High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 454: Chapter 292: Slaying an Extraordinary in One Slash

These opponents, whether at the Black Star or early Silver Moon ranks, were not even worthy of making him use a tenth of his strength, let alone feel the slightest bit of pressure.

Their vaunted speed, strength, defense, and even Secret Techniques were as fragile as paper before him.

’At this rate, there’s no way to increase my Martial Dao experience.’ Li Wen’s brow furrowed as his mind raced.

The Extreme Combat Field was the key to honing his skills and leveling up his Martial Daoist class.

But his opponents were too weak and the battles ended too quickly. They couldn’t provide any effective pressure, making his experience gain negligible.

”Star Pivot,” Li Wen asked his AI assistant directly, ”is there a way in the Extreme Combat Field to directly challenge high-ranked opponents? Climbing the ladder like this is too inefficient.”

”There is, Master.” Star Pivot’s pleasant voice immediately rang out. ”In addition to the random matchmaking system, the Extreme Combat Field also has a ’Challenge Mode’.

You can proactively send a challenge request to an opponent of a specific rank and ID. However, a challenge will only take effect if the challenged party consents.”

”Perfect!” A sharp glint flashed in Li Wen’s eyes, his earlier disappointment vanishing completely.

The ability to skip the long grind through the lower ranks and directly face experts who could actually pressure him was undoubtedly the best solution.

Li Wen estimated that he would need an opponent of at least the Extraordinary rank to force him to use even a portion of his strength, which would create a meaningful battle and boost his Martial Dao experience.

He might have rushed to Silver Moon 1 Star in just half an hour during his placement matches, but that was deceptive.

The points required to advance each star within the Silver Moon rank increased drastically, with a single victory possibly yielding only a few points, or maybe a dozen at most.

Getting from Silver Moon 1 Star to Silver Moon 9 Star would require a conservative estimate of several hundred wins.

Pushing onward to the Sun rank would require the accumulation of several thousand more.

While Li Wen could probably accomplish this in a week or two given his skill and efficiency, time was precious to him. He wanted to save it wherever he could.

Without hesitation, Li Wen immediately pulled up the challenge panel.

His gaze skipped right past the Sun rank, locking onto the one that symbolized a level of skill surpassing 95% of one’s peers: the Extraordinary rank.

To play it safe, he first selected a player whose rank was displayed as ”Extraordinary 1 Star.”

Their ID was ”Windripper,” and Li Wen sent the challenge request.

[BEEP! Challenge request sent to: Windripper (Extraordinary 1 Star)]

Li Wen waited with a hint of anticipation.

The reply came almost instantly, transmitted directly to Star Pivot.

Li Wen was surprised by the swift response. ’An expert of the Extraordinary rank is bound to have a few surprises in store, right?’

He even steadied his breathing, preparing to be thrown into an intense battle at a moment’s notice.

And yet... nothing happened.

”Star Pivot,” Li Wen asked, looking at the inactive teleportation prompt with some confusion. ”Didn’t they reply to the challenge? Why isn’t anything happening? Did they accept and just need time to prepare?”

His AI assistant, Star Pivot, was silent for half a second.

”Master, you were not accepted. To be precise, you were rejected.”

”Rejected?” Li Wen raised an eyebrow.

”Yes, Master.” Star Pivot’s voice remained perfectly level.

At the same time, Star Pivot displayed the reply:

[Challenge failed. Reason: The challenged party, ’Windripper,’ has set a minimum rank requirement for accepting challenges (Sun 5 Star or higher). Your current rank (Silver Moon 1 Star) does not meet this requirement.]

”Master, according to statistical analysis of historical data from the Extreme Combat Field, when a Silver Moon-ranked player challenges an Extraordinary-ranked player without any prior private communication, established connection, or special wager...”

Star Pivot paused, as if to emphasize a piece of common knowledge. ”...the probability of acceptance is infinitesimally close to zero.”

”Extraordinary-ranked Cultivators generally believe that fighting an opponent far beneath their own skill level is a complete waste of time. It offers no improvement and can even disrupt their own combat rhythm.”

”...” Li Wen was speechless.

He wearily rubbed the bridge of his nose. ”Then why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”

Star Pivot’s reply was instantaneous, delivered with pure, unadulterated logic. ”Because you did not ask for the specific details, Master.”

”My databanks operate on the foundational principle of ’answer when asked, withhold when not,’ to avoid information overload that could interfere with your decision-making.”

The response was logically flawless, leaving no room for rebuttal.

Li Wen was actually amused. He could only shake his head with a sigh.

”...Alright, fine. I guess there are no shortcuts. I’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

”Star Pivot, start matchmaking. Continue the ranked matches in the Silver Moon tier,” Li Wen said, gripping the hilt of his blade anew. His gaze had returned to a state of calm.

If he couldn’t take a shortcut, he would just take the most direct route—by crushing everyone in his path!

”Command received. Now matching you with a Silver Moon-ranked opponent, Master...”

A light flashed, and Li Wen’s figure vanished from the prep area, throwing himself into an endless cycle of instant kills.

Draw. Slay. Win. His movements were fluid and mechanical, terrifyingly efficient.

...

In just one day, Li Wen had already fought over three hundred battles in the Extreme Combat Field.

SCHLICK!

Another impossibly fast flash of blade light streaked through the air.

The one to fall this time was a powerhouse ranked as high as Sun 3 Star, renowned for his defense and strength.

His opponent’s Lava Armor, said to be able to withstand a strike from a Venerable Peak, was utterly useless before Li Wen’s blade. A head tumbled to the ground.

[Victor: Li Wen (Rank: Sun 1 Star)]

[Battle Rating: SSS (Instant Kill)]

[Current Record: 331 Wins, 0 Losses]

When Li Wen returned to the prep area and saw that he had finally been promoted from Silver Moon 9 Star to Sun 1 Star, he felt little joy.

Three hundred and thirty-one battles, almost every one an instant kill, not a single loss. The accumulated points had finally pushed him over the threshold into the Sun rank.

But for him, the process had been nothing more than a tedious accumulation of numbers, offering no challenge whatsoever.

What concerned him more was that the Extraordinary rank—where he might finally find some pressure—was still an entire tier away, beyond all the levels of Sun.

However, Li Wen’s horrifying win streak...

...was like a giant boulder dropped into a placid lake, sending powerful ripples through the Extreme Combat Field’s backend monitoring system.

In a monitoring room within the Lain Empire’s Extreme Combat Field Division, a branch of the Virtual Cosmos Administration, screens flickered and data streams scrolled endlessly.

A middle-aged man in a silver-gray uniform, whose calm and steady aura marked him as a Star Lord Level powerhouse, was performing his routine review of the day’s anomalous data reports.

Suddenly, a pop-up, automatically flagged by the system as ”High-Potential Watch,” caught his eye:

[ID: Changning (Real Name: Li Wen Lain)]

[Rank: Venerable Realm, Sun 1 Star (Newly Promoted)]

[Current Record: 331 Wins, 0 Losses]

[Win Rate: 100%]

[Last 100 Battles Rating: SSS (100%)]

[Average Battle Duration: 0.87 seconds (includes system judgment time)]

[Matches to Reach Sun Rank: 331]

Supervisor Karon’s gaze froze on the ”331 wins, 0 losses,” the ”100% win rate,” the ”100% SSS rating,” and the impossibly short ”0.87-second average battle duration.”

His fingers flew across the light screen, pulling up more detailed data, including brief replay clips of each of Li Wen’s matches.

Without exception, the scenes were identical: the opponent appeared, a blade flashed, the battle was over.

HISS... Supervisor Karon couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath, his eyes flaring with astonishing light.

”Where in the world did this monstrous genius come from?! A Venerable Realm Cultivator with a 331-win streak, all instant kills, carving a path from his placement matches all the way to Sun 1 Star?”

”Th-this... what kind of terrifying mastery of technique does that require? Could he be a core disciple secretly nurtured by one of the ’Extreme Cultivation Systems’?”

He immediately recognized the value of this data.

The potential and future influence of such a dazzling new star were immeasurable.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Karon raised Li Wen’s watch level and quickly entered a command into the internal system:

[Priority Observation Target: ID ’Changning,’ Venerable Realm. Initiate deep data collection and analysis to assess true combat power ceiling and potential rating. Simultaneously, monitor subsequent matchmaking and challenge activities, especially as his rank approaches Extraordinary.]

”Interesting, very interesting!” Supervisor Karon stared at the simple ID ”Changning” on the screen, a grin full of interest spreading across his face.

’The waters of the Sun rank aren’t as shallow as Silver Moon’s. Let’s see how long you can maintain that undefeated streak and instant-kill record. Perhaps your real challenge is only just beginning?’

...

「Virtual Cosmos, Extreme Combat Field.」

After hitting Sun 1 Star, Li Wen showed no signs of stopping.

Each flash of the matchmaking system’s light signified both the beginning and the end of a battle.

Two days slipped by in Li Wen’s continuous cycle of ”instant queue, instant kill.”

Right now, the info panel before his eyes displayed: Rank: Sun 5 Star.

But the rank insignia of the figure materializing opposite him was no longer Sun. Instead, it pulsed with a restrained yet sharper light—Extraordinary 1 Star!

This was a Cultivator standing about 1.6 meters tall, their face obscured by strange, swirling patterns of energy.

Their aura was dense and focused, far surpassing any of the Sun-ranked opponents Li Wen had faced before.

The moment this person appeared, their eyes swept over Li Wen’s rank insignia, and they visibly paused.

”Sun 5 Star?” His tone held obvious surprise, then he seemed to recall something.

His fingers tapped and swiped at the empty air, clearly pulling up Li Wen’s match history.

When the glaring ”Wins: 943, Losses: 0” leaped into view, the Extraordinary 1 Star powerhouse’s pupils contracted sharply, and he drew in a sharp breath.

”HISS—A one-hundred percent win rate? A 943-win streak?! A monster, just as I thought! No wonder a Sun 5 Star was matched with me.”

After the initial shock, his eyes showed no fear. Instead, a powerful fighting spirit began to burn within them.

His right hand instantly clenched the hilt of the blade at his waist as a chilling Blade Intent began to coalesce around him.