“Deity Lord, what should we do now?” Meng Yi reported the matter of the Zixuan Jade being on Gong Xue to Zhuo Mu.

“The Zixuan Jade is crucial to our plan; it must be retrieved!”

Zhuo Mu’s voice came through a fan.

“According to what you’ve said, the place behind that barrier should be a sect, Cloud Academy.”

“Cloud Academy!” Liao Sixin exclaimed in surprise. “Isn’t that the sect where even mortals dream of cultivating immortality? The most mysterious Hidden Immortal Sect, Cloud Academy?”

“Heh, Hidden Immortal Sect or not, it’s nothing to me. Liao Sixin, haven’t you already taken control of Yiqu Liushang? Gather your men; it’s time for this immortal sect to truly go into hiding!”

“Yes!”

Seven days later

Rumors spread that a disciple from Cloud Academy had been killed while descending the mountain.

Gong Xue wasn’t sure if they were true and didn’t pay much attention. These days, she was either engaged in alchemy or reading mystical arts books at Endless Cup.

“Borrowing Essence Curse!” Gong Xue saw this mystical art in a book and showed it to Mu Xian. “Mu Xian, is this Borrowing Essence Curse really so powerful that it can oppose the Divine?”

Mu Xian took the book for a closer look, frowned, and tossed it aside. “Who told you to read such sinister books? Oppose the Divine? You can’t even defeat me.”

Gong Xue, annoyed, pressed Mu Xian’s head and hit him. “Can’t you go a day without arguing with me? Are you trying to die?”

Mu Xian, subdued by the beating, immediately admitted defeat. “Wrong, wrong, ouch! You’re going to knock me senseless! I’m a Deity Lord for heaven’s sake.”

Ignoring him, Gong Xue continued looking through other books.

An Cheyan rushed over hurriedly. “Yun’er! Something’s wrong, come quickly to the Hall of Affairs.”

An Cheyan’s grave expression made Gong Xue’s heart tighten with a sense of impending doom.

The entrance of the Hall of Affairs was already crowded with people, with disciples chattering incessantly.

“Did a disciple really get killed while descending the mountain?”

“Yes! The bodies are right here, how could it be fake?”

“How can this happen? Who is bold enough to attack disciples of Cloud Academy?”

…

The disciples were almost unanimously indignant.

Gong Xue and the other two hurried into the Hall of Affairs.

Inside the Hall of Affairs, several Elders and the Dean were present, and five corpses covered with white cloth lay on the ground.

“Shu Ran!” Gong Xue spotted Shu Ran and the other four standing at the entrance. “Shu Ran, what happened?”

The five of them looked quite gloomy. An Wanggui walked over. “Yun’er, my father wants to see you, and you too,” An Wanggui pointed at Mu Xian.

Mu Xian and Gong Xue exchanged glances and then walked over to face An Xuqian and several Elders. “Greetings, Dean, Elders.”

“No need for formalities. The reason we summoned you today is related to the murder of our Cloud Academy disciples.”

Gong Xue’s face changed as she looked at the bodies lying on the ground. A sense of anger and sadness washed over her.

The feeling of having her family killed came over her once again!

“Who dares to be so bold as to harm Cloud Academy disciples?” Mu Xian asked.

The Elders shook their heads, and Wei Xian said, “Their injuries are very peculiar. It doesn’t seem like they were inflicted by immortal power but rather by some weapon using gunpowder.”

“Penetrated! Gunpowder!”

Gong Xue seemed to realize something. “Dean, may I examine their wounds?”

“Go ahead.”

Gong Xue lifted the white cloth, revealing the pale face of the disciple. The disciple had a bloody hole in their chest, with the surrounding flesh charred black.

Gong Xue’s pupils contracted, and her body felt cold.

“Cloudstrike Cannon!” she muttered.

It was indeed the Cloudstrike Cannon.

She could never forget that wound—even in death. The members of her Gong Family, those who died at Qingjue Sect under the Cloudstrike Cannon—

She remembered it all too well. The shape of the wound, the mangled flesh.

Gong Xue’s slender hand gripped the edge of the white cloth tightly, her palm wet, knuckles white, her gaze dark. If one listened closely, they could hear her heavy breathing and the grinding of her teeth.

“Gong Xue! Gong Xue…”

“Huh?”

It took several calls from the Dean to bring Gong Xue back to her senses. Seeing her pale face, Mu Xian asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Gong Xue shook her head and then cupped her hands toward the Dean. “Dean, where were these bodies found?”

“At the foot of the mountain, outside the village.”

Gong Xue’s clenched fists began to tremble slightly. “Dean, I…”

Just as Gong Xue was about to volunteer to go down the mountain to investigate, a disciple rushed in, interrupting her.

“Dean, someone is attacking the mountain!”

“What!”

“What!”

These words caused a commotion. Gong Xue’s mind became a chaotic whirl as she roughly guessed who the attackers might be.

Before anyone could react, Gong Xue sprinted towards the mountain gate.

“Gong Xue!” Mu Xian and the An Brothers called out anxiously, following after her.

The Dean sighed. “Such recklessness!”

Then he began organizing the defense.

Gong Xue arrived at the mountain gate.

A fierce wind was blowing, and the world was shrouded in a dusky yellow haze, with clouds in the sky gathering and scattering.

Cloud Academy disciples stood ready for battle, while a dense crowd of figures loomed outside the gate.

Leading them was a man clad in silver armor, his hair tied up high, holding a sharp sword. Beside him stood a stunningly beautiful woman-it was Liao Sixin and Meng Yi.