At this moment, Ye Luo was the only one inside the entire Sacred Temple of Yunkai. Thus, when Ye Luo put away the Heavenly Dragon Nourishment Technique, he suddenly realized that the entire Sacred Temple of Yunkai was trembling!

Meanwhile, outside, people were watching, and they saw it clearly—the Sacred Temple of Yunkai was disintegrating!

Without any warning, the temple’s building materials began rapidly crumbling, collapsing onto the ground!

But what people didn’t know was that it wasn’t just the Sacred Temple of Yunkai in the Great Tang Empire that was disintegrating—the trial halls resembling the Sacred Temple of Yunkai, built by the Cloud Clan in other locations, had all entered a state of collapse!

The sole reason the Cloud Clan had constructed these halls was to find someone to inherit the Heavenly Dragon Nourishment Technique.

Perhaps they didn’t expect that this inheritor would truly resolve their conflicts with the Dragon Kingdom, but at least it was considered a psychological solace for the Cloud Clan.

So, once Ye Luo inherited the technique, the existence of these halls became meaningless.

However, this was something that no one was likely to know.

Suddenly, Ye Luo felt a mysterious force binding him, and before he could even react, a flash of light erupted, directly teleporting him back to Yunkai City.

This exploration of the Sacred Temple of Yunkai had turned out to be far beyond everyone’s expectations.

No treasures were found, yet infighting was triggered, causing many casualties.

Moreover, the entire exploration process was entirely different from what had been envisioned earlier, and completely unlike what had occurred during previous explorations.

Not only were the young elites participating in the trial left bewildered, but even the older generation of powerful figures who had received the news were filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Ye Luo was the last to leave, even much later than the others, which naturally led many to suspect that he must have obtained some treasure.

Some even speculated that everyone else had been forcibly teleported away because Ye Luo had tampered with something!

As a result, when Ye Luo returned to Yunkai City, he was not greeted with cheers but with skeptical gazes.

For the people of the Royal Academy, this was somewhat tolerable, but others were less so. Some even outright confronted Ye Luo upon seeing him.

"Ninth Prince, did the collapse of the Sacred Temple of Yunkai occur because you triggered some mechanism inside, or, perhaps, because you destroyed it?"

An icy question.

Before Ye Luo had even fully landed on the ground, a powerful figure—one whose faction was unclear—directly aimed these words at him.

Evidently, this figure had learned this from those who entered the Sacred Temple and, combined with the fact that Ye Luo was indeed the last to return, threw doubts at Ye Luo.

Ye Luo frowned slightly. Whatever he had done in the Sacred Temple of Yunkai—it seemed to have nothing to do with these people, did it?

And what about that person’s attitude? Why did it feel like he was interrogating a criminal?

Ye Luo glanced up at the man, only to dismiss him with disdain and no response.

If someone spoke to Ye Luo politely, he wouldn’t mind admitting that he had acquired a cultivation technique. After all, that technique was for him alone to practice—even if he disclosed it, others wouldn’t even be able to decipher its contents!

But with this interrogative attitude?

Sorry, Ye Luo hadn’t done anything wrong and saw no need to cooperate with them!

Ye Luo turned around, intending to leave with the people from the Royal Academy.

Yet, unexpectedly, his movement immediately prompted several others to step forward and block his path.

"Stop!"

The same man from earlier, and this time, he didn’t even bother addressing Ye Luo as "Your Highness." His tone was entirely devoid of any respect!

Ye Luo turned to look at the man and asked indifferently, "What do you intend to do?"

After all, he was still technically a prince, albeit a counterfeit one—a secret known only to a select few.

At this moment, Ye Luo’s stern gaze revealed his determination to see what this individual planned.

The man’s brows furrowed slightly, seemingly realizing from Ye Luo’s inquiry that his identity wasn’t ordinary. Yet, he showed no signs of retreat. In his eyes, Ye Luo must have obtained some great treasure.

Thus, he was determined to find out, even if it meant paying a high price to seize that treasure.

"Your Highness, don’t misunderstand. However, with the Sacred Temple of Yunkai collapsing, and you being the last person to leave, shouldn’t you give an explanation for this?"

The man shifted the conversation, implying that the blame for the collapse of the Sacred Temple of Yunkai fell entirely on Ye Luo!

In the Great Tang Empire, the Sacred Temple of Yunkai was not merely a secret realm for treasure hunting—it was also a symbol of friendship between the Great Tang Empire and the Cloud Clan.

By targeting this point, the man cleverly sought to pin a charge of undermining the unity of the two clans on Ye Luo!

However, Ye Luo had no intention of bearing such responsibility!

"Oh? The Sacred Temple of Yunkai stood tall for countless years, enduring numerous battles within its walls without crumbling. And now, simply because I was the last to leave, you want to blame me for its destruction? If I were to sneeze and your entire family dropped dead, would you also claim that my one sneeze wiped out your whole family?"

"Boy, are you threatening me?"

The man’s face changed. He was someone of considerable influence in the Great Tang Empire; even his family dared to stand its ground before the Emperor of Great Tang!

To Ye Luo, it was merely a metaphor.

But in the man’s eyes, it felt like a direct threat!

"Humph, arrogant! Ninth Prince, you haven’t even ascended as Emperor of the Great Tang yet, and you already dare to speak so audaciously. Do you mean to annihilate my entire lineage?"

Another person stepped forward, just as contemptuous toward Ye Luo as the first, their gaze full of mockery!

"I see our Ninth Prince is simply young and reckless. After breaking up a few small gatherings of the Demon Clan recently, his confidence has swollen. Ninth Prince, you haven’t even become the Emperor, nor even the Crown Prince yet. Your words should be chosen more wisely, lest you bring trouble upon the Imperial Family!"

A frail elder stepped forward, a subtle smile on his face, appearing to offer advice to Ye Luo.

Yet his words were clearly a deliberate attack!

What was the implication of his words? Wasn’t he suggesting that Ye Luo harbored ambitions to seize the title of Crown Prince, even planning to usurp the throne?

These scheming old men, once they decided to act, spared no effort in trying to force Ye Luo into a dead-end!

Unfortunately for them, their threats were useless against Ye Luo. Ye Luo knew full well he was nothing more than a counterfeit prince.

Although Ye Luo had managed to earn some support among the people, an imposter would always remain an imposter. He understood this clearly, and neither the Emperor of Great Tang nor the Border Guard Commander had ever seen Ye Luo as a legitimate threat to the throne!