53: Fire and Ice 2

The shocking truth silenced the scene. Xiao Yan could feel countless gazes sweeping back and forth between him and Xiao Bing, filled with shock, suspicion, and more often... greed.

Yao Lao snorted coldly, slightly releasing his Saint Grade prestige, which immediately made those ill-intentioned gazes convergence a lot: "Now is not the time for infighting. The top priority is how to deal with the arrival of the Evil God."

Skyfire Venerable stepped out from the crowd: "Ancient records state that a complete plane of origin possesses the power to reshape the world. If the two young friends are truly Incarnations of the plane of origin, then..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear. Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing exchanged glances, both thinking of Aunt Qing's dying words—"When ice and fire reunite..."

"No!" A clear, cold female voice suddenly rang out. Everyone made way, only to see Xuan Guang Venerable supporting a heavily injured blue-robed Elder walking towards them, "Forced Fusion will only cause the plane of origin to lose control and explode. At that time, let alone the Source World, the entire plane system will be destroyed!"

The blue-robed Elder nodded weakly: "Mystic Light is right... I have divined with a star compass... The only way is..."

He suddenly coughed violently, a mouthful of blood spraying onto his chest. Xuan Guang Venerable quickly tried to infuse spiritual power into him, but he waved his hand to stop her: "No time... Listen to me... You must find the 'balance point'... the ice soul mirror... and the yan emperor seal..."

Before he could finish, the Elder's head tilted, and his breath ceased. Xiao Bing recognized this as the Astrologer Elder of the Tai Ling Ancient Clan, not expecting him to be so gravely injured.

"Elder Xing!" Xuan Guang Venerable was heartbroken.

Just then, the ground suddenly shook violently, and continuous explosions came from a distance. A scout rushed into the camp in a panic: "Report—! Three spatial rifts have simultaneously expanded, and... three giants have emerged!"

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. Xiao Yan pulled Xiao Bing: "Let's go, let's take a look!"

Everyone rushed to the high slope outside the camp, speechless with shock at the sight before them—tens of miles away, three giants, ten thousand feet tall, were stepping out of the spatial rifts. They were completely shrouded in black mist, only their crimson eyes visible. Every step caused the earth to crack and mountains to collapse!

The leftmost giant seemed to sense something and suddenly turned to "look" in the direction of the allied army. Even from such a distance, everyone felt a chilling coldness creep up their spines.

"Black Fiend Evil Lord..." Xiao Yan recognized that aura.

As if responding to his whisper, Black Fiend Evil Lord raised his hand and made a grasping motion towards a distant mountain peak. With a thunderous roar, that mountain, which had existed for tens of millions of years, was crushed to dust by an invisible force!

"Ants." Black Fiend Evil Lord's voice was like thunder, exploding in everyone's minds, "Offer up the plane of origin, and your lives may be spared."

Some of the lower-cultivation Disciples in the allied army immediately bled from their seven orifices and fainted. Even several Spirit Grade Heavenly Supremes turned pale and were on the verge of collapsing.

"Form the array!" Yao Lao shouted, pointing his silver sword to the sky, "Skyfire Grand Array!"

The powerhouses of Xingyun Pavilion immediately responded, taking their positions, their spiritual power weaving into a net. Other forces also quickly formed their own arrays for self-protection, finally offsetting some of the Evil God's Divine Might.

Xiao Yan, however, stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the three Evil Gods in the distance. Through the nascent ice and fire power within his body, he saw not only three giants but also the endless black lines connected behind them—those black lines extended into the depths of the Void Realm, with the other end connected to an even more terrifying existence.

"Brother..." Xiao Bing suddenly grabbed his arm, "Did you see it? Those memories..."

Xiao Yan was startled, then understood what Xiao Bing was referring to. When his abnormal fire and Xiao Bing's Extreme Ice Power merged, a connection seemed to be established between them, transcending the Soul. At this moment, a strange memory was being transmitted from Xiao Bing's side—

It was the last scene before the plane of origin split: at the core of the Source World, a ball of blue light was besieged by three black shadows, forced to split into two parts, ice and fire, and escape. And behind the black shadows, a larger outline was faintly visible, as vast as an entire world...

"Is that... the Origin of the Extraterrestrial Evil Clan?" Xiao Yan's voice was dry.

Just as Xiao Bing was about to answer, the sky suddenly darkened. The three Evil Gods simultaneously raised their hands, and boundless black mist surged from their palms, instantly obscuring the entire sky!

"Darkness Sky Curtain!" Yao Lao's face was extremely grim, "Everyone retreat to the camp immediately! This is the Evil God's Domain; anyone below Spirit Grade will die upon contact!"

The allied army retreated in a hurry, but the black mist spread much faster than expected. Seeing that the slowest few Disciples were about to be swallowed by the black mist, Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing moved simultaneously.

The two flew towards the black mist, one on the left and one on the right. Xiao Yan's palm condensed a four-colored fire lotus, while Xiao Bing summoned nine ice Dragons. The moment the fire lotus and ice Dragons collided, a blue-green interwoven light curtain unfolded, forcefully blocking the advance of the black mist!

"Oh?" Black Fiend Evil Lord let out a surprised sound, "Two little bugs can actually block the Darkness Sky Curtain?"

Xiao Yan had no time to pay attention to the other party's mockery; all his energy was focused on maintaining the light curtain. After the Fusion with Xiao Bing's power, he found that he could precisely control every bit of spiritual power output, just enough to counteract the erosion of the black mist.

"Brother, this won't last long." Xiao Bing's voice directly sounded in his mind, "I can feel the plane of origin awakening; it wants to be... complete."

Xiao Yan understood his brother's meaning. As the time of their power Fusion lengthened, the consciousness of the sleeping plane of origin within their bodies was awakening. And that consciousness had only one obsession—to return to completeness.

"There must be other ways..." Xiao Yan gritted his teeth.

Yao Lao's voice suddenly cut into their mental link: "Children, listen to me. The 'balance point' that Elder Xing mentioned before his death might be the key."

Xiao Yan asked, distracted: "What is the balance point?"

"I guess it refers to the critical state that allows ice and fire power to coexist without Fusion." Yao Lao quickly explained, "Just like the eyes of the Yin and Yang fish, there is a point of extreme Yin within extreme Yang, and a point of extreme Yang within extreme Yin."

Xiao Bing seemed to think of something: "The ice soul mirror Aunt Qing gave me... and the yan emperor seal?"

"yan emperor seal?" Xiao Yan was stunned, "What is that?"

Yao Lao, however, suddenly realized: "It's that ancient jade seal you obtained in the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Immortal Cave back then! I always felt it wasn't simple, so it turns out to be..."

Before he could finish, the black mist suddenly churned violently, and the three Evil Gods attacked simultaneously! A black palm, ten times larger than before, descended from the sky, slamming heavily onto the blue-green light curtain.

"Crack!"

Cracks appeared in the light curtain, and Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing simultaneously spat out a mouthful of blood. The power of this blow far exceeded imagination, almost reaching the limit the plane could withstand!

"Ants are ants after all." Black Fiend Evil Lord sneered, "The game is over."

The giant palm was raised again, this time aiming directly at Xiao Yan and his brother. Yao Lao wanted to rescue them but it was too late; he could only watch helplessly as the giant palm descended...

At this critical moment, Xiao Bing suddenly pulled out a small ice crystal mirror from his embrace—it was precisely the ice soul mirror Aunt Qing had given him before her death! The mirror expanded rapidly in the wind, transforming into a huge ice shield that blocked above them.

"Boom!"

The giant palm slammed onto the ice shield, creating a deafening roar. Cracks appeared on the surface of the ice shield, but it did not shatter, successfully blocking this fatal blow.

Even more miraculously, after being impacted, the ice soul mirror automatically emitted a blue light, shining on Xiao Yan. Something then flew out of Xiao Yan's body—it was precisely the ancient jade seal Yao Lao had mentioned!

The jade seal rotated in the blue light, emitting an ancient and majestic aura. Only then did Xiao Yan remember that he had obtained this jade seal in the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Immortal Cave back then, and since he hadn't figured out its use, he had casually thrown it into a corner of his storage ring.

"yan emperor seal..." Xiao Bing murmured, blue light shining brightly in his eyes, "Brother, grab it!"

Xiao Yan unhesitatingly reached out and grasped the jade seal. In an instant, a vast stream of information surged into his mind—it was the complete memory of the plane of origin, including its birth, growth, and... how to activate its full power without Fusion!

"So that's it!" Xiao Yan's eyes gleamed, "Neither of us needs to be sacrificed!"

Xiao Bing seemed to have also received the information through resonance, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "The ice soul mirror is the container, and the yan emperor seal is the key..."

The two acted simultaneously. Xiao Bing threw the ice soul mirror into the air, while Xiao Yan activated the jade seal to emit a golden light. When the golden light touched the ice mirror, a subtle balance force field formed—Xiao Yan's abnormal fire and Xiao Bing's Extreme Ice Power coexisted perfectly within it, neither repelling nor fusing, but forming a new energy never seen before!

"This is... the Origin power of the plane!" Yao Lao looked at the Chaos light in the air in shock.

The three Evil Gods seemed to sense the threat and roared simultaneously, lunging forward recklessly. But it was too late; the Chaos light rapidly expanded, forming a huge energy vortex that enveloped Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing.

Within the vortex, the two brothers stood facing each other, ice and fire power flowing between them. Xiao Yan could feel that he and Xiao Bing were both independent entities and part of a whole. Without words, they simultaneously understood what to do next.

"Are you ready?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile.

Xiao Bing nodded, Battle Intent burning in his eyes: "Together!"