Candle Dragon's face twitched when he heard that.
He had been about to reason with him and spare him a vicious beating.
It was bad enough that he couldn't recognize a good deed, but he just had to poke at Candle Dragon's sore spot.
Old friends?
To hell with old friends!
They'd only met a few times. Did he really think they were sworn brothers who'd entrust their lives to each other?
And now he expected Candle Dragon to risk getting killed just to let him go?
Since he wouldn't listen to reason, there was nothing for it but to use force.
Candle Dragon then spoke. "Fellow Daoist Huang Tian!
"You've gone too far.
"I'm only carrying out orders.
"And I didn't invite you to the Heavenly Court.
"Just as His Majesty said, you were the ones who abandoned your sanctuary in the first place.
"And His Majesty didn't take the Heavenly Court from you.
"Some lies are fine for fooling yourself, but say them aloud and you'll only make a laughingstock of yourself.
"His Majesty intends to settle this matter. I advise you to wait and accept your punishment.
"If you truly want to fight, I don't need to tell you how that will end.
"If you don't believe me, take a look at Fellow Daoist Cang Tian."
With that, Candle Dragon stopped paying Yellow Heaven any attention.
Instead, he waved a hand and conjured the Mirror of Radiance.
At once, Old Ancestor Cangtian's situation appeared before them.
In the image, Old Ancestor Cangtian was engulfed in blazing Emperor Flame.
His screams rang out without end.
But because his body and mana were both restrained,
all Old Ancestor Cangtian could do was scream. He couldn't move at all.
Looking at Old Ancestor Cangtian in the image,
Candle Dragon asked in a languid voice, "Fellow Daoist Huang Tian!
"How well done would you say Fellow Daoist Cang Tian is by now?"
At Candle Dragon's question, Old Ancestor Huangtian shuddered.
How well done?
Was that really how you described a cultivator?
But before Old Ancestor Huangtian could respond, Old Ancestor Cangtian in the image finally couldn't bear the pain and gave in.
"Your Majesty, spare me!
"I'm willing to submit to the Heavenly Court!"
Haotian stood before Old Ancestor Cangtian. Hearing this, he replied calmly, "Why didn't you just say so earlier?
"Why put yourself through all that pain?
"You know my rules, don't you, Fellow Daoist Cang Tian?"
Old Ancestor Cangtian forced down his pain and replied in broken phrases, "I... I know!"
At that, Haotian's thoughts stirred, and he withdrew the Emperor Flame.
After a while, Haotian still hadn't lifted the restraint.
Old Ancestor Cangtian naturally understood what he meant.
Haotian was afraid he'd run, and didn't want to make things more troublesome when they fought later.
Old Ancestor Cangtian then spoke. "I, Old Ancestor Cangtian, swear that my submission to the Heavenly Emperor Haotian is entirely sincere.
"If I ever betray him, may I perish at once beneath Heavenly Punishment.
"Let the Heavenly Dao bear witness!"
Only after Old Ancestor Cangtian had finished swearing did Haotian wave a hand and release the restraint.
Once he had control of his body again, Old Ancestor Cangtian felt a bitter pang.
It was too late for everything now!
There was no escaping.
Forget running. Even trying to self-destruct in front of Haotian was a pipe dream.
Self-destruct?
He'd have to circulate his mana first, wouldn't he?
That would take time, and Haotian could move faster with a mere wave of his hand.
The moment Old Ancestor Cangtian started circulating his mana, Haotian would surely restrain him again.
And once he was restrained, Haotian would forcibly extract his primordial spirit.
If he could restrain him with a wave of his hand,
there was no way Haotian couldn't forcibly extract his primordial spirit.
Haotian would still get what he wanted.
But Old Ancestor Cangtian would be in for endless suffering.
In the blink of an eye, Old Ancestor Cangtian had weighed the pros and cons.
He decisively split off a wisp of his primordial spirit and handed it to Haotian.
After accepting the primordial spirit, Haotian said, "Now that you've joined the Heavenly Court, come with me to meet the other two fellow Daoists."
At Haotian's words, Old Ancestor Cangtian's heart stirred.
Meet the other two fellow Daoists?
Old Ancestor Cangtian didn't think Haotian meant Kunpeng and Candle Dragon.
The word "meet" made it clear that the other two hadn't joined the Heavenly Court yet.
So the targets were obvious.
This was good, at least.
They'd all sneaked back together.
Now that he'd been caught, the other two weren't getting away either.
Old Ancestor Cangtian promptly replied, "I obey, Your Majesty!"
With that, Old Ancestor Cangtian followed Haotian toward the place where Old Ancestor Qingtian was.
A short while later,
Haotian and Old Ancestor Cangtian appeared outside the grand formation Kunpeng had set up.
Without hesitation, Haotian stirred his thoughts, and his Law Domain spread out.
Feeling Haotian's Law Domain unfold, Kunpeng immediately spoke. "Fellow Daoist Qing Tian!
"Let's end our discussion here.
"His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor has arrived. If you have anything to say, you can tell him yourself."
With that,
Kunpeng blurred and flew straight out of the grand formation.
Once outside, Kunpeng cupped his fists toward Haotian. "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Mm!
"Take down the formation."
"Yes!"
As soon as Kunpeng had taken down the formation, Haotian pointed at Old Ancestor Qingtian.
Old Ancestor Qingtian, who had been about to flee, immediately froze.
After restraining Old Ancestor Qingtian, Haotian turned to Kunpeng and said, "Kunpeng, go help Candle Dragon.
"They haven't started fighting yet, but just in case, you'd better go over there."
"I obey, Your Majesty!"
After giving Kunpeng his orders, Haotian glanced at Old Ancestor Qingtian, then turned to Old Ancestor Cangtian.
After a moment's thought, he said to Old Ancestor Cangtian, "Fellow Daoist Cang Tian,
"Since you and Fellow Daoist Qing Tian know each other well, would you like to try talking to him first?
"Or should I just take action?"
Old Ancestor Cangtian looked toward Old Ancestor Qingtian.
He wondered whether he should take on the task.
But Old Ancestor Qingtian had just been fighting Kunpeng.
Clearly, he didn't know what had happened to Old Ancestor Cangtian.
At Haotian's words, he immediately snapped, "Cang Tian!
"We've known each other for countless Measure Calamities, and now you're going to help Haotian deal with me?
"I was wrong about you!"
Old Ancestor Cangtian made up his mind at once.
Try to talk him down?
No way!
The man was practically begging Haotian to take action. Why waste his breath?
Better to make him face reality now than open his mouth and earn his resentment.
Old Ancestor Cangtian replied, "Your Majesty!
"Look at Fellow Daoist Qing Tian's attitude. I clearly can't talk him around.
"Why not just take action yourself?
"That would save time."
Haotian nodded, then said to Old Ancestor Qingtian, "I gave you a chance, but you weren't up to it!
"Fine!
"Since you can't tell right from wrong, I'll give you what you want."
Hearing Haotian's words, Old Ancestor Qingtian thought Haotian meant to kill him.
As a venerable old expert, he had long since come to terms with life and death.
In this situation, he couldn't fight back, let alone move.
The only thing he could do was preserve his dignity.
Old Ancestor Qingtian then said, "Kill me or cut me up, do as you please!
"Do it!"
Hearing this from the side, Old Ancestor Cangtian immediately understood.
That fool Qingtian had misunderstood.
Want to die?
Not a chance!
He'd soon find out what it meant to be unable to live or die.
Let's see if he was still so defiant then.
Before you continue