Chapter 33: Deputy Hall Master

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

The Literary and Martial Hall was by no means a "clear-water government office" like the Heavenly One Hall; coupled with his brother-in-law's maneuvering, his future prospects were certain to be bright.

Li Rui was still counting on Liu Tong to rise to prominence quickly, so that he could find an opportunity to cash in on his investment.

During this period.

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

Li Rui, Zhou Shulin, and Liang He naturally did not stint on their praise.

Everything went very smoothly.

The only drawback was perhaps that the Heavenly One Hall had not had any new recruits added to its ranks.

But that didn't matter; in any case, Liu Tong had rarely participated in the affairs of the Heavenly One Hall before.

Li Rui had long anticipated this.

The three Alliance Masters of the Heaven and Earth Alliance had previously been Seventh-Rank Martial Masters, but now that they had broken through to the Sixth Rank, the status of the Heaven and Earth Alliance was bound to rise with the tide, completely solidifying its position at the head of the "one alliance, two gangs, and three families."

The threshold for disciples within the alliance would naturally be raised by a significant margin.

Even for the Heavenly One Hall, it was no longer a place that just anyone could easily enter.

Looking at it this way.

He, this Hall Master of the Heavenly One Hall, seemed to have profited.

Unintentionally, he had invested in a stock with potential.

Even the weakest Hall Master was still a Hall Master, far from what a disciple could compare to, and would definitely become a sought-after prize.

"I'm afraid it won't be peaceful from now on."

The Heaven and Earth Alliance was bound to expand its influence, and the strength of those joining the alliance would certainly far exceed those of the past; it was highly likely that the previous Hall Masters and deacons would be defeated by rising stars in the upcoming assessment and fall back to being disciples.

However, Li Rui did not feel much anxiety about this.

Focusing on practicing Wu Gong was the true path.

Just as the three people in the Heavenly One Hall thought that the building would belong to the three of them from now on.

An uninvited guest appeared downstairs.

Zhou Shulin looked at the strange, middle-aged man with a hooked nose before him.

He knew most of the disciples of the Dharma Transmission Hall, but this middle-aged man was very unfamiliar:

"If you want to borrow cultivation techniques, you must have a token from the Dharma Transmission Hall."

The man said in a slightly hoarse voice: "My name is Ying Liu, and I am the new Deputy Hall Master."

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

Zhou Shulin was stunned for a moment as he looked at the token, then held it up to his eyes to examine it for a long time. Only after confirming it was a genuine deacon's token did he hurriedly speak: "Hall Master Ying, please wait a moment; I need to request instructions from Li Tangzhu."

Ying Liu's brows furrowed slightly, his face showing displeasure: "Could it be that I, a Deputy Hall Master, need Li Tangzhu's permission to enter the Heavenly One Hall?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shulin couldn't help but groan inwardly.

This Deputy Hall Master who had descended from the sky seemed to have a bad temper; he didn't look like someone easy to get along with, and he feared there would be no more good days ahead.

Just as Zhou Shulin was anxiously thinking of a countermeasure—

Suddenly, a large hand swung toward him.

"It seems Li Tangzhu is too soft, and his subordinates lack discipline; I will teach him a lesson on his behalf."

Ying Liu snorted coldly.

Just as the large hand was only half a foot away from Zhou Shulin, a pair of somewhat withered hands intervened between the two.

Precisely grabbing Ying Liu's hand.

"Li Tangzhu?"

Ying Liu stared fixedly at the old man who had appeared out of nowhere, slowly spitting out the three words.

Li Rui merely glanced at Ying Liu: "Deputy Hall Master Ying, my people are not for you to teach a lesson."

He deliberately added weight to the word "Deputy."

He wanted to tell this new Deputy Hall Master that the Heavenly One Hall was still under his command.

Ying Liu snorted coldly.

Pulling his hand back.

"Li Tangzhu, good methods."

Li Rui looked indifferent: "This old man may be old, but dealing with the likes of you is more than enough."

"You'd better stay this arrogant forever."

Ying Liu stared at Li Rui with icy eyes, making no effort to hide his hostility.

The two stood in a standoff for a full quarter of an hour.

Only then did Ying Liu snort and turn to walk out of the Heavenly One Building.

Not until he walked out of the building.

Did he shake his crimson, trembling right hand.

"Damn, didn't they say he was seventy years old? How does he have such great strength?!"

Inside the Heavenly One Hall.

"Hall Master, what should we do next?"

Zhou Shulin looked at Li Rui with a worried face.

Offending the new Deputy Hall Master on the very first day meant his days were destined to be difficult.

"I shouldn't have provoked him if I'd known."

Zhou Shulin was incredibly annoyed, blaming himself for lacking discernment and daring to block the Deputy Hall Master.

Li Rui patted Zhou Shulin comfortingly: "Everything remains as usual; I will handle other matters."

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

In fact, no matter what Zhou Shulin did today, he would have inevitably offended Ying Liu.

Ying Liu becoming the Deputy Hall Master of the Heavenly One Hall, even Li Rui, the proper Hall Master, didn't know; this was clearly Zhao Wei's handiwork.

A proper Hall Master needed to be personally appointed by the Helmsman, but a Deputy Hall Master only needed the appointment of the Deputy Helmsman, which was why Li Rui had been kept in the dark.

Ying Liu becoming the Deputy Hall Master had a simple purpose: to topple him, the Hall Master, and take his place.

Previously, the Hall Master of the Heavenly One Hall was a bland, tasteless position, but with the breakthrough of the Heaven and Earth Alliance Master, every Hall Master had become precious.

Zhao Wei was naturally no longer willing to let Li Rui, an outsider, occupy the position, and wanted to use Ying Liu, one of his own, to replace Li Rui.

With the Great Assessment approaching, the danger was not just for those Hall Masters and deacons.

It also included Zhao Wei, the Deputy Helmsman.

According to the rules of the Heaven and Earth Alliance, except for the Helmsman who was personally appointed by the Alliance Master, all other positions were held by those with the ability.

Zhao Wei was trying to expand his sphere of influence as much as possible before the Great Assessment arrived, so that he could rely on his influence to keep his position as Deputy Helmsman.

"If you want to move against me, let's see if you're willing to bleed for it."

Li Rui's eyes turned cold.

Since he had been made the Hall Master of the Heavenly One Hall, it was impossible for him to let anyone else take it away easily.

The next day.

Ying Liu sat in the room exclusively for the Deputy Hall Master early on, which happened to be directly opposite Li Rui's room.

But anyone could smell the gunpowder.

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

Zhou Shulin asked Liang He in a low voice; he was truly afraid.

With the Hall Master and Deputy Hall Master at odds, wouldn't he and Liang He be the ones to suffer? Their future days would certainly be hard.

Liang He looked indifferent: "Do you really think Deputy Hall Master Ying thinks highly of us?"

Zhou Shulin recalled the scene of seeing Deputy Hall Master Ying for the first time; Deputy Hall Master Ying's face was practically written with two words when looking at him—disdain.

"Since he looks down on us, then we should find someone who does; fawning over someone who despises you is the most useless thing."

Zhou Shulin's eyes brightened, and he suddenly felt enlightened, his anxiety dissipating by more than half.

"Ah He, I didn't realize that although you don't talk much, you have such a clear-headed temperament."

Liang He was speechless: "I just don't like to talk, that doesn't mean I'm stupid."

Zhou Shulin became cheerful again: "Ah He, you're right; Li Tangzhu has nothing but good things to say about us, following Li Tangzhu is definitely the right choice."

Liang He chuckled: "Not stupid after all."

Zhou Shulin was annoyed and wrapped his arm around Liang He's neck: "Don't think I can't hear you insulting me."

The two youths played around.

Li Rui, who was flipping through a book in the room downstairs, smiled knowingly.

It saved him a lot of trouble.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 34 =====