Since there were not many changes on the Stairway Tree leaderboard and few people were online in the Genius Union, nobody noticed Lin Huang breaking through to checkpoint 63.
He noticed that Chan Dou was online when he arrived on checkpoint 63. Lin Huang recalled the Herculean King and headed straight to the Heaven Alliance foothold.
Just when he got into the range of the Heaven Alliance foothold, Chan Dou welcomed him, dressed in a white suit.
After taking a good look at Lin Huang, Chan Dou said in surprise, "Your combat strength…"
"I'm already on immortal-level rank-7 now." Lin Huang nodded. There was nothing to hide since those Heaven Alliance members would find out sooner or later.
"The elevation rate of your combat strength is terrifying!" Chan Dou had found out from Tan Lang that Lin Huang was only on immortal-level rank-3 when they came out of the Fallen God Land before the New Year. It had only been less than three months since they got out of the Fallen God Land and he had already elevated four ranks so quickly!
Though surprised, Chan Dou knew it was Lin Huang's private matter, so he did not ask further. The duo chatted while walking towards the office.
"How do you know I'm here?" Lin Huang asked.
"My communication device notified me when you logged in. I realized you were breaking through the checkpoints rapidly. You spent less than an hour getting to checkpoint 63." Chan Dou flashed a thumbs up.
Lin Huang had just recalled that he added Chan Dou as a friend on his communication device whereby there would be notification whenever a friend came online. He only had Chan Dou as his friend in Genius Union, he had countable friends overall including Yi Yeyu. Since he was often offline, he seemed to have never heard the notification tone and almost forgotten about it.
"Since you're already on checkpoint 63, it means you're eligible to run as the deputy chief of the Heaven Alliance. I'll find time to gather everyone within these few days to officially recommend you as our deputy chief of the Heaven Alliance. I'll let you know once I've fixed the time, but you must be present by then." Chan Dou brought up the notion of nominating Lin Huang as deputy chief again.
Lin Huang had already promised him earlier, so he did not bother rejecting him this time. All he did was remind Chan Dou, "I won't stay too long on immortal-level. I'll definitely elevate to imperial-level within this year."
Chan Dou nodded a little helplessly wearing a smile. "I could see that. It's my mistake. I thought you were still far away from elevating to imperial-level, but it's alright. Just help us whenever you're still the deputy chief."
"Are you really ready for your elevation?" Lin Huang could not help but ask when both of them arrived at the entrance of the office.
"So what if I'm not ready? The situation's more powerful than I as a person." Chan Dou forced a smile and shook his head. He pushed the office door open. "The Union Government's rules are set. Those below imperial-level aren't eligible to obtain the methods."
Lin Huang walked into the office too. After taking the cup of tea Chan Dou handed him, he sat on the couch and fell into silence for a while with his head held down. He put the tea down and lifted his head to look at Chan Dou. "What if I have my ways to get you the methods?"
Initially, Lin Huang was unwilling to involve Chan Dou in this because his identity might be exposed as soon as the ancient methods spread out. Although Chan Dou would not sell him out, the Union Government would find out about him if they put enough effort in.
However, he thought about it and realized that Chan Dou had been taking care of him all this while. He had a kind personality too. It would be unfortunate if he ruined his future just for the ancient methods.
Moreover, Mr. Fu did not say that the Union Government prohibited him from spreading the methods around. Even if the Union Government were to find out about Lin Huang and his identity, they would not look for him about that matter.
Most importantly, two of Lin Huang's God Figurines' Combat Souls had elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank and had the ability to fight demigods. He had sufficient power to take on any powerhouse's challenge now.
Chan Dou, who sat across the couch, was first stunned by what Lin Huang said, but subsequently shook his head immediately. "Stop fooling around. Even if you manage to get it, the risks are just too high. The Union Government isn't any other organization, you'll be doomed on the entire continent as soon as you offended them."
"I'm not stealing intelligence from them. I don't think they would come for me just for that," Lin Huang said with a smile, "I'll ask you again. Do you want it?"
Chan Dou had a complicated expression on his face and he finally nodded after some struggle. "Yes! I owe you one."
"These methods can't be transferred through data, so I can only give you the method via jade slip in person. Are you getting someone to pick it up from me in Division 3 or do you want me to send it to you?" Lin Huang asked.
"I've been tied up here recently. Otherwise, I would've taken it from you myself." Chan Dou thought about it. "I think Tan Lang's in Division 3 these few days. Give it to him. I'll get him to bring it back."
Although Tan Lang had 'graduated' from the Genius Union, they had been good friends for years and knew each there even before joining the Genius Union. Chan Dou had no concern getting him to help.
"Sure, I'll arrange the time to meet him." Lin Huang nodded. He had Tan Lang's contact number.
"If your family asks about the methods…"
"Don't worry about it. I'll insist that I obtained them from the black market without deliberately looking for them. I won't involve you in it." Chan Dou already had an explanation prepared.
In reality, even if the Chan Clan did not believe that explanation, they would not investigate further into it. The possibility of them helping Chan Dou to keep the secret was even higher.
"Don't rush into elevating to imperial-level. Break through after you've done all the preparations." Lin Huang did not want to see Chan Dou ruin himself, which was the reason why he wanted to give him the methods.
"I know." Chan Dou grinned while nodding. He then took a long look at Lin Huang. "To be honest, I can no longer tell how powerful your ability is."
"It's just immortal-level rank-7. That's two ranks lower than you," Lin Huang said humbly.
"Hey, I can't obtain 100 billion points on the Stairway Tree." Chan Dou waved and grinned immediately.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that now." Lin Huang was rather annoyed as he thought about that.
"What plans do you have now? Are you going up further?" Chan Dou asked.
"No, I'll stay on checkpoint 63 for now." Lin Huang shook his head and looked at Chan Dou while raising his brow. "Are you so sure that I can break through checkpoint 63?"
"I think you can." Chan Dou picked up the tea and sipped it slowly.
"I heard the bug guardians and the Queen Mother are very powerful. Have you fought them before?"
"I've no idea about the Queen Mother. I've never seen her fight, but the bug guardians are indeed formidable. Their abilities alone are much more powerful than triple mutated monsters. They might be quadruple mutated. Their abilities are on par with mine if three of them fought together. I'd have to run away if four of them attacked me at once," Chan Dou shared his battle experience.
"Is that so?" Lin Huang was a little disappointed not to have learned anything about the Queen Mother's ability.
"I think you could take three of them down at once. Try it." Chan Dou attempted to persuade Lin Huang while smirking.
"Not today. I've reached my limit before dawn." Lin Huang shook his head while returning the smile.
"I've almost forgotten that you didn't obtain any points all the way from checkpoint 58 to checkpoint 63." Chan Dou just recalled that Lin Huang's points remained the same since he had logged in earlier.
Just when Lin Huang and Chan Dou were chatting happily in the Heaven Alliance office, someone finally noticed that Lin Xie had made it to checkpoint 63 on the Stairway Tree leaderboard.
"Lin Xie has arrived on checkpoint 63!"
Soon, the news spread in the Genius Union.
Many powerhouses who stayed on checkpoint 63 stopped treating Lin Huang as a junior ever since they heard the news. They began treating Lin Xie as being on the same level as they were.