When Lin Huang was practicing his sword skills in the room at past five in the afternoon, someone knocked on his door all of a sudden. He saw Yi Yeyu and Yi Zheng standing at the door when he opened it.
Yi Yeyu was stunned when she saw him in his disguise. "Did we get the wrong room?" She peered up at the room number and looked suspiciously at Lin Huang.
"It's the correct one. Let's go in." Yi Zheng did not bother explaining.
"It's me. I'm just disguising as another identity of mine," Lin Huang had just recalled that he was under disguise. He changed back into his original look immediately.
"I thought I got the wrong room." Yi Yeyu only walked in then.
Yi Zheng followed her but trained his eyes on Lin Huang. He only spoke hesitantly a moment later, "Has your combat strength elevated to immortal-level rank-4?"
Yi Yeyu only realized that about him. Then, she looked at Lin Huang too.
Lin Huang nodded while smiling. "Yes, I've elevated to immortal-level rank-4 now."
"The speed of your combat strength elevation insane." Yi Zheng had no idea what else to say now. "It was the end of August when we last met. It's only been half a year and you've already elevated from immortal-level rank-1 to immortal-level rank-4. That's a three-rank leap. You elevated a rank every two months on average."
"Have you elevated to immortal-level rank-2 now?" Lin Huang could tell that Yi Zheng was on immortal-level rank-2.
"I spent half a year and finally got the opportunity to go into the ruins. I've just elevated a few days ago." Yi Zheng thought that his elevation speed could not compare with Lin Huang's at all.
"No wonder I couldn't contact you before the New Year. Was it because you were in the ruins?" Lin Huang raised his brow.
"Yes, I've just come out a few days ago," Yi Zheng confirmed, "I heard that Xiao Yu was coming to Wanbao City, so I came for her."
"Which ruins did you go to?" Lin Huang asked rather curiously.
"It's a grade-3 ruin shared with the Combat God Alliance and a few other genius organizations. The highest combat strength for monsters was just immortal-level rank-9. Those who participated in the exploration were all low-level and mid-level immortal-levels," Yi Zheng explained.
"The Combat God Alliance?" Lin Huang thought hard and realized that he had never heard of such a genius organization.
"It's normal not to have heard of it. The Combat God Alliance is Division 3's local organization," Yi Zheng revealed while smiling.
He only realized what a formidable organization the Heaven Alliance which Lin Huang was talking about after joining the Genius Union. He had also asked around about the entry requirements to get into the Heaven Alliance. In the end, he was too embarrassed to join the Heaven Alliance using Lin Huang's name. If his abilities were not so mediocre, perhaps he might choose to pull some strings and catch up to other members slowly. However, the issue was that the entry requirements for the Heaven Alliance were too high. He figured he would not pass any of the tests after looking at the contents of the tests, so he gave up immediately. He selected a few local Division 3 organizations instead and eventually got accepted into the Combat God Alliance after participating in the exam.
It was Chan Dou who had invited Lin Huang to join the Heaven Alliance. He had no idea what the exam entailed. Naturally, he had no idea what the exact reason why Yi Zheng gave up on joining the Heaven Alliance was. However, since he chose to join that organization, Lin Huang did not ask any further.
"It's great to join Division 3's local organization. There are only a few Heaven Alliance members in Division 3, so there aren't many resources." Although Lin Huang said the truth, he was comparing resources with the top organizations including the Divine Alliance, the Hong Alliance, and the Tang Alliance.
However, to Yi Zheng, the Heaven Alliance's resources were worthy of being envied. Although there were not many Heaven Alliance members in Division 3, the Heaven Alliance would definitely be given the permission to enter the ruins whenever one opened in Division 3.
"Oh yeah, it's been a long time since you've logged into Genius Union." Yi Zheng did not want to dwell on the upsetting topic, so he changed the subject instead.
"I think it's been four to five months since I last logged in." Lin Huang counted to himself and nodded subsequently. "I was very busy the few months before the New Year and I've been practicing my sword skills after that."
"No wonder I don't see your name on the Stairway Tree this year," Yi Zheng said while grinning.
"The scoreboard refreshes every 1st of January, am I right?" Lin Huang just remembered that the Stairway Tree scoreboard would be refreshed annually.
"The Stairway Tree scoreboard is calculated annually. It'll be refreshed every year at midnight on the 1st of January. Then, everyone will have zero points on the scoreboard," Yi Zheng confirmed.
The zero points Yi Zheng was referring to was just on the scoreboard. All of the accumulated points would be stored in everyone's accounts. As long as it was unused, the points would be kept year after year. It would only be cleared completely when the member elevated to imperial-level and was removed from the Genius Union.
"Everyone in the Genius Union has been talking that you haven't been slaying monsters on the Stairway Tree these few months," Yi Zheng proceeded to speak, "Many of them say that checkpoint 56 is your limit. You could've only stayed on that checkpoint if you planned to continue winning points. Some even started a bet, speculating on which checkpoint you could reach. Most people are betting on checkpoint 56. It's the one with most bets for now while the second would be checkpoint 58. Nobody's betting on a checkpoint that's higher than that."
"They're doing that?" Lin Huang raised his brow curiously. "What are the odds like?"
"1:1.05 for checkpoint 56, 1:1.25 for checkpoint 58, 1:10 for checkpoint 61, and 1:100 for checkpoint 63."
'I think I've found a way to make a large sum of money again.' Lin Huang smirked.
"When do you plan to hunt on the Stairway Tree?" Yi Zheng was excited too.
"After the auction ends, I guess," Lin Huang was thrilled to kill monsters on the Stairway Tree after getting new God Figurines in order to elevate his new God Figurines' Combat Souls quickly.
Although the Genius Union was a virtual world, the things obtained from the Stairway Tree were real. Apart from monsters turning into broken pieces after being killed and the person not being able to obtain the monster carcasses, the rest was the same with reality. Lin Huang could obtain card pieces as well as complete Monster Cards by killing monsters on the Stairway Tree. He could replenish Life Power for Bai and the rest and also replenish spiritual energy for his God Figurines' Combat Souls.
Yi Yeyu had been listening to their conversation and she was getting more and more interested when both of them were talking about the Genius Union. As an offspring of an honorable family, it was natural to have heard of the Genius Union. However, she had no idea that Lin Huang and her brother had become a member of Genius Union.
"Can I join that Genius Union?" Yi Yeyu asked with anticipation.
Yi Zheng glanced at his sister. No matter whether it was qualification or talent, Yi Yeyu was definitely qualified. However, she was still lacking combat abilities to be a genius. Even if she joined the Genius Union, the chances of any organization wanting her were slim.
"Sure, your qualifications and talents are definitely up to standard." However, Lin Huang, who was standing aside, nodded and said directly, "If you're willing to join the Heaven Alliance, I'll ask Chan Dou to get someone in Division 3 to guide you in your cultivation."
"Chan Dou of the Five Princes? You know him?" Yi Zheng asked with his eyes wide open.
"Of course I know him! He's the chief of our Heaven Alliance." Lin Huang thought there was nothing extraordinary about it.
"But I heard that Chan Dou's very secretive and hardly shows up at the Genius Union. Apart from the Heaven Alliance's high management, most of the people wouldn't even see him once in a few years."
"Where did you hear that from? I'm not in the Heaven Alliance's high management, but I've seen him a few times in a year. Of course, I've never seen him in real life. I've only seen him in the Genius Union's video projections." Lin Huang thought what Yi Zheng heard was just a rumor.
"What're the Five Princes?" Yi Yeyu could not help but interrupt.
"The most powerful five people below imperial-level in the entire continent. They're also the most powerful powerhouses among the young generation," Yi Zheng explained immediately.
"Is Chan Dou handsome?" Yi Yeyu's gossip mode was turned on immediately.
Yi Zheng stopped talking all of a sudden. He had never seen how Chan Dou looked like after all.
Lin Huang thought for a moment and answered, "I think he's slightly more handsome than your brother." He thought that his comment was very objective.
Yi Zheng was speechless. 'Why am I being compared?'
Yi Yeyu turned to look at Yi Zheng disgustedly. She then turned to look at Lin Huang and said in excitement, "Do you have his picture?"
"Yes, that's him in his profile picture," Lin Huang said and opened his address book. He found Chan Dou's contact details.
Yi Yeyu's eyes lit up when he projected Chan Dou's photo. "He's so handsome! He's so much more handsome than my brother!"
Yi Zheng thought he was being given the cold shoulder. 'Why am I being compared to again? Also, how is Chan Dou much more handsome than me!? He's just a teeny-tiny more handsome than me!'