Tom swallowed his saliva: "Thankfully, we managed to take down that mutated monster together... After it died, the red mist shrank, and the blood moon ended early. Could it be that the death of that creature caused the weakening of Sarajael’s power?"

Oshana joined in: "That must be it. No wonder Tano didn’t look happy when he realized the blood moon had ended. When we discussed continuing our exploration, he didn’t object either... I guess he can’t wait for us to go further in, right?"

Bai Pu nodded in agreement: "I think, when Principal Bosh designed this task, he must have investigated the situation. When he came, that lost staff might indeed have been in the hands of those two mummy mages (sandstorm mages). As long as we kill the two mummy mages, we can get the lost staff, which should be within the capability range of third-year top students or the War God Peak’s fourth or fifth batch of trainees."

Oshana nodded in recognition of Bai Pu’s judgment, and Tom asked, "Then who took the staff from the mummy mage and placed it in the secret treasure hall?"

"It was surely Sarajael’s followers, or it might even be Sarajael himself."

Bai Pu said, "Sarajael’s will is sealed in the secret treasure hall. And that Earth Dragon Bead is not the secret treasure of the Red Sand Kingdom; it is something the Prismatic Saint Dragon King Auriel deliberately left behind to suppress Sarajael’s relics, like the focal point of a magic array."

"Therefore, for Sarajael to escape, someone must remove the Earth Dragon Bead. It placed the most important treasure of the ruins—the lost staff of Naxitas—next to the Earth Dragon Bead, then arranged for its followers to entice powerful outsiders to open the secret treasure hall and take the Earth Dragon Bead."

After a pause, Bai Pu continued, "This suggests that the monster formed by the Red Sand Ghost (True Red Executor) should be seen as a sort of test. If outsiders can’t deal with it, they’ll be driven to the depths of the ruins, controlled by Sarajael’s will, becoming new followers to lure more powerful beings here."

"If outsiders can defeat it, the blood moon will temporarily end, and guides like Tano will lead us to the secret treasure hall, prompting us to take the staff while attempting to remove the Earth Dragon Bead."

"Alright, I think I understand. So, what should we do with Tano now?" Tom asked.

"I’m not interested in him. You decide whether to kill or release him." Bai Pu had gained a lot from this trip. If it weren’t for Tano, acting as their ’guide,’ they might have taken longer to find the altar mechanism on the ceiling and unlock the secret treasure hall."

Objectively, Tano had guided Bai Pu and the others towards the Brahma Heaven Domain in the secret treasure hall, causing no loss to Bai Pu’s group. Instead, they avoided many detours, saving Bai Pu’s precious time.

So while escaping, Bai Pu still tried to bring Tano along as much as possible.

"I... I don’t think there’s any point in killing him. Let’s just knock him out and leave him here," Oshana suggested.

Tom nodded, and as Tano seemed to want to say something, Tom didn’t give him the chance, knocking him out with a swift hand chop.

Poor Mr. Tano, he’s been knocked out quite a few times in recent days. Who knows if there will be any long-term repercussions? But it’s still better than losing his life. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The group left Tano behind and promptly set off, departing the Istan Desert.

On the way, Bai Pu opened the treasure chests of the two sandstorm mages.

The Sandstorm Mage One was taken down by Bai Pu alone. As a Level 8 Enhanced Warrior, Bai Pu’s battle evaluation was decent, granting him three chances for a draw.

As for Sandstorm Mage Two, since Tom and Oshana had attacked it, although they didn’t cause much effective damage, it lowered the value of the kill slightly, granting only two draw chances. However, Bai Pu could exclude 24 low-valued cards from the selection.

Bai Pu didn’t mind and simply clicked to draw.

[You obtained the equipment: Corpse Poison Robe.]

[You obtained a gem: Withered Gem.]

[You obtained a mystical arts skill book: Demon Refining Sand.]

[You obtained an item: Mummy Bandage.]

[You obtained Golden Enhancement Crystal *3.]

Among these five spoils, the Golden Enhancement Crystals were stable, high-value commodities, needless to say.

The [Corpse Poison Robe] appeared as mummy bandages glued together with a strangely pungent slime. Its quality was gold, adding 10 points of spirit, 8 points of endurance, and having an active skill "Red Sand Pharaoh’s Fury," which enhances the range coverage of earth element magic and skills by 100% and their power (damage) by 50% when activated.

However, it is cloth armor, so Bai Pu probably wouldn’t wear it, and it’s temporarily stored away, collecting dust in the storage space.

[Withered Gem: Special item, gem. When embedded into the equipment’s slot, it provides an additional boost: granting the wearer of the equipment 40 points of magic penetration.]

Bai Pu thought of his dark gold equipment, the [Commanding Crown], which has three slots needing gem inlays.

This [Withered Gem], though not matching the exact type of enhancement needed, is still a backup option and gives Bai Pu confidence in creating the [Commanding Crown] in the advanced spirit realm.

[Mummy Bandage: B-level silver artifact. Takes 10 seconds to use, after which it heals all non-limb-defective injuries and restores (5000) Life Value. Disappears after use.]

The bandage looks filthy and smells indescribable, but one can’t deny its strong effect. If it weren’t for the "10 seconds to use" restriction, it might as well be a second life for the Awakened.

The above four spoils each have their own unique features. For Bai Pu, the gains are even greater than from defeating the Red Emperor. The "wealth" of the advanced spirit realm makes Bai Pu very happy, indicating that not lingering in the mid-level spirit realm and advancing early to the advanced spirit realm is more beneficial for growth.

But the spoil Bai Pu values most is that skill book.

[Demon Refining Sand: Mystical arts skill, which can consume earth element magic power to condense magic sand. Magic sand is manipulated by your will, requiring only minor magic consumption. When casting earth element magic using magic sand as a medium, the magic consumption is reduced to 50% of the normal value, but the power is not diminished.]

[Prerequisite for cultivation: Sand Mystical Arts Advanced, or mastery of any earth element mystical arts.]

Bai Pu is capable of cultivating this mystical arts skill book.

Its cultivation prerequisite is the "Sand Mystical Arts Advanced," but for those who haven’t comprehended the Sand Mystical Arts, as long as they possess any master-level earth element mystical arts, they can forcibly cultivate it, bypassing the Sand Mystical Arts as a prerequisite!

The Mountain Shattering Mystical Arts belongs to the series of earth element mystical arts.