Chapter 3716 — The Hall Master Gongyang Jun

The young man's gaze swept to the several Law Enforcement Hall experts, and taking in their bedraggled state, he frowned slightly and spat out, "A pack of useless trash!"

With that, he raised a hand and waved it through the air. The overwhelming pressure crushing down on the men vanished in an instant, and the pressure formation returned silently to its initial state, as though it had never been driven at full power at all.

Only then did the Law Enforcement Hall experts claw their way back from the brink of death. Without even pausing to steady their breathing, they scrambled to prostrate themselves before the young man, intoning with utmost reverence in unison, "We pay our respects to the Hall Master!"

Below the platform, the assembled newcomers exchanged bewildered glances. Those with a little more worldly experience had already guessed the young man's identity—none other than the renowned current Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, Gongyang Jun!

Rumor had it that this Gongyang Jun was a prodigy acknowledged as one appearing but once in several centuries in the Tri-Tier Pavilion. Thirty-eight years of age, yet his strength already rivaled that of elder-level masters. He was the youngest Hall Master in the history of the Law Enforcement Hall—and at the same time its most iron-fisted and cold-blooded one, without peer.

Wei Zhao had heard the long-suffering senior brother speak of the man before. Barely three years in office, and by sheer force of will he had forged the faction-riddled Law Enforcement Hall into a single unbreakable bloc. More crucially, in those three years, two elders of the Tri-Tier Pavilion had already been cast down into the dust by his hand on various charges!

And this—this was something his predecessors had failed to accomplish in decades!

To hear of him was not to know him; the man was truly no simple figure. Wei Zhao sighed inwardly—then suddenly noticed something odd about Li Zhengming, not far from him. He seemed... nervous?

Wei Zhao was baffled. Gongyang Jun was a lofty figure of the highest order. In theory he and Li Zhengming—a mere heaven-tier great-perfection newcomer—should have no point of intersection whatsoever. What was there to be nervous about?

But on second thought, given Li Zhengming's background, there had been the matter of the Qiushui Manor massacre all those years ago. The Law Enforcement Hall, cowed by the shadow hand behind it—a certain elder surnamed Li—had not pursued the investigation further. But back then, Gongyang Jun had not yet taken charge of the Law Enforcement Hall!

Had it been this iron-fisted man Gongyang Jun in charge of the case at the time, the outcome might have been entirely different.

What Wei Zhao did not know was that the turmoil in Li Zhengming's heart at this moment had nothing to do with regret that Gongyang Jun had not been in charge then—it stemmed from a far more horrifying reason!

Yet until he obtained sufficiently great power, even a hatred as vast as heaven's reach could only be buried deep in his heart, without betraying the slightest hint of abnormality. For otherwise, what awaited him would surely be utter annihilation!

Li Zhengming suddenly turned and cast a meaningful glance at Wei Zhao. In his understanding, there was no one in the Tri-Tier Pavilion's future who could stand toe-to-toe with a prodigy like Gongyang Jun—but if it were Wei Zhao, the man who had repeatedly pulled off astonishing feats, leading the way and growing into his own in the days to come, then perhaps there was the faintest sliver of a chance.

Let us hope Wei Zhao can lead the way and soar to the heavens, just like that Divine Physician and Sage Alchemist Zhang Lifeng who rose from their secular world!

"What happened here?" Gongyang Jun's tone was calm, devoid of the slightest ripple of emotion—yet it carried a strange, domineering pressure that left no room in anyone's mind for the thought of disobeying him.

The Law Enforcement Hall experts prostrate on the ground exchanged glances, and one of them cautiously replied, "Reporting to the Hall Master, your subordinates were assigned to assist the Newcomer Pavilion in its assessment. The pressure formation lost control midway for reasons unknown. The cause is unclear."

"The cause is unclear?" Gongyang Jun's frigid gaze swept over the several men, and they felt their hair stand on end.

Had they not merely tampered a little with Wei Zhao and truly had no idea why the pressure formation suddenly went berserk, that single glance alone would have been enough to make them spill everything. As Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, if Gongyang Jun wished to pry a secret out of their mouths, it was a trifling matter indeed.

"Your subordinates truly do not know," the men hurriedly replied, bowing their heads even lower.

Gongyang Jun said nothing, but judging by his expression, he had no intention of digging deeper.

After all, the pressure formation involved the layout of every building in the entire Law Enforcement Hall. For all its tremendous power, the slightest disturbance in any single part could affect the operation of the whole formation; loss of control was a common occurrence and hardly rare.

Only then did the several Law Enforcement Hall experts kneeling on the ground breathe a sigh of relief. Though nothing in what they had just said was a lie to Gongyang Jun, they had, after all, concealed the matter of Wei Zhao. If this Hall Master were to dig deeper, they would be lucky to escape with their lives—and even then, a layer of skin would be flayed from them.

Gongyang Jun swept a cold glance over the crowd from the Newcomer Pavilion and spoke: "The Law Enforcement Hall does not welcome idlers and stragglers. Since it is done, hurry up and drive these irrelevant people out."

At these words, the newcomers below the platform felt their breathing grow heavier, and a surge of indignation rose in their hearts. This fellow was formidable, true enough—but those words were far too arrogant, too dismissive of everyone present!

In an instant, every gaze focused on Hu Yunfeng. He was the Pavilion Master of the Newcomer Pavilion, their leader; at a time like this, it naturally fell to him to step forward.

Yet from first to last, Hu Yunfeng acted as though he had heard nothing at all—he did not dare so much as let out a peep.

True enough: the Newcomer Pavilion and the Law Enforcement Hall were both independent departments of the Tri-Tier Pavilion. Setting aside their respective strengths, in theory, as Pavilion Master of the Newcomer Pavilion, his status was on par with the other's as Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall. Moreover, this round of newcomer assessment had been approved by the Elder Council, so he had every right to argue the matter with the other man.

But the other party was the renowned Gongyang Jun!

In his eyes, Hu Yunfeng was at most an ant—a slightly sturdier ant. To pick a quarrel with a fiend of that caliber? What a joke! If he truly dared to do so, perhaps tomorrow the Law Enforcement Hall would summon him alone for a "visit," strip every secret from him clean as a bone, and then he could wait to die!

Having said his piece, Gongyang Jun did not spare anyone else so much as a glance. With a single flicker he was off the high platform, and the next moment he had vanished from everyone's sight.

The entire crowd unconsciously let out a breath, as though a great mountain had suddenly been lifted from their shoulders. In a sense, the pressure Gongyang Jun brought to bear on them rivaled even the pressure trial they had just endured—nay, surpassed it!