Esteemed Young Master

The Crown Prince's eyes gleamed with glee. Without wasting a moment, he dashed toward Tian Shi, fingers clawed and aimed at Tian Shi's skull. Drawing all his divine qi into his fingertips, he summoned the Heavenly Mandate and pierced through Tian Shi's skull.

Tian Shi's eyes flared. The chains binding him shattered, shocking the Primordials. His bruised and battered body regained perfection. The strength that had been stripped from him returned in a splendid explosion of golden light. Valiant golden wings unfurled from his back, their span stretching a hundred meters.

The pressure from the Primordials that had kept him subdued vanished. It became a mere figment of his imagination.

Before they could react, Tian Shi craned his neck, narrowly dodging the attack aimed at his skull, and formed a deadly claw of his own. The powers of his domain as a Heavenly Wargod filled his veins instantaneously, faster than any Primordial could perceive. He struck, piercing the Crown Prince's skull.

He seized the moment to finish his devastating counterattack, linking his soul to the Crown Prince's. The Crown Prince went limp in his grasp as all his authority faded into non-existence. His pure white hair turned stygian black, and his flesh shriveled instantly.

Without missing a beat, Tian Shi gathered large amounts of energy into his palm, fueled by the domains he had snatched from the Crown Prince.

"What have you done!" Primordial Zhao shouted.

Tian Shi ignored his father's shout, knowing full well there wasn't much he could do. Primordials lived a fickle existence. They had the power to warp reality with their presence, create and destroy multiverses with a mere thought, yet they were barred from exhibiting that power within the confines of three-dimensional space, using Avatars. Using their abilities would earn the ire of the Enlightened Ones and, in the worst case, the Forgotten Ones. Unfortunately, a Primordial Avatar wasn't strong enough to hold him back when he was at full strength, unless they broke the norm and utilized their true power, hence the need to chain him in the highest grade of Deity Subduing formations and chains. Without that restriction, he was a fish in water.

Belatedly, the Elder reacted, thrusting his own claw toward Tian Shi, hoping to end the charade. Tian Shi merely sidestepped, slamming a punch into the Elder's gut, sending him barreling toward his throne. The guards came next, rushing at him, winding through space at blinding speeds. Flaming swords erupted. With anger marking their faces, they slashed. Bright beams cut through space, aimed at his chest.

Tian Shi didn't bother defending. The beams crashed against his chest without leaving a single mark. He pounced, slamming two well-placed fists into their midsections, cracking their cores instantly. They died.

The Tian Clan guards outside the hall rushed in after hearing the commotion. Though they halted as hesitation struck them. Clearly, they couldn't begin attacking the patriarch's son right in front of him. And no one had told them to, either. Their hesitation resulted in thousands of guards rushing into the hall only to pool at the entrance, forming rows with their hands hovering over their weapons.

The elder who had crashed into his own throne dusted himself off. Tian Shi had somehow broken the Subduing Chains; challenging him using a weak avatar would be pointless. Instead, he went back to his seat silently.

"Your son has become more disrespectful over the ages, Your Excellency. I recommend the highest form of exile," the elder spoke.

The others agreed with his sentiment. Primordial Patriarch Zhao harrumphed, ignoring the statement. His internal world fell into turmoil. If only his idiot son had gone along with things as planned. Now he was forcing his hand, especially after killing the Crown Prince in the Tian Clan's judgment hall, right in front of nine Primordials. Did the boy have so little confidence in his abilities?

He squinted and finally broke his silence, "I'll deal with it personally."

Tian Shi stood at the center of the hall. Golden blood covered the ground beneath his feet, forming a pond around him. He gazed at his father with crimson eyes, wondering what the man would do. He banked his entire plan on the fact that the Primordials wouldn't risk using their full abilities. The cost was too much for them to bear.

Seeing the lack of reaction from the Primordials, he started walking toward the exit. He had approximately one day to storm the Heavenly Emperor's Palace and kill the rest of the princes. Then, and only then, would he die in peace. After all, the technique he used to regain his strength was something he couldn't sustain for more than twenty-four hours. At least in this manner, he would die on his own terms.

Tian Shi fell to his knees. The power flowing through him disappeared once more. His eyes bulged as searing sparks of pain spread from the back of his head, shooting throughout the rest of his body. Fear gripped his heart. Pain, it ripped him from the inside out. His crimson eyes turned a few shades brighter.

"For killing the Crown Prince, Tian Shi of the Tian Clan, you have been excommunicated from the clan," Tian Shi heard his father's voice snake into his ears. "For killing the Crown Prince, as the Judge and Jury of the Imperial Court, I sentence you to eternal death within the abyss."

"Fa...ther," Tian Shi managed to say, "Even in my last moments, you couldn't let me die peacefully."

The only reply he gained was a grunt. Tian Shi's heart shattered into a million pieces. Everything that held his being together followed, splintering into an equal number of fragments. Of all the people he could think of who would want to kill him so dearly that they would risk angering the Enlightened Ones or the Forgotten Ones, his father was not among them.

"You are a fool," Primordial Patriarch Zhao replied, "Always have been. And always will be."