Chu Qingyun snorted softly and flicked his finger.

A small pebble shot from his hand, precisely zipping between the heads of the two Level 7 and Level 8 Martial Artists. With a soft *thud*, it pierced the brow of the Level 9 Martial Artist.

The Level 9 Martial Artist’s body instantly stiffened. A trail of blood trickled from the center of his brow.

CLANG! CLANG!

Witnessing this, the two low-level Martial Artists were so terrified they couldn’t even hold their sabers, and their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably.

’Their boss was a Level 9 Martial Artist! He could beat the two of them with ease on any given day. But now, he had been killed by a pebble flicked by that young-looking brat!’

Looking at the two who were scared stiff, Chu Qingyun couldn’t be bothered to kill them. He walked right past them. With their meager strength, they wouldn’t have the skill to launch a sneak attack even if they wanted to.

As they watched Chu Qingyun draw closer, both broke out in a cold sweat, their legs trembling so hard they nearly fainted.

Only after Chu Qingyun had walked past did they finally let out a sharp sigh of relief. Their legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground...

Continuing his way up, Chu Qingyun encountered several more groups from Cloud-Mo Village.

However, the ones loitering outside were mostly small fry. Chu Qingyun had reached the halfway point of the mountain without seeing a single Martial Master.

Even if Cloud-Mo Village was overseen by a Martial Spirit, it was still just a mountain stronghold. Most of its members were only in the Martial Artist Realm. Those in the Martial Master Realm were considered powerful figures here, and there weren’t many of them.

After all, with the strength of a Martial Master, one could make a decent living in any city. Who would want to be a mountain bandit?

As for the second and third bosses, they were simply friends of the head boss, Heaven-Reaching Clouds, and partners who had established the stronghold with him.

Chu Qingyun paid little mind to these small fry from the Martial Artist Realm.

Anyone who blocked his path, he killed without a second thought, flicking a small pebble to finish them off.

Often, after their leader was killed by a pebble, the rest would scatter and flee in all directions. Chu Qingyun didn’t care about this, letting them run.

His targets were only those four people.

Once he was halfway up the mountain, a big shot in Cloud-Mo Village finally got the news and came down with a group of men.

A burly, thick-waisted man carrying a Nine-Ring Saber led a crowd of underlings menacingly down the mountain path to confront Chu Qingyun.

"Li, that’s him! He’s the one who killed our brothers!"

"Brat, you must have a death wish, daring to cause trouble in our Cloud-Mo Village! Now that you’ve run into our Li, we’ll flay you alive and pull out your tendons!"

"Li, kill him quickly! Let the brothers witness your divine might as a Martial Master!"

Spurred on by the flattery of his underlings, Li burst out laughing and brandished his steel saber proudly. "Brat, you’re young, but you’ve got guts. Today, your Grandpa Li will chop off your head and hang it at the foot of the mountain to see who else dares to cause trouble in my Cloud-Mo Village!"

"Take this!"

Li bellowed, his Primordial Power surging as he gripped his saber with both hands and slashed at Chu Qingyun.

The aura of a Level 4 Martial Master erupted from his body, the force of it making the Martial Artist Realm underlings behind him all take two steps back.

’That brat is dead for sure!’

Every one of them watched with gleaming eyes, staring intently at the chilling glint of the saber, anticipating the scene of Chu Qingyun being decapitated in a splash of blood!

However, faced with this seemingly powerful slash, Chu Qingyun revealed a disdainful smile.

’A Level 4 Martial Master, and he hasn’t even comprehended Sword Momentum.’

’With this level of strength, I guess he can only show off to these Martial Artists in this mountain stronghold.’

Chu Qingyun gently raised his hand. A hint of Primordial Power welled up in his palm, and under everyone’s watchful eyes, with a sharp *CLAP*, he caught the Nine-Ring Saber by its blade.

With a light squeeze, the Primordial Power Li had infused into the saber was instantly crushed. The man himself was rocked by a jolt that numbed his hand, making him lose his grip on the saber.

"Damn it!"

Li circulated his Primordial Power to dispel the numbness in his hand, then gripped the hilt and pulled back with all his might.

But the blade, held fast by Chu Qingyun, seemed to have grown from his hand. Li’s face turned beet red from the effort, but the saber didn’t budge an inch.

Their strengths were on completely different levels.

At this moment, Li finally realized that this person was not someone he could handle.

However, Chu Qingyun gave him no chance to escape. He took a sudden step forward, grabbed one of his arms, and quietly unleashed his Devouring Power, seeping it into the meridians of Li’s arm.

The moment he was grabbed, Li’s expression changed drastically. He felt all the Primordial Power in his body begin to churn and riot!

Then, the Primordial Power he had painstakingly cultivated his entire life surged out from his Qi Sea. It continuously flowed along his meridians, rushed into his right arm, and then vanished.

"Damn it, how can this be happening? Stop! Stop!"

Li was both panicked and terrified. He gritted his teeth and desperately tried to control his Primordial Power, wanting to make it stop.

But under the pull of the Devouring Power, his meager resistance was negligible. In just a few breaths, all the Primordial Power of a Level 4 Martial Master was completely devoured!

Meanwhile, a stream of pure Primordial Power flowed out from his Devouring Martial Soul, replenishing Chu Qingyun’s Qi Sea, which had been depleted from condensing Primordial Liquid.

’The Primordial Power of a Level 4 Martial Master... it’s so little...’

Chu Qingyun shook his head helplessly. Devouring the Primordial Power of a Level 4 Martial Master seemed to have almost no effect on his Qi Sea.

Glancing at the panicked and shocked Li, Chu Qingyun casually killed him with a single palm strike.

Li, now devoid of Primordial Power, had no ability to resist whatsoever.

Chu Qingyun never had a habit of showing mercy to those who deserved to die. Since this man had witnessed his Devouring Power, he had to die.

Watching Li fall to the ground, motionless, all the underlings behind him were stunned into a stupor.

’Their Martial Master Realm boss, who was usually so high and mighty that they could only look up to him, was actually dead!’

’Killed by a single palm strike!’

After they came to their senses, their eyes filled with shock and terror. The way they looked at Chu Qingyun was as if they were looking at a monster.

’To kill Li with one palm strike... what kind of strength is that? Not even the other leaders have that kind of power, right?’

"Run!"

With a cry of alarm, the mob immediately scrambled in disarray, fleeing up the mountain.

But soon, they came back down again.

"Zhang is here! That brat’s dead for sure!"

"Run! Zhang is dead too!"

"Wang is here! That brat’s dead for sure!"

"Run! Wang was taken out by him too!"

...

The group ran up and down the mountain endlessly. Each time, a Martial Master would step forward, and without exception, every single one had their Primordial Power devoured by Chu Qingyun before being killed with a single palm strike.

It wasn’t until he reached the summit and saw the stronghold’s main gate that Chu Qingyun’s expression turned a little serious. He sensed a faint fluctuation of Primordial Power emerging from within the stronghold.

"Finally, someone decent has shown up..."