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

Chapter 93 The Secret of Incense Valley

"Under the leadership of the clan leader, we finally managed to retrieve the Xuanhuo Mirror, but the clan leader was trapped in the Xuanhuo Altar by the Fenxiang Valley's formation and suffered the torment of being burned by flames day and night."

The three-tailed fox said softly, a hint of sorrow flashing in its eyes. All the tragedies of their fox clan stemmed from the Xuanhuo Mirror, or more accurately, from the greed of the founder of Fenxiang Valley.

The founder of Fenxiang Valley stole the Xuanhuo Mirror and secretly learned the secret techniques of the ancient witch clan. He then established Fenxiang Valley in a dark path in the Ten Thousand Mountains in the south and set up a great formation in Fenxiang Valley with the help of the Xuanhuo Mirror.

It appears to be to guard the dark path for the sake of all living beings and prevent the invasion of the Central Plains by the foreign tribes of the Southern Frontier, but in reality, it is to cut off the connection between the Southern Frontier Witch Clan and the outside world, so as to facilitate their secret research into the secrets of the Mysterious Fire Mirror.

"My elder brother was injured by Shangguan Ce's magic weapon, the Nine-Condensed Frost Thorn, when he was escaping from Burning Incense Valley because he was carrying the Xuanhuo Mirror. As a result, he suffers from the corrosive effects of the frost blood poison day and night, and I'm afraid his days are numbered."

As the fox demon spoke, she looked at Zhang Xiaofan pleadingly again, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Master, you are a truly enlightened person who cares for all living beings. Please save my elder brother. I, Xiaohu, will die without regret."

"But how can you prove that what you're saying is true?"

Before Zhang Xiaofan could speak, Lu Xueqi spoke first.

Although the three-tailed fox spirit in front of her spoke with great certainty, Lu Xueqi was still somewhat skeptical. After all, Fenxiang Valley was one of the righteous sects.

Admittedly, Lu Xueqi wasn't like those pedantic people who believed that all righteous people were truly cultivating their minds and upholding justice, but surely she didn't even trust Fenxiang Valley, one of the three major righteous sects.

But the next moment, Lu Xueqi's eyes narrowed, and a hint of surprise appeared on her usually aloof face.

Suddenly, a surge of magical power from the fox demon entered the Xuanhuo Mirror, and immediately, a phantom of a fire dragon, no taller than a person, slowly emerged from the Xuanhuo Mirror.

After the fox demon withdrew its magic, it spoke softly.

"So this is the Eight Desolate Fire Dragon. Do you believe the Daoist and the fairy now?"

Lu Xueqi stared blankly at the fox demon, then suddenly sighed softly and said with a hint of apology.

"I misunderstood, I'm sorry!"

Although Lu Xueqi had been so focused on cultivation that she couldn't recognize the Xuanhuo Mirror in person, she had still heard of the might of the Eight Desolate Fire Dragon.

The fact that this fox demon can use the Mysterious Fire Mirror to summon the Eight Desolate Fire Dragons shows that the fox clan must have a method to activate the Eight Desolate Fire Dragons. Therefore, the Mysterious Fire Mirror is certainly not the true treasured heirloom of Burning Incense Valley.

Therefore, the fox demon's previous words naturally have a high degree of credibility. As for the truth behind them, it is still worth investigating and considering.

But one thing is certain: Burning Incense Valley is by no means a true orthodox sect.

Lu Xueqi still remembered that before they went down the mountain, Zhang Xiaofan had asked Dao Xuan Zhenren a question: Fenxiang Valley had always been located in a remote corner of the southern border, so why would it suddenly travel to the Central Plains, and even go deep into the heart of the Central Plains, and even come to a place like Kongsang Mountain, which is located on the eastern coast?

It now appears that Fenxiang Valley was clearly searching for the Xuanhuo Mirror in secret, tracing its way all the way to the heart of the Central Plains. After unexpectedly uncovering some information, Fenxiang Valley worried that Qingyun Sect or Tianyin Temple would discover their unusual activities, so they used the pretext of investigating Kongsang Mountain to attract the attention of Qingyun Sect and Tianyin Temple.

At the same time, Fenxiang Valley could also take this opportunity to openly and legitimately travel across the Central Plains and investigate the whereabouts of the Xuanhuo Mirror.

Some may wonder what's wrong with Fenxiang Valley secretly investigating the sect's most treasured artifact, and why it's worth being suspicious of.
Indeed, that is precisely the most suspicious aspect.

The righteous path has always been united. Since the treasure of the Burning Incense Valley has been lost, we can investigate it openly and honestly. At the same time, we can send a message to the Qingyun Sect and Tianyin Temple for assistance. If we find any information, we will definitely send someone to spread the word. If we find the treasure, we will return it to its rightful owner.

After all, even if Qingyun Sect and Tianyin Temple obtained the Xuanhuo Mirror, without the secret method to activate it, it would only be a decent collectible. It wouldn't be worth abandoning the sect's thousand-year reputation and being despised by the world for something they don't need.

This is similar to how, if a disciple of the Qingyun Sect were to steal the secret martial art of the Tianyin Temple, the Great Brahma Prajna, the Qingyun Sect would never protect him, but would instead hand him over to the Tianyin Temple to deal with.

If a disciple of Tianyin Temple obtains the Zhuxian Sword, the most treasured artifact of Qingyun Sect, they will return it to Qingyun Sect; it's the same principle.

Righteous and prestigious families have their own principles and integrity; they have nothing to fear and would never act in such a sneaky manner.

However, Fenxiang Valley chose to keep things hidden, simply because they were not upright and worried that their dirty deeds would be exposed.

Compared to Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan was absolutely certain that Fenxiang Valley was a group of charlatans who deceived the world.

The purpose of guarding the dark alley in Fenxiang Valley is not to prevent the invasion of the Southern Frontier tribes into the Central Plains. Its true purpose should be to prevent the righteous sects of the Central Plains, Qingyun Sect, and Tianyin Temple from discovering the secrets of the Southern Frontier.

If the true purpose is to guard the southern border tribes, then what is being guarded is not the exit leading to the Central Plains, but the entrance to the southern border via the dark path. It's like blocking a canal; you can only block the front end, not the back. Once the back end is breached, it's like a fish entering the sea, able to directly infiltrate the Central Plains.

Not to mention, even without Incense Valley, there are still descendants of the Southern Frontier Witch Clan keeping an eye on the Southern Frontier's foreign tribes.

Furthermore, Zhang Xiaofan also knew that Fenxiang Valley secretly colluded with alien races, playing a game of nurturing bandits to enhance its own prestige. They would occasionally release information about the alien races, and then bring them back, which was how their reputation grew.

The ultimate goal of Burning Incense Valley in doing all this was to uncover the greatest secret left behind by the ancient witch: the immortal monster trapped in the Demon-Suppressing Cave—the Beast God.

To this end, Incense Valley did not hesitate to sever the passage between Southern Xinjiang and the Central Plains, treating the entire Southern Xinjiang as a huge cage, imprisoning the descendants of the ancient witch clan, and using it as their backyard, where they could freely pursue supreme power, or even the secret of immortality.

In fact, compared to the various sects of the Demonic Cult, Incense Valley is the real demon, a demon in human skin.

The most terrifying thing in the world is not darkness, but darkness that hides behind the light, using the name of light to do dark and dirty things.

"Once the matter is investigated and it is found that Burning Incense Valley is indeed a fraud, I, Qingyun, will unite with the righteous sects of the world to remove such scoundrels from the righteous path and clear the name of your fox clan."

Zhang Xiaofan spoke with a hint of anger in his voice. He was usually cold-faced, but he could not suppress the anger in his heart, which showed how much he hated Fenxiang Valley.

Throughout his life, he was guided by his mentor and hated those who deceived the world, were hypocritical and cunning, especially those evil cult members like the Black-Hearted Old Man and Wanrenwang.

(End of this chapter)