Chapter 11

The campfire was still burning, casting the shadow of the young demon crab outside the spirit wood fence into sharp relief.

"Damn it, it's that young demon crab again! One of its little crab legs was severed by my 'Wave Stacking Double Slash.' There's no mistaking it!"

Ye Mo felt a sense of foreboding.

He did not act rashly, hiding his figure in the dark, sheltered part of the cave.

The young demon crab hesitated and lingered in front of the spirit wood fence, showing no intention of rushing it.

Mo Ling was also now awake.

Ye Mo signaled to Mo Ling, slowly drew his green saber, and prepared to attack.

Mo Ling nodded.

Ye Mo looked at the young demon crab.

What he most hoped for was that it would leave on its own. Facing this mysterious and powerful young demon crab, and its mysterious water demon technique, a mid-rank warrior like him felt a bit intimidated.

Unless he was forced, Ye Mo did not want to engage it lightly.

The young demon crab circled around outside the spirit wood fence for a while, finding it impossible to enter the cave, and became somewhat impatient.

It suddenly swung its golden pincers and fiercely smashed them against the spirit wood fence.

"Bang!"

A loud noise.

A small indentation immediately appeared on the sturdy spirit wood fence, with some small splinters breaking off.

However, even with the young demon crab's strength of several hundred pounds, it could not easily destroy the spirit wood fence.

It would take dozens of attempts to break through the fence and create a large enough hole for it to pass through.

"Damn it, it's starting to destroy the spirit wood fence!"

Ye Mo was startled.

The spirit wood fence, which they had built with great effort, could not be destroyed by this young demon crab. Otherwise, he would have no place to sleep peacefully.

"Attack!"

He suddenly leaped up, rushed to the inside of the spirit wood fence, and, gripping the green saber with both hands, transformed into a cold ray of light, slashing at the young demon crab.

"Wave Slash—!"

A fierce and swift slash struck the young demon crab's cold, golden pincer.

Ye Mo's fighting spirit was high. He had just absorbed the fiery power of the Red Blood Vine, feeling hot and restless, with no outlet for his strength. Since the young demon crab had started to destroy the fence, he did not hesitate to counterattack.

Mo Ling followed closely behind, drawing her sword, Mo Mei, and swiftly stabbing at the young demon crab's joints.

But her sword was deflected by the crab's shell.

"No good! I can't hurt it. The sword techniques I use are too agile, lacking the power to break through its shell!"

Mo Ling looked anxious.

"No problem, I can hurt it!"

Ye Mo said coldly.

The young demon crab, stung by the sword, quickly retreated several yards, away from the spirit wood fence.

It recognized Ye Mo as its "enemy" and angrily screeched a few times, then charged at the spirit wood fence again, trying to break it to fight Ye Mo inside.

"Bang!"

The spirit wood fence was left with a deep mark.

Every time it tried to break through the fence, Ye Mo would swiftly slash with his saber, leaving a wound on its hard pincer.

An ordinary mid-rank warrior could not actually hurt its tough shell.

However, the power of Ye Mo's "Wave Slash" was too strong. After ten years of continuous practice, reaching the level of "turning the mundane into the miraculous," this Wave Slash surpassed the superlative, and each slash was comparable to that of any master-level warrior.

Each slash left a wound on its shell.

It did not dare to stay in front of the spirit wood fence for long.

If it stood still in front of the fence, Ye Mo could, with six or seven consecutive slashes, sever its hardest golden pincer. It would take at least twenty to thirty attempts to break through the fence.

After half an hour.

The young demon crab's pincers were covered with various deep and shallow sword marks.

It waved its large pincers outside, not daring to approach the spirit wood fence again. It realized that it could not hurt Ye Mo inside the camp or even destroy the spirit wood fence.

As for the water arrow demon technique, it did not use it easily.

It was not yet fully grown, and using the water arrow demon technique was very harmful to its body.

The young demon crab wandered around the camp for a while, finding no solution.

It glared at Ye Mo with hatred, finally leaving with a few backward glances, disappearing into the jungle.

...

"This young demon crab is finally gone! It's too terrifying! Its thin shell is so hard, even surpassing a thick first-grade spirit wood. My sword techniques can't hurt it at all. Its strength is at least comparable to a peak late-stage warrior!"

Mo Ling's limbs were weak, and she sat on the ground in fear.

"Right! Fortunately, it's still in its juvenile stage and not fully grown, otherwise we wouldn't be able to deal with it."

Ye Mo nodded, sitting down in the cave, exhausted. The excitement from absorbing the Red Blood Vine's power had faded, leaving him with immense pressure and a strong sense of fatigue.

"The sky is almost light. That young demon crab should have gone to the sea and won't come back. Rest now. This is just the beginning; there will be more sea demons on the island in the future! We need to reinforce this camp as soon as possible."

Mo Ling still looked anxious, filled with fear.

"Being targeted by this young demon crab is a big problem. I'm only at the mid-stage of the sixth level of the Body Tempering stage. I must strengthen my Body Tempering cultivation and break through to the late-stage warrior! The Red Blood Vine in my hands will be used up in a few days. Since there are seventh-grade Red Blood Vines on this island, there should be other body-tempering herbs. I'll go search for herbs early tomorrow morning!"

Ye Mo thought to himself, deeply feeling the inadequacy of his strength, and with a strong desire for power, he gradually fell asleep.

...

In the morning, the sunlight was warm.

The campfire in the cave had long since gone out.

"Where is Ye Mo? Did he go out so early?"

When Mo Ling woke up, she found herself alone in the temporary camp, with a few wild fruits beside her. She felt a warm feeling and a bit of guilt.

This dangerous island, and she slept so soundly, while Ye Mo had already been up and busy.

Outside the cave.

Several miles away on a small mountain, Ye Mo was tightly clinging to a cliff.

He had woken up before dawn, first taking a piece of Red Blood Vine to practice the "Wave Slash" martial technique for an hour, strengthening his body and blood. Then he found some wild fruits to eat and came to the mountain to gather herbs.

Two yards in front of him on the cliff face was a bright green shrub. The most obvious difference from ordinary shrubs was that it had seven leaves, not a bunch.

"Seven-Leaf Lotus! An eighth-grade body-tempering herb, Seven-Leaf Lotus!"

Ye Mo was very excited.

He had memorized the "Wu Kingdom Herbal" from a young age and knew all the three hundred plus herbs recorded in it for healing, detoxifying, and body-tempering.

The bright green shrub in front of him was called "Seven-Leaf Lotus," a type of body-tempering herb.

It not only strengthened muscles and bones, nourished blood and qi, and unblocked meridians, but was also a holy herb for healing, particularly effective for treating injuries and fractures.

The Seven-Leaf Lotus in front of him was over two feet tall. According to the saying "one inch per ten years," it was at least two hundred years old. This was a top-grade eighth-grade herb.

How could Ye Mo not be excited?

After using the Red Blood Vine to temper his body last night, Ye Mo clearly felt that a lot of impurities in his body had been removed, his physique had been strengthened, and most importantly, his blood and qi were more abundant.

"I'm not far from the late-stage seventh level of the Body Tempering stage."

"The Red Blood Vine is too fiery, but paired with this Seven-Leaf Lotus, which is more gentle and yin, the body-tempering effect will definitely be improved."

"Maybe I can break through to the late-stage warrior in a couple of days."

"Once I break through to the late-stage Body Tempering stage, I should have a good chance of successfully cultivating the advanced third move of the 'Wave Slash' technique, 'Wave Stacking Slash.'"

"The power of the 'Double Slash' can directly double the damage."

Ye Mo was invigorated, grabbing another vine on the cliff and slowly moving closer to the Seven-Leaf Lotus.

It took Ye Mo a full fifteen minutes to successfully pick the Seven-Leaf Lotus and put it in his pocket. He did not touch the other few half-inch-long young Seven-Leaf Lotus plants nearby.

Picking herbs that were not fully grown was rarely done unless one had the ability to cultivate them properly.

At least, Ye Mo would not do it.

After climbing down from the cliff and returning to the jungle, Ye Mo couldn't help but take a deep breath. The cliff climbing was somewhat dangerous, but fortunately, he had successfully picked the Seven-Leaf Lotus, which was a significant gain.

Ye Mo continued to search carefully in the jungle within a ten-mile radius.

There were many herbs on this island, including body-tempering, healing, and detoxifying herbs.

He needed to find more herbs, not just body-tempering herbs, but also healing and detoxifying herbs, to survive on the island as long as possible. Fighting sea beasts and sea demons frequently could easily lead to injuries, so he needed to gather more herbs.

Ye Mo spent several hours in the dense jungle and found over a dozen low-grade and mid-grade herbs like snake gall and bitter sophora.

These gains made him quite satisfied.

...