Chapter 46: Ch 46 Tieing lose ends pt 2.

"So it didn’t pass me by after all!" Wan Ling muttered with a smile as his eyes scanned through the bulletin board beside the sect administrative hall.

On it was a notice denoting when the next inner disciple exams would take place.

The inner disciple exams in themselves were a simple affair.

One became an inner disciple either via recommendation by an Elder or by taking a series of tests, mainly combat-oriented.

It was held biannually, and this year Wan Ling wanted to take part in it.

He was in the Qi Tempering Stage.

The average inner disciple was usually at this level.

Factoring in his other advantages, such as the Fairy Sword Dance technique and his Eternal Frost Spirit Root, he believed himself to be very overqualified for the exams. Even so, there was nothing he could do about it.

"It happens in a week. I can take care of some errands while I wait." He mused.

As he turned to leave, he came across Zhang Hao, who was just about to enter the building.

Wan Ling intercepted him and gave him a cold glare.

"It’s been a while, Zhang Hao!" He remarked.

Zhang Hao stiffened, already cursing his luck, but Wan Ling didn’t care if he was afraid or not.

He just wanted his money, so he stretched out his palm and continued.

"You owe me money. Pay up!" He demanded casually.

Zhang Hao reached for his storage ring, but Wan Ling stopped him.

"Forty for each week you didn’t pay." He explained, turning Zhang Hao’s expression ugly, but he still obeyed and retrieved exactly that amount, which Wan Ling gladly accepted.

After counting it, he placed the money in his storage ring as his expression turned warm.

"See, it wasn’t that hard." He gave a toothy laugh and patted Zhang Hao on the shoulder.

The force behind his grip made Zhang Hao’s knees buckle, and it took everything he had to not knee before him.

"So tell me, Zhang Hao, how’s life?" Wan Ling asked, his violet eyes prying deep into the young cultivator’s soul.

"It’s... alright." He tried laughing it off.

"Now ask about my life." Wan Ling instructed, earning an obedient nod.

"So, Senior Wan Ling, how is your life...?"

Wan Ling grinned and followed with a response.

"Peaceful now that I don’t have you four trying to ruin it." He cracked with laughter and ended by patting Zhang Hao on the shoulder.

Zhang Hao laughed along until Wan Ling stopped laughing and gave him a stern look.

"So don’t disturb my peace, or I’ll kill you."

Zhang Hao flinched, but Wan Ling’s grip didn’t loosen.

"I know Li Wei can’t take a loss. I also know he’ll try to do something stupid... Something that would disturb my peace. Tell me what that thing is."

Zhang Hao’s shoulder bones groaned against the increasing force behind Wan Ling’s grip.

His right hand began to shake frantically as he looked up at Wan Ling with a terrified gaze.

"He... trying to get... a core disciple to kill you." He didn’t hesitate in outing Li Wei.

Zhang Hao might have been stupid once, but never again.

He wasn’t going to die for some bastard who didn’t know when to quit, so he told Wan Ling everything.

Li Wei’s plotting, and how he and the other members had abandoned him.

"So he’s in this alone?" Wan Ling asked, and Zhang nodded.

"He Xue didn’t let Chen Yu join him." He explained.

Meanwhile, Wan Ling watched him coldly before releasing his grip.

"Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?" He said in amusement, but Zhang Hao didn’t stick around to hear the end of it as he fled without a second thought.

Wan Ling sighed, ignoring him to focus on the matter at hand.

Li Wei was plotting his assassination, and he was going to do it with a core disciple at that.

"He isn’t as stupid as I thought... I’ll give him that." Wan Ling muttered, slightly impressed.

Even so, that was all.

A core disciple was definitely a tough opponent because they mainly ranged from the Golden Core Stage to the Elemental Stage.

Those were opponents he couldn’t handle at his current strength. Even so, he had an advantage.

That being that he knew what was coming.

Now he needed to know whom was coming.

Once he figured that out, he was confident he would survive.

Luckily for him, he already knew an individual who could help him identify his assassin.

He just needed to meet her.

---

In a clearing somewhere within the core court, there was a gathering of outer and inner disciples, all kneeling before one man.

The man in question was Hu Lie.

He was a young man with fierce red hair, sharp blue eyes, and a body considered even tougher than mountains.

Within the sect, he had earned the nickname Tenacious Tiger because of his savage and almost berserk-like fighting style.

It was said that if one were to fight him, they either needed to finish him off in one hit, or they would have to give up any semblance of victory because he wouldn’t be put down after.

Of course, Hu Lie was known for more than his strength because he was also the leader of the most infamous gang within the sect.

The Red Tigers.

A band of vicious disciples who were infamous for a myriad of devious reasons.

Of course, the Sect didn’t officially recognize gangs, and many individuals, including the Disciplinary Committee, had tried their best to disband them. But Hu Lie’s status as the prized disciple of Elder Bai Tianhu, who was just as savage as his disciple, had put those attempts to rest.

Today was like any other day for the gang, as a disciple supposedly angered by unfair treatment knelt before the terrifying Hu Lie, who sat on a boulder as he ripped through the flesh of a chicken thigh with his teeth.

"Senior Brother Hu Lie. I want you to torment this Wan Ling."

The disciple in question was Li Wei, who had finally had enough of Wan Ling and wanted him gone.

So he came to the most notorious man within the sect and made that request.

"Torment... hahaha... just say you want him dead. Or is it torture?"

Tossing his half-eaten chicken thigh away, he inquired with a bloodthirsty smile.

Li Wei had a grin plastered on his face as he nodded.

"Torture him and kill him. I want that bastard to suffer a humiliating death for daring to trash me."

Hu Lie also grinned and rose off the boulder, his body casting an enormous shadow over Li Wei, who shuddered from the blood-red aura that began emitting from Hu Lie’s body.

"Su Ming!" He shouted, and one of his men stepped forward.

"Follow this Wan Ling, and once he leaves the sect or is completely alone, bring him to me and let our little brothers here torment him as they like."

"Yes, boss."

Su Ming immediately departed while Hu Lie glanced down at Li Wei.

"Now, little brother, let’s talk money as we wait."