Infinite Potential System

Back on Efretta, Tenebris had just reformed his body from an obscure smog disguised as fumes from a blacksmith's workshop. He had been practicing his concealment technique for almost his entire life, and he even managed to evade William's detection for years.

That said, William had just Ascended and there was no more need to hide. Tenebris became his usual self and contacted one of his few remaining subordinates with the Space Element, asking them to create a long-distance portal for him to the Velos Continent.

Since the Space Mage wasn't nearly as Talented as William, they needed to create multiple exit points that hovered over the ocean, but Tenebris was able to protect the subordinate from any rampant Magical Beasts.

Only a few hours later, Tenebris reached the Velos Continent, where he hired a Miasma Navigator to lead him towards the old Revista Faction's territory, now renamed to the Frostile Faction.

But he wasn't worried about the Frostile couple, even if their strength was a bit above average. They were nothing like William, and Tenebris had no reason to be afraid. Instead, he focused on the task at hand.

He transitioned back and forth from humanoid figure to smoke to shadow and back to human as he passed through thin openings, under doorframes, and through chimneys to avoid detection by any of the peak Cultivators still present in the Faction.

His combat strength was quite high since adding a few demons to the list of his summons, but Tenebris didn't dare to expose all his cards here and now. He slid under yet another doorway, entering the palace and bumping into something.

Wait.

"What are you doing here?" a boy carrying multiple scrolls on his back and waist asked with his arms crossed in front of him. It was Carl.

"Ah, just the one I was looking for." Tenebris reformed into his human figure and smiled slightly.

"Why would you need to look for me? You didn't care very much before." Carl frowned.

"I've always cared, my son. I just didn't want to coddle you too much." Tenebris hastily explained.

Carl paused for a moment, then became angrier as he raised his tone hardened, "Well now I'm the one that doesn't care. So, get out of here."

"Not yet. I came here for a good reason."

"And what reason is that?"

"Well..." Tenebris struggled to say the rest of his sentence.

"Get on with it."

"I'm going to Ascend soon, and I want you to take over the organization."

"Retribution? I don't give a shit about them. Especially not after you all tried to kill my friend." Carl's tone became almost as icy as Fria's when speaking with her suitors.

"He's not here anymore, and there's no reason to track him down. All of my plans were ruined by him, but I don't hate him for it. He just beat me to the punch." Tenebris explained. "I hope that you'll continue to lead Retribution in my stead while I search for more demons to contract. Once I'm finished, I'll Ascend with them, and you won't have to see me again."

Tenebris' words made sense at face value, but Carl wasn't stupid enough to think that his father had his best interest in mind. If anything, Tenebris probably wanted to have Carl take care of all the side tasks just so that Tenebris would be able to smoothly Ascend. Find more to read at empire

"You still haven't taught me everything about our Heavenly Mark. Before, I was trying to gain your favor and seek your attention, but now it's you who has to come to me. How ironic." Carl narrowed his eyes at his father.

"What do you mean? I've taught you everything there is to know." Tenebris' forehead filled with sweat as he sensed a foreboding feeling.

"Oh really?" Carl's eyes glowed with a silvery color, and he pointed at Tenebris. In a split second, a beam of silver-golden light shot from Carl's fingertip and imprinted on Tenebris' forehead, creating an Advanced Enslavement Array.

That wasn't all though. While the Array was only at the Advanced level and Tenebris was a peak Cultivator, Carl wasn't worried at all. He channeled more of his mental strength into the Heavenly Mark, forcing it to transform the Enslavement Array into one countless times stronger than a normal Advanced Array.

If one wanted to make a comparison, it would now be considered to be half a Tier 6 Array. The improvements given by a Heavenly Mark were incredibly outrageous, but so was the price one had to pay.

As a result of casting such a powerful Array on Tenebris that he wasn't able to fully control, Carl's hair turned slightly grey, and he lost almost a hundred years of his lifespan. Compared to his Soul Formation Realm Cultivation, though, it was hardly anything.

While Tenebris was still deep in shock, Carl caught his breath and looked at his father coldly. "You've ruined the lives of many, created many troubles not only for your son but also your son's friends, and even abandoned our mother. To make you a slave would be the lightest of punishments for someone like you."

Tenebris hadn't been granted the ability to speak yet, so Carl continued, "I'm doing this not because it's the right thing to do, but because leaving you free to roam in a Cultivation World would be my greatest shame. I've grown up, and so should you have.

Instead of Cultivating earnestly and seeking to improve your strength through understanding and expertise, you took shortcuts and stepped on other Cultivator's bodies to get what you wanted. You even manipulated your entire organization into doing your dirty work for you."

Carl allowed Tenebris to speak at that moment, but Tenebris simply hung his head low in shame. He understood everything his son was saying, but it didn't change anything. He was honestly more upset with himself for becoming complacent and not concealing himself better after William Ascended.

Not only that, but Tenebris realized that raising Carl was a mistake, "You ungrateful brat! I gave you all kinds of things, sent bodyguards to help you gain Magical Beasts for your own summons, and even taught you how a merchant should be so you could earn your own money. Have you forgotten all of that?"

Carl shook his head, "You may have helped me once or twice, but that was your obligation as a parent. While you didn't have to go so far sometimes, the same is true for your actions within Retribution. You even planned to overthrow the Yu Royal Family!"

Tenebris was left speechless by Carl's words. His son had never spoken to him like that, what had changed? Was it his newfound power? His Cultivation? Or was it the peak Magical Beasts under his control?

He didn't know, but it was clear that Carl meant business. Tenebris couldn't break free from Carl's Enslavement Array in a short period of time, so he had to play nice.

"I see..." he said simply.

"You're thinking of trying to escape right now, aren't you?" Carl asked as he snapped his fingers, triggering the self-destruction aspect of the Heavenly Mark.

Tenebris' entire body exploded into a bloody mist, painting the walls and floor and releasing a thick scent of iron. Carl cleared off the blood from his body nonchalantly, hardly perturbed by the fact that he killed his own father.

"Now you won't need to worry about escaping. William taught me that one."