After around half an hour, Byron reached the Wind Sect. Even though the Wind Sect was well within the range of his Spirit, he didn't release it since there were Formation Arrays that had the power to feel the Spirits of others. Like this, Byron snuck into the Wind Sect. Yet, surprisingly, the Sect was utterly empty. Even though it was in the middle of the night, there should be, at least, some guards walking around.
The Wind Sect was located in the middle of a mountain range that was filled with forests and vegetation. The buildings were all shaped like high towers instead of the usual form of houses. Basically everyone in the Wind Sect could fly, so they took advantage of that fact by making the area of the Wind Sect as small and as high as possible. It would be easier to defend such a small Sect instead of a clunky, big one.
Byron quickly reached the widest and highest tower in the Sect and easily climbed it. The tower was gigantic and majestic and was nearly a kilometer high, while the entrance was located around 500 meters above the ground. Byron had no issues in reaching that height. Something like this was no obstacle to someone at the Tree Stage.
When Byron reached the doors to the inner sanctum, he stopped. The doors were closed, and even though he was a Tree Stage cultivator, he couldn't dematerialize himself. He had to physically open the door to enter. Yet, that didn't matter to him. There was no other exit, so no one inside could escape. Byron readied his daggers. As soon as he opened the doors, he would charge in and kill everyone. Speed was critical in this matter.
BANG BANG!
Byron kicked the door open and charged in, still in stealth. Yet, as soon as the door had moved, a gigantic lightning bolt hit the middle of the room, illuminating all the surroundings. Byron hadn't expected this, and his stealth failed due to the sudden illumination. 'Doesn't matter. I just need to kill everyone!' he thought and continued charging. There was no time to think, and the lightning could have appeared from any number of Formation Arrays.
WHOOOOOSH!
An incredibly mighty gale appeared out of nowhere. 'They were prepared for me!' he shouted in his mind as he was pushed out of the palace and into the air. Byron quickly readied himself. Even though fighting in the air was disadvantageous, he was still powerful enough to withstand the attacks until he landed. After that, he would have no issue in picking off one elder after another.
Yet, no one attacked him. Byron narrowed his eyes and used some kind of movement technique to cling to the gigantic tower again. Since he had been noticed, there was no reason to no longer use his Spirit. His Spirit quickly engulfed the entire Wind Sect, and his face scrunched up into a grimace when he saw the people.
At the entrance of the inner sanctum, five people stood. Four were the Sapling Stage elders from the Wind Sect, who looked down at the hanging Byron with serious eyes. Byron had expected that, and he would have no issue in killing them. Their concentrated attack earlier was troublesome, but they couldn't all concentrate on every attack all the time.
What threw his entire plan out of the window was the last person. A nearly two-meter-tall, muscular, silver-haired man stood beside the elders. His chest bulged with power, and his eyes exuded powerful lightning bolts. An enormous, three-meter-long spear was held in his right hand as he also watched Byron.
"Lasar!" Byron shouted through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"
Instead of answering, Lasar turned to the elders. "Proof enough?" he said.
The elders narrowed their eyes further. Inside, they were incredibly furious. They only checked the Spirit Bottles every couple of hours, and they wouldn't have known that their Sect Master had died before Byron had already assassinated them. Without the Sect Master of the Lightning Sect telling them, they would have died. On top of that, their Sect Master was dead, which made them incredibly angry.
Lasar had entered the Sect with urgent news and told them that Byron would come to assassinate all of them. Of course, they didn't fully believe him. Yes, their Sect Master had died to someone with the darkness element, but they trusted the power of their Sect Master. If Byron had killed their Sect Master, Byron would surely be severely injured. He wouldn't dare enter the Sect with such injuries.
Yet, here he was, healthy and at his peak. They wouldn't have believed it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes. Sadly, there was no running away from the truth. The healthy Byron was proof enough that their Sect Master had died without putting up a fight. They felt humiliated. Without their Sect Master, they had no one in the Tree-Stage. Any one of the other Sect Masters could annihilate their Sect like this. They could no longer remain neutral.
"As I said before, you can relocate your Sect to the area behind my Lightning Sect. Not even the Darkness Sect will dare to attack you there," said Lasar with an imposing voice.
The elders grimaced. Yes, the Darkness Sect had attacked them, but they were also only in a neutral relationship with the other powers. What was stopping them from destroying the Wind Sect? The Fire Sect wanted a battle, and a war against a weakened Wind Sect sounded great in their minds while the Light Sect was filled with holier-than-thou hypocrites.
"What stops your side from killing us?" asked one of the elders.
"My word," said Lasar directly.
"And what will you do if one of your allies attacks us regardless?" asked another one.
"Annihilate them," answered Lasar.
The elders looked at each other unsurely. The only reason why they were even considering this was that the lightning cultivators were always honest. Lightning was direct and without falsehood. If Lasar, the Sect Master of the Lightning Sect, promised something, he would keep it. There was no other outcome.
"Tch, so what?" came the shout of Byron. "Even if he gives his life for you, it doesn't mean that the Lightning Sect will follow."
The elders didn't like Byron involving himself, but he had a point. This was only the promise of a singular person, though an important one. It was very difficult to decide how to proceed.
"As the Sect Master of the Lightning Sect, I have the right to extend this promise to the whole Lightning Sect," Lasar said.
"So?" said Byron. "Your disciples haven't given that promise themselves, and if you die, what is stopping them from breaking a promise they haven't made?"
The elders agreed again. It was a risky decision that could annihilate their Sect. Of course, they would never ally themselves with the other side as well. After all, it was the Darkness Sect that wanted to kill them. They wavered between trying to remain neutral or joining the Lightning Sect's side. They could probably hide and turtle up until someone broke into the Tree-Stage.
Lasar didn't seem impressed. "You ask what's stopping my disciples from breaking the promise in case of my death?" he asked. "I can tell you what's stopping them. In the case that I die, and the Lightning Sect tries to renegade on its promise, what do you think the old man will do?"
The eyes of the elders widened in enlightenment. What would Old Man Lightning do if the Sect broke a promise? That madman would probably kill every person of the upper echelon that agreed to that himself and build an entirely new Lightning Sect. He might be old, but he still had enough time to rebuild the Sect. With him taking direct charge, who would dare attack the Lightning Sect?
"I might die, but grandpa won't. He has, at least, another hundred years," Lasar said.
"And why are you so sure that Old Man Lightning will keep his word?" Byron said threateningly.
Yet, this time, the elders only looked at Byron with ridicule. Old Man Lightning breaking a promise? That was impossible. He had once promised someone, while being drunk in a bar, that if someone attacked him, he would make the attacking party pay.
Someone from the Fire Sect had then killed the person due to some misunderstanding some years later, and Old Man Lightning had submerged the Fire Sect in a sea of terror for over five years. The whole Sect Alliance was nearly dissolved because of him. All because of a promise he had made when he was drunk.
"Alright, we'll relocate our Wind Sect to your Lightning Sect, but we won't involve ourselves in the war," one elder said, and then looked at Byron with killing intent, "unless it's against the Darkness Sect."
Byron gritted his teeth. As soon as Old Man Lightning had appeared, his whole plan was thrown into disarray. Everything was falling apart.
"Also, would you be so kind as to please clean out the Wind Sect of any darkness vermin you find?" the same elder said to Lasar.
Lasar looked with killing intent at Byron and readied his spear.
"Gladly!"