Jade Dynasty: I am the master of the Burning Sword, my swordsmanship is unparalleled.

Chapter 206 The Mysterious Alien Race at the Ancient Temple

Southern Xinjiang has always been a land of barren mountains and treacherous waters. Countless poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, vicious alien races, and various barbaric tribes, cruel and bloodthirsty, are hidden in the mountains, inspiring fear.

However, over the past thousand years, there have been no more rumors of barbarian tribes harming people. Although there have been occasional appearances of strange monsters resembling other races in the southern border regions, they have mostly disappeared without a trace.

Today, the vast mountainous region of southern Xinjiang is shrouded in layers of mist, and few people from the Central Plains venture there.

The land of southern Xinjiang.

That night, the bright moon hung high in the sky, and the clouds were quite thick, sometimes obscuring the moonlight, and sometimes letting the moonlight fall on this ancient and mysterious land.

At that moment, a huge dark cloud drifted by at an incredible speed. Of course, if someone were to fly up to the heavens to investigate, they would find that it was not a cloud at all, but a divine bird with wingspans of tens of feet.

The yellow bird flapped its wings and flew under the moonlight. Zhang Xiaofan stood on the head of the yellow bird, looking down at the terrain below. After taking a look, Jin Ping'er spoke.

"Master, we've come all this way, we should be ahead of Wanrenwang, right? Why don't we just storm into Fenxiang Valley and release that Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox?"

Zhang Xiaofan ignored Jin Ping'er, but a dark red light flashed in his eyes, and his eyes transformed into phoenix eyes.

Suddenly, a red light flashed on a hill below, and in Zhang Xiaofan's eyes, it clearly resembled an old man.

"Let's go down and take a look!"

As soon as Zhang Xiaofan finished speaking, his whole body flashed with light and transformed into a small phoenix. He grabbed the golden bottle with his claws and flew downwards. When the yellow bird saw Zhang Xiaofan land, it quickly flapped its wings and hid in the thick clouds.

Before Jin Ping'er could react, she felt a gust of wind whistling past her ears. When she regained her footing, she saw that the phoenix had transformed back into Zhang Xiaofan's figure. He ignored her and walked directly toward an ancient temple not far away. Seeing this, Jin Ping'er had no choice but to follow.

In the desolate wilderness, this ancient temple has been abandoned for who knows how long. The temple is full of broken walls and ruins, and even the main hall is in a state of disrepair.

"laugh!"

Suddenly, someone lit a tinderbox, and flames rose up, barely illuminating the main hall.

In the darkness, Jin Ping'er followed behind Zhang Xiaofan, her eyes fixed on the figures moving in the firelight. Besides the old man they were following, there were two other people: one was completely covered by a cloak and wore a hood, and the other was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties.

"Chirp, chirp chirp, chirp, chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp..."

Suddenly, a very strange and eerie sound rang out from inside the hall, coming from under the mysterious man's hood.

Neither Zhang Xiaofan nor Jin Ping'er had ever heard of such peculiar and strange language before, but they were both almost certain that it was definitely not a language that humans should have.

After speaking for a while, the mysterious man stopped. Then, the middle-aged man turned to the old man and spoke.

"The chieftain said that this mission was unsuccessful, and we lost a lot of manpower and our whereabouts were exposed. It was all because your information was inaccurate. The Beast God King was furious when he heard this."

Jin Ping'er clearly noticed that both the middle-aged man and the mysterious man visibly trembled when the Beast God King was mentioned, seemingly quite afraid of him. The old man frowned upon hearing this, then chuckled mockingly.

"According to our agreement, we were supposed to inform you that the Heavenly Emperor's Nether Stone exists in the Death Swamp. And according to the information we have, the Heavenly Emperor's Nether Stone is inside. If you can't get it, you can only blame your own incompetence."

Upon hearing this, the mysterious figure, whose entire body was concealed, immediately began to emit strange, shrill chirping sounds. Even those who couldn't understand the words could sense the mysterious figure's anger.

As the mysterious man continued to babble incoherently, the middle-aged man's expression gradually turned ugly. After the man stopped, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"The clan chief said that although they had never been to the Death Swamp, they knew that it was uninhabited. But this time there were so many powerful cultivators, so the information must be wrong."

Upon hearing this, the old man snorted coldly. He naturally knew that the long string of words he had just rambled on must have contained much more than this, and there must have been a lot of foul language. However, the old man did not turn against the other party at the moment, but instead explained in a deep voice.

"There are some things you don't understand. The appearance of the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault this time has caused such a huge commotion that it has naturally attracted countless cultivation experts from the Central Plains to come here."

After speaking, the old man paused again before continuing.

"Moreover, Zhang Xiaofan of the Qingyun Sect personally ordered that cultivators be prohibited from fighting in the village and harming innocent people. Those powerful cultivators, out of respect for his reputation, naturally had no choice but to enter the Death Swamp to resolve the conflict."

Upon hearing this, the mysterious man, completely covered by a cloak and hood, let out another strange sound. After listening for a few moments, the middle-aged man relayed the information to the old man.

"The clan leader said, is that Zhang Xiaofan from the Qingyun Sect really that powerful? Why is it that no one dares to disobey him?"

Upon hearing this, the old man sighed softly, hesitated for a moment, and then said with a sigh.

"Although I don't want to admit it, there is no doubt that Zhang Xiaofan will be the second Qingye of Qingyun Sect, or even surpass Qingye."

The mysterious man chattered on for a while longer, and then the middle-aged man continued speaking.

"The clan chief said that the Heavenly Emperor's Nether Stone is extremely important to the Beast God King, and its significance is paramount. In his fury over this defeat, the Beast God King has already killed several clansmen. He hopes you can find out the whereabouts of the Heavenly Emperor's Nether Stone as soon as possible..."

Upon hearing this, the old man quickly waved his hand, interrupting the middle-aged man's translation, and responded almost without thinking.

"If the Heavenly Emperor's Nether Stone has been stolen, it can only fall into the hands of one person: Zhang Xiaofan of the Qingyun Sect!"

"However, I must warn you that that person is not someone you can afford to offend. Once that Heavenly Emperor Nether Stone falls into his hands, there is no way you can get it back."

Others might not know, but the old man was very clear about Zhang Xiaofan's strength in the Qingyun Sect.

As the saying goes, a great reputation is never undeserved. Zhang Xiaofan's high prestige is not only due to his trustworthy character and integrity, but also to the unparalleled sword in his hand, which makes no one dare to disobey his ideas.

That person's strength is such that, apart from a few righteous giants, probably no one in the world would dare to say they could fight him.

(End of this chapter)