Deputy Hall Master

Deputy Hall Master

Liu Tong went to the Civil and Martial Hall the very next day.

The Civil and Martial Hall was no idle backwater like Heaven One Hall. With his brother-in-law pulling strings as well, his prospects were sure to be good.

Li Rui was still counting on Liu Tong rising swiftly through the ranks, so he could find a chance to cash in on his investment.

During this time,

two deacons from the Heaven and Earth Alliance came specifically to investigate Liu Tong's situation.

Naturally, Li Rui, Zhou Shulin, and Liang He did not stint on good words.

Everything went smoothly.

The only shortcoming was perhaps that Heaven One Hall had yet to receive any new recruits.

But it did not matter. Liu Tong had rarely taken part in Heaven One Hall's affairs even before this.

Li Rui had anticipated this long ago.

The three Alliance Masters of the Heaven and Earth Alliance had previously been Seventh Rank Martial Masters. Now that they had broken through to the Sixth Rank, the Alliance's standing was bound to rise with the tide, thoroughly cementing its position at the head of the one alliance, two gangs, and three clans.

The threshold for becoming an Alliance disciple would naturally be raised by a great deal.

Even Heaven One Hall was not something just anyone could easily join.

Looking at it this way,

he, the Heaven One Hall Master, seemed to have made a profit.

By sheer accident, he had invested in a promising dark horse.

Even the weakest Hall Master was still a Hall Master, far beyond ordinary disciples. He was bound to become a prized morsel.

"Things probably won't stay peaceful for long."

The Heaven and Earth Alliance was bound to expand its influence, and those joining it would certainly be far stronger than before. The previous Hall Masters and deacons were very likely to be defeated by rising newcomers in the coming examination and fall back into the ranks of disciples.

Yet Li Rui did not feel much anxiety over this.

Focusing on martial arts was the true path.

Just as the three men of Heaven One Hall believed there would only be the three of them in the tower from now on,

an uninvited guest appeared downstairs.

Zhou Shulin looked at the unfamiliar middle-aged man before him, with his aquiline nose.

He knew most of the disciples from the Law Transmission Hall, but this middle-aged man was entirely unfamiliar.

"If you wish to borrow a Cultivation Method, you must have a token from the Law Transmission Hall."

The man spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. "My name is Eagle Six. I am the newly appointed Deputy Hall Master."

As he spoke, he tossed a token engraved with the number "29" before Zhou Shulin.

Zhou Shulin stared at the token in a daze at first, then lifted it before his eyes and examined it for a long while. Only after confirming that it was a genuine deacon's token did he hurriedly say, "Hall Master Eagle, please wait a moment. I need to seek Hall Master Li's instructions."

Eagle Six's brows furrowed slightly, displeasure showing on his face. "Could it be that I, the Deputy Hall Master, need Hall Master Li's approval to enter Heaven One Hall?"

Zhou Shulin inwardly groaned.

This Deputy Hall Master who had dropped from the sky seemed to have a foul temper. One look was enough to tell he was not someone easy to deal with. There would probably be no more peaceful days ahead.

Just as Zhou Shulin stood there anxiously, racking his brains for a solution—

a large hand suddenly swung toward him.

"Looks like Hall Master Li is still too soft. His men lack discipline. I'll teach him a lesson in his stead."

Eagle Six snorted coldly.

Just as the large hand came within half a foot of Zhou Shulin,

a pair of somewhat withered hands thrust between them.

They precisely caught Eagle Six's hand.

"Hall Master Li?"

Eagle Six stared fixedly at the old man who had appeared at some unknown moment, slowly uttering those three words.

Li Rui merely glanced at Eagle Six. "Deputy Hall Master Eagle, my people are not yours to discipline."

He deliberately stressed the word "Deputy."

He wanted to tell this newly arrived Deputy Hall Master that Heaven One Hall was still under his command.

Eagle Six snorted.

He pulled his hand back.

"Hall Master Li, impressive skills."

Li Rui's expression remained calm. "This old man may be old, but dealing with the likes of you is more than easy enough."

"You'd best stay this arrogant forever."

Eagle Six looked at Li Rui with icy eyes, making no effort whatsoever to conceal his hostility.

The two confronted each other for a full quarter of an hour.

Only then did Eagle Six snort and turn to walk out of Heaven One Tower.

Not until he had left the tower

did he shake his reddened, trembling right hand.

"Fuck, wasn't he supposed to be seventy? How is he so strong?!"

Inside Heaven One Hall,

"Hall Master, what should we do next?"

Zhou Shulin looked at Li Rui with a face full of worry.

They had offended the newly arrived Deputy Hall Master on his very first day. His days ahead were destined to be difficult.

"I should've known better than to provoke him."

Zhou Shulin was filled with regret, blaming himself for his lack of tact in daring to stop the Deputy Hall Master.

Li Rui comfortingly patted Zhou Shulin's shoulder. "Everything stays as it was. I'm here for anything else."

Hearing Li Rui's words, Zhou Shulin felt somewhat better.

In truth, no matter what Zhou Shulin had done today, he would inevitably have offended Eagle Six.

Eagle Six had become Heaven One Hall's Deputy Hall Master, yet even Li Rui, the proper Hall Master, had not known about it. This was clearly Zhao Wei's handiwork.

The proper Hall Master required the Branch Master's personal appointment, but a Deputy Hall Master only needed to be appointed by the Deputy Branch Master. That was why Li Rui had been kept in the dark.

Eagle Six becoming Deputy Hall Master had a simple purpose: to bring down him, the Hall Master, and replace him.

Heaven One Hall had previously been a thin, tasteless place, like plain soup with no meat—flavorless to eat, but a pity to discard. But with the Heaven and Earth Alliance Masters' breakthrough, every Hall Master position had become valuable.

Naturally, Zhao Wei no longer wished to let an outsider like Li Rui occupy the position. He wanted to use Eagle Six, one of his own, to replace Li Rui.

The Great Examination was drawing near. The danger did not come only from those Hall Masters and deacons.

It also included Zhao Wei, the Deputy Branch Master.

According to the Heaven and Earth Alliance's rules, aside from the Branch Master, who was personally appointed by an Alliance Master, every other position went to whoever was capable.

Zhao Wei intended to expand his sphere of influence as much as possible before the Great Examination arrived. That way, he could also use his influence to hold on to his position as Deputy Branch Master.

"If you want to move against me, then let's see whether you can bear to bleed."

Li Rui's gaze turned cold.

Since they had made him the Heaven One Hall Master, they would not be able to take it away so easily.

The next day,

Eagle Six settled early into the room reserved for the Deputy Hall Master, directly facing Li Rui's room from afar.

Yet anyone could smell the gunpowder in the air.

"Ah He, what do you think we should do?"

Zhou Shulin lowered his voice as he asked Liang He. He was truly afraid.

The proper Hall Master and Deputy Hall Master were at odds. Wouldn't he and Liang He be the ones caught in the middle? Their days ahead were sure to be hard.

Liang He looked unconcerned. "Do you think Deputy Hall Master Eagle thinks anything of us?"

Zhou Shulin recalled the first time he had seen Deputy Hall Master Eagle. Wasn't Deputy Hall Master Eagle's face practically emblazoned with two words when he looked at him—disdain.

"Since he already looks down on us, then we should stick with someone who values us. Pressing a warm face against a cold backside is the most useless thing there is."

Zhou Shulin's eyes lit up, and he was instantly enlightened. More than half the anxiety in his heart dissipated.

"Ah He, I never noticed that although you usually don't speak much, you're actually so clear-headed."

Liang He was speechless. "I just don't like talking. That doesn't mean I'm stupid."

Zhou Shulin brightened up again. "Ah He, you're right. Hall Master Li has treated us well. Following Hall Master Li can't be wrong."

Liang He chuckled. "You're not completely stupid."

Zhou Shulin grew annoyed and hooked an arm around Liang He's neck. "Don't think I can't tell you're insulting me."

The two youngsters horsed around.

Li Rui, reading in the downstairs room, smiled knowingly.

That saved him a great deal of trouble.