Death... and me

Zil was the one who responded, though. "Where did you find that guy? Don't tell us he was always part of your sect because someone at that level would have joined a stronger power a long time ago."

Kayla thought about the possibility of getting such questions, so she had long since thought of an excuse. "Indeed, we did the same thing as the Rumira Merchant Organization. We paid him and his brother to represent our sect. Is that a problem?"

Of course, such a thing wasn't a problem. After all, there was no lack of cultivators from other places who only joined those powers for the sake of the assembly.

Miame shook her head in response, telling her, "Obviously, there's no problem with that. However, you're getting in the way of our internal struggle. How much do you want to ask your sect's candidate to stop there?"

Kayla and the others were taken aback. "Wait, isn't it against the rules?"

"It is!" Suddenly, they heard a voice coming from the back of the room. Surprisingly, it was Fabio who had just returned. "Your Rumira Merchant Organization and Cosec City Formation Master Guild can stop already. I will not allow any bullshit like that during my assembly."

Neither Zil nor Miame liked what they heard, though. "Since when was it part of the rules? Such negotiations were made in the past without anyone paying attention to it."

Fabio snorted in response. "Hmph! That's because the previous Royal Family representatives didn't care about it. This is just a small city in our kingdom, so they didn't intervene as they probably thought it to be too bothersome. However, I'm different. I won't allow such shady deals to go forward."

Miame and Zil then looked at Kalya, but they didn't say anything else. Instead, she used Divine Sense to communicate with her. If words were not used, Fabio couldn't possibly accuse them of that, right? They only had to offer a certain amount of Divine Stones, and this bottom-feeder sect will surely retreat. Even if the Divine Vein was worth more, it wouldn't be good to end on bad terms with their powers.

However, they were underestimating Fabio Kamos way too much. How could he not understand what those two were doing? He then moved to the center of the room before laughing. "Hahaha! I'm pretty sure a lot of you will end up trying the same thing as those two on my back, right? Unfortunately for you guys, the spatial rooms that I prepared are completely isolated from the outside."

Fabio then pointed at the illusory formation that showed the event's images. "Go ahead, try it. I'm sure quite a few of you have some way of communicating with your disciples. I doubt you'll be able to do so as I took the proper measures to impede that."

Immediately, many sects, guilds, and other organization leaders tried to use their own communication methods, with most of them taking out Thoughts Transmission Talismans. However, they soon found out that not a single one of those methods worked. "This..."

Fabio saw the surprised expression on everyone's faces as he said, "I told you, didn't I?" He then looked at the Lukimira Sect Leader, who seemed a little nervous, easing her as he told her, "Don't worry. I swear on the name of the Royal Family that whatever the result your disciples get in this event, no one will bother you because of it after the assembly is over."

Fabio immediately looked at the rest of the room and continued, "This is also valid to all the medium and small powers taking part in this assembly. If I find out as much as a whisper that some brutes are trying to bully you after you legitimately got a Divine Vein, they can prepare to have their organizations hazed to the ground."

Miame and Zil felt a chill on their backs when they heard that. The Kamos Royal Family was supreme in the Kamos Kingdom. Let alone when the representative this time around was part of the Royal Family himself. "Sorry, sir. We obviously won't try to do anything against them."

Strength was everything in the Realm of Gods, just like it was in the Realm of Mortals. Here, the Kamos Royal Family was the strongest, so their words were law. "It better be that way."

Fabio then looked at everyone and reminded them, "This kind of assembly is made to help increase the kingdom's overall strength. It has been used for countless years and has proved to be the most effective method. I hope everyone understands that for their own good."

"Yes, Senior Fabio."

Kayla sighed in relief after hearing that. Obviously, she knew the rules that one couldn't intervene in the assembly. However, it depended a lot on the representative whether it was enforced or not. Because of how small Cosec City was, it was usually the latter. 'Still, I've never thought Rean would have a real chance at winning the Formation Master competition.' Then again, no one thought it was possible.

Rean didn't know anything about what was happening in the elders' room. He simply continued to deactivate the formations as fast as he could without damaging them. 'It's becoming more and more difficult. The number of flaws purposely left behind is becoming lesser and lesser. Not to mention that the formations themselves are becoming more complicated.'

Rean eventually surpassed the Formation Master from the Formation Master Guild, amassing a total of 413 points while the first place was stuck on 418. However, there were only thirty minutes left for the test to be over, and Rean himself was taking several minutes to deactivate the formations.

[Rean, are you sure you don't want my help?] Sister Orb asked.

Rean shook his head as he replied, 'It's fine. I've already done a lot more than I expected. Don't forget I'm just a Silver Middle-level Formation Master fighting against Golden-level ones.'

Rean indeed had a hard time deactivating the formations, but he felt relaxed. If anything, he was having fun doing that. 'Oh! Found another hidden Divine Energy feeding path. Lucky!'

Once again, another formation turned off.

Clanda was the name of the Rumira Merchant Organization's Formation Master. He was invited from outside specifically for this assembly, joining the Merchant Organization officially since one had to be a real member of the power one represented. He thought this test was already his some time ago. However, that changed once he noticed Rean's presence. 'Where did this guy come from?!'

There was only one minute left for the test to be over when suddenly, Clanda heard the sound of dissipating Divine Energy coming from Rean's direction. Soon after, Clanda checked the test score that was being displayed in real-time to the participants.

Both Rean and Clanda now had 419 points!