190: Chapter 190 Marquis of Changning - Li Wen

He had touched the edge only a few days after Captain Zhao Zheng, so he knew full well how difficult it was.

Li Wen's speed had completely exceeded the scope of their understanding.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing intense shock in each other's eyes.

However, after the shock, a stronger sense of relief and joy welled up in their hearts.

The situation of the Human Race was precarious, with the Yao Race eyeing them covetously; they hoped more than anyone to see geniuses of the Human Race emerge like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

This Prodigy-level Comprehension Ability displayed by Li Wen represented the future hope of the Human Race.

Time flowed silently within the cave.

Outside the cave, the sun and moon might rotate, but inside there was only eternal glimmer and the figure immersed in the ocean of Law.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen days and nights had passed since Li Wen began his meditation.

Under the 150% boost to Comprehension Ability from Lv15 [Absolute Focus], Li Wen's understanding of the Star Dome Domain deepened layer by layer, like reeling silk from a cocoon.

Those countless star trails had already constructed a vast and precise network model in his mind.

The resonance frequency of the spatial particle field was precisely grasped by him, and the principle of spatial superposition was also clear and unmistakable.

The core framework of the entire Star Dome Domain, like a slowly unfurling star map, became increasingly bright and complete in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

A strong premonition rose in his heart; it was only natural, the Breakthrough would be today!

He temporarily stopped his meditation, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, beginning to fully recover the Mental Energy consumed by the long, high-intensity operation.

In his Sea of Consciousness, his powerful Primordial Spirit quickly absorbed the rich energy permeating the cave, like a sponge soaking up water.

An hour later, his Primordial Spirit Power was fully replenished, even more refined than before.

"It is time!" Li Wen thought silently, activating [Absolute Focus] once again.

This time, the goal was clear: complete the final construction and condense his own Star Dome Domain.

His consciousness sank into the star map that was about to take shape, and his Mental Energy acted like the most precise carving knife, performing the final verification, fine-tuning, and solidification of the model.

The curvature of every star trail, the position of every energy node, the dimension of every layer of spatial superposition—all needed to achieve absolute precision and harmony.

This was not a mechanical copy, but rather the perfect integration of his understanding of the Dao, his control over power, and his comprehension of the Law of space, forming a Domain core that belonged solely to him.

This was an extremely delicate and mentally exhausting process.

He seemed to be creating a miniature prototype of the Universe, with every detail containing the ultimate truths of heaven and earth.

The glimmer within the cave seemed to be drawn in, gathering more actively towards Li Wen, causing the stardust phenomenon around him to become slightly more obvious, and its flow rate to quicken a bit.

Captain Zhao Zheng and Senior Brother Zhang were alarmed once again.

They clearly sensed that the Aura emanating from Li Wen was undergoing a condensation and sublimation before some kind of qualitative change; it was a palpitation of something about to break out of its cocoon.

The two held their breath, their gazes locked tightly on Li Wen.

Hum—a low, grand hum did not originate from the air, but vibrated directly within the spatial Origin of the cave.

The star map in Li Wen's Sea of Consciousness burst with brilliant light, instantly stabilizing and taking shape, transforming into a perfect core of the "Star Dome Domain" that belonged solely to him.

At this moment, he felt an unprecedentedly close connection with the space of the entire cave, and even the vast world in the great unknown.

A sense of control arose spontaneously.

"It is done." Li Wen's heart was clear.

Almost the instant he successfully comprehended it, Captain Zhao Zheng and Senior Brother Zhang, not far away, were as if pushed by an invisible force.

Especially when they felt the distinctly different Aura of spatial control on Li Wen, which seemed about to erupt, the expressions on their faces completely froze.

"He succeeded—in comprehending it?" Senior Brother Zhang's voice was filled with heavy disbelief, muttering to himself.

"Half—half a month—" Captain Zhao Zheng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he spat out these words with difficulty.

In their inherent understanding, this speed was absolutely impossible.

The fastest record they had imagined was at least measured in months, and they had even prepared themselves for the possibility that Li Wen might need several months or even longer.

Yet the young man before them had only used half a month!

This could no longer be described by simple terms like Genius; only the word Prodigy could barely touch upon it!

Watching Li Wen's figure, calm as an abyss yet with an Aura that was constantly rising, Captain Zhao Zheng and Senior Brother Zhang felt their hearts churning, and in the end, only heartfelt amazement and admiration for this Junior Brother remained.

This was no longer a target to chase, but an existence to look up to.

Li Wen did not distract himself by paying attention to the shock of his two seniors.

The moment he successfully condensed the Domain core, he knew that the time to break through to the Marquis Level Realm had arrived, and it could not be missed.

With a thought, the newly condensed Star Dome Domain core was instantly activated.

Without needing him to deliberately guide it, the entire Star Dome Cave seemed to sense something and suddenly boiled over.

The rich star energy ubiquitous in the cave gathered towards Li Wen crazily, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

This torrent of energy was so vast and pure that it far exceeded any energy-gathering array in the outside world.

The energy poured into his body, quickly converging towards his Dantian.

At this moment, Li Wen's Dantian, under the effect of the Star Dome Domain, seemed to have transformed into a galaxy-level black hole vortex with terrifying gravitational force.

No matter how much vast and pure energy poured in, it was ruthlessly devoured, compressed, and refined by this vortex, without the slightest bit of waste or overflow.

In the center of his Dantian, the core of the great sun, which had originally been like a fiercely burning hot sun, began to undergo an astonishing transformation under the infusion of endless energy and the powerful compression of the Star Dome Domain.

Its volume was shrinking, but its light became increasingly restrained, emitting a terrifying pressure that made one's heart palpitate.

That great sun seemed to have reached the end of its life cycle; its light collapsed rapidly, and its internal structure was completely reorganized under the guidance of the Star Dome Law.

As energy continued to pour in crazily, the great sun collapsed to the extreme.

Immediately after, a silent creation erupted!

The collapsed pole suddenly expanded, and brilliant nebula-like energy spewed out; the light was dazzling yet deep and vast, far incomparable to a single great sun.

This nebula rotated and expanded rapidly in Li Wen's Dantian, and countless tiny points of light were conceived and born within it, like the scene of the Universe's beginning.

The scope of the nebula grew larger, its light grew brighter, and its structure became more stable.

Finally, the rotating nebula, containing countless energy points of light, completely took shape, transforming into a vast, deep—Star Dome that seemed to contain endless stars and power!

This Star Dome occupied Li Wen's Dantian; it was no longer a single sun, but a vast Universe model containing ten thousand stars, self-contained and cycling endlessly.

The moment this Star Dome took shape, a vast, majestic wave of power, as if it could communicate with heaven and earth and control a Realm of space, erupted from Li Wen!

This power instantly broke through the original Realm barrier, reaching a brand new, more elevated level—the Star Dome Realm (Marquis Level).

The faint stardust phenomenon around him also surged with it, transforming into clearly visible specks of starlight that permeated out through his body.

It resonated strongly with the glimmering environment of the entire Star Dome Cave, the light flickering, magnificent and mysterious.

Li Wen slowly opened his eyes; his pupils seemed to reflect a galaxy, extremely deep.

He felt the vast Star Dome within his body, felt that brand new power that seemed to be able to control the Domain around him, and his heart was calm.

From this point on, the Marquis Level Realm was achieved naturally!

The resonance phenomenon within the Star Dome Cave suddenly spread.

It turned into an invisible ripple that swept across all nearby Peaks, the rich star power triggering celestial phenomena, causing everyone watching and cultivating outside the cave to look over one after another.

"There is movement again!"

"This time the energy fluctuation is so strong, even more intense than last time! It is a Breakthrough phenomenon!"

"It must be Senior Brother Zhang! He has been inside for almost a year."

"It could also be Captain Zhao Zheng; he has also been inside for more than half a year."

Discussions were incessant; almost no one cast their gaze towards the figure who had entered only half a month ago.

It was not that they didn't want to, but that they dared not think it.

Since the founding of Kindling University, there had never been a precedent of comprehending the Star Dome Domain and breaking into the Marquis Level within half a month.

This was not contempt, but an inevitability based on common sense judgment.

Hum—the star mist at the cave entrance surged and automatically parted.

A tall, upright figure walked out slowly from within; although the Aura around his body was restrained as much as possible, that surging pressure, having just broken through and not yet fully stabilized,

And the oppression of life level unique to a Marquis-level Divine Demon, still spread out like a tide, clearly imprinted in everyone's perception.

It was not Senior Brother Zhang, nor was it Captain Zhao Zheng.

It was Li Wen!

In an instant, the entire summit area fell into a brief silence.

All eyes were fixed on that excessively young face, filled with incredulous astonishment.

"Li—Senior Brother Li?!"

"Half a month—Marquis Level?!"

"My god—"

The astonishment lasted only for a moment before it was engulfed by a more surging wave.

"Congratulations to Junior Martial Uncle Li on achieving Marquis Level!"

"Congratulations to Junior Martial Uncle Li!"

"The fortune of Kindling! The fortune of the Human Race!"

After the exclamations came heartfelt congratulations and respect, with waves of sound rising one after another.

Li Wen smiled, cupped his hands to the surroundings, and returned the salutes one by one.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he did not linger. With a slight movement of his figure, he transformed into a slightly blurred afterimage and vanished from the summit instantly.

He needed to immediately verify what level his strength had truly reached after stepping into the Star Dome Realm.

Deep within the Xinhuo Ancestral Vein lay a desolate, uninhabited rocky canyon.

Li Wen's figure appeared out of thin air.

The next moment, with a slight movement of his mind, his entire body seemed to be engulfed by an invisible thunderbolt, instantly transforming into a blinding electric light.

The electric light flashed and vanished without a sound, leaving only an extremely faint spatial ripple in the air, while he had already appeared on another cliff dozens of kilometers away.

This was the physical Divine Ability awakened after the Nine Heavens Divine Body stepped into the Star Dome Realm—Body Transformation: Nine Heavens!

His Physical Body briefly elementalized, turning into pure thunder. Not only did his speed increase to a terrifying level, but he could also significantly exempt himself from physical-level attacks in this state. It was a supreme technique for pursuit and evasion.

The only cost was that the consumption of True Essence was quite intense.

Withdrawing his Divine Ability, Li Wen returned to his normal state.

He did not use Body Transformation: Nine Heavens, but only flew in his normal state.

His figure flickered, easily crossing a distance of over ten kilometers.

Although this speed was far inferior to the thunder-transformed state, it was still shockingly fast.

As far as he knew, for those King-rank Divine Demons who did not specialize in speed, a single flash for a threshold King-rank was only about one or two li.

A normal King-rank could cover three to four li; a top-tier King-rank, six to seven li; only a Peak King-rank could barely reach the level of ten li (five kilometers).

Yet his normal flash was already over ten kilometers!

This meant his base speed was more than twice that of a Peak King-rank!

If he were to use Body Transformation: Nine Heavens, his speed would be over ten times that of a Peak King-rank, even surpassing some Venerables.

Speed test complete; next was combat power.

Without needing to use any Primordial Spirit Power, he simply mobilized the vast, abyssal True Essence within him, combined with the Blade Technique Profound Truth he had just advanced into the Dao Realm, and struck at will.

Boom!

A stone Peak several hundred meters high in the distance turned into powder in response, and countless cracks spread out like a spider web.

Top-tier Marquis Level!

His mind shifted again, and the pure Primordial Spirit Power in his Sea of Consciousness began to merge into the surging torrent of True Essence.

A more powerful force, carrying a certain Aura of Perfection, erupted.

He waved his palm casually, and a condensed palm print struck another stone Peak from a distance.

This time, the stone Peak did not turn into powder; instead, from its entity to its structure, it seemed to be disintegrated and erased at the molecular level by some invisible force, leaving only a smooth, huge crater in its place.

Peak Marquis Level!

Finally, he no longer limited the Primordial Spirit Power to his True Essence, but tried to merge it into every cell of his body.

Boom!

A terrifying Aura that seemed capable of shaking space erupted from within him. His Qi and blood were like a dragon, his True Essence like a tide, and his Primordial Spirit Power like a net. As the three initially merged, he felt every part of his body filled with explosive power, as if a single punch could pierce through space.

This power level had already reached the threshold King-rank!

As for the Primordial Spirit killing move "God-Shocking Sting," as his Primordial Spirit Realm rose, its power was firmly established at the normal King-rank level.

Feeling the unprecedented power within him, Li Wen's heart was clear.

As his Realm improved, his advantage in the Primordial Spirit was indeed gradually being matched and bridged by his Physical Body and True Essence Realms.

But this was by no means the Primordial Spirit becoming weaker; on the contrary, it was his overall Foundation becoming incomparably solid at an even more terrifying speed.

Physical Body, True Essence, and Primordial Spirit advancing together was the true strength.

"I must keep an ace up my sleeve," Li Wen muttered to himself.

The leap in strength after the Breakthrough was too great, far exceeding the Yao Race's previous estimates.

In order not to expose all his trump cards, showing only top-tier Marquis Level combat power in future routine battles would be sufficient.

Hiding the explosive boost brought by merging Primordial Spirit Power as a trump card for critical moments was the best strategy.

Verification complete, Li Wen did not delay further. He identified the direction, took a step, and his figure was already over ten li away.

In a few flashes, he returned to the familiar back mountain area of Wudao Peak and stopped outside the pavilion that was shrouded in mist all year round.

As if sensing his arrival, the pervasive mist quietly dissipated, clearly revealing the pavilion and the white-haired figure sitting leisurely inside.

Li Wen's figure vanished again, and the next instant, he stood silently before the white-haired Principal as if teleporting.

"Not bad. This speed has already surpassed all King-rank Divine Demons who do not specialize in speed."

The Principal looked up, his gaze calm yet seemingly all-knowing, instantly pointing out the extraordinariness of Li Wen's speed.

"Principal has Wisdom Eye," Li Wen respectfully cupped his hands and bowed.

"Your Breakthrough this time is perfectly timed." The Principal nodded slightly, his eyes filled with undisguised approval. "With your current speed, conducting mobile support at critical nodes, your value is enough to surpass several Peak King-rankers. As for combat power, how is it?"

Li Wen did not hide anything and answered candidly: "Normal combat power, top-tier Marquis Level; if I merge Primordial Spirit Power into True Essence to erupt, I can reach Peak Marquis Level, which can be sustained for several minutes; if I merge Primordial Spirit Power into my whole body for extreme eruption, I can reach threshold King-rank, but the duration is very short, less than one minute; regarding Primordial Spirit attacks, 'God-Shocking Sting' can stably exert normal King-rank power."

"Good!" The smile on the Principal's face deepened, clearly extremely satisfied with this result. "In this way, on Blue Star, there are only a handful of beings who can truly threaten you. Apart from the leaders of the Shadow Organization's Dragon Division and Tiger Division who possess top-tier King-rank combat power, and that deeply hidden Yao Saint Wu Jing of the Yao Race, the others are nothing to fear. As long as you avoid these three, you are capable of roaming Blue Star freely."

His tone shifted, carrying a sense of consultation: "Since that is the case, your role in guarding a single city is somewhat limited. The tasks I will arrange for you next will be more mobile and challenging, and the responsibilities will be heavier. Are you willing?"

"This Disciple is willing." Li Wen did not hesitate in the slightest, his eyes sharp as a blade. "As long as I can slay the Yao Race and protect the Human Race, this Disciple will not shirk his duty."

"Very good." The Principal was clearly very satisfied with this answer. "Go back and rest first. Once I finish the personnel deployment and task planning, I will notify you."

"Yes, this Disciple will take his leave."

Li Wen bowed again, his figure flickered, and he left the mist-shrouded back mountain, leaving only a faint trace of thunder Aura in the air.

The news of Li Wen's Breakthrough to Marquis Level was like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake.

It stirred up huge ripples on Blue Star, especially in Changning City.

The day after the news spread, the streets and alleys of Changning City, online forums, and even the dinner tables of ordinary families were filled with a common topic.

Most citizens' first reaction was disbelief.

——

"Captain Li Wen—achieved Marquis Level?!"

Someone muttered, repeating the words, with unconcealable shock on their face.

A Marquis-level Divine Demon, what a revered status that was?!

In the past years, the number of Marquis-level Divine Demons in the entire Jiangnan Province could be counted on one hand.

The birth of a single Marquis of Jiangling was enough to elevate a Family to the top-tier prestigious clan in Jiangnan Province.

Its weight was as heavy as a mountain.

Now, this young Captain, who was born and raised in Qingshi County and had guarded Changning City for many years.

Had quietly crossed that threshold that countless Divine Demons dreamed of; how could it not make the whole city, and even the entire Blue Star, turn their heads in attention.

"Did you hear? Captain Li Wen has achieved Marquis Level! He is the one who walked out of our Qingshi County!"

The former residents of Qingshi County felt extremely proud at this moment.

Walking on the streets, they couldn't help but share this glory with others, as if they themselves had been touched by the radiance.

"Captain Li only left Changning half a month ago, right? And he already succeeded in achieving Marquis Level? Too fast!" Someone clicked their tongue, feeling that this speed was somewhat beyond imagination.