High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 453: Chapter 291: Weak, Too Weak

To Li Wen’s powerful Primordial Spirit perception, the trajectory of the seemingly mighty hammer was as slow as a crawling snail.

The hammer technique was crude and full of openings, not even on par with some of the top Marquis experts from Blue Star.

Li Wen didn’t even draw his blade, merely sidestepping slightly.

By a hair’s breadth, he let the immense force of the giant hammer graze past him.

It smashed into the ground, sending shards of Obsidian flying.

Doge’s attack missed. He roared, sweeping his giant hammer horizontally in an army-clearing strike, once again aiming for Li Wen.

Li Wen’s footwork shifted like a phantom’s. He dodged the next two attacks with casual ease, as if strolling through his own backyard.

’Why is his technique so poor?’ The doubt in Li Wen’s mind grew.

His opponent was clearly at the peak of the Venerable Realm in terms of physical body.

But in Li Wen’s eyes, this hammer technique was at the level of a master of the Dao Realm, at best.

It hadn’t even touched the edge of the Domain Realm! This completely subverted his understanding.

On Blue Star, the core of the cultivation system was ”technique first.”

One’s level of technique was the key to unlocking the door to higher physical realms.

Without comprehending a technique—be it blade, sword, or Fist Skill—to the Domain Realm, it was impossible to break through to the King Realm.

In other words, if this Doge were on Blue Star, the highest he could ever hope to achieve would be a top-tier Marquis.

He would never even touch the threshold of the Venerable Realm!

’Could it be that the mainstream cultivation system of the cosmos is completely different from ours on Blue Star? That the requirements for technique are low, or maybe there are no strict requirements at all?’ The thought flashed through Li Wen’s mind.

Just as Li Wen was feeling surprised, Doge of the Charon Race was utterly horrified.

Three of his powerful, heavy attacks hadn’t even touched the corner of his opponent’s clothes.

His opponent’s seemingly casual dodges were as precise as if he could predict the future.

”Die!” Doge’s ferocity was provoked, and a gray energy erupted from his body.

The giant hammer glowed with an earthy yellow light; he had clearly activated some kind of innate Secret Technique.

His aura surged again, and his speed increased slightly.

An even more violent ”Earth-Shattering Quake” came smashing toward Li Wen.

This time, Li Wen moved.

CLANG!

The clear ring of a blade echoed through the arena.

Doge didn’t even see how Li Wen drew his blade. He only saw a flash of light, brilliant to the extreme and carrying the intent of tearing space itself, before it vanished.

The blade light swept past the giant hammer, and his sturdy weapon, enhanced by a Secret Technique, was instantly and smoothly split in two.

Without pausing, the light flashed across his massive body.

Doge’s rock-like body froze, the ferocity and horror in his eyes instantly solidifying.

The next second, his body split neatly in two along an incredibly smooth diagonal line and collapsed with a crash.

He dissolved into motes of light—death in the Virtual Cosmos meant his consciousness returned to the initial space.

Silence fell over the arena, broken only by the system’s cold notification:

[Winner: Li Wen (Rank: Placement 1/10)]

[Battle Rating: SSS-Rank (Instant Kill)]

[Points Acquired: +100 (Placement Match Bonus)]

”What... what kind of monster is that?!”

In the initial space of the Virtual Cosmos, Doge, having just reformed, had a deathly pale face. His massive body was still trembling slightly.

That last strike had been too fast for his thoughts to even keep up.

He hadn’t even sensed any powerful energy fluctuations. All he saw was a blur, and then he was ”dead.”

That feeling of powerlessness and fear was deeply seared into his consciousness.

”Star Pivot.” Li Wen sheathed his blade and communicated with his consciousness.

”I am here, Master,” Star Pivot’s voice responded immediately.

”Help me look up the mainstream cultivation systems in the cosmos, especially the relationship between advancing one’s physical realm and one’s technique realm. Are there common requirements or standards for technique?” Li Wen directly stated his doubts.

”Of course, Master. Accessing the Virtual Cosmos knowledge base ’Cosmo-pedia.’ Confirming permissions...” Star Pivot’s efficient processing power kicked in instantly.

After just a few seconds, Star Pivot completed its information retrieval and integration.

”Master, the query is complete. According to authoritative statistics and analysis from ’Cosmo-pedia,’ in over 99.99% of known mainstream and non-mainstream cultivation systems in the universe, advancements in the physical realm before the Star Lord level do not typically have strict prerequisite requirements or unified standards for technique.”

Star Pivot’s voice was clear, like it was giving a science lesson:

”The mainstream path of advancement focuses more on energy accumulation, resource stockpiling, and the like. As long as one’s physical body is strong enough, they can break through using rare treasures.

Improving one’s technique is often seen as a separate, auxiliary path that requires a significant investment of time and energy to study, used to better utilize one’s physical strength.

As long as one’s technique isn’t ridiculously low, it generally won’t hinder a physical breakthrough.

This has led to the widespread phenomenon of ’high realm, low technique,’ just like the opponent you encountered, Master.”

”However,” Star Pivot’s tone shifted, becoming more serious, ”there do exist a very small number of ’extreme cultivation systems’ in the cosmos!

One of the core characteristics of these systems is that they set ’technique realm’ as an absolute prerequisite for breakthroughs in the physical realm.

If one does not cultivate a certain level of technique to its absolute peak and comprehend its corresponding profound mysteries, their physical realm will be completely locked, unable to advance even an inch!

These systems have an extremely high barrier to entry, a relatively slow cultivation speed, and demanding requirements for a Cultivator’s comprehension.”

”However, once they achieve success,” Star Pivot’s voice held a trace of admiration, ”the Cultivators produced by these systems are, without exception, titans among their peers!

They can expend less energy to unleash terrifying combat power that far exceeds their level, and fighting opponents of a higher rank is commonplace for them.

Their foundations are solid and their potential profound, far surpassing those of the mainstream systems.”

Although he already had a vague suspicion, hearing such a clear and definitive answer from Star Pivot, Li Wen was still struck by a strong sense of absurdity, leaving him completely stunned.

’So... our cultivation system is the ”abnormal” one?’

An extremely strange expression appeared on Li Wen’s face, as if to say: ’Turns out I’m the clown?’

However, this feeling of absurdity only lasted for a moment.

Li Wen immediately understood the key points.

’No wonder that on Blue Star, after reaching the Marquis realm, people aren’t measured by their physical realm but by their combat power. Some people might have just entered the Marquis realm, with their physical body only at the Early-stage Marquis level, but their combat power is top-tier, so they are considered top-tier Marquises. Others might have been Marquises for years, their physical bodies having reached Late-stage Marquis or even the peak, but if their combat power is low, they are still considered entry-level Marquises. By that logic, that Charon Race member who was at the peak Venerable Realm physically would be considered an entry-level Venerable on Blue Star, maybe even the absolute weakest among them. I bet some of the more powerful peak Kings could wipe the floor with him.’ (Physical realms have always existed, divided into early, middle, late, and peak stages; it’s just that Blue Star’s system is different and doesn’t use this as the standard. For example, when Li Wen first entered the Marquis Realm, his physical body was only at Early-stage Marquis, but he already possessed the combat power of a peak-level King.)

’This must be the work of Ancestral Master Chang Jia.’

Li Wen’s mind cleared, and a light of understanding flickered in his eyes. ’This ”extreme path” that the Ancestral Master chose for the Human Race of Blue Star... though it makes breakthroughs incredibly difficult and sacrifices overall cultivation speed, in exchange, it creates Extraordinary individuals who are rock-solid and possess exceptional combat power at every stage! More importantly, this path has relatively low resource requirements. In the resource-poor environment of Blue Star, this is the most pragmatic path, and the one that best ensures the survival and ultimate rise of our race in the face of adversity!’

The battle just now was the perfect proof.

They were both at the peak Venerable Realm, yet that Charon Race member, a ”Black Star 4,” couldn’t even take a single strike from him.

This disparity was the crushing advantage brought about by the ”extreme system.”

Having figured all this out, the last trace of doubt in Li Wen’s mind vanished.

He began matchmaking again.

...

[BEEP! Matchmaking in progress... Match found!]

[Now entering: Venerable Realm · Novice Placement Match (2/10)]

[Opponent Information: Spirit Fox Race · ’Stinger’ (Rank: Black Star 6)]

A new opponent appeared at the other end of the arena: a two-meter-tall man holding two slender piercing blades, his eyes glinting with a cold red light.

He exuded a sharp, piercing intent, clearly specializing in speed and tricky attacks.

’Black Star 6? I hope he’s a little stronger than the last one.’ Li Wen’s eyes were calm as he casually rested his right hand on the hilt of his blade.

This time, he couldn’t even be bothered to wait for his opponent to attack first.

VMMM!

The light of the blade flashed again like a startling flash!

It was too fast for thought to capture, as if the fatal gleam had already crossed the space the instant his opponent appeared.

The red light in the eyes of the Spirit Fox Race man, ’Stinger,’ hadn’t even had time to focus on Li Wen before his consciousness was abruptly cut off and his virtual body dissolved into motes of light.

[Winner: Li Wen (Rank: Placement 2/10)]

[Battle Rating: SSS-Rank (Instant Kill)]

[Points Acquired: +100 (Placement Match Bonus)]

...

PFFT!

The blade flashed and was gone, clean and efficient.

The third opponent, a Venerable from the Rock Race who specialized in defense, had a sturdy body that was like paper before the blade’s light. His massive head was instantly severed, and the battle ended.

[Winner: Li Wen (Rank: Placement 3/10)]

[Battle Rating: SSS-Rank (Instant Kill)]

[Points Acquired: +100 (Placement Match Bonus)]

...

The lights of the arena flickered continuously.

Li Wen matched with opponent after opponent.

His figure would appear on the stage, draw his blade, sheathe it, the opponent would disappear, and the victory notification would sound.

The movements were simple and efficient, carrying an air of suffocating dominance.

Even in the later placement matches, when he started getting matched with Silver Moon-ranked opponents, the result was still the same.

The blade flashed, the opponent fell.

Instant kill! Instant kill! Still an instant kill!

Ten placement matches, from start to finish, took no more than half an hour.

When the final opponent, a Silver Moon 3-Star, disintegrated in a flash of blade light, Li Wen’s rank information was finalized.

[Placement Matches Complete!]

[Final Rank: Silver Moon 1-Star]

[Record: 10 Wins, 0 Losses]

With a flash of light, Li Wen returned to the preparation space.

”Weak. Far too weak.” He shook his head lightly, his tone holding not a trace of joy from his victory, only deep disappointment.