96: Secret Codex Mystery 1

Night had never been so silent on the Ancient Clan Sacred Mountain.

Xiao Yan sat inside the temporary tent, his fingertips gently caressing the ancient text the Grand Elder had given him—the "dual venerables true records."

Outside the tent, the surviving members of the Ancient Clan were clearing the ruins, and occasional muffled sobs could be heard.

Though the Void Claws had been Sealed, the wounds they inflicted were far from healed.

The tent flap was pushed open, and Xiao Bing entered, carrying two steaming bowls of meat soup, his left side stiff and unnatural.

His wrist, peeking out from his sleeve, was partially crystallized, with faint blue patterns visible beneath the skin.

"Is Ling Xiao asleep?" Xiao Yan took the bowl, and in the swirling steam, he saw his younger brother's condition had worsened.

Xiao Bing nodded, carefully moving his left arm: "I just gave him a sedative.

The Spirit of the Plane is too depleted and needs deep recovery."

He glanced at the text in Xiao Yan's hand, "Any discoveries?"

The three-colored vortex in Xiao Yan's right eye flickered slightly as he turned the text to a middle page: "The Grand Elder didn't lie to us; it truly records the secrets of the Flame Lord and the Ice Lord."

On the page was a detailed illustration: two men, similar in appearance yet vastly different in temperament, stood back-to-back, one engulfed in flames, the other covered in ice.

Between them floated a peculiar furnace; inside, instead of fire, was a swirling galaxy.

"Chaos Furnace..." Xiao Bing read the ancient text beside it, "'Forged by the combined efforts of the dual venerables, capable of melting Chaos and reshaping planes'...

It sounds like an ultimate weapon."

Xiao Yan nodded, continuing to flip through: "But it says here that the furnace requires 'three spirits to return to their positions, and a voluntary sacrifice' to activate.

And..." His finger stopped on a blurred passage, "The one who uses the furnace will..."

Sudden hurried footsteps sounded outside the tent, and Ling Xiao rushed in, pale-faced, his silver hair disheveled, his eyes filled with panic: "This is bad!

The nexus seed is absorbing the energy of the other two seeds!"

Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing stood up simultaneously.

Ling Xiao trembled as he spread his palm—the nexus seed hovering in his palm was indeed much brighter than before, while the other two seeds were noticeably dimmer.

"When did this start?" Xiao Bing asked anxiously.

"Just now... I suddenly felt the Spirit of the Plane's power draining during my meditation..." Ling Xiao bit his lower lip, "At this rate, the wrath seed and the seed of life will be completely absorbed in ten days at most!"

Xiao Yan's right eye suddenly stung, and the black threads became uncontrollably active.

He grunted, covering his eye, but a strange image appeared in his vision—four bright light points distributed throughout the Source World, one of which was slowly devouring the other two...

"Brother?" Xiao Bing steadied his swaying brother.

"I saw it..." Xiao Yan gasped, lowering his hand, "The nexus seed isn't an ordinary seed of the plane; it's a 'seed of devouring,' specifically designed to collect the energy of other seeds... The Flame Lord and the Ice Lord intentionally designed it this way!"

Ling Xiao's silver eyes widened: "Then we must speed up.

Where is the next seed?"

Xiao Yan pointed east: "Frost Star Abyss.

But before that..." He pushed the "dual venerables true records" in front of them, "You need to know this."

The three sat around the faint lamplight, studying the secrets within the ancient text.

As they read deeper, their expressions grew more solemn.

The book recorded that the Flame Lord and the Ice Lord were originally twin beings from the same Origin, who voluntarily split to combat the Chaos Devourer.

Before splitting, they jointly forged the Chaos Furnace, hiding it in the Xingyun Pavilion ruins.

However, to activate the furnace, at least four seeds of the plane must be gathered, and the three spirits must be fully Awakened and "voluntarily sacrifice" themselves...

"What exactly does 'sacrifice' mean?" Ling Xiao asked uneasily.

Xiao Yan turned to the last page, where only a vague sentence was written: "Only when spirit and flesh become one can the true meaning be seen."

Silence fell within the tent.

The meaning of this sentence was too obscure, but recalling his father's dying words, "The unification of the three spirits is not the end," all three had an ominous premonition.

"Let's not worry about that for now." Xiao Bing broke the silence, rubbing his crystallized left arm, "The urgent matter is to stop the nexus seed from continuing to absorb energy.

Did the ancient text mention a solution?"

Xiao Yan carefully searched his memory, then suddenly thought of something: "Wait... there's a memory about the 'Eternal Ice Heart' in the Flame Lord's Fire..." His right eye flickered, "It's said to stabilize the energy flow between the seeds of the plane..."

"Eternal Ice Heart?" Xiao Bing's body trembled, "The last chapter of the Xuanming Ice Soul Art mentioned it; it's the Origin crystallization of an extremely cold place... Could it be..."

Ling Xiao suddenly interjected: "Frost Star Abyss!

The location of the next seed of the plane!

Are there any clues in the ancient text?"

The three hurriedly flipped through the "dual venerables true records," and indeed, at the very end, they found a small passage: "At the bottom of the Frost Abyss, the ice heart suppresses the soul; the seeds of the plane, dual extremes coexist."

"Dual extremes coexist..." Xiao Yan murmured, repeating, "Does that mean... there are two seeds of the plane in the Frost Star Abyss?

One extremely cold, one extremely hot?"

Xiao Bing's left arm suddenly erupted with a burst of Xuanming Ice Flame, uncontrollably, causing the temperature inside the tent to plummet!

He painfully clutched his arm: "The Xuanming Ice Flame is going berserk... I must find the Eternal Ice Heart as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Before he could finish, he violently coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with ice shards.

Ling Xiao quickly used the Spirit of the Plane's power to help him stabilize, but to little effect.

Xiao Yan looked at the condition of his two younger brothers, his heart aching.

Ling Xiao's nexus seed was devouring the energy of other seeds, Xiao Bing's Xuanming Ice Flame was backfiring on its host, and the black threads in his own right eye were becoming increasingly restless...

"We'll set off for the Frost Star Abyss first thing tomorrow morning." Xiao Yan made up his mind, "First, we'll solve the problem of the Eternal Ice Heart and the seeds of the plane, then we'll consider the Chaos Furnace."

Xiao Bing, however, shook his head: "No, we should split up.

My condition isn't suitable for long journeys, but I can stay and help the Ancient Clan rebuild.

You and Ling Xiao go to the Frost Star Abyss."

"No!" Xiao Yan flatly refused, "Your current situation..."

"Brother," Xiao Bing uncharacteristically interrupted him, "We don't have time.

Ling Xiao needs to find the next seed of the plane as soon as possible, and you also need to control the black threads in your right eye."

He raised his crystallized left hand, "I will temporarily Seal this arm with Extreme Ice Power to slow down the backlash.

The Ancient Clan's library might still have clues about the Eternal Ice Heart; my staying here kills two birds with one stone."