Theron was much too unpredictable. It seemed that even the Mandate Guild hadn't necessarily acted with thoughts of things reaching this point.
Though the Gold White Veil had intentionally used those methods, it was more so to suppress. While a genius was busy fighting against the effects of his chains—something that most cultivators would do on instinct because they had a fear of the Heavenly Mandates—it would weaken them considerably.
One of the things people feared about the White Veils the most was that they didn't need to be powerful to be real threats. Their Mandate Marks, even in the best-case scenario, would have you battling at half capacity.
If you were particularly sensitive to the Mandate Marks, or were facing a particularly adept White Veil, then even being left with a mere third of your combat power wouldn't be a shock at all.
