Monster Paradise

”Eh, I thought Lin Xie was still on the 21st checkpoint at noon. Why’s he on the 31st checkpoint now? Did I misread or something?” A person mumbled to himself as he noticed the changes on the checkpoint that Lin Huang was currently on when he logged into the virtual world after 6 p.m.

He was not the only one who noticed the changes. Many people had been paying attention to Lin Huang ever since the rumor spread. They noticed that the checkpoint that Lin Huang was on kept changing since the afternoon. They saw that he passed through one checkpoint every half an hour.

Many people thought that Lin Huang would be stuck on the 30th checkpoint, but they did not expect him to go through it in 20 minutes, which was even shorter than the time he took for the previous checkpoints. The person who noticed that spread the news and accused Lin Huang of cheating again. Before the first heat was over came the second one when Lin Huang was minding his own business.

However, Lin Huang logged out of the virtual world when he arrived at the 31st checkpoint as the sky was getting dark. Many people on the Stairway Tree were still discussing the same topic.

”In just one afternoon, less than six hours, and he managed to climb from the 21st checkpoint to the 31st checkpoint? Furthermore, he only used 20 minutes to get through the 30th checkpoint. This guy must have cheated again!”

”He managed to get through ten checkpoints in one afternoon. That would mean 20 checkpoints in a day. Looking at his progress, wouldn’t he get to the 80th checkpoint in four days?!”

”Not only did he cheat on the way he got his points, but now he’s also cheating to pass through checkpoints. This guy is so shameless!”

”Let’s report him again!”

”I’ve reported him!”

”Report him +1!”

In reality, it was pretty easy for people who were on the 50th to the 60th checkpoints to get through ten checkpoints in one afternoon. One reason was that they were already on immortal-level rank-8 or rank-9. Some of them even had the ability of an imperial-level, so the checkpoints below the 50th were nothing to them. On the other hand, all of them had strategized. Therefore it was easy for them to climb the stairs again. It was possible for one to climb from the first checkpoint to the 40th in one day, let alone ten checkpoints in an afternoon.

What everyone was mad about was that Lin Xie had appeared out of nowhere. Since everyone was convinced that he had cheated earlier, they believed that he had done it again to get through ten checkpoints in one afternoon. Once he made such a terrible first impression, whatever he did, later on, would be judged anyway. Many people had heard about Lin Xie due to the ”cheating” incident. With that impression, no matter what Lin Xie achieved after that, he would always be accused of cheating.

However, a person from Division 3, who was on the 61st checkpoint, spoke up after hearing about the second accusation.

”It’s nothing for an immortal-level rank-8 or rank-9 to climb from the 21st checkpoint to the 31st in one afternoon. It’s achievable even without any strategy.”

Some of the people from Division 3 supported what the person said.

Soon, a person who claimed to be on the 21st checkpoint revealed that Lin Xie was only a blue flame-level instead of immortal-level. Later on, more people who were on the 21st checkpoint revealed more about Lin Huang, including how he looked like, his identity as an Imperial Censor and a psychic.

Those from Division 3 who spoke for Lin Huang became silent.

”I don’t believe that a person who’s only on blue flame-level could get to the 31st checkpoint without cheating!

”I couldn’t even pass the second checkpoint when I was on blue flame-level, and I only managed to pass through the 10th checkpoint when I was gold flame-level. Even if he’s a supreme genius, it’s impossible for him to get to the 31st checkpoint when he’s only a blue flame-level.”

”Now, it seems like he didn’t just cheat his way from the 21st to the 31st checkpoint. I bet he even cheated his way up to the 21st checkpoint.”

Zhao San and the rest attempted to reveal the truth on behalf of Lin Huang, but it backfired. Their comments were drowned in those hateful comments that the others posted.

”This Lin Xie won’t be around for long. The Emperor’s Heart will act on the reports within 24 hours. People have been reporting him since six in the morning. I bet his account will be suspended tomorrow morning.”

”That’s what I’m talking about!”

”I shall report him again before he gets suspended!”

Lin Huang had no idea that his getting to the 31st checkpoint had caused another uproar. He had dinner after logging out of the virtual world. Yao Lan called again when the sky was getting dark. Lin Huang hesitated before picking up the call.

”What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you pick up my calls earlier? Are you afraid of being criticized?” Yao Lan said with a huge grin.

”Scared, my a*s! My communication page was on silent in the morning, and I spent my afternoon climbing the tree. I’ve been busy. What do you want from me?” Lin Huang asked.

”I want to know where you got those strategies.”

”What strategies?” Lin Huang raised his eyebrow.

”The strategies to climb the Stairway Tree. We have the strategies to pass through the 21st to the 30th checkpoint with us, but we’re not able to do that within one afternoon. Your strategies must be coming from some top organization. Can I buy a copy from you? I want those after the 40th checkpoint,” Yao Lan told him her intention.

”There’s no strategy.” Lin Huang shook his head.

”I don’t even know what’s going to happen at any of the checkpoints. How would I have the strategies?”

”Selfish. You’ll be suspended tomorrow morning anyway. Why would you want to keep them to yourself?” Yao Lan huffed angrily.

”Don’t you worry. I won’t be suspended.” Lin Huang was sure as he had read the suspension criteria on the Emperor’s Heart. Those who were reported would not be suspended directly but would be investigated instead. If the account were found to be cheating, a suspension would be the solution. However, accumulating points by summoning monsters was not deemed as cheating. The verdict was not determined by what the people said, so he was not worried that he would be suspended.

Yao Lan did not dwell on it since Lin Huang did not want to admit that he had his own strategies.

”Oh yeah, there’s another thing that I need to inform you. Huangfu Lin will return to Sweep City later, and she wants to see you.”

”I’ll spare some time to see her,” Lin Huang agreed immediately. He wanted to see how the most influential person in the Sweep Alliance, who managed to kill an imperial-level when she was only an immortal-level rank-7 looked like.