"No need for all that trouble. I've got Air Missiles now—why would I need you to dive in and lure them?" Ding Longyun chuckled.
Su Li said, "Alright, give it a try later."
"Let's go." Ding Longyun pushed the raft, carrying Su Li, Gong Xiao, Xu Xuehui, and Xu Haishui, as they left the building and headed toward another thirty-story structure fifty meters away.
Upon arrival, the five of them went straight to the rooftop.
Ding Longyun walked to the edge, opened his mouth, and fired an "Air Missile." A streak of white light shot out from his lips, hurtling toward the water below.
With a thunderous boom, water splashed everywhere as the "Air Missile" exploded.
Su Li observed from the side, ready to jump in himself if the "Air Missile" proved ineffective.
Fortunately, after the explosion, dark shadows soon emerged beneath the surface—clearly a group of high-level Corpse Beasts.
"See? I told you it works, heh heh." Ding Longyun was quite pleased.
These Corpse Beasts surfaced and immediately began climbing upward.
"Let's help Gong Xiao reach level 5 first, then Xu Haishui, and finally Xuehui. Any objections?" Su Li said, glancing at Xu Haishui as he spoke. He based this order on the number of spirit sources each of them needed.
Xu Haishui nodded in agreement, and Xu Xuehui had no objections at all.
Su Li then turned to Gong Xiao and asked, "Gong Xiao, how many more do you need?"
"Fifteen more."
Su Li grunted in acknowledgment. Seeing two high-level Corpse Beasts already climbing up, he knocked one down and kicked it over to Gong Xiao. She killed it, and Su Li tossed the corpse back down.
With his current strength, he wasn't afraid of attracting powerful monsters, so he disposed of the bodies immediately.
One by one, the Corpse Beasts that climbed up were killed by Gong Xiao, their bodies thrown down to lure even more monsters. Among these new arrivals were not only Corpse Beasts but also Water Monkey Beasts.
More and more Corpse Beasts and Water Monkey Beasts appeared, constantly scaling the rooftop. Soon, the number exceeded the fifteen Gong Xiao needed. Seeing this, Su Li told Xu Haishui to start hunting freely as well, without saving any for Gong Xiao.
By the time Xu Haishui had killed five monsters, Gong Xiao had already collected the fifteen spirit sources she needed and successfully broke through.
Gong Xiao's basic enhancement focused on muscles. Now, after three muscle enhancements, she had gained an additional 600 jin of strength. Combined with the base 1,000 jin of a level 5 spirit source user, her maximum strength reached 1,600 jin.
Then, she chose the spirit source technique she had comprehended.
With a thought, three gusts of wind suddenly appeared around her. They burrowed into the nearest two Corpse Beast corpses and one Water Monkey Beast corpse, and the three bodies were lifted as if by an invisible force.
"What kind of ability is that?" Su Li noticed and looked at Gong Xiao.
On the rooftop, monsters kept pouring in endlessly. Besides Corpse Beasts and Water Monkey Beasts, a new type appeared—a large, gray-white scorpion over a meter long. Su Li identified it as a Sea Scorpion Beast, a level 4 common monster, comparable in strength to a Water Monkey Beast.
Dozens of monsters surged onto the rooftop, with even more emerging below. Su Li kept tossing the killed monsters' bodies down, hoping to lure out the strongest hidden beneath—preferably something rare like a Dragon Rhinofish.
Gong Xiao stopped fighting, but the three corpses around her kept twisting, lifted by an invisible force. They slowly revolved around her, creating a swirling motion that shielded her—a bizarre sight.
Seeing Su Li and Ding Longyun staring curiously, Gong Xiao explained, "The spirit source techniques I could choose were one offensive and one defensive: 'Storm Pillar' and 'Storm Shield.' I picked the defensive one, 'Storm Shield.'"
As she spoke, she gradually retracted the "Storm Shield," and the three twisted corpses that had been circling her fell back down.
Hearing her explanation, Su Li understood. The "Storm Shield" lifted the three corpses around her, constantly twisting and deforming them into something resembling giant shields. They rotated around her, fully protecting her within.
"Why choose a defensive one?" Su Li found it odd. Given her personality, wouldn't an offensive ability suit her better?
Seeing Su Li's confusion, Gong Xiao gave a slight huff before saying, "You all picked offensive abilities, leaving us lacking in defense. So after thinking it over, I chose a defensive one."
Su Li looked at Gong Xiao with some surprise. "Didn't expect you to be so thorough."
Soon, Xu Haishui also gathered the spirit sources he needed and successfully broke through.
"Kid, what spirit source technique did you learn?" Ding Longyun called out boisterously to Xu Haishui.
"Fire Control," Xu Haishui replied with a shy smile. A flame suddenly appeared on his right hand gripping the short spear. Under his control, the fire spread along the spear, soon engulfing it in burning flames. To the others, it looked like magic.
Ding Longyun's eyes lit up. "Not bad. We're almost out of liquefied gas—this ability of yours will come in handy for cooking."
Xu Haishui: "..."
Now, except for Xu Xuehui, all four had successfully reached level 5. Seeing the rooftop still swarming with monsters and more climbing up, Su Li said, "Now let's help Xuehui. We can't waste all these monsters."
"Alright!" Ding Longyun said excitedly. "We've still got time. Once Xuehui hits level 5, we'll charge over to Zifeng Tower and have a go at those guys, see if they're really that tough."
As he spoke, he dashed over, knocked a high-level Corpse Beast to the ground, and kicked it toward Xu Xuehui. "Girl, finish it off."
Xu Xuehui hummed in acknowledgment, raised her baseball bat, and brought it down on the Corpse Beast rolling toward her.
All four attacked together, severely wounding the surrounding monsters but leaving the final blow for Xu Xuehui.
Xu Xuehui had it easy—she just needed to deliver the killing stroke with her bat.
Soon, she advanced from level 3 to level 4 spirit source user, her strength increasing further and her movements becoming quicker.
"Still need fifty more spirit sources—that's a bit tough..." Ding Longyun noted that Xu Xuehui had only just reached level 4. To break through to level 5, she needed to kill fifty more, but fewer than twenty monsters remained on the rooftop.
Su Li kept tossing the corpses of slain monsters down to attract more.