Death… And Me

At the moment, Rean and Roan were basically the only ones who had over 10 Existence Pearls. All the others were having a much harder time doing that. In any case, the big countries were still the big countries. Huring, Klacks, Volava, and the other big countries had quite a few of its members refusing to give away their own Existence Pearls to the top participants like Venale, Hedoi, and others. However, after some negotiations and promises, those top participants still convinced some of their members to hand over their pearls.

At the end of the third day, the third, fourth and fifth person to gather 10 Existence Pearls had finally appeared. However, it was still not someone from the top countries. Instead...it was Samanta, Regio, and Milina out of everyone. Why? Because the twins had struck gold by being squad leaders of the city guards!

Using the city guards' connections, they quickly found those three after some investigation. Well, Rean did. Roan didn't seem to care that much. "Come on, let's help our friends. Look at this." Rean then showed a bag with many Existence Pearls inside it. "I alone have 53 Existence Pearls. It won't hurt to let them leave the city first."

Roan nodded. "Fine. Perhaps the surprise Cassia talked about was for someone who exits first, and not those who got more Existence Pearls."

Naturally, Samanta, Regio, and Milina were surprised to be stopped by the city guards all of a sudden. But when they heard who sent the guards, they complied and followed them back. It was then that they finally saw the twins. "How the hell did you two become city guards?" Milina asked in disbelief.

Samanta nodded in agreement as she told them, "I've heard about people trying to enter the city guards, but they were all refused. Those who insisted got beaten up or even died. Rumor says that a strong as hell captain is the one testing the cultivators who appear, wishing to join them."

Rean shrugged his shoulders after hearing that. "How else do you think we did it? Roan obviously fought that guy, and they ended up in a draw after a few exchanges."

"You achieved a draw with that monster?" Regio, who usually didn't talk much, felt that to be unbelievable. That's because he had the idea to join the city guards as well, so he went to take a look and saw a few cultivators doing the same. Well, when he saw that monster cleaving people right and left, he completely gave up. There was no way he and anyone else could win. 

"Roan did, but that's not why I called you here," Rean said in response. "How many Existence Pearls have you guys gotten so far?"

Samanta narrowed her eyes a bit but decided to go ahead and show them. In this place with the city guards, she wouldn't have much of a chance to escape anyway. Besides, Gulia seemed to trust these two quite a lot before she fell in the second test. "I only got two."

Regio and Milina also showed their own pearls. "I've only got one, and it was hard as hell to get it."

"Everyone's watching everyone. If you receive an Existence Pearl and someone sees it, you will most likely be targeted by many cultivators at once. Besides, everyone has to find new tasks capable of giving Existence Pearls."

Rean nodded before he took the bag in his armor and opened it. Soon after, he threw eight pearls to Samanta and another eighteen to Milina and Regio. "Here, take these ones. With this, you'll have ten pearls each. Use these pearls to get past this test."

"What?!" Seeing how many Existence Pearls Rean had, Samanta's group was obviously left aghast. "I see... So you are the city guards

  squad that's hunting cultivators who fight each other." Sure enough, rumors regarding Rean and Roan's squad spread very fast.

"That is indeed us." Rean nodded. "Alright, that's what I wanted to give you. You should take this chance and complete the third test."

However, Samanta, Milina, and Regio also saw how the ranking appeared in their minds. "This...there's a ranking board?"

"There is," Rean replied. "However, you better not try to participate in it. Have you noticed that you can now see each other's position?"

Milina quickly nodded in response. "Yes, it's like there's a map in my head showing where all of you are. I can even see their names and the countries they came from." Samanta and Regio confirmed they had the same thing.

Rean then continued, "That's the issue. Roan and I believe it has something to do with the hidden surprise Cassia talked about. With that said, we decided to gather as many Existence Pearls as we possibly could during these next two weeks. Since we already got quite some money saved up, I decided that I might as well help you conclude the test."

Samanta narrowed her eyes after hearing that. "Should we stay and help with that, then? I don't like the idea of receiving these pearls for free. Let us join your squad, and we will help you gather more Existence Pearls. You're the leaders here, after all."

Rean and Roan shook their heads as Rean explained, "We can't let you join. It's not that we want to, but you will need to pass through Rivaldo first. He doesn't accept any outsiders without checking their strength first. Do you really want to fight him?"

The three of them immediately shook their heads vigorously. No one wanted to fight Rivaldo at all. At least not without their cultivations.

"Then, there you have it. Besides, there's another reason why we want you to go out," he continued.

"What is it?"

"We don't know if the surprise Cassia talked about was this ranking or if it would be something given to the first people to get out. If it's the latter, we would rather have you guys get it than those strong countries."

Milina wasn't as prideful as Samanta, though. "Great! I never expected to get all the way to the third test anyway. I'm heading out."

Before anyone could say anything, Milina used her ten pearls. In an instant, they shone with a strong red light that quickly covered her body.. A moment later, Milina was gone.