Evergreen Immortal-Chapter 33: Vice Hall Master

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

Civil and Martial Hall wasn’t a sleepy and idle place like Tianyi Hall. With his brother-in-law’s support, Liu Tong’s future prospects were certainly promising.

Li Rui was counting on Liu Tong to quickly rise to prominence, so he could one day cash in on his "investment."

During this time, two deacons from the Heaven-Earth Alliance came specifically to investigate Liu Tong’s situation.

Naturally, Li Rui, Zhou Shulin, and Liang He spoke highly of him without any reservation.

Everything proceeded smoothly.

The only minor issue was that Tianyi Hall still hadn’t received any new recruits.

But that wasn’t a big deal either, since Liu Tong had barely been involved in Tianyi Hall’s affairs to begin with.

Li Rui had long anticipated this.

The three Alliance Masters of Heaven-Earth Alliance had already been seventh-grade Martial Masters, and now, having broken through to sixth-grade, the Alliance's status would certainly rise dramatically, cementing their place as the top among the "One Alliance, Two Gangs, Three Clans."

Naturally, the threshold for new disciples would be raised significantly.

Even Tianyi Hall wouldn’t just let anyone in.

Looking at it this way, his position as Hall Master of Tianyi Hall seemed like a real win.

He had unknowingly invested in a high-potential stock.

No matter how weak a Hall Master might be, they were still a Hall Master, far above the status of an ordinary disciple and would surely become highly sought after.

"In the future, things probably won't stay peaceful."

The Heaven-Earth Alliance would inevitably expand its power, and the newcomers would undoubtedly be much stronger than before. Many current Hall Masters and Deacons would likely be defeated by these rising stars in the upcoming assessments and be demoted to disciples.

However, Li Rui wasn’t particularly anxious about this.

Focusing on martial cultivation was the true path.

Just as the three in Tianyi Hall thought the building would remain just the three of them from now on, an unexpected visitor appeared downstairs.

Zhou Shulin stared at the unfamiliar middle-aged man with a hooked nose.

He knew most of the Transmission Hall’s disciples, but this middle-aged man was a stranger.

"If you want to borrow a martial manual, you must have a Transmission Hall token," Zhou Shulin said.

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The man replied in a slightly hoarse voice, "My name is Ying Liu. I’m the new Vice Hall Master."

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

Zhou Shulin was stunned at first, then picked up the token and examined it closely for a long while. Confirming it was a genuine deacon’s token, he hurriedly said, "Vice Hall Master Ying, please wait a moment. I need to report to Hall Master Li."

Ying Liu's brows furrowed slightly, his face showing displeasure: "Do I, a Vice Hall Master, need Hall Master Li's permission to enter Tianyi Hall?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shulin inwardly cried out in despair.

This newly-arrived Vice Hall Master clearly had a bad temper, it was obvious he wouldn’t be easy to get along with in the future.

Just as Zhou Shulin anxiously struggled to think of a solution, suddenly, a large hand swung toward him.

"Looks like Hall Master Li has been too soft. His subordinates lack discipline. I’ll just help him teach you a lesson," Ying Liu said with a cold snort.

When the big hand was only half a foot away from Zhou Shulin, a pair of somewhat withered hands suddenly inserted themselves between them.

They grabbed Ying Liu’s hand precisely.

"Hall Master Li?"

Ying Liu stared deathly at the elderly man who had appeared without warning, spitting out the words slowly.

Li Rui only glanced at Ying Liu: "Vice Hall Master Ying, my people are not yours to discipline."

He deliberately emphasized the word Vice.

He wanted to make it very clear to the new Vice Hall Master that Tianyi Hall was still under his control.

Ying Liu coldly snorted.

He withdrew his hand.

"Hall Master Li, impressive."

Li Rui’s face remained indifferent: "Though I’m old, I'm still more than capable of dealing with the likes of you."

"You’d better stay this arrogant."

Ying Liu stared coldly at Li Rui, his gaze full of undisguised hostility.

The two men stood locked in a silent confrontation for a full quarter of an hour.

Only then did Ying Liu let out a cold snort and turn to walk out of Tianyi Hall.

Not until he left the building did he violently shake his reddened, trembling right hand.

"Damn it! Isn’t he supposed to be seventy years old? How can he have such strength?!"

Inside Tianyi Hall.

"Hall Master, what should we do next?"

Zhou Shulin asked, his face full of worry as he looked at Li Rui.

They had offended the new Vice Hall Master on the very first day; life would surely not be easy from now on.

"I should never have provoked him," Zhou Shulin muttered in deep regret, blaming himself for lacking judgment and daring to stop a Vice Hall Master.

Li Rui comfortingly patted Zhou Shulin’s shoulder: "Carry on as usual. I’ll handle the rest."

Only then did Zhou Shulin feel a little more at ease.

In reality, no matter what Zhou Shulin did today, he would have ended up offending Ying Liu anyway.

Ying Liu’s appointment as Vice Hall Master without even Li Rui’s knowledge clearly showed Zhao Wei’s hand in the matter.

While the Hall Master needed to be appointed by the Branch Master himself, a Vice Hall Master only required the Deputy Branch Master’s appointment, allowing Li Rui to be kept in the dark.

Ying Liu’s appointment had a simple purpose: to topple Li Rui as Hall Master and replace him.

Tianyi Hall had once been an unimportant place, bland and tasteless, but now, with the Heaven-Earth Alliance’s Alliance Master breaking through, every Hall Master position had become precious.

Of course Zhao Wei didn’t want an outsider like Li Rui holding onto it. He wanted to replace him with someone loyal like Ying Liu.

With the grand assessment approaching, the danger didn’t only hang over the Hall Masters and Deacons, it even included Deputy Branch Master like Zhao Wei himself.

According to Heaven-Earth Alliance rules, except for the Branch Master, who was personally appointed by the Alliance Master, every other position went to the capable.

Zhao Wei needed to expand his influence as much as possible before the grand assessment in order to safeguard his own position as Deputy Branch Master.

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

Li Rui’s gaze grew cold.

Since they made him the Hall Master of Tianyi Hall, there was no way he would give up the position so easily.

The next day, Ying Liu sat early in the Vice Hall Master’s room, directly opposite Li Rui’s room.

Anyone could sense the tension in the air.

"Ah He, what do we do now?"

Zhou Shulin whispered to Liang He, genuinely scared.

With the Hall Master and Vice Hall Master at odds, it was inevitable that he and Liang He would get caught in the middle and suffer.

Liang He responded with a completely unconcerned face: "Do you really think Vice Hall Master Ying would even bother with us?"

Zhou Shulin recalled his first encounter with Ying Liu, the man had looked at him with pure disdain, written all over his face.

"Since he looks down on us, then we just need to stick with those who do value us. It's useless to grovel to someone who doesn't."

Zhou Shulin’s eyes lit up, and a wave of anxiety lifted from his heart.

"Ah He, you’re not much of a talker, but you're really clear-headed."

Liang He rolled his eyes: "I just don’t like talking. Doesn’t mean I'm stupid."

Zhou Shulin perked up again: "You're right! Hall Master Li has always treated us well, sticking with him is the right move."

Liang He chuckled: "Not too dumb after all."

Zhou Shulin got annoyed and grabbed Liang He around the neck with his arm: "Don’t think I can't tell you're calling me dumb!"

The two teenagers wrestled around.

Meanwhile, in the downstairs room, Li Rui, who was flipping through a book, couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

It really did save him a lot of trouble.