Suddenly, the two masses of light returned, reappearing in their line of sight. This time, however, their speed had noticeably slowed as they approached the Jinhui Center building where the two of them were.
As the two masses of light drew closer and became clearer, Su Li finally began to make out what they were. In the lead was an unfamiliar beast, about two meters tall and four meters long. It had a lion-like head with a pair of deer antlers, tiger-like eyes, a horse-like body, and an ox-like tail. Its entire body was covered in cyan scales. At first glance, Su Li’s mind immediately jumped to the mythical qilin from legends.
Though Su Li had never actually seen a legendary qilin—after all, such a mythical beast existed only in tales, not reality—he still had some understanding of its appearance. Seeing this cyan beast before him, which bore a striking resemblance to the legendary qilin, left him deeply shocked.
Even more astonishing was the fact that this cyan, qilin-like beast was walking on water.
Chasing behind the cyan beast was a humanoid creature about two meters tall. Its face was flat and featureless, with no discernible facial features. Its exposed skin was a pale blue, and its chest, back, and thighs were covered in a layer of white bone armor. A long tail extended from behind, ending in a sharp stinger.
This pale blue humanoid was also treading on the waves, pursuing the cyan beast from behind.
As the two approached the Jinhui Center building, the horde of monsters gathered around it began to panic. Many of them, in their fright, started climbing up the building.
Clearly, the cyan beast and the humanoid behind it instilled fear in them.
The earth-shattering explosion earlier had been the result of their battle. Judging by the current situation, the cyan beast seemed to be losing and was fleeing.
The humanoid pursued from behind, but both sides were slowing down. The cyan beast, which had been treading on the water’s surface, began to sink, the water now reaching its knees. It appeared to be struggling to maintain its ability to walk on water.
As they drew nearer, Su Li noticed the cyan beast was covered in blood. Large patches of its cyan scales had fallen off, revealing scorched, blackened flesh that looked like it had been burned. Deep wounds, some exposing bone, were horrifying to behold.
The humanoid chasing behind seemed even more severely injured. Its entire body was covered in gaping wounds with flesh curling outward, pale blue blood oozing from them. The most grievous injury was that a small portion of its head had been torn off, and through the wound, where pale blue blood flowed, brain matter was faintly visible.
The two ran across the water’s surface, one after the other, the distance between them gradually widening. The humanoid behind, more badly hurt, was slowly falling behind the cyan beast ahead.
Suddenly, it seemed unable to keep itself above the water, sinking lower and lower until it finally disappeared beneath the surface.
Seeing this, Su Li felt his earlier guess might have been wrong. The cyan beast in front seemed slightly stronger. Was it not fleeing after all? But watching it slowly sink into the water, it was clearly at its last gasp.
The cyan beast’s approach had stirred up a frenzy among the monsters, driving them into the Jinhui Center building.
Soon, monsters climbed onto the balcony of the thirty-first floor where Su Li and Mo Xingxuan were, ignoring them as they scrambled inside.
“Monsters, get lost!” Mo Xingxuan snapped, snapping out of his daze. With a low growl, he lunged forward, his mechanical gauntlet-clad fists striking out.
With three consecutive thuds, three monsters that had just climbed onto the balcony were sent flying, massive bloody holes punched through their bodies where they were hit. They fell back into the water.
Though those three were knocked away, even more monsters surged in.
Among the charging monsters were ones Su Li had seen before, like the six-tier Four-Armed Snake Ape and White Jade Centipede, as well as the seven-tier Bloody Giant Earthworm.
There were also new ones he encountered for the first time, like the six-tier Sand Snake Beast and the seven-tier Red Armored Ghost and Horned Lizard Beast.
But for Su Li, who had reached tier 8, and Mo Xingxuan, at tier 9, killing these monsters yielded no effective spirit source.
Mo Xingxuan struck repeatedly, each punch blasting a massive bloody hole through a monster that had just climbed onto the balcony, sending it flying through the air.
Su Li also acted, wielding his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword to effortlessly kill a Red Armored Ghost and a Horned Lizard Beast. Yet, despite their strength, the monsters seemed to multiply. Worse, monsters began appearing in the living room behind them, having entered through the building’s rear windows.
Su Li turned and spotted several unfamiliar monsters he’d never seen before. They bared their claws and charged at him.
Extending his left hand, Su Li activated “High-Voltage Electric Shock.”
Blue-white electric light arced out, striking the monsters. Under the terrifying voltage, their surfaces erupted in sparks. Three of them were instantly charred to cinders, while another caught fire, collapsing and being consumed by flames.
But what surprised Su Li was that the burning monster, after falling, continued to blaze without dying out. Gradually, the fire spread to the living room’s sofa and shattered coffee table.
Su Li activated his “Peek Rune” and saw that the three charred monsters were all common seven-tier creatures: two called Sharp-Clawed Slugs and one called Gray Crab Beast. However, the data on the monster that had caught fire from his electric shock and wouldn’t stop burning caught his attention.
“Name: Black-Scaled Mermaid Beast, Tier: Seven. A mermaid beast covered in black scales on its back. Its scales are hard, impervious to blades and spears, but its belly is soft, packed with large amounts of fat. The fat of the Black-Scaled Mermaid Beast, also known as mermaid oil, is highly flammable with a low ignition point. A single drop can burn for days, making it an excellent fuel. Black-Scaled Mermaid Beasts are gregarious, with a strict hierarchy. Each group is ruled by a Giant Mermaid King.”
Su Li absorbed this information and looked at the Black-Scaled Mermaid Beast being consumed by flames. He finally understood why it had burst into flames under his high-voltage shock and why the fire wouldn’t go out, even igniting the living room.
“So this monster’s body is full of mermaid oil, a top-tier fuel.” Su Li’s mind raced. If he could find a large number of these Black-Scaled Mermaid Beasts, the urgent fuel problem would be solved.
But there was no time to dwell on it. As the living room caught fire, the flames grew fiercer, the heat oppressive. Su Li had to retreat from the balcony. He saw the cyan beast, covered in blood and wounds, had reached the base of the Jinhui Center building.
The spirit source beasts that had been gathered around the building either scattered or burrowed inside, all trying to avoid the cyan beast. Meanwhile, more monsters surfaced from the deep water. Su Li saw that these were all high-tier undead.
Skinny Spitters inhaled deeply from afar, spewing wide-ranging wind blades. Fleshy, tumor-covered Throwers hurled pus bombs at the cyan beast. Corrupters shot highly corrosive black liquid from their chests. Bloodthirsters and Assassins closed in to attack the cyan beast up close.
These high-tier undead, just emerging from the water, seemed frenzied, recklessly swarming the cyan beast.
Now less than twenty meters away, Su Li activated his “Peek Rune” to capture the cyan beast’s data.
A message quickly appeared in his mind.
“Name: Water Qilin. Insufficient tier to view other data.”
Su Li’s heart jolted. This cyan beast, so reminiscent of the legendary qilin, actually had “qilin” in its name.
Up close, he felt the Water Qilin’s immense power. A water barrier rose around it, blocking the incoming wind blades, pus bombs, and corrosive liquid. They struck the barrier with loud sounds, and then it opened its mouth, spitting out beams of white light.
These beams, formed from water, took the shape of massive crescent moons, turning into water blades that flew out in a fan shape. Wherever these crescent water blades passed, Spitters, Throwers, Corrupters, and Bloodthirsters fell one after another. Even the fat-armored Corrupters couldn’t withstand the terrifying blades; their bloated bodies were sliced open, spraying black corrosive liquid everywhere.
With one move, it killed over twenty high-tier undead, reaping a large amount of spirit source. But despite absorbing the spirit source, the Water Qilin’s severe injuries didn’t begin to heal.
Su Li couldn’t understand why—whether the spirit source was ineffective or its wounds were too unique for the source to work.
As the Water Qilin displayed its might, the remaining spirit source beasts around dwindled. The monsters that had been frantically burrowing into the building also decreased. Su Li, holding his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword, killed two more Red-Haired Ghosts and a Gray Crab Beast, but most of his attention was fixed on the Water Qilin below.
He watched as the high-tier undead, knowing they were charging to their deaths, kept coming endlessly. Though the Water Qilin was immensely powerful, each time it spat out crescent water blades, its strength waned. Initially, it could kill over twenty high-tier undead in one strike, but soon it could only manage about ten.
Su Li could see the Water Qilin’s condition deteriorating. Its severely injured belly kept contracting, as if something inside was writhing. Behind it, a large amount of blood was flowing out.
Suddenly, Su Li noticed among the frenzied high-tier undead, a figure slowly emerging from the water.