Chapter 58: A Legendary Figure Appears in Qinghai City—For Whom Did He Come?

Anyway, thanks a lot. I genuinely forgot about this. I'll head over right after completing my second-tier advancement trial.

True to his name, Student Li Yao could even forget something like this.

However, in his eyes, a purgatory-grade dungeon probably didn't amount to much anyway.

Watching Li Yao's retreating figure, Shang Yana thought to herself.

Shortly after.

The two of them walked, one after the other, into the vortex leading to the sixth floor.

When she opened her eyes again, Shang Yana had vanished from her side.

Li Yao felt no surprise.

She must have been teleported away by the Tower of Babel's mechanics to perform her solo second-tier advancement trial.

Li Yao gazed out at the boundless expanse of hilly terrain.

The sixth floor was an area ordinary professionals could not easily set foot in.

The elimination quest required killing 50 reinforced elite monsters at level 25.

Reinforced elites were scattered everywhere, and a conflict with just a single one would instantly draw in several more monsters.

The difficulty far surpassed that of the boss monsters on the fifth floor!

Of course, for certain powerful professionals, such a situation undoubtedly accelerated their clearing speed.

Take Li Yao, for instance.

By sending out his three chess pieces, he only needed to stay right where he was, and within a short time, the pieces would complete the trial for him.

As for the Goblin Lair dungeon.

He hadn't actually taken it to heart.

There were plenty of uncleared purgatory-grade dungeons out there; those professionals wanting to raid the Goblin Lair simply couldn't clear other purgatory dungeons and were hoping to try their luck in the goblin dungeon.

If such professionals could clear the Goblin Lair, it would merely prove that the dungeon was nothing special.

If he wanted to secure the server-first clear of a dungeon, he could entirely seek out those uncleared purgatory-grade dungeons.

However.

Li Yao would definitely visit the Goblin Lair.

After all, with his goblin damage bonus, running this dungeon would save him a lot of time.

"By the time I finish the second-tier advancement trial, the Qin family should have finished forging the King's Ring, right?"

"Once I get the equipment, I'll go check out the situation at the Goblin Lair."

Meanwhile.

The outside world.

Directly opposite the Tower of Babel stood another equally towering building.

On the top floor room.

A woman with bound hair, dressed in martial arts robes and with bandages wrapped around both hands, stood with her hands on her hips next to the floor-to-ceiling window.

A scar near the corner of her eye did nothing to diminish the heroic and striking beauty of the woman.

A pair of phoenix-like eyes continuously stared fixedly at the Tower of Babel.

Behind her, several figures lingered cautiously, whispering among themselves.

"Brother Nie, like father like son, Nie Yuan is aiming for the ninth floor this time, isn't he?"

Shang Huaiguo asked with a smile.

"It depends on luck. Didn't your youngest daughter go in today as well? She's probably reached the fifth floor by now, right?"

"My daughter is merely an S-grade professional, so her limit is the seventh floor. She's still some distance behind Nie Yuan."

"Haha, if I may speak without offending you both, my Yan family also sent 14 professionals in this time, and as for right now..."

At this moment, Yan Xinghong nearby smiled and cast a sidelong glance at Shang Huaiguo. "I reckon, just like the Shang family's little princess, she's also stuck on the fifth floor."

"Heh, Brother Yan is still being too modest."

Shang Huaiguo wore a forced smile. If not for that person being present here, he would have desperately fought this old bastard to the death!

The several elders behind them, assuming their relationship was genuinely this cordial, chimed in one after another.

"The three seniors needn't be so modest. Whether it's the Nie family, the Shang family, or the Yan family, they are all the pillars of the Dragon Kingdom, and their children are bound to be extraordinarily exceptional. The Tower of Babel won't be able to stump them."

"Indeed. The eighth floor of the Tower of Babel has already lit up. I just wonder which proud prodigy moves so fast."

"It must be Nie Yuan, seeing as he's the only SS-grade and he entered the Tower of Babel a bit earlier than Miss Shang."

"That makes sense."

Everyone chatted and laughed amicably, with no one daring to shout or raise their voice.

Because.

No one could have anticipated that this legendary figure would travel thousands of miles from the capital city to Qinghai City simply to personally observe a certain professional's second-tier advancement trial.

However, everyone present was an old hand.

There was currently one and only one SS-grade prodigy within the Tower of Babel.

If not him, then who could it be?

Therefore, throughout their conversation, they intentionally or unintentionally brought up Nie Yuan, attempting to build some familiarity in front of this person.

The Shang and Yan families, standing among the top-tier families of the Dragon Kingdom, were not exactly afraid of this individual.

Yet, since the other party represented the Dragon Kingdom's Federal Government, it was unwise to completely burn bridges in their presence.

Furthermore.

Solely in terms of strength.

This person was entirely no weaker than the heads of the two families.

"The Shang family head must be quite anxious right now, no?"

Yan Xinghong sidled up to Shang Huaimin and laughed in a voice audible only to the two of them.

"Especially... upon hearing that our Yan family has fourteen professionals who entered inside."

Hearing this, Shang Huaimin's expression turned ugly.

Fourteen.

Almost instantly, he deduced which individuals the Yan family had sent into the Tower of Babel.

A novice dungeon assault squad—virtually every major family cultivated such a team.

Led by Yan Yue, their assault squad ranked near the top among the assault squads of numerous capital families.

They were top-tier professionals, all above A-grade, with seamless teamwork and elite equipment.

Could that kid Li Yao handle a team like this?

At this moment, Shang Huaimin was not entirely certain.

However, he refused to lose face in terms of aura. "Anxious? I'm not anxious at all."

"Oh right, Brother Yan, why haven't I seen your biological younger brother lately? Is he leading a team to raid some dungeon?"

"If you ask me, you shouldn't work your own brother like a pack mule."

"What if one day your brother meets with an accident in a dungeon? As his older brother, wouldn't you regret it to your core?"

Shang Huaimin emphasized the words 'biological younger brother' heavily.

"You!" Yan Xinghong was gripped by a surge of anger.

"Is Brother Yan..." Shang Huaimin chuckled softly, "getting anxious?"

"I hope you can still laugh a moment from now!"

Yan Xinghong declared with malicious intent.

Half an hour later.

The eighth floor of the Tower of Babel.

"Is this eighth floor really just this tiny patch of land?"

Li Yao looked at the world before him in skeptical surprise.

Everything past the seventh floor belonged to the upper tiers of the Tower of Babel, where each floor constituted an independent space.

It was a flat spatial expanse roughly the size of a football field, surrounded by a gray, hazy void, with a colossal behemoth standing right at the very center.

"Void Mantis, this guy looks like one of your kind. What do you think, interested?"

Li Yao teased.

The Void Mantis tilted its head, wearing a blank and innocent expression.

Li Yao chuckled and cast an appraisal spell.

[Giant Scythe Mantis]

[Level 25 (Boss)]

[Health: 280,000]

[Strength: 542]

[Spirit: 294]

[Agility: 613]

[Endurance: 430]

[Skills: Fatal Scythe Strike LV7, Mimicry LVMAX, Doppelganger Slash LV4, Scythe Strike LV10, Insect Olfaction LV3, Army Breaker LV1]

"Decent strength."

Li Yao mused inwardly.

Its stats slightly surpassed the previously encountered Goblin King, differing only in skill specialization.

It belonged to close-combat agility-type monsters. Such monsters were relatively fragile; as long as there was a way to restrict its speed, the Void Mantis could finish off the opponent within a minute.

"Bluebird."

In about two minutes, the [Glacial Storm] would be able to completely cover the entire space.

The Predator and the Void Mantis struck simultaneously.

Li Yao stood in the distance, observing the battle alongside the Bluebird.

"As expected, I still need a taunt-type skill."

"These highly intelligent monsters will prioritize attacking the higher-threat Void Mantis, preventing it from executing a proper DPS output."

"It's a bit of a waste of time."

In less than two minutes.

The Giant Scythe Mantis was swallowed whole into the Predator's belly.

[Killed a boss-level entity, Giant Scythe Mantis, exceeding level restriction. Experience +10%]

[Void Predator completes evolutionary devouring, gaining 14,000 maximum health.]

The vortex opened, but Li Yao did not enter immediately.

Everything past the eighth floor consisted of boss floors; he needed to wait for the cooldown of the Predator's [Evolutionary Devouring] to reset before going in, maximizing his gains.

Li Yao sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at the severed limbs and broken pieces of the Giant Scythe Mantis.

"Looking at it this way, the tenth floor is definitely a lord-tier monster."

"Then what about the even stronger Wings of Darkness..."

"What level will that be?"