blue Star’s affairs. Give him his freedom. Let him fly, let him venture out, let him become stronger!”

”The higher he flies, the safer Blue Star will be, and the brighter the future of the Human Race will become!”

Venerable Gu He could only let out a long sigh, a resigned yet proud smile on his face.

”Fine! A monster has a monster’s path. We ’mortals’ will just have to keep watch over the house for him! I just hope the kid doesn’t fly so fast that we can’t even see his shadow anymore.”

Venerable Xingxuan smiled. ”If he truly flies so high we can no longer see his shadow, that would be the greatest fortune for our Human Race.”

The sunlight remained warm, and tranquility returned to the rear mountain of Enlightenment Peak.

The three Venerables exchanged a glance, and each saw in the others’ eyes the relief of having a heavy burden lifted.

As well as the deepest blessings and expectations for the young man who had embarked on his journey to the stars.

At that moment, having returned to his meditation chamber in the Li Manor in Changning City, Li Wen had already put their conversation completely out of his mind.

His attention was already immersed in his Scholar panel.

[Profession: Scholar LV 19 (13,238,242/26,214,400)]

For the past month and a half, he hadn’t published any new papers.

But the abundant experience from his previously published papers had still pushed his Scholar level to the halfway point.

’Almost there. I just need to publish a few more papers, and I should be able to reach LV 20,’ Li Wen muttered to himself before closing the panel.

...

「Meanwhile, deep within a dead Star Domain hundreds of light-years away from Blue Star.」

In the center of a graveyard made of shattered stars and distorted space.

A faint, crimson pattern suddenly lit up on the surface of a massive, pitch-black meteorite shaped like an eye. Though faint, it contained a terrifying fluctuation of will.

The pattern squirmed like a living thing, as if trying its utmost to perceive something.

Finally, that formless will traversed the endless void.

With a trace of bewildered suspicion and irrepressible greed, it locked onto... the direction of the Milky Way’s Orion Arm.

”Source... will... resonance... pure... powerful... soul fluctuation... Found it...”

The intermittent, bone-chilling whisper echoed silently in the absolute void, like the murmur of death itself.

This graveyard of a Star Domain, which had been silent for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, seemed to grow even more sinister and terrifying with the awakening of this will.

...

「Demon Realm, Celestial Fox Palace.」

A suppressive atmosphere filled the grand and gloomy hall.

The Talisman Emperor sat high upon a throne carved from some kind of dark purple Crystal Stone, his icy gaze looking down on the figure prostrated below.

It was a Demon Saint in charge of investigating intelligence on Blue Star. His head was bowed low, and his body was trembling imperceptibly.

”Have you gotten to the bottom of the situation on Blue Star?” The Talisman Emperor’s voice was not loud, yet it seemed to carry immense weight as it echoed through the empty hall.

”R-Reporting to Your Majesty, the Talisman Emperor,” the Demon Saint’s voice was filled with terror. ”The... the specific details have not yet been fully ascertained.”

”But based on the fact that our clansmen spread across Blue Star all perished almost simultaneously within half a day... this subordinate... this subordinate believes,”

”that the Human Race must have precisely located the coordinates of all our hidden brethren and... and simultaneously dispatched multiple Venerables skilled in long-distance spatial travel, or even...”

He swallowed hard, his voice dropping lower. ”Even... we cannot rule out the possibility that a Saint Realm expert has appeared.”

”Useless!”

As expected, before the Demon Saint could even finish, the Talisman Emperor’s rage exploded like a thunderclap.

A terrifying pressure instantly flooded the entire Celestial Fox Palace. The prostrated Demon Saint’s body sank abruptly, nearly crushed flat against the floor as cold sweat poured down his back.

”A month and a half! A whole month and a half has passed!” The Talisman Emperor’s voice was laced with boundless fury and agitation,

”My Demon Race spent two hundred years laying its groundwork on Blue Star, expending countless efforts and resources! And it all turned to nothing overnight!”

”And you useless trash still can’t even figure out who the enemy was or what methods they used! All you can do is fob me off with ’possibilities’ and ’speculations’!”

He shot to his feet, and the very space around his throne seemed to warp from his fury.

”A Saint Realm expert? How could the Human Race possibly produce a Saint Realm expert in such a short time! I refuse to believe it!”

A paranoid and unwilling light flickered in the Talisman Emperor’s eyes.

He was more willing to believe that the Human Race had gotten ridiculously lucky and discovered some method to lock onto the position of every member of the Demon Race.

Then, they mobilized their entire force—all their Venerables and even peak Kings—and caught the Demon Race completely off guard.

This explanation, while still meaning a huge loss, was at least easier for him to accept than the emergence of a new Human Saint—that would completely extinguish his hopes of getting his hands on Blue Star’s origin and scheming for the ancestor’s legacy.

”Get out! And keep investigating!” the Talisman Emperor roared,

”Use our moles inside the other three planets, no matter the cost! I want the truth! If you come back with such useless information again, don’t bother coming back at all!”

”Yes! Yes... Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy!”

As if granted a great amnesty, the Demon Saint scrambled out of the hall.

Leaving the Talisman Emperor alone in the vast, cold Celestial Fox Palace.

His expression was stormy, and deep within his eyes, beneath the rage, was an imperceptible trace of fear and anxiety.

Two hundred years of scheming had turned to dust. An unknown threat was the most terrifying thing of all.

...

「Galactic Calendar, Year 246, December 1st. Morning.」

Cool, gentle morning light streamed through the window lattice, casting dappled shadows on the bedroom floor.

Li Wen slowly opened his eyes. They were as deep as the Star Sea, yet held a rare trace of laziness and peace.

More than two months had passed since the complete purge of the Demon Race and the Shadow Traitors from Blue Star.

In these two months, the rhythm of Li Wen’s life had changed significantly.

His physical body had long since reached the state of complete Fasting, requiring no sleep, but he had picked up the habit of sleeping occasionally once more.

This wasn’t a physiological need, but a deliberate relaxation on a spiritual level.

A brief return to a sanctuary for his mind after long periods of slaughter, breakthroughs, and the heavy weight of responsibility.

He spent most of his time, however, accompanying his parents.

He knew very well that Blue Star—this planet he had fought so hard to restore peace to and protect with his own hands—was ultimately not the final destination on his long path.

The days he had left here had already begun to count down.

With a slight shift in his thoughts, the familiar translucent panel unfolded before his eyes.

[Name: Li Wen]

[Age: 37]

[Realm: Venerable]

[Profession: Scholar LV 19 (24,382,420/26,214,400)]

[Skills: Saber Technique · Venerable (Void Break 100%, Starfall 100%, Thunder Prison 100%, Imperial Aegis 82%)]

[Cultivation Techniques: All Things Return to Ruins Finger · 1st Layer (100%), Shocking God Stab · 7th Layer (100%)]

His gaze lingered on the [Profession] line for a moment.

LV 19, with over 24.38 million experience points. He was less than 1.9 million away from the 26.21 million needed to level up.

With his current academic accumulation and influence, he only needed to publish one more paper.

After waiting a few days for it to ferment and spread through the academic world, his experience points would surely and steadily break through the threshold.

A max-level Scholar profession would provide a whopping 200% boost to his comprehension!

This would be an immeasurable help for him in exploring more profound Law Domains, especially in perfecting the last two forms of his saber technique, and even in creating a Saint Realm saber technique.

Even more enticing was the immense surge in Spiritual Power.

Could it directly push his Primordial Spirit from the 8th layer all the way to the 9th Layer?