Hei Lou Lan lifted a foot and kicked his clansman Hei Qisheng to the ground.
"You useless thing!" the fat man roared, the flesh on his face twitching, his gaze vicious and cruel.
The great hall fell deathly silent. Not a single Gu Master of the Hei family dared make a sound.
Hei Lou Lan was known as the "Black Tyrant." His violent and cruel temperament was notorious. Especially now, after being blocked six consecutive times at the fifty-fourth floor, his temper was like a powder keg that had been lit.
"My Lord, it is this subordinate's incompetence! This subordinate deserves to die!" Hei Qisheng prostrated on the ground, kowtowing with all five limbs pressed flat, crying out his pleas for mercy without end.
"Idiot! How could our Hei family produce such an incompetent fool like you?!" Hei Lou Lan gnashed his teeth and kicked Hei Qisheng several more times in succession. Seeing him vomit blood from the blows, the fury in Hei Lou Lan's heart finally subsided — just slightly.
The surrounding Elders stood silently in place, none daring to speak.
The last time one of the Elders had pleaded on Hei Qisheng's behalf, Hei Lou Lan had beaten them into severe injuries on the spot. They were still lying in a sickbed.
Hei Lou Lan's temper had been somewhat restrained during the War of the Royal Court. But ever since entering the Blessed Land, his explosive temper and cruel nature had been displayed without reservation.
"You're all a bunch of idiots too — useless trash! What are you standing around for like stunned monkeys? Tell me! Give me a way to clear the fifty-fourth floor! If you can't think of one, I'll dock your stipends! The clan doesn't feed deadbeats! I give you Yuan Stones, I give you wealth and glory, I promote you, I cultivate you — for what? Now is the time for you to prove yourselves!!" Hei Lou Lan bellowed, his voice ringing so powerfully that the window lattices trembled slightly.
The Elders secretly groaned, each one looking like a frost-bitten eggplant. They hung their heads and stole glances at one another, but no one dared be the first to step forward and speak.
Hei Lou Lan fixed his tiger-like eyes in a sweep around the room, and they finally settled on Elder Hei Pei.
As the most senior Grand Elder, Hei Pei had no choice but to harden his scalp and step forward. He bowed respectfully. "My Lord, in this subordinate's view, the fifty-fourth floor tests the Enslavement Path. The difficulty is extreme — only a master-level attainment could hope to pass. Elder Hei Qisheng is an Enslavement Path Gu Master cultivated by our clan, but he is not a master. If we wish to clear this floor, I fear we will need the power of the Wolf King."
"Hmph? You're telling me to call in outside help? You want outsiders to laugh at us, to think our Hei family is incompetent?" The凶 light in Hei Lou Lan's eyes blazed fiercely as he roared viciously.
Hei Pei's heart trembled. He bowed deeply again and hastily said, "My Lord is wise and mighty, a leader among leaders — the rightful ruler of this cycle's Royal Court. With you presiding, anyone who would think the Hei family incompetent would be the greatest fool under heaven. As for 'outside help,' that hardly applies. This Wolf King, Chang Shanyin, has already joined the alliance army and is your subordinate. Deploying him to assist is only what he should do. I imagine Chang Shanyin must be deeply grateful to you, my Lord. After all, as an outsider, being permitted to enter the True Yang Tower is an immense honor for him."
At these words, the anger on Hei Lou Lan's face finally eased a fraction.
The Elders observed his expression and secretly marveled at Hei Pei's silver tongue. To have risen to Grand Elder, he certainly had more than a few tricks.
Hei Lou Lan paced slowly, deeply unwilling.
Currently, he held only two Guest Tokens — rewards from the True Yang Tower for previously clearing the twelfth and forty-sixth floors.
It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with the Guest Tokens. The problem was that once the Wolf King was invited in, the reward for clearing the fifty-fourth floor would go to Chang Shanyin.
If it were one of his own clansmen, Hei Lou Lan could use his Patriarch's authority to claim those treasures for himself. But by traditional rules, such rewards belonged to the outside helper.
The rewards of the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower were each extraordinary. Even Hei Lou Lan would be tempted. Whether it was a Gu Recipe, Gu Insects, or anything else, nearly every reward had the power to elevate a Gu Master from obscurity to prominence.
Hei Lou Lan paced five or six steps, then let out a soft sigh.
He knew in his heart that forcing Hei Qisheng further was pointless. The Hei family had cultivated three Enslavement Path Gu Masters. One had died during the War of the Royal Court. Of the remaining, Hei Qisheng was already the strongest.
But he was not a true Enslavement Path master. Any master required exceptional talent — something that could not simply be cultivated through training alone.
Hei Lou Lan stopped pacing. "Where is Hei Shu?"
"This subordinate is here." Hei Shu stood at the entrance to the great hall — Hei Lou Lan's personal Gu Master attendant. Hearing the summons, he immediately entered and bowed.
"Go invite the Wolf King over," Hei Lou Lan ordered.
Hearing these words, the Elders in the hall all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Hei Qisheng, still lying on the ground, felt his entire body go limp with sudden relief — he was finally going to be freed!
"Yes, My Lord." Hei Shu accepted the order and withdrew.
Bang!
Hei Lou Lan delivered another vicious kick to Hei Qisheng. "You useless thing, why are you still lying here? When Chang Shanyin arrives, do you want him to see the humiliating spectacle of our Hei family's incompetence?"
"Mi-My Lord, I was wrong!" Hei Qisheng hurriedly apologized.
"Get out of my sight and go nurse your wounds!!" Hei Lou Lan bellowed.
"Y-yes, yes, My Lord!" Hei Qisheng struggled to clamber to his feet and stumbled away in a panic.
Before long, Hei Shu returned alone, wearing a look of embarrassment. "My Lord, the Wolf King is not in the Sacred Palace. He has gone out to release the wolf packs for grazing."
"What?" Hei Lou Lan's voice rose sharply, his brow arching. The calm that had just settled on his face was replaced by another layer of rage.
The Elders' hearts clenched. Grand Elder Hei Pei reprimanded Hei Shu: "You youngster, you really don't know how to handle things! The Wolf King isn't there, so you just come back empty-handed? Couldn't you have sent a message, explained the situation? The Wolf King would have come scurrying back before you even finished!"
"My Lord, it's not that this subordinate was negligent!" Hei Shu protested grievously. "I did send a message. But the Wolf King replied that leading wolf packs on hunts has become his habit, and he doesn't wish to interrupt. He told us to wait. If we can't wait, we may call upon Tang Miaoming and the others to enter the tower."
For a moment, everyone was stunned.
Grand Elder Hei Pei's eyes widened, disbelief still etched on his face. "To think someone could be so nonchalant? He truly said that?!"