Time seemed to pass by extremely slowly.

Facing the pressure of death made everyone’s mood incredibly serious, and all of their hearts raced as cold sweat dripped down their brows.

All of them maintained a heightened state of vigilance and constantly monitored the True Yang Yuan Qi shield’s situation.

Every time one of the Light Curtain layers ruptured, a shiver was sent up everyone’s spine.

Not long after the Evil Qi Sea had enveloped them, all twenty layers of the defence shield had broken. Fortunately, Yang Kai had pre-emptively put up a new set of shields, for which everyone was immensely grateful.

As the Demonic Qi swirled around them, Evil Spirits constantly wandered about just outside the shield as massive bubbles of frigid Yin Qi welled up from below.

The temperature dropped rapidly.

Everyone inside the Light Curtain was a True Element Boundary cultivator, so with their True Qi protecting their bodies a simple chill wouldn’t affect them in the slightest. However, now those with slightly lower cultivations soon had frost developing on their hair as they began shivering from the cold, and even their breath became a visible, fine white fog.

Even the strongest of them also couldn’t help but feel chilly, and aside from Yang Kai who was indifferent to this cold, no one else could ignore it.

Outside the Light Curtain, the sea of Evil Qi had seemingly transformed into an icy hell, capable of freezing the soul of anyone who had the misfortune of straying into it.

*Dong dong…*

The pounding sound that originated from the core of Evil Spirit Spring never stopped, and instead only increased in magnitude with time until eventually every pulse shook and rattled the pillar upon which everyone stood.

*Pa pa pa…*

The giant bubbles of Yin Qi continued to burst around them one after another, stirring up all kinds of cold black evil energy.

As each True Yang Yuan Qi layer burst, Yang Kai’s expression gradually became heavier.

A little later, a series of loud thumps echoed from the Evil Spirit Spring’s core.

After this burst of sound though, everything went silent.

Everyone glanced back and forth at one another with anxiety and confusion apparent on their faces.

However, before they could figure out what was going on, a sudden surge of cold energy crashed towards them, like the frigid winds from an eternally snow capped mountain, carrying a bone chilling Yin Qi that seemed to originate from the ninth level of purgatory, which instantly caused everyone who felt it to shudder.

*Kacha…*

In an instant, the True Yang Yuan Qi shield was covered in a layer of ice, which was a seemingly impossible occurrence that left all who saw it aghast.

This frigid Yin Qi, coupled with the Demonic Qi, both smashed against the Light Curtains and doubled the pace at which they were being shaved away.

“Not good!” Cheng Ying muttered with his mouth agape and his eyes full of bitterness. Everyone was already on edge but had somehow managed to hold out hope through all of these hardships, but now this sudden change was almost like a sign that the Heavens had abandoned them.

His voice had hardly fallen though when suddenly all the Evil Qi began to flood backwards towards the core of the Evil Spirit Spring, and even the numerous Evil Spirits who floated nearby were drawn in as well.

Instead of an erupting spring, it now seemed like a giant whirlpool had formed, which devouring everything inside the Evil Cavern.

Countless piercing howls rang out as all of these Evil Spirits struggled desperately.

Even Yang Kai’s group atop the platform were also attracted by this suction, but fortunately the Light Curtain offset a large portion of this force or all of them would have already been drawn into this whirlpool.

As long as they circulated their True Qi slightly, they could offset the remaining suction force.

“What’s happening?” Chen Yi frowned as he glared towards the outside and noticed a ghostly light now pulsating a short distance away from where the Evil Spirit Spring’s core once was.

This light was not bright, but in this profound darkness it seemed to emit a penetrating radiance.

Evil Spirit Essence! No doubt this was the Evil Spirit Spring’s Essence!

It was the Precious Treasure the old man had wanted before, a pity he had died before even being able to see it for himself.

As everyone observed this giant Evil Spirit Essence, they noticed that it was actually beating like a heart and was rapidly absorbing the surrounding energy with each pulse.

Slowly, this light disappeared, seeming to drown in the darkness of the Demonic Qi rushing towards it.

*Pa…*

Atop the pillar, another layer of the Light Curtain shattered.

Just as Yang Kai was about to spend another twenty drops of Yang Liquid to enhance the Light Curtain, Leng Shan cried out in surprise, “The Evil Spirit Spring is receding!”

At these words, everyone suddenly became ecstatic and turned