Supplies were piled up on several rafts. All eighteen people from the Jinhui Center Building, along with Su Li, set off on several rafts, a grand procession leaving the Jinhui Center Building.
Jiang Shuijue looked back at Jinhui Center from afar. She had stayed here all these days, and now that she was finally leaving, a faint reluctance stirred in her heart. Yet, she felt even more anticipation about moving to Zifeng Tower.
This sense of anticipation outweighed that trace of reluctance.
The straight-line distance from Jinhui Center Building to Zifeng Tower was about five kilometers. The journey was uneventful, with no incidents or attacks.
When they were still a kilometer away from Zifeng Tower, the tower’s side grew alert. Many people grabbed weapons and came to the corridor, peering through the windows at the distant group on the rafts.
Xu Haishui was especially tense. With Su Li absent, he considered himself the acting leader of Zifeng Tower, bearing heavy responsibility. He immediately rallied the troops, preparing to confront the enemy.
It wasn’t until Xu Xuehui stepped out that things changed. Her eyesight was exceptionally sharp, and even from a kilometer away, she spotted Su Li on the raft.
Hearing that Su Li was on the raft, everyone let out a long sigh of relief—a false alarm.
“That kid brought a lot of people and plenty of supplies. He’s something else.” Ding Longyun laughed heartily.
By then, most had guessed the reason. They filed downstairs to welcome them.
When Su Li’s group arrived at Zifeng Tower, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, Xu Xuehui, Xu Haishui, and others were already waiting below.
“Su Li, you’re something else. You’re really impressive.” Ding Longyun laughed, recognizing Jiang Shuijue, Gu Mingfeng, and Ling Yi. He greeted them with a smile.
Jiang Shuijue returned the greetings. Since the Blood Crystal Beast incident, when the three of them had helped out, they were already acquainted with Gong Xiao, Xu Haishui, Luo Jun, and the others.
Su Li instructed everyone to help move the supplies from the rafts upstairs.
“Haishui, make sure everyone is properly settled. From now on, we’re all brothers and sisters—no distinction between Zifeng Tower and Jinhui Center people. Everyone is equal. If I find anyone bullying others, I won’t let it slide…”
Su Li looked at the crowd before him, speaking slowly with a stern expression. He feared that Zifeng Tower people might mistreat the newcomers, so he issued a warning in advance.
Xu Haishui hurriedly replied, “Brother Su, don’t worry. I’ll handle everything. I’d rather put Zifeng Tower’s people at a disadvantage than let the brothers from Jinhui Center suffer.”
Su Li nodded at Xu Haishui, then turned to Jiang Shuijue with a smile. “Shuijue, just tell me where you want to stay. You can pick any room in Zifeng Tower.”
Jiang Shuijue’s beautiful eyes sparkled. “Then where do you live?”
Su Li said, “I’m on the top floor.”
Jiang Shuijue said, “Then I want to live next to you.”
Su Li was taken aback, thinking that on one side of him lived Ding Longyun, and on the other, Gong Xiao and Xu Xuehui. He couldn’t exactly ask them to move.
Ding Longyun seemed to catch on and immediately chuckled. “Miss Jiang wanting to live next to you is a good thing. I’ll just move.”
Jiang Shuijue didn’t stand on ceremony, flashing Ding Longyun a sweet smile. “Thank you, Brother Ding.”
She had a good memory and still remembered Ding Longyun’s name.
Ding Longyun felt quite pleased being called “Brother Ding” by Jiang Shuijue, then winked at Su Li. He sensed something between Su Li and Jiang Shuijue—why else would a young woman insist on living next to Su Li in front of everyone?
Gong Xiao stood to the side, silent, when she suddenly felt someone gently tugging her sleeve. She glanced sideways to see Xu Xuehui beside her.
Xu Xuehui whispered, “That big sister likes him.”
Gong Xiao knew she meant Jiang Shuijue liked Su Li. Her face showed no expression, and she replied coolly, “If she really likes Su Li, that’s fine. They’re a good match—handsome man and beautiful woman.”
Xu Xuehui fell silent, looking at Gong Xiao, then at Jiang Shuijue, and finally at Su Li, a thoughtful expression on her face.
This time, eighteen people had moved from the “Jinhui Center Building.” Combined with Zifeng Tower’s original thirty-one, the total now reached forty-nine.
Under Su Li’s direction, Jiang Shuijue, Gu Mingfeng, and Ling Yi were all assigned to the thirty-eighth floor, showing how much he valued them.
After all, they were the three leaders of Jinhui Center Building. Now that Jinhui Center’s people had merged into Zifeng Tower, Su Li couldn’t afford to neglect them.
The remaining fifteen were left to Xu Haishui’s arrangements, and all supplies were moved to the thirty-seventh floor.
By the time everything was settled, it was completely dark. Almost everyone gathered in the thirty-fourth-floor cafeteria for dinner. That night’s meal was especially lavish, a welcome for the eighteen from Jinhui Center Building, and the atmosphere was lively and pleasant.
After dinner, everyone rested briefly before entering the floating island to continue hunting.
For those from Jinhui Center, this was their first time stepping onto the floating island to hunt, and they found it novel.
“I never thought the floating island could be so useful.” Jiang Shuijue remarked in surprise. “This saves the trouble of luring monsters. It’s much more convenient than what we had at Jinhui Center.”
Gu Mingfeng added, “Yeah, it seems joining Zifeng Tower was the right choice. With so many monsters, if there are enough level-six ones, I might have a chance to advance to level seven tonight.”
The forty-nine people entered the floating island one after another. By now, the island was covered with all kinds of spirit source beasts. Their appearance startled the monsters that had climbed onto the island, which began to surround them.
Su Li made nightly hunting mandatory for everyone. The “Golden Eagle Alliance” incident had made him feel a sense of crisis. Now, danger came not only from monsters but also from other human factions. No one could guarantee that a second terrifying group like the Golden Eagle Alliance wouldn’t emerge.
Su Li observed the monsters, mostly level five. Monsters below level five were increasingly rare, while the number of level-six monsters had grown significantly compared to last night. Level-seven monsters, however, were still scarce.
Based on his guess, the monsters’ levels roughly reflected the current level of human spirit source users. Most were likely level five, with level-six users growing explosively. Level seven was still rare, but probably within the next day or two, level-seven users would start appearing.
After meeting Ding Shijie, Su Li realized his evolution speed wasn’t among the top tier. When he had evolved to level seven, Ding Shijie had already broken through to level eight.
“Since Ding Shijie could reach level eight, there might be a second or third person like him in this city. It’s a shame level-seven monsters are so rare. Passive hunting suits most people, but to surpass the majority and become the elite, passive hunting alone won’t cut it.”
Su Li thought back to his fight with Ding Shijie during the day. Diving deep underwater, he had stirred up bloody giant earthworms—level-seven monsters, and quite a few. But among the hordes climbing onto the floating island now, level-seven monsters were rare.
This gave Su Li an urge to dive deep again. But at night, when spirit source beasts were most active, no one knew what horrors lurked in the depths. Even Su Li, strong as he was, rationally suppressed this impulse, deciding to wait until dawn.
Tonight’s hunt lasted over an hour. With mutual help, everyone successfully broke through to level five.
Su Li found eighteen ordinary level-seven spirit source beasts, harvesting eighteen effective spirit sources. Combined with what he already had, he now possessed forty-one spirit sources, still far from the 110 needed to break through.
Based on his estimate, tomorrow night’s hunt would see a higher proportion of level-seven monsters. Each day, the monsters grew stronger, and the ratio of high-level monsters increased. At the latest, the day after tomorrow, he should break through to become a level-eight spirit source user.
Xu Xuehui also finally succeeded tonight, advancing to level six.
Additionally, two others broke through to level seven tonight, which Su Li had expected. With the sharp increase in level-six monsters, advancing to level seven had become easier.
He believed that by tomorrow night, the proportion of level-six monsters might grow even more, leading to more people advancing to level seven.
The first to break through tonight was Gong Xiao, which didn’t surprise Su Li. She had always been a fiercely competitive woman, unwilling to fall behind. During the hunt, she fought especially hard to gather more spirit sources.
Her strong-willed nature surpassed that of most men.
The other to break through was Ling Yi, which caught Su Li off guard.
He didn’t have as strong an impression of Ling Yi as he did of Gu Mingfeng. Ling Yi was extremely quiet, almost never speaking, trailing behind Jiang Shuijue and Gu Mingfeng like a silent gourd.
Su Li recalled that since meeting him, he had never heard Ling Yi say a single word. He had almost wondered if Ling Yi was mute, though he never asked. Yet tonight, Ling Yi advanced to level seven alongside Gong Xiao.
Now, Zifeng Tower had three level-seven spirit source users.
The number of level-six users had reached eighteen, while the remaining twenty-eight were all level five.
In the past, Su Li would have been satisfied, thinking this strength was enough. But after seeing the Golden Eagle Alliance, he understood that while Zifeng Tower’s overall strength was growing, others weren’t idle either. It was like a race—everyone was pushing hard, and even a single day of slacking could leave one behind.
Still, Su Li believed that in terms of overall strength, Zifeng Tower was no weaker than others. After all, someone like Ding Shijie, who could reach level eight today, was rare—perhaps the only one in all of Nanjiang City.