High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 278: Chapter 168: Threshold Marquis Strength (3)

It was an absolute suppression born of a difference in rank—the ”aura” of a King-level expert!

Through the porthole, Li Wen could clearly see the figure floating in the air before him.

A dark silver, snake-patterned mask gleamed with a cold luster in the dim light. The figure simply stood there calmly, yet seemed to be the center of the entire universe.

He raised his hand. A massive claw, formed purely from dark energy, materialized out of thin air. It ignored the distance, its five fingers spread wide, and lunged for the aircraft—or rather, for Li Wen inside—filled with a destructive aura that threatened to annihilate everything.

The shadow of death instantly clenched Li Wen’s heart.

Faced with this claw, the speed, strength, and saber techniques he took pride in all seemed so pale and feeble. There was truly no escape.

But just as the giant, dark claw was about to touch the aircraft, something unexpected happened!

A gentle yet irresistibly vast power swept silently through the area, enveloping the entire airspace where Li Wen was located.

This power lacked a violent fanfare, but it carried a supreme majesty and an unfathomable depth.

It was like the warm spring sun melting solid ice, or a clear stream washing away filth—this was the domain of the Cloud Dragon King.

VMM!

The King-level pressure enveloping Li Wen vanished without a trace in an instant, like a thin mist blown away by the wind.

The dark claw, mighty enough to easily crush stars, silently dissolved and disintegrated upon contact with that gentle radiance, as if it had never existed.

The next moment, an even more majestic and profound pressure erupted from the Cloud Dragon King!

It was as if a sleeping dragon had opened its eyes. Its magnificent power felt like the very heavens collapsing, instantly blanketing an area dozens of kilometers wide.

Under the terrifying presence of this top-tier King-level expert, all things fell silent, and even the stars seemed to dim.

The Snake Division leader’s figure stiffened slightly the moment the Cloud Dragon King’s domain appeared.

Facing the suddenly-appeared Cloud Dragon King, a hint of ’I knew it’ flickered in his eyes from beneath the mask. There was no surprise, nor any intention of getting entangled.

”Hmph!” A cold, inscrutable snort.

At almost the same instant the Cloud Dragon King unleashed his full aura, the Snake Division leader’s body transformed into a distorted, ghostly shadow.

Without a hint of hesitation or any attempt to test the waters, he tore through space and fled in the opposite direction of Antai County, his speed also surpassing all limits.

”Trying to run?” The Cloud Dragon King’s deep voice was calm and steady as his own figure melted into the void. Like a streak of cyan light, he instantly tore across the sky in hot pursuit.

The two King-level experts moved so fast that they left not even an afterimage, vanishing against the pitch-black backdrop of space.

Everything happened in a flash.

From the Snake Division leader’s surprise attack to the Cloud Dragon King’s rescue, and then to their chase into the distance, only a few breaths of time had passed.

The aircraft hovered in mid-air. Li Wen stood before the porthole, his back soaked in a cold sweat.

The terrifying pressure from that brush with death, the destructive claw that could have crushed him a thousand times over, was now deeply seared into his sea of consciousness.

The power of a King-level expert... Even just witnessing that fleeting clash of auras was enough to shake him to his core. He now truly understood the cruelty of the saying, ”All are but ants below the Marquis Level.”

”Too strong... The slightest aftershock could have pulverized me...” Li Wen muttered to himself, his heart still pounding like a war drum.

But he knew this was no time to be stunned.

The Cloud Dragon King had gone after the enemy, but the danger was not over.

The moment he managed to compose himself, his Primordial Spirit—its Perception Power made exceptionally sharp from multiple scholar-level enhancements—suddenly caught an extremely faint energy fluctuation from the desolate mountain below. The fluctuation swiftly morphed into a cold killing intent.

’There’s an ambush!’ Li Wen’s eyes sharpened. He decisively slammed an emergency button, and a small hatch opened on the aircraft’s belly. He shot out like an arrow.

Almost at the same instant he left the aircraft, a cold glint of light erupted from the desolate mountain below, like a viper striking.

SWOOSH!

A figure of astonishing speed, though starting later, arrived first, instantly intercepting the falling Li Wen in mid-air.

The newcomer was clad in a dark uniform and also wore a snake-shaped mask.

However, its material was clearly inferior to the Snake Division leader’s, and the pattern was somewhat crude.

Yet, this person’s aura was equally astonishing.

A storm of energy swept out, proclaiming his realm—Peak of Great Sun Realm.

What chilled Li Wen’s heart even more was the hint of the ”Dao” that suffused the man’s aura.

That was the sign of someone whose skill had entered the Dao Realm.

With the foundational power of the Peak of Great Sun Realm, plus a skill level at the Dao Realm, his overall combat strength was infinitely close to the threshold of the Marquis Level.

Furthermore, Li Wen clearly perceived that this opponent had also condensed a Primordial Spirit.

’It seems the shadowy Snake Division really thinks highly of me.’ Li Wen’s thoughts raced, his expression grim.

The assassin they had sent was far stronger than what his public record—killing a Fox Demon who had just entered the Great Sun Realm—would suggest was necessary.

An arrangement like this clearly showed they were determined to kill him, no matter what.

The eyes beneath the mask were ice-cold, their killing intent undisguised.

Facing Li Wen, this man had no intention of wasting words, nor did he look down on him for ”merely” being at the Peak of Bright Moon Realm in terms of physical cultivation.

As his killing intent surged, a sharp claw shadow that seemed capable of tearing through the void descended upon Li Wen’s head. The power contained within it was enough to easily rip through alloy.

Clearly, the Snake Division leader had left him with extremely limited time—perhaps only a minute.

He had to complete the kill and flee the scene before the countdown to the Cloud Dragon King’s potential return was over.

”Hmph!”

Faced with this killing blow, there was no fear in Li Wen’s eyes. Instead, a nearly frenzied, scorching battle lust ignited within them.

He didn’t choose to rely on his speed to maneuver. Instead, he made his decision in an instant.

VMM!

A strange, absolute tranquility descended upon the core of Li Wen’s consciousness. [Absolute Focus], activated!