"Uh oh. seems like I got too emotional this time." He popped the pill in his mouth and ran as fast as he could.

The pill he made was a simple energy recovery pill. It can remove all fatigue and recover a certain amount of energy. Since he has a small body, his energy got fully replenished in an instant.

While running, he found a small river. He stood near the river and observed his surroundings. After a while, he saw a lone blue wolf slowly emerging from the bushes. Blue wolves are weaker compared to the black wolves that he saw fighting with the warrior. They are the lowest level of the wolf species but they are ferocious and agile.

Ming Li gritted his teeth and said "Water Cannon". A ball as big as a fist materialized beside him. He rotated the ball and shot it at one of the blue wolf. Since blue wolves are known for their agility, the wolf dodged the strike easily. While the wolf was dodging, Ming Li created another water ball and shot at the wolf. It scraped the blue wolf's feet but it did not do much damage.

"This will be though, I need at least two balls to hit this dog." He clenched his fist and circulated his energy from his core through his veins to control natural energy and created two fist sized water ball!

"Water Cannon" He pointed at the wolf and one of the balls blasted at the direction of the wolf like a cannon ball. The next ball immediately followed at a direction near the wolf. The wolf easily dodged the first water cannon but when it was about to land, a ball was half a step near its body. The ball exploded as cracking sounds could be heard. The wolf howled from the pain, several of its bones cracked and some of its organs were damaged.

The wolf staggered and rushed, bearing its fangs at Ming Li. Ming Li used his arms as shield and he muttered "Water Cannon". As the wolf's fang bore down his arms, Ming Li felt the pain of fangs going through his skin. With the wolf's fang locked on his arms, two balls hit the wolf on opposite side of its body causing its body to explode. Blood and parts of the wolf scattered which mixed with the river, making a portion of the river slightly dyed in red. This was his very first monster kill, so he felt a bit of pride after the battle.

Ming Li forced the wolf's mouth on his arms to open and sighed in relief. "I almost died there. I need to learn that water shield skill or else my arms will be full of holes."

His arms were now covered in blood. He washed it in the river and thought of the scroll he got. Then he opened a scroll and where on top of it says 'Water Healing'.

Ming Li studied the scroll for a bit and followed the instruction on it. The skill requires water source nearby to activate. Luckily, he was wounded beside a river, so he hurriedly tried the skill. He quickly dipped his wounded arms on the river and said 'Water Healing'. After five breaths, his blood flowed into the river and nothing happened.

"My lack of talent is really annoying." 

Ming Li tried for several times, he was exhausted and pale due to blood loss. "I am seriously going to die if this continues"

When his consciousness was waning, he stared at the river. Then he felt a presence from deep in the water. "Are you a river spirit? if you are a river spirit, allow me to use your spiritual energy to heal my wounds."

In his consciousness, he heard a voice "Open your hearth and allow me to look into it." 

Some evil spirits are known to possess humans so Ming Li was cautious when he heard the voice. Doubt filled his mind, but he was loosing blood and he might collapse anytime. He then gritted his teeth and allowed the spirit to enter his heart. He felt that all his memories was being looked into, he didn't resist and the spirit exited his hearth then said "You don't have real evil in you, I will allow you to use my energy since you trusted me to look into your memories". Slowly, the presence disappeared, the bleeding of his arms slowly stopped and the wounds closed.

Even though the wound was partially healed, Ming Li was still pale from blood loss. He was also physically weak from the fight. Ming Li opened his small bag and pulled out some herbs then directly ate them. After consumption of the herbs, His senses became clearer. He then prepared a fire and his furnace. "Luckily I went out gathering a lot of herbs before shouting like an idiot". He created the same energy recovery pill he created back then. Luckily he was successful on the first try, and he consumed the pill as soon as it flew out from the furnace.

Now that he felt better, he opened the last scroll "Water Barrier" and studied it for some time. After three hours of comprehension, he tried the skill "Water Barrier". A thin semi spherical barrier made of water covered him. Then he waved his hand which made the barrier rotate. "Seems like that blue orb inside me really did increase my control of natural energy"

"Ok now that I recovered, time to look at my first kill." He approached the dead wolf and stabbed a knife on its chest and took out a rough crystal. This crystal is a monster core and it is filled with the energy of the monster, it is used for various weapon enhancement, magical techniques, or for energy restoration. The stronger the monster, the higher the energy level in it.

Ming Li stored the core and cooked the meat of the wolf. The smell made him droll instantly "It has been ages since I ate meat. Haha! this is the luxury only the strong can enjoy". He ate like a hungry beast and finished eating half of the remaining body of the wolf in an instant. He got full and decided to leave the rest of the body of the wolf to rot while thinking "It's good to be rich, I can leave a lot of meat behind just to rot."

After finishing his meal, he decided to walk while following the river. As he was walking, he met two blue wolves this time. He immediately waved his hand and activated "Water Shield", then semi spherical shield appeared and surrounded him.

The two black wolves sprinted and jumped baring its fangs on him. The wolves hit the shield, then they were deflected, but the shield caved in and holes appeared in it. Ming Li Immediately materialized two balls of water cannon and shot at one of the wolves before it regained its footing.

The wolf shrieked as one of its legs and side exploded causing blood and gore to splatter. The Next wolf rushed and entered the damaged shield then bit Ming Li's foot. He then created water ball on his hand pointed it on the wolf's head and said "water cannon". The wolf's head exploded as it's brain scattered along with its blood.

Ming Li eliminated two wolves and was covered in blood. He immediately soaked his foot on the river and said "Water Healing". The blood on his feet quickly stopped and the wound slowly closed. The skill does not completely heal the wound, but instead closes it and stops the bleeding.

While healing himself Ming Li happily said "I guess with this healing ability I'm no longer a quack doctor"

Again, he took the monster cores and kept it. He ignored the meat, thinking he would still kill a lot of wolves before dinner.

He continued gathering various herbs while following the river. As he follows it, the river grew bigger and deeper since several rivers started to combine. The flow of the river also got faster and more violent.

At the stone near the river, he saw one of the rare ingredients needed for the pill he will create to heal the old man.

"So that's the Stone Devouring Flower!" Ming Li's eyes glittered with excitement

The stone devouring flower grows on stone and feeds on the natural energy of the stone.

He approached the flower and carefully harvested it. When he about to stand up, four wolves jumped directly at him with mouth wide open. He activated his water shield to block the attack, then shield caved inward and splashed. Along with the breaking of the shield, the wolves was thrown backward and lost its footing.

Ming Li waved his hand and said "Water Cannon". Two water balls immediately flew slaughtering one of the wolves. Ming Li then rushed to the second wolf; in front of the second wolf he directly fired another round of water cannon causing the body of the wolf to explode horribly.

He was panting heavily because he is only at the beginner's realm and yet he used several skills without pause. This was only because of the blue orb inside his core that he can execute these skills.

Still two wolves left yet he was already feeling the fatigue of overusing natural energy. He didn't mind much about his fatigue and created another water shield, then rushed at the wolves. The wolves stretched it claws towards the shield, which made the shield splash and disappear throwing the wolves in disarray. Also, Ming Li fired two water cannon at one of the wolves which ended up killing it.

With one wolf left staring at him cautiously, Ming Li breathed heavily while leaning on a tree. He gathered every bit of energy he can control and created a single water cannon. When he was about to fire the water cannon, three wolves rushed behind him. He immediately fired his remaining water cannon at the incoming wolves. One wolf shrieked as it was hit and tumbled on the ground. The other two continued rushing to Ming Li without hesitation. Ming Li rushed towards the river and jumped, but one wolf bit his arms and fell together in the river.

The current in the river was strong, so Ming Li was struggling to free himself from the wolf. He grabbed his knife and stabbed the wolf. The wolf slowly loosened its jaw and slowly released Ming Li as it was washed away by the current. Ming Li also struggled to swim to the side of the river, but the current was too strong. Soon, he was pushed violently by the current and was unable to control his body.

After a while of struggling to stay floating, He felt his body suddenly falling from unimaginable height. "Oh %#*@ a water fall!" He was smack by water, continued falling and hit the water at an odd angle. Then his vision went dark as he lost consciousness.