Haotian saw what was happening, but instead of getting angry...
He found it rather amusing.
Wasn't this much more fun than stringing along that old loach?
With that thought, Haotian stopped trying to catch Candle Dragon.
Maybe just letting him run around like this wasn't so bad.
At least Haotian was still in pretty high spirits.
However, while Haotian toyed with Candle Dragon in Chaos, several Sages in the Primordial World were frowning so hard their brows twitched.
It was confirmed!
Haotian's strength really did exceed the Quasi-Saint realm.
Before this, the Sages could still claim Kunpeng was simply weak.
After all, Kunpeng's strength had previously been limited by the spiritual treasures to which he had entrusted his Three Corpses.
He had only obtained the River Diagram and Lo Shu Square a few dozen Yuanhui ago.
There was no way he could have reached the late Quasi-Saint stage in such a short time.
But Candle Dragon was an established Quasi-Saint.
No!
He should be called a seasoned Perfected Hunyuan Golden Immortal.
His cultivation realm was on par with Haotian's.
Yet Haotian toyed with him as if he were walking a dog.
This was no longer a matter of being weak.
The conditions they had agreed to with Haotian earlier seemed a little rash now.
They had allowed Haotian to achieve his goal of taking charge of the Primordial World with full legitimacy.
Who could they use to keep him in check from now on?
The other cultivators weren't fools.
They wouldn't be willing to go up against Haotian just because the Sages talked them into it.
Especially now that Haotian had revealed his strength.
He treated a Perfected Hunyuan Golden Immortal like a dog he could take for a walk.
Before someone had that kind of strength, which cultivator would dare oppose Haotian?
But if they couldn't keep Haotian in check, that meant their disciples would truly have to follow Haotian's rules from now on.
On Kunlun Mountain.
Primordial Heavenly Venerate watched Haotian's moves in Chaos.
His brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a mosquito.
If there was no cultivator they could use to keep Haotian in check, then they could only work around the Heavenly Rules he had established.
After Haotian set the rules, Primordial Heavenly Venerate would have to find a way to make Haotian break them first.
Then, when he broke the rules himself, there would be nothing to stop him.
That would leave Haotian with virtually no way to restrain his disciples.
As one of the parties already at odds with Haotian, Primordial Heavenly Venerate felt the pressure weighing heavily on him.
Nuwa in Wa Imperial Palace felt the same way.
But the two in the Western Region were having the hardest time of all.
After watching Haotian act with such ease for a while,
Zhunti slowly spoke. "Senior Brother!
"Haotian is so overbearing. What are we supposed to do from now on?
"If the Western Region is to prosper, we'll certainly need to take plenty of action.
"We're Sages, so we don't need to worry about Haotian.
"But I'm afraid he'll go after our disciples."
Jieyin listened, then looked again at Haotian's figure in the Mirror of Radiance.
The words this is difficult surfaced in his mind.
At this point, the issue was no longer whether they could keep things from Haotian.
Even if they managed to hide it, so what if there was no evidence?
Some things didn't require evidence.
With their earlier Dao Oath in place, all Haotian had to do was grow suspicious. He could make life difficult for the Western Region's disciples, and that would be that.
He didn't need any schemes. If he retaliated openly, there was nothing they could do.
As long as he found a good excuse, what could they do to Haotian?
After thinking for a while, Jieyin suddenly had an idea.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother!
"We're not the ones who should be most anxious right now.
"We haven't done anything at all.
"Haotian can't possibly lump us in with the others for no reason.
"No matter how overbearing he is, he can't summon all Six Sages every single time, can he?
"If he does it too often, the problem won't be with us Sages. It'll be with Haotian.
"So the ones most worried right now
"should be Nuwa and Yuanshi.
"One of them has already fallen out with Haotian and is currently keeping quiet.
"The other is being tormented by Haotian.
"Nuwa must be having a headache right now.
"Kunpeng is in charge of clearing out the Demon Race in the Northern Region, and he's showing them no mercy.
"When Kunpeng finishes this purge, the Demon Race may never recover."
Hearing Jieyin's words, Zhunti said, "You mean those two will lose patience first and go up against Haotian again.
"And we just have to stay in the background and take advantage of the situation to disrupt Haotian's plans?"
"Exactly!
"We only need to help fan the flames. Then, when the time is right, we can make a united appearance and put pressure on Haotian.
"If we can't target Haotian directly, surely we can target the Heavenly Rules he established?"
Meanwhile, on Golden Ao Island, Master Tongtian was still fretting.
The Demon Race was about to be crippled by Haotian. Would Interception Sect be next?
He knew his own people best.
There weren't many decent cultivators in Interception Sect.
Under Haotian's rules, there would probably be only a few of them who could wander outside.
The moment any of the others dared to step off Golden Ao Island,
Haotian would come after them.
His disciples' Karmic Debt was no exaggeration.
Thinking of this, Master Tongtian grew furious.
Back on Kunlun Mountain, he had already endured plenty of Yuanshi's anger over this matter.
To get some peace, Master Tongtian had moved to Golden Ao Island.
He hadn't expected to still have to worry about this.
Earlier, he'd thought Haotian was pretty good.
Now he realized he'd spoken too soon!
That fellow was even more annoying than Yuanshi.
No more!
He had to find a way to take a shot at Haotian.
Otherwise, wouldn't all the trouble of moving have been for nothing?
The Six Sages each had their own ideas, but all of them were considering how to make a move against Haotian.
It wasn't that they had nothing better to do.
Haotian's actions had left them no choice.
Haotian, the one who had started all this, had toyed with Candle Dragon in Chaos for a while and was gradually losing interest.
Just then, Candle Dragon finally realized he had been played.
As Candle Dragon wondered how he could break the deadlock,
Dao Patterns suddenly appeared around Haotian.
Candle Dragon immediately sensed that something was wrong.
He was about to use a divine ability to flee.
Stay?
Was he supposed to stay and become the next Kunpeng?
Kunpeng had already served three different masters.
Candle Dragon wasn't much better off.
If Haotian captured him this time, his fate would be to join the Heavenly Court.
The Dragon Race had already fallen once, defeated by the Demon Race's Heavenly Court.
If they were defeated by Haotian now, he'd be just like Kunpeng—a servant of three different masters.
But by the time Candle Dragon thought to flee, it was already a little too late.
Just as his divine ability was taking shape, Haotian's voice rang out like a thunderclap.
"Freeze!"
The moment the word left his mouth, Candle Dragon felt his body stiffen.
Then his body stopped obeying him.
He tried to use his primordial spirit, only to find that it had been sealed too.
Only then did Candle Dragon realize how foolish he had been.
Why hadn't he simply discussed things properly?
No matter how unreasonable Haotian's demands were, they were aimed at the other members of the Dragon Race.
At least Candle Dragon himself would have been safe.
But now look at him.
They hadn't even started negotiating, and he had already gotten himself into trouble.
Judging by how Haotian had coerced Kunpeng, there was no way Candle Dragon could escape.
Unless Dao Ancestor Hongjun spoke up, even Ancestor Dragon wouldn't be able to save him.
Ancestor Dragon was powerful, but he wasn't that much stronger than Candle Dragon.
Haotian was different. From start to finish, he had been toying with Candle Dragon.
Thinking of this, Candle Dragon wanted to slap himself.
What had he been thinking?
Wouldn't it have been better to make things difficult for the other dragons instead of himself?
Before you continue