The king walked with his generals forward, tearing down the formation that Shen Bao hadn't touched since he was only able to progress to a stage that was only a couple formations close to the main palace and never moved ahead, the king started giving Shen Bao even more praise in his heart. Because the formation in front of him was actually tough enough that it required the King to use ten percent of his strength to break it.
Though ten percent might not seem like a huge number, in relation to Shen Bao's core cultivation level, this was an astronomically monstrous amount of Qi, not regular Qi, but pure Saint Qi that the king had used, and the moment he broke the formation, he sighed.
"What's wrong, father?" came the voice of Zhang Tian.
"Nothing, Son, it's just that I'm more and more amazed by how your friend was able to unlock these formations with such a low cultivation level, it's a surprise I still can't tone down."
"I know father, I still have even more news to share with you regarding him, but that will have to wait, I don't want to cause you heart demons," Zhang Tian said.
"Heart Demons? That's a term I haven't heard in a long time, do you think that I could even have those?" the king replied.
"Well, it's regarding the Dao and the Mortality Severing, Shen Bao gave me a pretty new and different view that would break anyone with a weak will, and will still shake one with a stronger one. He revealed truth that I didn't even think to consider, so I'm sure that you'll have a pretty hard time accepting it, thus I will only speak them in our privacy and when you're fully meditated because his truth were pretty shocking."
"Then I can't wait to hear them, this is entertainment I longed for, discussing Dao with my son, and discussing the Dao of someone even my son looks highly up upon."
"Yes father, all in due time," Zhang Tian replied.
The King, with newer will and resolve moved forward and attacked the next and final formation before the Major Palace formation.
This one took him a few hits before he tore it down. Though Shen Bao used his wits and mastery of inscriptions to turn them off; with the King's power, he only needed brute force to tear these formations down.
Finally, after the labyrinth city was broken through, the king stood gazing upon the massive palace in the middle of the city, where a purple formation had been erected there for ages long ago and was still standing strong.
"This will take some time to break," the king said and pulled a sword from a jeweled ring on his fingers.
The weapon in his hand was a massive scimitar with several rings attached to the dull side. The curvature of the Scimitar was beautiful and the weapon itself seemed to shine bright with Saint Qi as if it had a soul of its own.
"Soul Cleaver, show me your might," the king said and raised his weapon preparing to destroy the formation.
Yet before his weapon would even come down, an avatar showed up on the formation.
"Wind King, Shu Tian," spoke the avatar.
"Huh, a recorded message, this is Master Rain." King Shu Tian replied.
The avatar, since it was a recording replied, "This place I've built to imprisoned fools, and your son was one since I didn't want to kill him and create a blood feud between us, I only imprisoned him here. You may reclaim your son, this barrier will dissipate now, and I hope he had paid enough for his foolishness against me."
Immediately, the whole formation shone once, twice, and a third time before dissipating, revealing the palace for all to see, without a single formation acting up again.
"That's convenient," the king said, but his words weren't that of a person who I glad. They were rather filled with venom.
"Does Master Rain think that doing this is enough to forgive his crime!" one of the two generals said.
"Silence," the king replied, "I'll personally deal with Master Rain once I meet him again, but for now, let's get my son."
Just as the King's words finished, the Prince, Zhang Tian appeared at the front of the Palace.
Looking at his son, with the marks of chains on his collar, hands, and legs, red from a thousand years imprisonment was enough to fuel a rage never before seen in the eyes of the Wind King.
"Calm down, Father," the Prince said, "I do not regret the imprisonment, though it cost me a few years of cultivation, and I'm sure I'm far behind my brothers, I don't think it will take me a lot of time to surpass them," the prince said.
"I still have no idea why that fool tried to do such a thing, why did he do this to you son? I'm ashamed as a father to not have found you earlier."
"I know father, I know you did your best, but Master Rain was pretty smart about where to imprison me, within the Lower Celestial Realm inside your own realm, in plain sight where no one would think to search. But it was all worth it," Zhang Tian said with a gentle smile.
"A thousand years Son! That's a thousand years of your life wasted here!" the king said as if not believing that what his son was saying to be true.
"But for this," the prince said and showed his father a small round pearl. It gave off a beautiful light, a mix of green red, and purple.
"That's! Where did you get that!" the king's surprise was even bigger than when he knew about Shen Bao's achievements.
"It's the reason Master Rain imprisoned me here, though he never thought I'd hide it on my person since he saw me threw it into a world's rift."
"You mean, that you tricked Master Rain into thinking you threw An Eternal Blaze into a World's Rift? How did he believe it?"
"I used a domain I had obtained, domain of forgery, it can copy and clone anything perfectly, I just threw the copy and he was so mad he did this, now I have obtained it, you can have it father, that's the last thing you need to rise above your cultivation level, then assert dominance over the realms." Zhang Tian said.
The king, with all his majesty, came to his son, hugged him, and wept.
"It is not the son's duty to sacrifice for his father! It was mine! You shouldn't have given years of your life for me, I should be the one doing that! Filial son of mine, you've done me a favor I cannot repay!" The king said with a broken voice.
"Don't say that father," Zhang Tian said as he patted his father on the back, "You have done more to me than I am worth, it is only a small token, take it, go into seclusion and come back as the true king of all. I have enough wits about myself to grow my strength and surpass my brothers, so don't worry about my well-being." Zhang Tian's smile never left his face.
The generals, seeing this touching scene bowed down to the prince, "Long Live the prince! Long live the king!"
The king finally getting his bearings, wiped his tears, smiled at his son, and said, "Today is a day of joy, today is a day of festivities, I shall declare a month of festivities, for your return," the king said then used his divine sense for all to hear.
"Heed my words! For I have been gifted the greatest gift by my son! Zhang Tian, as all here a witness you're hereby promised my throne! Son of mine, you're now the heir, and first in line to claim my throne!" The king said.
And immediately everyone cheered for the kindness of the king and what appeared to be a perfect reward for the filial son.
Frowning, Zhang Tian sent his father a private Divine Senes message.
"Father, I didn't do this to become your next in line, this will cause a lot of problems with my brothers."
His words were clear, as Zhang Tian's nature wasn't one to rule and command but that of a scholar who seeks the truth.
"I know son, I know, you can refuse later, but not here, I need to show the world how I treat those who treat me well, even if you refuse the throne, I have far better things to give you, I know this throne is nothing but trouble for a scholar such as you, thus I made this scene, also this will force your brothers out of their bickering and scheming against each other.
"Then they'll start scheming against me." Zhang Tian said.
"I know, but unlike your brothers, you're the smartest, their schemes won't work on you, as a father I fear that if my sons kill each other, and if they were all focused on you, none will suffer."
"Father, I feel like your punishing me instead of rewarding me," Zhang Tian laughed, but he understood what his father meant. "But worry not, I'll take this responsibility with pride.
"Thank you, son, I'll make it up to you, I promise, now let's go back home, your mother will be really happy."
"Yes, I haven't seen her in a while I'm sure she misses me."
"Yes son, let's go, let's go back home."