Su Li surfaced, took a breath, then had the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle dive back down, quickly returning to where he had just slain the Giant Shark King.
After that, he dismounted the turtle and continued diving straight down, using his "Peeping Rune" to constantly scan the surroundings.
Soon, he spotted a large number of relatively short trees growing below, their branches bearing fruits about the size of a fist.
Light barely penetrated the depths, leaving everything dim, and Su Li couldn't make out what the fruits looked like. However, his "Peeping Rune" suddenly activated, sending information into his mind.
"Name: Ground Berry, fruit of the Ground Berry Tree. Sweet in taste, highly nutritious, rich in minerals and vitamins, abundant in calcium. Edible, no side effects."
Su Li sensed the information in his mind and was slightly surprised.
These fruits were called Ground Berries, edible and seemingly similar to ordinary fruits. In this world submerged by floods, such Ground Berries were incredibly precious.
Su Li immediately gestured to the others around him, then reached out to pick a Ground Berry, brought it to his mouth, and mimed the action of eating.
Seeing his gesture, everyone understood his meaning—he was telling them the fruit was edible and signaling them to start picking.
Gong Xiao, Ling Yi, and the newly descended Ding Longyun, Jiang Shuijue, and Luo Jun all began harvesting Ground Berries.
As they started circling the Ground Berry trees below to pick, Su Li turned and continued downward.
It was strange enough that trees were growing at the bottom of the water, but now a large number of Ground Berry trees had appeared, bearing edible fruit. This was definitely abnormal.
Perhaps the treasure Xu Xuehui had mentioned was connected to these inexplicably appearing trees and fruit trees.
Su Li kept his "Peeping Rune" active, observing below. This forest was the lair of the Scale Beasts, and now even their leader, the Giant Shark King, had been slain by him. Only a few scattered Scale Beasts remained, nothing to fear. For now, this area was temporarily safe.
Su Li descended quickly. Gong Xiao and Jiang Shuijue, worried he might be in danger, gestured for the others to continue hauling Scale Beast carcasses and picking fruit while they sank down to catch up with him.
Gong Xiao made a gesture to Su Li, then pointed upward, signaling that the mission was complete—enough Scale Beasts had been killed, and they could return.
Su Li shook his head at her and continued searching among the trees, using his "Peeping Rune" to scan below. Occasionally, a Scale Beast appeared, and he dispatched it with his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword.
The two women now understood that Su Li wasn't continuing to hunt the Black-Scaled Beasts but was looking for something else.
Finally, Su Li descended all the way to the actual ground.
The two women followed and landed beside him.
By now, they had dived to a depth of about eighty meters. If pressure increased by one atmosphere every ten meters, they were now under eight or nine atmospheres of pressure.
Fortunately, Su Li and Gong Xiao were already Level 9 Spirit Source users, and Jiang Shuijue had reached Level 8. Their physical abilities were vastly superior to ordinary people, so this eight- or nine-fold atmospheric pressure wasn't lethal.
Still, at such depths, their movements were somewhat hindered, their speed slowed, and their physical functions diminished.
As the three landed on the bottom, stepping onto the ground, they saw buildings and towering trees nearby, along with the relatively shorter Ground Berry trees mixed in.
Su Li noticed a streetlamp not far away, covered in vines. From it, he recognized that this area must have been a city road before the flood.
Soon, he spotted a large bus overgrown with plants resembling ivy.
Curious, Su Li drifted over, pulled aside the vegetation, and revealed the bus's windshield, peering inside.
The bus was empty, with no human remains.
He searched further and saw countless cracks in the concrete road, with trees and plants sprouting from them.
What kind of immense force could have caused such extensive cracking in the concrete?
Suddenly, Su Li seemed to notice something. He raised his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword and slashed at one of the cracks.
His left hand transformed into a Demon-Hunting Claw, and he began digging into the earth, quickly excavating a deep pit.
The two women stood beside him, watching as a faint white glow emerged from the pit he had dug.
Within the glow were hair-thin, fleshy tendrils, gently writhing, hidden beneath the ground. Now exposed by Su Li's digging, they became visible.
Su Li gestured to Gong Xiao and Jiang Shuijue, signaling them to help dig along the faintly glowing tendrils.
Finding the sword too slow, Su Li transformed both hands into Demon-Hunting Claws.
His ten fingers, like hooks, tore into the ground, pulling up large chunks of earth and stone. Soon, more and more tendrils appeared beneath the surface.
These tendrils emitted a faint glow and writhed slightly, resembling both living creatures and plants, a strange sight.
In Su Li's mind, the "Peeping Rune" continuously fed him information.
"Name: Earth Mother. Level: Unreadable. A mysterious 'blind branch' born deep within the earth, at a crossroads of life's evolution. It could develop into a plant or an animal. If left still, it becomes a fungus like mushrooms or lingzhi. It is the fourth form of life in nature—neither plant, animal, nor fungus—and the ancestor of all three. The Earth Mother can root itself in any soil, rock, or mineral, absorbing enough nutrients to evolve and generate various plants, animals, and fungi, forming its own ecosystem."
Sensing this information, Su Li's face showed astonishment.
He immediately understood—this was the treasure Xu Xuehui had mentioned.
This treasure, buried deep underground with hair-like tendrils, was called the Earth Mother. With enough nutrients, it could evolve and grow all kinds of plants, animals, and fungi, even forming its own ecosystem. What an incredible treasure.
Su Li finally understood how this forest, the countless trees, the vines, and the Ground Berry trees had come to be.
All of it was the work of the Earth Mother, rooting itself in the earth, absorbing nutrients, and evolving.
In that instant, Su Li thought of the floating island formed from the Blood Crystal Beast's corpse.
If he could dig up the Earth Mother and transplant it onto the floating island, providing it with enough nutrients, what kind of ecosystem would it evolve there?
Could it also grow Ground Berry trees?
At this thought, Su Li couldn't help but feel excited. He realized the Earth Mother was a priceless treasure that he absolutely couldn't miss.
His transformed Demon-Hunting Claws, with ten razor-sharp fingers, continued digging into the ground, tearing away chunks of earth.
Gong Xiao and Jiang Shuijue helped, following the tendrils as they dug deeper. Soon, more and more faintly glowing white tendrils appeared, densely interwoven.
Finally, Su Li saw the base of these gently writhing tendrils—a roughly spherical fleshy ball, about a meter in diameter. Its surface had seven sunken holes, like the seven orifices of a human face.
The ball was covered in tendrils that extended in all directions through the earth.
Su Li realized this fleshy ball was the Earth Mother's main body. Carefully clearing the surrounding earth, he hugged the ball and began to lift it.
The ball didn't move, but the tendrils stretching in all directions seemed startled, retracting rapidly into the ball.
As they retracted, the ball slowly swelled and grew larger.
Eventually, all the long, thin tendrils that had spread through the earth retracted into the ball, which expanded to a diameter of four or five meters.
Su Li, Gong Xiao, and Jiang Shuijue watched this transformation, the two women showing surprise.
Su Li's hands returned to normal, and he hoisted the massive fleshy ball, kicking off the ground to ascend.
Strangely, as he pulled the ball away, the surrounding trees and plants began to wither and die at a visible rate, as if all their life essence had been drained.
Gong Xiao and Jiang Shuijue flanked Su Li as he ascended with the ball, guarding against any monster attacks. They watched the trees' branches and leaves break off and float away, while the colorful flowers on the plants rapidly wilted.
Above, the others were busy hauling Scale Beast carcasses, including the Giant Shark King's body, when they noticed the sudden withering of the trees below. They exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of what was happening.
Soon, they saw a massive, faintly glowing fleshy ball rising from the dark depths below.
Startled, some thought it was a strange monster and prepared to attack.
Fortunately, Gong Xiao kicked off the water, emerging from beneath the ball, and gestured frantically to stop them.
As the ball rose, they saw Su Li supporting it, with Jiang Shuijue guarding him.
Jiang Shuijue gestured for everyone to ascend.
The six rafts were nearly piled high with Scale Beast carcasses. The group had returned with a full load, no accidents or casualties, and everyone was in high spirits.
One by one, they surfaced and climbed onto the rafts.
Soon, Su Li surfaced, still holding the massive fleshy ball.
Ding Longyun emerged, exhaled, and couldn't hold back any longer. "Su Li, what the hell is that thing?"
Everyone had been curious about the ball underwater but couldn't speak. Now that they were above water, they all started asking.
"It's a treasure called the Earth Mother. Those fruits you picked underwater? That's all thanks to this thing. I'm going to transplant it onto the floating island—maybe it'll grow a whole orchard."
Hearing Su Li's explanation, everyone was astonished.
"So that's why the plants and trees below are withering now that we've taken it?" Ding Longyun realized.
Su Li nodded at him, impressed by his quick thinking.
Under Su Li's direction, they carefully cleared a raft and, working together, moved the Earth Mother onto it.
As they busied themselves, someone suddenly shouted, "Look, people are coming!"
Su Li mounted his Crocodile-Toothed Turtle and looked into the distance. Several rafts were approaching from afar.
There were at least twenty people standing on those rafts.
Seeing a group approaching, unsure if they were friend or foe, everyone became alert.
"Su Li, should we leave now or wait here?" Ding Longyun asked, noticing the group was still over a kilometer away but clearly heading toward them.
Su Li observed that they were coming from the northeast. Based on the Jin Hui Center building, the northeast direction led to the Financial City Apartments and Fengjing Center Building.
This group likely came from one of those places.
"Stay here for a moment. I'll go see who they are," Su Li said.
He suspected they might be from the Financial City or Fengjing Center, but he couldn't be sure.
Originally, he planned to have Ding Longyun and Wu Feng take the six rafts back to the Golden Eagle Alliance first. But considering the importance of both the Scale Beast carcasses and the Earth Mother, he didn't want to risk it.
If anything went wrong, there would be no time for regrets. So he decided to keep everyone in place, within his sight, while he rode the turtle toward the northeast group to investigate their intentions.
The Crocodile-Toothed Turtle was fast, covering the kilometer quickly. Curious, Gong Xiao mounted her own turtle and followed.
Ling Yi wanted to join, but Gong Xiao glanced at him and said, "These supplies are important. Stay here. I'll go alone."
With that, she gripped her fiery red Immortal Extinguishing Spear and chased after Su Li.
Surprisingly, Ling Yi obeyed Gong Xiao's orders. He nodded and circled the six rafts on his turtle, on guard for any trouble.
Jiang Shuijue watched, pursed her lips, and felt a bit dissatisfied with Gong Xiao ordering her people around.
Su Li rode his turtle toward the approaching group and soon recognized a few familiar faces.