One Human Emperor Battles Three Saints

The standoff was finally broken by Saint Zhunti of the Western Teachings.

He forced a smile onto his careworn face, one uglier than tears, and bowed to Huang Tian. "Fellow Daoist Huang Tian, it's been many years. You haven't changed a bit."

"But I'm afraid you're mistaken."

Zhunti changed tack, trying to argue from another angle.

"Yang Jian may have Human Race blood, but he also has the body of an immortal and cultivates immortal arts. As an immortal, he must abide by the laws of Heaven."

"He violated those laws and disrupted the order of the Three Realms. That is a grave crime. We moved to subdue him to preserve the stability of the Primordial Wilderness and keep the Heavenly Dao running, not to make enemies of the Human Race."

He had deftly shifted the question from bloodline to identity and the preservation of order, hoping to sidestep the logical trap Huang Tian had set.

Huang Tian merely listened, his expression unchanged.

Only after Zhunti finished did he slowly reply.

"The laws of Heaven?"

Huang Tian turned his gaze to Haotian, a hint of mockery at his lips.

"Do you mean the rules he made up to protect his sister's reputation?"

"Or the rules your Western Teachings invented as convenient pretexts to convert a few disciples?"

He shook his head. His voice was calm, but it carried an authority that brooked no argument.

"The principle of the Human Race is simple."

"Of all virtues, filial devotion comes first."

"A son saving his mother is only right. It is filial devotion in its purest form. That is the way of the Human Race, the foundation that has let us pass our flame from generation to generation and stand tall in the Primordial Wilderness."

"Your so-called heavenly laws and so-called order