Chapter 894: Is There a Traitor?

Above the Yunlun Mountains.At the Cloud Realm's main monitoring station.

“Fifteen minutes!”

Yu Zhiwen bore the weight of her promise; she had to do everything in her power to regain control of the Cloud Realm world within fifteen minutes.

However, the unknown Heaven's Mystery Adept was too powerful!

During the struggle for Heaven's Mystery and control of the Cloud Realm world, even with her full effort, pushing her Starpearl Eye technique to its limit, the opponent effortlessly set up multiple traps. One misstep, and she would be ensnared, wasting precious time.

“Beep, beep, beep…”

Her communication bead rang incessantly. Fifteen minutes had passed, and Rao Yaoyao was clearly impatient, frantically urging her.

Yu Zhiwen didn't answer. She was drenched in sweat and dared not be distracted. Even though she had given her all, she was still a crucial step away from regaining control of the Cloud Realm world.

Just then, the Heaven's Mystery Adept on the other side suddenly seemed to vanish, no longer setting up schemes.

Yu Zhiwen was pleasantly surprised. Even if this could be another one of the opponent's traps, she had no choice but to try to delve deeper into the Cloud Realm world's Heaven's Mystery structure. To regain control, she needed to fully penetrate the main control position.

This time, unexpectedly, there were no obstacles. With a hand gesture and a seal, Yu Zhiwen gained control of the Cloud Realm world… it was hers!

“Senior Rao.”

Picking up her communication bead, Yu Zhiwen, slightly agitated, immediately replied: “I have not failed! Control of the Cloud Realm world has been secured, and I’ve set up multiple layers of protection. This time, if anyone dares to touch the Cloud Realm world again, I’ll immediately pinpoint their location.”

No one could have imagined that someone would brazenly seize control of the Cloud Realm world during the Royal City trial. Previously, it was only Rao Yaoyao guarding the Cloud Realm world, not Situ Yongren. Otherwise, the moment Ancestor Wuji made his move, it would have surely been detected. At the very least, control wouldn't have been snatched away so abruptly. Alas, there are no 'ifs'...

Cheng Ji, the Branch Master of the Holy Divine Palace in the Eastern Heaven Royal City, when applying for access to the Cloud Realm world, simply intended it for the spirit refiners participating in the Royal City trial. Like Rao Yaoyao, he never thought anyone would use this system for cheating. Consider this: only someone whose Heaven's Mystery art mastery completely surpassed everyone in the Dao Department could possibly seize control of a Heaven's Mystery world. How could such a figure coincidentally appear in the Eastern Heaven Royal City, hide within the Yunlun Mountains, and also covet the Cloud Realm world? Unfortunately, it was exactly that coincidental...

Through a series of unfortunate coincidences, during that quarter-hour and a bit more, the Holy Divine Palace was completely in a 'dark period,' unable to see the Yunlun Mountains or know what was happening inside.

“Senior Rao?”

Yu Zhiwen had initially felt an immense sense of accomplishment from regaining control of the Cloud Realm world. It was like solving an extremely difficult Heaven's Mystery art problem given by her master—it was incredibly exhilarating. But the prolonged silence from Rao Yaoyao on the other end of the communication bead doused her excitement like ice water, cooling it instantly. Had something happened?

Just as this premonition flashed through her mind…

“Yi has died in the line of duty!”

After a long silence from the communication bead, Rao Yaoyao's exceedingly grave voice suddenly rang out.

Yu Zhiwen's heart instantly skipped a beat. The Head of the Yi Department… A Grandmaster of the Void… Dead?

Within that quarter-hour and more of darkness. He… died?

Yu Zhiwen's scalp instantly prickled. She knew better than anyone how difficult it was to kill a Grandmaster of the Void, especially the Head of the Yi Department, renowned for his myriad transformations and elusive movements. Such a figure, simply because visibility in the Yunlun Mountains was obscured for a quarter-hour and more… Died?!

“Senior Rao, I…”

Yu Zhiwen was a little flustered. She hadn't been concerned with the battle situation itself, but the thought that the Head of one of the Holy Divine Palace's six renowned departments had been assassinated because of her own inadequacy, failing to regain control of the Cloud Realm world in time, filled her with dread.

Yu Zhiwen wanted to explain something, but for a moment, she couldn't speak. Even the hand holding the communication bead began to tremble slightly.

A soft sigh came from the other end of the communication bead, and then Rao Yaoyao's comforting voice spoke: “Zhiwen, I know you did your best. Don't blame yourself.”

“I asked Situ Yongren about your efforts during this period. He said that purely in terms of ‘breaking Heaven’s Mystery art,’ even he might not have done better than you. I saw your effort throughout that quarter-hour and more. It's just that man proposes, God disposes…”

Rao Yaoyao didn't seem to intend to waste too much time on consolation. Her tone shifted, and she said gravely: “Keep an eye on Mu Xiaogong. Yi died while performing an intelligence mission. This person must be suspicious!”

Mu Xiaogong…

Yu Zhiwen snapped back to attention, realizing it wasn't a time for fear, yet she was still startled by Rao Yaoyao's words. “I know this person, but she's just a small Master. How could she possibly kill a Grandmaster of the Void?” Yu Zhiwen found it hard to believe.

Rao Yaoyao's voice was stern: “I don't need your judgment right now! I only need you to transmit all the footage Yi could see before his death, and all people and scenes within a hundred-mile radius after his death, to me.”

“Understood.” Yu Zhiwen nodded quickly.

She once again manipulated the Cloud Realm world. With a hand seal, all the spirit mirrors before her glowed back to life. In the Xu Gang, bonfires gleamed. Inside the Xu Gang's main tent, Young Master Xu was still dozing off. Outside the Xu Gang, the mountain where Yi had last appeared before his death… was empty!

Yu Zhiwen's heart sank. He was dead. Yet, there was nothing unusual about the place where he died. How could she present this footage?

Yu Zhiwen's thoughts shifted to Rao Yaoyao's words. Indeed, her judgment wasn't needed at the moment…

Immediately, she used Heaven's Mystery art to transmit all the footage she could see to Rao Yaoyao.

The communication bead remained connected. Not long after, Rao Yaoyao's voice sounded: “Where is Mu Xiaogong? I want to see her real-time footage.”

Yu Zhiwen's heart tightened. Not daring to delay, she moved her hand seal. Through the trial jade pendant, she pinpointed Mu Xiaogong's location.

—She wasn't in the Xu Gang's camp! The young girl was near the Xu Gang's camp, on the other side of the mountain where Yi had last appeared, listlessly kicking pebbles by the mountain path. She held a small twig with broken leaves, her small face filled with displeasure. As she swung the twig back and forth, she mumbled incessantly.

Yu Zhiwen immediately zoomed in on the footage, amplified the audio, and listened intently.

“Stupid Young Master Xu, stinky Young Master Xu!”“It's just the position of Xu Gang's leader, isn't it? I don't care about it!”“Do you really think I'm fond of your hundreds of people? Give me time, and I can raise a team too!”“Drat…”On the mountain path, Mu Xiaogong cursed and kicked rocks. Suddenly overcome by emotion, she swung the twig violently, as if wielding a sword to strike someone: “Drat, drat, drat!”

“Deputy Gang Leader Mu…”

From a distance behind her, the guard Xiao Qing, his old face full of pleading, called out against the wind: “I say, Miss Mu, it's time to go back! This wilderness is too dangerous, and Young Master Xu isn't here. If that fake trial official had made a move, we would have…”

“What did you say?!” Mu Xiaogong spun around, glaring furiously.

“Uh…” The Master guard Xiao Qing was stunned. “I said, it's time to go back?”

“The sentence before that!”

“Miss Mu?”

“Before that!”

“Xu… Deputy Gang Leader Xu?”

“That's it!” Mu Xiaogong was instantly furious, stamping her foot: “What did you call me? Deputy Gang Leader? Do you have to add ‘Deputy’? The ceremony for calling the leader of the Xu Gang was established by me! Young Master Xu hasn't even officially held the succession ceremony yet, and you're calling me 'Deputy Gang Leader'?!”

Cold sweat broke out on guard Xiao Qing. He apologized profusely: “Gang Leader Mu, I was wrong, I was wrong, I apologize. But now, we really should go back. It’s too dangerous here…”

Mu Xiaogong pouted, a flicker of fear in her eyes, but she insisted stubbornly: “What’s there to be afraid of a trial official? Trial officials are supposed to protect trial participants. If you don't do anything bad, you don't need to fear ghosts knocking on your door!”

Xiao Qing weakly added: “You just said he was a ghost…”

“Ah!” Mu Xiaogong shrieked, clutching her head. “Stop talking! I'm not listening! I'm not listening! Unless Young Master Xu comes personally to apologize to me and gives me back the position of gang leader, otherwise… otherwise, I'm not going back! Hmph!”

Xiao Qing sighed: “Gang Leader Mu, just look at the time now. The Nine Dragon Vein Contest has already begun. Everyone is scrambling, fearing someone will get ahead of them… And Young Master Xu?” He spread his hands: “Young Master Xu has even temporarily put aside the Nine Dragon Vein Contest for you. A thousand brothers of the Xu Gang are resting in place, for unknown reasons, just waiting for you to return… Gang Leader Mu, can't you see how important you are in Young Master Xu's heart?”

Mu Xiaogong was startled by his words. She flipped her hand to grip her trial jade pendant, as if confirming something. She then seemed convinced, her words losing much of their earlier defiance. “I… I wasn't just scared by that guy, forgetting to check the trial jade pendant's notifications!” She held up the pendant, as if grasping her lifeline, her confidence returning slightly. “Look! I just saw the notification!”

Xiao Qing ignored her excuses, pursing his lips as he asked: “So, shall we go back?”

“Go back… fine, we'll go back, what's the big deal?!” Mu Xiaogong had been with Young Master Xu for a long time and clearly knew the importance of the situation, understanding that timing couldn't be delayed. So, while grumbling, she began to follow guard Xiao Qing back. “Once we're back, don't mention what just happened. I'll tell Young Master Xu myself,” Mu Xiaogong instructed as she walked.

“Of course.” Xiao Qing said with a straight face.

“And I won't exaggerate!” Mu Xiaogong glared at him. He was feigning seriousness; he would definitely tell.

“I know Gang Leader Mu's character; I trust you.” Xiao Qing smiled.

“Are you mocking me?”

“Not at all.”

“Hmph!”

“Hmph, deflected.”

“You!”

“Alright, I won't say anything…” Xiao Qing gave a wry smile. “So, Gang Leader Mu, what do you plan to say when we go back?”

“What else is there to say?” Mu Xiaogong scoffed with a cold laugh. “That trial official dared to control me and make me lose my composure; I'm definitely going to report him… He's just a Throne, isn't he? With Young Master Xu's current strength, he can definitely slay a Throne!”

“Didn't you say you wouldn't exaggerate? He was just suspicious, merely asking questions.”

“Shut up!”

“Shut up, deflected.”

“You… do you believe it?! I'll even report you for not protecting me properly?!”

“I'm sorry, I was wrong.”

“Hmph hmph.”

Yu Zhiwen took in all the spirit mirror footage, and only silence remained. No anomalies! Mu Xiaogong and Young Master Xu's guard showed no anomalies whatsoever!

The reason the two hadn't returned to the Xu Gang's camp was simply because Mu Xiaogong had previously asked Young Master Xu for the position of gang leader, and he hadn't given it to her. This matched everything that happened inside Young Master Xu's tent before the "dark period." And true to Mu Xiaogong's childish temper, she had made a note of it, requiring Young Master Xu to personally come and appease her before she would return. But Young Master Xu was equally stubborn, refusing to show up and respond, merely halting the Xu Gang's subsequent actions and waiting for Mu Xiaogong to return on her own. The trivial matters these two engaged in were entirely consistent with their personalities, even if it meant delaying important affairs.

The only thing worth doubting was… “Is she really that important?” Yu Zhiwen murmured to herself.

But soon, she realized her thoughts were straying and immediately refocused. Judging by the conversation… Yi had clearly made contact with Mu Xiaogong and her guard. However, after the 'interrogation' task was completed, Yi should have left quickly. Otherwise, Mu Xiaogong and the guard wouldn't have been on the other side of the mountain, wasting time wandering around. What could be inferred from these images was merely that after interacting with Mu Xiaogong, Yi perhaps let his guard down and fell into another unknown trap. That trap must have been long planned. Because during that period of darkness, control of the Cloud Realm world was just seized, and a Grandmaster of the Void couldn't even resist or escape within a quarter-hour, being instantly killed. This must have involved a massive amount of manpower and resources!

Even if Mu Xiaogong and the guard were both infiltrators and both Grandmasters of the Void, it would be absolutely impossible for them to achieve this! Two Grandmasters of the Void wanting to slay the Head of the Yi Department? How powerful would those two Grandmasters of the Void have to be? At the very least, they would have to be at the level of two Heads of the Six Departments, and even then, they might not succeed! Yu Zhiwen first dismissed the possibility of these two colluding to kill Yi; it was simply unrealistic. Because if the two 'Grandmaster of the Void infiltrators' were indeed responsible for killing Yi, at least another Grandmaster of the Void with the cultivation level of a Six Departments Head, or one who possessed other special abilities, would have to have joined in. Only through such a combined effort could the assassination have been accomplished. Yi, the ever-changing Yi, would not die so easily!

After dismissing this possibility, Yu Zhiwen felt it could only have been the work of large dark forces, such as those who had previously declared war on the Holy Divine Palace… The Sacred Slaves!

However.

If it was the work of a dark organization like the Sacred Slaves, how did they manage all of this? How did they know Yi's mission and movement route, and then set up an ambush in advance?

A chill suddenly ran down Yu Zhiwen's spine. She thought of a chilling possibility…

“A mole?”

After this flash of insight, Yu Zhiwen dared not think further. She immediately conveyed the footage and conversation she had just seen to Rao Yaoyao. What she could think of, Rao Yaoyao would surely think of too. If there truly was a mole, then the position this mole held… was too high! The Holy Divine Palace would likely have a major purge soon!