79: The Void 2

"Senior..." Xiao Bing struggled to crawl over, wanting to use Extreme Ice Power to help Ice Soul suppress the cold, but she stopped him.

"It's useless... Mystic Dark Cold Energy has entered my heart... even immortals can't save me..." Ice Soul weakly shook her head, pulled out the Soul Plating Pill jade bottle from her embrace, and handed it to Xiao Bing, "Go... save Ling Xiao... he's in... the hall..."

After saying this, she fainted, and a yellowed letter slipped from her hand. Xiao Bing picked it up and saw Yao Chen's familiar handwriting:

"My dear wife, Ice Soul: I have obtained the Mystic Dark Cold Herb, and Little Yanzi's fire poison can be cured. However, you are afflicted with cold energy, and as your husband, I swear to exhaust my life's studies to find a way to save you..."

The date at the end of the letter was precisely the year Xiao Yan inexplicably fell ill in his youth and then miraculously recovered.

Xiao Bing's hand trembled slightly as he looked at the unconscious Ice Soul, and then at the almost dissipated Xiao Yan: "Brother... she did it to save you..."

Xiao Yan's light projection floated to Ice Soul's side, his green fire core flickering faintly but firmly: "First save Ling Xiao... then... we'll figure it out together..."

Xiao Bing took a deep breath, carefully placed Ice Soul in the corner of the platform, and formed a protective barrier with Extreme Ice Power to shield her. Then he helped Xiao Yan up and walked towards the palace gate.

This crimson palace, suspended in the Void Realm, was extremely eerie—flames that never extinguished danced on the walls, yet the ground was covered with thick, extremely cold ice crystals. Ice and fire, which should be opposing, achieved a dangerous balance here.

The main gate was already broken, allowing the two to easily enter the main hall. The scene inside made Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing simultaneously gasp—

Ling Xiao was suspended in the center of the great hall, his left half-body's silver hair like snow, his right half-body's hair as black as ink, and his eyes also displayed an eerie state of one silver and one black. Countless black and red energy threads extended from his body, connecting to the twelve crimson stone pillars within the hall. Each stone pillar was covered with ancient runes, which now flickered with Ling Xiao's breathing.

Even more alarming was a blurry flame humanoid floating in front of Ling Xiao, engaging in some kind of silent communication with him.

"Flame Lord's remnant!" Xiao Bing blurted out.

The flame humanoid seemed to hear the sound and slowly "turned its head." Although it had no facial features, Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing both felt an ancient gaze fall upon them.

"Finally... you've come..." The flame humanoid's voice echoed like millions of years of time, "The inheritors of the plane of origin..."

Ling Xiao also turned his head, seeing his two elder brothers, and tears simultaneously welled up in his distinct black and white eyes: "Brother... you shouldn't have come... it's very dangerous here..."

Ignoring his weakness, Xiao Yan's light projection directly rushed towards Ling Xiao: "We'll take you home!"

"Don't come over!" Ling Xiao suddenly roared, "The corruption within my body... is merging with the Flame Lord's power... it could erupt at any moment!"

As if to confirm his words, the black Qi on his right half-body suddenly surged, pouncing towards Xiao Yan like a living thing! Xiao Bing was quick, an ice wall instantly forming, blocking Xiao Yan. The black Qi slammed into the ice wall, emitting a chilling "sizzling" sound, actually corroding a large hole in the Extreme Ice!

"Do you see?" Ling Xiao closed his eyes in pain, "What the Chaos Devourer left behind isn't ordinary corruption... but the seed of a 'Void Devourer'!"

"Void Devourer?" Xiao Bing cautiously maintained his defensive posture, "What is that?"

The flame humanoid—the Flame Lord's remnant—slowly floated closer: "The Chaos Devourer... is merely a servant... the true terror... is the Void... that devours countless planes..."

As he spoke, the runes on the stone pillars in the hall lit up one by one, projecting horrifying images—in boundless darkness, an indescribable colossal existence slowly writhed, and wherever it passed, stars extinguished, and planes collapsed...

"It is... awakening..." The Flame Lord's remnant continued, "The seed within Ling Xiao's body... is the fuse..."

Xiao Yan's light projection fluctuated violently: "So the Chaos Devourer attacked the Source World just to sow this seed?"

The Flame Lord's remnant nodded: "The plane of origin... is one of the few powers that can resist the Void... so they want to... corrupt it..."

Ling Xiao suddenly trembled violently, black Qi and silver light fiercely clashing within his body: "Brother... hurry and leave... I can't hold on... the seed is about to sprout!"

Xiao Bing unhesitatingly pulled out the Soul Plating Pill: "No! We have the antidote!"

The Flame Lord's remnant, however, blocked the pill: "One Medicinal Pill... cannot save three people..."

"What?" Xiao Bing was stunned.

"You... Ice Soul... Ling Xiao..." The Flame Lord's remnant's voice grew weaker and weaker, "Choose two out of three..."

Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing were struck by lightning. There was only one Soul Plating Pill, but two needed saving—the critically ill Ice Soul, and Ling Xiao, who was being eroded by corruption!

Upon hearing this, Ling Xiao suddenly calmed down: "Brother... save Aunt Ice Soul... she has sacrificed too much for you..."

"No!" Xiao Bing sharply interrupted, "There must be another way!"

The Flame Lord's remnant was silent for a moment, then his flame arm pointed to the twelve stone pillars in the hall: "The last power left by the Flame Lord... perhaps it can... but it requires sacrifice..."

Xiao Yan immediately understood his meaning: "Use the Soul Plating Pill as a guide to activate the twelve Flame Pillars and form a purifying Formation? But the person who presides over the Formation will..."

"Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering." The Flame Lord's remnant said calmly, "I am but a wisp of remnant thought... it doesn't matter..."

Ling Xiao, however, struggled: "No! Senior Flame Lord is the last hope of the Source World! Brother... use the Medicinal Pill to save me... then let me preside over the great Formation! I have the essence of a Spirit of the Plane... perhaps I can..."

"Nonsense!" Xiao Bing angrily roared, "In your current state, going up there is just suicide!"

Just as the three were in a deadlock, a weak but firm voice came from the hall entrance: "Stop arguing... this is my mission..."

Ice Soul leaned against the wall, walking with difficulty into the great hall. Her left half-body was completely covered by azure crystals, and with every step, she left behind bloody ice shards, but her eyes were exceptionally clear.

"Aunt Ice Soul!" Ling Xiao exclaimed, "How could you..."

"Mystic Dark Cold Energy... has already invaded my heart meridian..." Ice Soul gave a tragic smile, "I was not meant to live past today anyway..." She looked at the Flame Lord's remnant, "Senior, tell me the truth... if Mystic Dark Cold Energy is used as a guide, can it replace the Soul Plating Pill to activate the great Formation?"

The Flame Lord's remnant "watched" her for a long time, then slowly nodded: "It can... but you will..."

"Perish in both body and spirit, with no Reincarnation." Ice Soul calmly finished his sentence, "It suits me perfectly." She turned to Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing, "Children... let me, like Yao Chen... do one last thing for you..."

Xiao Bing stepped forward quickly: "No! Teacher has already sacrificed for us, we cannot lose you again!"

Ice Soul, however, smiled, a smile so gentle unlike her usual cold demeanor: "Silly children... this isn't a sacrifice... it's liberation..." She gently caressed Xiao Bing's cheek, "For thirty years... every day I have endured the pain of the cold Qi devouring my heart... just waiting for this day..."

Xiao Yan's light projection floated before her: "But Senior Yao..."

"Yao Chen's greatest wish was for you all to be safe." Ice Soul took out a ring from her embrace—the very one Yao Chen had worn for years—"He entrusted Mystic Light to give it to me before he left... now, it's time for it to return to its rightful owner."

She placed the ring on Xiao Yan's energy body finger, and miraculously, the ring did not pass through the illusion and fall, but instead "rested" steadily upon it!

"See... he has always been protecting you..." Ice Soul said softly, "Now... it's my turn to find him..."

Without waiting for the two to object again, Ice Soul suddenly slapped her own heart! The azure crystals instantly shattered, and countless cold Qi gushed out, condensing in the air into twelve ice needles, precisely piercing into the twelve Flame Pillars within the hall!

"With my soul as a sacrifice!" Ice Soul's voice echoed through the hall, "Activate the Flame Lord's Great Formation!"

"No!!!" Xiao Bing and Ling Xiao shouted simultaneously.

But it was too late. The twelve Flame Pillars simultaneously erupted with dazzling firelight, intertwining with Ice Soul's cold Qi to form a golden-blue light net covering the entire great hall. In the center of the light net, Ice Soul's body gradually became transparent, yet a relieved smile graced her face.

"Take care of... each other..." These were her last words.

As Ice Soul completely dissipated, the light net rapidly contracted, little by little extracting the black Qi from within Ling Xiao's body. Ling Xiao let out a painful roar, but the black Qi stubbornly resisted the purifying power.

"Soul Plating Pill! Now!" The Flame Lord's remnant shouted.

Xiao Bing came to his senses, quickly sending the Soul Plating Pill into Ling Xiao's mouth. The moment the Medicinal Pill entered his abdomen, Ling Xiao's body erupted with blue, green, and silver lights, which, in conjunction with the golden-blue light net, finally forced the last trace of black Qi out of his body!

The black Qi twisted and roared in the air, still trying to find a new host, but it was seized by the Flame Lord's remnant: "Old opponent... let's go together..."

He rushed into the fiery vortex in the center of the twelve Flame Pillars with the black Qi, disappearing in an instant. The vortex then closed, and peace returned to the hall, leaving only the three brothers breathing heavily.

Ling Xiao collapsed to the ground, his silver hair restored to its pure silver color, but a trace of fear still lingered in his eyes: "Aunt Ice Soul, she..."

Xiao Yan's light projection floated to the spot where Ice Soul had disappeared. All that remained there was a small ice crystal, with a drop of blood sealed within. He carefully collected it and placed it with Senior Yao's ring.

Xiao Bing helped Ling Xiao up, his voice hoarse: "We're going home."