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

The behemoth vanished into the void, while Liu Nian was directly teleported back to the floating city of Anaxim.

Here, various restoration works are being carried out in an orderly manner, creating a bustling scene of everything waiting to be rebuilt.

The five NPC dwarves who were previously fooled by Liu Nian have all become "contractors" here, each leading a large number of engineering robots, spider elves, and transformed abyssal dwarves, and are responsible for their respective areas.

Although the floating city was still dilapidated, the clanging sounds of construction and brief instructions could be heard, as if it had regained a glimmer of life.

Arachne was in what used to be the central library, now cleared out, consulting ancient texts while keeping a close eye on the construction progress. Upon seeing Liu Nian return, she gracefully set down her books.

"Master, how did the trip to Eternal Darkness Lake go?"

"The harvest was good, but we encountered some trouble." Liu Nian briefly described what he had seen and heard at Eternal Dark Lake, his brief confrontation with Kalon, the rebirth of the behemoth, and the strange defensive barrier of the underwater undead city.

"...The barrier's recovery speed is ridiculously fast. When I attack, it feels like the force is absorbed by the entire lake. I suspect that unless we drain Eternal Dark Lake, we won't have a good way to deal with that city for the time being," Liu Nian concluded with a frown.

Arachne listened quietly, her starry eyes gleaming as she quickly analyzed the information Liu Nian provided.

When she heard Liu Nian's description of the barrier's properties, a look of realization flashed in her eyes.

"Master, now that you mention it, the city of the dead itself might not be the key," Arachne said. "The truly valuable thing is probably the Lake of Eternal Darkness itself."

"The lake itself?" Liu Nian asked thoughtfully.

"Yes," Arachne affirmed. "Based on your description, the barrier can instantly absorb the energy of the entire lake to repair itself, the attack power is diluted and dispersed by the lake water, and the lake water contains a unique, deathly, chilling attribute that can weaken external forces... These characteristics remind me of a rare situation: this Eternal Dark Lake may not be a simple body of water, but rather... possessing some kind of rudimentary, chaotic 'collective will' or 'elemental spirit'."

She further explained: "In arcane theory and elemental doctrine, certain natural wonders that have existed for extremely long periods of time, in special environments, and with highly concentrated and stable energy, may give birth to a vague 'territorial will' under the influence of countless years and special rules. It does not have clear wisdom, but is more like an instinctive 'collection of rules' that maintains its own existence and characteristics. After the sinking of ancient cities, the drowning and resentment of countless lives, and the long-term management by the Lord of the Dead, the Lake of Eternal Darkness may have evolved into such an existence—a huge 'water element/death element complex' with a bias towards death and coldness, or rather, a sleeping, territorial 'lake soul'."

"To deal with something like this," Arachne shrugged, a hint of helplessness in his eyes, "conventional attack methods are indeed ineffective. Attacking the barrier is like attacking the 'skin' or 'domain' of the entire lake; the force will be dispersed, neutralized, and transformed by the sheer volume of water. Unless you can instantly evaporate or drain the entire lake—which would require far more energy than we currently possess—it's very difficult to break through it physically. It's almost 'unafraid' of any single-point or area-based attack because the attack is too insignificant relative to its overall 'quantity'."

Liu Nian stroked his chin: "So, in other words, we're completely helpless against it for the time being?"

"If we're talking about a direct assault, that's certainly true," Arachne nodded, but then changed the subject. "However, on the other hand, this natural wonder, possessing its own will and powerful domain characteristics, would be an excellent defensive measure if... it could be subdued or guided. Imagine how formidable that barrier would be if the power of the Eternal Darkness Lake could be channeled around the city to form a moat or defensive domain!"

Liu Nian's eyes lit up, but he immediately shook his head: "The idea is good, but how do we subdue them?"

Arachne pondered for a moment: "If it were when the floating city had sufficient energy and the psionic core was stable, perhaps we could try a 'forceful transplant' approach."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

"Using the powerful spatial tearing and energy guiding capabilities of the psionic core, we will forcibly open a stable spatial rift or energy siphon channel between Eternal Dark Lake and the floating city." Arachne traced a path in the air with his finger. "We will continuously 'extract' and 'drain' the water from Eternal Dark Lake into our pre-designed 'container' or 'new riverbed' until it is completely drained!"

Liu Nian imagined the scene. How should I put it? It was like one of those live streamers who "rents out a pond, drains it, and catches fish."

"But the prerequisite is that our 'channel' must be sturdy enough to withstand the resistance of the lake's will and the energy impact, and that we have enough power to maintain the stability of the spatial channel," Arachne added. "Given the current state of the floating city, this is completely impossible."

Liu Nianwen frowned: "Is there any other way?"

Arachne paused for a moment, then said, "There is another theoretically feasible method, but it is too large and impractical to be practical."

She turned around: "Do you remember when we detonated the volcano, severely damaged the goblin fortress, and accidentally opened a portal to the fire elemental plane?"

Liu Nian nodded.

"We can try... artificial diversion," Arachne said dramatically. "Using the dwarves and our existing engineering capabilities, along with dwarven laborers, we can try to dig and guide a fire channel from the Scorched Rift or a branch of the nearby lava river to the Everdark Lake. This will continuously introduce scorching lava into the Everdark Lake."

"When the lake water comes into contact with the magma, it will trigger a violent explosion and evaporation, producing massive amounts of steam and toxic gases. At the same time, the high temperature will continuously disrupt the lake's energy balance, weakening or even 'boiling' the lake's will. In the long run, Eternal Dark Lake may be completely evaporated or turned into a pot of boiling poisonous soup, naturally exposing the undead city. But..."

"But the scale of the project is terrifying, right?" Liu Nian chimed in, "and we won't get any benefits at all."

Given the sheer scale of this "spectacle" of engineering work, Liu Nian wondered if it would be recorded again in the "Cyber ​​Hell: Chronicles of Events".

Forget it, I don't have the energy to do that right now; the scale of the project sounds like a pipe dream.

With their current manpower and technical reserves, it would be impossible for them to complete this in less than a few years, and the process would inevitably alarm many parties and trigger unpredictable chain reactions.

"Exactly," Arachne said with a wry smile. "Moreover, even if we succeed, all we'll get is a polluted ruin, possibly still containing deadly toxins and raging fire elements, losing the value of Everdark Lake as a natural barrier and potential resource point. It's a lose-lose situation."

"Forget it." Liu Nian stood up. "We won't do a deal that's not worthwhile." He looked at Arachne. "Our goal is to increase our strength as soon as possible, repair the floating city, and prepare for the war between the six races. As for Eternal Dark Lake... we'll treat it as a 'leveling area' for now."

"Leveling area..." Arachne repeated in a low voice.

"That's right." A glint of light flashed in Liu Nian's eyes. "Without the whale, Kalon's strength must be greatly reduced. He's hiding in the Eternal Dark Lake and won't come out, but there are still a large number of level 80-90 undead waterfolk outside. For most human players, this is an excellent high-level leveling spot! Team up and slowly clear them out; you can gain experience, level up, collect undead materials, and weaken Kalon's strength—a win-win situation."