Hong Zhuang's appearance surprised Lin Huang.
He knew how powerful that lady was. When he had still been on bronze-level, that lady had brought him into the Purple Crow from which he took great effort to escape by faking his death.
Her make-up aside, Lin Huang could recognize her right away by looking at her back.
This lady was no ordinary person. She was the person who fooled the two major organizations; she faked her death to escape the Union Government's headquarters and left the Purple Crow without getting caught.
Even though Yang Ling was a traveler just like Lin Huang, and possessed a heaven-defying Goldfinger, he might not gain any benefits from this lady.
After some struggle, Lin Huang decided to keep quiet about Hong Zhuang's identity.
That lady must have her own objectives of being with Yang Ling. Exposing her identity might trigger him and result in Yang Ling being killed to keep the secret safe.
Lin Huang shook his head to get Hong Zhuang out of his mind. He then began to look at the Emperor's Heart Rings Yang Ling had unlocked.
Among the 300 or so Emperor's Heart Rings, over 60 of them belonged to imperial-level powerhouses.
Lin Huang browsed through them one after another.
Apart from an impressive number of Life Crystals, all sort of materials, elixirs and monster carcasses, there were also thousands of ancient relics, over 70 demigod relics, and many miscellaneous items.
He also found the token Yang Ling mentioned among the miscellaneous items.
It was completely golden with the character 'royal' imprinted right in the middle just like Yang Ling projected.
"There really is a Royal Trials token!" Lin Huang did not take it out. Instead, he looked through the ring with his Divine Telekinesis.
After recalling his Divine Telekinesis, Lin Huang thought hard about how to handle this token.
"There's a high possibility that people from Dynasty will find it and take it back if I throw it away like that." He was reluctant to do that. After some thought, he went on the Heart Network and began reading up more on the Royal Trials.
However, he got nothing after browsing through for half an hour. It was clear that Dynasty kept the news confidential. After thinking to himself, he decided to contact Mr. Fu.
"Mr dear disciple, what's wrong? Is there anything about the combat skills that you don't understand?"
"Master, do you know what the Royal Trials entail?" Lin Huang asked directly.
"This I really have no idea about. Dynasty has never made the Royal Trials public. Apart from the Princes who participate in it, nobody from Dynasty knows what's in it, let alone outsiders. Moreover, it's said that the tests are different every time." Mr. Fu thought it was weird for Lin Huang to ask about this. "Why are you asking about this out of nowhere?"
"I have a Royal Trials token with me," Lin Huang revealed honestly.
"You killed a Prince of Dynasty?" Mr. Fu could not help but raise his brow when he heard the revelation.
"Yes, the Seventh Prince."
"Don't worry about it since you've already killed him." Mr. Fu shook his head subsequently. "But it's better that you get rid of this trial token. Especially since the Royal Trials will open this year, people from Dynasty will definitely look for the trial tokens that are wandering out there. They might come after you if you keep it with you."
"So, anyone can participate in the trial as long as they have this token?" Lin Huang asked again.
"Yes, according to the rumors. Dynasty's founder used the token to participate in the Royal Trials before Dynasty was even founded. Ever since he established Dynasty, he got people to gather information about the trial tokens and collect them in all sort of ways.
"So, whether you're a Prince or not, you can take part in it even if you're not from Dynasty. You're eligible to enter the trials as long as you have the token to activate it while your combat strength must be on immortal-level.
"However, the problem is that Dynasty has been treating where the trials are held as their private properly. Dynasty Princes will definitely attack together as soon as an outsider appears."
Mr. Fu looked at Lin Huang suspiciously after he explained at length. "Are you thinking of participating in the Royal Trials?"
"I would like to try." Lin Huang smiled while nodding. "There must be many benefits of these trials since the founder of Dynasty values it so much. Moreover, I'm dying to find out how difficult the trials are. The trials that only one person has passed in more than 500 years."
Mr. Fu went silent for a moment before speaking again, "I won't interfere with your decision. Go ahead if you think it's the right thing to do."
"With your current ability and your imperial monsters, it shouldn't be a problem for you to handle the ordinary Dynasty Princes. However, you must beware of this one person, Huang Wuji. He was already on immortal-level rank-9 three years ago and he's been suppressing his combat strength on immortal-level for the past few years just for the trials this time. He's known as one of the most powerful immortal-level powerhouses in the entire continent."
"If he really only has immortal-level rank-9 combat strength, he shouldn't be a major threat to your knight imperial monster who can merge, but it's very likely that he'll break through his combat strength as soon as he enters the trials. It's possible for him to break through to imperial-level crimson gold-rank or even imperial-level yellow gold-rank right away with three years of work, heavy support of resources from Dynasty and some special techniques. His real ability might be on par with imperial-level purple gold-rank if he elevates to imperial-level yellow gold-rank."
"Huang Wuji of the Five Princes... I've heard of him." Lin Huang nodded lightly upon hearing Mr. Fu's advice. "I'll be careful."
"Don't think too much when you're in the trials. Just give all you have to fight. If you pass the trial, I could ask Dynasty for some resources for you. After all, it's pretty impossible that they'd get an outsider like you to be their leader."
"I'll try my best." Lin Huang faintly sensed that Mr. Fu seemed to have rather high expectations of him. Looking at him grinning in the projection, Lin Huang figured he must be imagining himself giving Dynasty a good lesson.
Mr. Fu snapped back to his senses a moment later. Lin Huang asked then, "Master, do you know when do the trials open?"
He had browsed through the Web but found nothing, so he could only ask Mr. Fu for the answer.
"I'm not sure about the exact time. From what I remember, the opening varies every time." Mr. Fu shook his head.
"But don't you worry. They always make it so ridiculously big like it's the New Year every time the Royal Trials open. With Huang Wuji this time, they'll definitely make everyone hear about it before it opens. Moreover, a new ruin has opened in Division 1. Dynasty will only have time to make the Royal Trials happen after they are done exploring the ruins. I'm guessing the trials will only happen in two months no matter what. I'll keep tabs on it and inform you as soon as I hear about it." Mr. Fu changed the subject as soon as they were done talking about the trials.
"I've talked to the Union Government about the virtual god-level methods. We're in the preliminary stage of the discussion now and I'm still negotiating some details. A decision should be made in these few days, and I'll contact you as soon as the decision's out."
"Sure."
Lin Huang had gotten one problem off his chest after speaking to Mr. Fu, but he had something else bothering him now.
"There's no rush for the Royal Trials yet, but Wanbao City's auction will start on the 8th of March. I'll have to go back to Division 3 in 20 days. What about the silly girl, Lin Xin?"