High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 292: Chapter 173: Slaying Prodigies with a Single Blade, Transfer to Changning City

”Vault of Heaven—Thunder Malediction!”

Li Wen’s blade moved!

There was no earth-shattering display of power, only a single bolt of purple lightning, so condensed it seemed to swallow all light and sound.

The flash of the blade teleported through the Eagle Demon’s back, right where its heart would be. The immense power of the thunder malediction ignored its tough feathered wings, annihilating its life force in an instant.

The ferocious, triumphant grin on the Eagle Demon’s face froze before it could even twist into shock.

As he slew the Eagle Demon, Li Wen didn’t pause for a second. He moved so fast he left an afterimage burned onto the retina.

’Star Rush!’ His Body Technique was so fast he seemed to appear in multiple places at once. His next target: the Snake Demon spewing toxic mist.

The Snake Demon’s innate toxic miasma was terrifying, but Li Wen was simply too fast.

A flash of his blade, and the cold purple lightning, like a spear of judgment, pierced straight through the Snake Demon—and its mouth, the very source of the toxic fumes! The miasma dissipated instantly.

”Don’t you dare!” The last of the three, the Ox Demon, looked ready to burst with rage. He pushed his Talent Divine Technique to its limit, sending earthen spikes spinning wildly in an attempt to cut Li Wen down and force him back.

Gao Yuan suppressed the backlash from his own power and focused his domain’s gravity to pin down the Ox Demon.

SCHLICK! SCHLICK! SCHLICK!

Empowered by the domain, the purple flashes of his blade became even harder to track.

Li Wen’s form flickered around the Ox Demon’s massive body. Each time he reappeared, he left a fatal, lightning-scorched gash in his wake.

In the blink of an eye, the Ox Demon’s colossal frame was covered in terrifying scorch marks and gashes that cut down to the bone. It crashed to the ground.

Three prodigies of the Demon Race, each bearing the bloodline of a Demon Emperor, had been executed. They had fallen into a kill-trap meticulously set by Li Wen and Gao Yuan, and it had taken less than three seconds for all of them to die.

The instantaneous fall of their leaders left the once high-spirited demon army stunned, like chickens with their heads cut off.

Fear spread like a plague.

”Kill!”

Gao Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and forced his True Essence to surge. His domain abruptly expanded, drawing even more demons into its oppressive field.

The pent-up battlelust of Lin Jing, Liu Kun, and Wang Qiang finally erupted. Filled with vengeful killing intent, they crashed into the chaotic demon horde like a tidal wave.

Zhou Tong’s arrows became relentless reapers, a never-ending barrage of death.

And Li Wen was the tip of the spear, leading the charge.

Purple lightning leaped, weaved, and erupted amidst the demon ranks!

With every flash of his blade, a Great Sun Realm demon fell.

It was a perfect union of speed and power, as efficient as a precision instrument on the battlefield.

His powerful Primordial Spirit guided him, allowing him to precisely strike down any demon leader attempting to organize a counterattack or posing a unique threat.

The slaughter began.

Having lost their core strength and leadership, the demon army completely collapsed.

The Bright Moon Realm demon soldiers fell in droves under Zhou Tong’s rain of arrows and the Human Race soldiers’ encirclement. Meanwhile, the Great Sun Realm demon generals were either singled out by the fired-up Lin Jing and her comrades or instantly reaped by Li Wen’s purple lightning.

In the end, this sudden, full-scale invasion by the Demon Race—one on which they had placed such high hopes—devolved into a complete and utter rout thanks to Bedrock Pass’s perfect counterattack.

More than fifteen demons at the Peak of the Great Sun Realm, nearly thirty Bright Moon Realm demon generals, and countless Flying Star Realm demon soldiers were left behind forever on that cold, subterranean battlefield.

The light of the Stargate dimmed as the remaining demons fled in terror back through the gateway to the Demon Realm.

Below the pass, the air was thick with the smell of smoke and blood, punctuated by the weary but triumphant gasps of the human warriors.

Gao Yuan gazed down at the ravaged battlefield and the soldiers already clearing it. Then, he turned to Li Wen, who stood beside him, his blade sheathed and his aura once again calm. Gao Yuan’s expression was a complex mix of relief and awe.

He knew their victory today was entirely thanks to the young deputy captain’s terrifying patience, his sharp Insight, and the devastating, decisive burst of power that had ended the fight.

Bedrock Pass had weathered this crisis, for now.

But the shadow lurking behind the gate to the Demon Realm would surely grow even darker.

Li Wen’s blade would have to be ready for an even fiercer storm.

...

「May 3rd, 232, Galactic Calendar.」

A month had passed since the battle outside Bedrock Pass, the one where he had slain the three demon prodigies.

After losing over a dozen combatants at the Peak of the Great Sun Realm in a single battle, the Demon Race seemed to have been cowed. Bedrock Pass enjoyed a long-overdue period of peace.

The wind was cold atop the walls. Though the patrolling squad members remained vigilant, their frayed nerves had finally begun to settle.

The demons were not fools who didn’t know when to advance or retreat. They knew this place was guarded by someone who could easily slay their elites. Until they found a way to counter him, sending more subordinates would be a pointless sacrifice. Even an order from a Demon King would likely meet with strong resistance from the lower ranks.

This peace was shattered by an urgent transfer order from the Fire Hall.

Li Wen opened his eyes in his cultivation chamber. His wristband projected a new mission directive.

He quickly scanned the message, then fell silent for a moment.

The order required him to depart at once for Bluestone County, where a plan with far-reaching consequences was being set in motion.

The situation on Blue Star was growing more dire by the day.

With small and medium-sized Stargates constantly appearing across the planet, the number of strategic points that required defending was growing exponentially.

The number of the Human Race’s god-level cultivators—especially those at the Bright Moon Realm who formed the backbone of their forces—was not growing fast enough to keep up with the demands of an ever-expanding defensive line, especially given the constant attrition.

After much deliberation, the high command made a difficult but necessary decision: strategic contraction by consolidating counties into larger cities.

This meant abandoning the small and medium-sized Stargates and their surrounding counties that were too scattered, too difficult to defend, and where maintaining a garrison was no longer sustainable.

Bluestone County—the place Li Wen had once protected, the place that held so much of his nostalgia—was on the list of sites to be evacuated.