The Sanctuary of Light.

Of the Six Domains, this one held a place uniquely apart. Its peculiarity lay in its stark divergence from the others. Domains like the Profound Ice Domain, chilling to the very bone; the Nether Domain, perpetually mournful and eerie; or the Purgatory Domain, where raging fires clawed at the heavens—each presented an environment of extreme, unrelenting adversity.

The Sanctuary of Light, however, was a realm of temperate climates and scenery painted with breathtaking artistry. In most parts, it was a veritable paradise, perfectly suited for all manner of life to flourish and multiply. This single fact attested volumes to the sheer might of the Sanctuary of Light. For the land, being so supremely favorable, remained unoccupied by other powers, a clear testament that the Winged God Clan was not to be trifled with.

Of course, this tranquility might not appeal to races bred in environments of stark contrast. The Purgatory Demons, for example, thrived in the scorching heat of magma and flame, perfectly content to roll around in lava baths whenever the mood struck them. Relocating them to the Sanctuary of Light would likely prove deeply unsettling.

These digressions aside, let us set them aside for now.

In the distant past, no, ages before the distant past, the Sanctuary of Light was an entire, impossibly vast continent floating in the sky. Due to the profound mysteries of the cosmos, this floating landmass was eternally locked in orbit around three suns. The most miraculous aspect was that perpetual daylight bathed this continent; night never fell. It was as if the land itself had been divinely favored, blessed by the universe’s highest grace, constantly immersed in glorious illumination.

The Winged God Clan, too, were once darlings of the cosmos—innately powerful, living without a care upon this beautiful, abundant floating continent. Perhaps, had there been no unforeseen incident, the Winged God Clan would have spent an entire Cosmic Tribulation cycle upon this floating land.

But on a smooth road, accidents always find their opportune moment to strike. A powerful race, calling themselves Demons, descended upon this peaceful realm with an overwhelming, domineering presence, initiating a war of conquest. Although the Winged God Clan were favored by the cosmos and inherently strong, they were utterly outmatched by the overwhelmingly formidable High-Tier Demons. Thus, the battles became a crushing rout.

Fortunately, the sworn enemies of the Demons, the Immortal Clan, arrived shortly thereafter. They not only aided the Winged God Clan against the Demons but, taking advantage of the Winged Gods’ unique physiology, helped them research and refine several sets of cultivation techniques. Gradually, through the long and arduous process of combat, the Winged God people adapted to warfare; this race seemed born for battle. Under the combined might of the increasingly powerful Winged God Clan and the Immortal Clan, the Demons were finally driven from the floating continent.

Yet, the brutal war shattered the floating continent, once a unified whole, into eight fragments of varying sizes, along with thousands upon thousands of scattered islets.

The destruction of their home shattered the Winged God Clan's centuries-long pursuit of an easy, peaceful existence. Hatred, hot blood, even wickedness, sprouted within the hearts of the Winged Gods. From that moment on, the Winged God Clan became vassals to the Immortal Clan, transforming into a formidable war race under their banner, ceaselessly opposing the High-Tier Demons across the cosmos.

It wasn't until the calamitous war against the Primeval World, a protracted and vicious conflict, that history moved on. Following the passage of ages and the drastic alterations wrought by the Mother of All Beings, which led to the sealing of the Three Realms**, the Sanctuary of Light was left behind like an abandoned child.

Because of the relentless campaigning and mutual aggression spanning eons of war, countless overt and covert teleportation channels had been etched between the various Domains. These remnants of conflict became the very bridges connecting one Domain to another.

These transmission tunnels effectively linked the Domains, which were geographically remote from each other, with the Nine Provinces, binding them into what appeared to be a single, cohesive world. In truth, however, the so-called Six Domains and Nine Provinces comprised seven distinct worlds, profoundly distant from one another.

Theoretically, it should be termed the Seven Domains. But for countless ages, the designation "Six Domains and Nine Provinces" had stuck, preserved as a tradition and ingrained habit.

From another theoretical perspective, if any single Domain could locate and destroy every ancient teleportation array leading to the other Domains, that Domain would become a completely isolated world, permanently severed from the others.

This was a theory known to every King across the Domains. Yet, in practice, no one dared act upon it. Any person or organization attempting to destroy these arrays would instantly become the public enemy of the Six Domains and Nine Provinces, targeted for joint annihilation.

Whether locked in brutal combat, ceaseless conquest, or simmering hatred, these conflicts could not overcome one pervasive emotion: loneliness. Nor could they conquer one deeply ingrained characteristic: habit.

The mutual connectivity between the Six Domains and the Nine Provinces had persisted for billions of years. Generations of beings—be they Purgatory Demons, Winged Gods, or creatures like the Nether Phoenix Demon Dragons—lived and died, layer upon layer of existence. After countless generations, they had long since grown accustomed to and accepted the Six Domains and Nine Provinces as one inseparable, unified world. Every powerful, or even less powerful, race believed that even the Domain of their direct enemy was merely one part of their shared world—a world vibrant, diverse, and teeming with myriad races.

However, the Winged God Clan in the Sanctuary of Light suffered from a form of spiritual purism. While acknowledging they belonged to a single world, they were fiercely isolationist, barring any other race from settling within the Sanctuary of Light. Even if an expert from another race wished to visit for sightseeing or diplomatic talks, they required signed approval from any City Lord of Light, accompanied by a detachment of guards. The term "guard" was a polite euphemism; less kindly put, it meant surveillance.

Such xenophobia, coupled with their air of superiority, naturally made the Winged God Clan unwelcome among other races. In retaliation, most other Domains developed an equally strong aversion to Winged Gods entering their territories.

But the Winged God Clan cared little, continuing to follow their own path. Simply put: whoever dared provoke them would be struck down. And for others to invade the Sanctuary of Light, the task was exceedingly difficult.

To maintain such a hostile posture towards nearly everyone and still survive to this day was proof of the Winged God Clan’s extraordinary power. Their longevity relied primarily on their intrinsic racial strength. Currently, the Winged God Clan boasted nine experts at the Divine Transformation stage, second only to the newly ascendant Human race. More alarmingly, among these nine Divine Transformation experts, two had reached the peak of the Mid-Stage Divine Transformation, and another two were solidly in the Mid-Stage.

That level described as the peak of Mid-Stage Divine Transformation was equivalent to the power of the Nether Ghost Emperor or the Purgatory Demon King—a mere hair’s breadth from the High-Stage Divine Transformation, indicating utterly staggering strength.

This wasn't all. In the Sanctuary of Light, excluding the newly advanced Divine Transformation expert, Ajiana, the other eight Divine Transformation powerhouses each possessed anywhere from ten to over a hundred Sky Cities, with a main Sky City belonging to each, their retinues swelling with legions of formidable experts. While these main Sky Cities could not be moved to other Domains for offensive campaigns, they were nearly invincible when deployed defensively.

The Nether Ghost Emperor had once admitted frankly that with his own strength, forcing his way into any one of these main Sky Cities would, at best, result in a devastating retreat, barely escaping with his life.

Consequently, the Sanctuary of Light was renowned as one of the two traditional Great Power Domains among the Six Domains. The other, naturally, was the equally formidable Asura Domain. These two titans eyed each other with intense animosity, their relationship akin to fire and water. Yet, both found themselves better at defense than offense, managing only to mutually contain one another.

For Lei Dong to secure the Water of Life within such a powerful and exclusionary domain was tantamount to scaling a celestial wall.

But no matter how daunting the task, Lei Dong would not shrink back. Within the Winged God Clan, the Radiant King and the Sacred Radiance King stood supreme, collectively known as the Twin Kings of Radiance, ruling over the two largest shattered continents, commanding countless experts—their forces a veritable tide, their armies an ocean.

The overall strength of either one of these Twin Kings was certainly no less than that of the Nether Ghost Emperor and the entire Ghost Clan combined. For Lei Dong to confront them would be equivalent to challenging the entirety of the Ghost Clan single-handedly. Such a scenario was undeniably suicidal.

One must pick the softest target.

The King of Dawn, undoubtedly, presented an excellent opportunity.

Compared to the overwhelming might of the Twin Kings of Radiance, the King of Dawn occupied a position of absolute weakness. The continent he governed was a smaller landmass situated on the periphery—the smallest of the eight fractured continents. Furthermore, his personal strength was merely at the Early-Stage Divine Transformation, with a long way yet to travel before reaching the Mid-Stage.

However, weakness here was relative.

If the King of Dawn were merely an isolated individual, Lei Dong would have long since brought his brothers, battered him into submission, seized his Water of Life, and departed in triumph. The complication was that while the King of Dawn was far less dazzlingly powerful than the Twin Kings, he was still one of the eight supreme rulers of the Winged God Clan, commanding a potent faction and a vast army.

One Dawn Main City, thirteen Sky Cities, thirteen distinct vassal states, thousands of ordinary cities, and billions of subjects—this formed a complete world centered around the King of Dawn. Within this self-contained world, the King of Dawn was god, holding absolute judicial authority.

And Lei Dong intended to wage war against this entire establishment.

The Continent of Dawn, like the other floating continents of the Sanctuary of Light, did not actively destroy the existing teleportation channels. However, compared to the relaxed troop deployments in other Domains, this territory maintained extraordinarily tight defenses. Formidable military strength and various defensive artillery formations meant that even a Mid-Stage Divine Transformation expert from another race attempting a rash teleportation would emerge severely wounded, if not stripped bare of half their essence.

Yet, Lei Dong had prepared a decisive trump card for this very situation.

There existed a War Fortress designated Dawn Fifteen, which tightly encircled one specific teleportation channel and was reinforced with an anti-air formation array. The general commanding this fortress was Merck, a pure-blooded Winged God with the cultivation of a Mid-Stage Nascent Soul. Garrisoned with him were five Early-Stage Nascent Soul Winged Gods, a hundred Gold Core level Winged Gods, the structured Iron Blood Knights numbering ten thousand, and hundreds of thousands of non-combat support personnel.

Such overwhelming military might deployed merely to guard a single teleportation channel vividly illustrated the intense isolationism of the Sanctuary of Light.