52: Ice and Fire 1

In the northern sky, a blue light streaked across the long sky like a meteor.

Xiao Yan stood on a desert rock pillar, his robes fluttering in the strong wind. The blue rune on his chest grew hotter and hotter, as if it would burn through his chest. Ever since that blue light appeared, the Burning Decisive within him had become unusually active, and Burning Decisive operated at an unprecedented speed.

"It's coming..." Xiao Yan murmured, his eyes reflecting the approaching blue meteor.

Yao Lao stood beside him, his silver sword already unsheathed: "The spatial fluctuations are unusually strong. Xiao Bing is not returning alone."

As if to confirm Yao Lao's words, three dark rifts suddenly opened behind the blue meteor, and from each rift, a colossal hand that blotted out the sky reached out, grabbing towards the meteor with an Aura that could destroy everything!

"It's a Cthulhu!" Yao Lao's expression changed drastically. "They actually chased us to the Source World!"

Without a word, Xiao Yan unleashed his Three Thousand Lightning Movement to its peak, transforming into a cyan fire line that shot into the sky. Yao Lao wanted to stop him, but it was too late, so he could only grit his teeth and follow.

High in the sky, Xiao Yan clearly saw the true form of the blue light—Xiao Bing, stepping on a crystal of ice, surrounded by nine Ice Dragons, was plummeting towards the Source World at an astonishing speed. Behind him, where the three giant hands passed, space collapsed inch by inch, forming three shocking, dark trails.

"Xiao Bing!" Xiao Yan roared, his voice, amplified by spiritual power, pierced through the clouds.

Xiao Bing in the blue light suddenly looked up, Xiao Yan's figure reflected in his ice-blue pupils: "Brother!"

This call seemed to trigger some ancient mechanism; the blue rune on Xiao Yan's chest and the ice crystal mark on Xiao Bing's forehead simultaneously glowed brightly! A bridge of blue and cyan light suddenly appeared between the two, and spatial distance lost its meaning at that moment.

Xiao Yan felt an irresistible suction, and the next moment, he had appeared beside Xiao Bing. The two brothers met each other's gaze; no words were needed as they simultaneously reached out and clasped hands.

"Boom—!"

An unprecedented energy fluctuation erupted from within the two of them. The cyan Burning Decisive and the blue extreme ice no longer repelled each other but rotated and merged like Yin and Yang fish, forming an "Ice-Fire Tai Chi" Domain covering a thousand feet in radius! The three Cthulhu giant hands, upon touching the edge of the Domain, were instantly pulverized by the terrifying energy turbulence!

"Ah!" An angry roar came from the depths of the Void Realm, "Damn the plane of origin!"

Xiao Yan had no time to heed the Cthulhu's roar; his full attention was focused on the new power within him—the Burning Decisive had integrated the extreme cold attribute, yet it was not weakened; instead, it became more solid and controllable. With every breath, a massive amount of Heaven and Earth spiritual power automatically flowed into his body, requiring no deliberate absorption.

"Is this... the power of the plane of origin?" Xiao Yan looked at his younger brother in shock.

Xiao Bing's eyes were also filled with surprise: "Brother, can you hear my heartbeat?"

Xiao Yan was stunned, then realized he could indeed clearly perceive Xiao Bing's heartbeat, and even the sound of his blood flowing. Even more miraculously, their spiritual power circulation was completely synchronized, as if they shared the same circulatory System.

"Let's leave here first!" Yao Lao's voice interrupted their astonishment. He swung his sword, cutting open a spatial passage. "The Cthulhu's true body is about to descend; we must return to the defense line as soon as possible!"

As soon as the three of them stepped into the spatial passage, their original position was covered by an even larger black palm, and that space directly collapsed into a terrifying black hole!

......

The Xingyun Pavilion temporary camp had been upgraded to the Source World Allied Forces Headquarters. When Xiao Yan and the other two emerged from the spatial passage, dozens of powerful individuals immediately surrounded them.

"Medicine Saint! How are things?" an old man with white hair asked eagerly.

Yao Lao's expression was grave: "The worst-case scenario. Three Cthulhus have already locked onto the Source World's coordinates, and their true bodies will descend in less than half a day."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned extremely grim. These past few days, they had personally witnessed the terror of the Extraterrestrial Evil Clan vanguard emerging from the spatial crack, and the Cthulhu's true strength was likely thousands of times greater than those vanguards!

Xiao Yan looked around and found that the camp had gathered almost all the top forces of the Source World—Dan Tower, the remnants of Soul Hall, envoys from the Tai Ling Ancient Clan... and even some old monsters who had been reclusive for many years. Everyone looked at him and Xiao Bing with hopeful eyes.

"Everyone," Xiao Yan cleared his throat, "the crisis facing the Source World now is no longer just a simple Extraterrestrial Evil Clan invasion."

He looked at Xiao Bing, who nodded understandingly and took over the conversation: "According to the records of the Tai Ling Ancient Clan, the Source World itself was formed from a giant plane of origin. And now, this plane of origin is... dying."

A stir went through the crowd. A red-faced old man questioned, "Nonsense! How can a plane die?"

"Because the core of the plane of origin was split in two," Xiao Bing said calmly, his voice not loud but silencing everyone. "Three thousand years ago, when the Extraterrestrial Evil Clan first invaded, the plane of origin, to protect itself, split into two parts of ice and fire, reincarnating as me and my brother respectively."