Meanwhile, after kicking Elia out of the imperial city, while one body of his remained within his chambers to receive and indulge in this year’s female tributes, Konrad crossed space to land within the empress’ palace. Those weren’t mere avatars, but Devil Bodies with separate but equal cultivation bases.

  Like all other Transcendent beings, Konrad could start over and reach Embodiment in another Law. However, without another Transcendence, he couldn’t pursue Embodiment in a third. To defeat that hurdle, Konrad used his Realm Will, Nascent Infiniteness Insight, Devil Bridge and Death Transcendence to create a new devil art similar to Regretless’ Three Corpse Refining Incantation:

  The Devil Refining Incantation.

  With it, Konrad refined two new Devil Bodies to cultivate the Devil Path from scratch and Reach Truth and Fate Embodiment. The three bodies shared one consciousness and could borrow one another’s abilities at all times, making them formidable boosts. Better, when the three united in one, they could unleash all abilities at the same time with nine times the might!

  However, the Devil Refining Incantation remained a well-kept secret known only by a scant few such as Else, Verena, Yvonne and Gulistan.

  And within the Empress’ Palace, Yvonne, Else, and Verena awaited, the three sitting across an oak table with deadpan eyes betraying no emotion.

  Almost. As she stared at the teacup lying before her, Verena’s eyelids trembled, and unbeckoned to her, she clutched her thighs. If he saw it, and he probably did, Konrad made no comment and strode toward his seat by Yvonne’s right. There, he sat, swept the ladies with a brief glance, and stated:

  "Well, the time has come."

  The echo of those five words caused Verena to close her eyes, but no sound left her lips. At that time, Gulistan who returned from babying Elia appeared and took her seat.

  "Eleven years ago, Verena calculated all the fate variations of our four brats. And to give further credibility to her findings, I examined them myself. The results, I need not mention."

  Konrad pursued. Within the Jade Dynasty, although Else, Yvonne and Gulistan all now reached Fate Wielding, only Verena and he achieved Fate Embodiments. Their Fate Calculations were therefore the most reliable. For them, losing the lottery was harder than making wrong Fate calculations.

  Of course, there were some barriers. Events involving Fate Embodiments, Fate Transcendent experts and Supremes didn’t appear in their calculations. When the children were born, Konrad didn’t bother examining their fate. The reason? His belief that fate was only one variable among many. If fate was immutable, then regardless of how he struggled, he could never escape Regretless’ Will.

  If fate was immutable, man needn’t do anything but await destiny’s boons and calamities. If fate was immutable, cultivation was meaningless. No matter how low the chance, man’s will could topple fate’s plans. That was Konrad’s belief. And for that reason, he rarely calculated Fate. And when he did, it was to crush it.

  However, when on Ube’s fifth birthday, Verena conveyed her findings, verifying them was a must. What he saw pleased him not.

  "Tonight, if things go according to fate, Ube will attempt to destroy Helmut’s cultivation path and shift the blame on Elia, relying on his bit of planning to avoid getting retraced. We shall not interfere in the event, and if he does go through with his plans, I will not spare him."

  Konrad reminded, and Verena aside, all nodded in approval.

  "Is that……really necessary? We could prevent it from happening long before it did. Why allow something we know will occur? Why not just remove the possibility? With our current abilities, is there really a need to endure the petty strife of a common imperial family?"

  Verena argued following a weighty silence of restlessness. But as Konrad’s eyes shifted toward hers, even before he spoke, she knew the "why."

  "True. With our current abilities, preventing such petty strife is simplicity incarnate. No need for me to get involved. Any one of you can flawlessly handle it. However, those are half-measures. If it’s not today, it will be tomorrow. When the root lies in the heart, anything that doesn’t affect it is pointless. Either you change it, or you stomp it."

  Konrad replied, and in that instant, the icy shade of his eyes only accentuated the coldness of his gaze.

  "Within this Realm where I reign supreme, it may not matter. But in a matter of days we shall set out for the Higher Realms. There, though my Devil Bridge will keep us clouded, we’re still within our enemies’ reach. There, betrayal heralds severe consequences.

  I will not play with my house’s lives just to preserve one defiant son."

  Konrad pursued, nailing Verena with words to which she had no solution. In silence, she pulled in a deep breath and shut her eyes close. Inwardly, Yvonne sighed. How could she not understand the anguish tearing Verena’s heart? Alas, this was an unsolvable matter. With Konrad’s modus operandi, whoever stood in Ube’s shoes would only have two paths:

  Death, or puppet.

  Unlike what his outward conceit suggested, Konrad never took needless chances. In fact, the farther he went on the road to supremacy, the more ruthless and unforgiving he became. The reason? In defeat, he had more, and more to lose.

  With a sweep of his right hand, Konrad conjured a blue cloud in the middle of which, images of the three princes appeared.

  "Now, let’s watch the show."

  Konrad uttered, but as he did, Yvonne could swear she’d seen a strange glint flash within his eyes, a glint that made her question her previous certitude. And as her thoughts swirled, her eyes contorted into a frown.

  "Where is the third?"……

  Following his people-packed welcome back into the Jade Capital, Elia waited for nightfall, then in a tacit understanding with the imperial guards, snuck into the palace through a secret passage created and used only by him. Moving faster than light itself, he crossed imperial ground to land before a secluded mansion away from the imperial palace’s bluster:

  Helmut’s mansion.

  While in commoner’s eyes it might have looked grand and imposing, within the imperial palace, it undoubtedly was one of the least appealing. However, it was Helmut’s choice. Helmut and Heide might be twins, but they undoubtedly stood at two extremes. One was as pedantic as a seasoned elder, while the other brimmed with playfulness and lived for rule-breaking.

  But while Heide’s character was akin to his, among his three siblings, Helmut was Elia’s favorite!

  Turning into light particles, he bypassed the walls to land within his brother’s quarters. A prince’s mansion usually housed dozens of servants. But Helmut only kept seven eunuchs. None noticed Elia, and without hindrance, he landed within his brother’s cultivation chambers, and wasn’t surprised to see him sitting crossed-legged with black, white, emerald, grey, and a multitude of other light rays swirling around him.

  This was a manifestation of the imperial family’s number one cultivation method, the Law Revolution Creed, evolved from Konrad’s Life and Death Revolution Creed after reaching Embodiment in Truth and Fate and Wielding in all others.

  Unlike the many Devil Arts and Methods invented by Konrad, talent was the only rational to cultivate the Law Revolution Creed. But even if the mnemonics were spread across the Chthonian Realm, the imperial family aside, none could cultivate it.

  By mastering the first layer, one could reach the Intermediate stage in Base to Higher Laws and Beginning Stage in Primal Laws. With the second layer, Advanced in Base to Higher Laws, and the Intermediate Stage in Primal Laws. With the third layer, Wielding in Base to Higher Laws and the Advanced Stage in Primal Laws, and with the fourth, all Law Wielding!

  And this was only in the Law department.

  Alas, with heaven-defying methods came heaven-defying difficulty. Even with their absurd cultivation talent and unparalleled bloodlines, after more than a decade of cultivation, none of Konrad’s children had gone beyond the first layer.

  Even among the consorts, the best stopped at the third layer.