The flame-wrapped corpse beast's body was pierced through. Xu Haishui kicked it, sending it tumbling into two others behind it, and all three fell into the water together.
Su Li was the fastest, his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword flashing repeatedly as he decapitated one approaching corpse beast and sea spider after another. He was the first to leap onto a wooden raft.
Gong Xiao followed, jumping up as well. She clasped her hands together, and a barrage of spikes shot out.
These spikes were coated with Poison Armor Fire. When they struck several corpse beasts trying to approach the raft, the spikes embedded into their bodies, and the Poison Armor Fire blazed fiercely, instantly burning massive holes through them from the inside.
Xu Xuehui, Luo Jun, and Xu Haishui also boarded the raft one after another.
Ding Longyun cut the ropes on the raft, opened his mouth wide, and spat out "Air Bombs." Explosions rang out one after another on the water surface around the raft, sending splashes flying. Then he jumped into the water, pushed the raft from behind, let out a strange roar, braced his feet against a wall, and shoved the raft charging into the water.
Xu Haishui grabbed a wooden paddle, stood at the front of the raft, and began rowing quickly. Ding Longyun pushed from behind, propelling the raft at high speed toward the distant floating island. The others struck out, attacking any monsters trying to get near the raft.
Although the surrounding waters were packed with gathered monsters, their main target was also the floating island. They surged in a dark mass toward it, and more and more monsters were climbing onto the island.
Some monsters did try to block and attack Su Li's group of six, but the assaults were not fierce, offering little resistance.
The floating island was slowly drifting toward the direction of the Purple Wind Building. The group sped forward on the raft, steadily closing in on the island.
Ding Longyun had stopped firing "Air Bombs" and was now swimming at full speed, pushing the raft from behind. He called out, "Su Li, how confident are you in dealing with this monster?"
Su Li replied, "I don't know. I can only say let's get close and see what it is, then decide. At least from what I can see now, it's not moving fast, and it doesn't have arms or legs. It doesn't even seem like a real living thing. It just knocked down the building with its massive size. Maybe it can't even hurt us."
Gong Xiao nodded and said, "Yeah, look at all those monsters crawling all over the island, but it hasn't shown any way to attack them. I'm guessing it might be something between a living creature and rock. It might not be able to attack us at all. Its only behavior is floating on the water, using its size to crash into things, eat buildings, and grow bigger."
The rain still hadn't stopped, pouring down in torrents. The group kept wiping rain from their faces as they observed the distance. After the raft had traveled about twenty or thirty meters into the water, the surrounding monsters seemed to lose interest in them, no longer attacking actively. Instead, they kept gathering toward the distant island. Clearly, like Su Li's group, their focus was on that floating island—whether it was alive or dead.
Ding Longyun, pushing the raft from behind, called out, "Hey, what if we're wrong? What if this thing isn't a life form at all? Just a pile of rocks? Maybe it knocking down that building was a coincidence, and the building collapsed on it because it has some giant magnet inside, and all the steel in the building got sucked up?"
Gong Xiao turned her head to look at him and said, "That's possible too. Anyway, let's get close and take a clear look. Doesn't Su Li have 'Peeking Runes'? Once we're close, we'll know if it's alive or dead. And Xuehui, have you seen anything?"
Standing on the raft, Gong Xiao was drenched through by the rain. Her clothes clung tightly to her graceful figure, outlining her curves in an indescribably alluring way. She held a military spike in her right hand, her face full of valor, showing no trace of fear or cowardice.
Luo Jun glanced at her silently, a hint of admiration rising in his heart.
Such courage was stronger than most men's. At least he could see that Xu Haishui was putting on a brave face, but deep in his eyes, there was fear and terror.
Xu Xuehui was staring wide-eyed, a faint glow in her eyes. Through the pouring rain, she kept her gaze fixed on the floating island drawing closer.
Hearing Gong Xiao's question, she murmured, "It's alive... it's alive, and it's calling them..."
Luo Jun couldn't understand Xu Xuehui's words, but Su Li and the others did.
She was saying the floating island was alive and summoning these monsters closer.
But how was it summoning them? And why call so many monsters to it?
No one could figure out the reason.
Xu Xuehui sometimes fell into a dazed, trance-like state. In that state, she would observe and sense something unusual, speaking words that seemed plausible but were hard to explain. When she came to, even she couldn't clarify what she meant.
Su Li held his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword, feeling the rain hit his face. His eyes were nearly squinted as he observed the floating island, which seemed to grow larger in his view.
As they got closer, they could better appreciate the island's immense size.
They encountered no more monster attacks along the way. The distance between the raft and the floating island had shrunk to within a hundred meters. The island wasn't moving fast, and it was still about five to six hundred meters from the Purple Wind Building.
"Everyone be careful. Don't rush to board it. Let's observe from close range first," Su Li warned, telling Xu Haishui to steer the raft diagonally forward. Otherwise, since they were moving toward each other, the raft would soon collide with the island.
Xu Haishui grew more tense, grunted in acknowledgment, gripped the paddle tightly, and began changing the raft's direction.
Ding Longyun swam behind the raft, occasionally giving it a push. Suddenly he said, "What do you think would happen if I fired an 'Air Bomb' at that island?"
Gong Xiao replied, "At most, it would kill a few monsters on it. But the island is all rock. Your 'Air Bombs' aren't powerful enough to blast those rocks apart."
Xu Haishui steered the raft, veering away from the oncoming island and heading to its right. The distance between them narrowed to within twenty meters.
On the water around the floating island, a large number of monsters floated, and even more had gathered on the island itself.
The island, floating on the water, was over a hundred meters in both length and width. The closer they got, the more it looked like a floating ore mountain, formed from countless minerals. Its surface was relatively flat, almost like a normal small island.
If they hadn't witnessed it "eating" that thirty-story building earlier, they would never have believed this island was a living monster.
Now, it was less than five hundred meters from the Purple Wind Building. Time was running out. If they couldn't figure out a way to stop it before it reached the building, the Purple Wind Building would be knocked down, or even "eaten." That would destroy their hard-won foothold and the large amount of supplies they hadn't had time to move.
Su Li stood on the raft, having already activated his "Peeking Runes," constantly trying to observe and gather information about the floating island.
Maybe because of the distance, he couldn't get anything.
"Get a little closer," Su Li said, tightening his grip on the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword. He told Xu Haishui to paddle the raft closer.
Ahead of them floated all kinds of monsters, mostly high-level corpse beasts. If they got any closer, they would likely provoke an attack.
But Xu Haishui didn't dare disobey Su Li. He steeled himself and continued paddling forward.
Soon, the raft drew nearer to the island, the distance now less than twenty meters.
A high-level corpse beast appeared in front of the raft, blocking their way and trying to climb onto it.
The raft rammed into the corpse beast.
Su Li swung his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword without hesitation.
The moment the corpse beast got close to the raft, its head flew off.
The raft was now less than fifteen meters from the island. Monsters in the water ahead let out low howls. Several Water Monkey Beasts appeared, trying to stop the approaching raft.
Gong Xiao clasped her hands together, sending out her strange spikes combined with Poison Armor Fire.
Over a dozen spikes, burning with green poison fire, shot into the Water Monkey Beasts. The poison fire ignited, blazing fiercely inside their bodies.
The Water Monkey Beasts opened their mouths, screaming in agony, and dove underwater, trying to use the water to extinguish the flames.
Just then, information suddenly appeared in Su Li's mind.
The "Peeking Runes," which had been locked onto the floating island, finally responded, revealing data.
"Name: Blood Crystal Beast. Level: Unknown. Rare life form, in juvenile state. It is not a product of natural evolution but a mutation born from the fusion of spiritual energy and an extremely rare mineral, Blood Crystal. It can devour various minerals, continuously growing in size. Its skin is covered with iron-gray crystalline formations, granting it immense defensive power. In its mid-to-late growth stages, it can withstand nuclear bombs without a scratch. It moves very slowly, lacks intelligence, and acts purely on instinct. Though it cannot attack or defend against enemies, it can summon and command spiritual beasts to protect itself. The Blood Crystal inside its body is the source of its life and energy. Once the Blood Crystal is destroyed, it will lose its life and turn into ordinary minerals. The Blood Crystal is harder than iron and difficult to destroy without sufficient power."
Sensing this information, Su Li took a deep breath.
"What is it?" Gong Xiao asked, noticing the change in Su Li's expression. She knew he must have seen something.
"This thing is called a Blood Crystal Beast. It's in its juvenile stage. It can keep devouring various materials to grow. In its later stages, it can even withstand nuclear bombs. Its only weakness is the Blood Crystal inside it. Destroy that, and we can kill it."