Seeing the speed and power of his strikes, Su Li knew he could now kill these two water rats without issue. After the two water rats were slain, Ding Longyun absorbed their spirit sources, took a deep breath, and felt his chest enveloped by waves of heat as his broken bones accelerated their healing. “Too bad there aren’t higher-level monsters; otherwise, I’d heal faster,” Ding Longyun said with some regret. Su Li suggested, “Want to toss some corpses down to lure more monsters?” Ding Longyun was startled and quickly shook his head. “Forget it, tonight’s enough. My injuries aren’t serious. With all these spirit sources I’ve just gotten, a night’s rest should heal the broken bones. I think everyone’s tired—time to rest.” Su Li hummed in agreement, though a bit reluctant. He wanted to level up to a 4th-tier spirit source user as soon as possible and catch up to Ding Longyun, but he understood the man’s reasoning. After fighting all night, both mentally and physically, they were exhausted. Especially after the battle with the giant crab, Su Li felt his heart straining under the load. Though he now possessed a thousand jin of strength and could unleash unimaginable power, his stamina was lacking, making prolonged combat difficult. At the end of the corridor ahead, a few corpse beasts and a water rat were still locked in a struggle, tearing at each other. From the floors below, occasional growls and sounds of fighting drifted up, indicating that scattered monsters still lurked in this three-story building. Of course, not all monsters targeted the three of them. These spirit source beasts also fought and devoured each other’s flesh. Like them, these beasts could evolve. Su Li and the others walked down the corridor. The corpse beasts and water rat at the end stopped their fight and turned toward them. Ding Longyun ignored the charging creatures and opened a security door, stepping inside. The water rat, the fastest, reached the door and reared up, jaws wide, ready to lunge at Su Li, who stood by the entrance. Su Li swung his iron rod with precision, and the water rat’s head exploded instantly, killing it on the spot. After tonight’s battles, despite the dangers, Su Li had gained more combat experience. His aim had become sharper—the rod struck the water rat squarely in the center of its forehead, neither left nor right. He silently praised himself, “Perfect.” A message echoed in his mind. “3rd-tier spirit source user: Spirit source 9/30” After killing the water rat, the few staggering low-level corpse beasts stopped, as if hesitating. “Looks like these low-level corpse beasts have developed simple intelligence,” Su Li murmured to himself. He guessed they were hesitant and afraid, so he raised his rod in a threatening stance. Sure enough, the beasts retreated, turning and scurrying away without attacking him. Lowering the rod, Su Li let out a soft breath. He and Xu Xuehui entered the room and closed the door. Ding Longyun had already stripped off his blood-soaked clothes and lay on the bed. Though he had absorbed several spirit sources, a broken bone was no trivial matter, especially while it was healing. He dared not move recklessly, fearing the bone might set wrong and cause trouble. Su Li listened closely. Occasionally, sounds of spirit source beasts fighting or growling drifted up from below. “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine,” Ding Longyun said from the bed, exhaling softly. “These leftover stragglers won’t cause trouble for long; they’ll leave soon. The doors and windows here are sealed. If a monster could break in, we’d be woken up. For now, just sleep peacefully. Of course, keep your weapon by the bed, ready for a fight at any time.” His steel shovel was propped against the headboard. Su Li knew he was right. The bed they were sleeping on was in the living room, which had no windows. The door was a security door, virtually indestructible. The doors leading to other rooms with windows were locked. This meant that for a monster to reach the living room and harm them, it would first have to break the sealed windows outside, then the door to the living room. By the time it got in, they’d already be awake and ready to fight. Placing his iron rod by the bed, Su Li changed out of his bloodstained clothes and collapsed onto the mattress. Only then did he feel the ache all over his body. Though his mind was still alert, his body was utterly exhausted. “Only now that I’m lying down do I realize how tired I am tonight,” Su Li said. “Even absorbing spirit sources can’t ease this fatigue.” Ding Longyun sighed. “Yeah, and the monsters are getting stronger and more numerous. Last night, I tossed out a similar number of corpses, but the monsters that showed up were nowhere near as terrifying or as many as tonight. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead.” “And thanks to the girl, too,” Ding Longyun added, glancing at Xu Xuehui. She had played a big role in helping him escape the giant crab’s fatal attack. Su Li hummed in agreement. “Yeah, Xuehui reacted quickly. I thought it was too late at the time.” Xu Xuehui quickly shook her head, her face flushing slightly, clearly embarrassed by the praise. “It seems these spirit source beasts are evolving too. Brother Ding, based on this, will the monsters tomorrow night be even stronger than tonight’s?” Ding Longyun’s tone grew heavy. “That’s what I’m worried about. These things are evolving too fast. If something even more powerful shows up tomorrow night, can the three of us hold out?” Su Li had been thinking the same thing. Though he now had a thousand jin of strength, he wasn’t invincible. Earlier, a single giant crab had taken a long struggle to kill. If two appeared at once, or something stronger, he’d be hard-pressed to handle it. And failing to handle it meant death—that was the harsh reality they faced. After a moment, Su Li asked, “What if we don’t toss the corpses into the water? Would that be better?” Ding Longyun sighed again. “Not tossing them would be worse. The monsters would appear randomly, and we’d probably get no sleep all night, constantly on edge, with monsters showing up at any time. Tossing the corpses concentrates their appearances.” Su Li understood this well. In the past two days, when he stayed at his own place and didn’t toss corpses into the water, the monsters’ appearances were indeed irregular, nothing like the concentrated attacks tonight.