101: The truth about falling stars 2

"Lord Flame Lord..." The Clan Chief Elder behind him trembled, "Your eyes..."

Xiao Yan knew what they were afraid of—his right eye had completely turned into a Dark Vortex, even the whites of his eyes had disappeared. Black threads spread along his blood vessels to half his cheek, forming a strange pattern. Even more terrifying, the whispers of the Chaos Devourer constantly echoed in his ears:

"Accept me... become eternal..."

Each time he used Chaotic Black Flame, this connection deepened. Xiao Yan knew he was playing with fire, but he had no choice now—the Holy Mountain Seal was already in jeopardy, and Xiao Bing...

"Xiao Bing!" Xiao Yan suddenly remembered his younger brother and quickly turned to rush towards the main hall.

The scene inside the hall was startling—Xiao Bing was suspended in mid-air, his left half completely crystallized, while his right half burned with a faint blue flame. A massive Tai Chi symbol projected from his body was the core maintaining the Seal. But it was clear that this Tai Chi was distorting and deforming, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

"Second Brother!" Ling Xiao's voice suddenly came through the nexus seed, "Dark Lingxiao has activated the Chaos Furnace! Xiao Bing is in danger!"

Xiao Yan tried to respond but was interrupted by a sharp pain—the black threads in his right eye suddenly went wild, and Chaotic Black Flame erupted uncontrollably! The roof of the main hall was instantly burned through, and several nearby ancient clan members turned to ash without even screaming!

"No!" Xiao Yan knelt on the ground, desperately suppressing the black threads, "Get out of my mind!"

"Xiao... Yan..." Xiao Bing's faint voice came. He struggled to open his intact right eye, "Go quickly... to Xingyun Pavilion... I can't hold on much longer..."

Xiao Yan staggered to his brother's side: "Let's go together!"

Xiao Bing shook his head, his crystallized left hand hanging limply: "The Seal... needs me..." He suddenly coughed violently, spitting out blood mixed with ice shards, "Listen... the ancient clan's ancient texts record... there are two ways to activate the Chaos Furnace... purification... or replacement..."

"Replacement?"

"Become... the new Chaos Devourer..." Xiao Bing's breathing grew weaker, "Dark Lingxiao wants to... take this path... it needs... one of the Three Spirits... as a sacrifice..."

Xiao Yan was struck by lightning: "So he lured you to Xingyun Pavilion!"

Xiao Bing barely nodded, then suddenly grabbed Xiao Yan's hand: "Also... the Eternal Ice Heart... is not healing... it's a Seal..."

"What?"

"Xuanming Ice Flame... was originally... a fallback... left by Ice Lord..." Xiao Bing's voice was almost inaudible, "Aunt Ice Soul knows... that's why she..."

Before he could finish, the entire Holy Mountain suddenly shook violently! The Void Claws outside the Seal let out a silent roar, increasing their attack intensity. Xiao Bing's Tai Chi symbol instantly developed countless cracks!

"Not good!" Xiao Yan wanted to help stabilize the Seal, but found that the Chaotic Black Flame within him was incompatible with the Seal's energy and could not be infused.

Xiao Bing took a deep breath and made a decision: "Brother... help me... one last time..."

He painstakingly formed a complex hand Seal—it was the ancient clan's secret 'Sky Fire Three Profound Transformations,' which should have been incompatible with Extreme Ice Power, but Xiao Bing forcibly fused them! The faint blue ice flame and the crimson sky fire intertwined within his body, bringing unimaginable pain. Xiao Bing's veins bulged all over his body, and ice crystals and flames flashed alternately under his skin, but he gritted his teeth and completed the hand Seal.

"With my body... as the guide... ice and fire... from the same source!"

In his final roar, Xiao Bing's body erupted with dazzling light! The Sky Fire Three Profound Transformations and Xuanming Ice Flame actually achieved a temporary balance, transforming into a crimson-blue light pillar that poured into the Tai Chi symbol! The Seal was instantly repaired and strengthened, temporarily repelling the Void Claws!

The price was Xiao Bing falling like a kite with a broken string, caught by Xiao Yan. The person in his arms was already impossibly light, as if only an empty shell remained.

"Hold on! I'll take you to Ling Xiao!" Xiao Yan's voice trembled.

Xiao Bing shook his head slightly, the crystallization already spreading to his neck: "It's too late... Remember... when the furnace activates... choose... purification... not replacement..." His hand fell limply, "Tell Ling Xiao... we... are proud of him..."

"Xiao Bing? Xiao Bing!" Xiao Yan frantically poured Qi into his brother's body, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea.

Just as despair set in, an urgent message from Ling Xiao suddenly came through the nexus seed: "Brother Xiao Yan! Dark Lingxiao has activated the furnace! Where is Brother Xiao Bing? We need..."

"Ling Xiao!" Xiao Yan clutched at him like a drowning man, "Xiao Bing is dying! Is there any way to save him?"

After a brief silence, Ling Xiao replied: "Bring him to Xingyun Pavilion... the Chaos Furnace might... but it's very dangerous..."

Without hesitation, Xiao Yan picked up Xiao Bing, and Chaotic Black Flame condensed into a cloud beneath his feet: "Hold on, brother... we're going to find Ling Xiao..."

As he rushed out of the main hall, the ancient clan members spontaneously made way, many kneeling and weeping—they had all seen Xiao Bing's sacrifice to protect the Seal.

Xiao Yan did not stop, his Chaotic Black Flame fully unleashed, turning into a black light shooting towards the east. In his arms, Xiao Bing's breathing grew weaker and weaker, the crystallization already spreading to his chin...

Inside Xingyun Pavilion, the tremors of the Chaos Furnace grew more intense.

Ling Xiao was still restrained by the black threads and couldn't move, but through the nexus seed, he could sense that Xiao Yan was rushing over with Xiao Bing at full speed. What worried him more was that after the furnace activated, the Chaos aura on Dark Lingxiao grew stronger and stronger, and he had already established some kind of connection with the two seeds of the plane.

"Do you feel it?" Dark Lingxiao spread his arms ecstatically, "Power is flowing... soon, I'll be able to..."

He suddenly stopped, his dark eyes looking into the Void Realm: "Oh? Big Brother came faster than expected."

Ling Xiao also sensed it through the nexus seed—Xiao Yan not only came alone, but also brought... Xiao Bing?! But the latter's life aura was so faint it was almost imperceptible!

"Perfect!" Dark Lingxiao rubbed his hands excitedly, "The Three Spirits are gathered, the furnace can finally fully activate!"

The illusory figures of Flame Lord and Ice Lord simultaneously issued warnings: "Danger... imbalance... inevitable defeat..."

Dark Lingxiao turned a deaf ear, instead embedding the Eternal Ice Heart into the last slot of the furnace: "Shut up, old farts. You failed, but I will succeed!"

The furnace erupted with dazzling light, and the entire Xingyun Pavilion continent began to disintegrate! Ling Xiao seized the opportunity to break free from the black threads' control and rushed towards Dark Lingxiao: "Stop! You'll destroy the Source World!"

Dark Lingxiao easily dodged, kicking Ling Xiao to the ground: "Foolish! I am saving the Source World!" He grabbed Ling Xiao's neck and lifted him, "Look what's inside the furnace!"

Ling Xiao was forced to look inside the furnace—it wasn't fire, nor was it frost, but a swirling starry sky! Even more astonishing, there were twelve points of light in the starry sky, three of which were particularly bright, precisely the three seeds of the plane they had already obtained!

"The seeds of the plane... are anchor points..." Dark Lingxiao explained feverishly, "Through them, the Chaos Furnace can connect all worlds... either purify, or..." He leaned close to Ling Xiao's ear, "Replace the Chaos Devourer, and become the new Dominator!"

Ling Xiao's silver eyes narrowed—this was the plan the Two Lords failed to complete back then! Not to eliminate the Chaos Devourer, but to... replace it!

"Madman!" Ling Xiao struggled, "That kind of power will twist your essence!"

"Then let it twist!" Dark Lingxiao roared, "At least it's better than sitting around waiting for destruction!"

Just then, a black shadow crashed into Xingyun Pavilion like a meteor—it was Xiao Yan! He was wrapped in Chaotic Black Flame, holding the dying Xiao Bing in his arms.

"Big Brother!" Dark Lingxiao was overjoyed, "You've come just in time! Look what I've prepared for you!"

Xiao Yan ignored Dark Lingxiao and looked at Ling Xiao first: "How is he?"

Ling Xiao barely stood up: "I was controlled by black threads... Dark Lingxiao activated the furnace... he wants to..."

"Use one of us as a sacrifice, I know." Xiao Yan gently put Xiao Bing down, "Is there a way to save him?"

Dark Lingxiao interjected: "Of course! The Chaos Furnace can reshape everything!" He leaned in temptingly, "Put Second Brother in, I guarantee..."

"Shut up!" The dark vortex in Xiao Yan's right eye suddenly expanded, and Chaotic Black Flame pounced on Dark Lingxiao like a living creature!

Dark Lingxiao did not dodge or evade, letting the black flame engulf him, but he laughed in the flames: "It's useless! We are one!" Indeed, the black flame could not truly harm him, but was absorbed by him instead!

Ling Xiao took the opportunity to run to Xiao Bing's side, fully unleashing his Spirit of the Plane power, trying to slow down the crystallization: "Brother Xiao Yan... the furnace might indeed save Brother Xiao Bing... but the risk..."

Xiao Yan looked at his two younger brothers, then at the violently shaking Chaos Furnace. The black threads in his right eye pulsed wildly, transmitting the whispers of the Chaos Devourer:

"Accept... Fusion... become eternal..."

The illusory figures of Flame Lord and Ice Lord also floated over, their voices of fire and ice intertwined:

"Choose... purification..."

"Or replacement..."

"The Three Spirits... none can be missing..."

Xiao Yan knew that a choice had to be made. He looked at the dying Xiao Bing, then at the worried Ling Xiao, and finally at the continuously laughing Dark Lingxiao...

"Ling Xiao," he suddenly said calmly, "Do you remember Father's dying words? 'The Fusion of the Three Spirits is not the end.'"

Ling Xiao was stunned, then understood something: "You mean..."

Xiao Yan nodded, and the dark vortex in his right eye actually began to spin in reverse: "We have always misunderstood the true meaning of the Fusion of the Three Spirits. It's not the Fusion of power, but..."

Dark Lingxiao suddenly erupted, Chaos energy surging like a tide: "Enough! No time to listen to your nonsense!"

Xiao Yan and Ling Xiao attacked simultaneously, Flame Lord's Fire and Spirit of the Plane power intertwined, temporarily blocking the attack. But Dark Lingxiao's power was clearly stronger, and the black tide was closing in step by step...

Just at this critical moment, an unexpected voice sounded:

"The Fusion of the Three Spirits... lies in... sacrifice..."

Xiao Bing actually opened his eyes! Although his body was still crystallized, his eyes gleamed with determination. He struggled to raise his hand, pointing at the Chaos Furnace:

"Not... replacement... nor... purification... but... transcendence..."

With these faint words, the furnace suddenly fell silent for a moment, as if listening. The illusory figures of Flame Lord and Ice Lord also solidified a bit, and on their faces of fire and ice, there appeared... anticipation?

Dark Lingxiao's expression changed drastically: "No! You can't!" He gave up attacking Xiao Yan and Ling Xiao, and instead lunged at Xiao Bing!

Xiao Yan and Ling Xiao attacked simultaneously to stop him, and the three forces collided in mid-air, erupting in dazzling light! When the light dissipated, Xingyun Pavilion was in pieces, with only the Chaos Furnace floating perfectly intact in the center of the Void Realm...