Chapter 8: Accident Expert
Chen Ming staggered back into the wilderness, not daring to stop for even a moment as he continued fleeing in the same direction he had run before.
The area ravaged by the Locust Fish was not suitable for survival. The scorching heat and dryness were extremely hostile to life. High level Spirit Masters might not care, but low level Spirit Masters and ordinary people definitely would not dare remain there for long.
After running for who knew how long, until he felt completely drained of strength, Chen Ming finally dropped to the ground and began examining his injuries.
Because of the effects of his Martial Soul, Chen Ming possessed extremely tenacious vitality and almost no sense of pain. Although his right arm had gone numb at first after being pierced by the crossbow bolt, after this period of time, it had already started to regain some movement.
The wooden shaft of the bolt lodged in his right arm had been corroded by Chen Ming's blood and had already broken off halfway.
Since the metal arrowhead could neither be easily dissolved by Chen Ming's current body nor assimilated into his flesh and blood, it was gradually being pushed outward little by little through his movements and the steady healing of the wound.
Chen Ming inserted the tip of a finger from his left hand into the wound, stirred around for a moment, and then dug out the arrowhead, which was no longer as sharp as before.
Looking at the wound on his right arm, Chen Ming discovered a new problem.
When his fingers moved around inside his own arm, the pain he felt was only about the same as accidentally kicking the leg of a table with his toe.
It hurt, but it was nowhere near unbearable, completely out of proportion with the seriousness of the injury.
Because his sensitivity to pain was too low, Chen Ming could not even clearly sense the precise location of the arrowhead inside his right arm, which caused some unnecessary secondary damage during the extraction.
"Pain is a major problem, but it's also a necessary ability for higher life forms. Pain lets me know where I'm injured, and it helps me remember danger. Feeling almost no pain means my ability to perceive danger has dropped a lot... I can only say it has both advantages and disadvantages."
Looking at the arrowhead, which had been slightly softened by corrosion from his bodily fluids, Chen Ming finally let out a sigh of relief.
But then he seemed to remember something and tried to reach his own back with his left arm. Unfortunately, because his current Martial Soul Possession form looked like a ridiculous sphere, even stretching his arm to its limit was not enough for him to touch his back.
Chen Ming remembered that while fleeing earlier, he had felt something like a mosquito bite on his back. With his pain so greatly reduced, that likely meant another arrowhead had pierced into his body, but Chen Ming could not even reach the spot himself.
After trying for a long time, Chen Ming finally sighed helplessly and temporarily gave up on that absurd attempt.
With his current physique and vitality, along with the fact that he was almost impossible to infect, having an arrowhead remain in his back for the time being was not a major issue. It might even be forced out naturally later on.
If he rashly dispelled his Martial Soul Possession and lost the enhancement from his Martial Soul, then the result would become uncertain.
For now, he could only make do with it.
"Shi Feng from the 2nd year of Shrek Academy, I'll remember you..." Chen Ming gritted his teeth, killing intent flashing in his eyes.
Shrek. Again, it was Shrek.
What kind of twisted logic was this? If you had Spirit Power, then you were an Evil Spirit Master. If you did not have Spirit Power, then you were an Evil Spirit Master who had not succeeded yet. If you had not even awakened a Martial Soul, then you were an Evil Spirit Master who wanted to become one.
This was clearly nothing more than using the excuse of eliminating Evil Spirit Masters to openly kill people.
If Chen Ming had not awakened a sufficiently unique Martial Soul, and if he had not luckily absorbed his 1st Spirit Ring beforehand, then even if he had somehow managed to crawl out of the wilderness alive, he still would have met a tragic end in that place.
When he thought of the dark red spearheads in the hands of those 2 guards, and their casual attitude as if they were simply eating or drinking, Chen Ming did not know how many people who had barely escaped alive had died at that final checkpoint.
All he felt was a blazing rage burning inside his chest, making him wish he could turn back immediately and find a way to kill those bastards.
But Chen Ming's mental age, which did not match his outward appearance at all, told him to endure.
Even if he truly wanted revenge, even if he wanted to "wipe out the whole family" the way they had mockingly suggested, it absolutely could not be now, and it absolutely could not be today.
It had to wait until later, after he had grown strong enough.
A 2nd year student from Shrek Academy who was already a Spirit Grandmaster, his father was at least a Spirit Elder or a Spirit Ancestor. His family's elders might even include Spirit Kings or Spirit Emperors. Those were all perfectly reasonable guesses.
His actions had definitely already drawn the attention of the opposing family. If he went back now, he would only be walking straight into a trap.
Chen Ming suddenly felt as if he had turned into the general piece in a game of chess, with a large character for "Power" written on the piece representing him.
"Avoid the edge for now and endure."
Chen Ming gritted his teeth and continued moving forward. Even if he had to crawl out of the barren zone from another direction, he absolutely would not continue toward the same direction as before.
Earth yellow remained the dominant tone of this wasteland. The scorching, dry air left lips and tongue parched, and even Chen Ming in his Martial Soul Possession state could not completely ignore such an environment.
The large swarm of Locust Fish had long since migrated elsewhere, and most of the eggs left behind had already hatched. Even if Locust Fish were still one of his main food sources, Chen Ming would have trouble finding enough of them now.
Just as Chen Ming kept moving, trying to leave this earth yellow region from another direction, he suddenly saw a figure in black robes appear in the distance.
Chen Ming could only vaguely make out a dark silhouette. He could not see any details at all, and could not even tell whether the figure was alive, dead, or just some illusion.
But the black robed figure saw Chen Ming first, and cast an interested gaze toward him.
In the blink of an eye, as if several frames had been skipped, the black robed figure appeared right in front of Chen Ming without any warning and reached out a large hand toward his head.
Chen Ming did not even have time to react before the man's palm had already landed on his head. A sinister Spirit Power immediately spread out and probed into Chen Ming's body.
An icy chill instantly enveloped Chen Ming's Martial Soul.
Even though the surrounding environment was still hot and dry, Chen Ming felt as if he had been thrown into an ice cave, and his whole body began trembling uncontrollably.
This had nothing to do with courage or mental fortitude. It was an unavoidable phenomenon created by a gap in strength that was too vast.
Even without any obvious malice, that sinister Spirit Power alone was enough to make Chen Ming feel as though his life was under direct threat.
"Not bad. A good seedling."
Sensing the feedback from the fluctuations of Spirit Power, the middle aged man in black robes let out a pleasantly surprised sigh.
.....
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