The raft moved farther and farther away from Purple Wind Building. Along the way, Liu Jiande paddled nervously, constantly looking around, afraid of a sudden monster attack.
Su Li was relatively calm. He occasionally saw corpse beasts or other monsters surface and swim away in the distance, but none attacked them.
Compared to night, most spirit source beasts rested during the day. Unless something disturbed them, large groups rarely appeared, and the occasional one or two monsters usually wouldn't attack humans.
Along the way, they could see buildings protruding from the water, mostly around thirty or thirty-two stories tall. These had already been entered by people from Purple Wind Building, and any supplies had been taken.
Su Li and his companion didn't stop to check. Soon, they were over three kilometers from Purple Wind Building, and in the distance, they spotted a tall building's shadow. Compared to the surrounding structures, this one had six floors above water, standing out prominently.
Su Li knew this six-story exposed building was the "Jinhui Center Tower," thirty-six stories total, where Jiang Shuijue, Gu Mingfeng, Ling Yi, and others lived.
Their trip to Huating Compound required using "Jinhui Center Tower" as a landmark. They would first approach it, then head northeast about three kilometers to find the approximate location of Huating Compound.
As they drew closer, Su Li took a light breath. Just then, he faintly heard roars mixed with screams.
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Su Li immediately turned his head toward the sound.
He noticed a distant building, a thirty-one-story structure with two floors above water, about a few hundred meters away. The faint beast roars and screams were coming from there.
Looking closely, Su Li finally saw many spirit source beasts climbing up the building's outer walls. On the rooftop, he could even see massive spirit source beasts moving around.
"Are people hunting spirit source beasts here? Or are they under siege and being attacked?"
Su Li's expression shifted, and he immediately told Liu Jiande to change direction toward the building.
He thought about how this place was only about two kilometers from "Jinhui Center Tower." If someone on that building was under attack, they were likely from there. Remembering he owed them a favor, he figured if he could help, he should lend a hand and repay the debt.
Jiang Shuijue and the other two had risked danger to board the blood crystal beast to help them. Now it was time to return the favor. Besides, he was only 29 spirit sources away from breaking through to level 7. Seeing this swarm of spirit source beasts, he viewed them as moving spirit sources. This two-birds-with-one-stone opportunity was not to be missed.
The raft quickly headed toward the building, the distance shrinking fast. Liu Jiande noticed too, and though a bit nervous, he didn't dare defy Su Li's wishes.
Thinking of Su Li's strength, Liu Jiande felt a little more at ease.
"Unexpected to see so many monsters. This is a rare chance—you might break through," Su Li said with a smile, thinking that Liu Jiande was only level 4, which was too low. As a living map familiar with the entire city's roads, he was a rare talent in this flooded urban landscape. Su Li might need him for many things later, so it was worth showing some favor.
As they got closer, the monster roars and screams grew clearer. Su Li saw the spirit source beasts climbing the outer walls—none of them looked familiar.
"Could each area have different types of spirit source beasts? We're at least three kilometers from Purple Wind Building, so this area's beasts are completely different from that zone?"
Su Li observed the climbing beasts: a snow-white giant centipede two to three meters long, a colorful starfish-like creature, and a pitch-black fish with eight legs. All these unfamiliar spirit source beasts moved quickly, climbing toward the rooftop as if some deadly lure was drawing them.
Their raft soon caught the monsters' attention, and some in the water began gathering toward them.
From Su Li's chest, the hilt of the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword extended automatically. He grabbed it with his right hand, and with a flash of rainbow light, pulled the sword from his chest.
The first to approach the raft was a pitch-black, eight-legged fish, nearly three meters long, with a mouth like a shark's.
Su Li activated "Peek Rune" and immediately captured its information.
"Name: Eight-Legged Ink Fish, Level: 5, Common Spirit Source Beast, fast-moving, good at climbing, attacks mainly by biting, has a chance to evolve into elite Eight-Legged Fish King."
A level 5 common beast—killing it wouldn't yield effective spirit sources for Su Li. He swung the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in his right hand, severely wounding the Eight-Legged Ink Fish, leaving the final blow to Liu Jiande as a favor.
"Brother Liu, this Eight-Legged Ink Fish is yours."
Liu Jiande put down the paddle and picked up his weapon, a long-handled axe that had been on the raft.
He swung the axe with both hands, chopping off the head of the incapacitated Eight-Legged Ink Fish. As a level 4, killing this level 5 beast earned him two spirit sources, making his eyes gleam with excitement and joy.
Su Li was helping him level up, and Liu Jiande felt deeply grateful.
Su Li jumped into the water, swinging the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword. Three more Eight-Legged Ink Fish flipped belly-up—their legs severed, bellies slashed, or bodies half-cut—all disabled for Liu Jiande to finish off.
Su Li had also peeked at the other two spirit source beasts: the White Jade Centipede and the Colorful Starfish. The Colorful Starfish was a level 5 common beast, while the White Jade Centipede was level 6 common.
Su Li crippled the Eight-Legged Ink Fish and Colorful Starfish for Liu Jiande, while personally killing the White Jade Centipedes.
Su Li moved swiftly. These level 5 and 6 common monsters were no match for his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword.
Soon, he had killed five White Jade Centipedes, while the number of crippled Colorful Starfish and Eight-Legged Ink Fish exceeded ten. For Liu Jiande, this meant over twenty spirit sources.
Liu Jiande was both shocked and delighted. He quickly broke through to level 5, mastering "Spirit Source Technique," a qualitative leap in strength. Now, even in one-on-one combat, most level 6 common monsters were no match for him.
Su Li approached the building and easily climbed onto the 31st-floor balcony. A White Jade Centipede and a Colorful Starfish lunged at him. He swung the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword, cutting both in half, earning one effective spirit source.
"Level 6 Spirit Source User: Spirit Sources 67/90"
"Only 23 more spirit sources." Su Li felt a slight joy. He leaped from the 31st-floor balcony, grabbed the rooftop edge with his left hand, and flipped onto the roof.
On the rooftop, monsters and corpses were everywhere. In the center, figures were moving. As Su Li landed, a group of monsters surrounded him.
There were Eight-Legged Ink Fish, Colorful Starfish, and White Jade Centipedes.
Su Li's figure flickered, killing three White Jade Centipedes, leaving the Colorful Starfish and Eight-Legged Ink Fish for Liu Jiande, who followed closely behind.
Liu Jiande was now a level 5 Spirit Source User, having mastered "Spirit Source Technique." His strength had more than doubled, and these Colorful Starfish and Eight-Legged Ink Fish were no longer his match. Su Li didn't need to help anymore.
Though this building was only 31 stories, it had a large footprint. The rooftop was spacious, with relatively weaker common beasts on the outskirts. In the center, the ground was littered with corpses of White Jade Centipedes, Eight-Legged Ink Fish, and Colorful Starfish. Among them were three especially large bodies.
Two looked like oversized Eight-Legged Ink Fish, twice as big. Su Li immediately recognized them as Eight-Legged Fish Kings, evolved from Eight-Legged Ink Fish, based on the information he'd just obtained.
Using Peek Rune, he confirmed they were Eight-Legged Fish Kings, level 6 elite beasts, one tier above Eight-Legged Ink Fish.
The other large corpse was a giant starfish the size of a round table, vividly colored with scales on its surface. Su Li peeked and found it was a Starfish King Beast, evolved from Colorful Starfish, a level 6 elite beast.
Besides these three elite corpses, a giant centipede was locked in battle with a man in the center.
This giant centipede was five meters long, snow-white like jade, with segmented armor plates. Su Li peeked and discovered it was a White Armor Centipede, a level 7 elite beast evolved from White Jade Centipede.
The White Armor Centipede, as a level 7 elite, was far stronger than the Eight-Legged Fish King and Starfish King Beast. The man fighting it was about thirty, around 1.75 meters tall, with long hair tied into a small ponytail, giving him an artistic air.
He held no weapon, fighting the White Armor Centipede barehanded.
This man alone had killed so many monsters, including three level 6 elites, and was now battling a level 7 elite White Armor Centipede—clearly no weakling.
Su Li immediately used "Peek Rune" to examine the man's information.
"Name: Spirit Source User, Level: 7, Special Skills: 6, Spirit Source Techniques: 1, Weakness: Unknown, Other: None"
Su Li felt a jolt from the peeked data. This man was a level 7 spirit source powerhouse?
One level higher than himself?
In hunting monsters, Su Li thought he'd been diligent, never slacking off, yet he was only level 6—though very close to level 7, likely breaking through today.
But he hadn't expected this man to have already advanced to level 7 ahead of him.