Heaven One Hall

Chapter 24

In the southeast corner of the Heaven and Earth Alliance stood a three-story wooden building, covering ten mu of land and looking classically elegant.

"Master Li, this is Heaven One Hall."

Ding Liang spoke.

Li Rui looked up at the wooden building.

"A fine place for cultivating oneself and nurturing one's nature."

He was quite satisfied with Heaven One Hall's surroundings. Tucked away in a corner, the conflicts of the Heaven and Earth Alliance could scarcely reach this place. It stood apart from worldly strife.

Heaven One referred to water.

Thus, many places that stored books bore the name Heaven One, such as Heaven One Tower and Heaven One Pavilion.

Li Rui waved a hand. "This is far enough. Deliver a message for me—thank Brother Wu, and I'll treat him to drinks another day."

"Sure."

Ding Liang respectfully bowed, then turned and left.

Wu Tu placed considerable importance on Li Rui and had specifically instructed Ding Liang to attend to him properly. Only after Li Rui spoke did Ding Liang finally leave at ease.

Li Rui walked alone to the foot of Heaven One Hall. The area before the building was very quiet, with not a soul in sight. Emerald leaves carpeted the ground.

He entered the wooden building.

Antique wooden bookshelves stood inside, packed with countless books.

On the first floor, a young disciple in the Heaven and Earth Alliance's standard black garb lay sprawled over a wooden table, bored out of his mind.

Li Rui walked up to the young disciple.

"Is this Heaven One Tower?"

Without even raising his head, the young disciple flicked a sheet of paper from beside his hand. "Fill it out according to what's written there. There are brushes over there. Hand it to me when you're done, then just wait to collect your book."

As he spoke, he skillfully pointed toward another table.

Brushes, ink, and an inkstone sat on the table.

Li Rui said, "My name is Li Rui."

"Don't say your name is Li Rui. Even if your surname were Zhang, it wouldn't—"

"Li... Li Rui?"

The young disciple abruptly raised his head.

Only then did he remember that Heaven One Hall had been notified yesterday that a new hall master was coming. It seemed... his name was Li Rui!!

"H-Hall Master."

The young disciple shot to his feet, clasping his hands behind his back stiffly like a student who had done something wrong.

Li Rui waved a hand. "Why are you the only one here? Where are the other two?"

The young disciple explained, "Senior Brother Liu went out on business. Junior Brother Liang is on the second floor."

"So you're Zhou Shulin?"

Before coming here, Ding Liang had already told him that Heaven One Hall had three disciples in total.

Liu Tong, Liang He, and Zhou Shulin.

"Y-Yes."

The young disciple nodded again and again.

Li Rui said, "All right, go back to sleep."

"..."

Zhou Shulin's face twisted in conflict. Should he sleep, or should he not?

Li Rui passed Zhou Shulin and wandered around the first floor by himself. Heaven One Hall was large and held many books, but most were inconsequential miscellaneous volumes.

He had heard that among the three alliance leaders who founded the Heaven and Earth Alliance, one had originally been a scholar who only took up martial arts after failing the imperial examinations.

Perhaps he believed that even roaming the martial world required culture.

That was why every branch of the Heaven and Earth Alliance had a Heaven One Hall for storing books.

Li Rui then climbed to the second floor with his hands behind his back.

Compared to the first floor, the second was far more streamlined.

The books placed here were all basic martial cultivation methods. Li Rui casually flipped through a few; none was more impressive than the Eight Section Brocade. They were all common, run-of-the-mill fare.

As for the third floor—

He could not go up there.

That was right. Even as the hall master of Heaven One Hall, he could not enter the third floor.

The third floor was the true essence of Heaven One Tower. It stored the martial arts manuals the Heaven and Earth Alliance had collected over so many years. Naturally, they were all copies, but even so, they were worth a fortune.

To enter the third floor, one had to obtain the helmsman's written token. Then only members of Heaven One Hall and the Law Transmission Hall could enter together.

If anyone dared secretly learn the martial arts on the third floor, they would be deemed a traitor to the alliance and face endless pursuit.

"No wonder no one wanted to be the hall master of Heaven One Hall."

There was no profit in it at all. It was just a glorified gatekeeper's job.

As he walked, he encountered another subordinate by a row of bookshelves.

"You're Liang He?"

A youngster whose features still held some youthful immaturity hurriedly scrambled to his feet at the sound. "Are you Hall Master Li?"

Li Rui smiled faintly. "You're rather clever."

Those assigned to Heaven One Hall generally fell into two categories. The first were those with connections but poor natural aptitude. The second were those without connections but decent natural aptitude.

As for those with poor natural aptitude and no connections, they were thrown out to guard venues. They had no chance at all of staying in a hall at the headquarters and enjoying an easy life.

Zhou Shulin and the Liu Tong he had yet to meet belonged to the former category.

One was Vice Helmsman Zhou's biological nephew, while the other was Vice Master Qian's brother-in-law.

The most unfortunate of all was Liang He before him.

Ding Liang had said that Liang He had originally been in the Civil and Martial Hall. Later, after offending the hall master there, he had been driven to Heaven One Hall.

Liang He sheepishly hid behind his back a booklet titled "Yun Province Heroine Records."

Li Rui did not expose him. Instead, he patted Liang He meaningfully. "Little He, how can one catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den? Just looking is useless."

"..."

Liang He had no words.

Li Rui finished touring the second floor of Heaven One Hall.

Only then did he return to his own private room on the first floor, satisfied.

Being a hall master truly was comfortable.

At Heaven One Hall, there was almost nothing he needed to worry about.

Most daily affairs were handled by Liang He and Zhou Shulin, unless some brazen thief dared sneak into Heaven One Pavilion to steal cultivation methods.

But Li Rui was confident he could handle that.

After all, the cultivation methods on the third floor could at most attract Ninth Rank martial artists. Cultivation methods for Eighth Rank martial artists existed only at the Heaven and Earth Alliance's headquarters. At most, Ninth Rank experts would come, and he had the support of other experts at the headquarters. There was nothing to worry about.

Dusk approached.

Only Liang He remained on duty at Heaven One Hall.

However, Li Rui's residence was separated from Heaven One Hall by only a single wall. He could hear any rustle within the building, and with Heaven and Earth Alliance guards patrolling at night, everything was guaranteed safe beyond all doubt.

Li Rui entered the residence.

The grand four-courtyard residence was more than spacious enough for him alone, even seeming somewhat desolate. Generally, a Heaven and Earth Alliance hall master would buy two or three maidservants to wait upon him.

But Li Rui had no intention of wasting money like that.

Besides, he carried too many secrets. If they were leaked, it would only invite needless trouble.

The residence was furnished with everything he could need, making the old belongings he had brought from the Zhu Family seem utterly out of place.

In the end, he put all the things he had brought into a Large Wooden Box.

"The Heaven and Earth Alliance's beds really are soft."

Li Rui slept very comfortably that night.

Early morning.

Li Rui's internal clock had him up to practice his saber before Chen Hour.

He had martial bones and secret arts.

But neither was a reason for him to slack off. In a few days, he would truly turn seventy. In ancient times, who knew how many years he had left to live?

Li Rui drew the standard Heaven and Earth Alliance saber he had received yesterday.

A hall master's saber was still considerably better than an ordinary disciple's. Though the craftsmanship was mediocre, the materials were generous. The hilt was even wrapped in a layer of cowhide, so it would not rub his hand raw.

In the vast courtyard,

Li Rui practiced his saber alone, no longer needing to worry about others spying on him.

His saber moved faster and faster, until it finally became a fluttering afterimage.

Exhilarating!