Chapter 1676: Gong Jinzhu
"May I ask what your name is, brother?"
Although Nangong Xiaofeng felt suspicious, he didn’t ask much. After all, the person saved his life and detoxified him. He was the kind of person who always repaid kindness, so he asked this out loud at this moment.
"My name is Yun Xiao, and you are Nangong Xiaofeng, right?"
Yun Xiao did not conceal his identity. Anyway, this name wasn’t prominent in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, and there was no need to hide his identity from a descendant of the Nangong Family.
"Brother Yun Xiao, are you also here in the Yannan Mountain Range looking for my Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure?"
Nangong Xiaofeng nodded slightly. As he asked this question, he subconsciously looked at Yun Xiao’s expression. When he mentioned the words "Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure," a hint of fervency flashed in his eyes.
"Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure?"
Upon hearing this, Yun Xiao was momentarily stunned. He came to the Yannan Mountain Range indeed wishing to visit the former headquarters of the Nangong Family to see if he could find any clues or locate any surviving descendants.
As for the Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure, Yun Xiao hadn’t thought about it at all. First, he had a good relationship with the former clan leader of Nangong; second, a hundred years have passed, and if there were any secret treasures, they might have already been looted by the Emperor Canglong Palace.
"Brother Yun Xiao doesn’t know?"
Seeing Yun Xiao’s genuine expression, Nangong Xiaofeng felt embarrassed, thinking that perhaps he was being paranoid again. The person saved him possibly purely out of respect for the late clan leader.
Because his family was exterminated, Nangong Xiaofeng hadn’t experienced the clan war personally, but he was taught by his parents from a young age to beware of deceitful people who might plot against him anytime.
Although Yun Xiao saved his life earlier, what if the young man’s actions were intentional, aiming to get close to him and gain the Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure? Nangong Xiaofeng always kept a part of himself guarded.
However, it seems now that they don’t know his identity, and they are completely unaware of the Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure. Nangong Xiaofeng wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
"Should I know?"
Yun Xiao felt confused, but suddenly his mind was stirred when he thought of the Dark Assassination Star Moon Pavilion here before. Perhaps he vaguely guessed something.
"Alas, speaking of this matter, it’s really my own carelessness!"
Seeing no malice from the other party, Nangong Xiaofeng finally relaxed, sighed lightly, then wiped his waist, revealing an object.
It looked like a golden, glowing bead, with some golden ripples flowing on its surface, even faintly exuding a peculiar gold attribute aura, appearing very mysterious.
"Is this... Gong Jinzhu?!"
When Nangong Xiaofeng assumed Yun Xiao didn’t know the details of the golden bead, unexpectedly, Yun Xiao blurted out the name of the bead.
"How do you know?"
Nangong Xiaofeng was truly shocked, knowing that the bead was given to him by his parents with utmost importance, and he had never shown it publicly.
Since the extermination of the Nangong Family a hundred years ago, Nangong Xiaofeng thought that aside from his parents, no one could identify this golden bead, yet it was easily recognized by someone.
"I said earlier that I was acquainted with your former clan leader. Is it strange that I know about Gong Jinzhu?"
Yun Xiao calmly repeated his previous words, which deepened Nangong Xiaofeng’s growing suspicion, especially since this young man was really too young.
"Please continue speaking!"
Yun Xiao didn’t have many thoughts. He recognized Gong Jinzhu from Nangong Buxun then, so naturally, he could identify it immediately, and he knew more details about it, which he hadn’t revealed yet.
The former Nangong Family resided in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud Western Region, aligned with gold in the western direction. Hence, their cultivated techniques were generally gold-attributed, possessing extremely powerful offensive capabilities.
The so-called Gong Jinzhu is actually a gold attribute Supreme Treasure formed by earthly forces, but after thousands of years of heritage, only those with the direct inherited bloodline of the Nangong Family could activate it knowingly.
It’s probable that the successive clan leaders of Nangong placed a restriction in Gong Jinzhu, so even some Nangong members with low talent find it useless upon obtaining it.
Originally, Yun Xiao thought that after the Nangong Family was destroyed by Emperor Canglong Palace, Gong Jinzhu might have been taken away by Lu Qinwan. Yet, he didn’t expect it to be with a young genius of the Nangong Family now.
"After I broke through to the Heavenly Realm Middle Stage and was accidentally injured, some blood dripped onto the Gong Jinzhu, causing some unexpected changes!"
Nangong Xiaofeng didn’t dwell too much on it. Seeing him holding the palace golden bead, these words made Yun Xiao slowly nod, thinking that the method to unlock the palace golden bead indeed required the direct bloodline of the Nangong family.
"Originally, I thought it was just that this palace golden bead and I had some connection, but recently, I’ve come to realize the situation is far more than this!"
At this point, Nangong Xiaofeng paused slightly, then continued: "Just when I activated the palace golden bead, there seemed to be an energy fluctuation emanating from the Yannan Mountain Range, and it was extremely intense, sensed by many people."
"Because the Yannan Mountain Range was once the headquarters of my Nangong family, such a disturbance naturally sparked countless cultivators’ speculations. Rumors spread that a secret treasure left by the Nangong family may soon appear, attracting many cultivators here to seek treasures!"
After finishing these words, it was also a clarification of why this Yannan Mountain Range became so lively, and from this information, Yun Xiao undoubtedly deduced even more.
With Yun Xiao’s understanding of the former Nangong clan leader, he believed that even at the critical moment of the clan’s destruction, that person wouldn’t fail to leave some contingencies.
Now it seems, having a clan member bring out the palace golden bead might have been one of those brilliant moves, and now with Nangong Xiaofeng unintentionally dripping blood onto the palace golden bead, it was as if a certain ceremony was re-initiated after a century.
"Who knows if that old guy Nangong Buxun really left some secret treasure in this Yannan Mountain Range!"
Yun Xiao thought of many things, but he didn’t have much covetousness for the Nangong family’s secret treasure, especially with a legitimate direct lineage of the Nangong family right beside him.
"But with that old guy’s temperament, the secret treasure shouldn’t be hidden at the headquarters location of the Nangong family!"
Thoughts turned in Yun Xiao’s mind, and he had already guessed some facts. After all, the Nangong family headquarters was likely long overturned by the cultivators of the Emperor Canglong Palace; how could there still be any secret treasure?
"Brother Xiaofeng, if you trust me, why don’t I accompany you on this trip!"
Flashes of thoughts in his mind and recalling the Dark Assassination Star and Fei Qingchen earlier, Yun Xiao surprisingly volunteered, and with such a powerful helper, how could Nangong Xiaofeng refuse?
Nangong Xiaofeng had thought that Yun Xiao might covet the Nangong family’s secret treasure, but if that were the case, with Yun Xiao’s power, he wouldn’t have needed to detoxify him and could have directly threatened him.
"Rest assured, the Nangong family’s secret treasure can only belong to the Nangong family’s descendants; if others want it, they should first ask if I, Long... Yun Xiao, agree!"
For a moment, Yun Xiao thought of his past relationships with the clan leaders of the Four Great Families and almost blurted out "Long Xiao Battle God," but thankfully he withheld at the last moment, avoiding exposure.
"In that case, much appreciated, Brother Yun Xiao!"
With Yun Xiao’s promise, the last trace of doubt in Nangong Xiaofeng’s heart vanished completely, and this time he sincerely expressed his gratitude, to which Yun Xiao merely responded with a slight smile.
If Nangong Xiaofeng had believed him without hesitation, Yun Xiao might have felt extremely disappointed. After the clan’s destruction, a bit of caution would be necessary; otherwise, there might indeed be no hope for resurgence.
Thus, the two of them set off together, heading in a certain direction through the air, and the dense forest returned once more to peace, though now accompanied by several lifeless corpses compared to before.
"Brother Yun Xiao, the old guy who escaped earlier is named Fei Qingchen, a director of the Yongxiu City Emperor Palace, with a cultivation level..."
Through the gentle breeze came fragmented and intermittent words, clearly Nangong Xiaofeng was introducing the identity of that Emperor Palace director to Yun Xiao.
Meanwhile, the director they spoke of, hidden in an extremely secretive place at the moment, was gnashing his teeth in anger, naturally feeling quite disgruntled after suffering such a big loss.
......
"Damn it, who the hell is that little brat?"
In a hidden mountain valley, Fei Qingchen’s face was filled with fury, and within his suppressed voice of anger, there seemed to be an indescribable hint of dread.
Fei Qingchen hadn’t even fought Yun Xiao before, but he still fled without hesitation, because he sensed a fatal threat from that plainly dressed youth.
At the very least, Fei Qingchen knew it would take him at least a few moves to kill a Heavenly Realm Early Stage cultivator, nowhere near as effortlessly as that youth.
Of course, there was also another reason for Fei Qingchen’s hasty retreat: Nangong Xiaofeng, a fellow Heavenly Realm Middle Stage cultivator, was also present at that place earlier.
Even though Fei Qingchen had poisoned Nangong Xiaofeng, there was always a chance; if the latter resisted the poison for a while and teamed up with the plain-clothed youth, he could end up in real danger.
Fei Qingchen naturally wasn’t aware of Yun Xiao’s identity, nor did he know that the person he was searching for was the very one he fled from, and now he had become a lone director.
Whoosh!
As doubts rose in Fei Qingchen’s heart, a sudden whistling sound of wind came from outside the mountain valley, startling him. Instantly, his entire Meridian Qi surged out without reservation.