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

The priest waved his staff, and a concentrated dark red blood arrow shot out, carrying intense corrosive and soul-tearing energy.

Liu Nian neither dodged nor avoided the arrow, taking it head-on.

-12! (Shield absorption)

The damage wasn't high, but the accompanying "Soul Pain" effect made him frown slightly—a sharp, stinging pain that directly affects the mind.

But that's all.

The distance between the two sides was reduced to ten meters.

The priest seemed to realize that ranged attacks were ineffective, let out a shriek, and its body suddenly expanded, tearing its tattered robes to reveal the writhing, proliferating flesh and bone spurs beneath. It then swung its staff like a warhammer and smashed down—it had entered melee mode!

Unstoppable!

Liu Nian transformed into a dark red streak of light and crashed head-on into the oncoming flesh and blood priest!

boom!!!

-43,553,859!

The priest's massive body was sent flying by the impact, letting out a long, mournful howl that was a mixture of pain and relief. His body exploded, turning into a foul mixture of flesh and blood that rained down.

[Defeat the Flesh and Blood Fusion Priest (Lv.65 Lord) to gain experience points...]

[Hellish curse activated, gain 3 Souls]

[Items obtained: Bloodstained Diary x1, Unstable Flesh Core x7, Priest's Sutures x50]

Liu Nian picked up the blood-stained notebook from the filth and found a stone tablet by the blood pool.

The stone carving depicts a woman dressed in a magnificent robe. Liu Nian guessed that this might be Arachne, the master of this floating city. She stands on a high platform, below which are countless kneeling, half-human, half-spider creatures. Behind the platform, the outline of a city can be vaguely seen.

The contents of the diary are:

> ...My mentor replied. He called my research a "blasphemy against the sanctity of life," a "shortcut to the inhuman abyss." He didn't understand. Flesh and blood decay, plants wither, metal rusts, only the fabric of arcane magic and soul can approach eternity. I will prove him right.

> ...Today, we successfully separated Carol's consciousness from her dying body and injected it into the wounded demon spider. The fusion process lasted seventeen seconds, during which Carol let out a non-human scream. The final product survived for three days, able to execute simple commands, but incapable of any logical thought. Failure. But the direction was correct. I need a more powerful vessel, a more stable soul adhesive...

> ...They started looking at me with fear. Even my most capable assistant, Hans, was trembling as he handed in his report this morning. Ridiculous. Don't they understand that what we are creating is a completely new existence that transcends ordinary life forms? Shortsighted.

Liu Nian seemed to be deep in thought. Hans was the BOSS he had just killed, one of the "assistants" who conducted these experiments back then, and now he had become this horrible figure.

This diary probably doesn't belong to Hans; it should belong to Arachne.

Liu Nian carefully put away the diary. It was dropped by the BOSS and might be a quest item.

He gave a brief report in the team chat: "Northeast Blood Pool area, killed a Flesh Priest, found experimental records and stone carvings. The stone carvings show that Arachne was presiding over some kind of ritual, and obtained a diary."

Wu Zhan replied "Received" in the channel.

By this time, a considerable amount of information had been gathered about him. From the information pieced together so far, it seemed that the city lord Arachne was a very learned fellow with a very wide range of research areas. He was a Grand Archmage himself, but he was also proficient in a series of knowledge such as forging, metallurgy, identification, architecture, and engineering. Later, he also studied necromancy and flesh magic, and in the later stages, he seemed to be tackling the problem of "immortality," creating a large number of laboratories.

Currently, it has been discovered that he is researching five directions: one is ascending to become a pure arcane energy body, another is the consciousness stripping and transfer technique known as the Carol Experiment, the third is mechanical ascension, the fourth is flesh and blood and collective consciousness network, namely the hive mind network, and the last is becoming a demigod lich...

Wu Zhan studied the secrets behind this information, while the others continued their exploration. About an hour later, the main area of ​​the second floor was explored, and everyone gathered at the entrance to the third floor. Wu Zhan shared the information he had obtained with everyone.

Then everyone took out the various diaries, notes, and other records they had received and checked them against each other.

Liu Nian glanced at it and found that although there were many diaries and biographies, the only one that matched his content was the diary page that Chen Suan had obtained on the first floor. Both of them seemed to be Arachne's own diary.

Liu Nian looked through it and found a problem: the material and notes on the front of the diary were the same, but the pattern on the back was different, and it seemed that they could be pieced together.

However, because it's only two pages long, we can't see any clues yet, but this is a direction we're looking for.

Before the metal staircase leading to the third floor, Wu Zhan gave everyone a short rest and took stock of what they had gained on this floor.

Compared to the first layer, which mainly consists of basic building materials and scattered blueprints, the second layer's output is significantly more focused on "advanced materials" and "experimental byproducts."

For example, the Unstable Flesh Core, which is obtained from various flesh aberrations, can be used to make powerful life-restoring potions, as a driving core for special flesh constructs, or as a casting material for certain dark rituals.

In addition, you can obtain "Priest's Stitching" from flesh priests and similar humanoid monsters. It is an excellent material for crafting high-level leather and cloth armor, or for performing certain biological stitching and repair surgeries.

There are also items suitable for necromancers, dark warlocks, or shadow priests, such as [Arcane-Infused Aberrant Bone].

However, compared to various blueprints and formulas, these things are child's play.

[Blueprint: Flesh Furnace], [Blueprint: Symbiotic Armor], [Recipe: Web-Weaving Neurotoxin], [Blueprint: Simple Biological Cultivation Chamber], [Design: Bone Rune Inlay Technique], [Fire-Element High-Grade Gem Synthesis Recipe]...

And so on, these things have a wider range of applications and potential uses.

Finally, there are some quest-related items, or clues, such as Arachne's Bloodstained Diary (two pages).

There are also faded arcane insignia, broken communication crystal fragments, several stone rubbings, ashes of unmailed letters, and so on. Who knows when the contents recorded on these things might come in handy.

After resting for a while, the group continued their journey to the third level.

Descending the metal stairs, the environment changes drastically once again.

The damp, sticky organic feeling quickly faded, replaced by dry, cold air and a rich aroma of minerals and primal energy.

The third level is a huge combination of a natural cave and a man-made excavation.