This wasn’t just about having a stronger physical body; it was about achieving an absolute, microscopic level of control over every last bit of his strength.
Echoing this perfect physical control, the true aning of the Shadow-Stealing Form surged within his sea of consciousness.
Countless subtle variations that were once difficult to grasp during practice, the critical point for an instantaneous burst of power, the perfect angle for his blade to pierce through air resistance... all these problems suddenly beca clear.
It was as if his perfect, flawless Body Control Power had illuminated the key path to the essence of this saber art, which pursued ultimate speed. His mastery soared like a rocket.
[Skills: Saber Arts - Unity Realm (Mastery 100%), Five Luminaries Celestial Rainbow Skill - Flowing Rainbow Five Forms - Shadow-Stealing Form (70%→ 85%)]
The panel updated instantly. The explosive 15% increase in his Shadow-Stealing Form proficiency was the greatest gift of achieving physical perfection.
’Is this... perfect control?’ Li Wen looked down at his own hand, slowly clenching his five fingers into a fist before releasing them, feeling an unprecedented, absolute sense of command.
He casually executed a flourish with his saber. It was just a simple move, yet the arc of the blade as it cut through the air possessed a natural, flawless grace. It was significantly faster, and not a single trace of excess power was wasted.
The itch of anticipation was unbearable. He urgently wanted to test the limits of his perfected body’s combat power, especially how long it could last under the pressure of soone at a higher realm.
As soon as the thought occurred, Li Wen connected to the virtual device, and his consciousness once again sank into the Infinite Arena.
A week of fierce battles had left his rank stable at Gold I, with 90 victory points.
He only needed one more win to start the promotion series to the Platinum rank.
He had attempted it several tis over the past week. But without exception, he had failed in the crucial third match of the promotion series, defeated by Platinum opponents who had already gained a preliminary understanding of Montum.
The gap in their realms was like an insurmountable chasm.
But today, feeling the vast, unobstructed power within him that he could command completely, and with his Shadow-Stealing Form pushed to a staggering 85% mastery, Li Wen was filled with unprecedented confidence.
’Even against soone who has just entered the Montum Realm... I can put up a fight. I might even be able to win.’
Matchmaking was quick. His opponent was indeed just a Gold I Martial Artist.
The fight was over before it began. Facing Li Wen, who had cultivated his Body Control Power to perfection and had 85% mastery of the Shadow-Stealing Form, his opponent was suppressed almost the entire ti.
Li Wen didn’t even use any of his trump cards. He overwheld his opponent to the point they could barely breathe using just his raw strength.
A flash of the blade, and the match was decided. His victory points reached 100, and the invitation to the promotion series arrived right on cue.
Li Wen confird imdiately.
"Promotion Series initiated! Current: First to three wins (0/3)."
His opponents for the first two matches were also Gold I experts, but they clearly hadn’t touched the threshold of the Montum Realm.
In Li Wen’s eyes now, their movents were filled with tiny flaws and inefficient uses of power.
He didn’t use [Absolute Focus] or his Primordial Spirit’s power, purely relying on his 85% mastery Shadow-Stealing Form combined with his perfect Body Control Power to face them.
First match: he found an opening after about thirty strikes and won with a single slash.
Second match: his opponent was a Martial Artist who specialized in defense, but wherever Li Wen’s blade pointed, he could always precisely cut into the weakest point of their defensive system where the flow of power was most stagnant. Within ten strikes, he forcibly tore through his opponent’s defense and won easily once again.
The two victories ca so easily that he didn’t feel fully satisfied.
He needed greater pressure to sharpen his own edge.
Matchmaking for the crucial third match of the promotion series was successful.
Light and shadow flashed, and the battlefield scene settled on a vast, empty training ground.
The figure on the opposite side slowly solidified—a young man in his early twenties, wearing the combat uniform of a well-known, first-rate martial arts university, his face carrying a hint of arrogance.
The rank insignia above his head shone clearly: Platinum IV.
When he saw Li Wen erge on the other side, the martial arts student nad "Cang Yan" was clearly taken aback.
Li Wen’s face was too young, and his fra still had the immaturity of a high school student.
A thought that he found hard to accept, one that even sparked a trace of jealousy, surfaced. ’Could this kid opposite have already grasped Montum?’
It wasn’t until he clearly saw the rank insignia above Li Wen’s head—the distinct Gold I tag—that "Cang Yan" visibly relaxed, the corners of his tense mouth pulling into a feigned, casual arc:
"Oh, a promotion match? Bad luck today, kiddo, running into ."
"Too bad I’m live-streaming right now. It wouldn’t look good if I went easy on you, otherwise I’d have let you win one." Cang Yan shrugged, his tone laced with condescending pity.
The bullet comnts in the live stream imdiately flared up:
"Brother Yan, go easy on him! Let the kid keep so dignity, haha!"
"What a sha, running into a Platinum in the last match of your promotion series."
"But still, to reach the Gold I promotion series at his age, he’s definitely a genius. Give him another half a year and he’ll be Platinum for sure."
"A genius or not, without understanding Montum, how can he fight a Platinum in the Montum Realm? A difference in realm is like a mountain between them."
The bullet comnts flew by in a chaotic stream. Most were just there for the show, so expressed pity, and quite a few were amazed by Li Wen’s youth, but almost unanimously, no one thought Li Wen stood a chance.
In their understanding, a Unity Realm Martial Artist, even one at the peak of the Unity Realm, would have an undeniable gap in the very essence of their power, combat effectiveness, and suppressive presence compared to soone who had just entered the Montum Realm, as long as they hadn’t grasped Montum.
It was a gap that stemd from a fundantal difference in the initial understanding and application of the world’s power.
「The countdown ended.」
The relaxed look on Cang Yan’s face vanished instantly, replaced by the sharp aura befitting a Platinum-rank Martial Artist.
His eyes narrowed and he let out a low shout, "Rise!"
BOOM!
A scorching, explosive Montum suddenly descended.
It was as if invisible flas had ignited in the air, heavy and intensely oppressive, instantly enveloping the entire training ground.
This was precisely the Scorching Fla Montum he had comprehended.
Unlike the ntal pressure from strong opponents Li Wen had faced in the past, this was a form of environntal suppression born from the resonance of spiritual will and energy. It could directly interfere with an opponent’s qi and blood circulation and their ntal state.
Li Wen’s movents instantly froze. He felt as if he had been plunged into a pool of viscous, boiling magma. His every move t with imnse resistance, his qi and blood churned, and even his thoughts seed to slow down.
’Here it is. The suppression of Montum.’ Far from being alard, Li Wen was delighted. This was the exact pressure he craved.
He instantly determined that his opponent had only just entered the Montum Realm; his control wasn’t yet seamless. The impact of this Montum on the ntal level was far less significant than its effect on the environnt and energy.
He didn’t activate [Absolute Focus], nor did he use the power of his Primordial Spirit. He chose to resist purely with his own Body Control Power, which was at the Great Perfection stage.
Using a peculiar Body Technique, his figure moved, turned, and dodged with difficulty within the Energy Field created by the Scorching Fla Montum. He perfectly unleashed every bit of strength with pinpoint precision, pushing his speed to the absolute limit, like a fish swimming against a Reverse Flow.
He brandished his saber, activating his 85% mastery Shadow-Stealing Form. A continuous stream of blade shadows attempted to slice through the omnipresent shackles of the Montum.
His blade clashed violently with his opponent’s fists, which were wreathed in the power of the scorching flas. With every impact, Li Wen felt a numbing ache spread through his arm as his qi and blood roiled violently.
His perfect Body Control Power allowed him to disperse the impact force throughout his entire body to absorb and neutralize it, preventing him from collapsing instantly. However, the enormous disadvantage in raw power still left him completely on the defensive.
Cang Yan’s attacks were like a violent storm. His Scorching Fla Fists were overwhelmingly powerful, and every strike carried the might to stir the energy of the environnt.
’What’s with this kid?!’ But the longer he fought, the more shocked Cang Yan beca.
’He’s only in the Unity Realm, yet he can hold on for this long under my Scorching Fla Montum?’
’That exquisite control he has over his body is making seven or eight out of ten of my attacks miss completely or get deflected at the slightest angle. He’s impossibly slippery!’
Unable to land a decisive blow after so long, questions and jokes started appearing in the live stream’s bullet comnts:
"Huh? Did Brother Yan forget to eat today?"
"Why is he struggling so much against a Gold? This isn’t like you, man."
"This high school kid... he’s got sothing! That Body Technique is insane!"
Cang Yan was starting to lose face, and the last bit of his disdain turned completely into rage.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. "Kid, you really do have a few tricks!"
ROAR!
The power of his qi and blood surged wildly from his body. Crimson flas seed to rise above his head as the Scorching Fla Montum that had covered the entire field instantly contracted inward, condensing until it was all gathered upon his fists.
His armored fists now looked like two red-hot branding irons, radiating a heart-stopping heat and a destructive aura.
This was the true killing move of his Montum Realm—compressing the power of his Montum to an extre degree to create a stronger single-point breakthrough and explosive force.
"Red Sun Sky-Breaking Fist!"
He threw a punch! It was no longer an area-of-effect suppression, but a crimson fist imprint, condensed to the absolute limit. It seed to tear through space itself, letting out a piercing whistle as it instantly crossed the distance between them, heading straight for Li Wen’s chest.
The air was violently compressed and distorted, and the intense heat even refracted the light.
The power of this punch was far beyond his earlier probing attacks.
The pressure skyrocketed! Facing this fist imprint, which contained the true killing power of the Montum Realm, just relying on his perfect Body Control Power and 85% mastery Shadow-Stealing Form was no longer enough.
Li Wen’s pupils contracted. In the center of his sea of consciousness, his jade-like Primordial Spirit began to glow as he simultaneously activated his Lv. 8 [Absolute Focus]!
’Now’s the ti!’
The punch, which looked incredibly condensed and swift to the outside world, seed to slow down the instant it entered the "domain" covered by both Li Wen’s Primordial Spirit perception and his Absolute Focus.
The condensed stream of scorching fla energy appeared solid, but its energy distribution wasn’t perfectly uniform. Its core, the nodes where energy flowed along the edges, the subtle gaps... all of it was reflected clearly in Li Wen’s mind!
Retreat? No! His perfect Body Control Power gave him the ability to dodge beyond his limits.
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