Having lost the backing of Su Li and Xu Hai, Bai Wenwei felt his good days were coming to an end once again.
Watching Bai Wenwei shout loudly, the crowd had grown tired of paying him any attention, each lost in their own thoughts and plans.
If the Purple Wind Building truly collapsed and Su Li and the others perished in the distant beast tide, where would they go to settle down? Whom would they turn to for refuge?
As the floating island drew closer and closer, the Purple Wind Building fell into chaos. Numerous rafts began to depart, while at the center of the floating island, the battle grew fiercer. Everyone was fighting for their lives, and the crowd could see the Purple Wind Building approaching, realizing the dire situation.
"Xuehui, how much longer?" Ding Longyun shouted anxiously, staring at the increasingly clear Purple Wind Building.
Xu Xuehui remained silent, her eyes wide, until suddenly she let out a cry.
At almost the same moment, Su Li said in a low voice, "Luo Jun, get up there quickly."
Luo Jun said nothing, swiftly climbing upward.
Just moments ago, they had finally dug into a patch of blood-red crystalline substance. It was unclear how large this red crystal mass beneath them was, but when the Dragon Rhino Sword cut into it, it was no longer as easy as before. Su Li had just tried with all his strength, barely managing to pierce half a foot into it.
He recalled the information he had gleaned from spying on the Blood Crystal Beast earlier, which mentioned that while the fatal weakness of this beast was the blood crystal inside its body, the crystal was incredibly hard, far beyond what ordinary force could destroy.
Even the Dragon Rhino Sword could only penetrate half a foot with difficulty, showing that the crystal's hardness surpassed steel.
As Luo Jun climbed up, Ding Longyun couldn't help shouting, "How is it? We're about to collide! Su Li—"
The Blood Crystal Beast had floated to within less than forty meters of the Purple Wind Building. Ding Longyun was yelling when suddenly, from the pit below, Su Li's long howl rang out.
His cry was like splitting rocks and piercing clouds. The power of his "Demon Muscles" surged to its peak. A demonic face emerged on his chest and abdomen, his entire body swelling with muscles, making him look like a demon crawling out of hell. Gripping the Dragon Rhino Sword with both hands in a reverse hold, he fully unleashed the powerful spiritual source within it. "Dragon Rhino Slash" finally erupted, driving the blade with all his might into the blood crystal below.
All the spiritual source energy from the "Dragon Rhino Slash," combined with Su Li's full strength, was channeled into the sword. The Dragon Rhino Sword blazed with blinding light. Even those outside saw the radiance shooting from the great pit. Under this intense light, even the rain falling into the pit seemed to pause for an instant.
A terrifying energy burst forth. The fully energized Dragon Rhino Sword plunged deep into the blood-red crystal beneath, sinking to the hilt. The ground seemed to shake violently. Cracks appeared on the surface of the blood-red crystal, emitting dazzling beams of light, accompanied by a continuous cracking sound.
The entire floating island seemed to trigger a massive earthquake, shaking violently. Everyone's eardrums buzzed with pain, their vision blurred, and they could barely stand. The elite beasts and even the leader beasts that had been frenziedly attacking suddenly snapped out of it, their eyes filled with confusion. Then, as if remembering something, they turned and fled outward, ceasing their assault.
The large groups of various spiritual source beasts gathered around also began to disperse like a receding tide.
With this violent tremor, the floating island suddenly slowed down. It drifted another dozen or so meters toward the Purple Wind Building before finally coming to a complete stop.
The people who had fled onto large and small rafts, ready to escape, watched as the floating island slowed and eventually halted about twenty meters from the Purple Wind Building. They were stunned at first, then seemed to understand. Suddenly, someone started cheering, and soon everyone was shouting with excitement. Many embraced each other, their faces filled with the thrill and joy of survival.
Qi Mengyu and Zhong Rongrong clasped each other's hands tightly, looking at each other with tears in their eyes. They had been terrified, haunted by nightmares, unable to imagine what would happen if Su Li and the others didn't return and they had to leave the Purple Wind Building.
What would those men of all kinds do to them?
Now, realizing the floating island had stopped and the Purple Wind Building was saved, they were perhaps the most emotional of all, tears streaming uncontrollably.
Around the Purple Wind Building, those who had been paddling rafts to escape now saw the floating island stop. They too halted, cheering loudly. On the floating island, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, Xu Hai, and the others also showed excitement and joy.
The ever-calm Luo Jun let out a soft sigh and even cracked a smile.
Jiang Shuiyu felt the excitement of those before her and the distant cheering crowd, and she smiled as well.
Gu Mingfeng laughed heartily. Only Ling Yi remained silent, occasionally glancing at Gong Xiao out of the corner of his eye, quickly looking away as if afraid of being noticed.
At the bottom of the great pit, Su Li let out a long breath, squinting slightly to keep the rain from seeping into his eyes.
Beneath his feet, the blood-red crystal was completely shattered and destroyed. The power of the "Dragon Rhino Slash" was astonishing.
With the blood-red crystal destroyed, the Blood Crystal Beast died instantly. Its entire body began to truly mineralize, turning into a real floating island, hovering motionless.
Su Li watched as a spiritual source flew out from the blood-red crystal and merged into his mind.
Though the Blood Crystal Beast looked like a floating island, it was essentially a type of spiritual source beast, born from the fusion and mutation of spiritual source and a blood-colored mineral. Killing it yielded a spiritual source.
Su Li had been just nine spiritual sources away from leveling up. Now, after killing the Blood Crystal Beast, a flood of information appeared in his mind.
"Level 5 Spiritual Source User: Spiritual Source 70/70" "Beginning Ascension" "Muscles begin to strengthen, power increases, defense improves" "Base power increased to 1200 jin" "Defense increased to 700 jin" "Stamina enhanced, sustained burst time extended to six minutes" "Lung capacity increased, breath-holding time extended to seven minutes" "Speed improved, vision enhanced, hearing sharpened" "..." "Ascension Complete" "Level 6 Spiritual Source User: Spiritual Source 0/90" "Talent: Enhanced Favor" "Basic Enhancements: Strong Lungs Type 1, Muscle Growth Type 5, Super Heart Type 1" "Special Skills: Peep Rune (Flawed), Gluttonous Fang (Left), Spider Walk, Silver Armor" "Spiritual Source Art: Demon Muscles" "Basic Enhancement Options: Strong Lungs Type 1, Muscle Growth Type 5, Super Heart Type 1, Tongue, Stomach" "Spiritual Source Art ability will see a slight improvement. If the user reaches Level 7, the Spiritual Source Art will undergo a qualitative upgrade, and 'Demon Muscles' will enter its second form."
Su Li absorbed the stream of information in his mind. For his first enhancement, he again chose to strengthen his muscles.
"Muscles begin to strengthen. Muscle Growth Type 5 upgraded to Muscle Growth Type 6, granting an additional 1500 jin of power." "Talent: Enhanced Favor activated, granting one extra enhancement opportunity." "Enhanceable parts: Strong Lungs Type 1, Muscle Growth Type 6, Super Heart Type 1, Bones, Kidneys"
This time, Su Li chose to strengthen his bones.
Since the number of enhancements for a single part couldn't exceed his level, and his muscles had already been enhanced six times, he couldn't do a seventh. Among the remaining options, Su Li unhesitatingly picked bones.
As his power grew, Su Li had often worried in battles whether his bone strength could keep up with the explosive force he unleashed. That's why he rarely threw punches with full strength—he feared that even if he injured his opponent, his own finger and arm bones might not withstand the recoil, leading to injury or even fracture.
This was especially true after his fight with Tao Bingjun and Zhang Ying. When the two combined their strength into one punch, he blocked it with his left arm. His left arm's muscles, having been enhanced multiple times, were strong enough and suffered only minor damage. But the real problem was the bone in his left arm—it was nearly shattered. If not for the abundant spiritual source he had absorbed and its miraculous healing ability, his left arm would have been completely ruined.
Thus, he realized the need to strengthen his bones to keep pace with his ever-increasing power output.
With his choice, new information appeared in his mind.
"Steel Bones Type 1 acquired. Full-body bones begin to strengthen, bone density increases, additional power gained..."
With his selection, the basic enhancement Steel Bones was unlocked. He felt an itch in his bones, followed by a surge of heat flowing into them, as if he were being reborn. His bone density and hardness were increasing.
Though every level-up brought a general improvement to all his organs and overall physical abilities, the increase was minor compared to the focused enhancement of a specific part.
With one Steel Bones enhancement, his bones became at least twice as hard, and the force they could withstand doubled as well. The change was dramatic. Moreover, with stronger bones, the power he could unleash increased by an additional 100 jin.
Now, his base power was 1200 jin, Muscle Growth Type 6 added 1500 jin, Super Heart Type 1 contributed 100 jin, and Steel Bones Type 1 added another 100 jin. In his normal state, his maximum power had reached 2900 jin, nearly one and a half tons.
Of course, this didn't include the astonishing boost from the sustained burst power in his "Demon Muscles" state.
Aside from the basic enhancements, what caught Su Li's attention most was the improvement to his "Spiritual Source Art." Going from Level 5 to Level 6 only brought a slight upgrade, which gave him a vague understanding.
From his battles with Tao Bingjun, Wang Zhensheng, and Sun Wenbo, he had realized that while there was a gap between Level 5 and Level 6, it wasn't particularly pronounced. For instance, when Level 6 Sun Wenbo fought Level 5 Gong Xiao, they were evenly matched for a time. This was unlike the difference between Level 5 and Level 4, where mastering the Spiritual Source Art marked a qualitative leap.