Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

They emitted a silent, soul-piercing shriek, raised their illusory arms, and unleashed a chaotic barrage of incomplete arcane missiles, ice spikes, and sparks.

At the same time, from several hidden shadows, came heavy footsteps, the sound of metal scraping against rock.

Several towering, three-meter-tall, structured patrolmen (Lv.62 elites) made of dark metal and magical stone stepped out with stiff gait. Their eyes flashed with a cold red light as they scanned the intruders, their arms transforming into rotating saw blades or firing ports.

"Range units, focus fire on the wraiths! Melee units, hold off the constructs! Watch out for the cracks underfoot and those abnormal spatial folds!" Wu Zhan quickly commanded.

Battle broke out.

The ghosts' attack power isn't particularly high, but their numbers are considerable, and their attacks inflict mild mental interference and arcane corruption. Constructs, on the other hand, are tough and resilient, their attacks are powerful and heavy, and they also have some knockback and armor-piercing effects.

However, this human exploration team was far stronger than an ordinary level 60 team.

With a wave of her hand, Yun Xiangrong unleashed a chain of lightning bolts that leaped through the horde of ghosts, instantly clearing the area.

Jiang Yi summoned a rain of abyssal fire that covered the other side.

The area-of-effect attacks of other mages and hunters were also efficiently clearing out the mobs.

Wang Mu, along with several paladins and warriors, steadily withstood the frontal assault, while Yelena led her men to flank from the side. Several rogues and hunters with engineering skills scattered to search for hidden doors and treasure chests.

Liu Nian didn't rush to make a move, but instead observed the surroundings.

This is a city ruin, and it's quite large. Judging by the size of the first level, it's about half the size of the ruins of Ascalon. We don't know how many more levels there are yet, but if this is an inverted mountain, then the area should decrease as you go down.

The initial battle ended within ten minutes. All the players involved were elite players. Although they were all around level 60, their strength was far beyond that level. After this effortless probing, everyone agreed that they could split into small groups and explore the area quickly. Otherwise, given the size of this secret realm, it would take forever to explore.

So it's better to spread out and explore on your own. If you find anything, just report it in the channel. If you encounter a difficult monster, just ask for help.

The Secret Realm is not a dungeon; there are no fixed procedures or strategies, and it offers a higher degree of freedom.

Soon, the forty-person team scattered like a swarm of bees, disappearing into the shadows of the upside-down city. The team chat channel quickly became lively, with text messages scrolling by:

[Wang Mu]: I found an abandoned casting table with unfinished constructs on it. Arcane conductive metal can be extracted from it. I'm too slow on my own, so I need two people with high engineering skills to come and assist me.

[Lin Ying]: A hidden storage room has been found below the high platform in the northwest corner. There is a magic lock at the door. Whoever has a high lock-picking level, please do so. Be careful, monsters may jump out after you pick the lock.

[Ning Xue]: @[Jiang Yi], there's a spatial fluctuation at the end of the south corridor. I suspect it's the entrance to the folding warehouse. Can you come here?

[Sun Yao]: Cleared out a wave of "Weaving Servant" and got "Broken Silk Pouch of Daughter of Arachne x3", which seems to be a quest item? Has anyone received a related quest?

There were also distress calls:

[Li Xun]: Help! We've encountered a "Spellbreaker (Lv.63 Lord)" in the lower west corridor! It's a magic-immune unit that can cast area-of-effect silence webs! Su Wan and I are trapped!

[Zhang Hanshan]: A trap was triggered deep in the East District, activating three "Autonomous Defense Turrets - Modified (Lv.61 Elite)". They have an extremely long range and are equipped with armor-piercing and incendiary shells. The advance is slow... Can a mage provide support?

Liu Nian watched for a while and didn't find anything particularly dangerous, so he tagged Lin Ying. His equipment had a maxed-out lockpicking ability, so he went straight to unlock it.

It's not far away; it's located in some kind of building ruins.

There were no monsters nearby, only a silver treasure chest locked by a semi-transparent purple energy chain.

Lin Ying gave her directions and then left.

Liu Nian immediately started opening the box, and as Lin Ying had predicted, a large monster that looked like a spider jumped out.

【Arcane Webweaver - Aberrant (Lv.63 Lord)】

Step forward and charge straight in, unstoppable momentum at the start!

boom--!

The monster exploded like a punctured balloon, splattering eerie blue energy liquid everywhere. Its mangled body twitched twice before collapsing with a crash.

[Slay Arcane Webweaver Aberration (Lv.63 Lord), gain experience points...]

[Hellish curse activated, gain 3 Souls]

[Items obtained: Arachne's Weaving Gland x10, Silent Spider Web x5, Arcane Silk Sac x12]

Then they opened another treasure chest, which contained a blueprint for an elemental water purification tower.

Elemental Water Purification Tower: Building this structure in your city will provide the city with a 5% detoxification efficiency. Up to 3 of these structures can be built.

Liu Nian put the items away and began exploring while keeping an eye on the messages in the channel.

For the next two hours, Liu Nian would appear wherever there were boss-level monsters, treasure chests, or large groups of monsters, or stone doors that needed to be broken through by force.

The team's reports are becoming increasingly comprehensive:

[Zhang Hanshan]: Discovered 'Unfinished Floating City Power Furnace Blueprint (Fragment 1/3)'!

[Du Weize]: The mineral vein sample library has been found, containing high-level materials such as 'Void Meteorite Iron' and 'Star Sand'.

[Chen Suan]: Open a locked display case and find a page of 'log' that mentions 'immortality experiment' and 'soul web'...

[Shi Jian]: There is a downward shaft here, sealed by a metal fence with a magical seal. It requires the corresponding key or a powerful tool to break through.

[Wu Tao]: Who got the Broken Silk Pouch of the Daughter of Arachne earlier? I can use it!

Wu Zhan kept summarizing the information in the channel and marking it on the exploration map.

"The first layer is estimated to be over 80% cleared. The harvest is more abundant than expected, especially the blueprints and materials, which will be of great help to the construction of Longcheng."

Wu Zhan nodded in satisfaction: "There should be more good stuff in the lower level. The seal under the shaft seems to be the key to the lower level."

After a moment of contemplation, Wu Zhan said in the channel, "Send a few more people to the vertical shaft to check what's going on."

A moment later, someone replied: "You can go to the next level from here."

"Great, in half an hour, we'll meet at the shaft entrance and head to the next level."

In half an hour, the players searched every corner of the first floor, getting mostly various materials and blueprints, a small number of gems, but no equipment or anything like that, and the monsters weren't particularly troublesome.

Half an hour later, as everyone gathered in the shaft, Liu Nian took the lead and jumped down.