Su Li rode a wooden raft away from Jinhui Center, heading toward Zifeng Tower. Judging by the weather, it was already afternoon, and Su Li had long felt his stomach growling with hunger. Fortunately, he had brought a few vacuum-packed pieces of bread with him. He tore open the packaging and ate them to stave off the hunger for now.
His appetite was growing larger and larger. As his body continued to evolve, the energy he consumed increased, requiring him to replenish it through eating. Unfortunately, the energy contained in this bread was far too low—it could only barely fill his stomach and was nowhere near enough to meet his body's daily needs.
"If I keep evolving like this, food will become more and more of a problem. Ordinary food can hardly satisfy my body's requirements, unless I can get more advanced, more nutritious food."
"Killing spirit-source beasts yields spirit sources, whether effective or not. In some ways, spirit sources are a form of energy. In theory, they should be enough to meet my body's energy needs, yet I still feel this hungry. It seems spirit-source energy mainly involves body evolution, strength, and stamina—clearly, the body can't rely entirely on spirit sources to survive. So I still need to eat food to supplement other nutrients. No matter how much spirit source I absorb, I still need to eat to replenish."
Su Li put away both swords, picked up the paddle, and rowed faster and faster. With his current strength, a single stroke of the paddle churned the water, and the immense force generated sent the raft flying across the surface like an arrow.
Soon, Zifeng Tower came into view in the distance. Su Li looked ahead and suddenly spotted another raft approaching from afar, carrying three people—two men and one woman.
"Them?" Su Li was a bit surprised. What a coincidence to run into Jiang Shuijue, Ling Yi, and Gu Mingfeng along the way.
The three of them had clearly noticed Su Li as well. Both sides adjusted the direction of their rafts, paddling toward each other.
"Su Li—" Gu Mingfeng waved from afar, shouting loudly, his voice tinged with excitement.
Earlier, when Su Li had fled under Ding Shijie's pursuit, they had all been worried about his safety. Now, suddenly seeing Su Li, the three of them wore expressions of surprise and joy.
Under their control, the two rafts slowly came together in the water. Gu Mingfeng grabbed the rope from his own raft, jumped onto Su Li's, and lashed the two rafts together, his face a mix of shock and delight. "Su Li, it's so great to see you again. We all thought you were..."
Su Li smiled faintly. "Thought I was dead?" He glanced at Jiang Shuijue and noticed she was pursing her lips slightly. Though she didn't speak, her eyes were a little red. Clearly, she was deeply moved inside, just holding back from showing it.
Gu Mingfeng laughed heartily. "Yeah! Tell us, how did you escape?"
Su Li didn't answer but asked instead, "What about you? Why are you here?" As he spoke, he glanced at Zifeng Tower in the distance. Were they just coming from there?
Jiang Shuijue finally spoke. "After you left, the Golden Eagle Alliance sent a lot more people. We couldn't hold our ground. Originally, we wanted to fight and die there with everyone, but I remembered what you said—that I had to safely escort Brother Liu back to Zifeng Tower. It was a promise you made to me, and I couldn't break it. So I used 'Mist Maze' and escaped with Mingfeng and the others, delivering Brother Liu safely to Zifeng Tower."
"And now you..." Su Li had a vague idea of what was coming.
Gu Mingfeng laughed again, cutting in. "Now that we've fulfilled our promise and Brother Liu is safely back at Zifeng Tower, it's only right for us to return to Jinhui Center and fight those bastards to the death. Even if we die, we won't abandon our brothers and sisters at Jinhui Center."
Su Li's heart trembled slightly. He looked at Gu Mingfeng, then at Jiang Shuijue and Ling Yi. Neither of them spoke, but all three wore expressions tinged with a somber, heroic resolve.
They had made up their minds to fight to the death, knowing full well that returning might mean certain death, yet they still went without hesitation.
"No wonder I heard earlier that Jiang Shuijue had fled—it didn't seem like her usual self. Turns out she had to escape because of my words, to escort Brother Liu..."
Su Li suddenly realized he was moved by this seemingly delicate, slender woman. Though she looked like a small, gentle girl, the strength within her surpassed that of most men.
Su Li let out a soft sigh and smiled. "Don't worry. I've already driven off the Golden Eagle Alliance. Everyone is safe."
Jiang Shuijue's beautiful eyes lit up, and Gu Mingfeng exclaimed in surprise and joy, "Really? What about the guy who was chasing you?"
He meant Ding Shijie.
That Su Li could appear at Jinhui Center and drive off the Golden Eagle Alliance while being hunted by Ding Shijie was utterly baffling. Though they didn't think Su Li would lie, it was still hard to believe.
Su Li smiled, his left hand reaching toward his chest. A semi-transparent sword hilt emerged from his chest on its own.
He gripped the hilt and pulled out the semi-transparent Ice Python Sword.
The sword looked like carved ice, its surface covered in snake scales. Jiang Shuijue, Gu Mingfeng, and Ling Yi all recognized it. When they saw it, they drew in deep breaths, their faces showing indescribable shock.
This sword was more powerful than any words.
It was Ding Shijie's spirit-source weapon. For it to now be in Su Li's hands meant only one thing: Ding Shijie was dead.
"You... you killed him..." Gu Mingfeng stammered.
Though they knew Su Li was no pushover, they never imagined he was strong enough to kill Ding Shijie.
After all, he was the leader of the Golden Eagle Alliance. Even the three of them together might not have been a match for him.
Su Li slowly sheathed the Ice Python Sword and nodded. "Yes, Ding Shijie is dead."
Gu Mingfeng muttered, "So that guy was called Ding Shijie." For a moment, he seemed at a loss for words. He wanted to praise Su Li's skill but realized he didn't know how—it was beyond his imagination.
Jiang Shuijue's eyes sparkled as she looked at Su Li. Suddenly, she said, "Brother Su, we want to join Zifeng Tower. Is that okay?"
Su Li was taken aback, looking at her. Gu Mingfeng and Ling Yi were also startled, then turned to Jiang Shuijue, as if surprised by her sudden suggestion.
Seeing their confusion, Jiang Shuijue explained, "Our Jinhui Center doesn't have many people, and we're not strong. This time, the Golden Eagle Alliance came, and we relied on Brother Su to get through the crisis. But what about next time? Who will we rely on then?"
She looked at Gu Mingfeng and Ling Yi. "Instead of living in constant fear, it's better to merge with Zifeng Tower. When the Golden Eagle Alliance wanted to form an alliance, I wasn't opposed at first, but their terms were too harsh—I couldn't accept them. But Brother Su isn't like that."
Gu Mingfeng nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Though I've only met Brother Su a few times and we're not close, I trust him. At least he's not a madman like Ding Shijie."
Ling Yi said nothing, just silently nodded in agreement.
"Brother Su, will you take us in?" Jiang Shuijue said this with a radiant smile, her beautiful eyes glistening, looking incredibly cute and charming.
Su Li stood frozen for a moment, then laughed. "Of course, it's great that you want to come. From now on, we'll be brothers and sisters fighting side by side. Come on, I'll go with you to help you move. By the way, do you have enough hands? If not, I'll call some people from Zifeng Tower to help."
Seeing Su Li's excitement, Jiang Shuijue couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, as if feeling a bit rude. A blush rose on her pretty face.
"We have enough people. Let's head straight back to Jinhui Center now and then move together." Gu Mingfeng said, looking at Jiang Shuijue for her opinion.
Jiang Shuijue nodded, humming in agreement.
Su Li decided not to return to Zifeng Tower for now. Instead, he followed the three of them back to the Jinhui Center Building.
Jiang Shuijue gathered everyone and announced her decision.
The current Jinhui Center Building, including Jiang Shuijue and the other two, had only eighteen people in total. The leaders were Jiang Shuijue, Gu Mingfeng, and Ling Yi. Once they decided, no one objected.
The three women saw Su Li again and, upon learning they were moving to where he lived, not only didn't oppose it but felt excited and thrilled.
Then everyone worked together, moving everything they could carry from the Jinhui Center Building down to the various rafts of different sizes.
Su Li wanted to help, but Jiang Shuijue stopped him.
"From now on, you're our leader. How could we let the leader do the heavy lifting?" she said with a light laugh.
Su Li shook his head. "These people are still under your management. I know nothing about management and have no interest in it. Don't call me leader or anything—just call me Su Li."
Jiang Shuijue thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll call you Brother Su from now on."
Jiang Shuijue's voice was very pleasant, soft and sweet. That "Brother Su" made Su Li's bones feel weak, and he wished she would say it a few more times. But he didn't want to show it too obviously, so he just nodded. "Okay."
"If I call you Brother Su, what will you call me? You can't keep calling me Miss Jiang, can you?" Jiang Shuijue's eyes seemed to speak, sparkling like a deep, clear pool, fixed on Su Li.
The more she looked, the more handsome she found him, never tiring of the sight.
A hint of a smile appeared on Su Li's face. "Then I'll call you Shuijue Mei?"
Jiang Shuijue said, "That doesn't sound good. Change it."
"Jiang Mei?"
Jiang Shuijue shook her head. "Even worse. Change it again."
"I've got it. From now on, I'll call you Shui Mei?"
Jiang Shuijue: "..."