The raft shot forward like an arrow, hurtling straight toward the corpse beast that had just surfaced, reaching it in the blink of an eye.
There was no time to steer the raft out of the way now. Fearing the raft would be damaged on impact with the corpse beast, Su Li quickly slid into the water first, using his body to shield the raft.
The raft carried a heavy load, and once it gained speed, stopping it wasn’t easy. Su Li could only rely on his body to brake it. The raft pushed him through the water for several meters before slowly coming to a halt. By then, the corpse beast, its head emerging from the water, had already extended its arms and appeared before him, reaching for his neck.
Su Li shot out both hands, grabbing the corpse beast’s arms simultaneously. With a crisp crack, he snapped its arms, then shoved hard, pushing its upper body onto the raft.
“Come over here, it’s yours.” Su Li had no interest in such low-level corpse beasts. As a Level 2 Spirit Source user now, killing these weak creatures yielded Spirit Source that was useless to him, so he might as well let Xu Xuehui handle it.
He had explained a lot about low-level corpse beasts to her earlier. Hearing his command, Xu Xuehui gripped her hammer tightly and carefully walked over from the raft.
The corpse beast, its arms broken by Su Li, was pinned to the raft. Though it still struggled, it couldn’t get up.
“Hurry!” Seeing Xu Xuehui hesitate, Su Li couldn’t help shouting anxiously, because he noticed the water ahead churning—more corpse beasts were emerging, surrounding them.
A large number of corpse beasts had gathered in the water ahead.
Urged by Su Li, Xu Xuehui finally gripped the iron hammer with both hands and swung it down at the corpse beast’s head on the raft.
The hammer struck the head but didn’t crack it open; her swing lacked enough force.
Seeing several more corpse beasts surging forward, Su Li cursed under his breath. He grabbed the pinned corpse beast, yanked it up, and shoved it toward the oncoming ones, while his right hand seized a meter-long iron rod and swung it hard.
With his strength and the heavy rod’s impact, the corpse beast he struck had its head crushed instantly, sinking straight into the water.
Su Li steadied himself with his left hand on the raft’s edge, paddling with his feet to slowly move the raft forward while charging at the approaching corpse beasts. His right hand swung the iron rod repeatedly; each hit shattered bones and tore flesh, sending the beasts sinking.
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his legs—something was pulling him. A corpse beast from the depths had grabbed his legs from below, dragging him underwater.
These corpse beasts weren’t strong individually, but swarming together made them troublesome. Su Li lowered the iron rod and stabbed it at the head of the beast holding his legs.
The rod pierced its skull, blood spurting out. Su Li kicked hard, freeing one foot, and stomped on the beast’s face, pushing it down. Using the buoyancy, he shot back to the surface, grabbed the raft’s edge, and climbed aboard quickly.
He realized fighting in the water with these beasts was too dangerous; it was safer to get back on the raft.
Once Su Li was back on the raft, more corpse beasts surged from the water, mimicking him by grabbing the raft’s edge and trying to climb up.
Su Li swung his iron rod at their exposed heads, smashing three in quick succession.
Their heads crushed, they sank into the water.
Though Spirit Source flowed toward him and was absorbed, no notification appeared in his mind. These corpse beasts were too low-level; their Spirit Source had negligible effect on him, barely aiding his evolution.
More and more low-level corpse beasts emerged from the water, swarming the raft like locusts. Su Li frowned. The three-story building above the water was less than forty meters away, but that final stretch felt impossibly far.
Surrounded by these beasts, the raft had stopped. Worse, more and more were climbing aboard, causing the raft to rock violently and sink deeper.
The raft carried all the supplies Su Li had painstakingly gathered. If it capsized or was destroyed, days of effort would be wasted.
Su Li roared in frustration, struggling to keep his balance on the swaying raft as he swung the iron rod relentlessly. Each strike, fueled by his strength, killed a corpse beast.
Xu Xuehui clung to the ropes tied around the raft, trying to steady herself as it rocked, her face pale with terror as she saw the beasts closing in.
More and more corpse beasts fell to Su Li’s blows. Some sank, while others floated as corpses around them.
Suddenly, a violent disturbance erupted beneath the water. A dark shadow shot up from below, clamping its jaws onto a corpse beast’s neck.
The beast’s neck caught, it flailed its arms weakly, struggling.
Su Li’s heart jolted.
The creature that had burst from the depths and bitten the corpse beast’s neck was a giant gray rat—a Water Rat Beast, the same kind he had killed before.
Water Rat Beasts were Level 2 common-type Spirit Source Beasts, far stronger than corpse beasts. Now, one had emerged from the deep, biting a corpse beast and dragging it under. Another Water Rat Beast appeared, ignoring the other corpse beasts and charging straight at the raft.
The corpse beasts around the raft seemed startled, releasing it and scattering as if afraid of the Water Rat Beasts.
Su Li tightened his grip on the iron rod, veins bulging on the back of his hand. He hadn’t expected that the swarm of corpse beasts here would attract the more dangerous Water Rat Beasts. One might not be a problem, but if a group showed up, it would be disastrous—these beasts were far more terrifying than corpse beasts.
As the Water Rat Beast opened its jaws and lunged onto the raft at incredible speed, Su Li steadied himself, pausing for a moment. Then, watching the beast closely, he stepped forward and swung the iron rod.
Keeping balance on the rocking raft was hard enough, let alone attacking. Though Su Li aimed for the Water Rat Beast’s head, his right foot pressed a bit too hard on the raft, causing it to dip slightly. His body tilted forward, and a hair’s breadth became a mile’s miss—the rod grazed past the beast’s head, hitting nothing.