153. Sentence
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In the Sky Palace Throne room, Bailong walked forward, linked his thumbs, and bowed.
"Paying respect to the Sky Emperor, ruler of two realms."
But after the greeting, Tianlong instantly directed a powerful gold arc of aura at him.
Bailong didn't shield against it, letting it hit him squarely, and he fell to his knees, spewing out a mouthful of blood.
Immortal Jin and his cohorts could not help their pleased smirks, as the great and mighty Yin Xiaolong knelt there, looking defeated, and they didn't bother to lower their voices as they chattered.
"Hmph! I wonder where a certain someone's pride is hiding now!"
"Heh! Always carrying himself with so much power! Why is he now like a lost dog?!"
Fei Yun scoffed. "Aren't you greater than us all? Why don't you fight back? Is it because we hold a certain 'treasure' in our hands?!" He raged, his expression turning ugly.
Bailong merely lifted his golding gaze to meet Fei Yun's. "That 'Treasure' had better be safely held in your hands... At least until our negotiations are done."
"'Negotiations'?!" Sun Liang stepped forward. "Who do you think you are?!" His golding whip appeared in his hand. "You are here to face punishment for your crimes!!"
With a flick of his wrist, Sun Liang sent the tail of the thorny whip toward Bailong.
But Bailong's irises sharply darted to him, and every single Immortal, apart from Tianlong and Fei Yun, were suddenly flung into the walls and pillars with so much force that the entire Palace shook!
If not for the Palace's magical enhancements, the building might have crumbled around their ears!
But thanks to those Enhancements, the Immortals were the ones to bear the damage, and they fell one after the other in various forms of disrepair, spitting or throwing up blood, their qi in complete disarray.
This was a room full of some of the most powerful Immortals... And Yin Xiaolong had just tossed them aside like waste paper!
"I allowed the Sky Emperor hit me, and some little worm is wriggling here, trying to take advantage." Bailong spoke, calmly rising to his feet. "The next one who speaks outside the three of us, won't leave this room alive."
The immortals didn't need to be told twice, and they huddled away towards the far walls in utter silence.
"You." Bailong turned to Tianlong. "I've permitted you one hit. I can permit your Fate Immortal one hit as well, but any more and I'll retaliate."
"Yin Xiaolong!" Tianlong thundered, shooting to his feet. "You're no longer pretending to be respectful!!"
"It's better to rebel openly, than act like a thief... Sneaking into places and slaying innocents."
"You- !!" Tianlong stepped forward, but Fei Yun held an arm out to block him.
"There's no need wasting energy on a devil!" Fei Yun said, then turned to Bailong. "Did you forget we have Yan Liwei in our hands?! Perhaps we should simply kill her!
"You killed our mates! If we kill yours, even the fates won't blame us!"
Bailong sighed softly, his gaze resting on Tianlong. "I won't remind you about past friendship, but even if we ignore all that...
"Twice now, I've attacked your underlings in your presence, and there's Not. A. Single. Thing. you could have done, or can presently do about it. If I wanted to kill Feng Yuexia or A-Fen, I would do so in your presence...
"I will only say it once. I did not kill them."
"Nonsense!" Fei Yun jumped in. "Do you take us for fools?! At this point, with all the evidence, you still claim to be innoce-!!"
Bailong's aura suddenly flared outward, and Fei Yun stumbled backwards. He fell silent, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"I was not done speaking..." Bailong said, and his aura died away.
Still, he couldn't help the deep sea of rage now boiling within him, simmering just beneath his blank surface, and he found himself glaring at Fei Yun.
"I didn't come here to argue my guilt or innocence. I'm already guilty of having such 'dear friends'... And what happens if I'm innocent...? Would it bring back the lives you claimed in your moments of hatred and stupidity?!"
"You-!" Tianlong let out an enraged breath. "Don't turn things around! You discarded friendship first! Whether you were clear-headed or not!!"
"Exactly! There's nothing you can say here." Fei Yun put in. "What friendship? You are clearly possessed by the black aura! You yourself may not even know what you've done, or what you're capable of!
"Today, it's our mates you killed! Tomorrow you might destroy all of Sky Realm!!"
Tianlong sat back down. "Surrender yourself, and I might lighten your sentence! If not, don't blame me for discarding old ties!"
But Bailong simply shook his head. "Fools really can't be shown the light..."
"What did you say?!"
"You-!"
"Forget it." Bailong waved them away. "I came today to negotiate, not hash out grievances."
"Are you in any place to negotiate with us?!" Fei Yun demanded. "Do you really think we wouldn't dare to kill Yan Liwei?!!"
"Ho? If you could dare, why bother taking her alive?" Once again, Bailong's eyes met Fei Yun's.
"Hmph. Both of you, more than anyone else, realize what would happen if Weiwei dies in your hands.
"Unlike the sky soldiers from the last time, or these misguided ones present, everyone would die. I would forget sentimentality and indeed become a muddle-headed devil to destroy Sky Realm." His voice had turned deathly soft.
"And once I'm done with the initial rampage, I would self-destruct and follow after Weiwei." He sighed, turning to Tianlong before continuing.
"Even I fear the damage if I ever self-destruct... It would certainly be enough to level all of Central Sky Realm, and possibly reach parts of the Mortal Realm.
"But don't be saddened. You'd die too quickly to realize what happened. It's just..."
He lowered his gaze. "...after that, won't the name 'Zhurong Tianlong' forever go down in history? Hmmmm? The only Emperor in Sky history to ever lead both realms to such ruin..."
"You hateful bastard!!" Sheer fury roiled within Tianlong who shot to his feet again.
Tianlong had always felt inferior when compared to his father and previous Ancestors...
Bailong sure knew where to poke him!
Bailong calmly continued. "You of all people know I will do as I say, so you won't dare kill Weiwei. The most you can do is threaten to harm her, but that won't work for long either...
"You see, Weiwei won't forgive me if I bow my head for her sake, and if she even senses your intentions, she would kill herself... Bringing us right back to my rampage and self-destructing.
"The result would be the same if you go after A-Xing (Yin Xing) or Old man Bao. And if you don't resort to the cowardice of threatening my precious ones...
"Do you have any possibility of capturing me?" He sighed.
"As it is you only have one way out, so I'll repeat myself.
"I'm here to negotiate..."
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Two hours later, the Sky Palace Throne room finally opened, but the Sky Soldiers outside gasped in shock to find most of the Immortals within wounded, and this included some of the strongest they knew!
In fact, only the Sky Emperor, the Fate Immortal, and Yin Xiaolong (Bailong) stood unharmed, and the air around the three was charged with something the soldiers were not sure if they wanted understand!
The Sky Emperor was livid as he sat back down on his throne.
"Arrest the criminal, Yin Xiaolong!!" He ordered, then waved a hand.
A beautiful golden circlet appeared, floating over to the Sky General leading the soldiers.
The Sky General received the circlet as he and a few brave soldiers tentatively stepped forward.
Bailong barely turned his head and they froze, a few jumping back in fear! But he simply held out a hand.
"Umh?" Bailong raised a brow, as if asking whether they needed an invitation to proceed.
The Sky General drew a breath and stepped forward, shakily clasping the gold circlet around Bailong's wrist.
The circlet expanded into a shackle and three identical shackles appeared on Bailong's other wrist and his ankles respectively, all of them sealing his powers.
But despite being 'captured', Yin Xiaolong showed no expression.
Yet the Sky Emperor, Fate Immortal, and the other wounded immortals present, all looked extremely pissed off!
'But why?!' The Sky General and the soldiers wondered.
'Haven't they won?!!'
After Yin Xiaolong's arrest, it was clear that the Sky Emperor and Fate Immortal had turned their backs on him, and his sentencing was left in the hands of the War Hall.
But with the War deity absent, it was easy for Immortal Jin to pull a few strings...
And soon, Sky Realm heard of the death of Yin Xiaolong...
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