Su Li walked over.
“Brother Su, what do you think? He said he’s willing to join us.” Xu Haishui looked at Su Li.
Song Yuanqing also turned to Su Li, his lips parting as if to speak. But before he could say a word, Su Li suddenly struck—just one punch, landing squarely on Song Yuanqing’s face.
At that moment, Song Yuanqing didn’t have his “Ink Jade Body” active, nor did he expect Su Li to attack so abruptly. He had assumed Su Li would at least question him a bit, never imagining Su Li would act without a word. There was no chance to dodge. The heavy blow landed with a dull thud and the sharp crack of breaking bones. His face caved in instantly, shards of bone slicing through the skin and splattering outward.
That single punch shattered Song Yuanqing’s skull. He didn’t even have time to scream before collapsing stiffly to the ground. A spirit source flew into Su Li’s forehead and vanished.
The others were stunned, watching Su Li dispatch the surrendering Song Yuanqing with such ruthless efficiency—one punch, and it was over.
Having killed Song Yuanqing with a single blow, as if it were a trivial matter, Su Li finally turned to Xu Haishui and said calmly, “We can’t be sure if he truly wanted to join us. We don’t know if any of the other twelve we just killed were his family or friends. We don’t know if he’d seek revenge. With so many unknowns, can we afford to keep such a huge risk by our side?”
Hearing this, everyone let out a long sigh.
Xu Haishui said, “Brother Su is right. I didn’t think it through. I was hesitating just now.”
Su Li sighed. “Your hesitation shows you have a kind heart. Kindness itself isn’t wrong, but sometimes, circumstances leave you no choice.”
Su Li wasn’t bloodthirsty. He didn’t enjoy killing. But in certain situations, it was unavoidable.
Take the seven from Gao Shuxue’s group—if he hadn’t killed them, they wouldn’t have let him go either. Or this time with Gao Shupeng’s thirteen men—they came for revenge, killed one of his people and wounded two in the first exchange. They were forced to fight back. Gao Shupeng sought vengeance for his brother, a fight to the death with no middle ground.
As for Song Yuanqing’s surrender, they had no way to know if he was genuinely submitting. They couldn’t let him go either, unsure if he’d bring even more dangerous enemies. After all, he’d mentioned the “Golden Eagle Alliance,” which sounded like it was more than just the “Golden Eagle Building 1A”—likely a much larger coalition.
Su Li couldn’t take that risk. One misstep could cost them dearly, even their lives.
“Let’s head back. Clean up these bodies.” Su Li reached out and patted Xu Haishui’s shoulder, then turned and walked toward the edge of the floating island.
Gong Xiao followed silently behind him.
The ground was littered with corpses. Though they had won, everyone felt a heaviness in their hearts—these were fellow humans after all. The atmosphere was tense and somber.
“Dispose of all the bodies. Leave no traces.” Xu Haishui began directing the others to clean up the scene.
In this battle, they had lost only one person and had two wounded—a minimal cost and loss.
All of this was thanks to Su Li’s sudden “Dragon Rhinoceros Slash,” which had cut the enemy’s strength by nearly half and turned the tide instantly. Without it, they would have suffered heavy casualties, and the outcome might have been completely reversed.
They felt even more awe and respect for Su Li. Gao Shupeng had the “Copy” ability, essentially wielding four spirit source techniques at once. With such a huge advantage, he was still overtaken and killed by Su Li. This gave them a new understanding of Su Li’s strength.
They had thought Su Li was strong before, but now it was clear he was even stronger than they had imagined.
Having someone like him at Purple Wind Building gave them a sense of security.
Back at Purple Wind Building, Su Li changed out of his bloodstained clothes, took a hot shower, and got a good night’s rest.
Yan Fang was truly a genius. Not only had he improved the water purifier, but he’d also upgraded the solar water heater, allowing everyone at Purple Wind Building to enjoy hot showers. Of course, due to limited resources, it wasn’t available to everyone—people had to book in advance and might only get a turn every few days. But for Su Li, there were no such restrictions.
The fight with Gao Shupeng hadn’t been easy. It made Su Li realize that while he had awakened his talent and gained the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword, his talent alone didn’t give him a clear edge in the early stages. Humanity was full of geniuses, even prodigies. Some people’s “spirit source techniques” were almost heaven-defying. If Gao Shupeng hadn’t copied his “Demon Muscle” and chosen the wrong way to fight him, winning wouldn’t have been so simple.
This served as a wake-up call for Su Li: he wasn’t strong enough yet.
Since the great flood began, survivors had been hunting spirit source beasts and evolving. At first, everyone started from the same line, progressing together with little difference. But as time passed, the gaps would inevitably widen, and they would only grow larger.
Humanity had never lacked geniuses.
It was like school—there were slackers, top students, and even prodigies.
The scariest kind was someone smarter than you who worked even harder.
“There are too many outstanding people. The worst is someone who’s not only a genius but works harder and has better luck than you.”
Su Li thought that Gao Shupeng’s ability to grasp such a heaven-defying “spirit source technique” was a form of luck. After all, the technique you learned was partly tied to your basic enhancements, but mostly random. In that randomness, luck played a huge role.
You might end up with a useless technique or an absurdly powerful one.
That alone could instantly create a gap between people.
After waking up, Su Li first checked on Ding Longyun. The guy was still paralyzed from the muscle effect, but thankfully not in danger. He told Zhong Rongrong to take good care of him, then called Xu Haishui and Bai Wenwei over. He decided to lay a row of rafts on the water between Purple Wind Building and the floating island to serve as a wooden bridge, making things much more convenient.
Everyone nodded in agreement and immediately got to work.
Luo Jun, Jin Sixing, Ling Tian, and the others each led a team, taking rafts away from Purple Wind Building to scavenge materials from nearby buildings, especially the wood Su Li had emphasized.
By evening, the floating bridge between Purple Wind Building and the island was finally complete. Luo Jun and the others returned, but most of the supplies in the area had already been collected. They found little of value, mostly wooden doors and such.
To find more supplies, they’d have to go farther out, which carried greater risks. Other areas might already be claimed by other factions, their resources long since taken.
Someone suggested attacking “Golden Eagle Building 1A.” With its leader Gao Shupeng and all its elites dead, only the weak and elderly would be left—no real fighting force. Their group could easily take it over and seize its supplies. After days of Gao Shupeng’s management, that building likely had at least as many resources as theirs, if not more. Getting those supplies could sustain them for another week or even half a month.
The proposal was tempting. Even Su Li felt the pull.
But after careful consideration, Su Li abandoned the plan.
The remaining defenders at “Golden Eagle Building 1A” might not be a problem, but the real trouble lay with the other two buildings.
“Golden Eagle Building 1B” and “Shimao Center” were both close to “Golden Eagle Building 1A,” especially Building 1B, which was only about a kilometer away.
Su Li had long suspected that the “Golden Eagle Alliance” they mentioned might be an alliance of survivors from these three buildings. They were so close that it made sense for them to band together.
If he led his people into “Golden Eagle Building 1A,” they would inevitably alert the other two buildings. “Golden Eagle Building 1B” had 44 floors, and “Shimao Center” had 42. The survivors there would be numerous, and their strength wouldn’t be weak. Charging in recklessly could lead to disastrous consequences.
Purple Wind Building was running low on supplies, but it could still last another seven or eight days. They weren’t desperate enough for a last stand. So Su Li scrapped the plan.
Ding Longyun finally recovered, cursing up a storm, blaming the guy who had left him paralyzed for half a day, even dragging in his ancestors.
After dinner and a short rest, everyone mobilized, heading to the floating island to hunt.
The fight with Gao Shupeng’s group had made them realize that Purple Wind Building’s overall strength was lacking. If not for Su Li, the daytime battle would have gone badly. So that night, everyone hunted with extra effort, hoping to level up and grow stronger.
During this hunt, eleven people successfully advanced from level 4 to level 5, leaving only ten still at level 4.
Jin Sixing and Bai Wenwei broke through to level 6.
But the higher the level, the harder it was to advance. Most monsters on the floating island were level 4 or 5 common types, with very few level 6 ones. Even with Su Li’s skills, that night he only gathered 32 effective spirit sources from level 6 monsters and elite level 5s. His total now stood at 61, still 29 short of the 90 needed to reach level 7.
As for Gong Xiao, Luo Jun, and Ding Longyun, also at level 6, they couldn’t compete with Su Li and gathered even fewer effective sources.
“One more night of hunting, and I should break through to level 7.” Su Li was looking forward to level 7. Once he reached it, his “Demon Muscle” would enter its second form, giving him a qualitative leap in strength.