The next day, as the morning sun rose, Ye Tianfan and his companions arrived at the entrance of Polo Cave. Whether it was an illusion or not, they felt that the number of skeletons around seemed to have lessened somewhat. However, given the sheer quantity, they couldn't tell if it was truly less or just a mistake of perception.

"I wonder if Tian Chun and the others ventured deep into Polo Cave yesterday," Yu Ping said with some concern.

The group gazed at the massive cave, which was pitch-black inside, and felt a twinge of apprehension too. Standing at the entrance, everyone could feel the gusts of cold wind blowing out from Polo Cave, chilled to the bone, with a nauseating smell of blood.

Senior brother Yun Tian looked at the cave, then turned back to his companions and said, "Be on guard. We don't know what kind of traps may await us inside, nor whether Tian Chun and his companion startled anyone last night, alerting them to our arrival. It's best to bring out your defensive magical treasures, just in case."

Concerned for their lives, no one took any chances, and they all quickly summoned their defensive magical treasures. Ye Tianfan immediately summoned the Xuanhuang Pagoda, placing it above his head. The two from the Dali Sect activated the two rods on their backs, enveloping themselves in a layer of golden light. Those from the Virtue Sect summoned their treasure, the Daffodil Throne. Ma Feiyun, lacking a defensive magical treasure, was pulled into the protection range of Yun Tian's Qilin Seal, while Bai Feng summoned their sect's version of the Xuanhuang Pagoda.

Immediately, the scene was filled with sparkling golden light and treasure glows, a splendid sight to behold.

Seeing everyone had their defensive magical treasures activated, Senior brother Yun Tian said, "Let's go!" He then turned and walked into the depths of Polo Cave.

As they drew closer to the cave entrance, the cold wind became increasingly chilling. By the time they fully entered the darkness of the cave, the gusts were bone-chilling. Fortunately, the protective treasures shielded them from the wind, though they could not keep out the pervasive cold.

Due to the glow from their treasures, the darkness inside the cave was not too overwhelming, yet visibility was still limited to only two or three meters.

Ye Tianfan felt a wave of cold, not the usual kind he was immune to. Anyone at the sixth level of the Grand Mysterious would be unaffected by normal heat or cold. However, this particular chill was sinister and required Spiritual Qi to fend off. But using spiritual power here would be too wasteful.

Ye Tianfan had a solution: he summoned the Fire Lotus Sword, letting it emit fierce heat to dispel the chill in the cave. The Fire Lotus Sword easily banished the cold, and even made Ye Tianfan feel somewhat hot. After walking about seventy or eighty meters without the cold, they suddenly encountered an intense heat that made them sweat instantly. Ye Tianfan quickly retrieved the Fire Lotus Sword; adding more heat would be foolish under such a temperature.

This heat, like the previous chill, was something they couldn't simply ignore and needed Spiritual Qi to block it.

"Wait," Senior brother Yun Tian said, halting in his tracks.

The group immediately stopped, looking at Senior brother Yun Tian under the treasure glow, uncertain why he called for a halt.

"It seems we've entered an array," Senior brother Yun Tian said after examining the surroundings.

"An array?" Yu Shan also looked around but discovered nothing, so he turned back to Senior brother Yun Tian, hoping for more explanation.

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Yin-Chi Jiutian Array, which uses sinister cold and fiery toxins to gradually weaken enemies. However, since we're inside defensive magical treasure fields, aside from temperature changes, the miasma and fire toxins are blocked," Senior brother Yun Tian explained, reaching a hand out beyond the protection of the Qilin Seal to feel the surroundings.

"Does this mean the enemy has discovered us?" Bang Dali asked.

"If they've discovered us, should we just fight our way through?" Wang Dali hefted his rod and said, testing its weight.

"No, they might not necessarily have discovered us. This kind of array doesn't require manual operation; it's triggered upon entry. Unless someone is guarding the heart of the array, no one would notice us," Senior brother Yun Tian explained. "Moreover, if they had discovered us, they would've already come to encircle us instead of allowing us to wander leisurely here."

"Nonetheless, we should still quickly pass through this array, lest they really do discover us," Senior brother Yun Tian urged, picking up his pace. After all, only a fool would idle in the enemy's lair.

The group followed Senior brother Yun Tian fast forward. As they approached a corner, they found someone familiar lying on the ground.

"Could it be them?" Ye Tianfan muttered softly. It wasn't just Ye Tianfan who felt uneasy; everyone had a sinking feeling because lying on the ground in such a place—no one expected they were just sleeping.

They hastily approached the person lying on the ground and discovered that it was Tian Yun, who had entered the cave the day before. Tian Chun was nowhere to be seen—only Tian Yun lay there, face purple, clearly not alive.

Senior brother Yun Tian crouched and checked for Tian Yun's breath, though it wasn't really necessary. But he performed the due diligence.

After checking the breath and feeling Tian Yun's pulse, Senior brother Yun Tian stood up, looked at everyone, sighed, and shook his head: "Devoid of life."

Upon hearing this, everyone sighed. But then they thought, "What about Tian Chun?" The straightforward Dali Sect disciple bluntly asked.

The group had already guessed the situation: it was likely Tian Chun's recklessness that led to Tian Yun's death. Without proper defensive magical treasures, no one could resist the array's cold and toxins. Even if they could withstand the toxins and miasma, the temperature changes would still cause significant trouble. Besides, Tian Yun wore thin clothing, the purplish face clearly indicating cold. However, the specifics were unknown, and they needed to find Tian Chun to get details from him.

"Where is Tian Chun? Did he cause Tian Yun's death?" Bang Dali asked angrily, "He really isn't a good person. I used to think he was merely arrogant and had a bad temper, but it turns out his heart is also black."

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