Before long, Bai Feng dug the jewel out of the ground, but the moment it was excavated, Ye Tianfan felt a faint aura of evil starting to seep around.

"What is this?" Ye Tianfan looked around, then at the jewel in Bai Feng's hand, and asked everyone, "Do you feel the aura of evil?"

After hearing Ye Tianfan's words, Senior Brother Yun Tian began to sense the surroundings, and the others also began to sense.

"I sense a hint of it, there must be something evil nearby," Senior Brother Yun Tian said after opening his eyes.

However, Bai Feng and the others did not sense anything, given their lower skills.

Ye Tianfan felt something was wrong, as if the evil aura started leaking when Bai Feng picked up the jewel.

"Bai Feng, can you identify this jewel? I feel something ominous, like the aura started leaking when you picked it up," Ye Tianfan said to Bai Feng.

Upon hearing this, Bai Feng quickly examined the jewel in his hand. If Ye Tianfan's intuition was correct, the jewel could possibly be an array core, but Array Master Eight wasn't here; if he were, he could immediately tell if it was the core.

Bai Feng scrutinized the jewel thoroughly, but couldn't determine its specific effects. To understand its true functions, he needed to take the jewel apart and study its components.

Bai Feng's suggestion to dismantle the jewel was immediately rejected by Ye Tianfan, and even Senior Brother Yun Tian opposed it. After all, nobody knew what the jewel's purpose was. What if it contained something dangerous?

Ye Tianfan spoke up, "Let's put it back for now, I feel uneasy." He said this because he sensed an increasing amount of evil aura seeping out, and at a faster pace.

Senior Brother Yun Tian seemed to have felt it too, so he said, "I feel it too, the aura seems to be increasing."

Bai Feng, hearing them both say it, was so scared that he hurriedly put the jewel back in its place.

Sure enough, once the jewel was placed back, Ye Tianfan felt the aura stopped seeping out, and the aura that had already leaked began to dissipate gradually.

Ye Tianfan stood by the pit, looked at the jewel, and said to everyone, "It appears this jewel is indeed the array core. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why picking it up caused the aura to leak, and putting it back stopped it."

Senior Brother Yun Tian nodded, looked at the jewel, and said, "Luckily, we didn't rashly destroy this jewel. Otherwise, whatever hidden effects this array has—seeing the aura earlier—it wouldn't be a tiny bit of aura; it would be a catastrophic amount. Li Ming, you go to the Survivor Base and call Array Master Eight over to set up another array to protect this jewel, then we must promptly inform the sect."

Li Ming nodded and was about to fly to the Survivor Base to find Array Master Eight, but Ye Tianfan stopped him, and said to Senior Brother Yun Tian, "Senior Brother Yun Tian, among the hidden enemies, there's one with a powerful illusion technique. Having Li Ming go alone isn't safe."

Senior Brother Yun Tian apologized, "Right, I didn't consider it well. Li Ming, Ling Yao, and Wooden Barrel, you three go find Array Master Eight. Leave one person at the Survivor Base and bring Array Master Eight back with the other two."

Li Ming, Ling Yao, and Wooden Barrel agreed and flew together towards the Survivor Base.

However, at that moment, Ye Tianfan suddenly felt the aura seep again, not only from the pit but from the surrounding buildings as well.

"Not good, the aura has started seeping again," Ye Tianfan said, looking at the jewel in the pit, and saw a slight crack in the jewel.

"This is bad; it seems our earlier movement made the array flawed. If it's not fixed soon, there's a high possibility the array will completely fail, which whatever it suppresses could lead to a catastrophe," Ye Tianfan said while looking at the increasingly evil aura in the pit.

Senior Brother Yun Tian was also anxious, for their earlier actions in removing the array core caused the array to lose its effect. His thoughts now were for Array Master Eight to come quickly and see if the array could be salvaged.

But as time passed, more cracks appeared in the jewel in the pit, and Ye Tianfan noted the spiritual power inside the jewel was leaking faster and the jewel grew dimmer.

Ye Tianfan saw the situation growing dire, and still, there was no sign of Li Ming and the others returning in the sky. Whatever the jewel suppressed seemed about to emerge.

Indeed, just as Ye Tianfan finished speaking, the jewel cracked with a couple of "ka-ka" sounds, shattered instantly, and as it shattered, an enormous evil aura burst from the pit and the ground, propelling Ye Tianfan and the others into the air, then crashing them hard onto the ground.

At that moment, Ye Tianfan and the others couldn't move at all, the outburst of aura disrupted their meridians and spiritual powers chaotically.

If Ye Tianfan and the others hadn't been cultivators with spiritual power protecting them, just that outburst could have mentally incapacitated them, and once the aura filled them completely, they'd become demons, killing anyone in sight, even living creatures.

At this moment, Ye Tianfan used all his remaining strength to summon the Xuan Huang Tower. Once the Xuan Huang Tower was summoned, Ye Tianfan breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the aura was clouding his consciousness, and he felt an urge to kill.

This made Ye Tianfan feel he was being corrupted by the aura, so he quickly summoned the Xuan Huang Tower. With its protection, Ye Tianfan was no longer awash in the aura.

Once Ye Tianfan regained some strength, he hurried towards Senior Brother Yun Tian.

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