Battle Between Brothers

On the city wall at Qingyun City's eastern gate, Ning Xiaochuan stood shoulder to shoulder with Su Linger, looking down at the dark mass of enemy troops outside the city. More than three thousand Black Robes stood in neat formations, with the front row holding black banners emblazoned with blood-red eyes that snapped in the wind.

"More than we expected." Su Linger gripped her sword hilt tightly, her knuckles turning white. "And they're well-trained, not ordinary cultists."

Ning Xiaochuan activated Sacred Source Vision and discovered that every Black Robe had a faint red glow on his chest—the corrosive mark of the Eye of the Deep Sea! Though it was not as intense as the one on Ning Yuan's body, it was enough to control their minds.

"They're completely controlled and have almost no self-awareness left." Ning Xiaochuan's voice was grave. "Be careful not to get surrounded. The Black Tide excels at combined attack formations."

On the city wall, Ning Clan guards and temporarily recruited martial artists nervously prepared their defenses. Ignoring his injuries, Ning Zhantian personally directed the defenses. The wound on his arm had only been hastily bandaged, and blood loss had left his face pale.

"Father, you should rest," Ning Xiaochuan said worriedly.

Ning Zhantian shook his head. "As long as the city stands, I stand. If the city falls, I fall with it. The Ning Clan has guarded Qingyun City for three hundred years. I cannot let it fall under my watch."

He pointed toward a special banner in the middle of the enemy formation. "Look over there."

Beneath the banner, Ning Yuan wore black-gold armor and issued orders to several leaders. Unlike the numb Black Robes around him, he looked arrogant, his eyes glinting with morbid excitement.

"Second Brother still retains his self-awareness..." Ning Xiaochuan pondered. "Perhaps the Eye of the Deep Sea gave him more freedom so he could control the others."

Su Linger inspected her arrows. "Is there a way to purify them?"

"Sacred Source Power can do it, but the area is too large." Ning Xiaochuan estimated, "Unless we can get close to Ning Yuan. He's the core of their control."

Just then, a shrill horn sounded from the enemy ranks. The Black Robes parted like a tide, pushing out more than a dozen strange siege engines—catapults pieced together from black metal and bones. They carried not stones, but clumps of writhing Black Substance!

"What are those?" a guard asked in horror.

Ning Xiaochuan's heart tightened. "Soul Devouring Bombs! Don't let them touch the city wall!"

But the warning came too late. The catapults creaked with a teeth-grating sound, and Black Spheres came screaming through the air! Most struck the city wall, but several still flew over the defenses and exploded within the city!

Black mist spread instantly. Anyone who touched it immediately collapsed in convulsions, spiderweb-like Red Markings appearing across their skin!

"Close the inner city gates! Stop the black mist from spreading!" Ning Zhantian ordered sharply. "All martial artists at the Source Warrior level or above, get on the city wall and defend against the enemy!"

Ning Xiaochuan and Su Linger exchanged a look before splitting up without a word. Su Linger remained on the city wall to direct the defense, while Ning Xiaochuan leaped down with the Sacred Spirit Dragon and charged straight at the enemy's core!

"Little One, maximum power!" Ning Xiaochuan shouted.

The Sacred Spirit Dragon answered with a long roar, its body expanding to thirty feet in length as golden light flowed over the icy-blue patterns on its scales. It spread its wings and carried Ning Xiaochuan in low flight. Wherever it passed, Dragon Breath swept through the enemy, and Black Robes fell like cut wheat!

"Ning Xiaochuan!" Ning Yuan roared from within the formation. "Have you come to die?"

Ning Xiaochuan did not answer. Sacred Source Power condensed into a golden spear in his palm, and he hurled it at Ning Yuan! The spear streaked across the sky like a meteor, only to be blocked by a blood-red barrier ten paces from Ning Yuan.

"Useless!" Ning Yuan laughed wildly. "The Eye of the Deep Sea has granted me invincible defenses!"

With a violent wave of his hand, dozens of elite Black Robes charged from the formation, each clutching a pitch-black chain—Soul Devouring Chains! The chains shot toward the Sacred Spirit Dragon in the air like venomous snakes. Little One dodged nimbly, but several still coiled around his hind legs.

"Ah!" The Sacred Spirit Dragon let out a painful roar as black smoke rose from his corroding scales.

Ning Xiaochuan immediately jumped from the dragon's back, transforming Sacred Source Power into a Light Blade to sever the chains. But in that brief delay, they had already been surrounded from every side!

"Surrender, little brother." Ning Yuan strode over slowly, red light flickering in his eyes. "Join the Black Tide, and we can rule this world together!"

Ning Xiaochuan sneered. "Being used as a puppet by the Eye of the Deep Sea is what you call ruling?"

"What do you know?!" Ning Yuan suddenly erupted in rage. "In the Ning Clan, I always lived in your shadow! Father knew perfectly well that you weren't his biological son, yet he still favored you!"

Ning Xiaochuan's heart shook—so this was how deep his second brother's resentment ran.

"Father loves you too." He tried to reason with him. "Do you remember when I was bullied as a child? You took the servants and taught those thugs a lesson..."

"Shut up!" Ning Yuan cut him off. "That was the greatest regret of my life! If I'd known, I would have let them beat you to death!"

He tore open his breastplate, revealing a chest completely covered in red eye-shaped markings. "The Eye of the Deep Sea gave me power! Today, either you die or I do!"

Ning Yuan formed hand seals with both hands, and the ground suddenly split apart. Countless black tentacles burst from the earth! The tentacles were covered in suckers and spikes, each one giving off a nauseating stench of decay.

"World Devouring Tentacles!" Ning Xiaochuan's heart clenched. "You actually summoned something like this!"

The Sacred Spirit Dragon breathed Dragon Breath and burned several tentacles to ash, but more surged in from all directions. Ning Xiaochuan deployed the Sacred Source Shield while searching for an opening.

"Struggle all you want!" Ning Yuan laughed wildly as he controlled the tentacles' attacks. "Before absolute power, what is that little Sacred Source Power of yours worth?"

Ning Xiaochuan suddenly realized something—although Ning Yuan had been corrupted, the power he used was not pure Dark Origin Qi. It was mixed with the Ning Clan's inherited Qingyun Art! That meant his origin had not yet been completely eroded!

"Second Brother, do you remember Mother?" Ning Xiaochuan suddenly asked, while secretly guiding Sacred Source Power into the ground.

Ning Yuan froze. "That bitch? What's there to mention about that whore who abandoned her husband and child?"

"No, I mean your biological mother." Ning Xiaochuan's voice softened. "Do you remember how she held your hand before she died and said, 'A-Yuan, take good care of your little brother'?"

A trace of confusion suddenly appeared on Ning Yuan's face, and the tentacles' assault stalled with it. In that flash of electric light, Ning Xiaochuan detonated the Sacred Source Power he had planted underground!

Golden pillars of light shot up from multiple points, forming an enormous purification array! Every tentacle turned to black smoke beneath the light, while the Black Robes screamed and fell rolling to the ground, the red glow on their chests flickering violently!

"Ah!" Ning Yuan clutched his chest in agony. "You... what did you do?!"

"I'm helping you break free of the control!" Ning Xiaochuan shot forward and pressed a palm against Ning Yuan's forehead. "Sacred Source Purification!"

Golden light flowed into Ning Yuan's body like water, clashing fiercely with the red light. Ning Yuan let out an inhuman scream, his body convulsing violently as Black Blood seeped from his seven orifices.

"Hold on, Second Brother!" Ning Xiaochuan gritted his teeth and increased his output. "Think of Father! Think of Qingyun City!"

Ning Yuan's struggles gradually weakened, the red light in his eyes flickering between bright and dim. Just as the purification was about to finish, he suddenly revealed a strange smile. "You think... this is over?"

He suddenly seized Ning Xiaochuan's wrist. "Let's go to hell together!"

The eye-shaped mark on Ning Yuan's chest suddenly exploded, and an unprecedented surge of dark energy burst out! Ning Xiaochuan was caught off guard and blasted dozens of yards away by the shockwave, crashing heavily onto the ground!

"Hahaha!" Ning Yuan floated in midair, his body beginning to twist and deform. "The Eye of the Deep Sea grants me my ultimate form!"

His limbs stretched, his skin turned dark red, bat-like wings sprouted from his back, and a Third Eye split open on his forehead—he had completely transformed into a monster!

"Ning Yuan... no..." Ning Xiaochuan struggled to his feet, and the pain in his heart far outweighed the pain in his body.

The Sacred Spirit Dragon flew to his side, equally covered in wounds. On the distant city wall, Su Linger was about to leap down to support him, but Ning Xiaochuan stopped her with a look—she had to remain on the wall and command the defense!

"Now, let's end this." Monster Ning Yuan's voice had become hoarse and unrecognizable as he dived down, his claws aiming straight for Ning Xiaochuan's throat!

At the critical moment, a blue figure suddenly inserted himself between them! Ning Zhantian wielded the clan's inherited treasure sword and forcibly blocked the attack!

"Father?!" Ning Xiaochuan and Ning Yuan cried out at the same time.

Blood trickled from the corner of Ning Zhantian's mouth, but he refused to yield even half a step. "A-Yuan, wake up! This isn't you!"

"Old fool!" Monster Ning Yuan roared. "You want to stop me too?"

He swung a claw at Ning Zhantian's chest. The shield Ning Xiaochuan hastily raised shattered instantly! Ning Zhantian was sent flying, his treasure sword snapping into two pieces!

"Father!" Ning Xiaochuan sprinted over and caught the falling Ning Zhantian.

"Xiaochuan..." Ning Zhantian was barely breathing. "Save your second brother... his nature isn't bad..."

Ning Xiaochuan injected a stream of Sacred Source Power into his father's body to stabilize his injuries, then turned to face Ning Yuan, who had completely become a monster. Anger and grief burned in his chest, but he knew anger could not solve the problem.

"Little One, Primal Covenant," Ning Xiaochuan said softly.

The Sacred Spirit Dragon understood at once. He flew above Ning Xiaochuan's head and breathed out a ball of Golden-Blue Dragon Breath that enveloped him. At the same time, Su Linger atop the city wall activated the Soul Link, and the phantom of the Mysterious Ice Phoenix crossed space to arrive!

The three powers intertwined in the air, forming a perfect triangular light array that trapped monster Ning Yuan in its center!

"Useless!" Ning Yuan roared as he rammed the light array, but every contact left him smoking from the burns.

Ning Xiaochuan pressed his palms together and released Sacred Source Power at full force. "Second Brother, I know you can hear me. Do you remember when we were ten? You secretly took me to see the lantern festival, but I got lost, and you searched for me all night..."

Ning Yuan's movements suddenly froze for an instant.

"And when we were twelve, you took that palm strike for me and spent half a month in bed..." Ning Xiaochuan continued, his voice choking. "You may not be my biological brother, but you're closer to me than one!"

Monster Ning Yuan released a pained howl, his body twisting violently as his humanity and beastly nature battled within him.

"Now, let me help you!" Ning Xiaochuan suddenly rushed forward and embraced the monster despite the danger. "Sacred Source Purification!"

Golden light erupted like the sun, illuminating the entire battlefield! Ning Yuan let out a heart-rending scream as the monster shell around him cracked apart inch by inch, revealing the Humanoid Form within...

When the light faded, Ning Yuan had returned to human form and lay weakly in Ning Xiaochuan's arms. The eye-shaped mark on his chest had vanished, leaving only a vicious scar.

"Xia...ochuan..." Ning Yuan spoke with difficulty, clarity returning to his eyes. "What... did I do..."

"It's all right, Second Brother." Ning Xiaochuan held him tightly. "It's all over."

When the Black Robes outside the city saw their commander collapse, their formation immediately fell into chaos. Seizing the opportunity, Su Linger led the defenders out of the city in pursuit and swiftly crushed the enemy army.

As the sun set, the battlefield gradually returned to calm. Ning Xiaochuan carried the unconscious Ning Yuan on his back and returned to the city with Su Linger. Although Ning Zhantian was severely injured, he was no longer in mortal danger after treatment with Sacred Source Power.

Inside the City Lord's Mansion, Ning Yuan was placed in a specially prepared room under the care of several physicians. Ning Xiaochuan used Sacred Source Power to stabilize his injuries, but purifying the Eye of the Deep Sea's corruption had consumed too much energy, and Ning Yuan could not awaken for the time being.

"He'll recover." Ning Xiaochuan told the worried Ning Zhantian. "Sacred Source Power has already removed all the dark energy. The rest is only a matter of time."

Tears streamed down Ning Zhantian's aged face. "Thank you... thank you for saving him."

Late at night, Ning Xiaochuan stood alone atop the city wall, staring at the black mist that had yet to fully disperse in the distance. The Sacred Spirit Dragon lay wearily coiled around his shoulder, occasionally breathing out a small puff of purifying energy.

"It isn't over yet." Su Linger walked to his side and handed him a cup of hot tea. "The scouts report that more Black Tide forces are gathering in the north."

Ning Xiaochuan took the cup, its warmth passing through the porcelain into his palm. "Dark Star won't give up so easily. He lost Ning Yuan, an important piece on his board. He'll definitely make a move himself."

"What do we do next?"

Ning Xiaochuan looked north. "We take the initiative. We find him before Dark Star fully recovers and eliminate this threat once and for all."

Su Linger nodded. "The allied forces of Tianyuan Sect and the Fire Tribe are already on the way."

The Sacred Spirit Dragon suddenly raised his head and looked alertly toward the northeast. Ning Xiaochuan sensed it as well—there was a familiar dark fluctuation there, but it vanished in an instant.

"He's here," Ning Xiaochuan said softly. "Faster than expected."

The night wind swept over the city wall, carrying the scent of smoke and blood. The three stood in silence, all knowing that an even greater storm was about to arrive.