Absolute Resonance

Chapter 0804 – Hall Master's Questioning

After Li Luo had settled the problem with Zhong Ling, there was a considerable pick up in pace for the formation of the vanguard team. With Zhou Shanhe as the new Sub Leader, the first division had become cooperative and swiftly submitted a list containing the names of the elite members. 

Using that as a starting point, Zhao Yanzhi had selected a few potential candidates. Those who were sharp would have noticed that she had purposely chosen a few that were confidants of Zhong Ling. She had done so intentionally, in order to separate the hardcore supporters from one another. Separated, they would gradually forget about Zhong Ling as the days passed by. 

Thanks to her exceptional efficiency, the vanguard team of the Green Nether Banner was established in just two days' time.

With the fifth division as the foundation, the vanguard team would be led by their Sub Leader Li Shi. Of course, during a Fiendish Devil Cave expedition, the chief commander of the vanguard team would be Li Luo. 

This would continue all the way until they reached layer forty of the Fiendish Devil Cave.

From layer forty onwards, the difficulty of the Fiendish Devil Cave would increase tremendously. If they wanted to continue pushing forward, they would need all five divisions to come together and utilize the complete Harmony of the banner.  

Nonetheless, they were currently at layer thirty-five and still required a vanguard team to lead the way.

On the day after the vanguard team was formed, Li Luo gathered everyone and tested the capabilities of the new division. It was truly a satisfying result. By his estimate, they had reached the later stages of the Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier with the power of the Harmony.

This was a great improvement, considering the vanguard team was formed with the fifth division as the base. Previously, Harmony with the fifth division had only reached the beginning stages of the Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier. There was a huge gap between these two.

With this specially selected vanguard team, Li Luo was confident that they would have no problem facing off against the other banners as long as it was not the vanguard teams of the top six banners.

With that, Li Luo's next goal was to get the Green Nether Banner to layer forty in a month's time. 

However, he was summoned by the Green Nether Hall for questioning just before the Fiendish Devil Cave reopened. 

Obviously, this was regarding the incident with Zhong Ling.

A quick look at ".com" will leave you more fulfilled.

After enduring for two days, Second Hall Master Zhong Yushi could not hold it in any longer.

This was all within Li Luo's expectations. After he told Zhao Yanzhi and the guys not to worry about him, he headed straight for Green Nether Peak. 

……

Pavilion Hall

This was where the highest authority of each hall worked. On normal days, the Hall Masters would receive and share countless pieces of information and intelligence from the two domains under their jurisdiction.

There were countless streams of people working busily.

Li Luo's arrival drew everyone's attention. After all, he was kind of a special figure in the Green Nether Hall with his family background and amazing feats over the past two months. They all knew that the son of the Main Hall Master was extraordinary. 

Without paying much attention to their gazes, Li Luo headed straight to the main meeting room of the Pavilion Hall. When he entered, he saw five tall chairs in the grand room. The center seat was left empty, while Zhong Yushi sat on the left and Li Rouyun sat on the right of it. There were two other Hall Masters that were unfamiliar to Li Luo, as they were hardly seen.

Apart from the four Hall Masters of the Green Nether Hall, there were numerous black-robed figures sitting around the room who watched him with scrutinizing eyes.

While Li Luo made his way in, his eyes were fixed onto the empty chair in the middle. “Is this where my father sat in the past? It feels quite awe-inspiring.”

He secretly smiled in his heart before he bowed to the four Hall Masters and asked, "I don't know why the hall has summoned me. Are there any new orders for me?"

Zhong Yushi looked seriously at Li Luo as he responded in a deep voice, "Banner Leader Li Luo, I know young people are hot-blooded, but why did you injure Zhong Ling? Do you know that this will set a bad precedent? If every other newcomer acted like you, would there be any unity left in the Green Nether Banner?" 

Li Luo blinked when he heard the accusation. With a face full of remorse, he explained, "Second Hall Master, I didn't mean to injure Zhong Ling. It was a special situation back then as I attempted Harmony with the Green Nether Banner for the first time. The power was simply enormous, and I could not completely control it on my first try. When I lost control, there was a backlash that coincidentally struck towards Sub Leader Zhong Ling. As he could not react in time, he was injured."

The corners of Zhong Yushi's mouth twitched slightly as he replied, "Banner Leader Li Luo, your words are not believable."

"But this is the fact. I am willing to apologize to Sub Leader Zhong Ling for this, and we do really hope that he will recover soon and return to the Green Nether Banner," Li Luo said regretfully.

At this moment, Li Rouyun, the Third Hall Master, cut into the conversation slowly. "Second Hall Master, this matter has not been investigated properly. You should not blame it on Li Luo for personal reasons."

Hearing their responses, Zhong Yushi's eyes were seething with anger. However, he knew that as long as Li Luo stuck to his version of the story, there was nothing he could do here apart from reprimanding him. After all, Li Luo's status was different from that of an ordinary Banner Leader.

He took a deep breath and replied, "If it was truly an accident, why did you find someone to replace Zhong Ling as the Sub Leader on the spot?"

Li Luo responded earnestly, "There are still many tasks and training awaiting the Green Nether Banner, and we do not know how long Zhong Ling will take to recover. Surely, we can't leave the first division without a Sub Leader all this while, can we?"

"But according to the rules, if the Sub Leader getting replaced has not committed an offense, he has the right to elect someone else to take his place temporarily. Even though you are the Banner Leader, you cannot just replace a Sub Leader who has committed no offense without a good reason," Zhong Yushi said flatly.

"When we sent someone to check on Zhong Ling earlier, he had regained his senses and told us he had another candidate in mind for the Sub Leader position of the first division. Although it is hard for us to conclude whether you intentionally injured Zhong Ling, we will still need to change the Sub Leader of the first division according to the rules," Zhong Yushi continued.

Li Luo frowned upon hearing this. To think he could come up with such an excuse—Zhong Yushi was truly a sly fox. However, Li Luo could not swap out Zhou Shanhe as the Sub Leader now. He had announced it in front of the whole banner before. If the Sub Leader changed now, how would anyone still listen to his orders in the future?

At this moment, Li Rouyun chipped in to defend Li Luo. "The Green Nether Banner has already formed the vanguard team and is preparing to enter the Fiendish Devil Cave now. Second Hall Master, if you insist on changing the first division’s Sub Leader now, won't it be a waste of time and resources?" 

Hearing this, a middle-aged man sitting on one of the Hall Master seats smiled and said, "Hehe, you are wrong to say that, Third Hall Master. Those are the rules, we have to follow them. If not, how will we convince anyone else to follow them in the future?" 

The one who had spoken was Lu Sen, the Fourth Hall Master of the Green Nether Hall.

As someone who had been recommended to the seat by Zhong Yushi, he naturally followed his lead.

"If there is no point in discussing this further, let's have the Hall Masters take a vote and decide," said Li Shilei, the last Hall Master. Although he was the least senior in the hall, he was still from the Li clan and generally supported his fellow clanmates.

Hearing his proposal, Li Rouyun raised her eyebrows a bit as she calmly concluded, "We have four Hall Masters, it's a tie with two votes against two votes. Since we are unable to draw any conclusions for now, let's leave this matter to another day."

However, Zhong Yushi raised his hand at this moment and interrupted, "Hold on for a moment. According to the rules, we can get the enforcement department to vote and decide if there is no conclusion from the Hall Masters' voting. I have kindly invited the Green Nether Hall's enforcement department here with us today."

Li Rouyun's face froze immediately upon hearing this. After so many years in the Green Nether Hall, Zhong Yushi had considerable influence within it. More than half of the enforcement department people present right now were his supporters. 

It seemed like Zhong Yushi was really enraged by Li Luo's actions. Perhaps this was the first time he had felt so offended by anyone in the Green Nether Hall.

"Guys, if you agree that Zhou Shanhe should stay as the Sub Leader of the first division, please remain seated. As for those who agree that we should follow the rules and change the Sub Leader based on Zhong Ling's recommendation, please step forward," Zhong Yushi continued. 

When he finished speaking, the figures in black robes took a step forward.

At a glance, it was evident that more people had stepped forward than those who remained seated. 

A smile appeared back on Zhong Yushi’s face as he turned and said to Li Rouyun, "Third Hall Master, do you have anything else to add?"

Li Rouyun merely smiled in response. She knew that Zhong Yushi was showing them just how much influence he had in the Green Nether Hall.

With the vote from the enforcement department, this matter had truly become a tricky one.

"Please wait a moment, I have something to say." Li Luo interrupted them just as Li Rouyun was feeling helpless with the situation on hand. 

"What is it, Banner Leader Li Luo?" Zhong Yushi asked with a smile. Under ordinary circumstances, such rude behavior from the Banner Leader would have gotten a scolding. However, he could only endure it since it was Li Luo.

Slowly and calmly, Li Luo continued, "There are five Hall Masters in the Green Nether Hall, so how could there be a tie in voting?"

Hearing this, Zhong Yushi frowned and replied, "The Main Hall Master has been away for many years, so he naturally wouldn't be able to vote."

At this point, Li Luo smiled lightly and said, "I am sorry, it won't be like this in the future."

With that, he held out his hand and showed them a dark-green token. Like a dancing dragon and phoenix, there was a character for "main" engraved in the center, and the token revealed the words “Green Nether” on it.

Li Luo continued with a grin, "Yesterday, the Esteemed Elder gave me the Green Nether Hall's Main Hall Master token when I visited him. He said that my performance was satisfactory after managing to obtain the Banner Leader position. As such, he handed me this token so that I could better participate in the internal affairs of the Green Nether Hall, even though I am not Green Nether's Main Hall Master. What a surprising coincidence, isn't it?" 

Hearing this, Zhong Yushi's face turned ugly. 

"Shall we vote again now?" Li Luo cheerily added.