High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 299: Chapter 175: Meeting an Old Friend Again, the Blade Dao Nears Completion

”This is Zheng Ming. On the list of new students for Changning First Experimental Primary School this year, there’s a child named Wang Xi. Her father is Wang Hu. Her admission needs to be confirmed immediately. Supplement her name onto the first-tier list. Get it done now...

Don’t ask why! This is a special arrangement related to coordinating city defense missions. I’ll inform the municipal government myself... That’s right, immediately! Once it’s done, notify Mr. Wang. Make sure your tone is sincere.”

The commands were passed down through the ranks with astonishing speed and efficiency.

「...」

That evening, a few home-cooked dishes sat on the old table in Wang Hu’s home. The atmosphere was somewhat somber.

Wang Hu picked at his rice, his mind preoccupied. ’How am I going to break the news tomorrow?’ The thought weighed on him like a stone.

His wife silently placed more food in his bowl, not saying much either.

Suddenly, the communicator on his wrist blared. It was an unfamiliar local number.

Wang Hu answered, puzzled. ”Hello?”

”Hello! Am I speaking with Mr. Wang Hu?” The voice on the other end was exceedingly polite, even a little rushed.

”This is he. Who’s calling?”

”That’s wonderful, Mr. Wang! This is Xiaozhang from the Academic Affairs Office of Changning First Experimental Primary School! I have good news! Regarding your daughter’s enrollment, we’ve re-reviewed her application and the process. I’m terribly sorry, but we made a mistake earlier! It was an oversight on our part!

”We’ve now confirmed that your daughter’s eligibility fully meets the criteria for first-tier admission! On behalf of the school, I’m formally notifying you that you can bring your child in to complete the enrollment paperwork tomorrow morning, if you’re available! Again, I am so sorry for all the trouble this has caused!”

The voice on the other end was effusive, tinged with an almost imperceptible nervousness.

Wang Hu was completely stunned. His mouth hung open, the phone still pressed to his ear, as if he were listening to an alien language.

His wife stopped eating, her eyes fixed on him anxiously.

”Huh? Oh... okay... Thank you...” Wang Hu hung up, his words a jumble. He stared blankly at his wife.

”What is it? Who was that? What did they say?” his wife asked urgently.

”It was... Changning First Experimental Primary School...” Wang Hu’s voice sounded like he was in a daze. ”They said... they said they made a mistake... Xi Xi... can go do the paperwork tomorrow...”

His wife’s eyes instantly lit up. She shot to her feet, a mixture of shock and joy on her face. ”Really? That’s wonderful! That’s just wonderful!”

She was so happy she spun around in a little circle. Seeing Wang Hu still standing there, dazed, she couldn’t help but give him a light shove.

”What are you spacing out for? This is great news! I told you! Our Xi Xi is so smart, of course she was going to get in!”

Wang Hu finally began to process it. The rigid expression on his face slowly softened. A complex mix of disbelief and irrepressible joy welled up inside him, finally escaping as a long, heavy sigh of relief.

He didn’t know who had pulled strings behind the scenes. He didn’t know why this ticket of admission, which had seemed like an insurmountable chasm in his mind, had floated down to him so effortlessly.

All he knew was that his daughter’s problem was solved.

He picked up his bowl and shoveled a large mouthful of the now-cool rice.

As he chewed, the rice seemed to have an unreal, sweet flavor.

「...」

「Time passed. Before he knew it, it was July 1st, Galactic Year 234.」

Since taking on the heavy responsibility as the core of Changning City’s defense, Li Wen had been stationed here for two full years.

For more than seven hundred days and nights, his blade had been stained with blood, and his achievements in battle were remarkable.

The number of Demon Race members who had fallen to his blade had long surpassed one thousand.

Of those, only ten to twenty percent had actually emerged from the Stargate beneath Changning City.

The majority were slain during repeated emergency support missions to neighboring areas, or while carrying out patrols and extermination campaigns.

The frequent slaughter had caused a thick, concentrated, baleful demonic aura to cling to him. It was like an invisible blood mist, constantly trying to erode his mind and assault his sea of consciousness.

If an ordinary Martial Artist were to be tainted by this baleful aura, at best they would grow impetuous and their strength would decline sharply. At worst, they would suffer a complete mental collapse.

Li Wen, however, was long accustomed to it.

He even actively guided this ferocious, baleful energy, using it as a whetstone to grind and temper his will day and night. His will grew ever purer and more resilient, like cold steel forged and reforged a thousand times.

Over the past two years, no matter how tense the fighting became or how tedious his daily duties were, Li Wen never once slacked in his cultivation of the blade.

His daily, five-hour period of [Absolute Focus] was an ironclad part of his routine.

Year after year, he immersed his mind in the vast and subtle depths of the Profound Dome Rainbow Silence Chapter, repeatedly comprehending, practicing, and brandishing his blade.

The solid barrier between the Blade Soul Realm and the Realm of the Dao had long grown fragile under his patient, persistent efforts, like a spiderweb stretched across rice paper.

’Today’s the day.’ During his morning patrol, an unprecedentedly strong premonition had taken root in his mind.

After his routine morning patrol of all the security checkpoints throughout Changning City, Li Wen returned to his private study in his courtyard home on the outskirts of the city.

His shelves were lined with ancient tomes. He took out a rare volume on the fluctuations of spatial energy, calmed his mind, and immersed himself in its pages.

Reading was one of the most reliable ways to gain scholarly experience, as well as an excellent method for broadening his horizons and calming his spirit.

In the afternoon, scorching sunlight poured down upon the land.

Li Wen’s body transformed into a streak of purple light, fast as a shooting star. In an instant, he streaked across the urban jungle and landed on a desolate but solid peak on Nameless Mountain, west of Changning City—his usual training ground.

The moment his feet touched the solid rock, the feeling of an impending breakthrough that had been lingering in his mind suddenly became incredibly clear and overwhelming, like a dormant volcano on the verge of eruption.

With a flicker of his will, the [Absolute Focus] state activated. All surrounding colors and sounds seemed to instantly filter away. His mind became as clear as a mirror, reflecting only the blade in his hand and the path in his heart.

He slowly raised his blade. He did not perform any of the set forms from the Profound Dome Rainbow Silence Chapter. Instead, he sank his consciousness into refining and merging the core concepts of the Five Forms.

The ultimate speed of Star Rush transformed into intent, and that intent pulled at space itself.

The cataclysmic force of Thunder Purgation transformed into a rhythm, its majestic power vibrating through his very soul.

...