Liyang Capital, Time-Space Teleportation Zone.
The Liyang Ancient Kingdom was one of the most powerful overlords in this world, ruling a vast and boundless territory.
Even for someone as strong as a Heavenly Sovereign, traversing the entire Liyang Ancient Kingdom was no easy feat.
Heavenly Sovereigns had near-perfect control over time and space, but even so, it would still take millions of teleportations to barely make it from one end of the kingdom to the other.
Millions of teleportations ? Even if you performed a hundred teleportations per breath, millions would still take ten thousand breaths.
If something urgent happened, it’d be far too late.
And the longest-range teleportations put a huge mental strain on Heavenly Sovereigns—no one could sustain millions of teleportations without stopping.
However, in the capital’s teleportation zone, you could reach any domain city within the Liyang Ancient Kingdom in just over a dozen breaths.
In the war between Qingfen Domain and Zimeng Domain, from the moment Ling Shen King revealed the strength of an extreme core royal, to when Chibao King arrived via teleportation array, all told it was just a little more than thirty breaths.
Most of that time was spent relaying information and deciding which extreme core royal would be sent as support.
The Liyang Ancient Kingdom had a perfect grasp over every domain within its borders, not just because of the intimidation of the Ancestral Founder above, but also due to this web-like system of time-space teleportation arrays.
These arrays were also open to the public, but the price was steep—anyone below the Dominance stage could barely afford to use them.
Even among Dominators, unless it was something major, they’d rarely be willing to spend for the teleportation array.
At this moment in the capital’s teleportation zone, a stream of strong figures from across the kingdom came and went, exchanging information as they passed.
"Heard about it? The war between Qingfen Domain and Zimeng Domain?"
"Qingfen Domain is a border domain of our Liyang Ancient Kingdom. Zimeng is on the border of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom. Friction there is common, so what’s so special about a war?"
"Right, these skirmishes spanning a few domains or dozens of domains happen at the borders all the time."
"I’m not talking about the war—I mean Ling Shen King made a move in this battle."
"Ling Shen King? That’s the youngest core royal of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom, right?"
"Yeah, and the moment he acted, he revealed the strength of an extreme core royal."
"Extreme core royal? Then it’s over—Qingfen Domain must have fallen."
"Qingfen Domain didn’t fall. A Great Sovereign named ‘Milky Way’ intervened and killed Ling Shen King."
The Dominators from various domains discussed among themselves. There were connections between all Dominators—any important news would first spread among them.
The fact that Ling Shen King had grown to the extreme was already enough to warrant attention, even from Dominators and Great Sovereigns. But for someone to kill an extreme Ling Shen King? That was on another level.
"Supposedly this Milky Way Great Sovereign is an extreme core royal out traveling, seeking a breakthrough. Now that he easily killed Ling Shen King, it seems he’s made real progress."
"Incredible. Even though Ling Shen King had only just reached the extreme, killing him so easily? Even Heavenly Sovereigns would struggle."
"Which of our Liyang Kingdom’s extreme core royals is this Milky Way Great Sovereign?"
Immediately, the Dominators were interested. News related to the highest echelons of the Liyang Kingdom was always worth knowing.
Deep within the teleportation zone—
Dozens of figures had been waiting for quite some time.
At their head stood a woman in blue. She glanced at the strong figures outside, her expression unchanged.
A tall man behind her whispered, "His Majesty sent us to escort this Milky Way Great Sovereign to his newly constructed royal mansion. Didn’t Milky Way have a mansion before?"
Even a traveling core royal would have had a mansion in the capital before setting out.
Anyone given a royal title, whether royal or Heavenly Sovereign, had a mansion in the capital.
The mansion was prepared before the title was conferred.
But this Milky Way Great Sovereign needed to be taken to a newly constructed mansion, meaning he hadn’t had one before.
That was strange.
Did that mean Milky Way hadn’t been given a title before his travels?
But every core royal, whether they’d reached the extreme or not, was given a title.
Rumors about Milky Way Great Sovereign had been spreading wildly in the capital. It was generally accepted he was an extreme core royal.
If he wasn’t, who else could have killed Ling Shen King at the Great Sovereign level? Even Heavenly Sovereigns, back when they were Great Sovereigns, could never have accomplished this.
Heavenly Sovereigns could suppress extreme core royals, but only thanks to their cultivation stage—if they were at the same stage, the Heavenly Sovereign would probably lose.
That was why every core royal dreamed of crossing into the Heavenly Sovereign realm.
"But His Majesty values this Milky Way Great Sovereign highly. The mansion he’s been granted is right next to the kingdom’s Sunline."
"I remember plenty of Heavenly Sovereigns wanted that mansion, but His Majesty refused them all, only now giving it to Milky Way?"
The third figure spoke with some emotion.
The Sunline of Liyang Ancient Kingdom was a sacred cultivation land—the closer you were, the greater the benefit. The emperor’s own palace was built atop the Sunline.
The new mansion granted to Milky Way was right next to the Sunline; the cultivation benefits were second only to the emperor’s palace.
Many royal mansions were at the outermost edges of the Sunline’s influence.
That mansion next to the Sunline had been coveted by countless titled nobles, especially the Heavenly Sovereigns.
But emperor after emperor had left it vacant, unwilling to grant it to anyone.
Because a normal titled noble almost never died completely—once it was given, it would be almost impossible for the Liyang Kingdom to take it back.
"Alright, this is His Majesty’s decision—it’s not for you to discuss." The woman in blue swept her gaze across the group and said coolly.
"Yes."
They immediately fell silent.
Just then—
A giant teleportation array in the distance began to emit faint ripples as a spatial passage stretched from far away to this place.
"They’re here."
The waiting group of figures immediately perked up.
They were here for this very moment—to greet the Milky Way Great Sovereign.
Whoosh! The spatial passage stabilized, and several figures emerged.
The two at the head were a red-bearded old man and a young man.
"Chibao King and... Milky Way Great Sovereign?"
The group instantly recognized Chibao King, and the young man at his side must be Milky Way.
"I’ve never sensed this aura before. Is he from an unimaginably ancient generation of core royals?"
"No idea."
The group had their own thoughts, but they quickly followed the woman in blue forward.
Lin Yuan and Chibao King walked out from the spatial passage, having traveled from far-off Qingfen Domain to the Liyang capital.
"Crossing such a distance in just ten breaths... Even with peak ninth-level mastery of space-time, that’s impossible," Lin Yuan thought.
He’d left an avatar back in Qingfen City, and could vaguely sense the distance to his true body.
"And this Liyang capital..." Lin Yuan looked around, faintly feeling a mysterious pressure.
The entire capital felt like some unprecedented divine treasure; even a slight activation could suppress ordinary Heavenly Sovereigns.
Buzz—
A strange fluctuation swept past, extremely subtle.
"Don’t worry about it—that’s the capital’s detection array, to prevent strong outsiders from sneaking in," Chibao King explained via voice transmission.
Lin Yuan nodded.
The capital was the most prosperous, central, and important place in the Liyang Kingdom; every visitor was scrutinized in a hundred ways.
"So I passed the test?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Of course." Chibao King smiled.
With the overflowing Sunborn aura inside Lin Yuan, there was no way he could be from another kingdom.
The capital’s detection array was just a formality; not only Lin Yuan, but Chibao King was also scanned.
After exiting the teleportation passage, Lin Yuan saw a group of figures approaching.
"Greetings, Milky Way Great Sovereign," the woman in blue bowed respectfully, and the others followed suit.
They didn’t know Lin Yuan’s real name or lineage, so they could only address him as ‘Milky Way Great Sovereign’ for now.
Chibao King smiled at the scene and said, "These people were sent by His Majesty to welcome you."
"His Majesty?" Lin Yuan nodded.
Here, "His Majesty" naturally referred to the emperor of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom, and also its mightiest warrior.
Of course, the emperor’s strength came with certain external aids.
"His Majesty values you highly," Chibao King said. "Come, I’ll take you to your mansion."
As soon as Chibao King finished, the woman in blue led the way, and she and the others brought Lin Yuan and Chibao King to a flying warship.
In the capital, transmigration was forbidden, even for Heavenly Sovereigns.
To travel anywhere, you had to either fly the normal way or use a flying treasure like a warship.
For the latter, you needed permission from the kingdom—flying a warship in the capital was a symbol of status.
Whoosh! The warship soared into the sky, heading away from the teleportation zone.
All the strong figures coming and going in the teleportation area noticed the warship departing from deep inside.
"That warship... Is it a royal warship?"
"A nine-striped royal warship? Unless His Majesty himself gives the order, no one can use it."
"Who on earth could require a nine-striped royal warship for their escort?"
Countless strong beings watched the warship depart in awe.
The last time His Majesty used the nine-striped royal warship for a welcome was after a major war with the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom—when Liyang’s marshal Heavenly Sovereign led them to a great victory and returned to the capital in triumph.
Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom, like Liyang and Grand Ling, was one of the six major powers of this world.
But now?
In the past several hundred thousand years, Liyang Ancient Kingdom hadn’t fought any large-scale wars with the other five; it was all local conflicts. Even after great victories, no one had ever been welcomed back with the nine-striped royal warship.
Onboard, Lin Yuan looked down at the capital below.
"Hahahaha, it’s been ages since I rode this warship," Chibao King said, beaming at Lin Yuan. "I only get to ride it thanks to your reputation, Milky Way."
Soon, the warship stopped in front of a grand mansion.
Lin Yuan and Chibao King stepped out, the woman in blue and the others following.
"Milky Way Great Sovereign, this is your mansion." The woman in blue flipped her hand, producing a token, and handed it to Lin Yuan with great respect.
"This is your mansion’s token—refine it, and you’ll have control over everything within."
Lin Yuan took the token and refined it in just one breath.
With it, he could sense every detail of the mansion, and could command all its formations—including those connected to the capital’s main array.
The mansion’s array drew on the capital’s grand formation, allowing it to channel some of its power.
"Brother Milky Way, you should name your mansion," Chibao King suggested.
"A name?" Lin Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s just call it the Milky Way Mansion."
After all, his title was "Milky Way," so it made sense and was nice and simple.
As he finished speaking, Lin Yuan controlled the mansion’s token and engraved the characters for "Milky Way" atop the estate.
"Milky Way Mansion?" the group behind him muttered—normally, a mansion was named for its owner’s title.
But Milky Way?
They’d thought "Milky Way" was just an alias, but now Lin Yuan had chosen it as his official mansion’s name, it was clearly his formal title.
"Works for me," Chibao King nodded.
Royal titles in Liyang Ancient Kingdom usually started with "Chi," like Chibao King, Chisong King, Chijue King.
But that wasn’t an iron rule—it was really up to the titleholder.
"This mansion is yours now, Brother Milky Way. Mind if I look around?" Chibao King smiled.
"This place is right next to the Sunline—an absolutely top-tier cultivation ground. His Majesty’s never granted it to anyone before..."
"Please, come in." Lin Yuan immediately used the token to open the main gates.
"What pure Sunborn essence..." As soon as he entered, Lin Yuan could feel the overwhelming, searing energy saturating the air.
Bathed in this energy, Lin Yuan felt incredibly comfortable, as if soaking in a hot spring. The Sunborn bloodline in his body circulated even more smoothly.
"So, what do you think?" Chibao King asked with a smile.
His own mansion wasn’t quite this saturated with Sunborn essence, but it was decent. For Lin Yuan, it was his first time in such a place.
"It’s excellent," Lin Yuan replied sincerely after a moment.
Cultivating in this environment would let his enlightenment soar to terrifying heights.
Especially in anything related to the sun or Yang—he’d make progress by leaps and bounds.
"Hahaha, that’s what I hoped," Chibao King beamed.
"His Majesty will meet with you tomorrow. For now, just get settled in," Chibao King said.
"Alright."
Lin Yuan nodded.
Just then—
Chibao King seemed to receive some news and immediately turned to Lin Yuan.
"Brother Milky Way, the final merits from the war between Qingfen Domain and Zimeng Domain have just been decided."
...
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