secret dice.

Chapter 805 Someone came and took something away...

Luo Jun directly raised the Earth Magic to level 20, and then raised the Storm and Fire Magic to level 15, leaving him with 57 skill points.

Then, upon returning to the capital, both Storm and Flame were upgraded to Master level.

Thus, only one Earth Clan is missing to fulfill the prerequisite for a meteorite fall from the sky.

However, the training of a Grandmaster cannot be completed at the guild headquarters; it requires the help of a specialized mentor, a reclusive master.

Regarding these reclusive masters, the headquarters of each magic guild can only provide a few clues. For example, to find a grandmaster of earth magic, one needs to find a legendary mage who has studied earth magic for many years. This mage lives in seclusion in the vast Gobi Desert of the Red Earth Province in the western part of the Oran Empire, but no one knows his exact location.

With a clue, things became easier. Luo Jun left the guild and went directly to the corresponding teleportation array outside the city. He paid the fee and was teleported to the Red Earth Province.

Located on the northwestern plateau of the empire, the air here is thin and the climate is dry. The style of the houses here is completely different from the gorgeous and exquisite ones in the Gulf Province, exuding a rugged and bold temperament.

Luo Jun wasn't there for tourism. He inquired about the location of the Great Gobi Desert, left the city, and once he was out of range of the anti-aircraft gun turrets, he took off and quickly entered the territory of the Great Gobi Desert.

As one of the empire's driest regions, the Gobi Desert is a treacherous place with a vast area where ordinary people can easily get lost. Even with ample supplies, it often takes a month or two to find their way out, ultimately leading to their deaths from exhaustion. Therefore, this Gobi Desert is also known as the Land of Death.

But for Luo Jun, this area was about the same as strolling through a garden.

He circled around the Gobi Desert, searching almost like a carpet, and finally, in the center of the desert, he saw a towering magic tower.

Luo Jun was overjoyed and immediately flew over, but as soon as he got close, several boulders near the magic tower stood up and turned into several huge stone giants, charging towards him!
Luo Jun didn't care at all and rushed straight over like a bullet. He punched and killed several stone giants, shattering them into pieces and floating to the window on the top floor of the magic tower.

"Who's being so rude?" A hoarse voice came from inside the window. Luo Jun looked in through the window and saw an old man with dark skin, a snow-white beard, and a pointed hat reading books inside the room.

Luo Jun used his Eye of Insight and discovered that the old man's information was hidden; the only thing he could see was his level above his head.

Level 150?

To be honest, Luo Jun knew that the level cap in this world wasn't 100, but creatures and even bosses that exceeded 100 were usually only a little over 100, and he'd never even heard of anything exceeding 120. This old guy was directly at 150; he truly was a reclusive master.

"Senior, I'm here to learn Grandmaster-level earth magic," Luo Jun said sincerely, standing by the window.

"Being able to take down my earth elemental guardian proves your skills are indeed impressive." The old man closed the book. "It's been a long time since anyone has come looking for me."

"How could that be?" Luo Jun asked, "Earth elemental magic is so convenient. Reaching the Grandmaster level only requires a little over two hundred skill points, which can be accumulated in less than level fifty."

The old man snorted coldly and looked at Luo Jun: "You're from the Lost Lands, aren't you?"

Luo Jun frowned slightly and nodded.

"Only you guys from the Lost Lands would focus solely on learning and combat-related abilities. You're born with a certain foundation and look down on life skills... But unfortunately, if you want to live in this world for a long time, martial arts and magic alone are not enough."

"There are many skills you need to learn, and there is more than one kind of magic. Earth magic is among them, but its destructive power is not high. Many spells require soil and rocks as a medium, so they are not very convenient to use. Many people cultivate it as a prerequisite for other fusion magic, and usually they will not study it to the level of a grandmaster."

The old man seemed to have been away from people for a long time, and he became quite talkative: "However, any ability, once cultivated to the level of a grandmaster, can produce unexpected effects. I am very pleased that you are willing to study my earth magic."

"So, senior, you're willing to teach me?" Luo Jun asked with delight.

"It's not that simple!" the old man sneered. "An assessment is still necessary."

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of paper from the table, scribbled a few lines on it, and then used magic to send it out the window, handing it to Luo Jun.

"This is..." Luo Jun looked at it and saw that it was filled with various materials.

"These materials can all be found in the Gobi Desert, but they are scattered and the monsters that spawn from them are of a very high level. I see you're only around level 70, so dealing with them won't be easy. Take your time, don't rush..."

"understood!"

Before the old man could finish speaking, Luo Jun had already taken to the air and disappeared into the horizon.

The old man stared blankly out the window for a moment, then shook his head: "Looks like a formidable fellow has arrived..."

Just as Luo Jun went to find materials in order to obtain the Grandmaster rating of Earth Element, the official attack force in the Tower of Babel in the capital city had already begun its first attack on the fiftieth floor.

In front of the Crocodile King's tombstone on the forty-ninth floor, the main force of the expeditionary army, numbering over a thousand, was assembled. Around them, several S-class mercenary groups had also gathered, including the "Cerebral Thrombosis Commando Team" composed of explorers from the main world.

"After a few days of rest, we are finally ready to officially set off for the fiftieth floor." The speaker was a tall, middle-aged man whose features seemed to have some oriental characteristics, but it was difficult to tell from his full beard.

This man is named Emberty, one of the four deputy commanders of the official offensive forces, and also the overall commander of this attack.

The official expeditionary force has a total strength of over five thousand, so it is impossible to send them all out in one operation. Moreover, this is only a probing expedition, so only one deputy commander was sent with one-fifth of the troops.

As for the other S-level groups, they all serve as support, with the official strategy team assigning tasks and coordinating with them.

“A few days ago, we sent a reconnaissance team into the fiftieth floor, but they never returned,” said Vice Commander Emberty. “Until the ‘Cerebral Thrombosis Assault Team’ accidentally discovered their remains in the final boss’s room. We mourn the loss of these warriors who gave their lives for the cause of conquering the Tower of Babel, and we express our heartfelt respect to them!”

"But for the survival of the empire, the conquest cannot stop!" Emberty said. "Fortunately, the 'Cerebral Thrombosis Commando' reconnaissance team brought back intelligence about the fiftieth-floor lord! I distributed it to everyone yesterday. The lord on this floor is very powerful, and the conquest is destined to be very difficult. But for the empire, for our homeland and our families, we will never back down!"

With that, he raised his arms and shouted, "We will never back down!"

All the conquerors shouted in unison, "Never back down!" "Every time I see this, it's like they're on a high." The cerebral thrombosis commando team also joined in the chanting, but they were somewhat dismissive of the conquerors' excited demeanor, especially some of the younger explorers.

"After all, this isn't our homeland," Shi Lei said in a low voice. "Think about it, if the main world were invaded and we were the ones who needed to stand up and fight back, wouldn't you understand how they feel?"

"Now that you mention it, it does seem true..." Thomas nodded.

As they spoke, the mobilization slogans were finished, and the main force arrived at the Crocodile King's tombstone and began their ascent to the fiftieth floor.

Upon reaching the fiftieth floor, they immediately formed a defensive formation, ready to deal with the monsters emerging from beneath the sand.

Although they knew that levitation and silence would effectively prevent alerting the monsters, the sheer number of people—thousands upon thousands—posed a significant challenge. Even if they succeeded, the noise from floating in the sky would be considerable.

If the team drifts to the center of the desert and makes a noise, attracting monsters from all directions and getting surrounded, the outcome will be even worse.

Therefore, instead of using such a shortcut to approach the BOSS palace, it is better to proceed steadily, eliminate monsters step by step, and make steady progress. After clearing the outer perimeter, it will be easier to provide support and retreat when attacking the lord.

Of course, this progress isn't a one-time solution. The lord hasn't been defeated yet, and the monsters on this floor respawn periodically, normally around one to ten days. Therefore, the main purpose of this guide is to understand the monsters' habits in preparation for future, more formal strategies… and of course, to earn some materials along the way.

However, the conquering army waited patiently for a long time, but not a single monster emerged from under the sand...

"I remember when we came up here a few days ago, there were huge scorpions and centipedes, some kind of ferocious monsters," one of the mercenaries said, holding a spear and looking puzzled.

"I participated that time too..." A sword and shield warrior next to him asked curiously, "Why is it so quiet this time?"

"Have the monsters near the entrance been cleared out?" an archer behind him guessed.

"That's possible. I heard that it's not just our expeditionary force; some S-rank mercenary groups have also come up in the past few days. I guess the monsters at the entrance have all been killed, and we won't encounter them until we go deeper."

While everyone was speculating, the entire raiding force had arrived at the fiftieth floor, followed by several S-rank support teams that also teleported up. Thousands of people formed a battle formation, occupying a large area on the sand, but still no monsters were lured out.

Emberty frowned slightly, discussed the matter with several S-rank mercenary leaders, and decided to proceed steadily and explore the area further.

To prevent being ambushed, the earth mage in the team summoned some sand elemental monsters to scout ahead, giving them time to react if any monsters emerged to attack.

However, the team cautiously advanced, reaching deep into the desert without encountering any attacks!

Where did all these monsters go?

As a result, everyone even started to deliberately make some noise in an attempt to lure out the monster, but the desert did not react at all until they arrived at the ancient city.

"It looks like it's been cleaned up."

"Maybe it's just this one road from the ancient city to the entrance; there should be other routes as well..."

They started circling the ancient city, but after several laps, they still weren't attacked. In the end, they split into several groups to explore in different directions. They searched almost the entire desert, but still found nothing.

What on earth is this...

“It seems… there really aren’t any monsters left…” The captains of several S-class teams discussed with Emberty.

"Who did this?" Emberty's gaze swept over the group, finally settling on the Ice Queen: "As far as I know, only your team has been to the 50th floor recently?"

The Ice Queen shrugged: "I only sent a five-person team to scout the situation. Do you think they could do that?"

“Um…” Emberty pondered for a moment. At this moment, a mercenary leader with a small mustache said, “Not only are the monsters gone, but the materials are also gone. Where did such a large amount of materials go? Why don’t we send someone to the market down below to investigate and see if anyone is selling large quantities of high-grade materials in the next few days?”

"Great idea!" Emberty immediately sent people down to the first floor to contact major material buyers, and soon received feedback.

According to feedback, there has indeed been a masked individual selling large quantities of high-level materials over the past two days. Especially last night, he went in and out of the Tower of Babel multiple times, each transaction involving tens of thousands of gold coins, keeping the material merchants in the market below the tower up all night without sleep...

"Wearing a mask..." Upon hearing this description, the Ice Queen immediately realized, "It really is him..."

"Is this person registered in the guild?" Emberty asked.

"Yes, his registered name is Midnight. He's currently an A-rank mercenary, but it doesn't show that he belongs to any organization. He seems to be a lone mercenary..."

“Alone…” Emberty narrowed his eyes: “If he can do this all by himself, let alone A-rank, even S-rank wouldn’t match his strength… Continue investigating this person’s background and where he is now. Our conquest team needs talent like this!”

The Snow Queen didn't say much; she knew that the night wasn't so easy to deal with.

"So, what do we do now?" another S-rank mercenary asked. "Should we continue the attack on the leader's palace?"

"This..." Emberty's original plan was to clear out the surrounding monsters first; he thought it would be fast if he could finish in two or three days, let alone a day. He hadn't expected that they had already been cleared out... So now...

After communicating with Luo Jun, the Ice Queen gained a general understanding of the boss challenge mechanics and informed the official strategy team. Now everyone knows that those outside can observe the situation inside and choose to interrupt the challenge at any time. As long as they are well-prepared, they can theoretically continue to try and fail with minimal losses.

"Assemble the elite troops to go in and challenge, while the majority of the rest will provide support outside, keeping a close eye on the challengers' situation and preparing to rescue them," Emberty said. "Everyone involved in the lord's conquest, regardless of success or failure, will receive an S-rank reward!"

(End of this chapter)