Heir to the Ultimate Power

The freezing wind on the grand marble terrace of the Valoria Royal Palace bit straight through Kael’s thin, tattered robe, but the heavy iron weight-collar around his neck burned much worse . This heavy artifact hummed with a cold, oppressive energy that constantly suppressed his physical movements. Every single breath felt like lifting a massive mountain .

He dragged his feet across the polished white stone, his hands raw and bleeding as he scrubbed the imperial steps. Thirteen years had passed since his father, General Raith, the nation's ultimate savior, died mysteriously in cold blood . The crown quickly chose to forget the hero's legacy.

Instead of honoring the savior, the royal family forced a seven-year-old Kael into a political marriage with Princess Seraphina under the guise of a false prophecy . Over the years, the royals grew intensely unwelcoming, cold, and inconsiderate . They stripped Kael of his family wealth and treated him like a parasitic burden.

His mother, Elara, had been forced into a damp, decaying courtyard at the edge of the capital city . She now lay bedridden with a terrifying, soul-wasting ailment. Kael knew the palace apothecary held the only antidote that could stop the disease, and he had come to the grand hall today to beg for her life.

He pushed open the heavy golden doors of the grand imperial hall, the warmth of the roaring braziers instantly hitting his face but failing to melt the ice in his chest. Dozens of wealthy nobles sat along the elevated platforms, laughing and drinking fine wine. Musicians played soft melodies on traditional instruments.

At the very center of the hall sat Princess Seraphina, her beautiful face completely expressionless as she looked down at him with absolute indifference. Kael did not hesitate for a second; he dropped directly to his knees on the cold marble floor, his forehead hitting the stone with a loud, heavy echo.

"Princess Seraphina, I beg for your mercy," Kael shouted, his voice cracking with a mixture of physical exhaustion and desperate, raw emotion . "My mother’s soul is wasting away, and she is in blinding pain every single second. Please, I only ask for a single vial of the Spirit Cleansing Antidote to save her life ."

Seraphina didn’t even look up from her golden cup, gracefully swirling her wine as if a fly had merely buzzed in the room. A high noble sitting to her left laughed loudly, leaning forward with a cruel smirk on his face. "Look who it is, the great young master of the Raith clan, begging like a dog on the floor ."

"Do you think royal medicine is grown in a common ditch for waste like you to claim?" the noble mocked. "He doesn't have a single shred of mana in his body, yet he dares to ask for a royal treasure," a guard added from the side. "Your legendary father must be turning in his grave ."

Kael clenched his fists so hard his nails cut deep into his palms, but he kept his head pressed firmly against the freezing stone. "The Raith family gave everything to protect this empire, and my father died for your safety. I am not asking for wealth, just a single vial of medicine to save a dying woman."

Seraphina finally set her cup down, her cold eyes fixing on him with absolute disdain. "Your father is dead, Kael, and his merits died with him. You have contributed nothing to this palace, yet you come here demanding treasures. Your presence alone is an embarrassment to my lineage."

"Please, Seraphina!" Kael pleaded, lifting his eyes to meet hers, his voice trembling with a son's desperate agony. "She won't survive the night without it. I will do anything. I will work double shifts, I will bear the collar forever, just give me the antidote!"

The high noble stood up, kicking an empty wine pitcher down the steps, letting it shatter right in front of Kael’s face. "You want to prove your worth to the empire? Then crawl over here and clean the mud off my boots with your bare hands, and maybe I will think about pitying you."

The entire hall erupted into cruel, mocking laughter, the sound ringing in Kael’s ears like a thousand piercing needles. Kael’s body trembled with a seething, silent rage, his vision turning completely red as he stared at the noble's filthy leather boots. He wanted to stand up and tear them apart, but his mother needed him.

He lowered his chest to the floor and slowly crawled through the spilled wine and mud, his knuckles scraping against the sharp stone fragments. He reached the noble's boots and used the sleeve of his tattered robe to wipe away the dirt, enduring the humiliation while storing every single face into his memory.

"Look at him go! Truly a natural-born dog!" the noble shouted in delight, stepping back and kicking Kael squarely in the chest . The kick sent Kael sliding backward across the slick floor, coughing violently as the breath was completely knocked out of his lungs.

Seraphina waved her hand slightly, her voice filled with absolute boredom. "Throw him out. He is ruining the atmosphere of the banquet." Two heavy guards immediately grabbed Kael by his arms, dragging his bruised body across the hall while the nobles continued to jeer at him.

They carried him out into the freezing rain and tossed him down the palace steps, laughing as he tumbled onto the muddy cobblestones below. "Don't come back, trash!" one of the guards yelled, slamming the heavy wooden gates shut with a resounding boom.

Kael lay in the mud for a long moment, the heavy rain washing the blood from his face as he stared blankly up at the dark sky. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, his body aching from the beating, but his eyes were burning with a fierce, unbreakable resolve.

As he dragged himself away toward the palace waste bins, his hand brushed against a pile of discarded spiritual materials that the royal alchemists had thrown away into the trash. Among the rotting leaves and spoiled roots, his eyes caught a tiny, withered stalk of a degraded Earth Spirit Herb.

It was a low-tier scrap that had lost most of its medicinal potency, completely useless to a cultivator, but it was all he had. He quickly snatched the degraded herb and stuffed it into his bosom, knowing it could barely reduce his mother’s blinding pain for a few short hours.