Krune heard that idea and instead thought about an even simpler way.
"Better than that, we just need to ask around whether anyone has ever seen a Heavenly Tribulation before. As long as people don't know what we are talking about or think about it as a legend, then my theory will be confirmed."
Iem agreed with Krune.
"Very well, but even if it is hidden from the heavens, so what? We need to find a way out. I don't want to spend the rest of my life here."
Krune pondered a bit before saying.
"If there is a way out, that is through the No Return Maze. However, we didn't seem to have found any path that would lead us up. That being said, there might be a trick behind it."
Krune's group kept discussing until suddenly, he felt a jolt in his Foundation. To be more precise, it was in his fused Heavely Fragments. Immediately, he got up and looked in a specific direction, which puzzled the others.
"What is it?"
"Just now, I felt like something called me."
Luvile had an even bigger reaction.
"It's the same energy!"
Krune, Iem, and Harold got puzzled.
"What energy?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtLuvile then explained.
"On the day Krune made a breakthrough, I felt a small ripple of energy on our surroundings. However, it was very subtle. Harold said that he didn't feel anything when I asked him, so I thought it was just my imagination. However, now I felt it really clearly. It's definitely the same energy from that day."
Krune and the others were taken aback. No one here was an idiot. There was no doubt that the change in the teleport formation was made by this energy. However, Luvile immediately shook his head.
"No, it's not that the teleport formation that we used had been changed. You already thought about it, right? Why would someone change the teleport formation that we are using? Krune and Iem are just in the Divine View Realm 1st Stage; what would anyone gain from them? At that time, I accepted this answer since it was the most plausible one. However, I changed my mind. No one outside purposely changed our teleport formation. Instead, our teleport was intercepted and changed the destination that we should have arrived."
Iem's eyes lit up.
"I see, I didn't know such a thing was possible. Seems like I'm still far from being a real Formations Master. Anyway, what do we do now?"
Krune pondered a bit before asking Iem.
"Didn't you feel anything? This call that I felt just now was done through the three Fused Heavenly Fragments in my Divine Soul. You already have a Heavenly Core with all fragments fused, so it should have been more explicit for you."
Iem shook his head.
"I didn't feel anything. In that case, it might be exactly because I already have a full Heavenly Core formed that I didn't notice this call that you talked about. Anyway, we should go out and check this place that called you."
Krune nodded, and the two went out. On the way, they also took the opportunity to ask around about the Heavenly Tribulations. Sure enough, the majority had never heard about it before. A few more knowledgeable ones thought to have listened to some legend like that. But of course, they only felt that it was a fairy tale.
However, Krune and Iem came to found a piece of even more impressive information. There seems to not be a single cultivator in the city above the Transformation Realm! That meant that there wasn't a single Mortal Rejection Realm cultivator at the moment. That also meant that there was no such thing as immortal cultivators around!
However, Krune's group immediately understood the reason. Once someone enters the Mortal Rejection Realm, they receive the first tribulation of the Godly Path Realm. Because no one can take tribulation here, they also can't breakthrough!
There was one point they had ignored that they only understood now. The reason those cultivators entered the No Return Maze was most likely because they were at the end of their lifespan. Having been living in this underground city for so long, they couldn't help but try their luck. After all, everyone has heard about the 'surface' legend before.
Still, it made Krune and Iem even more determined. Now that they know they can't achieve immortality in this place, they definitely won't stick around for long.
Finally, they arrived at what seemed to be a gigantic building in the center of the city. It was a circular tower with at least a km of diameter. It extended all the way to the ceiling, only stopping a few meters before touching it. One must understand that this cave is really enormous, and the ceiling was around 10km high!
There seemed to be several guards around, so Iem and Krune didn't get to close. They used their Divine Sense, but it couldn't enter the tower. Krune then used his Mental Energy instead. Sure enough, whatever restriction it had did not apply to Heavin's Soul Cultivation Technique. Still, Krune could only see the base of the tower. His Mental Energy showed that there were just a few people inside.
Krune and Iem wouldn't just charge inside. After all, those guards were all at the Semi-Divinity Realm, at the very least. That being said, Krune and Iem decided to ask around what is this tower.
People used a very simple name for it, Godly Tower. Turns out that this tower had always been here as far as people remember. It is also this tower that provided the underground city with abundant Godly Energy for cultivation. From what they heard, the people who resided inside where called 'chosen ones' who passed the trials. The Godly Energy inside the tower is the most concentrated one, so anyone who lived there would have an easy cultivation path. Everyone, obviously, wanted to enter it.
However, the city is enormous, with millions of people. There was no way everyone could cultivate inside. Afraid that the tower might get destroyed due to the sheer number of people trying to enter it, a rule had been established. Every year, a trial was made to allow 10 cultivators to enter. As one can imagine, only the 10 best ones will join the tower.
As it seemed, anyone can participate in the trial. There is simply no cultivation restriction for it. After prying further into it, Krune and Iem found out that the next trial would be occurring just a week later.
"Weird... were we really lucky enough to arrive here just in time for the trial? Why do I feel like our time arrival was planned from the very start?"
Krune agreed with Iem.
"Most likely, it was the same thing that called me earlier. Anyway, I don't think that this 'thing' can move at the moment. Otherwise, why would it call me? It could simply come out and see me straight away. That being said, I have no other choice other than entering and take a look inside."
Iem nodded.
"I agree with you. That's the only clue we have to go out so far, so I'll take part in this trial as well. Let's go register for it so that we can find what it is about."
It wasn't hard for Krune and Iem to find the place to register. After all, everyone wanted to enter the Godly Tower. Without technology, things like identity check or whatever also didn't exist in this place, which was pretty convenient for Krune's group.
Finally, they came to understand what the trial was about through the mouth of the attendant.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Are you messing with me? How come you don't know?"
Iem then said.
"It's just that we want to hear it from you as well. After all, you work with the registration for the trail. Who knows? You might know something that we don't."
The attendant narrowed his eyes but decided to speak in the end.
"What is there to know more about? It's merely a Godly Energy Recharging test. Everyone who is allowed to cultivate inside must be a genius in cultivation. That means they must be good at absorbing Godly Energy. Only like that will you be able to use your position in the tower to its fullest. All you need to do is touch the Godly Energy Orb and try to charge as much Godly Energy inside it as possible."
Krune and Iem were taken aback.
"This... wouldn't it be unfair to the cultivators with at lower cultivation realms?"
"What you talking about? Did you forget that the Godly Orbs adjust their level according to the trier's cultivation? I wonder if someone had locked you during your entire life. How come you don't even know this?"
Because the Underground City had never received an outsider before, the guy didn't suspect that Krune and Iem came from outside. Still, he felt these two's question to be quite burdensome. Since everyone knows those things, he couldn't help but think that Krune and Iem were really making fun of him.
Iem quickly bowed after hearing that.
"Thank you, brother. It seems like it is as we heard."
Iem then threw a small pouch to the guy. When he opened it, his eyes lit up. Immediately, his stance changed.
"Hahaha! It's fine. Everyone wants to enter the Godly Tower. It's only normal that you want to investigate a little more."
Krune and Iem then finished their registration before leaving. After that, Krune commented.
"It's just like the Holy Land. There was a trial there that worked just like this one."
Iem didn't mind, though.
"Well, who cares? Let's just wait for the test."
Krune nodded as they returned to their resting place. They could only wait now.