89: Black Mist Labyrinth 2

"Xiao Bing! Ling Xiao!" Xiao Yan wanted to rush over to rescue them, but the ground suddenly cracked open, and a black shadow darted out, blocking his path—it was Mystic Light! Or rather, it was a monster completely controlled by the Chaos Devourer, its chest's black crystal twice as large as when they last met!

"It's too late..." Mystic Light sneered, "The Lord of the Pseudo-Seed has awakened; you are destined to become its nourishment!"

Xiao Yan stopped wasting words, and his Flame Lord's Fire erupted with full power. This time, he held nothing back; the memories in his right eye fully awakened, and the flames gained a hint of ancient combat techniques. Although Mystic Light was powerful, he was steadily pushed back by the authentic Flame Lord's Fire, and cracks appeared on the black crystal in his chest!

On the other side, Xiao Bing and Ling Xiao stood back to back, fending off the endless stream of pseudo-seed creatures. Xiao Bing's Extreme Ice Power had transformed into that eerie blue flame, and each attack could eliminate a large number of enemies, but the consumption was also enormous.

"Ling Xiao, I can't hold on much longer!" Xiao Bing gasped for breath, "Can you sense the exact location of the Life Spring?"

Ling Xiao's silver eyes flickered, and he suddenly pointed in a direction: "There! But... there are two completely opposite energies clashing!"

Xiao Bing made a decisive move: "We'll break through! Flame Brother will follow us!"

The two broke through in the direction Ling Xiao pointed. The pseudo-seed creatures seemed to sense their intention, and their attacks became even more frenzied. A particularly powerful pseudo-seed creature broke through their defense, its sharp claws heading straight for Ling Xiao's back! Xiao Bing couldn't stop it in time and directly used his body to block the attack!

"Second Brother!" Ling Xiao looked at the bloody hole torn open in Xiao Bing's chest, his eyes splitting with rage.

Xiao Bing knelt on the ground but still insisted on releasing his Extreme Ice Power: "Go... to the Life Spring..."

How could Ling Xiao leave him? A look of determination flashed in his silver eyes, and the Spirit of the Plane's power fully erupted! The silver light not only enveloped the two but also temporarily froze the surrounding pseudo-seed creatures. Ling Xiao seized the opportunity to carry Xiao Bing on his back and sprinted towards the Life Spring.

When they finally broke through the encirclement, the sight before them was astonishing—a circular lake about a hundred zhang in diameter, half of its water crystal clear, and the other half as black as ink. Steam constantly rose from the boundary, forming a mist that enveloped the swamp. In the center of the lake were two fountains, one black and one white, intertwining in the air to form a Taiji pattern!

"This is... the Life Spring?" Ling Xiao carefully placed Xiao Bing in a relatively safe area by the lake. Xiao Bing was already in a semi-comatose state, and the wound on his chest was corroded by Chaos energy, preventing self-healing.

Ling Xiao tried to heal him with the Spirit of the Plane's power, but the effect was minimal. Just as he was in a frantic state, the lake surface suddenly parted, and a humanoid figure formed from spring water slowly rose!

This humanoid figure was identical to the Ice Lord in Flame Lord's memory, except it was entirely composed of water, exuding an bone-chilling coldness.

"Finally... you've come..." The Ice Lord's remnant's voice was like colliding ice crystals, "The inheritor of the Spirit of the Plane..."

Ling Xiao vigilantly stood in front of Xiao Bing: "Who are you? The Ice Lord?"

The remnant nodded: "Merely a wisp of obsession... guarding these twins for too long..." It pointed to the bottom of the lake, "Do you see them? The hope and despair of the Source World..."

Ling Xiao followed the guidance and saw two intertwined seeds clearly visible at the bottom of the lake—one pure white as snow, the other as black as ink.

"Why... why are there two?"

The Ice Lord's remnant sighed: "Back then, the Flame Lord advocated actively polluting half of the seeds of the plane as bait to lure the Chaos Devourer... I opposed such a risky move, so he carried out the plan alone." The remnant showed a pained expression, "We were brothers, but we turned against each other because of this..."

Ling Xiao suddenly understood: "So these two at the bottom of the Life Spring..."

"One is a pure seed of the plane, and the other is a pseudo-seed actively polluted by the Flame Lord," the Ice Lord's remnant explained. "They have been balancing each other here for thousands of years until the Chaos Devourer discovered this secret and began trying to completely corrupt that pseudo-seed..."

Just then, Xiao Yan finally broke through the encirclement and arrived at the lakeside. The moment he saw the Ice Lord's remnant, the Flame Lord's Fire in his right eye automatically activated, forming a standoff!

"The inheritor of the Flame Lord..." The Ice Lord's remnant's tone was complex, "The flames within you have already told you the truth, haven't they?"

Xiao Yan nodded, his expression solemn: "Teacher... no, what that illusion said was correct. The Flame Lord did indeed actively pollute six seeds of the plane back then, intending to detonate them at a critical moment to severely wound the Chaos Devourer."

Ling Xiao interjected eagerly: "But now the Chaos Devourer is using this to try and awaken the Void Devourer prematurely through the pseudo-seed! Xiao Bing Ge is seriously injured and needs the Life Spring's water for treatment!"

The Ice Lord's remnant looked at the unconscious Xiao Bing, and a trace of emotion appeared on its water-formed face: "A Disciple of the Xuanming Ice Soul Art... a good Disciple chosen by Ice Soul..." It waved its hand, drawing out a clear spring, pouring it onto Xiao Bing's wound, "Ordinary Life Spring water is already ineffective; what he needs is..."

Before it could finish speaking, the entire lake suddenly shook violently! The black half of the lake water began to boil, forming a huge vortex, and something was rising from the bottom of the lake!

"Oh no! The Lord of the Pseudo-Seed has awakened!" The Ice Lord's remnant's expression changed dramatically, "It sensed the aura of the Spirit of the Plane!"

The lake surface exploded, and a colossal creature made of black water emerged, resembling an octopus but with dozens of human faces, each face the visage of a swallowed strong practitioner. The central face was none other than Mystic Light!

"Ling Xiao! Go get the white seed!" Xiao Yan blocked in front, his Flame Lord's Fire forming a barrier, "I'll hold it off!"

Ling Xiao was about to act, but the black monster had already launched its attack! Dozens of tentacles struck simultaneously, each carrying corrosive black water. Xiao Yan's flames burned away most of them, but a few still broke through his defense, heavily striking him!

"Brother!" Ling Xiao's silver eyes widened in fury, and the Spirit of the Plane's power fully erupted, the silver light piercing towards the monster like a sharp sword.

The monster let out a piercing shriek, and all its faces spoke simultaneously: "Spirit of the Plane... delicious nourishment..." It abandoned Xiao Yan and lunged directly at Ling Xiao!

In the nick of time, an eerie blue fire wall suddenly rose in front of Ling Xiao! Xiao Bing, who should have been unconscious, had stood up at some point, ice crystals forming on his chest wound, and his eyes had completely turned an eerie blue.

"Don't even think... of touching my brother..." Xiao Bing's voice carried an echo, as if another entity was speaking through him.

The Ice Lord's remnant looked at Xiao Bing in shock: "This is... Ice Soul's will? No, there's also... the Origin consciousness of the Xuanming Cold Grass?!"

Xiao Bing—or rather, the entity temporarily controlling his body—formed an extremely complex hand seal, and the eerie blue flames transformed into countless fine threads, precisely piercing into each of the monster's human faces!

The monster let out a painful howl, and its body began to freeze. But this move was clearly too taxing, and Xiao Bing quickly couldn't sustain it, falling to his knees. Though severely wounded, the monster was not destroyed; instead, it became even more violent!

"Ling Xiao! Now!" Xiao Yan seized the opportunity, his Flame Lord's Fire forming a path directly to the bottom of the lake.

Ling Xiao, protected by silver light, rushed into the lake along the flame passage. The black monster tried to stop him but was desperately held back by Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing. As Ling Xiao approached the two seeds, he was surprised to find them intertwined with countless fine threads, making them indistinguishable.

"I must... separate them..." Ling Xiao tried to use the Spirit of the Plane's power to untangle the threads, but he found that for every one he untangled, two more would re-entangle.

The battle on the lake surface became increasingly fierce. Xiao Yan's right eye bled, and his Flame Lord's Fire was nearly exhausted; Xiao Bing fell again, his eerie blue flames flickering in and out; the Ice Lord's remnant also continued to fade, clearly unable to last much longer.

Ling Xiao was burning with anxiety when he suddenly remembered the Ice Lord's remnant's words—"the two seeds balance each other." His silver eyes lit up. Instead of trying to forcibly separate the seeds, he guided the Spirit of the Plane's power to simultaneously envelop both seeds, attempting to understand the connection between them.

In an instant, vast information flooded his mind—he saw the scene of the Source World's birth, saw how the Flame Lord and the Ice Lord jointly guarded the seeds of the plane, saw the tragedy of the brothers turning against each other, and also saw... that the two seeds were essentially split parts of the same seed of the plane!

"I understand!" Ling Xiao shouted in his mind, "They are originally one, just as the Flame Lord and the Ice Lord are brothers! To take the white seed, I must simultaneously pacify the black seed!"

He no longer resisted the black seed's energy but instead used the Spirit of the Plane's power to nourish both seeds simultaneously. A miraculous thing happened—the two seeds began to resonate harmoniously, and the entangled threads automatically loosened! Ling Xiao seized the opportunity to take out the white seed, while the black seed quietly sank back to the bottom of the lake.

As the white seed left the water, the entire lake vibrated violently! The black monster let out an unwilling roar but could not stop its body from beginning to collapse—its connection with the black seed was temporarily severed!

"Hurry!" The Ice Lord's remnant used its last strength to unleash a huge wave, pushing the three towards the lake shore, "The black seed is only temporarily calm... It will eventually..."

The remnant's words were cut short as the lake water closed back up. The three climbed ashore in a disheveled state. Ling Xiao tightly held the white seed, feeling the vast life energy within it.

"Xiao Bing Ge!" He immediately placed the seed on Xiao Bing's chest. The white seed emitted a soft glow, and Xiao Bing's wound healed at a visible rate, along with Xiao Yan's injuries also rapidly recovering.

"We succeeded..." Xiao Yan let out a long breath, but a sharp pain suddenly came from his right eye again—new memory fragments surfaced: the Flame Lord stood in the Void Realm, with twelve seeds in front of him. He dyed six of them black, then said to the Spirit of the Plane: "Remember, what appears pure might be poison, and what seems polluted might be the antidote..."

"Wait..." Xiao Yan suddenly became alert, "Father said before he fell unconscious, 'Don't trust the seeds that appear pure'... Could it be..."

He looked at the white seed in Ling Xiao's hand, the Flame Lord's Fire burning in his right eye, vaguely seeing a black line inside the seed!

"Ling Xiao! Be careful with that seed!"

It was too late—the white seed suddenly cracked open, and a black light shot into Ling Xiao's glabella! The young man's silver eyes immediately became clouded, and his expression turned blank.

"Ling Xiao!" Xiao Bing quickly supported his swaying younger brother.

Ling Xiao's gaze struggled for a moment, then finally cleared: "I... I'm fine... But it... planted something inside me..." He pressed his forehead, "I can feel... it's trying to communicate..."

Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing exchanged glances, their hearts equally heavy—this battle was far from over, and the next stop would be the location of the third seed of the plane marked on the star map: the Burning Sky Desert.