Chapter 4

Ye Mo ran wildly through the dense shrubs on the isolated island, feeling a sharp pain in his chest as if he were about to collapse at any moment. A cold and sinister force was coursing through his meridians, causing him great discomfort.

Finally, he could no longer run and stopped under an ancient tree, panting heavily.

Ye Mo touched his back, and a small hole the size of an arrow appeared on his coarse cloth shirt. However, the ancient scroll he wore close to his body remained intact.

"It was this ancient scroll that saved my life!"

Ye Mo was still shaken. If it weren't for the ancient scroll's invulnerability to blades and bullets, his back would have been pierced by the young demon crab's water arrow, and he would have died on the beach.

However, although the ancient scroll blocked the water arrow, the fierce force still struck his back with great impact.

The sheer force of the impact made Ye Mo's chest ache, and he spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

Moreover, the cold and sinister aura from the water arrow remained in his body.

"The sea demons of the Eastern Sea are indeed incredibly vicious! This is just a young demon crab, no more than a few feet in size, with its shell not yet fully grown, and it's already so powerful, with strength comparable to a high-level warrior and a terrifying water arrow spell! If it were an adult demon crab, it would have killed me in one strike."

Ye Mo sat cross-legged at the base of the ancient tree, beginning to mobilize the sparse true qi in his body to heal his injuries.

Internal martial arts techniques are generally high-level martial arts secrets, extremely expensive.

Ye Mo had never practiced true internal martial arts.

He practiced the "Wave-Cutting Technique," which is an external sword technique. However, after long-term external practice, reaching the middle to late stages of a warrior's body refinement, a very weak true qi gradually forms in the body, which can勉强 be used to treat injuries.

However, in terms of enhancing physical strength, true qi cultivation, and treating injuries, external techniques are clearly inferior to internal techniques.

Top warriors in the Wu Kingdom generally focus on internal martial arts or practice both internal and external techniques, complementing each other. Combined with herbal medicine to refine their physical strength, their bodies become as strong as steel, and their true qi can quickly heal injuries.

"Unfortunately, the 'Wave-Cutting Technique' is just a sword technique and does not come with internal martial arts techniques. Otherwise, a powerful internal martial arts technique could quickly dispel this cold and sinister aura."

Ye Mo was helpless.

He could only use his weak true qi to expel the residual cold and sinister aura from the water arrow. This could not be delayed, as it would greatly hinder his future cultivation.

For a warrior, the accumulation of injuries is the most taboo.

Although internal injuries do not pose an immediate threat to a warrior's life in the short term, and some warriors may not even notice the subtle internal injuries in their meridians, if not promptly cleared, these internal injuries will accumulate in the warrior's entire bloodstream, causing blockages and making it difficult to reopen them.

Warrior cultivation is a process of continuously opening the body's blood vessels, refining and strengthening the physique, and enhancing one's own qi and blood. If the blood vessels are blocked, the warrior's cultivation will be at a standstill. In severe cases, due to the body's gradual weakening in later life, the internal injuries will resurface, causing disability and paralysis, and the warrior will spend the rest of their life on a sickbed.

This is a fate worse than death for a warrior!

Ye Mo naturally did not want his injuries to continue to deteriorate.

What worried Ye Mo was that the cold and sinister aura did not seem to be a common internal injury. It was a cold current, constantly moving around in his body, causing his blood to stagnate, making him very uncomfortable.

"The young demon crab's water arrow is too sinister! It actually carries such a cold and sinister aura, causing blood to stagnate! Fortunately, it only shot one arrow."

Ye Mo endured the intense pain, mobilized his true qi, and enveloped the cold and sinister aura, forcibly expelling it.

He gathered all the true qi in his body, barely forming a fist-sized ball.

The cold and sinister aura left by the water arrow was now only the size of a thumb, and there wasn't much left. It had also consumed a lot of energy as it moved around in his body.

Ye Mo endured the pain in his meridians, and the true qi he gathered formed a stream, rushing towards the white aura and enveloping it.

However, the cold and sinister aura was not dispelled; instead, his own true qi was scattered by the cold and sinister aura. Nevertheless, this also reduced the cold and sinister aura by half, leaving only a half-thumb-sized amount. After those few impacts, it seemed to have calmed down and no longer moved around in his body.

"Fortunately, this strange cold and sinister aura has been suppressed!... I'll find a safe place and take a packet of healing herbs to see if I can completely expel it!"

Ye Mo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If he used healing herbs and combined them with the true qi in his body to enhance the effects, the cold and sinister aura would definitely be dispelled. The cold and sinister aura left by the young demon crab in his body would gradually decrease and eventually be eliminated.

He comforted himself and, after recovering a bit of his strength while sitting, stood up and walked deeper into the jungle.

He was hungry and thirsty.

He needed to quickly find food and fresh water to replenish his severely depleted strength. With his current weak strength, he probably couldn't even deal with an ordinary fierce beast, let alone a sea demon.

Ye Mo searched and looked around in the jungle.

"This island is so large; there should be bird nests in the jungle."

Although it would be easier to pick sea bird eggs from the beach grass, he didn't dare to go there again. If he accidentally encountered the young demon crab again and got another water arrow, he would probably die on the spot.

The sun was high in the sky.

The trees on the island were tall and lush, full of vitality.

However, in the jungle, Ye Mo did not feel the heat at all; instead, the cool breeze that blew towards him made him feel particularly comfortable.

Soon, he found an ancient tree about ten zhang tall. He saw a few birds perched and circling around it for a while before flying away. There seemed to be a bird's nest among the dense leaves.

In no time, Ye Mo climbed to the treetop, and before him was a large bird's nest filled with various colorful speckled bird eggs.

"So many bird eggs, enough for a hearty meal!"

Ye Mo was delighted, almost drooling.

He reached out and grabbed a light green bird egg, lightly tapping it on the sword hilt. The eggshell cracked with many fine lines. The egg white was wrapped in a thin, pale membrane and did not leak out.

Ye Mo didn't bother to start a fire. He gently cracked the eggshell, peeled off a piece, broke the membrane, and pressed the eggshell to his mouth, tilting his head to take a big sip.

"Whoosh!"

The entire green bird egg, both the egg white and yolk, was swallowed in one gulp, sliding into his stomach.

"Delicious!"

Ye Mo couldn't help but praise.

With the nutritious bird eggs, his strength quickly began to recover.

Ye Mo ate several sea bird eggs on the treetop, feeling satisfied. Just as he was about to climb down, he suddenly noticed two rapidly moving figures in the jungle and exclaimed, "Huh?"

Below the dense jungle, a green-robed female warrior was running quickly.

The green-robed female warrior ran towards the base of the tree where Ye Mo was, occasionally looking back in panic.

"Stop for me, hand over the Red Blood Vine, and I'll leave you a whole body! Do you think you can outrun my Zheng Kingdom Asura Leg 'Chang Rong'?"

A black-robed warrior's figure was running through the jungle, issuing a sinister shout, chasing after the green-robed woman.