This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

Ye Fengyun's roar shook the Flower Language Pavilion. The atmosphere was already tense, and with the tolling of the bells from the ancestral temple, he instantly realized that something was wrong there.

Wu Xie and Zhan Wuqing both wore smug expressions, seemingly on the verge of victory.

"Everyone, don't be impatient. Our competition isn't over yet. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Seeing Ye Yunfeng about to leave, Wu Xie signaled, and the members of the Wilderness immediately blocked the entrance to the seventh floor, surrounding all the exits.

"The ancestral temple, what's there?"

The eldest princess stepped forward. She had already considered the matter in her mind, but she still couldn't understand why it had to be the ancestral temple, as there had never been anything worth planning there.

"Your Highness, what ancestral temple? I don't understand what you're saying."

Zhan Wuqing pretended not to know and continued to speak in riddles, which caused the Fourth Prince's side to fall silent.

"Don't know? Someone, send men to the ancestral temple to see what happened. Everyone else, surround this place. No one is allowed to leave until we find out what happened."

"War-hearted, colluding with the Wildlands, is this how your War General's Mansion defends the Northern Region?"

Huangfu Lingxue's voice echoed, shocking many. The mere mention of colluding with the wild beasts was tantamount to treason; most people would never dare to say such a thing.

"Your Highness, you must take responsibility for your words. Do you know the consequences of slandering my War General's Mansion? Let alone a princess like you, even the Crown Prince, haha..."

"Threatening me?" Huangfu Lingxue scoffed, continuing her speech.

“I’ll sit here today and see who dares to leave. You two seem to have forgotten one thing: this is Yong’an, not the Northern Region.”

After speaking, the princess found a comfortable place to sit down, gestured to Ling Feng with her eyes, and Ling Feng slowly withdrew.

Today's events are quite clear: Zhan Wuqing and Wu Xie were putting on an act. The only question is what exactly happened at the ancestral temple, leaving her in such a passive position.

Wu Xie and Zhan Wuqing exchanged a glance, conveying a mutual understanding, before ceasing their mockery and resuming their tea drinking, seemingly oblivious to the fact that everything was none of their concern.

The once bustling seventh floor suddenly fell silent. People on other floors who were watching the commotion realized that something might have happened outside. Didn't they see that all those who ran out were people from the ancestral temple?

The Fourth Prince and Zheng Youqian stood quietly in a corner, communicating in a voice only they could hear.

"Old Zheng, something's not right. With such a big incident, my little brother hasn't shown up at all. Could something have happened to him?"

“Something must have happened. The bell in the ancestral temple alerted many people. Perhaps we were also set up. Think about it, is Zhan Wuqing deliberately trying to provoke you?”

"Uh... now that you mention it, it does seem to make sense. Do you think these things were caused by my brother?"

"Don't joke around, he's still at the Flower Language Pavilion. Maybe he's enjoying his time up there right now. All this commotion hasn't made him show his face. Sigh, it's infuriating to compare yourself to others."

The two looked towards the eighth floor simultaneously. The candlelight flickered, and it was unusually quiet. The gate with the character "冕" (mian) was closed, meaning Xiao Xingchen had already passed through and should be on the eighth floor now.

In their minds, passing through the Crown Gate meant they'd be pampered in every way imaginable by the Flower Language Pavilion. Little did they know, Xiao Xingchen's crisis had only just begun.

As the ancestral temple bells rang, streaks of red fishing nets began to appear on the land surrounding the temple. These nets not only appeared at the temple, but traces of them also appeared on the three mountain ranges behind it.

Emperor Wu, who arrived first, felt a sinking feeling upon seeing the fishing nets. All previous seriousness appeared on his brow, followed by fury.

“All guards of the ancestral temple, get out here.”

The once silent ancestral temple was engulfed by Emperor Wu's roar, but after the roar, silence returned.

"Good, good, for abandoning their post without permission, very good."

Emperor Wu's chest heaved repeatedly, clearly enraged to the extreme. He paced above the ancestral temple, and only after seeing that the incense in the main hall was still burning did he finally let out a long sigh.

This proved that what was below hadn't escaped, and the incense array remained intact. He dared not investigate the array too much; people rumored he had set it up, but only he knew that he was merely the one responsible for guarding it.

This incense array originates from the heavens; as long as the incense continues to burn, its life will never cease. This is why the ancestral temple was built here.

It's not that the ancestral temple came first and then the incense offering array; rather, the incense offering array came first and then the ancestral temple. This involves the oldest secrets.

Figures flickered outside the ancestral temple; people kept arriving.

Zhan Aotian followed closely behind. After Emperor Wu entered the ancestral temple, Zhan Aotian arrived. Upon seeing Emperor Wu's presence, he knew that all his plans for the night seemed to have failed.

This ancestral temple was not originally an important place. Their original plan focused on how to cover their tracks. But now it seems that it hides a great secret. Otherwise, why would Emperor Wu be in such a hurry to come here?

His current worry is that his men might get caught red-handed, which would be troublesome.

Thinking of this, he didn't linger any longer and rushed inside. Not long after he left, the priests of the ancestral temple and the guards of Yong'an all arrived.

"Quickly, quickly! The ancestral temple has been attacked by thieves! Surround it and guard it closely!"

The old priest cried out anxiously, "Although there's nothing of value in the ancestral temple, it represents the face of the Great Qian Dynasty. If word gets out, it will be incredibly shameful!"

At this moment, they were completely unaware that Emperor Wu had already erupted in fury.

This small ancestral temple went unnoticed by most. For centuries, it had been a favorite place for the sons of powerful and influential families to settle down; no official position here was more comfortable.

That's why, upon closer inspection, you'll find that almost everyone in the ancestral temple is a second-generation member. An old priest leads a group of second-generation members. Since they are second-generation members, they are bound to be slackers. The key point is that there's not much work to do here, so why not let them slack off?

This also led to an increasing number of second-generation rich kids arriving, including Ye Yunfeng.

In the dead of night, the ancestral temple, which should have been deserted, was suddenly surrounded by a huge crowd.

"In the end what happened?"

Why have so many people come?

"Where is the old priest? Who is so bold as to steal from the ancestral temple? Did anything valuable get stolen?"

A commotion arose, and everyone who came was filled with questions, but no matter how thoroughly they searched the entire ancestral temple, they still found nothing.

Who rang the bell?

It was at this moment that someone noticed the problem, but his question had barely been uttered when...

When the bell rang again, people realized that the bell was actually ringing by itself.