Krune and Iem both had absorbed the Blackhole Heavenly Fragment already. In Iem's case, he was a Heavenly Race Member too. As for Krune, he had the support of his Godly Meridians. As one can imagine, both of them were very confident in taking one of the 10 slots of every year.
Krune and Iem would leave to walk around the city every day, trying to find more information. From what they found out, the city didn't have any ruler. It seemed like everyone reached an implicit attitude. If any group tried to take power, everyone would gang up on this group. Because of this, the max they could find was a group or clan ruling a small territory, but none of them risked expansion. Still, the city as a whole needed some rules, so all the hundreds of clans, groups, etc., gathered together to set up those rules. The rule about not going out without permission was one of those.
As one can imagine, the city was enormous, but it can only support so many people. However, the city had never suffered from an overflowing population. That's because every few years, an underground beast horde would attack the city. Without any other choice, everyone could only put their lives at risk to fend them off. During those times, the city would lose a large number of lives. There was another thing. No one knew why, but the City's Formation, which the Godly Tower provided, would also turn off during those times.
That was the main reason why the city tried to prevent anyone from going outside. If they died you, it would mean one less cultivator to help defend the city in times of need. That's also why there was no death penalty for those who sneak out and come back later. Krune and Iem were far from being the only ones from coming back. Of course, Krune and Iem had never left to start with.
However, the underground beast horses were also the city's lifeline. It was through the meat acquired from all the beasts that die during the invasion that everyone below the Divine Path Realm could eat. Just like that, the city has kept a fragile balance during the last thousands of years.
The Godly Tower cultivators were deeply admired because of the beast horde as well. The high-level cultivators from there would be responsible for the high-level demon beasts. That's also why the tower never got packed. After all, even if you allow only 10 new cultivators every year inside, thousands of years would have filled it a long time ago. But they also suffered casualties in the hand of the stronger enemies during the hordes.
Finally, an entire week went by, and the Tower Trial finally started. Iem and Krune, obviously, were there as well.
Although everyone wanted to enter the tower, the majority knows very well their own limits. So it wasn't like every single person in the city participated. If anything, not even 1% of the residents wasted their time trying. Still, for a city with millions, each trial would gather tens of thousands of cultivators.
Fortunately, there were hundreds of Godly Orbs available, so the test didn't take that long to be concluded.
Krune and Iem looked at the field where the Godly Orbs were present. Right at the center, there seemed to be a simple formation that displayed the top 10 cultivators' names who had the best absorbing ability. Now and then, someone would enter that top 10 while someone would be kicked out. It was quite a simple and straightforward method.
At the moment, the first place had charged the Godly Energy Orb with 86.10% of Godly Energy. As for the tenth, there wasn't even a single entire unit of difference. The guy had 85.38%.
Finally, Iem's time arrived. He stepped forward and touched the Godly Energy Orb. As soon as he did, he noticed that the formation under himself changed. As a Formations Master, he immediately understood that the test had been adjusted to his 1st Stage of the Divine View Realm cultivation. Iem smirked after seeing that and didn't pay more attention to it.
Godly Energy began to enter his Godly Energy like torrents. Iem understood why no one could fill it completely. It seemed like a balloon. It's just that it didn't burst. The more you charged, the harder it was to put Godly Energy. Still, Iem's name quickly appeared on the center formation. Iem didn't want to catch too much attention, so he only charged the Godly Energy Orb up to 88.91%. However, that number still attracted everyone's eyes.
"More than 2% above the second best, that guy has guaranteed his slot."
"Yea, he might not have the best number of all times, but he is probably close to the top 100. He's bound to get famous."
The Godly Tower elders also nodded, satisfied.
"A good seed."
"Yes, he will become a great help during the beast hordes."
"Let's hope he doesn't die too soon."
"We won't let it happen if possible. Of course, he will still have to fight during the beast hordes."
"The beast hordes will instead improve his cultivation even more. After all, combat experience is extremely important."
"Well, that's true. Let's see what will happen in the future."
Krune understood what Iem did and followed in his footsteps. He was just behind Iem before, so he is sure that Iem could have done much more than that.
When Krune looked at the Godly Energy Orb closely, he noticed that this one was different from the Holy Land's Light Pillar test. Still, Krune didn't pay it much attention. He only had to pour enough Godly Energy inside, that's all.
He touched the orb and activated his Godly Meridians. Immediately, the Godly Orb shinned with bright light as the Godly Energy poured inside relentlessly. Krune also paid attention to the display formation in the center of the field, waiting for his name to appear. After that, he only needed to control his Godly Energy to match Iem's result.
Sure enough, his name appeared in the 10th position. Krune smiled as he reduced the amount of Godly Energy he was pouring inside. His number went all the way to 87.78%, which he thought to be enough. However, just as he was about to take his hands off, something weird happened.
"Eh?"
Krune tried to release his hand, but it didn't budge! That wasn't all. He found out that his Godly Energy began to flow inside even faster than before.
"The hell?! Get off!"
He used all his strength, but his hands didn't move. The formations and Godly Energy Orbs were prepared by the Transformation Realm cultivators of the tower, so it was evident that a Divine View Realm like Krune couldn't move or damage it. The number in the display formation began to climb again.
88%...
89%...
90%...
Immediately, everyone's eyes were attracted to his Godly Energy Orb. That's because his one was shining brighter than anyone else. At the same time, he received a Divine Sense Message from Iem.
"What the hell are you doing?! That's enough, get out already! Don't you know what low profile means? It's fine to do like me and caught a little bit of attention, but you are going overboard!"
Krune felt like crying but had no tears.
"Do you think I want it?! My hands are glued on the orb, and it is sucking my Godly Energy without stop! I can't get it off!"
Iem was taken aback too. He then looked at Krune's appearance. Krune looked like he was doing his best to take his hands away from it, but the orb simply didn't budge, let alone his hands.
In the end, Krune could only watch the numbers going up with a gloomy expression. Deep down in his heart, he already knew what was going to happen.
97%...
98%...
99%...
100%...!
101%...!
102%...!
The expressions of the Godly Tower elders changed after seeing it.
"Not good, turn it off! The Godly Orb will not resist!"
Too late, though...
*Boom!*
The Godly Energy Orb exploded, sending a wave of Godly Energy around. Everyone below the Semi-Divinity Realm was sent flying! Krune, of course, was the first one to be blasted away like a ragdoll. Immediately, a 100 or so meters crater appeared where Krune's Godly Orb had been.
Fortunately, the Transformation Realm cultivators were fast enough to react as they shielded the other participants. Although quite a few got injured, no one died. Krune could be said to be in the worst state. But he quickly took one of his Purple Flame pills and swallowed it. Right after, his injuries began to recover.
He slowly got up and looked at everyone around. As one can imagine, all eyes were centered on him.
"Cough, cough... I think... the Godly Energy Orb was broken..."
Everyone's mouths twitched.
Krune was really feeling helpless. He wasn't lying. It really wasn't his fault at all!