85: Chapter 85 S-Class Contract

Instead, he relied on the vigorous vitality and spirit gained from absorbing the surging Qi and Blood just now,

and the profound memory and understanding brought by the passive "One Proof, Eternal Proof," guiding his Qi and Blood and leading his will purely by muscle instinct.

The movement was far from as perfect as before; it was even slightly stiff, and the coordination of his body was much worse.

But—

Buzz!

A barely perceptible, almost completely transparent, pale white trace—extremely reluctantly, like a faint spark gliding through darkness—flashed and vanished less than a foot in front of his blade tip!

Pfft!

There was no explosive sound tearing the air, no satisfying sensation of cutting through solid matter.

Only the faint sound of air being briefly compressed and instantly closing again.

This Rushing Shadow was pitifully short, so faint it seemed like an illusion.

It was a hundred thousand miles away from the Realm where 'the blade strikes, and that is the result.'

However, a fierce light erupted in Li Wen's eyes.

He succeeded!

Relying only on his own Qi and Blood and will, for the first time, at the level of power he actively commanded, he had barely grazed the edge of the Lueying Style.

This was extraordinarily significant!

It meant that the level of Blade Technique that was the Lueying Style was officially incorporated into his own system of skills that he could temper and develop, no longer just a one-time special effect only reachable by relying on the Primordial Spirit cheat.

Its roots had taken hold!

Moonlight streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling window, spreading a cool halo on the floor.

Li Wen stood with his blade lowered, sweat tracing paths down his young yet incomparably resolute face, his eyes reflecting that ethereal yet real trajectory of progress, as if catching a wisp of faint light in the wind.

The path ahead seemed to have become clearer and firmer by a few degrees.

The bright moon poured down like mercury, draping Qing Shi City in a veil of tranquility.

The solemn and massive silhouette of the Kindling Hall gradually shrank behind him, finally disappearing into the city's brilliant lights.

Li Wen leaned back in the rear seat of a sleek, low-key luxurious black hovercar.

This was one of the exclusive benefits enjoyed by A-rank contracted members of the Kindling Hall—a 24-hour on-call private car service.

The city lights outside the window flowed brilliantly and rapidly receded, but he, inside the car, was immersed in thought, his expression focused.

The car's interior was unusually quiet, with only the low, almost silent hum of the engine and the gentle sound of airflow.

The comfortable seat molded to his body, but Li Wen had not relaxed even slightly to enjoy it.

"S-rank Contract----" he silently murmured the phrase, as the scene in his mind replayed the moment he first discussed the contract with Director Sun Zhenshan.

Director Sun's decisive voice seemed to be right beside his ear: "----The contract automatically upgrades to S-rank! You will enjoy resources equivalent to the top giants at the provincial level!"

"We will tailor-make the strongest foundational treasure plan for you, directly aimed at the Foundation of becoming a Divine Demon! A total of eight Cosmic Rare Treasures are needed. Kindling Hall will first provide the four rarest and hardest-to-obtain among them!"

At that time, immersed in shock, he hadn't deeply grasped the true meaning behind Director Sun's words: "rarest and hardest-to-obtain."

Only after later entering the Kindling Hall's virtual private network and browsing the vast, galaxy-like "Xinhuo Myriad Treasures Pavilion" mall did he understand the weight of that promise.

His thoughts drifted back to that suffocating mall experience.

He had accidentally clicked on the specific filter tag for "Divine Demon Foundation Establishment Core Resources."

The sight that greeted his eyes still sent a tremor through his heart when he recalled it.

The names and icons of the rare treasures at the front of the list were all grayed out, uniformly labeled below: "Status: Out of Stock / Sold Out."

Even more glaring were the dense, star-like 'Purchase Information' notification red dots accumulated beneath every item.

Clicking on any one revealed countless purchase messages, with conditions offered one more astonishing than the last, even including top-tier Divine Demon Legacy fragments, specific regional administrative rights, or core cultivation points at sky-high prices as exchange conditions.

The ones that left the deepest impression on him were the four rare treasures named "Star Tear," "Void Vine Heart," "Primal Profound Ice Soul," and "Dragon Emperor's Reverse Scale."

The holographic projections of these items exuded an ineffable ancient and profound aura. Their status below was uniformly a bright red: "Acquisition path extremely scarce; exchange requires merit points and special channels only."

The purchase information was piled up like mountains. The atmosphere intertwined with desire and desperation almost leaped out of the information stream through the screen.

These were the four treasures Director Sun mentioned as the "rarest and hardest-to-obtain"!

They were one of the core benefits of the S-rank Contract—all provided! Not just the A-rank Contract's "first provision of four."

The S-rank Contract meant the Kindling Hall would gather all eight complete rare treasures for him, paving the most crucial step toward the Divine Demon Foundation.

The gap in value here could not be described merely as heaven and earth; it was resource support spanning almost an entire dimension.

Not to mention that Director Sun had also mentioned that the funding, points, and other treatments for S-rank would be four times that of A-rank.

Recalling this, a strong sense of urgency and desire surged in Li Wen's chest.

"Gathering the other four relatively easier-to-obtain treasures on my own" was already fraught with immense danger, let alone the remaining four top-tier treasures----

Li Wen frowned slightly, looking past the car window at the deep starry sky hidden beneath the city's brilliant lights, "Without the help of the Kindling Hall, before entering the Super Martial Artist Realm, it's unknown if I could even gather one or two of them."

The mountain of purchase requests in the Myriad Treasures Pavilion was the most realistic proof.

Those were resources that countless factions and countless experts were fighting for with all their might.

For Li Wen alone to wade into that murky water? It would be no different from a mayfly trying to shake a tree, or a cup of water trying to put out a blaze.

"Promote to S-rank Contract." This thought suddenly lit up deep within Li Wen's Sea of Consciousness like a star, emitting an undeniable, brilliant radiance that instantly overshadowed the slight worry he felt when facing difficulty.

This was no longer just a better treatment; it had become the most crucial threshold he must cross to reach the Supreme Martial Dao! It was the guiding light igniting his future path to becoming a Divine Demon.

The goal was established with unparalleled clarity—he must quickly advance to the S-rank Contract.

There were three ways to achieve promotion:

Comprehend Saber Intent within three years.

Reach the Diamond Tier in the Infinite Arena.

Rank in the top three of the Provincial Second Mock Exam.

Li Wen calmly analyzed them one by one in his mind.

Comprehending Saber Intent was undoubtedly the path to the heavens, a true qualitative leap in Realm.

Although the "Five Luminaries Heavenly Rainbow Art - Flowing Rainbow Startling Magpie Chapter" had already pointed the direction, even allowing him a glimpse of the nascent form of Saber Intent, thoroughly condensing that indestructible sharpness of will required massive enlightenment, accumulation, tempering, and----

Opportunity.

It could not be achieved in a short time.

Diamond Tier, Infinite Arena, a place of cruel life-or-death combat.

He started at Gold Tier, a high starting point, but the Diamond Tier? That was a distant name.

Director Sun mentioned that the Diamond Tier itself was one of the standards for measuring the combat power of top-tier Geniuses! Considering those veteran Gold and Platinum experts in the Arena, how cunning and seasoned were their methods?

Not to mention those entrenched in the Diamond Tier and above must be true experts who had experienced countless life-and-death trials, their skills long having entered the Concept Realm or even deeper levels.

To climb there in a short time? Hard as ascending to heaven.

Top three in the Provincial Mock Exam was a comprehensive competition of academic martial power.

Li Wen instantly made his judgment, his gaze sharpening: "It’s next month, the Provincial Second Mock Exam, in one month."

The target was set: In one month, at the Provincial Second Mock Exam, he must break into the top three in the entire province.

However, this was by no means easy.

In the Provincial First Mock Exam that just ended yesterday, he had pushed himself to the limit and only managed to secure 48th place in the province, which was his absolute peak performance.

Where was the gap?

It was very clear: those ranked above him, especially the prodigies who could solidly occupy the top three spots, their data showed they were no longer ordinary Martial Artists who had just entered the Momentum Realm.

Such existences could independently slay the Black and White Duality Stance Vicious Beasts that had just entered the Momentum Realm, which meant their comprehensive combat strength had reached at least the Middle Stage of the Momentum Realm.

The Momentum Realm was a gulf separating him from the top echelon.

His current Blade Technique Realm was only Late Stage of the Unity Realm (Physical Body Control 80%), still having a crucial gap before the threshold of the Momentum Realm.

Without breaking into the Momentum Realm, he couldn't even touch the edge of qualification for the top echelon.

"The immediate priority is that the Blade Technique Realm must have a Breakthrough to enter the Momentum Realm; otherwise, all ideas are castles in the air."

Li Wen clarified his current core mission for himself.

But that wasn't enough.

Just newly entering the Momentum Realm, when facing those geniuses who solidly held the provincial top three and possessed at least Middle Stage Momentum Realm strength, he would likely be insufficient.

To impact the top three in the Provincial Second Mock Exam, in the span of one month, his Blade Technique cultivation could not merely remain at the initial entry into the Momentum Realm.

"Within one month, my Blade Technique must not only enter the Momentum Realm, but must also reach----approaching the level of the Middle Stage of the Momentum Realm."

Li Wen set an extremely harsh goal for himself.

Only then, relying on his increasingly powerful Primordial Spirit Power and the talent of Absolute Focus, would he have a slim chance to shake the positions of those top geniuses in the comprehensive scoring.

This was predicated on the assumption that those individuals' progress over this month was relatively limited.

Time was extremely tight.

The Provincial Mock Exam covered geniuses across the entire province. The top ten, especially the top three, were absolute monsters among monsters.

Being able to stably hunt initial Momentum Realm Yao Beasts was merely the basic threshold.

To challenge the top three, or even solidly hold the top three, their own combat strength must reach at least the Middle Stage of the Momentum Realm.

Otherwise, when facing Momentum Realm Yao Beasts equally, or encountering even stronger existences, how could they stand out? How could they guarantee a far leading score?

"Blade Technique Momentum Realm, this is my absolute weakness, and also the key to breaking through the current Bottleneck," Li Wen clenched his fist.

He was very clear about his current situation.

His Physical Body control had just reached 80%. The Rainbow Light Saber Technique was long at Perfection, and the Lueying Style had barely entered the entry-level.

These gave him an explosive power far exceeding ordinary Unity Realm practitioners. But in essence, his Blade Technique Realm was still stuck at the Unity Realm.

As long as he didn't cross the threshold into the Saber Intent Momentum Realm one day, he would always be separated from the hall of true experts. Those top Unity Realm prodigies could suppress him with their Realm advantage.

To try and impact the provincial top three purely with Unity Realm strength? It would be as difficult as ascending to heaven; managing to enter the top fifty yesterday was already the absolute limit.

"I must complete the Breakthrough in Blade Technique Realm and enter the Momentum Realm within one month, and----" A resolute glint flashed in Li Wen's eyes, "Simply being at the initial Momentum Realm won't be enough. In a competitive and dangerous environment like the mock exam, initial Momentum Realm might only be enough to be at the bottom.

Even if I expose the secret of my Primordial Spirit and merge it entirely into Physical Body enhancement to boost explosive power, I probably still couldn't enter the provincial top three, as this is a sustained competition."

Through his independent exploration these past few days, the Primordial Spirit Power had two ways to enhance his combat strength.

One way was to only affect the Qi and Blood within the body, consuming relatively less Primordial Spirit Power. A full exertion could last about half a minute, increasing combat power by about three times.

The other way was for Primordial Spirit Power to act on the entire body, instantly erupting with more than five times the combat power, but it could only last for about five or six seconds.

According to his estimation, with his current skill and Realm, a full burst should be able to easily slay an initial Momentum Realm Black and White Duality Stance.

But six seconds was only enough time for him to kill one. There was no hope of breaking into the provincial top three.

Moreover, he did not intend to expose the secret of his Primordial Spirit, so to enter the provincial top three, he had no choice but to approach the Middle Stage, or even cross into the Middle Stage of the Momentum Realm.

Teacher Fang Chengwu, when guiding the foundational treasures, once mentioned that the strength of the Momentum Realm core lay in the depth of mastery over one's own core martial arts technique system.

The strength of the Momentum Realm was usually measured by the proportion of comprehension of the core true meaning, quantified by the number of "core Moves" mastered.

His "Five Luminaries Heavenly Rainbow Art - Flowing Rainbow Startling Magpie Chapter" had five stances.

The entry threshold was mastering at least one stance to be considered truly stepping into the Blade Technique Momentum Realm.

To gain enough strength to contend with, or even surpass, opponents at the provincial top-three level, mastering just one stance was definitely not enough.

"I need to truly master two Flowing Rainbow stances before the Provincial Second Mock Exam next month. Only then can I approach the ranks of the Middle Stage of the Momentum Realm, and combined with my Primordial Spirit and Absolute Focus, will I have a slim chance to challenge that position."

This thought made even him feel a heavy pressure.

One month, to go from not truly mastering one stance to needing to completely master two? If he said it out loud, others would only think he was crazy.

But this thought was instantly replaced by a surge of intense excitement.

Pressure? Challenge? This was precisely the fuel Li Wen craved the most.

Without this level of challenge, how could he stimulate the potential of that body containing miraculous recovery power?

"Heh----" He licked his slightly dry lips, flames seemingly burning in his eyes—that was the light interwoven with desire and fighting spirit.

Hesitating no longer, he made a slight mental Move, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness. The familiar personal panel clearly appeared:

[Skill: Blade Technique - Unity Realm (Physical Body Control 80 / 100), Five Luminaries Heavenly Rainbow Art - Five Stances of Flowing Rainbow - Lueying Style (Mastery 5%)]

The cold data revealed the chasm between the current situation and the goal.

"One month----Master two stances----" Li Wen stared at the panel and murmured softly, "Truly----something to look forward to."

Outside the car window, the city's neon lights streaked by like meteors. The speeding private car carried him toward the next, even more arduous and grueling session of cultivation, toward the path ahead filled with challenges yet already clearly visible.