High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 314: Chapter 180: The Demon Emperor Makes a Move, Fu Yan Lies in Wait

The massive flaming bird claw, as if made of paper, was annihilated the instant the first bolt of purple lightning struck.

The subsequent eight bolts of purple lightning, as if alive, ignored the churning magma and the earth itself. They pierced through layer after layer of obstacles with absolute precision, striking ruthlessly into the very depths of the Lava Lake.

”NO—!!” A Demon Soul’s shriek, so shrill it was warped beyond recognition, erupted from the depths of the earth, only to be cut off abruptly.

The surface of the Lava Lake churned violently for a few seconds before slowly calming. All that remained in its depths were the chaotic fluctuations of annihilated energy and faint wisps of a scorched, demonic aura.

The presence of Great Demon King Fire Wing vanished completely from the depths of the earth.

The devastating Nine Heavens Divine Thunder had reduced it, along with its Primordial Spirit and demon core, to nothing but ashes.

In less than three minutes, two Great Demon Kings—both possessing the bloodline of a Demon Emperor, wielding unfathomable and treacherous techniques, and capable of unleashing a storm of carnage wherever they went—had become like moths to a flame before the Principal, the man who represented the pinnacle of the Human Race’s power.

Without even putting up a proper fight, they were effortlessly crushed by a power that bordered on the might of the Rules themselves, perishing in utter despair.

The Principal hovered in mid-air, his silver hair stirring gently in the night wind. He could feel the five remaining Demon King scions frantically suppressing their presences, trying to merge with their surroundings.

His expression showed no change, as if he had merely exterminated a few insignificant insects.

His icy gaze, like a scanner, once again swept across the vast expanse beneath the night sky.

The hunt was far from over.

On this night at Mountain Rain Pass, dark currents surged as royal blood faded.

...

「Demon Realm, deep within Celestial Fox Hall.」

In the Talisman Emperor’s hand, seven jade tablets bearing the life imprints of the Great Demon Kings cracked one after another, their faint glows dimming before fading into complete silence.

The first... Withered Bone.

The second... Fire Wing.

The third...

With every tablet that shattered, the Talisman Emperor’s deep eyes grew a shade darker.

It wasn’t that he grieved for the Great Demon Kings themselves.

In the Demon Realm, the strong were revered. Losing a few Great Demon Kings was a painful blow, but not an unbearable one.

What truly unsettled him was the Starry Sky Stone that had been consumed.

These divine objects, exceedingly rare even in the vast expanse of space, were irreplaceable. Once used, they were gone forever.

After three jade tablets shattered, the cracking finally stopped.

The hall fell into a dead silence. The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the faint sound of the Talisman Emperor’s knuckles unconsciously tapping the armrest of his throne.

He lowered his gaze to the four remaining, intact jade tablets—including the one representing Fu Yan—his eyes heavy with thought.

’The plan has come at a cost, but it’s not without its gains. The key is whether Fu Yan and the others can hide themselves well, entrenching themselves like vipers in the heart of Blue Star.’

...

「Hundreds of miles outside Changning City, deep underground on Blue Star.」

They were over a hundred miles from the surface.

This was no longer an ordinary layer of earth and rock, but the periphery of the planet’s core—an environment filled with scorching heat, immense pressure, and chaotic magnetovital forces.

The heavy rock strata, like an iron curtain of immeasurable weight, pressed in from all sides on the figure lurking within.

Fu Yan, a Great Demon King of the Five-tailed Celestial Fox Race, had suppressed all his Demon Power fluctuations, relying solely on his formidable demonic physique to withstand the terrifying pressure.

The heavy rock pressed against every inch of his bones, drawing faint, teeth-grinding groans. The scorching heat from the earth’s ley lines was like an invisible branding iron, searing his protective fur. The air was thick with the foul stench of sulfur and minerals.

Every slight movement felt like wading through viscous liquid metal; the immense resistance made the circulation of Demon Power within his body sluggish and difficult.

In the absolute darkness, his crimson eyes gleamed with suppressed hatred and caution.

As he struggled to adapt to this inhuman environment, he followed the route information long since engraved into his Primordial Spirit, moving in one direction with extreme slowness, as if treading on thin ice.

His destination: Changning City.

The flames of hatred burned in his chest—his grandson, Fu Ye, a boy of supreme potential, had died at the hands of a human prodigy named Li Wen!

’If I don’t avenge this, what right do I have to call myself a grandfather?’

However, hatred had not completely consumed his reason.

Fu Yan knew with perfect clarity that the greatest threat at this moment was that human expert who stood at the pinnacle—the Principal of Kindleflame University.

That man’s terrifying Power of Rules could crush him with ease.

’To act rashly is to court death.’

He had already successfully infiltrated Blue Star. The lifespan of the Demon Race far exceeded that of the Human Race; he had all the time in the world to lie low and wait.

’Patience. That is my most valuable weapon right now.’

He would only bare his lethal fangs once he was certain of his own absolute safety.

His first priority was to find a sufficiently hidden ley line node to conceal himself in, avoiding the terrifying Principal’s Divine Sense sweeps.

Then, he would rendezvous with the other three Great Demon Kings.

...

「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」

In a special cultivation chamber on the outskirts of Changning City.

Galactic Calendar 235, September 1.

Li Wen slowly opened his eyes, the depths of his pupils seeming to contain the birth and death of a Star River.

He called up the crystal-clear attribute panel in his mind:

[Name: Li Wen]

[Age: 27]

[Realm: Late-stage Great Sun Realm (Lv. 58.5→58.7)]

[Class: Scholar Lv. 15 (380→16,580/1,638,400)]

[Skill: Saber Art · Dao Realm (21%)]

[Cultivation Technique: Shocking God Stab · 7th Layer (100%)]

In just one short month.

Buoyed by the state of absolute focus granted by his Scholar class reaching Lv. 15, his mastery of the Saber Art’s Dao Realm had climbed at a speed that astonished even him.

His comprehension of the Dao Realm had increased by a full 10%! That was nearly equivalent to the fruits of a whole year of arduous training.

The reason was simple: it was the culmination of long and patient effort.

Ever since he had started on the path of cultivation, for years on end, through wind and frost, rain and snow, in battle or at rest, he had never once skipped his daily hours of saber practice.

Those instincts that had been honed until they were part of his very blood, those repeated attempts to communicate with the forces of heaven and earth—all of it had, after he stepped into a higher dimension of cognition, transformed into the most fertile soil, allowing the seeds of the Dao Realm to sprout and grow explosively.

At the same time, after his Primordial Spirit entered the fourth layer of the Day Travel Realm, the efficiency with which he cultivated his physical body’s realm also increased significantly.

The immense power of his Primordial Spirit gave him more subtle and efficient control over the mysteries of his body and the absorption and conversion of energy. He estimated the efficiency had increased by at least twenty percent.