Duke and his companions quickly lowered their bodies, using the sand dunes as cover, and retreated slowly to avoid being spotted by the spider.

If the spider noticed them and fancied a fresh breakfast, it wouldn't be pleasant at all.

Though Duke and his group were five kilometers away, that distance was not very far for such a giant creature.

They continued to retreat cautiously until the spider was no longer in sight, and then everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Duke realized that the Desert Lizardmen might not be the most dangerous threat in this test; it was the various lurking unknown demons that posed a greater threat.

At least the Desert Lizardmen had fixed tribes that could be seen; many other entities remained completely unknown, and the unknown was the scariest of all.

...

As the sun rose high, the desert entered its hottest time.

After a few hours of trekking through the desert, Duke and his companions encountered other Wizard Apprentices for the first time.

This was a team made up of two small groups, totaling seven people.

Originally, they were both five-member teams but had lost three members in the past two days, leaving just seven people now.

The leader was a wizard named Brand, who seemed quite competent and held some authority among the seven.

The two groups had essentially merged into one, realizing after the past two days that the place was extremely dangerous, and a five-member team's strength was barely sufficient to ensure survival.

Brand said, "Are you interested in joining us? We found a place that might contain treasure."

"What kind of treasure?" Duke didn't immediately accept the invitation.

If it were truly a treasure, they wouldn't have disclosed it; they would have taken it already.

Given Brand's approach, it signaled they had no assurance of obtaining the so-called treasure, hence the invitation for Duke and his team to join.

Things seemed polite now, but during the treasure battle, it might be a different story.

"We discovered two tribes of Desert Lizardmen; these two tribes guard a place. We have someone capable of detecting treasures, who sensed the presence of rare treasures there," Brand explained.

"So, interested in joining forces to find a way to seize the treasure inside, and splitting it evenly based on value?" Brand continued to persuade.

After pondering for a moment, Duke said, "Forget it, we're too weak, and we probably wouldn't be much help, so we won't get involved."

Brand wanted to persuade more, but Duke and his companions had already left directly. He watched Duke's group leave, with a flicker in his eyes.

Simon and the other two had no objections to Duke's decision; they too were inclined not to fight for any treasure.

For them, successfully completing the assessment task was already challenging enough, and they wouldn't think too much further.

People inherently have greed, and Duke naturally desired the treasure, but reason told him that preserving their lives was more important.

According to Brand, the place was guarded by two Lizardman Tribes, and the treasures inside must be no ordinary.

Every Lizardman Tribe had a leader comparable to an Official Wizard, meaning the two tribes had two Lizardman Leaders, equating to the combat power of two Official Wizards.

For this assessment, there were only one hundred and fifty Wizard Apprentices of second class, and Duke believed even combined, they wouldn't be enough to fill the teeth gaps of those two Lizardman Leaders.

Trying to seize treasures under such power disparity is akin to pulling a tooth from a tiger's mouth.

Moreover, Duke did not trust Brand and his team; what they called cooperation likely meant finding cannon fodder.

Nobody would be inexplicably good to you; Brand surely intended to use them as mere tools.

Duke and his team now only had one goal: to kill two more Desert Lizardmen and complete the task before considering anything else.

Thinking about the information Brand provided, since there were two Lizardman Tribes nearby, they could seize the opportunity to kill two Lizardmen.

These two tribes should be not far from here, probably just ahead.

In fact, Duke had been relying on sensing the concentration of Water Elements to find his way, and combined with what Brand had said, determined there should indeed be an oasis ahead.

Continuing along this direction for another hour, they arrived near an oasis.

Abel used Eagle Eye to scout ahead; from the terrain, it was a sunken valley, and the oasis covered a large area.

The two Desert Lizardman Tribes were distributed on the east and west sides of the oasis, with a temple-like structure in the center.

Many Desert Lizardmen guarded the temple area, with tight security.

Seeing the situation here, Duke's team felt that Brand's group's plan was tantamount to seeking death.

Trying to penetrate into the temple to take treasures under the guarding of two Lizardman Tribes was extraordinarily difficult.

For the moment, Duke's team concealed themselves nearby, waiting for isolated Lizardmen to appear, planning to kill two and then leave this place.

This oasis differed from the previous ones they had seen, where Lizardman Tribes didn't live within the oasis but had to fetch water daily.

But now, these two Lizardman Tribes lived directly within the oasis and hardly ventured out.

Duke and his team couldn't rush in; they could only wait for an opportunity.

The entire day passed without seeing a single Lizardman venture out.

Duke's team remained patient, lurking nearby waiting for the right moment.

In fact, the vicinity of the oasis was a good spot to lurk. By keeping a certain distance, this area had fewer demons nearby.

Probably because the temple was important to these two Lizardman Tribes, they had cleared the surrounding demons.

Deep into the night, Duke and the other three were startled out of their meditation by an earth-shattering explosion coming from within the oasis.

Upon looking, Duke realized the temple area was ablaze with raging flames, and several people were casting all sorts of magic there trying to break in.

The guards near the temple were quickly taken down by these people, clearly having planned meticulously; each magic had a purpose and could take down a Desert Lizardman.

Even from such a distance, Duke could tell it was Brand and his group, who somehow managed to infiltrate near the temple and then took action.

Sweeping a quick glance, Duke saw there were now ten people in their group, having found three more people from somewhere.

After taking down the guards, the frontline group rushed into the temple immediately, with everyone eager to seize the treasure within.

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