On the little crab leg of the young crab, there was a clear, one-inch-deep bloody wound. However, the situation James Carter imagined, where the crab leg would be chopped off, did not occur.

　　“No, even the second move of the ‘Wave-Splitting Technique’ still can’t cut through!”

　　“If I could break through to the late stage of body refinement and master the third move of the ‘Wave-Splitting Technique’—‘Stacked Wave Slash’—then I should be able to sever this young crab’s little leg!”

　　James Carter was shocked.

　　The young crab, feeling the intense pain in its little leg, let out a sharp scream and wildly swung its huge pincers at James Carter.

　　James Carter didn’t have time to dodge and had no choice but to meet it head-on, slashing out. In an instant, he was struck by the giant pincers and sent flying several zhang away. The feeling of being smacked away was extremely unpleasant.

　　“Luckily, this is still the beach, so at least I can still stand up. If I’d crashed into rocks, I’d definitely be coughing up blood!”

　　James Carter rolled several times on the sand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and thought, “At least I’ll need to land several more sword strikes before I can possibly sever one of its little legs and slow down its crawling!”

　　Just as James Carter was about to charge in for the kill, he was suddenly startled and stopped in his tracks.

　　The young crab didn’t come over to attack him again. Instead, it stood several zhang away, glaring furiously with its pair of reddened eyes, and opened its crab mouth. A dense mist appeared in its mouth, magically condensing into a water arrow about a foot long, crystal clear and translucent.

　　It was injured and had been completely enraged. As a juvenile, it wasn’t suited to unleash this water arrow; doing so could greatly harm its body. But it didn’t care about any of that—it wanted to take down the person who dared to provoke it.

　　“What is this? Sorcery? Could it be... a sea demon?!”

　　James Carter staggered back in horror, his face instantly turning pale, barely able to hold onto the Azure Edge Sword in his hand.

　　Unbelievable!

　　A strong sense of fear enveloped him.

　　No matter how slow-witted, James Carter now fully understood.

　　This big sea crab was by no means an ordinary crab, but a juvenile, not-yet-mature sea demon beast.

　　Before going out to sea, James Carter had heard other martial artists talk about the terrifying sea demon beasts in the East Sea—demonic bodies stretching for several li, capable of stirring up the seas, swallowing a whole ship in one bite, soaring through the clouds and mist, and only cultivators could contend with such powerful sea demon beasts.

　　At the time, James Carter hadn’t paid much attention, thinking the chances of encountering such a terrifying sea demon beast were slim. Such massive sea demon beasts wouldn’t even notice a small martial artist like him, let alone hunt him down.

　　He had never imagined that such a terrifying sea demon beast would actually appear before his eyes. And this young crab was only a few feet in size, much smaller than he’d imagined a sea demon to be, so he hadn’t thought of it as a demon beast at first.

　　“Run!”

　　Fear gripped James Carter’s heart, and he no longer had the courage to keep fighting.

　　He dared to fight any wild beast to the death.

　　But when faced with the utterly unfamiliar sea demon beast, he felt only an inexplicable terror, not knowing how to deal with it.

　　The power of a sea demon was simply not something a martial artist could contend with.

　　James Carter, in a panic, gripped the Azure Edge Sword and fled into the dense forest in the depths of the island.

　　He didn’t hear the sound of the young demon crab chasing after him.

　　But his instincts told him he absolutely could not stop—the water arrow condensed in the young demon crab’s mouth was extremely dangerous.

　　Whoosh!

　　Suddenly, a sharp, piercing screech came from behind him.

　　The water arrow in the young demon crab’s mouth shot out explosively.

　　“Bang!”

　　James Carter hadn’t even run ten zhang before he felt as if his back had been struck by a heavy hammer weighing several hundred jin.

　　Inside his clothes, the ancient painting flashed with light.

　　James Carter was blasted away by the water arrow, crashing hard onto the sand, his face pressed into the ground, feeling a stabbing pain and a bone-chilling cold enveloping his whole body.

　　“Am I going to be killed by the demon arts of the young demon crab?”

　　James Carter’s back throbbed with pain, and he was filled with terror.

　　“No, I can’t die—not yet! I still have so many things left undone—my grand mansion, my fine steed, my beautiful wife! I haven’t become a top martial artist yet, haven’t found the Immortal Village to become a cultivator! How can I die like this?!”

　　James Carter struggled to his feet.

　　The young demon crab seemed to let out a few sharp laughs, as if gloating over how easily it had defeated James Carter.

　　It was not yet mature, and forcing out a water arrow was already its limit; it couldn’t use any more demon arts. It scuttled rapidly toward James Carter, wanting to finish him off with its giant pincers.

　　“I absolutely cannot die like this!”

　　James Carter trembled, but in this moment of life and death, his mind was incomparably clear!

　　“Demon crab, go to hell!”

　　Hearing the rapid scuttling of the crab behind him, James Carter suddenly spun around.

　　The young demon crab was less than a zhang away, raising its pair of pincers high.

　　With a fierce shout, James Carter flashed to the side, and the Azure Edge Sword slashed fiercely at the wound on the young demon crab’s injured little leg.

　　“Double Stacked Wave Slash!”

　　“Clang!”

　　James Carter’s Azure Edge Sword vibrated with a resonant hum. In an instant, the blade flashed with two streaks of cold light, almost simultaneously striking the wound on the young demon crab’s left little leg.

　　“Puchi!”