At Oswald's words, the people in that hall debated for a few seconds until they agreed to temporarily accept Minos as that man's successor.
The sect master had said he would be in charge of everything crucial for the sect in the short term. On the other hand, Minos would prove himself on the battlefield before he got any benefits. So they were willing to accept it since, as much as Oswald gave them this chance, he could appoint his successor without consulting these people.
In the Gray Clouds Sect, there was a custom for the sect master's successor to go through a series of tests and be approved by the council of high-level elders. That had been followed faithfully by the leaders of this organization since ancient times, something that had long since become a custom in this place.
But there was no obligation for the current sect master to do this, and these people knew that Oswald could impose his will if he wanted to.
That would obviously create problems, but in the short term, nobody could do anything anyway as long as he was around. Because of this, they simply accepted, taking the opportunity to evaluate Minos while Oswald was around, advising him.
In this way, even the patriarch and elders of House Terry, oblivious to Lance's plans, accepted Oswald's request to give Minos a chance.
When he received the consent of those people, Minos was grateful since he had no reason not to do so. And as such, he left that place satisfied with his progress.
But it was not long before Minos met with one of the officials of that sect area, and she took him to prepare himself for the traditional ceremony of the passing of command.
Such an occasion was in the sect rules, which the members of that organization valued too highly to ignore at this time. But this was not complicated since only the organization's upper echelon had to be present or could attend.
The rules of this sect said that three-quarters of the organization's Spiritual Saints or half of the cultivators above level 75 had to be present on such an occasion. Because of this, there was no tremendous need for time for the event to take place!
...
Only 8 hours after Minos' arrival in the Gray Clouds Sect, the individuals working to put Lance's plans into practice were taken by surprise by an unexpected announcement.
In the late afternoon in this area of Clouds City, several information points from the headquarters of the leading organization in this area began to spread the news to their most influential members.
"Urgent news!"
"The high-level elders of the sect have just approved the ascension of a new sect master!"
"According to the general command of the sect, Minos Stuart has been appointed by the sect master and approved by the group of strongest elders in our organization." A female voice read the news in sound arrays scattered throughout the areas to which only high-ranking members of this organization had access. "Right now, he is undergoing the Spiritual Baptism of the Ancestors at the Stone Under the Ancient Pond, about to be made official the new sect master!"
When one of Lance's men heard this, he nearly choked dry, unable to believe that Minos had accomplished such a thing so easily.
Meanwhile, their group had worked so hard for years to achieve nothing...
It was really frustrating!
'How can this be? How could the high-level elders accept such nonsense?' One of the several Spiritual Saints in Lance's group wondered, not being able to believe it.
'He just arrived in our sect today, and the elders already accept him? Without him even having done anything? There must be some mistake!' Such a person felt indignant, feeling that it was even more imperative that he and his group move to prevent the rise of Minos Stuart.
Thus, he moved from that area to continue with his goals, doing the same as several of the individuals in Lance's faction when they found out about such a thing.
On the other hand, several members of this blond guy's faction did not find out about it right away because they were busy with other things. So they just went ahead with their previous plans without making any changes necessary to reach Minos.
...
"... The sect master has just abdicated his position on behalf of Minos Stuart..." Maisie, who was not yet aware of her son's arrival in this sect, heard this information as she left her training area in the core of this sect's headquarters.
After she heard such a thing, Maisie stopped walking and stood motionless for a few seconds, with her mouth and eyes wide open.
'What? How could this be? Why would something like this happen so suddenly?' She wondered, not understanding why Minos and Oswald's plan would be advanced so significantly.
With that in mind, she quickly started running towards where Minos was supposed to be baptized as this sect's leader, the Stone Under the Ancient Pond.
...
On the other hand, even people ignorant of what was happening in the sect's core had noticed that something strange was unfolding.
Kara Carline, currently at level 62, was at her mistress' house. She felt strange after her mistress rushed from this place after receiving an urgent message.
As she thought about what might be going on, this young native of the Kingdom of the End remembered Minos, whom she had heard was visiting the sect once again.
'Confusions always remind me of Minos...' She laughed, imagining that face she had seen not long ago as she had visited the northern region and her family after Sarah's birth.
She had solved her longing for her old friend on that occasion, so despite the urge in her body, she would not seek him out now due to his current circumstances.
"Sigh..."
'He must be full of trouble. Then I'll leave him alone for the time being.' She thought before she went back to considering what she was learning in this place.
...
As Kara returned to her studies, the situation was tense at the Terry family headquarters.
Not only had Lance's men found out about the problem that had suddenly arisen, but he was also listening to that urgent information at this very instant.
"... Minos Stuart will be from today..."
While hearing such a thing alongside his subordinates, Lance shook with anger and turned red as a tomato before destroying the array propagating such news to him in his office.
"How can this be? Why would the elders accept such nonsense?" He shouted angrily, not understanding how Minos could have been unanimously approved by the high-level elders, as the urgent announcement had said.
He could not believe that his family members would stab him in the back like that!
So how could he believe it?
"Young master, what are you going to do?" One of the individuals there asked, while his expression was dark as night.
"Tsk!" But Lance said nothing. He just ran from that place in a hurry, heading towards the site of Minos' baptism.
'Wretch! I won't let that happen!'
...
