Death... and me

Surprisingly, Roan gave up participating in the Soul Power category. 'You go and test it out. When it comes to Soul Power, you're better than me due to your Light Element Affinity. We don't need the two of us to participate in that thing. But before that, let's check out the information on the other boards.'

Rean nodded as he said, 'Alright then.'

"Other than competitions for side occupations, there are also battle-related competitions," Wamil mentioned as he noticed them getting closer to him.

Roan was looking exactly at those. "From the looks of it, the battle-related ones are the categories that reward the most Divine Veins."

Gobef confirmed Roan's words, saying, "That's to be expected. In the end, what matters most in the Realm of Gods is strength. It has always been like that, and it wouldn't change anytime soon."

Roan couldn't agree more with Gobef. He then took a look at the categories available for the competition.

-Physical One vs. One Battles-

-Ability Only One vs. One Battles-

-All-Out One vs. One Battles-

-Group Fights (Up to Five Members at Most)-

-Free for All Single Battle (Only one participant per sect, guild, or organization allowed)-

-Stealth Tests-

-Strategy Tests-

-Physical Strength Measurement Test-

-Divine Energy Capability Test-

-Speed Test-

Roan was quite impressed by that. "So many..."

However, Wamil shook his head. "In fact, it is very little. If you consider the number of organizations participating in this assembly, there are simply not enough Divine Veins. It's far, far from enough. Look around. There are tens of thousands of participants here, and more are coming by the second."

Iulia, the other human in their group, then mentioned, "I took a look at the official information they released a few days before the assembly day. There are a total of 3889 teams invited to this assembly. However, there are only forty or so categories with obviously the same number of Divine Veins as rewards."

Rean and Roan had to admit Iulia was right. "So, we only have one Divine Vein for every one hundred organizations, more or less. One can already imagine how desperate the matches will be."

"That's not all," Casil said soon after, another member of their group, as he pointed at the rewards list on the board. "Can you see? There are different qualities for the Divine Veins offered to each category. The battle-related ones are the somehow better Divine Veins, with the 'All-Out One vs. One Battles' having the highest quality Divine Vein as the prize. It will reward the organization where that participant originated with a Golden-Low Quality Divine Vein."

Roan looked at the list and could see the types of Divine Veins available. "Bronze Low, Middle, High, and Peak Quality Divine Veins. Same thing goes for Silver Quality. There's only one Golden Quality vein as a reward." Roan then looked at the categories, saying not long after, "Most side occupation competitions have Bronze Quality veins as rewards."

Rean agreed with Roan, saying, "It seems like only the mainstream side occupations have Silver Quality veins as rewards. Namely, those occupations are alchemy, blacksmithing, formations, talismans, and Soul Power. Nevertheless, the rewards are only Silver-Low Quality veins."

Ruka, a Peak Stage Core and Soul Fusion Realm disciple of their group, couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha! So what if the rewards are different? It's not like we can get any of those. The Blacksmith Guild branch of Cosec will obviously send their best disciple for the blacksmith competition. The same can be said for the other side occupations. All we'll be able to do is watch as they fight for those veins."

Wamil and the others nodded in agreement. They knew their limits very well. "Well then. What categories are you guys going to participate in?"

Iulia immediately raised her hand and replied, "Talismans for me. I have absolutely no chance in the battle-related categories."

Casil, on the other hand, chose exactly that. "I'm going for speed. I obviously don't have a chance of winning against the best disciples of the top three sects, but I want to see how far I can reach right now."

One by one, they selected which categories they would participate in, with some of them selecting two until finally, only Rean and Roan were remaining. They hadn't said a single word so far. "So, how about the two of you?"

Rean pondered in silence for a bit before saying, "Blacksmithing looks nice, but I'm too lacking compared to the other top participants." There was no helping in it since Rean didn't want to reveal his Element Gathering Equipment. "However, I'm very confident in formations, so I'm taking that one." Formations were different, though. Rean wasn't as afraid of using his Circuitry Formation Runes. They would obviously catch a lot of attention, but no one would really understand their potential as they had never seen those runes before. It was different from the Element Gathering Equipment as anyone could instantly tell just how overpowered they were.

Wamil and the others nodded and were about to say something...but Rean didn't stop there. "I'm also taking Soul Power, as I have a good chance of winning. The same goes for the Physical One vs. One Fights and the Strength Measurement Test. I'm also taking the Speed Test. I should be able to get a few Divine Veins from those if everything goes well."

Wamil's group could not help but have their mouths agape. Rean was totally talking as if the victory in those categories were already his. 'Brother, you're kidding, right?'

Roan narrowed his eyes after hearing Rean's words, telling him, "Don't underestimate your opponents. We don't know how strong the Saint Realm participants are."

Rean waved his hand in response as he replied, "I know, I know...I wouldn't be such an idiot." Right after, he asked back. "Which categories are you taking? I believe that with your abilities, you should take even more Divine Veins than me."

Roan pondered over it for a bit before selecting the ones he would participate in. "Stealth, Strategy, Divine Energy Capability, Ability Only One vs. One Battles, All-Out One vs. One Battles, and Free For All Single Battle. I should be able to get a few Divine Veins from those, perhaps all of them. Also, I'll take part in the Alchemy Competition. I just want to see where I'm standing in terms of my alchemy skills at the moment. I'm not very confident in Alchemy, though."

Wamil's group almost vomited blood after hearing that! 'Brother, just which god's son are you?'