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

About an hour later, all the large equipment was assembled and tested.

The Naga engineers connected the thick energy conduits, the energy pumps emitted a deep rumble, and the crystals at the top of the temporary energy transmission tower began to gather a ghostly blue light.

On the Rusty Dynasty's side, the Tidal Core has already synchronized with the frequency, ready to tear open the spatial channel at any time.

A particularly tall male Naga overseer slithered up to Liu Nian and bowed respectfully: "My lord, everything is ready. We may begin drawing water from the lake."

Liu Nian nodded, his gaze sweeping across the increasingly restless lake surface: "I'll keep an eye on Karon inside. Let's begin."

"Yes, sir! Notify the technicians over there to activate the 'Tidal Reversal' array simultaneously, at maximum power!" The warlord turned around, raised his scepter inlaid with a huge sapphire, and gave the order loudly.

All the Naga engineers simultaneously placed their hands on the rune plates they controlled, frantically pouring in magic. The temporary energy transmission tower shone brightly, and a thick, eerie blue beam shot straight into the sky!

"Boom—!!!"

A deep, thunderous roar seemed to echo across the heavens and earth!

The sky in the center of Eternal Dark Lake was torn open by powerful energy, creating a spatial rift several meters wide that flickered with unstable blue-purple light!

The next moment, a huge whirlpool with a diameter of more than ten meters appeared out of thin air at the corresponding location in the center of the lake!

The pitch-black, viscous lake water was violently torn and swirled by an irresistible, violent force, forming an incredibly thick, upward-flowing black waterspout that shot straight into the crack in the sky!

The roar of the water jets was deafening, as if thousands of souls were wailing.

The water level is dropping rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The exposed lakeshore revealed ghastly skeletons and rusted weapons, soaked for countless years, followed by half-collapsed city walls, twisted sculptures, and streets covered in thick silt...

Liu Nian's gaze was fixed on the center of the lake and any powerful undead aura that might appear.

However, as expected, Karon did not appear, nor did any of the slightly more powerful undead leaders. Instead, a large number of low-level undead water creatures, drowned zombies, skeletal warriors, and amphibious undead were swept up like trash by the water dragon and sucked into the rift in the sky.

The powerful potential energy will pulverize all the undead caught in it, leaving them unable to even scream.

"Where's Caron?" Liu Nian frowned slightly.

Based on his understanding of that cunning undead lord, he knew that the other party would never sit idly by and watch his lair be destroyed.

The only explanation is that either Caron sensed the danger beforehand and escaped, or he hid in a deeper, more secluded place at the bottom of the lake, waiting for his chance.

The pumping process lasted for three hours. When the last bit of mud was sucked into the crack, the entire Yong'an Lake dried up completely, revealing its true face that had been hidden for countless years.

What unfolds before everyone's eyes is a large-scale, well-organized ancient city ruin.

The city as a whole radiates outward in a concentric circle structure, occupying a huge lake basin area.

Most of the buildings are constructed from a type of black stone with natural wave-like patterns, exhibiting a unique yet unified style. Despite enduring the erosion and water pressure of the past few years, the main structures of many buildings remain relatively intact.

In the center of the city stands the tallest palace complex, its former grandeur still faintly visible. Exquisite spiral and wave patterns remain on the palace domes and pillars, along with some illegible hieroglyphs that seem to record the secrets of the tides and the abyss.

The surrounding area features neat residential areas, well-planned workshops, spacious market squares, and even remnants of public buildings resembling temples, schools, and theaters.

The entire city silently tells the story of the past glory of an ancient civilization that worshipped water and darkness and has long since vanished.

As the lake receded, the undead creatures remaining in the city ruins were exposed to the air. They let out silent howls and began to instinctively surge towards the areas where the living gathered.

However, without the advantage of their home waters, these undead pose a much smaller threat.

Liu Nian didn't stand on ceremony and immediately transformed into a cleaner, wiping away the spirits of the dead.

Arachne's gaze swept over the ancient city. Judging from the city's style, it seemed to be related to the "Deep Divers" or some lost ocean-worshipping civilization. However, she had no information on this in her mind. The Silverscale Naga should know more about it.

These black stones are Abyssal Obsidian, which has excellent energy conductivity and magic resistance, making it an excellent building and enchanting material.

As Arachne analyzed the situation, he looked toward a platform that was noticeably higher than the other buildings behind the palace complex in the city center.

There are remnants of the base of a large energy device there, which is very likely the key to Charon's control over the energy of the Eternal Dark Lake.

Following Arachne's directions, Liu Nian saw on the platform the large and complex magic circle markings and some broken, strange conduits that were neither stone nor gold.

He leaped forward and examined it carefully.

Although the core device appears to have been removed or destroyed by Charon beforehand, the base itself and the remaining conduits and rune plates are still invaluable materials.

Arachne was overjoyed and immediately summoned several arcane golems to carefully disassemble and pack these valuable "wreckage" pieces, preparing to transport them back to the floating city as research samples and technological reserves.

"This has exposed Karon's true colors," Liu Nian thought.

Even if we can't find Caron, taking away all the good stuff in the city is still a considerable gain.

After clearing out the undead, Liu began to explore the city more deeply.

Most of the buildings are empty and decaying inside, containing only rusted objects or scattered bones.

He found several rooms with treasure chests, but the rewards after opening them were mediocre, consisting of nothing more than some gold coins, common materials, or low-quality undead equipment, which held no appeal for him at the moment.

It wasn't until he stepped into the most magnificent and sinister main hall at the heart of the city that he discovered a cursed treasure chest, tightly bound by several semi-transparent chains flowing with dark red energy, silently floating half a meter above the ground behind the throne.

The treasure chest itself is made of some kind of dark gold metal, with reliefs of agonizing and wailing ghosts etched on its surface, exuding a chilling and ominous aura.

As Liu Nian tried to approach, the dark red chains immediately began to writhe as if they were alive, emitting a powerful repulsive force and a soul-corroding effect.

He tried to pull the chains with brute force, but the chains didn't budge. Instead, he received a chilling shock to his soul.

He tried to attack the treasure chest again, but the attack was completely absorbed by an invisible force field.

Using the "Mechagon's Precision Hydraulic Claw" to attempt to unlock the chest results in the following message: [This chest is sealed by a powerful curse and requires a specific key or certain conditions to open. Forcibly opening it will cause the chest to self-destruct and trigger an unknown curse.]

Liu Nian took a few steps back, abandoning the idea of ​​forcibly obtaining it.

This is likely a bound treasure chest, similar to those dropped by the final boss, and you'll probably need to defeat Charon to get the key to open it.