Chapter 129: Chapter 102: I’ll Stand Still and Let You Hit Me 3
The shattered longsword in his hand dissolved into motes of light.
His goal had been achieved. In this battle, the progress of his Defensive Form under the high pressure of real combat was even better than he had anticipated.
The insight he gained from that final "Guiyuan" slash—a dissolving, diffusing counterattack—was a priceless treasure.
Without another glance at the arena below, his figure also transformed into a streak of light, disappearing from the virtual, starry battlefield and leaving a chilling silence in his wake.
...
Li Wen repeated the same process for several more ranked matches.
He meticulously selected his targets.
Faced with the provocations of arrogant, condescending opponents, he would either calmly point out the impractical flashiness of their techniques or offer a casual critique, successfully enraging one prideful genius after another.
This ignited battle lust became the perfect fuel for Li Wen to temper his Defensive Form.
A storm of attacks rained down upon the defensive field Li Wen had constructed.
Attacking energies of various attributes poured down relentlessly, each impact carrying his opponents’ humiliated fury.
But Li Wen remained as calm as still water. His [Absolute Focus lv8] and the power of his Primordial Spirit were precisely coupled, allowing him to push back against the violent current of the virtual space.
He was no longer just passively blocking. He began to try and integrate more refined techniques of flow, deflection, and even the rudiments of borrowing and redirecting force, all within the framework of the Defensive Form.
The fiercer the opponent’s assault, the more valuable the stress-test data it provided.
The tremor of every blade clash, the angle of every deflected energy flow—all of it transformed into a data stream of deeper understanding of the Defensive Form, flooding into his sea of consciousness.
His mind felt as if it were being ground repeatedly on a whetstone. The intense consumption brought on waves of dizziness.
Finally, after successfully provoking and making full use of another Platinum-rank genius, a severe depletion warning sounded in Li Wen’s sea of consciousness.
[Warning: Spiritual Power approaching threshold...]
"Haaaah..."
The virtual world faded away, and the cold metal walls of the private Martial Arts Room came back into view.
Li Wen let out a long breath, fine beads of sweat forming on his temples.
Outside the window, night had long since fallen. A smattering of stars mirrored the city lights below.
The time was nine p.m.
He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.
The residual medicinal effect of the [Starlight Concentration Liquid] in his body was still stubbornly emitting a cool, gentle aura. Like the last trickle of water in a dry riverbed, it nourished his exhausted Spiritual Power core, bit by bit.
About fifteen minutes later, the intense feeling of depletion eased slightly. His Spiritual Power had been forcibly pulled back to a relatively safe, low level.
Only then did Li Wen slowly get up.
"Time for my daily practice," he muttered, walking to the center of the Martial Arts Room.
With a flicker of his thoughts, a profound, jade-like Primordial Spirit slowly emerged from behind his head, emitting a gentle, warm radiance.
As the power of his Primordial Spirit spread out and seeped into every fiber of his being, the cultivation process for the *Splitting Blade Golden Killing Skill*—which had once caused him excruciating pain—now felt like stretching his limbs in warm water.
Muscles tore and regenerated under high pressure, bones were repeatedly tempered in the Golden Fiend’s aura, and his qi and blood surged like magma. The once-intense agony was now overridden by the Primordial Spirit’s powerful Perception Power and its transcendent ability to insulate him from pain.
When his cultivation session ended, Li Wen felt a profound, hollowed-out exhaustion, as if he had just climbed a ten-thousand-zhang peak while carrying a mountain on his back. Yet his mind remained strangely clear, without a trace of the psychological trauma from the past.
Time passed silently, and in the blink of an eye, it was nearly eleven o’clock.
After a quick shower to rinse away his fatigue and the lingering aura of his cultivation, Li Wen changed his clothes and took the private elevator—a symbol of his status—smoothly down to the underground garage.
The lights of his private car streaked through the night, merging with the vibrant glow of the city as it took him back to the home where he no longer had to worry about making a living.
The night was peaceful.
「April 21st, at the first light of dawn.」
His biological clock woke him with precision.
