High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 269: Chapter 165: The Demon Race’s Killing Trap (3)

”However...” The Evil-eyed Demon King’s tone shifted, his sharp claws tightening slightly around the Demon Core. ”If you want it, you must do something extremely important—and extremely dangerous—for me.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Chi Ling dropped to her knees and bowed her head low. ”I await Your Majesty’s command. I, Chi Ling, will brave mountains of blades and seas of fire without hesitation!”

”The mission objective... I’ll give you the details later.” The Evil-eyed Demon King’s compound eyes glinted with a conspiratorial light.

”The Star Gate passage has many restrictions. Your rank is too high; forcing your way through will get you repelled and obliterated by spatial energy. But I recall your bloodline talent, ’Spirit Tail Breath Concealment.’ It allows you to temporarily retract your demon tails and lower your Cultivation Realm, correct?”

”Your Majesty is wise,” Chi Ling replied immediately. ”My talent, ’Spirit Tail Breath Concealment,’ does indeed have this wondrous use. At full suppression, I can disguise my Demon Power fluctuations to the level of a Late-stage Second Transformation, equivalent to a human’s Late-stage Bright Moon Realm. As long as I release it immediately after passing through...”

”Precisely!” The Evil-eyed Demon King’s voice held a trace of cold calculation.

He did not speak his next words aloud, instead switching to a voice transmission.

Soon, his voice echoed in Chi Ling’s mind:

”Your mission this time is to suppress your Cultivation, slip through, and kill a human at the Late-stage Bright Moon Realm for me. The moment you’re through the Stargate, immediately restore your power to the Peak of Second Transformation and consume this three-tailed Demon Core! Break through to the Third Transformation!

”That human’s combat power is terrifyingly strong, but he is ultimately flesh and blood. His physical body’s realm is still at the Bright Moon Realm! With your Fox Race’s innately powerful mental bewitchment abilities, unleash your strongest spiritual assault after you break through to the Third Transformation Great Demon realm... Strike his spiritual core when he least expects it!”

The Demon King’s voice was filled with bewitchment and certainty:

”As long as your surprise attack succeeds, no matter how fast he reacts, the instant his core is struck by that ultimate mental bewitchment... a body at the Bright Moon Realm has absolutely no chance of withstanding a full-power strike from a Third Transformation Great Demon while in that uncontrolled state! Taking his life will be as easy as flipping your palm! Bring his body back, and I will have another great reward for you!”

Chi Ling raised her head, her charming eyes now filled only with viciousness and resolve. ”Rest assured, Your Majesty! I, Chi Ling, will not fail this task. I will present that man’s head before your throne!”

Seeing the burning ambition in Chi Ling’s eyes and her extreme desire for the Demon Core, the Evil-eyed Demon King contentedly tossed the three-tailed Demon Core to her.

He could already envision his future: merits earned, the Soul-Eroding Demon Lotus in his grasp, and his own ascension to the rank of Titled King.

A long-premeditated, inescapable trap, aimed at one of the Human Race’s top prodigies, had been quietly set in the Demon Realm.

...

「Night of July 21st, Galactic Calendar Year 231.」

「A quiet room in a courtyard, Bluestone County Underground Fortress.」

Li Wen sat cross-legged, wisps of deep purple electric arcs swirling around his body as he slowly refined and absorbed the medicinal power of a crimson pill.

The experience gap to the Scholar level had shrunk a little more.

He had just completed one Grand Circulation of his *Nine Heavens Divine Body - Ninth Layer Perfection Chapter* Cultivation Technique, and the thunder patterns on his skin flickered erratically.

Just then—

”WHOO—WHOO—WHOO—”

A shrill, ear-piercing alarm tore through the tranquility of the night without warning, and red light instantly flooded the entire room.

Almost by reflex, the surging Thunder Attribute energy within Li Wen’s body instantly calmed. His eyes snapped open, his profound gaze sweeping toward the alarm’s light screen.

[HIGHEST-LEVEL RED ALERT! SOURCE: NANZHA COUNTY STAR GATE FORTRESS!]

REPEAT!

[HIGHEST-LEVEL RED ALERT! SOURCE: NANZHA COUNTY STAR GATE FORTRESS!]

’Nanzha County again?’ Li Wen’s brow furrowed slightly as he read the information on the screen. ’For a place I just reinforced three days ago to be in crisis again so soon... something isn’t right.’

The doubt in his heart was fleeting.

He didn’t hesitate in the slightest. The rescue couldn’t wait.

In a flicker of movement, a deep purple streak of lightning had already vanished from the room’s doorway.

His exclusive aircraft on the docking platform had already completed its remote startup preheating sequence the moment the alarm sounded, and the cabin door slid open silently.

Li Wen stepped inside. The streamlined aircraft’s engines spat out a dark blue flame, and in the next second, it transformed into a streak of light.

It tore through the atmosphere at dozens of times the speed of sound, shooting off toward Nanzha County as the roar of sonic booms reverberated through the underground fortress’s tunnels.

On the surface, Bluestone County’s Garrison Captain, Wang Zhen, and several Godfiend team members at the Bright Moon Realm were startled. They walked out of their residences and looked up at the sky, where only the fleeting afterimage of a trail remained.

”It’s only been three days... Nanzha County is under attack again?” Wang Zhen’s brows knitted together, his voice grave.

The scene of Li Wen single-handedly turning the tide last time was still fresh in their minds.

”This frequency... it’s too abnormal,” a veteran team member said in a low voice, his face etched with worry.

”According to past patterns, after an elite force under a Demon King suffers such a heavy blow, there’s no reason for them to regroup and attack again so soon. They need time to lick their wounds and assess the risks.”

”Yeah,” another person added. ”The Demon Realm adheres to strict territorial divisions; one Star Gate corresponds to one Demon King’s territory. That unit was almost completely wiped out by Captain Li three days ago. Where did they find the strength to assemble another large army so quickly? There must be a reason for this anomaly.”

”I hope Nanzha County can hold on until Brother Li arrives,” Wang Zhen sighed deeply, his gaze following the direction of the long-gone streak of light. ”And I hope... there won’t be too many casualties this time.”

The group fell silent, praying in their hearts for their distant comrades.

...

「Meanwhile, at the Nanzha County Stargate outpost.」

The air was thick with a suffocating tension and the heavy stench of blood.

Some of it lingered from the battle three days prior, but most of it stemmed from the immense demonic aura now approaching.

The new garrison captain, a formidable Godfiend at the Peak of Bright Moon Realm named Lin Yue, stared toward the distant sky with an ashen face.

A dark, oppressive cloud of demons was pouring out from the direction of the slowly expanding Stargate. Their numbers and momentum were even more astonishing than the wave Li Wen had dealt with three days ago.