Lightning Is The Only Way

Gravis looked at the person standing on the street, glaring at him.

He was a level three Ancestral God, and his power was above average.

"The Elders aren't blind," Gravis said with a smirk. "If I broke any rules, they would have already contacted me."

The man really didn't like Gravis' answer. 

How did this mere level one Ancestral God dare to question him!?

"Get down, or you might run into an accident later," the man said with a threatening voice.

Gravis only smirked at the man on the ground. "Excuse me, you're a bit far away, and it's difficult to hear you. Could you come up here and tell it to me face to face?"

Their exchange had already drawn a lot of other people over, and they were watching Gravis with shock.

How could he fly?

Only Vice-Sect Masters and higher could fly here, and also only because they were exempted from the Formation Arrays' effects.

The man on the ground became quite angry when he heard Gravis' taunt, but he kept himself in check.

"You won't even have the opportunity to regret your arrogance. Just wait," the man said with a cold voice.

Then, the man walked away.

"Did you know that your threat is already enough for me to not receive any repercussions to my Karmic Luck if I kill you?" Gravis asked.

The man only snorted as he stopped walking away. "I don't recognize you, which means that you don't have a powerful faction backing you. Additionally, killing someone else is forbidden in the Eternal Fire Sect. By saying that you can kill me, aren't you ignoring the combined power and prestige of the Eternal Fire Sect?"

"Oh, political games," Gravis said with surprise. "It's been quite a while since I joined a political game. Are you trying to interpret my words in a way that makes me appear like I look down on the entire Eternal Fire Sect?"

Gravis' response took the man by surprise. 

Things didn't go like this usually.

Usually, the other side would counter the man's argument by saying something along the lines that the man was actually not putting the Eternal Fire Sect into his eyes. After all, by saying stuff like that, he would subconsciously say that the Eternal Fire Sect couldn't discern the truth from the exchange.

Then, the man would counter again, and the other person would counter again.

Eventually, one of two things would happen.

If one side won, the other side would walk away without saying anything else.

If no side won, the two of them would bury their differences on the surface and shake hands. They would publicly apologize to each other.

And then, the hidden warfare would begin between the two.

The factions backing the individuals would covertly join, but they wouldn't make their involvement public.

It was a complex game of schemes, public opinion, and suppressing the other person without directly attacking or harming them.

Yet, Gravis pulled the veil of the hidden political game down and directly addressed it.

People like that were very unpopular in the Eternal Fire Sect.

The different factions warred with each other, but they all warred in secret, and if someone pulled the veil down, it would make it harder for factions to war with each other.

Because of that, directly addressing the political game was taboo.

If one did so anyway, all the factions would quietly go against that person.

The veil must not be addressed, or it would be harder to keep up the suspension of disbelief.

Because of that, Gravis' words surprised everyone. Was the guy suicidal?

However, every person here was an experienced strategist and politician.

"We don't play any of these games here. He only wanted to uphold the rules," another guy said.

"Are you trying to deflect from your blame by saying that the other guy is just playing some game? Grow up!" yet another guy shouted.

"Imagine literally flying above someone's head and talking down to the entire Eternal Fire Sect. He obviously has issues with his mind," a girl said with a snort.

"Look at him, standing up there in the sky and looking down on the entire Eternal Fire Sect. He is obviously someone that doesn't know how to spell respect, and we shouldn't give him the time of day," a strict-looking woman said.

In just a moment, the entire Eternal Fire Sect had banded together to deal with Gravis.

Every person was severely criticizing Gravis and saying that he was only talking nonsense.

Gravis had been right when he said that all of this was just a political game, but that didn't matter.

If all the masses said the same thing, it was accepted as the truth.

In the biggest castle in the middle of the Eternal Fire Sect, the Sect Master looked at what was happening with calm eyes.

If it had been a couple of years ago, she would believe that everything was normal. The Sect would band together and keep up the façade, which allowed them to increase their capabilities regarding planning and strategy.

She would have also believed that Gravis would have learned a valuable lesson today. Sometimes, it was necessary to play the game if everyone else wanted to play. If he didn't, he would be ostracized and killed.

However, these beliefs would have held true only a couple of years ago.

At the moment, the Sect Master's mind had changed quite a bit.

When the Ancestor had said that the Sect Master had been so occupied with planning that she had forgotten what power actually meant, she had gotten a reminder of what power actually was. Back then, Orpheus had broken an important rule of the Eternal Fire Sect, and the Sect Master had been forced to capitulate.

However, this lesson hadn't hit home until her confrontation with Gravis.

Gravis had shown her that all of her planning didn't matter.

Any Vice-Sect Master could probably kill Gravis, and she could probably easily kill Gravis.

Yet, the Eternal Fire Sect had still been helpless.

All the Sect Master's scheming abilities had been worthless.

Why?

Because she couldn't guarantee that any of her schemes or plans would work out.

If only one of them failed, she would have created a calamity for the Eternal Fire Sect.

Wasn't that exactly what power was?

If someone was weaker than everyone, one didn't need to fear them, and they could do whatever they wanted with them.

However, if someone was stronger than everyone, no one could afford to anger that person.

In the past, the Sect Master would have believed that Gravis was an amateur in strategy and politics based on the outcome of the current situation.

But now, her mind had changed.

Public opinion was imperative in these kinds of political games, but when the power difference was too vast, public opinion was worthless.

A good example was the Opposer.

The entire world absolutely hated the Opposer. He had killed so many people, and many people were afraid that he would suddenly kill them for no apparent reason.

The highest world despised and hated the Opposer with all their being.

Yet, what did that matter?

It didn't.

It didn't matter if everyone hated him or if everyone loved him.

Nothing would change.

When the Sect Master saw everyone gang up on Gravis, she came to a decision.

She took out an emblem. "Ancestor, at the moment, a very powerful level one Ancestral God is being publicly denounced by everyone in the Eternal Fire Sect."

Then, she told the Ancestor about her encounter with Gravis a couple of years ago.

"And why did you contact me?" the Ancestor asked at the end.

"I have a plan, and I want to know if you are fine with it. It is very risky," she said.

"Oh? Do tell."