“Elder Jingyi, glad to have you with us. How was the competition?”

“Boring as always but there was one promising disciple. On any other occasion, this would be a joyous moment but how things stand…”

Elder Jingyi that was used as a ticket into the inner sect walked into a closed-off room. In it, there were many elders and seniors from the Thunderball hall. It seemed that all the leaders from each of the halls had gathered here and this probably without the knowledge of the outer sect.

“Yes, the future is shaky…”

“How is the Patriarch?”

“Not good, his cultivation is slowly declining and we have discovered new evidence of a spy.”

“A spy? So it really someone from our sect that had poisoned the Patriarch during his ascension?”

“Yes, the evidence points to… Zheng Ting!”

“Zheng Ting? How could that be? She is the Patriarch’s granddaughter…”

“Yes, she vanished the moment we discovered that there was foul play involved. She is also trusted by the Patriarch, it would be easy for her to slip in the poison into his food…”

“But why would she do it? What would she gain from weakening the sect?”

Elder Jingyi asked as he was clearly out of the loop. Due to the outer sect competition, he was forced to remain in that part for a whole day.

“We fear that the Blood Poison Cult is involved, the poison that was used is also one that they are famous for…”

“The Blood Poison Cult?”

“Yes, our brothers found letters coming from that cult hidden away in Zheng Ting’s quarters. It would seem that she was romantically involved with one of their members which might have caused this…”

“Romantically involved? Does this mean that the Blood Poison Cult could attack us?”

“Yes, we fear for the worst. Normally our patriarch would be able to combat their cult leader but in his weakened state he will not be his match… this might also not be the only problem…”

“There is more?”

Elder Jingyi’s face went pale as the people started listing other problems. Apparently, their spies detected movement in other evil sects and cults that were situated close to their Thunderball hall.

The spot this Thunderball hall occupied was quite sought after. The concentration of lightning energies was not the only profitable resource. Deep inside the mountain range, there was a pocket of dark crystals. These crystals could be used by demonic cultivators to hasten their progress.

This was of course a big secret that the sect was hiding away from the other powers. With the betrayal of Zheng Ting, who was part of the inner circle, the secret might have been found out. It would not be strange if the demonic sects united to take care of them and to take away these dark crystals.

“This… Did our spies find out more?”

“No, It seems that our spies have been silenced.”

“This doesn’t bode well, can the patriarch recover in time? Should we contact the other righteous sects in the area and ask for help?”

“The other sects…”

The gathering of the elders continued into the night. While everyone was busy scrambling around, a certain sect leader was making his way towards the large tower of lightning.

‘Hm, this place doesn’t look that well-protected. Are they that sure that no one will attack them or are their forces somewhere else?’

Unbeknownst to him all the strongest elders and their disciples were gathered at one location all the way up the tower. While they were busy going through the sect's existential crisis Zhang Dong slipped past everyone.

‘This thing looks a lot bigger from close up…’

He had to strain his neck to look at the giant blocky tower. The lightning storm was circling around this building and discharging lightning bolts into it. If he had the ability to fly he could just charge into the eye of this storm and absorb all of this energy.

His current cultivation realm was that of foundation establishment middle stage. With the help of this energy, he was hoping to enter the core formation level. Maybe if he was lucky enough he could even push it to the middle stage. There was quite the amount of lightning elements here that possibly could boost him further.

‘There are some guards.’

He could see five men being stationed in front of one of the doors that led into this large tower. One of them was clearly the commander while the other four were just part of his unit.

‘It would be better if I didn’t just charge through here like a maniac…’

Zhang Dong felt that these five would not be a problem to beat but this would just put everyone inside on alert. Five guards just vanishing from their post would be quickly seen through. He at least wanted to give himself some time before they figured out that he invaded their tower.

‘This calls for the honey pot trap approach.’

His appearance started to change, from a young and handsome young master to something paler. Two large lumps of flesh started protruding from his chest as his body shrunk down. His hips started getting wider and his highs were now pleasantly plump. His skin was white as a jade as he took the appearance of a once-in-a-lifetime beauty.

‘This disguising technique is scary, at least it doesn’t make my little guy vanish along with it.’

Zhang Dong changed into some short fairy-like robes that showed off his legs and chest area the most. He had to pick a robe on the more flowy side, as from close up his large little brother would be clearly bulging it out.

“Who goes there!”

One of the guards noticed some movement and was shocked to see a beauty coming out from behind a building. The five guards started drooling instantly while checking out all the good parts. Zhang Dong had to hold himself back from cringing and scoffing at the looks that these men were giving him.

“Oh no, I’ve seemed to have lost my way… I just arrived in the inner sect, could one of you senior brothers help a lady in distress out?”

Lucky for Zhang Dong the competition for the outer sect disciples had ended. It wouldn’t be suspicious for some new faces to appear in the inner sect area. This was also what the guards here were thinking but due to the beauty they were seeing here, their perception was skewed. They abandoned all reason while devouring her with their eyes.

“Dear junior sister, you should not wander alone through the night, what if you catch a cold. Let this senior brother escort you back home!”

“What are you talking about? I will be the one to escort this junior sister back home!”

“No, it’s going to be me!”

Soon the group of guards started fighting with each other while Zhang Dong stood there. He took on a strange uncomfortable pose that made his posterior and chest stick out at the same time.

‘How do girls do this stuff…’

“Be quiet all of you and get back to your post!”

Soon the captain of the group of four shouted out. His aura was enough to make the four weaker guards shrink back in fright.

“Show some decorum!”

The man was slightly older than the rest and seemed a bit more composed. This quickly changed as he gave Zhang Dong one of the most lecherous smiles that he had ever seen.

“Little lady, you should not be wandering around at this hour, if one of the elders spots you, you will be reprimanded.”

He started approaching Zhang Dong while the other four guards scoffed. They knew that they could not go against their captain and that he was just as attracted to the woman as they were.

“Oh no, could you show me the right way back senior brother? I seem to have lost my way.”

“Certainly junior sister, let this big brother show you the way…’

The man grinned and the two started walking away. Zhang Dong had to doge a hand going towards his hip. The four guards then looked on in despair as their captain went away with the beauty that was shaking her wide hips side to side like a professional dancer.

“Damn, it should have been me…”

“Hah, why would that fairy even look at an ugly bastard like you!”

“What did you say?”

Two of the guards started shouting at each other but soon they quieted down after they heard a strange scream. It came from the direction that their captain and the beauty vanished into. They all looked at each other with wide eyes, was their captain more of a leech than they had thought?

“Captain?”

Soon the man returned. His clothes were slightly ruffled up and he had a red handprint on his cheek. The group of men started sniggering as they knew what had happened.

“What are you looking at, get back to your post!”

“Yes sir!”

They all nodded while retreating into formation, still their faces were filled with smiles. The captain soon entered the tower while grasping the side of his face. The moment he left the remaining men burst out in laughter.

‘Well, that was easier than I expected, only my pride as a man was damaged...’

Of course, the man that returned was not the guard captain, it was Zhang Dong in disguise. He had made short work of the lecherous man and with a quick zap, he was out. After taking his face and clothes he returned.

He looked around and could see that most of this place was empty. The space was wide open and he could see stairs going up.

‘That’s a lot of stairs…’

It looked like the impossible staircase phenomenon with many of those stairs moving at an angle. It also seemed that there was some kind of illusory formation working here that would make it hard for anyone to ascend.

This only applied to normal cultivators and not to someone like Zhang Dong. With a quick glance, he already knew the correct path to ascend.

‘I don’t see any rooms, they must be up higher…’

Soon he ascended up, his plan was to get as far as he could. The closer he was to that storm the better it was for his cultivation.

While Zhang Dong made his way up towards his destination, there was trouble brewing. Far away from the Thunderball Hall, there was a group of cultivators in shadowy robes.

“You have served me well Zheng Ting, when we crush this Thunderball Hall you will be granted the position of high elder!”

“Thank you, my lord, I just wish to be useful to the Blood Poison Cult!”

The man looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was quite handsome but also quite powerful. Behind him was a swarm of flying boats along with many cultivators.

“Tonight, we shall bathe in our enemy's blood!”

He raised his fist high up while the other men cheered. Soon all of them faded away into the shadows, the approach would be slow and only when it was too late they would strike.