Inside the third-tier cave residence, Luo Chen sifted through the intelligence that had been gathered over the past few days. Gradually, a clearer and more complete picture of the Falling Cloud Sect’s assault on the Flame Alliance took shape.4

The battle had lasted only a single night, yet its brutality far surpassed the struggles between the great upper sects. Of course, that devastation had fallen almost entirely on the Flame Alliance.0

The preparations of the Falling Cloud Sect had been thorough beyond measure. Five hundred Initiates commanded more than a thousand puppets, nearly all of them the same long-range bombardment models once deployed on the battlefield of the Thundernet Mountains. Controlling such constructs required little skill, only a steady stream of spirit stones to keep them fueled. Wave after wave of firepower rained down, plowing through the Flame Alliance’s defenses as though intent on tilling the land itself.1

The Flame Alliance revealed its hidden foundation—fourteen Adepts in total! Yet even these fourteen people were no match for the ten sent by the Falling Cloud Sect. Those ten fought as though they were...9