Chapter 178: Deep Dive

Su Li acknowledged this with a nod, then looked at Xu Xuehui. “Little girl, the rest is up to you.”

Xu Xuehui had consistently enhanced her eyes. Now a Level 6 Spiritual Source Wielder, her eyesight had undergone six enhancements. Her vision was incredibly strong; she could see things that were invisible to the others.

Seven rafts, carrying forty people, stopped in the water designated by Jiang Shuijue. There were no buildings visible within three or four hundred meters. The nearest exposed building was over five hundred meters away—a 31-story tower with two floors visible above the water.

Xu Xuehui silently looked down. Su Li ordered everyone to be quiet and not disturb her.

Many people did not know about Xu Xuehui’s special vision, but they respected Su Li. They silenced themselves and quietly watched him and Xu Xuehui.

“Remember, look for scaly wild oxen in the surrounding area. Tell me immediately when you see them,” Su Li instructed.

Xu Xuehui acknowledged him. After watching the water below for several minutes, she finally looked up at Su Li, then pointed about 30 or 40 meters ahead of the raft. “There. Underneath that building. Lots of scaly oxen.”

Su Li recalled Jiang Shuijue’s description of the Sea Cow Beast’s appearance: it looked much like an ordinary wild ox, but its body was covered in black, fish-like scales instead of fur. Its limbs were short and thick, and it had webbed paws instead of hooves, allowing it to swim.

Su Li had asked Xu Xuehui to search for scaly oxen in the water below. Hearing her confirmation, he realized the Sea Cow Beast’s nest was located beneath the water 30 or 40 meters away.

The seven rafts spread out and slowly moved toward the area Xu Xuehui indicated.

“Xuehui, is this the spot?” Su Li pointed ahead. Seeing Xu Xuehui nod, he said, “Alright. You stay here. Don’t come down. At least two people must remain on each raft to guard them. Everyone else, get into the water.”

At Su Li’s command, the people on the seven rafts plunged into the water.

Jiang Shuijue, Gu Mingfeng, Ling Yi, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, Luo Jun, Wu Feng, Ling Tian, Wang Xiaofei, and the others followed Su Li. A total of twenty-six people entered the water, leaving two to guard each of the seven rafts.

The group took a deep breath and sank, seeing a building submerged beneath them.

Based on the distance from the roof to the water surface, they estimated it was a 28-story building.

The building Xu Xuehui mentioned was clearly this one. The 28-story building below them was the Sea Cow Beast’s nest.

Su Li signaled downward. The 26 people scattered and sank, landing on the submerged roof. They then began descending the building.

Su Li reached the top floor of the 28-story building and looked through a window. He immediately saw monsters within.

They were ape-like creatures with snake heads. Their bodies were slightly taller than a human’s, averaging about two meters in height. Su Li activated the “Peering Rune” and identified the monster as the Serpent Ape Beast, a Level 5 Common monster.

The 26 people sinking into the water immediately disturbed the resting Serpent Ape Beasts.

As the group descended to the 28th floor, Serpent Ape Beasts began swimming out of the windows and balconies.

The Serpent Ape Beasts were highly agile in the water. In the blink of an eye, over a dozen of them had emerged.

The group couldn’t speak underwater, relying on hand gestures to communicate. Gong Xiao, Ding Longyun, and Ling Yi, who descended the fastest, wasted no time. Seeing the emerging Serpent Ape Beasts, they immediately attacked.

Ling Yi, holding his crystallized sword, stabbed at a Serpent Ape Beast and quickly killed it. Gong Xiao and Ding Longyun also struck, and soon, the others followed, quickly killing the dozen or so Serpent Ape Beasts.

More Serpent Ape Beasts emerged from the 28th and 27th floors. The group continued to descend. The monsters that emerged now were similar to the Serpent Ape Beasts but bulkier, with four arms. Su Li peered into their data and saw they were Four-Armed Serpent Apes, a Level 6 Common monster. Their strength was greater than the Serpent Ape Beasts, but not significantly so.

Killing these Four-Armed Serpent Apes would yield effective Spiritual Sources for the Level 6 Wielders in the group.

Gong Xiao and Ling Yi, the fastest to descend, were now at the 24th floor of the building. Gong Xiao’s phoenix eyes shone brightly. She had finally found the legendary Sea Cow Beast.

As Su Li had described, the Sea Cow Beast’s body was similar to a common wild ox. It weighed over a thousand jin. Its body was covered in fish scales. Its limbs were short and thick, and it had webbed paws instead of hooves, allowing it to swim.

Su Li activated the “Peering Rune” and discovered the Sea Cow Beast, like the Four-Armed Serpent Ape, was a Level 6 Common monster.

Gong Xiao and Ling Yi immediately attacked the Sea Cow Beast below. Su Li and Ding Longyun followed close behind.

With their strength, killing this Level 6 Common Beast was not difficult. Although the Sea Cow Beast had tough scales, its abdomen was soft and easily cleaved.

Ling Yi quickly struck, his crystallized sword slicing open the Sea Cow Beast’s abdomen.

Internal organs and blood flowed out from the wound. Ling Yi harvested one ineffective Spiritual Source. He reached out and grabbed one of the horns on the Sea Cow Beast’s head. He pulled the thousand-jin-heavy corpse and began swimming upward.

Two people immediately swam down to assist him. The three gripped the Sea Cow Beast’s body and swam upward with all their might.

Gong Xiao also succeeded, killing a Sea Cow Beast. Su Li signaled, and two people swam down to assist Gong Xiao. The three pulled the Sea Cow Beast’s body upward.

Serpent Ape Beasts and Four-Armed Serpent Apes blocked their way. Five or six people stayed above, killing the attacking monsters and protecting the groups transporting the Sea Cow Beast corpses. They quickly cut a path, and both Sea Cow Beast corpses were delivered to the water surface.

The people remaining on the seven large rafts quickly helped haul the Sea Cow Beast corpses onto the rafts.

To accommodate these thousand-jin-heavy Sea Cow Beasts, Su Li had ordered them to construct seven large rafts, reinforced underneath with life preservers, plastic barrels, and tires to increase buoyancy. Although the Golden Eagle Alliance was short on food, they had collected many such buoyant materials, which were now used to reinforce the rafts. Both thousand-jin Sea Cow Beast corpses were placed on the nearest raft. The raft only dipped slightly, remaining stable. Clearly, it could carry another one.

Sea Cow Beasts continued to appear from below the 24th floor. Su Li drew the Dragon Rhino Sword. The sword was metal-cutting, and the Sea Cow Beast’s scales were no match for it. He easily severed the heads of two Sea Cow Beasts.

Jiang Shuijue, Luo Jun, and Ding Longyun quickly swam down, grabbing the two headless Sea Cow Beast corpses and bringing them upward.

The water below was slowly turning red, stained by the blood of the slain Sea Cow Beasts and the discarded Serpent Ape corpses. Only the Sea Cow Beast corpses were useful; the corpses of the Serpent Ape Beasts were left behind to sink, their blood staining the water.

Su Li signaled for the group to stop at the 24th floor and wait for the Sea Cow Beasts to come up. They should not descend any further.

The deeper the water, the more dangerous it was. No one knew what lurked in the depths. Su Li was extremely cautious for the safety of the group.

Sea Cow Beasts continued to appear from the deep water below. Suddenly, a new variant of the Sea Cow Beast appeared among them. This one was larger, and its limbs were white. Su Li quickly activated the “Peering Rune” and saw that it was a White-Limbed Sea Cow, a Level 7 Common monster.

Killing the Level 7 White-Limbed Sea Cow would grant him an effective Spiritual Source. Su Li brandished the Dragon Rhino Sword and charged toward the monster.

He still needed 39 Spiritual Sources to reach Level 8 and unlock the mysterious Blood Crystal, which he was extremely curious about.

Although he knew that diving deeper would lead to more powerful monsters, the deep water was a place of extreme risk and opportunity. Even with his strength, he was unwilling to dive too deep unless absolutely necessary. Since the goal was to hunt the Sea Cow Beast, which was vital for the entire Golden Eagle Alliance’s survival, he had to take the risk.

(End of Chapter)

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