Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

After a brief silence, the cultivators whose spiritual power had been drained by the lunar eclipse technique came to their senses and surrounded the three elders.

"Where did they go?!"

"Hand over the remains!"

"The Golden Phoenix Temple has betrayed its promise and colluded with the Valley of Lunar Eclipse!"

Dozens of gazes fell on the three elders, many of them filled with killing intent.

They exchanged a glance and both gave a wry smile.

"Gentlemen, we..."

One of the elders was about to say that he didn't know, but he swallowed the words back down.

As an elder of the Golden Phoenix Temple, if you were to actually say this, who would believe you? They would all be executed on the spot.

"What?! Tell me right now where the abbot has gone!"

Just as the situation was tense and everyone was about to fight, Ye Xuan's voice came from the stone railing on the north side.

"Gentlemen."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was very noticeable at the moment, and everyone's attention instantly turned to this silent Holy Sect Master.

"What, wasn't Daozi here to observe the ceremony? Now you want to get involved too?"

Ye Xuan slowly walked down the stone steps, not bothering to argue with the person who had spoken, and simply said:

"Fellow Daoists, please don't get agitated."

Just now, Mo Chenling, a disciple of Moon Eclipse Valley, used a secret method to extract the spiritual energy from everyone before leaving this place with the Golden Phoenix Abbot.

"Left? Where did they go?"

Someone asked urgently, and Ye Xuan raised his hand and pointed to the phoenix-shaped groove in the center of the altar.

"The true remains of the Golden Phoenix were never kept in the Qita Pagoda."

The abbot used the altar as a cover to hide the remains beneath the foundation, using a perch as a guide and the illusory image of a golden phoenix to draw out yang energy for sustenance.

Mo Chenling noticed this just now, and the two of them had already entered the underground space.

These words caused an uproar in the room.

No wonder! The tower was completely empty!

"That's why the golden phoenix phantom kept hovering above the altar..."

"Where is the underground space? How do I get in?"

Everyone pressed for answers, but Ye Xuan remained unhurried, walking to the altar's protective barrier and gently touching the pale golden screen.

Upon seeing this, the three elders' expressions changed slightly, and they hesitated to speak. One of them even raised his hand in mid-air, but then lowered it.

Just kidding. Although the person in front of me is not highly skilled, he is the Dao Child of the Holy Sect. Who would dare not give him some face?

They had intended to withdraw their formation, but they saw Ye Xuan's fingertips swirling with a mixture of blue and white energy, which traveled along the surface of the light shield for several breaths before finally touching a certain spot.

As light and shadow were injected, spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the light shield, centered on his fingertip, before shattering with a bang.

The three elders were all incredulous and took several steps back in unison.

They never expected that this protective formation, passed down for thousands of years, would be so easily broken by this Holy Sect Daoist.

Ye Xuan stepped into the altar, walked straight to the central recess, and bent down to brush his fingertips across the golden phoenix statue carved from withered wood.

"open."

The moment he finished speaking, the blue and white energy he had gathered in his palm suddenly surged into the statue.

With a "hum", the entire altar began to tremble.

The golden runes on the jade ground lit up one by one, and the withered wooden statue slowly floated up, spun several times in the air, and then suddenly plummeted downwards.

"Boom!"

The ground in the center of the altar collapsed, revealing a deep cave entrance from which stone steps meandered down, and a scorching heat emanated.

At the edge of the cave entrance, golden runes continued to flow, forming a one-way barrier to prevent the aura below from completely leaking out.

Even so, everyone could still feel that vast and ancient aura, which contained the ultimate pure yang power.

"So this is the true place of worship!"

Someone cried out, and Ye Xuan stood at the edge of the cave entrance, turning around to look at the crowd.

"The abbot of Jinluan Temple and Mo Chenling have entered. Each of them has their own ulterior motives, and they should be vying for the inheritance of the remains at this moment."

If left unchecked, whoever succeeds will surely abscond with the treasure, leaving you all to toil for days only to return empty-handed.

He paused for a moment, then said, "I propose..."

"Instead of fighting amongst yourselves here, why don't you join forces, enter the underground space first, capture the two men, and then discuss the ownership of their remains?"

The arena fell silent. Then, Zhen Yu from the Green Mountain Sect spoke first:

"Daozi's words are reasonable! Our Green Mountain Sect is willing to join forces with the Holy Sect!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan immediately corrected her, "No, I am not here on behalf of the Holy Sect, but simply to observe the ceremony."

Zhen Yu reacted quickly this time, immediately correcting herself:

"Yes, yes, that's a good suggestion, Daozi. In that case, what are we waiting for?"

Her instigation moved everyone present, and they all responded to Ye Xuan's call and gathered at the cave entrance.

However, some people are concerned: "Working together is fine, but what will happen to their remains after they are captured?"

"Yes, we can't let it all end up being a wasted effort..."

Faced with these people's wishful thinking, Ye Xuan calmly said:

"Each relies on their own abilities."

Having said that, he ignored everyone's opinions and stepped into the cave first, his figure gradually disappearing into the darkness.

"..."

"Damn it, Daozi's already gone down there, let's just take it one step at a time!"

The other cultivators followed closely behind, filing in one after another.

The three elders of Jinluan Temple stood at the edge of the cave entrance, their expressions complex. In the end, they could only sigh and did not stop them.

Meanwhile, deep underground.

Inside is a naturally formed cave with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and a golden sheen on the surface, clearly caused by the lingering scent of skeletal remains over the years.

In the center of the cave, there is a natural stone platform that is three zhang (approximately 10 meters) high.

On that stone platform, a complete skeleton of a golden phoenix floated silently...

The skeleton was entirely dark gold, each bone as clear as jade, with faint golden flames slowly flowing inside.

Even from a distance of tens of feet, that scorching and ancient aura still made people's hearts tremble.

Upon reaching the stone platform, Abbot Jinluan and Mo Chenling stood facing each other. Both stared intently at the remains.

"The abbot is quite cunning."

Mo Chenling sneered, "I think the remains were originally stored at the top of the tower, right?"

"However, the abbot used the Qita Tower as a cover to hide the real remains under the altar, and under the guise of the century-old festival, he attracted cultivators from all directions to come and make offerings."

If I hadn't noticed something amiss, you probably would have succeeded.

The abbot of Jinluan Temple remained calm and did not deny it, but simply reminded him:

"Young friend, don't you also intend to keep the remains all to yourself?"

"But don't blame me for not warning you beforehand. The remains require extremely yang energy. If there's even the slightest deviation, forget about glimpsing the cultivation technique inside; you might even lose your life."

"There's no need for the abbot to worry about that."

Mo Chenling then took out the black cloth bag.

"There are thousands upon thousands of red crystals here, and the essence refined from them is not much weaker than the true pure yang power."

The abbot of Jinluan Temple peeked over and couldn't help but sigh:

"So you've made a big investment. Please make yourself at home, young friend."

He stepped aside and said nothing more.

The profit-sharing agreement the two had previously agreed upon was merely a delaying tactic. If Mo Chenling truly had the ability to obtain the remains, then there was nothing he could do; otherwise…

Just as Mo Chenling was expanding the bag wider and wider, and the aura inside was about to rush towards the remains, the entire cave suddenly trembled.

Stalactites fell from the cave ceiling in a flurry, the air around the stone platform began to distort, and the scorching heat suddenly surged.

"Huh? Someone forcibly broke through the entrance's restrictions?"

"What?!"

Mo Chenling turned around abruptly and saw dozens of figures filing into the cave entrance.

Leading the group was the Holy Sect Daoist, and behind him, cultivators such as Zhen Yu from the Green Mountain Sect also rushed in, instantly blocking the cave entrance.

"Why are they all here? Didn't you say that only the successive abbots could open the entrance?"

"Yes, that's exactly what's recorded in the book, but..."

The abbot of Jinluan Temple was also stunned, but he quickly came to his senses and his gaze fell on Ye Xuan. He guessed that it must have been this Daoist disciple from the Holy Sect who had made the move.

Seeing the two looking flustered, Ye Xuan slipped into a corner, a smile playing on his lips, and said:

"You guys chat. I'm just here to observe the ceremony. At most, I just want to see the real remains of the Golden Phoenix."