Death... and me

"The Pristine Jewel of the Sea, huh?" Surprisingly, Rean became interested in the item. "Oh well, forget it. I don't have Water Element Affinity."

After that, Rean went to a relatively empty corner with Falangia, Rafatia, and Luan, taking the chance to call Roan out. Roan, of course, was already waiting for it. "There's no point in staying here for much longer. Let's head directly to the Under Desert Sea."

Rean didn't mind. "Sure, let's go."

However, just as they arrived at the gate, they were stopped by the guards there. "Halt! What do you want outside the city?"

Roan narrowed his eyes, saying, "It's none of your business. Let us pass."

The guards obviously didn't like Roan's attitude. There were quite a few of them, three at the Transition Realm and one at the Void Tempering Realm. Obviously, such a high level was definitely achievable because this city has many high-level cultivators as well. "No can do. If you want to explore the city outside, you will need to pay for the token at one of the city managing offices."

"Token?" Rean found it strange. "Since when did cities start to ask for tokens when someone wants to leave? Shouldn't it be the opposite?"

The guard snorted, saying, "Hmph! In other cities, that's true. However, Ertos City isn't the type of city you want to enter from the outside. Instead, it's a city where many people try to leave. It's not like your group doesn't know why either. Since that's the case, the city management started to charge for leaving instead of entering. If you don't like the idea, just teleport to another city and travel here on your own. Of course, the second closest city to the Under Desert Sea is at least ten times farther away than us."

Rean and Roan looked at each other and nodded. "Very well. We just have to buy it, right? So be it."

The twins had indeed seen a building board saying City Management Office. They thought that was a very rare sight in a place like Treavin but didn't care at that time. The twins could try to summon Kentucky and fly to leave through the city walls. However, if one of the guards was already in the Void Tempering Realm, there were bound to be more guards like that, perhaps someone with even higher cultivation. Without much choice, the twins went back to the city center before entering that City Management Office.

They weren't the only ones there, though. There were several queues as many cultivators, mostly at the Transition Realm, who seemed to be waiting for their turn. Naturally, the twins did the same thing while Falangia, Rafatia, and Luan waited by the side.

"It's rather peaceful, don't you think?" Rean said with a confused expression.

Roan understood what he meant. "Indeed. Everywhere we went in Treavin so far has always had its own bullies and those who didn't want to follow any rules. The people responsible for such cities didn't do anything about that either. How come everyone is waiting dutifully in the queues without those with higher levels forcing the weaker ones to move?"

When the twins finally arrived at the counter, they finally found why that happened through the worker's explanation. "Oh! The city management can't afford to let the cultivators act rampantly in their territory. That's because this city has an unusually large number of high-level cultivators. If everyone acted as they wished, as they do in other cities, this city would turn into rubble in no time. With that said, the City Lord's forces place a lot of effort into hiring high-level cultivators to keep peace and order. If someone tries to rebel, they would have to deal with many cultivators at their level or even higher."

The twins had to admit it made sense. Since this place did have a lot of Transition Realm cultivators and above, and if battles arose all the time, the city would cease to exist at some point. "I see... anyways, forget about that. Can you give us a token to leave the city?"

The worker shook his head, saying, "I can't. The tokens aren't for sale. Those who want the tokens have to pass the test, and the payment you give is for the test itself, not the token. If you fail, you have to try again."

"Test?" The twins were confused. "What kind of test?"

"Strength, obviously," answered the worker. "It's no secret to anyone that over 90% of the high-level cultivators who come to this city want to enter the Under Desert Sea. However, only the strong have a minimal chance of surviving there. As for the rest, it's better if they don't try it at all."

The worker then looked at the twins and said, "You two, for example, should just give up. The Peak Stage of the Elemental Transformation Realm is good, but it's far from enough in the Under Desert Sea. Don't try to rely on luck, as it most likely won't help you. First of all, you won't be able to pass the test with your cultivation anyway."

The twins shook their heads. "Just tell us the price for the test. By the way, can we bring our disciples with us if we get the token?"

The worker shrugged his shoulders, telling them, "That depends on their level. They must be below the Saint Realm if you want to use the token with them. Anyone above that level would be considered to just be someone trying to weasel their way out."

"That's good enough." Rean and Roan nodded. "So, how much is the test?"

Seeing that the twins didn't intend to give up, the worker could only continue. "It's 300 Rank One Divine Stones for each try. You can try as many times as you want. Do you still want to take the test?"

Rean immediately took out 600 Rank One Divine Stones and passed them to the guy. "Just let us take the test already."

The worker sighed in response. "Very well. Don't come complaining later that you lost your Divine Stones in vain."