Ye Tianfan and his companion carried the Xuan Huang Tower to the surface. Instantly, Ye Tianfan felt something unusual. The place was filled with gusts of eerie wind, and the Spiritual Power was turbid, making him feel deeply uncomfortable.

"Be careful, I feel a very ominous presence here!" said Senior Brother Yun Tian.

"Yes! I feel it too, and it seems like there's also a presence of Blood Evil Qi." Ye Tianfan replied.

Blood Evil Qi is a mixture of blood and Evil Qi, usually found on battlefields, especially those where tens of thousands die. If such a battlefield is left uncleared for a long time, tens of thousands of fallen warriors lay exposed in the wilderness. Thus, their corpses generate Evil Qi, which mixes with the blood on the ground, forming Blood Evil Qi.

What puzzled Ye Tianfan was why Blood Evil Qi would appear here when the place wasn't a battlefield. Moreover, Copper Gong Town didn't have a population of a hundred thousand, and there were several thousand survivors.

As for how the Evil Qi was generated, Ye Tianfan was quite perplexed.

But despite the confusion, there was no choice, for Blood Evil Qi was already here. So it wasn't the time to wonder about its creation but to find out what exactly happened.

At the moment, the courtyard was silent, as if nobody was there.

According to the crow's account, the source of the corpses was in the basement beneath the courtyard, exactly where Ye Tianfan was standing. Below was what the crow referred to as the corpse source.

But how should they enter? This worried Ye Tianfan and his companion, as forceful entry was the last resort, and they hadn't reached that point yet.

"Let's separate and look for the entrance to the basement mechanism!" Senior Brother Yun Tian suggested after glancing around.

"I disagree. Inside the Xuan Huang Tower, our safety is ensured. But if you act alone and something unexpected happens, I might not react in time, putting you in danger," Ye Tianfan shook his head, opposing Yun Tian's suggestion. Separating recklessly was too risky, and if it was necessary, it would be only if Yun Tian had a Defensive Magical Treasure.

Just relying on a Seven-Star Sword? How much defensive power does it really have? Against a true surprise attack, such slow defensive speed from the Seven-Star Sword wouldn't effectively guard.

Thus, Ye Tianfan disagreed with allowing Yun Tian to act alone.

"But if we search together, it will take time and waste a person," Yun Tian replied.

"It's fine; we'll search slowly. I'll finish one round, and then you'll go through again, so if I miss anything, you can catch it. Isn't that much more thorough?" Ye Tianfan explained.

Yun Tian, although somewhat agreeing with Ye Tianfan, carefully considered the current situation. If he got injured, he'd be a burden to Ye Tianfan. They might manage to negotiate with the adversary relying on Ye Tianfan alone, but with him being a drag, even if Ye Tianfan had one more hand, they might still not overcome the enemy.

So, after hearing Ye Tianfan, Yun Tian reluctantly agreed and followed alongside Ye Tianfan to search.

Together they searched more thoroughly than separately and soon found a strange mark.

Why call the mark strange?

Because it was engraved with a symbol that Yun Tian immediately recognized.

"This... This is Beiyaomu's symbol!" Yun Tian said, furrowing his brows in astonishment.

"Beiyaomu? What's that?" Ye Tianfan initially wondered what Beiyaomu was, then suddenly recalled reading about it in a book before.

Beiyaomu, a tribe in the extreme western realm of the Cultivation World, where people don't practice Spiritual Power but Witch Power, utilizing curses, summoning, and evil magics known as Witchcraft.

While the magic practiced by Beiyaomu's people is considered evil, they aren't inherently wicked. They never experiment on living creatures, respect nature, experimenting only with Abyssal Demon Beasts they summon, which aren't considered living entities but evil creatures formed from malignant earth and lava.

Moreover, Beiyaomu also shoulders tasks in the extreme west, blocking the Demonized Beasts from the further western regions.

In the extreme west are many Demonized Beasts, immensely powerful and exceedingly brutal.

Legend has it that this region was once the Land of Abandoned, where anyone, be it human or beast, would succumb to Demonization upon entering.

Before Beiyaomu's rise, they were a small tribe, fighting for survival.

The Land of Abandoned became a place of exile for both cultivators and demons.

Anyone who violated their sect, or the righteous and demonic paths' laws, yet didn't deserve death, was exiled there for a year. If they emerged with clear consciousness afterward, they'd be pardoned of all offenses; if Demonized, they wouldn't return.

Thus, many cultivators were exiled to the Land of Abandoned, and beasts fled there prior to the defeat of the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, which sought to unify the beast realm.

Some beasts disliked the dragon's rule, mutually agreeing to flee to the Land of Abandoned, avoiding the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon's governance, but they never came out after entering.

Beiyaomu rose during that time. Due to the excessively numerous Demonized beasts and humans in the west, they frequently fled east. But was there a strong sect to the east? No, so Beiyaomu's people had to rely on themselves, rapidly advancing their formerly basic practices, refining them, and progressively developing to their present state.

Beiyaomu never meddles in other affairs, devotedly cultivating and fiercely slaying Demonized Beasts, especially since the extreme west is quite far from Copper Gong Town; this mark shouldn't be here.

"Looks like this could be the button, right?" Ye Tianfan said, observing the mark before pressing it.

"Wait..." Yun Tian hurriedly tried to stop Ye Tianfan but failed. However, upon reflection, Yun Tian thought he might as well see if this indeed was the basement button.

The anticipated violent reaction didn't occur; instead, the mark shifted aside, revealing a small pit underneath.

Ye Tianfan looked into the pit and noticed a translucent bead.

"This... What's this bead?" Ye Tianfan asked, puzzled.

Hearing Ye Tianfan's query, Yun Tian leaned over to examine it, instantly surprising himself.

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