Let's go together.

As his mind guided his intent, Li Miao's heart soon became calm as still water, as tranquil as a starry night sky.

The universe was vast and boundless, with primal energy existing in every corner.

Cosmic primal energy is the most fundamental force of creation, capable of forming stars, trees, animals, or even humans.

Likewise, it can be transformed into the strength of all things. Merged into a star, it becomes solar primal energy; infused into plants, it becomes life primal energy; fused into the body of a transcendent warrior, it is called genetic primal energy.

Primal energy is the universe’s gift, and the guiding technique is the wisdom of living beings. When the two combine, they become the powerful force of a primal energy warrior!

Strands of cosmic primal energy began to gather from all directions, pouring into Li Miao’s body, then, following the guidance of his technique, they tempered, dissolved, fused, and catalyzed within him...

It was a process of life’s evolution, from weakness to strength, from simplicity to complexity.

No sooner had he begun his cultivation than Li Miao was startled to discover that the cosmic primal energy in this world was richer than in any other place he had ever visited! After only a few minutes of practice, he could already feel his genetic primal energy increasing—three times faster than before!

Every cell in his body greedily absorbed this fresh power, like wild grass in a desert suddenly receiving rain, each blade competing to drink this rare sweetness.

Moreover, this “rain” seemed endless, as if it would never cease!

He could not help but rejoice.

“If I can maintain this pace, I’ll reach the Sky Level in less than two years—and gain the ability to fly!”

Let alone the Sky Level—if given enough time, even immortality would not be a mere dream!

With fervent enthusiasm, Li Miao immersed himself in cultivation, utterly forgetting the passage of time.

Stars shifted, the moon set, and the sun rose. The first beam of morning sunlight pierced the pine woods, falling upon his tightly closed eyelids.

“Master, should I call Uncle for breakfast?” Guo’er, having just finished cooking porridge, asked Xuan Zhenzi.

Xuan Zhenzi was standing on the mountain saddle, overlooking the morning mist and rising smoke below. At her words, he waved his hand and said, “He’s cultivating—don’t disturb him. Wait... On second thought, wake him now—trouble is coming!”

Halfway up the mountain, a large group of people armed with knives, spears, swords, and staves was making its way rapidly upward, hacking through brambles and thorns.

The mountain path, unused for years, was difficult to traverse, but these people marched and ran with surprising agility. Though not quite as swift as Li Miao traversing the mountains, they were not much slower.

Roused from his state of cultivation by Guo’er, Li Miao felt that after a night’s practice, his strength had indeed grown, not dramatically, but with a much better effect than his previous meditations.

He had yet to savor this progress when the clamor of footsteps reached his ears—the group of uninvited guests had already arrived.

One, two, three...

Those with better skills arrived first, followed closely by the others, none left too far behind.

“Ninety-nine, one hundred...”

“One hundred and twenty-two!” Guo’er exclaimed, covering her mouth in astonishment.

The small mountain platform was quickly packed tight with a throng of armed figures, leaving no room to spare.

Every one of them wielded a weapon, making it clear they were here to cause trouble.

Among the crowd, Li Miao recognized Wang Lang, Wang Wu, and others whom he had beaten the previous day. Although most of the others were unfamiliar, it was not hard to guess that they were villagers from the other local “sects.”

Now emboldened by the support of so many, Wang Lang spoke with arrogance, “I thought you’d run, but you actually have the courage to stay. Heh, today, the six great sects have gathered—your Zhongyun Mountain will face extermination again.”

Extermination again!

Xuan Zhenzi's face turned ashen as he recognized the ringleaders at the front. The old fury flared in his heart, and he cursed, “Zhao Shujie, He Yuancan, you bastards will not die a peaceful death!”

The leading man, Zhao Shujie, wore a fitted black outfit, exuding a calm and commanding presence. He cradled an iron staff as tall as himself and said disdainfully, “Filthy priest, you were lucky to survive last time—we took pity on you and spared your life. Now you’ve trained a good disciple and dare to seek vengeance? You’re forcing us to root you out completely!”

As he spoke, his eyes glared unflinchingly at Li Miao, as if sizing up a lamb for slaughter.

Beside him, old Wang Lang had the smug look of a petty villain.

Li Miao’s expression darkened.

Over a hundred people!

Clearly, this group was not here just to posture and bully, but to kill in earnest!

Yesterday, he had thought the mountain folk were merely insular, not truly malicious. But the story Xuan Zhenzi told last night, and now this scene, made it painfully clear—he had been too naïve!

These were not the simple, honest villagers he had imagined, but a pack of vicious wolves and tigers!

“To go so far, just for a cultivation technique...” he thought, bewildered.

In the world he had known, anyone with outstanding talent and enough merit would be rewarded by the Alliance, gaining access to any technique they wished.

He had never witnessed a world where people would kill for a single manual, a magic treasure, or even a talisman. Thus, he did not know how ruthless people here could be.

But Xuan Zhenzi had seen it all!

“Li Daoist, take Guo’er and flee! As long as she lives, Zhongyun Mountain’s legacy will endure,” Xuan Zhenzi said in a low, urgent voice.

He had not expected that, over yesterday’s mere ten sacks of rice, these villains would strike en masse.

The attack came so suddenly that escape seemed impossible now. All he could hope was that Li Miao and Guo’er would survive to avenge him in the future.

“Ha ha ha!” Zhao Shujie laughed loudly, releasing the aura of a True Condensation cultivator without reservation. “Escape? Not unless you get past me!”

With that, he stamped his foot and shot into the air, bringing his iron staff down upon Li Miao with crushing force.

For the leader to attack first—it was clear this man relished battle.

Under the power of his inner energy, the staff glowed with a cold blue light. The might it exuded made even Li Miao grow serious.

He drew his coldsteel saber, rallied his primal energy, and chose to meet the attack head-on.

Clang!

Staff and saber clashed, sending the air reverberating with a deep hum and kicking up a strong shockwave.

Li Miao snorted coldly, his feet unmoved, while Zhao Shujie staggered back three steps before regaining his stance—the victor was obvious.

After all, one was a carefully-trained primal energy warrior, the other a self-taught mountain cultivator. Their foundations were worlds apart.

“What strength!” Zhao Shujie was stunned, looking at Li Miao with deadly intent.

Without needing his signal, the other two True Condensation cultivators stepped forward, drew their weapons, and attacked together.

A staff, a sword, and an axe—three deadly weapons blocked Li Miao’s way, forcing him to fight.

Li Miao narrowed his eyes, a glint of ruthlessness flashing within.

At some point, a delicate golden bracer now adorned his left wrist, and the primal energy around him thickened suddenly.

Facing their encirclement, he showed no fear. Ignoring the staff and axe, he let out a sharp cry, and brought his saber down in a diagonal arc, its force aimed straight at the swordsman He Yuancan’s face!

Clang!

Blade met blade, but Li Miao, his body honed for physical strength, nearly overwhelmed the swordsman. The iron sword snapped under his blow, and the coldsteel saber, its momentum undiminished, cleaved the swordsman’s head in two, splitting him and his sword in a single stroke!

Blood sprayed three feet high.

“Damn!” Zhao Shujie cursed inwardly, shaken by the bloodshed.

Meanwhile, the staff and axe struck Li Miao’s body.

But instead of smashing him into a pulp, their blows were blocked by a faint golden energy shield.

The Rift Arm Bracer!

Military-issue equipment from the Expeditionary Army.

The coldsteel saber for attack, the bracer for defense—it generated an energy shield, protecting him from harm and freeing him to fight without worry.

This powerful shield could withstand the full force of a "Sky Level" primal energy warrior, equivalent to a Return to Origin cultivator. The two True Condensation cultivators’ combined strike only caused the golden shield to flicker, posing no real threat.

While they were still stunned, Li Miao’s saber swept out again.

Zhao Shujie barely managed to bring his staff up to block, but the iron staff, forged by mundane means, was no match for the coldsteel saber, tempered in stellar fire. Just like the swordsman, Zhao Shujie was sliced in half at the waist, man and staff together!

The man who had just been bellowing moments before was now cut in two, entrails and blood spilling out.

“How can this be...” Zhao Shujie’s half-body fell to the ground, disbelief written in his eyes.

A splash of blood landed on Li Miao’s cheek. He snorted, swept his gaze over the remaining hundred and twenty, and said in a deep voice, “Who else wishes to try?”

In the blink of an eye, two True Condensation cultivators had been slain.

Li Miao’s moves were crisp and merciless—he didn’t even blink. His display of power terrified the six villages’ cultivators into retreating a step.

The one with the axe backed away several steps, hiding in the crowd for fear of being killed next.

No one dared speak. The only sound was the rustling of wind and falling leaves.

“Then get out!” Li Miao said coldly.

“Let’s go, let’s go...”

“We can’t beat him. Better to leave.”

Several people immediately retreated, afraid to draw his attention and meet a grisly end.

The rest followed suit, their earlier bravado gone, replaced by fear.

Then, from within the crowd, someone said, “He’s from Zhongyun Mountain. There’s a blood feud between us. Even if we leave today, he’ll come for us later.”

The retreat halted.

“Yes, with over a hundred of us, we might have a chance if we fight to the death. If we scatter, we’re doomed for sure!”

“No matter how strong he is, he’s alone. As the saying goes, no hero can withstand a crowd. If we each strike once, we’ll kill him!”

“Don’t leave—fight him together!”

As a few voices spoke out, what began as whispers quickly grew bolder as others joined in.

In a few short words, the six villages’ cultivators, cowed moments before, rekindled their fighting spirit, gripping their weapons and moving forward.

Li Miao’s face darkened.

“Kill him! Kill him!”

“All together!”

“Don’t fear death—charge!”

The cultivators rallied, shouting and swinging their weapons as they surged forward.

“Uncle, be careful!” Guo’er cried in alarm.

Li Miao took a deep breath.

“A transcendent warrior does not slay the weak, but you court death yourselves—you cannot blame me.”

With a flick of his coldsteel saber, his primal energy surged, and a blue light shimmered along the blade.

“Die!”

Humm—

The saber swept in a wide arc, sending a three-meter-long blue blade of energy silently through the front ranks.

Those leading the charge froze, their lower halves rooted in place while their upper bodies, driven by inertia, flew forward—blood spraying like rain.

“Don’t fear him—there’s more of us!” those behind roared, pushing the others forward.

The distance was short. After cutting down several, Li Miao was soon surrounded, dozens of weapons, long and short, all charged with varying levels of energy, coming at him at once.

As the blades fell, he quickly channeled primal energy into his Rift Arm Bracer, raising the golden shield once more.

A series of sharp clangs rang out as the shield, strong enough to withstand a Sky Level warrior’s attack, flickered dangerously, nearly shattering.

Seizing the opening, Li Miao swept his saber horizontally, the blade slicing through iron like mud—instantly cutting a dozen men in half!

Blood spurted from their dismembered bodies, drenching him from head to toe.

Another wave of men charged in, fearless of death. He struck them down, but was soon surrounded again.

“Even ants cling to life—how foolish you are to throw yours away!” Primal energy surged; the Rift Arm Bracer was fully charged, ready to raise the shield again.

At this rate, it would not be long before all hundred were dead.

Suddenly, he heard a girl’s scream.

Then, the sound of a blade piercing flesh.

“Guo’er!” Li Miao cried in alarm, realizing someone had slipped past him in the chaos.

His primal energy erupted—he cleaved the attackers before him in half with a single blow, then burst through the crowd, sending those in his path flying, bones shattered.

In front of the wooden house, Guo’er stood wide-eyed, horror and panic on her face. Blood spattered her cheeks, still fresh.

Xuan Zhenzi stood before her, a sword driven through his chest, both hands gripping the blade, trying desperately to stop the enemy from withdrawing it for another strike.

Wang Lang, wearing a cruel smile, twisted the sword, crushing Xuan Zhenzi’s heart. “Old fool, I told you your days were numbered.”

“Your end has come too, wretch!” Li Miao roared, leaping several meters in a flash. His saber erupted with dazzling blue light and came crashing down.

Wang Lang turned in panic, but saw only the blue flash.

As the blade struck the ground, Li Miao ignored Wang Lang and rushed to catch Xuan Zhenzi, hastily checking his wounds.

“Old Daoist!”

Xuan Zhenzi’s heart was destroyed, leaving him unable to speak. His aged face forced a faint smile as blood welled from his lips. Regret and sorrow flickered in his eyes, but slowly, they closed.