Wu Feng finally understood why Su Li had sent word for everyone at Shimao Center to immediately gather at Building B of Jinyi No. 1.
"Brother Su, what should we do now? Should we try to move out of here?"
Xu Haishui looked at Su Li, worry creeping onto his face. They had barely managed to relocate from Zifeng Tower to the "Jinyi Alliance," finally finding some semblance of stability, only to discover a terrifying "City of the Forgotten" seven kilometers to the north. This "City of the Forgotten" hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles, robbing them of peace.
Ding Longyun said, "Move? Move where? If they really dare to come, we'll just have a good fight with these bastards."
Gong Xiao glanced at him and said, "We don't even have a hundred people now. If these Forgotten really come, with our current strength, it'll be hard to hold them off."
Su Li had originally planned to discuss the black-scaled mermaid today, but with the "City of the Forgotten" incident, he had no heart for that anymore. He let everyone share their own views and opinions.
Gong Xiao had personally fought these Forgotten, and she knew how terrifying their strength was. Although Su Li had killed quite a few Forgotten today, that was only because he was stronger than them. If the Forgotten really launched a large-scale invasion, with hundreds or thousands coming, Su Li alone, no matter how strong, couldn't protect everyone. The others would be wiped out. Except for Su Li, probably no one would survive. So her view was to move away from here.
Her view gained support from Ling Yi, Xu Haishui, and most others. Ling Yi, like her, had personally clashed with the Forgotten and knew their power well. Xu Haishui favored caution—since there was such a huge latent threat as the "City of the Forgotten," it was better to evacuate early and find a safer place, rather than stay and go head-to-head with it.
Ding Longyun, Gu Mingfeng, and Wu Feng were the pro-war faction. First, they had a blind confidence in their own strength; second, they hadn't seen the Forgotten and didn't know their depth; third, the "Jinyi Alliance" had reached its current scale, and they were reluctant to give up these three buildings.
Both sides had their reasoning. Su Li frowned in thought.
Qi Mengyu, out of habit, pushed at the bridge of her nose, only to find nothing there. She remembered that due to evolution, her nearsightedness was long gone, and she no longer wore glasses. She chimed in, "If only there were a way to have the best of both worlds."
Ding Longyun glanced at her and said, "The best of both worlds would be if a lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck all those Forgotten in the 'City of the Forgotten' dead. Then we wouldn't have to worry about them attacking, and we wouldn't have to move."
Gu Mingfeng rolled his eyes and said, "Brother Ding, you're dreaming while lying in bed. Why don't you just say a meteor falls from the sky and crushes the 'City of the Forgotten' and all the Forgotten inside?"
Ding Longyun laughed and said, "Lightning or meteor, isn't it the same idea? Anyway, it'd be best if those bastards all croaked, saving us the trouble."
The others listened to these two and smiled bitterly, thinking Ding Longyun and Gu Mingfeng were a bit off their rockers.
But Su Li's eyes suddenly lit up slightly. "What you said makes sense. If these Forgotten all died, then we wouldn't have this trouble."
Ding Longyun was taken aback. He had just been speaking casually, cracking a joke to lighten the mood. He didn't expect Su Li to take it seriously.
Gong Xiao frowned at this, thinking that Ding Longyun had always been a bit off, but today Su Li seemed to be acting the same way.
Gu Mingfeng looked at Su Li and said, "Are you saying lightning or a meteor will actually appear and kill these Forgotten? How could it be that coincidental?"
Su Li smiled faintly and said, "No lightning or meteor, but that doesn't mean there isn't something else."
"Su Li, what do you mean?" Gong Xiao felt there was more to his words.
Su Li said, "Deep in the water, there are plenty of powerful creatures, some far stronger than the Forgotten. We can't summon lightning or call down a meteor, but we can lure these creatures out. If we can get them to fight the Forgotten, making them tear each other apart, it's not impossible."
When Su Li said this, the first thing that came to mind was the high-level undead.
He had previously sneaked into Huating Compound, trying to find his girlfriend Wang Lan's old home, but encountered a large number of high-level undead. He suspected that place might be a lair for them. If he could lure these high-level undead to invade or even attack the "City of the Forgotten," it would be a great show. No matter who won or lost, it would be all benefit and no harm to them.
But he quickly abandoned that idea.
First, the distance from there to the "City of the Forgotten" was too far. Luring the high-level undead there would be too difficult and impractical. Second, there was the leader of those high-level undead, the Lord of Termination.
Based on the water qilin's spiritual source flying into the deep water before it died, he guessed the Lord of Termination might not be dead. No one knew its current state. If it was hiding deep in Huating Compound, then it wouldn't be a matter of luring out the high-level undead—he'd be risking his own life first.
These two reasons made him quickly give up on that idea.
"Su Li, you mean to lure some powerful creatures from the deep water to attack the 'City of the Forgotten'?" Gong Xiao's phoenix eyes glimmered slightly, then she shook her head thoughtfully. "Great in theory, but not realistic, or rather, almost impossible to execute."
Jiang Shuijue's big, watery eyes were fixed on Su Li. "Since you said that, you must have an idea."
Having seen too many of Su Li's incredible feats, Jiang Shuijue had practically become his little fangirl. In her eyes, Su Li was all-powerful, and she believed he had a way.
Gu Mingfeng let out a faint snort through his nose, showing disapproval, clearly uncomfortable with Jiang Shuijue's faith in Su Li.
"Let's stop here for today. We'll start hunting soon. Anyway, everyone should be ready to evacuate at any time. Shuijue, Haishui, and Wu Feng, you're in charge of the specifics. If the Forgotten really launch a large-scale attack, make sure we can evacuate in the shortest time possible." Su Li stood up as he spoke.
"Got it."
"Understood."
"Don't worry."
Jiang Shuijue and the other two nodded in agreement. Then everyone filed out. Su Li kept Ding Longyun, Xu Xuehui, and Xu Haishui behind.
Su Li took three energy orbs from his chest: the Soul-Severing Blade, the Azure Flame Sword, and the Green Shadow Bow.
He gave the Soul-Severing Blade to Ding Longyun, the Green Shadow Bow to Xu Xuehui, and the Azure Flame Sword to Xu Haishui.
In terms of strength, the Azure Flame Sword would be most effective in Ling Yi's hands, but Ling Yi wasn't close to him, and Su Li couldn't easily command him. Comparatively, Su Li preferred to give it to Xu Haishui, who was more like his trusted subordinate.
Ding Longyun and Xu Haishui fused with the Soul-Severing Blade and Azure Flame Sword, their eyes gleaming with excitement and surprise.
Xu Xuehui, on the other hand, fused with the Green Shadow Bow without much change. She just followed Su Li's orders—if he told her to fuse, she fused. She didn't care much about how powerful the bow was.
When evening hunting time came, level 7 monsters dominated the floating island, making up over half the total. This meant many level 7s could break through to level 8 tonight.
Level 8 monsters accounted for about twenty percent of the total, while level 9 monsters were even rarer. Su Li collected only 21 effective spiritual sources in total. He now had 54 spiritual sources, still nearly 100 short of the 150 needed to break through.
Almost all level 6 spiritual source users who participated in tonight's hunt had advanced to level 7.
Jiang Shuijue, Ding Longyun, Xu Haishui, Gu Mingfeng, and Bai Wenwei all broke through to level 8. Over ten people advanced to level 8 tonight, including Yu Siyuan, Mu Si, Tang Ledong, Yi Cheng'an, and Meng Qiang, making them standouts in the "Jinyi Alliance."
With Su Li's help, Xu Xuehui also successfully broke through to level 8.
Su Li had given Xu Xuehui special attention tonight, helping her reach level 8 because he would need her for something soon. The stronger she was, the better.
Now, among the group, besides Su Li, Gong Xiao, Jiang Shuijue, Ding Longyun, Xu Xuehui, and Xu Haishui all had spiritual source weapons. This made others envious, knowing they probably couldn't get such weapons themselves—they must have come from Su Li. This elevated Su Li's image in their eyes, and many grew even more awed of him.
Even Wu Feng, who had always been confident, had to shake his head in resignation. He hadn't gotten a single spiritual source weapon yet, while Su Li not only had a large collection of spiritual source equipment but had also gotten weapons for those around him. Wu Feng was green with envy, even tempted to beg Su Li to get him one next time, but he couldn't bring himself to do it just yet.
After the hunt, Su Li arranged for extra sentries at night, two per shift, two hours each, rotating. They had to watch not only for monsters but also for the Forgotten from the north.
If the Forgotten from the "City of the Forgotten" launched a large-scale attack, it would be a disaster for the current "Jinyi Alliance."
Early the next morning, Su Li took Xu Xuehui and Jiang Shuijue, riding his Crocodile-Toothed Turtle No. 1, away from Building B of Jinyi No. 1.
The turtle carried the three of them northward.
Seven kilometers to the north lay the "City of the Forgotten."
"Are we going to the 'City of the Forgotten' again today?" Jiang Shuijue recalled the danger they faced near it yesterday and couldn't help but worry.
Su Li hummed in agreement. "This 'City of the Forgotten' is too close to us. If we don't find a way to deal with it, something big will happen sooner or later."
Jiang Shuijue looked puzzled. "But there are nearly a thousand Forgotten there. How do we deal with them?"
Su Li smiled. "That's why I brought Xuehui. Let her see if there are any useful monsters deep in the water."
Jiang Shuijue froze, then immediately understood Su Li's plan—he wanted to use monsters to attack the "City of the Forgotten."
Su Li said to Xu Xuehui, "Girl, we'll need your eyes later. Hope we find something."
Xu Xuehui didn't know what was going on but nodded firmly, then quietly took out a melon seed and popped it into her mouth.
Jiang Shuijue said nothing more, but she understood the danger of this trip. That's why Su Li had brought her—he might need her "Fog Maze" ability.
Jiang Shuijue had now reached level 8, and her "Fog Maze" had grown stronger. The fact that Su Li brought her meant she could help him, which made her a little happy.
The Crocodile-Toothed Turtle moved fast, and soon Su Li could see the "City of the Forgotten" rising from the water in the distance.
He slowed the turtle down, stopping about two kilometers from the "City of the Forgotten," then began circling around it.
"Xuehui, focus on that building as the center. Carefully check the deep water around it for any powerful monsters. The stronger, the better, and the closer to the building, the better."
Su Li instructed Xu Xuehui.
Xu Xuehui nodded and hummed in acknowledgment, then widened her eyes and began scanning the distance.
Her eyes had been strengthened eight times in a row, and she had strengthened nothing else. Su Li didn't know the limits of her eyes now or if they would be useful, but he had to try and hope for a discovery.
They were about two kilometers from the "City of the Forgotten," making it hard for the enemy to spot them. Even if they were seen, the distance allowed for an easy escape.
The turtle swam in a circle around the distant "City of the Forgotten," and Xu Xuehui kept observing the water below.
"Almost nothing under that building," Xu Xuehui said, looking at the distant structure.
"Almost no monsters?" Su Li glanced at her.
Xu Xuehui nodded at him.
Jiang Shuijue said, "No monsters under the 'City of the Forgotten'? They've probably killed them all."
Su Li said, "I expected that. With so many Forgotten leveling up so fast, they're likely hunting in groups underwater. They've probably cleared out most monsters in this area. That's a problem."
Soon, Xu Xuehui made another discovery. She pointed a few hundred meters away and said, "There are monsters down there. A lot."
Su Li perked up. "How many monsters?"
"A whole lot." Xu Xuehui couldn't give a specific number.
"Good. What kind of monsters? Any with especially huge bodies or strange shapes—ones that look really powerful?"
Su Li had summarized from his encounters that spiritual source beasts could be judged by appearance: huge monsters were often strong, and oddly shaped ones could also be dangerous.
"Lots of big crabs with white spots on their shells." Xu Xuehui gestured with her hands. Based on the size and shape she described, Su Li guessed they were level 7 Cang Crab Beasts.
"No especially big ones," Xu Xuehui added.
"Okay." Su Li understood it was a nest of Cang Crab Beasts, not suitable. He shook his head and told Xu Xuehui to keep looking.
Xu Xuehui spotted a few more monster nests, all with large groups of monsters, but none were high-level enough for Su Li's needs. Whether there were stronger monsters hidden, she couldn't be sure.
Her eyes, despite eight strengthenings, still had limits. She couldn't see every part of the deep water, as several areas were pitch black, hiding any monsters within.
Eventually, the turtle completed a full circle around the "City of the Forgotten" without finding a monster nest that satisfied Su Li.
"Expand the search area."
This time, Su Li extended the range to three kilometers from the "City of the Forgotten."
Seeing into the deepest water over such a wide area was exhausting for Xu Xuehui. After a while, she closed her eyes, overusing them, and tears streamed down.
"Rest a bit. No rush. Look again later." Su Li quickly comforted her.
Xu Xuehui closed her eyes and hummed in response. After resting for ten minutes, she looked into the deep water again.
This time, her eyes suddenly widened. She pointed at the water surface about three hundred meters ahead and said, "Down there, there's a monster. A huge one."
Su Li asked, "What kind of monster? How big?"
He was starting to lose hope, as Xu Xuehui had said similar things before, only for the "huge" monsters to be five or six meters long—nothing impressive to Su Li, let alone useful against the "City of the Forgotten."
"A big snake, with horns. It's too dark down there to see clearly. Its head... its head is huge." Xu Xuehui gestured anxiously with her hands, struggling to describe the snake.
Jiang Shuijue comforted her, "Xuehui, take it slow. You said the snake's head is huge? How big is it?"
"It's... it's..." Xu Xuehui thought for a long time before finally coming up with an adjective: "As big as a car."
Su Li was startled. "As big as a car? What kind of car? A sedan or something?"
If a snake's head was as big as a sedan, its length would be terrifying.
Xu Xuehui nodded at him.
Jiang Shuijue gasped. "Xuehui, are you sure? Just the head is as big as a car?"
"Yes." Xu Xuehui's eyes widened, a faint glimmer flickering within them. She stared into the distant deep water and nodded firmly.
Though the dark water obscured the snake's full body, she had clearly seen the huge, horned head.