Fifty meters, forty meters... Soon, these massive monsters appeared before them.
At that moment, Ding Longyun had just killed the Slaughter Crocodile, panting heavily from exhaustion. His "Air Missile" wasn't something he could fire endlessly—each blast drained his stamina. But this time, killing the Slaughter Crocodile not only earned him spirit sources but also allowed him to comprehend and master its special ability, "Death Charge."
Before he could even rejoice, he saw the horde of giant monsters approaching head-on and couldn't help but gasp sharply.
These monsters included a four-meter-tall giant ape, a two-headed giant lizard, a wolf with three tails and a body as large as a wild ox, and a walrus-like creature several times bigger than an ordinary walrus. Any one of them seemed no weaker than the Slaughter Crocodile.
These monsters were far beyond what the four of them could handle.
Su Li, who had just jumped into the giant pit, was forced to climb back out. Facing these powerful monsters that had appeared in groups, his "Peep Rune" kept sending alerts: Level 6 Elite Beast—Violent Ape, Level 7 Elite Beast—Two-Headed Giant Lizard, Level 7 Elite Beast—Sea Demon Elephant, Level 6 Leader-Type Spirit Source Beast—Three-Tailed Wolf King.
Even someone as strong as Su Li couldn't help but take a deep breath. So many Level 6 and Level 7 elite beasts, even leader beasts, had appeared—over ten of them at a glance—and more powerful monsters might still be gathering from afar. Now, it wasn't just about whether they could destroy the blood crystal ten meters below; simply surviving against these monsters here was already a challenge.
Ding Longyun, Xu Haishui, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui all retreated to the edge of the pit, standing together with Su Li. Below the pit, only Luo Jun remained.
"Come up. Let's join forces and deal with these monsters first," Su Li said, his voice tinged with bitterness.
Luo Jun nodded, understanding the danger outside, and climbed up.
"This won't work. Even if we kill these monsters, what if another wave comes?" Gong Xiao's face was grim. If Su Li and Luo Jun didn't help, the four of them couldn't hold out alone. But if Su Li and Luo Jun fought the monsters, who would dig in the pit?
There was no time to think. From all directions, the massive monsters charged with roars.
"Kill!" Ding Longyun roared, firing an "Air Missile."
Su Li stepped forward, his figure like lightning, shooting out like an arrow. He weaved through the chaos and appeared beside the Violent Ape in an instant. With a swing of his sword, the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword sliced through the ape's neck.
The Violent Ape's head rolled off.
Su Li harvested four more spirit sources.
But Su Li showed no joy. He saw more Violent Apes, almost identical to the one he'd killed, emerging from all directions and converging on their location.
If they couldn't kill them all, no matter how strong he was, he couldn't be everywhere at once. How could they destroy the blood crystal? How could they stop the Blood Crystal Beast from devouring the Purple Wind Building?
At that moment, the distance between the Blood Crystal Beast and the Purple Wind Building was closing in on three hundred meters, growing shorter by the second.
As the group grew anxious, four more elite beasts appeared in the distance and joined the fight: two Violent Apes, a Slaughter Crocodile, and a Sea Demon Elephant.
Suddenly, a group of corpse beasts gathered at the edge of a distant floating island stumbled and tumbled away, spinning as they fell. Then three figures leaped onto the island and rushed toward Su Li and the others at incredible speed.
These were three humans. Their speed was astonishing—like three arrows in flight. Even Su Li, without using "Spider Walk," couldn't match their full sprint.
This quickly caught the attention of Su Li and the others. They all turned to look at the three figures, their faces showing surprise.
No one expected three humans to suddenly appear on the back of the Blood Crystal Beast. Judging by their speed, they were undoubtedly Level 5 or even stronger spirit source users—otherwise, they couldn't possess such incredible speed and presence.
But the Purple Wind Building only had six Level 5s. Who were these three strangers?
Amid their confusion, the three rapidly closed in. Suddenly, a man around thirty years old let out a shout, leaped into the air, and brought a sword down on the back of a Slaughter Crocodile.
The strike was devastating, catching Su Li's attention. It nearly cleaved off a small part of the crocodile's body.
Su Li's Dragon Rhinoceros Sword could inflict similar wounds, but only because of its sharpness. This man's sword was ordinary—the damage came from his sheer power, not the blade's quality.
Su Li activated his "Peep Rune."
"Name: Spirit Source User, Level: 6, Special Abilities: Four, Spirit Source Technique: One, Weakness: Unknown, Other: None"
This man was a Level 6 spirit source user.
Su Li's heart stirred. He quickly checked the other two who had arrived with him.
The other two were a man and a woman, both around twenty-three or twenty-four. The man stood over 1.8 meters tall, powerfully built, wielding a massive iron hammer—completely different from the one Su Li had used before. This hammer weighed at least several dozen pounds.
The woman was delicate and pretty, holding two short blades. She wore a lake-green tight-fitting shirt, soaked by the rain and clinging to her slender frame. She looked fragile, but her earlier sprinting speed proved that appearance was deceiving.
Through his "Peep Rune," Su Li saw that both the man and woman were Level 6 spirit source users.
Everyone was stunned. No one expected three completely unfamiliar experts to appear at this critical moment. The man with the giant hammer let out a roar, swung it, and knocked over a Violent Ape.
Behind him, another Violent Ape attacked, slamming him hard in the back.
The man didn't dodge. He took the hit, was sent flying, but quickly got back up with a laugh. He crouched slightly and charged forward.
At that moment, Su Li noticed the man's exposed skin change color, taking on a rocky hue.
"Skin petrification?" Su Li thought. The man collided with the Violent Ape that had struck him, and both flew backward simultaneously.
The seemingly frail woman shook her head at the sight, looking resigned, as if she disapproved of his brute-force approach. She held her short blades but didn't attack the monsters. Instead, she let out a soft chant, and suddenly, thick mist erupted from her body.
The mist spread rapidly, engulfing everyone and the surrounding elite and leader beasts.
"Jie's 'Mist Maze' is really handy!" a man's hearty voice laughed.
Su Li saw the mist, controlled by an invisible force, expand outward, growing denser until it was almost impossible to see. But the central area remained thin. The woman called Jie, the young man with the giant hammer, and the thirty-year-old swordsman all stepped into this clear zone.
The monsters they had been fighting roared nearby but seemed trapped in the tangible fog, unable to break through no matter how they charged.
The "Mist Maze" was truly remarkable.
"Hello there. Where are you from?" the woman called Jie asked with a friendly smile.
Ding Longyun stepped forward, his eyes lighting up at the sight of her. "I'm Ding Longyun. We're from the Purple Wind Building. And you?"
"Purple Wind Building?" Jie's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Tao Bingjun's Purple Wind Building? Why isn't he here?"
The young man with the giant hammer snorted. "So you're Tao Bingjun's lackeys? I wouldn't have saved you if I'd known."
Jie glanced at him. "Alright, Mingfeng, don't be like that. It was just a small matter. Are you still holding a grudge?"
Xu Haishui's heart stirred. "You've got it wrong. We're not Tao Bingjun's men. Tao Bingjun... has already left the Purple Wind Building."
He figured he wasn't lying—Tao Bingjun had turned into a baseball bat, thrown into the water by Ding Longyun. That counted as leaving.
Jie's expression shifted. "Is that so?"
The young man looked curious. "That disgusting guy willingly left the Purple Wind Building? Doesn't seem likely, does it?"
Su Li gestured to Luo Jun, and the two jumped back into the pit to continue digging.
The Blood Crystal Beast was closing in on the Purple Wind Building. They had no time to waste, let alone chat.
"What are you doing?" Seeing them jump into the pit, the young man stepped forward with his giant hammer, his expression tense, suspicious of their actions.
Xu Haishui quickly said, "Don't misunderstand. They're trying to stop the Blood Crystal Beast."
Jie said, "Blood Crystal Beast..."
The young man's voice turned grim. "Stop the Blood Crystal Beast? What do you mean?" His face showed doubt, clearly not trusting them.
Xu Haishui figured that since they had saved them, they probably weren't bad people. Telling them the truth couldn't hurt—otherwise, a conflict would only waste time they didn't have. He explained, "This thing that looks like a floating island is actually a monster called the Blood Crystal Beast. It can knock down and devour buildings. To stop it, we need to destroy the blood crystal inside its body. We're digging down to find it."