Death... and me

While Luan fought the weak demon beasts and Roan steamrolled through those simple missions he got, Rean arrived at the Formation Guild's counter. "Hi, here's my badge. I would like to change it to a Golden High-level one."

The worker there looked at Rean's badge and quickly noticed that it wasn't from Pol Continent. "Oh! I would understand if this was a badge from Treavin Continent since the Under Desert Sea is there. However, this is the first time I've seen a badge from another continent."

Rean smiled in response but didn't say anything until the worker prepared the material. "Well, here's your token. Just bring it to the testing room there. A Formation Master at the Golden High-level or higher will come to you shortly. All you need to do is build a formation at the Golden High-level on your own. Do that, and you will get a Golden High-level badge."

Rean quite liked it. There were no other types of tests once someone reached his level. All he needed was to prove he was there, and he would get a new badge. It was that simple. The same went for forging, alchemy, etc.

Nevertheless, a Golden High-level Formation Master was a very rare sight in Utari City. Anyone at the level to test Rean would usually be occupied with their own projects. In the end, the Guild Master himself had to come out to take Rean's test. "Hello there. I'm Tuvaru, the Guild Master here. You look quite young. Are you sure you applied to the right exam?"

Rean nodded in response. "Golden High-level, right? To be honest, I'm confident I can even build a Golden Peak-level formation, but I'll leave that for when I reach the Transition Realm."

Naturally, the Guild Master noticed Rean's cultivation. "A genius, huh? Types like you are definitely rare. Anyways, go ahead and start. Any Golden High-level formation is valid, so try to make something simple and fast."

Rean planned on doing exactly that anyway. No point in expending a lot of materials on a complicated formation since it would have no use once the test was over. "How about a Golden High-level Fire Element Gathering Formation?"

The Guild Master pondered in silence for a bit before nodding. "Simple and fast enough. Alright then. Just do that."

Well, for Rean, who already had the ability to build Golden Peak-level formations, a Golden High-level formation was nothing much to him. He was even able to impress the Guild Master due to how fast he built it. "Just 43 minutes? Holy shit! Even I can't build one this quick. By the way, what are those runes?" the Guild Master asked, pointing at Rean's Circuitry Runes. "I can tell that this power of this formation is better than common ones at the same level, but I've never seen them."

Rean shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "Those are just some runes I learned in Huring Continent." Rean's badge was from there, so there was no point in saying he was from somewhere else. Of course, the part of the runes being from Huring was a lie since they were a reward from the system.

"I did hear from the worker at the entrance that you came from another continent. Then again, we get one or another cultivator from Treavin once in a while, so I guess it's nothing that incredible." From the looks of it, the news about the closure of the Under Desert Sea hadn't spread yet.

Rean smiled in response. "So, can I get my badge now?"

Tuvaru nodded in response. "Of course! If such a performance isn't worth a Golden High-level badge, then nothing will." Tuvaru then thought about something else, soon telling Rean, "Hmm... on second thought, I'll just give you the Golden Peak-level badge instead."

Rean was taken aback. "Really?" Rean was indeed at that level, but he didn't want to spend the resources to make a formation at that level. Thus, he planned to wait until the Transition Realm as it would be easier. "Why?"

Tuvaru shrugged his shoulders in response. "After seeing how easily you built your formation, I really doubt you were lying when you said you were at the Golden Peak level. Don't underestimate the eyes of a Divine Initial-level Formation Master, kid."

That immediately caught Rean's attention. "Oh! You're the first person I've seen that reached the Divine level. Say, is it hard to break through into the Divine level?"

Tuvaru nodded in response. "Well, it was for me. First of all, there wasn't anyone who could judge me, so I had to go to Salt Canyon Undersea City. Only there did they have a Formation Master at the Divine level, a demon beast at that. However, I failed quite a few times until I got my formation right."

Rean understood after that. "Well, it doesn't matter how many times you try. As long as you pay the fee and succeed even once, you'll be considered to have reached that level. What's the main difference between Golden and Divine-level formations?"

Tuvaru couldn't help but laugh out loud after that. "Hahaha! You're already at the Peak Stage of the Elemental Transformation Realm, so you probably know that already. Say, what's the thing that you need to go from the Transition to the Void Tempering Realm?"

"Divine Origin Energy!" Rean immediately replied. "I see... then Divine-level Formations should definitely be very hard to build."

"Correct," Tuvaru said in response. "As you know, for us to get Divine Origin Energy, we need to gather many times more normal Divine Energy. Only then will we convert it to use in our cultivation to the Void Tempering Realm. That's also why the cultivation speed drops drastically once you reach the Void Tempering Realm. If a stage of cultivation took ten years before, now it would take a hundred years or more."

He then continued, "Anyway, the formations at the Divine-level obviously need Divine Origin Energy. You can already imagine how hard it is to make since gathering Divine Origin Energy and being able to use it in the formation makes things really complicated." Tuvaru then smiled at Rean as he told him, "However, with your talent, I believe you won't fail as many times as I did."