High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 193: Chapter 148: Gu Yan’s Shock

Seeing Li Wen’s sincere attitude and the clarity in his eyes, Gu Yan felt somewhat relieved and stepped aside.

After bidding farewell to Gu Yan, Li Wen came to the large gate.

An attendant in a standard-issue gray robe stood at the entrance.

Li Wen handed over his Identity Jade Token.

The attendant checked the information on the Jade Token. Only after confirming that Li Wen’s record of 100% mastery of the Nine Heavens Divine Body Foundation Chapter was accurate did he nod slightly and push open the heavy gate.

A surge of even denser, purer energy of thunder and lightning, tinged with an intertwining sense of life and destruction, rushed to meet him.

Li Wen stepped into the grand hall on the first floor of the Thunder Attraction Tower.

It was an incredibly vast interior space with an extremely high, vaulted ceiling. Inlaid in the ceiling were countless Crystal Stones that spontaneously emitted a thunderous light, bathing the entire space in a swirl of purple and white.

A faint, visible mist of electric arcs filled the air, and inhaling it brought a slight numbing sensation.

The entire hall was divided by invisible force fields and heavy insulating materials into thirty independent cultivation chambers.

These chambers were not randomly distributed. They were clearly divided into three tiered zones based on their proximity to the core energy source, their size, and the strength of their Protective Arrays.

The front row, closest to the hall’s core energy node, was ’Zone A,’ containing ten chambers. The thunderous light peeking through the door seams was blinding, clearly indicating these were for senior disciples with established foundations.

The middle area was ’Zone B,’ which was the most numerous with fifteen chambers.

The area Li Wen was currently being guided toward was the final row on the hall’s outer edge, nestled against the thick walls: ’Zone C.’

There were only a few chambers there, and the Power of Thunder and Lightning that seeped from them seemed the most sparse and gentle.

According to the rules, a newcomer like him, here to cultivate for the first time, could only use the last chamber in Zone C—the one with the weakest Power of Thunder and Lightning.

Li Wen soon found the chamber marked ”C-5.”

He pushed the door open. The interior was not large, about ten square meters.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were forged from a single piece of dark purple metal that efficiently conducted the energy of thunder and lightning. They were polished to an exceptionally smooth finish and engraved with complex energy-guiding patterns, which now emitted a gentle hum and a soft purple glow.

The moment he stepped into the room, the metal door behind him silently slid shut, sealing seamlessly.

Instantly, Li Wen felt the pressure around him spike. The dense energy of thunder and lightning from outside felt as if it had been compressed more than tenfold in here.

The ubiquitous, pure particles of thunder and lightning pricked at the pores of his skin like fine needles. Even the tiny electric arcs in the air actively coiled around him, bringing a sharp and persistent stinging pain.

Although it stung, the pain was tolerable and far from destructive.

He could clearly feel the faint, spontaneous resistance generated by the Nine Heavens Divine Body Foundation Chapter protecting his skin and superficial tissues.

Even so, Li Wen was still slightly astonished.

’This is the room with the weakest Power of Thunder and Lightning? Any other Super Martial Artist would probably have been injured by this level of energy concentration and destructive force. Those front-row chambers, especially the ones on the second floor... No wonder they stressed the danger so much.’

His gaze swept over the thunder-guiding patterns on the walls, which grew brighter and more complex. He could only imagine the terrifying degree to which the natural Power of Thunder and Lightning was compressed and purified in the cultivation chambers closer to the core.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Li Wen immediately focused his mind.

The time allowed in the cultivation chamber each day was strictly limited.

First, activating, guiding, and storing such a vast and pure amount of the Power of Thunder and Lightning was incredibly resource-intensive, with the supply regulated by a special apparatus.

Second, and most importantly, the human body has its limits.

Anyone who stayed too long in an environment filled with such savage natural force, no matter how strong their physical body, would inevitably suffer damage as the high-energy particles of thunder and lightning continuously penetrated and eroded them.

If this damage exceeded the body’s ability to heal itself, it would likely be irreversible.

For a first-time Cultivator like him, the safe time limit was set at two hours.

If he exceeded this limit, the internal injuries caused by the violent Power of Thunder and Lightning continuously bombarding his deep muscles, bones, and even his internal organs and nervous system would be extremely difficult to heal. This would be entirely detrimental to laying the foundation for the Nine Heavens Divine Body.

”Time to begin,” Li Wen murmured, sitting cross-legged on the smooth, cold metal floor in the center of the room. He focused his spirit and closed his eyes.

He did not rush to activate Absolute Focus right away.

Senior Brother Gu Yan’s earlier description had sparked his curiosity. ’Without using any special talents, relying solely on my own understanding of the Foundation Chapter and my willpower to guide the thunder for Body Refining... is it truly as dangerous and difficult as Gu Yan claimed?’

Li Wen slowed his breathing, circulating the qi and blood in his body strictly according to the essentials of the Nine Heavens Divine Body Foundation Chapter’s Heart Method.

As he sent out his guiding force, the free-roaming energy of thunder and lightning within the room seemed to answer a summons. Like sharks that had smelled blood, it instantly became active and violent.

What had been mere wisps of energy now converged into purple Electric Snakes as thick as a finger, which scrambled to plunge themselves into Li Wen’s body.

CRACKLE—!

Intense pain! It was completely different from the gentle stinging from before. This influx of the Power of Thunder and Lightning was incredibly destructive, brutally ramming into his meridians and attempting to tear apart the pathways of his qi and blood. Its very nature was frenzied, scorching, and numbing.

His skin was instantly charred black, and his muscles twitched uncontrollably as if being pierced by countless steel needles. The circulation of his qi and blood was brought to a screeching halt.

His brain felt as though it had been pierced by countless tiny electric needles, bringing on a sharp wave of vertigo.

After only a moment’s attempt, Li Wen had a profound understanding of the peril, which truly felt like walking on thin ice.

For a novice, trying to precisely guide and tame such violent thunder—and use it to temper and strengthen one’s body without getting hurt—was an uphill battle with a slim chance of survival! No wonder Gu Yan had been so grave.

This wasn’t just a test of the Heart Method, but an extreme trial of willpower. The slightest carelessness or lapse in focus would cause the violent energy to backlash.

’It seems... taming this kind of worldly power under normal circumstances is truly no easy task.’ The thought flashed through his mind, and Li Wen hesitated no longer.

With a mere thought, his eyes snapped open! A silver light seemed to flow from their depths, which were now calm and profound, without a hint of their earlier agitation.

Absolute Focus LV11—Activate!

In that instant, the world in Li Wen’s perception became completely different.

The complex information from the outside world and the excruciating pain from his body seemed to be filtered through an invisible membrane, leaving behind only the purest insight into the principles of how power flowed.

At the same time, the mighty power of his Second-Level Primordial Spirit was also quietly mobilized.

The vast and majestic power of his Primordial Spirit spread like an invisible web of light, instantly permeating his entire body. It took control, precisely perceiving and analyzing every single violent particle of thunder and lightning that surged within him.

With these two supreme talents working in concert, everything changed dramatically.

The Power of Thunder and Lightning, once as wild as a runaway stallion, instantly grew docile under the analysis of his Primordial Spirit and the precise control of his Absolute Focus.

It was no longer a rampaging, destructive torrent of energy. Instead, it was like a gentle stream that had found its optimal course. Following the guidance of Li Wen’s will, the energy was broken down into finer, more fundamental particle streams.

This particle stream was drawn along the most suitable, safest, and most efficient path, beginning to wash over, penetrate, and merge with every inch of Li Wen’s muscle fibers, bone meridians, internal organs, and bone marrow.

Only now did the Heart Method of the Nine Heavens Divine Body Foundation Chapter truly display its miraculous effects. Under the internal gaze of his Primordial Spirit’s eye, every single cycle of its operation was optimized to its absolute limit.

While tempering his physical body, the particles of thunder and lightning also brought with them a faint vitality, rapidly repairing the minor damage from his earlier attempt and enhancing his cellular activity.

It allowed his flesh and bones to continuously transform through a cycle of destruction and rebirth, gradually imbuing them with a faint yet tenacious and unyielding aura characteristic of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.

Time flew by during his state of absolute, focused cultivation.

Until...

HUMMM—

A gentle but persistent hum, accompanied by a faint blue light from the patterns on the walls, filled the entire chamber.

The two-hour time limit was up.

The supply of once-dense thunder and lightning energy within the chamber quickly dwindled and dissipated.

The arcs of electricity around Li Wen’s body slowly subsided, but faint sparks still occasionally flickered across his skin. He could perceive a distinct improvement in his physical strength, and his natural affinity for thunder and lightning seemed to have increased.

He let out a long breath and smoothly concluded his cultivation. The silver light in his eyes faded, and they became clear once more.

Although he had used the energy efficiently while in his state of Absolute Focus, and two hours of intense mental concentration had been draining, his physical condition was actually more vigorous than when he first entered. His qi and blood were active and abundant.

Opening the chamber’s heavy metal door, Li Wen walked out with steady steps. He returned to the great hall, still filled with its mist of purple and white electric arcs, and finally strode out of the main gate of the Thunder Attraction Tower.

Outside, under the slightly dim sky, an upright figure immediately walked up to him. It was Senior Brother Gu Yan, who had been waiting outside the entire time.

Seeing Li Wen emerge, the slight worry on Gu Yan’s face immediately turned to astonishment.

He hurried forward a few steps, his sharp gaze sweeping over Li Wen’s entire body, and he subconsciously prepared to ask if he was injured.

However, the words died on his lips.

He could clearly feel that what radiated from Li Wen was not the listless qi and blood or chaotic energy of an injury, but rather... a full, abundant, and still-unsettled fluctuation of pure thunder and lightning energy.

The activity and purity of this fluctuation far exceeded what he would have expected from someone undergoing Body Refining with guided thunder for the first time.

”This...” A glint flashed in Gu Yan’s eyes, and his heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

He still vividly remembered his own first experience all those years ago.

Although he too was a prodigy, his own first time guiding the thunder had been anything but easy. His meridians had been numb and aching for days afterward, and the Power of Thunder and Lightning he had managed to absorb and refine was minuscule. He had merely struggled to endure the thunder’s assault, barely managing to protect a single spark of his Body Refining flame.

The amount of thunder and lightning energy he had absorbed back then was probably less than a third of the aura still radiating from Li Wen.

Gu Yan’s face was instantly filled with deep joy and amazement, his earlier worries vanishing without a trace.

The two then briefly discussed his experience with his first Body Refining session and some points to keep in mind for future cultivation. Afterward, Li Wen noted the time and took his leave.

Gu Yan nodded, his gaze toward Li Wen filled with anticipation.

Under Gu Yan’s gratified gaze, Li Wen’s figure moved swiftly yet steadily along the mountain path, disappearing into the dense, thunderous mist of Nine Heavens Peak.

Not until Li Wen’s figure had completely vanished did the smile on Gu Yan’s face slowly fade, replaced by a complex expression intertwining gravity and excitement.

He did not linger. His figure transformed into a flash of lightning, shooting toward the grand hall at the summit, a structure that resembled a throne of thunder and lightning—the Nine Heavens Hall.

He had to immediately report Li Wen’s astonishing performance during his first thunder-guided Body Refining session to the Peak Master.