This Prince Objects!

"Still, you resent me. After all these years her memory still lingers within your mind. But it's okay. I believe that women can never replace the blood that binds us. Three thousand years is not enough? How about ten thousand? How about a hundred thousand? In time, you'll be my brother again."

Tian Tu confidently said without losing his smile and then vanished in a haze of golden light.

Beneath the chess table, Zui Gao's fists were clenched to the point his nails dug into his flesh and drew blood.

Due to his rising anger and lack of control, an increasing amount of divine power leaked from his pores and fissured the walls and furniture that surrounded him.

And in a snapping sound, the chess table shattered.

...…

In the meantime, Tian Tu had reappeared in front of Yue Li's palace. And immediately upon seeing him, the palace maids fell on their on their knees and kowtowed in greetings.

"Greetings your majesty!"

Tian Tu spared them no glance and directly walked in. Wherever he went, as soon as they saw the shadow of his form, the palace maids would instantly fall on their knees and give their greetings, not daring to bat an eyelid or look at anything but the ground beneath them. In less than a breath of time, he reached Yue Li's chambers and unsurprisingly could see a dejected Long Ming kneeling in front of the black-white lotus.

"Imperial mother worry not! Imperial father has finally come out of seclusion. I will immediately go beg him to release you. Even if I must kneel for ten days and ten nights, I will not relent!"

It could be said that Yue Li and Long Ming possessed the most harmonious mother and son relationship within the Heavenly World. She doted on him and indulged all his excesses while he served her with incomparable filial piety. In fact, in her presence, he had none of the rash, unbridled young master attitude.

"I want to say that you can start kneeling, but you already are so…just continue."

Tian Tu's voice echoed from Long Ming's back. Surprised, Long Ming spun around to face him and upon realizing that it was truly him, bowed in greeting at a speed no different than the palace maids.

"Greetings imperial father! Imperial father, your son beseeches you to please free imperial mother from imprisonment!"

He pleaded while giving a series of kowtows to show sincerity.

Tian Tu, however, remained unimpressed.

"I believe I have ordered you to assist Long Wei in preparing the festivities. But here you are doing nothing but idling your time in a pointless display of your perpetual ineptitude. Do I, your imperial father, need you to tell me what to do? Get lost!"

Tian Tu snapped. And while every word daggered him, Long Ming was already used to them. It had always been this way. If his mother treated him like a treasure, then his father unquestionably treated him like a heap of trash.

But while Long Ming would normally not hesitate to comply, since it concerned his beloved mother, he would still try his hardest.

"Not before imperial father accepts to free imperial mother."

"You dare make me repeat myself?"

*Crack*

The words carried formless divine power which bypassed Long Ming's flesh and battered his bones into crumbling debris.

"AAAAAAARGH!"

Long Ming howled and collapsed onto the ground.

"Impudence. Dare disobey me again and your punishment will not be this light. I certainly do not mind crippling a worthless son such as yourself. Out of my sight!"

Sobered by the pain, Long Ming realized that there was no reason for his father to be there if not for freeing his mother and so, crawled to drag his broken and quivering body out of the palace.

With the room now emptied, Tian Tu stepped toward the black-white lotus.

"He even sent you right back to your chambers. Zui Gao is truly considerate."

He remarked in a mild chuckle while extending his hand toward the lotus. His palm was pressed against it and nigh instantaneously, the black-white lotus that so firmly trapped Yue Li vanished in black and white light particles. As it vanished, her sitting form was revealed.

"Greetings your majesty!"

She exclaimed in haste while falling on her knees.

Gods didn't need to kneel in front of the Heavenly Emperor. Yue Li, however, dared not not kneel.

"My beloved empress, I heard that while I was in seclusion you caused quite the ruckus."

Tian Tu softly said while stroking her cheek with a lover's tenderness.

"Your majesty I…"

Yue Li shivered, not daring to look at those shimmering golden eyes. While trapped in the lotus, she could hear nothing of what happened in the outside world. However, although it was impossible, she still vainly hoped that those events would not reach his ears.

Did she love him?

Perhaps.

Did she dread him?

Without a shred of doubt!

...

Having increased his understanding of the ancient laws by a vast margin, the suppression Hou Hui felt within the starry sky was mitigated to the point that one and a half month was enough for him to complete the trip back to the Heavenly World. As soon as he stepped into his native world's atmosphere, he released the trio from his sleeves but kept them warped in a protective orb so that they would not have any flying or breathing issue.

Finally released from imprisonment, the trio jubilated.

"Aaaargh! Finally, finally! I'm free again!"

"Wooohooo! Although seeing the starry sky from big bro's sleeves was cool at first, after such a long time, it truly became annoying!"

"Aiya, my body hurts!"

Qing Yun, Qing Ya, and Qing Yue exclaimed in unison.

But immediately, their attention fell on the incomparably vast world beneath them and their eyes widened with horror.

"AAAAAARGH! Big. So big! How can there be such a big place?"

"Dizzy…I feel…dizzy…"

"Endless" was the perfect way to describe the Heavenly World for its size simply defied the imagination of mortal beings. Stretching across billions of miles, with innumerable domains administrated by the various officials and a qi so pure that it's inhalation could immediately cleanse all mortal ailments, it truly was a place of marvel. Mountain ranges stretching across tens of thousands of miles were as common as a sea of clouds and the highest peak was as high as ten thousand kilometers. Even for gods, covering it was no small feat.

"What? Surprised? Not everyone gets to see the Heavenly World from this altitude. You should cherish the opportunity."

Hou Hui teased.

"No! The ground, we want the ground. Even the sleeves were better! Quick, quick! We-we're…fainting…"

And then with masterful timing, the three simultaneously swooned.

"Gutless punks. In the future, dare misbehave and I will take you back here."

Hou Hui then once again swallowed them within his sleeves, turned into a beam of light and shot toward the ground. Consistent with his low-profile attitude, he didn't want to enter the Heavenly Capital through flight, so he first returned to the ground and used the Void Crossing Step to cover the vast expense of land and return to the Heavenly Capital in a negligible amount of time.

Subsequently, he converged his presence and faded within the crowd. With a population approaching five hundred billion, and a size of almost two billion square miles, the Heavenly Capital was more than ten thousand times bigger than the Azure Cloud imperial city. In fact, it was more like its own world. For that reason, it wasn't called "city."

Unlike what mortals believed, it wasn't inhabited solely by immortals. That was naturally impossible. While foreigners often possessed at least an immortal level cultivation base, the same wasn't true for the natives. However, mortals in the proper sense didn't exist. Even the most average people were born at the First Layer of Qi Refinement. Moreover, the Soul Transcendence cultivators who were at the apex of the mortal worlds were all over the place.

But as he moved past the sea of people, there were words that disturbed him.

"Did you hear? There is going to be a huge celebration within the heavenly palace. The most outstanding immortals of the younger generations will all be present."

"Your news are old and inaccurate. The celebration is happening right now. I heard the Nine Celestial Fairies and the Seven Sons of Heaven are all present!"

"What? The Nine Fairies and the Seven Sons? Do you think we could sneak in?"

"Bah! Tired of living? Even in ordinary days such an occasion wouldn't allow our lot. But today, I heard the third prince is going to ask for the hand of the Phoenix God's daughter. Isn't it even more likely to be exclusive?"

"What a pity…"

Words like these were very common and forced a glower upon Hou Hui's face.

Silently, he moved past the sea of people until he reached the Heavenly Palace. He had considered first going to see his uncle, but with the words that now reached his ears, he didn't dare delay, crossed the void to step into the palace, and directly moved toward the banquet hall.

.....

In the meantime, in the Heavenly Palace's most luxurious banquet hall, hundreds of immortals were conversing while drinking immortal wine. The men were handsome and refined while the women were beautiful and elegant. But although they all seemed to be in their twenties, they had all lived for more than a millennium.

But as the host, Long Wei was quite annoyed. He was one of the people that didn't want to be there. However, his father's orders could not be violated.

Long Ming did a better job at entertaining the guests. But quickly, his attention shifted to a young woman who had just made her entrance. It was a blue haired, riveting girl dressed in a skintight green dress. It was Feng Wu Shuang. And as soon as his eyes laid on her, Long Ming beamed.

In a heartbeat, he stepped away from the guests he currently was entertaining and walked toward her.

"Wu Shuang, I have been waiting for you. Please come join me."

He cajoled with apparent impatience.

However, she did not budge and only eyed him with scornful indifference.

Seeing Feng Wu Shuang, Long Wei's eyes briefly flashed with a strange light.

"Long Ming do not act rashly. If you dare make a fool of yourself today, to say nothing of Hou Hui's wrath, imperial father will be the first not to forgive you."

Warned Long Wei through a mental message.

Long Ming, however, paid him no heed and as if unable to see Feng Wu Shuang's disdain, stepped even closer toward her while clapping for attention.

"Everyone, everyone, this prince has an announcement to make!"

He exclaimed for all to hear. And immediately, as if bound by previous agreement, all eyes fell on him. This was the attraction the gathered immortals were eager to see. Feng Wu Shuang was well known to give no face to those that annoyed her, in the meantime, Long Ming had been for a long time trying to earn her favor but to no avail.

It was rumored that the one holding her attention was the eldest prince. If today Long Ming dared in the eyes of all those prominent young immortals declare his flame, regardless of what happened afterward, wasn't the imperial family offering them a free drama?

"Although It is no secret that this prince is deeply enamored with the Phoenix God's daughter, Feng Wu Shuang. Today with all of you immortal friends gathered, this prince wants to publicly profess his love and admiration."

And so it began. Long Wei frowned but took no further action.

"Wu Shuang, you are as beautiful as a field of blooming spring flowers. Since I met you, there was only you. If you can accept my feelings, I promise you that in nights of horror and uncertainty, my shoulders will act as your beacons of safety and certainty. If you can accept my feelings, I promise you to dedicate a lifetime to ensure your happiness. If you can accept my feelings, I promise you that forever, there will only be you."

The words flowed with incomparable fervor and passion which forced those eager to see him trip swallow their mockery.

"Too cheesy."

Feng Wu Shuang, however, remained unfazed.

"Will you marry me?"

Long Ming asked with a palpitating heart that threatened to burst from his chest. He was incomparably thick-skinned and never paid any heed to potential mockery. As long as he could get her to agree, no matter how despicable the method, he would use it.

But before Feng Wu Shuang could violently reject him, a soothing voice came from behind.

"Marriage is something decided by the elders. Third prince, I'm afraid Wu Shuang is not eligible to answer you."

The one who spoke was a slender, strikingly handsome young man with blue hairs, heterochromatic red and blue eyes, and features eighty percent alike Feng Wu Shuang's. He was the second son of heaven, the phoenix god's only son and most importantly, he was Feng Wu Shuang's beloved elder brother, Feng Wu Chen.

As he walked toward her side, the vast pressure of Dao Threading was released. But facing him, Long Ming was unafraid.

"Well said. However, this prince has already obtained the approval of imperial mother. As long as Wu Shuang is willing, this marriage will take place."

No one had expected that the empress would be tolerant to this extent and even allow Long Ming to attempt to coerce the phoenix clan's first daughter into marriage.

Feng Wu Chen's calm, handsome face quickly contorted into a frown.

Feng Wu Shuang, however, remained unfazed.

"Wu Shuang are you willing? I believe that no one in this room would dare object. But if anyone wishes to do so, may they speak now!"

Feng Wu Shuang and Feng Wu Chen swept the gathered immortals with their heterochromatic eyes, but unsurprisingly, no one wished to meet their gaze.

Satisfied, Long Ming was about to continue when suddenly…

"This prince objects!"

A violent voice thundered from the hall's entrance. Immediately, the gathered immortals turned toward its origin and were surprised to see a white-robed scholarly man whose body showed no trace of immortal qi.

Strangely, however, the vast pressure emanating from his form prevented them from looking down on him.

And seeing him, Feng Wu Shuang's aloofness was finally replaced by a radiant smile.

"Long Ming, for centuries this prince has tolerated your insolence. But since today you have the nerves to attempt to coerce the woman of this prince into marriage, do not blame this prince for not taking the blood we share into account!"

He subsequently waved his sleeve and in a white ray, a palm-sized bronze fox seal shot toward Long Ming's chest.

*BANG*