Chapter 291

Chapter 291: They Are Not My Family

Falling Phoenix Valley, notorious as a treacherous land in the northern border.

It is said that even the divine bird Phoenix cannot escape once it falls in.

The mastermind behind the abduction of the Xiao family aimed to lure Xiao Yang to Falling Phoenix Valley and eliminate him.

Even if they couldn’t kill Xiao Yang, they could use the valley to trap him indefinitely.

“Falling Phoenix Valley…”

A smirk crept across Xiao Yang’s face.

What others viewed as a terrifying abyss, to him, was a treasure land comparable to the Yuanwu Immortal Domain.

He hadn’t planned on heading to Falling Phoenix Valley so soon.

But it seemed unavoidable now.

When he was a child, he owed Xiao Yue a favor.

Once he repaid that favor, there would no longer be any ties with the Xiao family.

“Mr. Xiao, are you really going to Falling Phoenix Valley?”

In the City Lord’s Mansion of Qingyun City, Zhao Rufen looked at Xiao Yang in shock.

“My grandfather treated me like his own grandson. If he hadn’t sent me to Qingyang Sword Sect, I wouldn’t be who I am today. They are, after all, my grandfather’s children and daughter-in-law, so I should repay his great kindness!”

Xiao Yang thought to himself, then said, “They were my adoptive parents. Even though they’ve treated me unjustly, I can’t be unjust to them. After saving them this time, I can sever any lingering ties.”

“Well, that makes sense…”

Zhao Rufen and the others suddenly understood.

They had no idea Xiao Yang had this connection to the Xiao family.

The Xiao Zhenshan family, who had been parading around Qingyun City, turned out to be Xiao Yang’s parents.

“Master, I wish to accompany you to explore Falling Phoenix Valley,” Zhao Fan stood up, addressing Xiao Yang resolutely.

“This…”

Zhao Rufen grew anxious; he only had one son and didn’t want Zhao Fan to throw his life away.

Zhao Ziyu also nervously watched Zhao Fan.

She didn’t want her brother to take risks either.

“Stay here and help Qingyun Sect recruit disciples!”

Xiao Yang glanced at Zhao Fan and said calmly.

While it wouldn’t hurt to bring Zhao Fan along, given his current level of cultivation, Zhao Fan would naturally be safe at his side.

But recruiting disciples for Qingyun Sect was also important.

Zhao Rufen and Zhao Ziyu instantly sighed in relief upon hearing this.

In their eyes, Falling Phoenix Valley was an incredibly perilous place.

Throughout history, no one dared to venture deep into Falling Phoenix Valley.

Some said that great horror lay in the valley’s depths.

Of course, some who didn’t believe in evil thought themselves strong enough and, armed with magical artifacts, rushed into Falling Phoenix Valley.

They then became just another tale—never to be seen again.

“Master, I—”

Zhao Fan wanted to say more.

“Alright, that’s settled then. I’m leaving!”

Xiao Yang stood up as he spoke.

Zhao Rufen and the others saw him out of the main hall.

With a wave of his sleeve, Xiao Yang vanished into thin air instantly.

“……”

Zhao Rufen and the others didn’t even see how Xiao Yang left.

They were stunned.

“What’s wrong with you guys?”

Zhao Fan shot an annoyed glance at his father and sister.

“Fan’er, Falling Phoenix Valley is a deadly place; going there will only be a burden to Mr. Xiao,” Zhao Rufen said.

“Yeah, brother, what’s in Falling Phoenix Valley? If Mr. Xiao brings you along, he’ll have to worry about protecting you,” Zhao Ziyu chimed in.

“……”

Zhao Fan thought about it and realized his father and sister did have a point.

With his current level of cultivation, following his Master would indeed make him a liability.

I need to get stronger quickly.

Zhao Fan vowed to himself to practice hard and raise his cultivation and combat power.

He didn’t want to be a burden to his Master.

……

Xiao Yang left Qingyun City, heading straight for Falling Phoenix Valley.

The valley was only five hundred miles away from Qingyun City—not too far.

If he could use his sword to fly, he would arrive quickly.

But since he hadn’t yet refined the Futian Sword, he had to travel directly through the air.

Soon, he landed near Falling Phoenix Valley.

He quietly approached the entrance.

Everything around was eerily quiet.

Beyond the sound of the wind rustling leaves, he heard nothing else.

Even the birds and beasts in the mountains seemed to have sensed the danger of Falling Phoenix Valley and were staying far away.

It was high noon, with a blazing sun hanging in the sky.

Xiao Yang stood among the trees outside the valley entrance, looking in.

The entrance to Falling Phoenix Valley wasn’t anything special—it looked like any other valley entrance.

If Xiao Yang hadn’t known this was Falling Phoenix Valley, he might have thought he had arrived at a typical valley.

But Falling Phoenix Valley was no trivial matter; it ranked as one of the three great deadly zones of the northern border.

The number one deadly zone in the northern border was the Abyss of Demons, sealing away the ancient demon clan.

This Falling Phoenix Valley, however, was the second deadly zone.

And the second deadly zone was no joke.

In his past life, he had obtained the Futian Sword Technique here.

This place was essentially the tomb of an ancient emperor.

Returning to this familiar territory felt complex for Xiao Yang.

Last time, he had narrowly escaped death, braving the deadly zone, breaking into the emperor’s tomb, and acquiring the Supreme Sword Formula.

But he hadn’t had the time to cultivate it before facing off against Qin Fei at the peak of Qingyang Mountain.

In the end, thanks to his little junior sister Jiang Ting sacrificing herself to block his sword, he suffered a fatal blow from Qin Fei’s sword.

Reborn into this life, everything had changed.

This time, he would live for himself.

Though this place was incredibly perilous, it was also filled with countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Xiao Yang even thought that the cultivation resources in Falling Phoenix Valley might surpass those of the Yuanwu Immortal Domain.

That’s why he was bold enough to publicly declare his ambitious goal of making Qingyun Sect the number one sect in the northern border while treading on Qingyang Sword Sect.

It was ridiculous that they had captured the Xiao Zhenshan family to threaten him.

Xiao Yang couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

He stepped out of the trees and directly walked towards the valley entrance.

“Hey, remnants of the Demon Sect, I’m here!”

Xiao Yang declared at the valley entrance.

“Xiao Yang, if you want to save them, you’d better come in!”

A cold voice echoed from within the valley.

“Hmph, a bunch of rodents…”

Xiao Yang sneered and boldly stepped into the valley.

Inside the valley was a whole different scene.

The ground was littered with countless broken bones, and the grass was overgrown.

“I’m here; where are the people?”

Xiao Yang stood with his hands behind his back, calmly asking.

“Come in!”

That voice called out again.

“Hmph!”

Xiao Yang chuckled, strolling further into the valley.

Before long, a sinister atmosphere enveloped him.

Remnants of crumbled ancient buildings appeared on the ground.

Some stone pillars, though battered by the elements over countless years, still stood tall.

Ancient patterns were carved into the pillars.

This was merely the edge of Falling Phoenix Valley.

But even in this peripheral area, there were unexpected dangers.

In his past life, he had already navigated through here.

He knew every spot that was hazardous.

In that life, he hadn’t ventured into Falling Phoenix Valley alone, as many had flocked there.

Treasure had emerged in the valley, attracting countless powerful practitioners.

Many strong fighters showcased their skills, dismantling all of the valley’s remaining barriers.

The cost of that battle was exceptionally high.

Xiao Yang still felt a chill when recalling that scene.

Within the valley, corpses were strewn about; to break the formation of the great tomb, even two Martial Saints had fallen.

Xiao Yang suspected that the incident in Falling Phoenix Valley had been a plot of the Demon Sect.

Because after this events, the martial world in the northern border suffered severely.

Soon after, Qin Fei made a move against Qingyang Sword Sect.

Thus began the turmoil in the northern border.

Last time he was involved in the Falling Phoenix Valley, he had been in the middle of everything.

Back then, Xiao Yang acted representing Qingyang Sword Sect.

He had initially come to navigate the valley for the sake of the sect, Jiang Qitian, and his little junior sister Jiang Ting.

But this time, he would live for himself.

Xiao Yang walked through the ancient ruins that lay before him.

Suddenly, he caught a faint whiff of blood.

“What the…?”

He then spotted a corpse sprawled beneath a stone pillar.

There were several bloody handprints on the pillar.

The corpse was clad in black, clearly a remnant of the Demon Sect.

In Falling Phoenix Valley, residual barriers were omnipresent.

Thus, a moment’s carelessness could lead to losing one’s life without knowing how.

Xiao Yang was well aware of the dangers here.

Quickly, he encountered more corpses.

Some of these bodies had died a while ago and had turned to bones.

But others had yet to fully decay.

A nauseating stench filled the air.

It was the smell of rotting corpses, truly it was quite repugnant.

“How is this possible…”

As Xiao Yang traversed this expanse of ruins, a group of black-clad figures outside the ruins stood dumbstruck.

To explore Falling Phoenix Valley, they had lost quite a few people just to find a safe path through this ruin.

They had intended to leverage these dangers to take out Xiao Yang.

Yet, they could not have anticipated that Xiao Yang would walk through this ruin so nonchalantly, unscathed.

“Big brother, save me…”

Xiao Yue, upon spotting Xiao Yang, was both startled and thrilled.

Xiao Yang glanced at her, only to see her, Xiao Zhenshan, and Chen Ruolan bound and thrown on the ground, looking utterly miserable.

“Xiao Yang, didn’t expect you’d dare to come. Good, very good—if you want us to let your family go, you’ll need to scout the path ahead for us.”

The leader among the black-clad figures coldly stared at Xiao Yang.

“You want me to scout for you?”

Xiao Yang flashed a faint smile.

“If you want your family to live, you better obey,” the black-clad man replied coldly.

“Pfft, are you out of your mind? They aren’t even my biological parents, let alone my family. You really think I’d help you scout because of them?”

Xiao Yang scoffed.

“Heh, Xiao Yang, stop pretending. If you didn’t care about them, why would you come here?”

The black-clad man sneered.

“Is that so? What if I told you I’m not here to rescue anyone but to kill you remnants of the Demon Sect?”

Xiao Yang grinned.