99: Dark Twins 2

Xiao Yan's right eye suddenly throbbed with pain, and a sealed memory unlocked—before Yao Chen gave him Burning Decisive, he had tested his Physique with a special flame... The color of that flame was precisely the cyan-silver of Flame Lord's Fire!

"It seems you're starting to understand."

Dark Lingxiao's voice slithered into his ear like a venomous snake, "From beginning to end, you were just a chess piece. Yao Chen needed a Flame Lord's inheritor, and you... just happened to have the Xiao Family Bloodline."

"Nonsense!" Xiao Yan roared, Flame Lord's Fire fully erupting as the illusion began to disintegrate, "My teacher treated me like his own son; how can you defile such a profound bond!"

The illusion shattered like glass, and Xiao Yan found himself back in the ice cave. From the depths of the passage ahead, Dark Lingxiao's applause echoed: "Splendid! Full marks for emotion... but zero for rationality." His voice gradually faded, "The second trial is down there... Good luck, brother."

Xiao Yan took a deep breath and ventured deeper into the ice abyss. The passage grew narrower and narrower, and the temperature dropped so low that even Flame Lord's Fire could only maintain a small protective circle. Frozen within the ice crystals on the walls were the remains of various creatures, some clearly belonging to powerful individuals who had come seeking treasure.

After walking for about half an hour, a massive ice cavern appeared ahead. In the center, an ice sphere about ten zhang in diameter floated, and within it, a human figure was faintly visible—it was Ling Xiao!

Just as Xiao Yan was about to step forward, dozens of ice spikes suddenly rose from the ice cavern floor, forming a maze-like obstacle. At the same time, the second trial began—innumerable scenes from Xiao Yan's memories appeared on the ice walls: the three-year agreement with Nalan Yanran, the devouring of the Fallen Heart Flame, Yao Chen being captured by the Soul Hall...

Beside each scene stood a dark figure, questioning him with distorted voices:

"Could you have reached where you are today without Yao Chen?"

"Can you save everyone?"

"Where were you when the Xiao Family was annihilated?"

"Who do you think you are? A savior?"

The voices grew louder and louder, like countless needles piercing his brain. Xiao Yan covered his ears, but the voices echoed directly in his mind! More terrifyingly, each question made the black threads in his right eye more active, as if agreeing with these interrogations.

"Get out of my head!" Xiao Yan roared, kneeling, as crimson-gold and cyan-silver flames intertwined and erupted!

Where the flames swept, the ice spike maze began to melt, and the scenes and dark figures also dissipated like morning mist. But Xiao Yan did not immediately advance, because he noticed a detail—Xiao Bing was absent from all the scenes!

"Strange..." Xiao Yan frowned, "Why is Xiao Bing the only one missing?"

There was no time to ponder; he continued towards the central ice sphere. Just as he was ten zhang away from the ice sphere, the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless ice abyss below! Xiao Yan reacted incredibly fast, Flame Lord's Fire forming a temporary foothold beneath his feet, allowing him to barely stabilize himself.

"Almost fell for it..." Cold sweat seeped from Xiao Yan's forehead, but before he could catch his breath, countless black ice needles suddenly shot out from the ice sphere!

These ice needles were not only sharp but also carried the corrosive energy of the Chaos Devourer. Xiao Yan dodged left and right but was still grazed by a few ice needles, and the wounds immediately turned an eerie black. The black threads in his right eye took the opportunity to spread, and wriggling black shadows began to appear at the edges of his vision...

"The second trial... self-doubt..." Xiao Yan gasped, finally reaching the ice sphere. Ling Xiao floated within it, his eyes tightly closed, his silver hair mostly turned black.

How to break the ice sphere? Flame Lord's Fire might take a long time. Just as Xiao Yan was contemplating a solution, the black threads in his right eye suddenly became active on their own, transmitting a dangerous suggestion—briefly releasing the full power of the black threads could instantly melt the ice sphere...

"And then let you completely control me?" Xiao Yan sneered, "Never!"

He instead took out the nexus seed and tried to resonate with the Spirit of the Plane's power. Sure enough, Ling Xiao in the ice sphere stirred slightly, and his silver eyes briefly opened!

"Xiao Yan... Ge..." A faint voice directly entered his mind, "Be careful... Dark Lingxiao can... read our... memories..."

"How do I get you out?" Xiao Yan asked urgently.

"Soul... resonance..." Ling Xiao's voice was intermittent, "Use the nexus seed... to enter my... consciousness..."

Xiao Yan immediately complied, placing the nexus seed on his forehead and releasing his Mental Energy with full force. In an instant, his consciousness was pulled into Ling Xiao's mental world—

Here was a silvery-white ocean, but most of it had already been contaminated by blackness. Ling Xiao's true consciousness was trapped in the only remaining pure land, surrounded by constantly surging black waves. Even more alarming, two seeds of the plane floated above the silver sea—one pure white, one pitch black, slowly rotating.

"Xiao Yan Ge!" Ling Xiao's spirit body appeared even weaker than he looked outside, almost transparent, "Dark Lingxiao was born after the black threads in my body absorbed the power of the Spirit of the Plane... He possesses all my memories and abilities, but his personality is completely opposite..."

Xiao Yan shielded Ling Xiao: "How do I destroy him?"

"You can't destroy him... only fuse with him." Ling Xiao gave a bitter smile, "Dark Lingxiao is a part of me, just like the black threads in your right eye are also a part of you..."

These words struck Xiao Yan like a bolt of lightning. Indeed, he had always resisted acknowledging the connection between the black threads and himself, but the more he denied it, the stronger the black threads became...

"I've seen a terrifying truth." Ling Xiao pointed to the two seeds of the plane, "Through them, I glimpsed the secret of the Chaos Furnace... It can not only destroy the Chaos Devourer but also transfer its power into the user's body!"

Xiao Yan recalled the warning in the "dual venerables true records": "So Flame Lord and Ice Lord broke ties because of this back then? One wanted to use the furnace's power, and the other opposed it?"

Ling Xiao nodded: "And... I believe Senior Yao Chen and Aunt Ice Soul knew about this. They might... be trying to recreate the Dual Venerables' experiment..."

This shocking truth left Xiao Yan speechless for a moment. Just then, the silver sea suddenly churned violently, and black waves surged!

"He's coming!" Ling Xiao said in terror, "Hurry! Take this memory back!"

A pushing force ejected Xiao Yan's consciousness back to reality. He suddenly opened his eyes, finding himself still standing before the ice sphere, but cracks had already appeared on its surface—Dark Lingxiao was returning!

In a flash, Xiao Yan thought of a risky plan. He didn't retreat; instead, he pressed his right eye close to the ice sphere, actively releasing a small portion of the black thread energy...

As expected, the homologous energy instantly melted the ice sphere! Ling Xiao's body fell, and Xiao Yan caught him. The young man's silver eyes were tightly closed, but his chest still showed a faint rise and fall.

"A clever move, brother." Dark Lingxiao's voice suddenly came from all directions, "Using the power I gave you to save someone... But the third trial has only just begun!"

The entire ice cavern shook violently, and the ceiling began to collapse! Xiao Yan picked up Ling Xiao, Flame Lord's Fire fully unleashed, dodging and weaving through the falling ice blocks, searching for an exit.

A colossal black ice chunk crashed down, and Xiao Yan had nowhere to evade, only able to shield Ling Xiao with his body...

The anticipated impact did not come. Xiao Yan looked up and saw an unexpected figure—Xiao Bing! He was covered in an ethereal blue Ice Flame, holding up the massive black ice chunk with one hand!

"Second Brother?! How did you..."

Xiao Bing didn't answer; he simply flung the black ice aside, grabbed Xiao Yan, and rushed out. The three of them ran wildly, the ice cavern completely collapsing behind them. It wasn't until they burst out of the passage and reached the relatively safe glacier surface that Xiao Bing stopped, panting heavily.

"Aren't you in the Ancient Clan?" Xiao Yan asked cautiously, secretly observing with his right eye—there was a subtle sense of disharmony about this "Xiao Bing."

"Xiao Bing" suddenly grinned, his face twisting into Dark Lingxiao's appearance: "The third trial—trust. You knew it might be a trap, yet you still followed 'me' out..." He bowed exaggeratedly, "Congratulations, you won... for now."

Xiao Yan shielded Ling Xiao behind him: "The game's over. Hand over the seed of the plane and the Eternal Ice Heart!"

Dark Lingxiao laughed loudly: "Who said it's over? This is just the beginning!" He retreated a few steps, and two seeds of the plane and the Eternal Ice Heart appeared in his hand, "Want them? Come find me at Xingyun Pavilion... Bring our dear Second Brother."

With that, his figure dissipated like smoke into the blizzard, leaving only a malicious echo:

"By the way, a little secret... Xiao Bing's Xuanming Ice Flame backlash wasn't an accident... it was a deliberate backdoor left in the Ice Soul Cultivation Technique! She had planned it from the very beginning..."

Xiao Yan's right eye throbbed painfully, the black threads twisting madly, bringing forth a blurred memory—Ice Soul's secret conversation with Yao Chen, mentioning words like "vessel" and "Legacy"... But before he could see clearly, Ling Xiao's groan interrupted his thoughts.

"Xiao Yan Ge..." Ling Xiao weakly opened his eyes, the black threads in his silver eyes significantly reduced, "Dark Lingxiao... went to Xingyun Pavilion... He wants to... activate the Chaos Furnace..."

Xiao Yan helped his brother sit up: "Why?"

"He believes... instead of resisting the Chaos Devourer... it's better to actively accept it... and then control that power..." Ling Xiao closed his eyes in pain, "He read my memories... He knows about Xiao Bing Ge's condition... He wants to use Xiao Bing Ge as... the furnace's catalyst..."

This news was like a bolt from the blue. Xiao Yan immediately took out a communication jade slip to contact Xiao Bing, but there was no response. An ominous premonition enveloped his heart—Xiao Bing might have already left the Ancient Clan and was on his way to Xingyun Pavilion!

"We have to go to Xingyun Pavilion immediately!" Xiao Yan carried Ling Xiao on his back, "Can you sense its location?"

Ling Xiao nodded, taking out the nexus seed: "Through it... I can sense other seeds of the plane... Xingyun Pavilion is at..."

He suddenly stopped, his face turning pale: "Oh no! The Void Claws have appeared again! This time it's... three of them! They're moving towards the Ancient Clan Sacred Mountain!"

Xiao Yan was in a dilemma—go to Xingyun Pavilion to save Xiao Bing? Or return to the Ancient Clan to fight the Void Claws? Whichever choice he made, it meant disaster for the other side...

Ling Xiao suddenly grabbed his hand: "Xiao Yan Ge... I have a way... We can split up..."

"No! Your current state..."

"Listen to me!" Ling Xiao was uncharacteristically firm, "Through the nexus seed... we can temporarily separate the Spirit of the Plane's power... You take a portion to the Ancient Clan... I'll take the rest to Xingyun Pavilion..."

Just as Xiao Yan was about to object, the black threads in his right eye suddenly quieted, transmitting a strange sense of approval—this plan was feasible. Even more bizarrely, the black threads seemed... to be looking forward to going to Xingyun Pavilion?

"It's too dangerous..." Xiao Yan shook his head, "And your body..."

"No time!" Ling Xiao insisted, "Xiao Bing Ge is in danger! The Ancient Clan has hundreds of lives at stake!"

Looking at his brother's determined eyes, Xiao Yan finally nodded with difficulty: "...Alright. But promise me, if you encounter Dark Lingxiao, retreat immediately, don't fight him head-on!"

Ling Xiao smiled and nodded, beginning to guide the nexus seed to separate its energy. The silver light split into two; most flowed into Ling Xiao's body, and a small portion entered Xiao Yan's right eye. Miraculously, this portion of the Spirit of the Plane's power coexisted peacefully with the black threads, forming a subtle balance.

"Remember, the entrance to Xingyun Pavilion is at..." Ling Xiao transmitted the location information to Xiao Yan through a mental link, "I'll try my best to stall Dark Lingxiao... until you return..."

Xiao Yan tightly embraced his brother: "Take care. I will definitely bring Xiao Bing back to find you."

The two parted ways on the glacier, one heading east, the other west. The blizzard quickly swallowed their figures, only the faint connection of the nexus seed still remained...

Three days later, outside the Ancient Clan Sacred Mountain.

Xiao Yan lay hidden on a ridge, observing the situation of the Sacred Mountain. Just as Ling Xiao had said, three Void Claws were besieging the Sacred Mountain's barrier. Unlike last time, the Ancient Clan seemed prepared—a massive Tai Chi symbol enveloped the entire mountain, barely resisting the dark erosion.

"That's... Xiao Bing's Xuanming Ice Flame?" Xiao Yan noticed that the blue part of the Tai Chi symbol emitted a familiar aura. But what unsettled him was that this aura fluctuated, indicating the spellcaster's unstable condition.

The Spirit of the Plane's power in his right eye suddenly became active, bringing an urgent message from Ling Xiao: "Xiao Yan Ge! Dark Lingxiao has already... found Xingyun Pavilion... Xiao Bing Ge is also on his way... The situation is critical..."

The communication abruptly ceased, and no matter how Xiao Yan called, there was no response. He faced a cruel choice—save the people of the Ancient Clan before him? Or immediately rush to Xingyun Pavilion to save his two brothers?

The black threads in his right eye suddenly throbbed violently, transmitting a dangerous solution: release all its power, and he could do both things simultaneously...

What was the price? Xiao Yan knew all too well—he might lose himself forever, becoming a Puppet of the Chaos Devourer.

The Tai Chi symbol below the mountain suddenly flickered violently, and one of the Void Claws found a weakness in the barrier, breaking through with full force. The screams of the Ancient Clan people were faintly audible...

Xiao Yan clenched his fists, his fingernails digging deep into his palms. Blood dripped from his hands, blooming into dazzling red flowers on the snow.

"I choose..." He slowly stood up, his right eye completely transforming into a black, gold, and silver vortex, "The third path!"