Chapter 1084

On the side of the Zi Yun Empire, seeing how fiercely the beastmen army fought—merely a few hundred thousand strong, supported by flying warships in the sky—they crushed several million barbarian warriors into flight.

The Zi Yun Empire's soldiers finally understood what kind of enemy their previous army had been defeated by!

If they faced such an army, no matter how fully armed they were, their performance wouldn't be much better than these barbarians'.

"No wonder the two Imperial Princes took millions of troops and none returned."

Thought the commander of the Zi Yun Empire's army.

"Order: full pursuit!"

Immediately after, this commander gave the order.

The Zi Yun Empire's performance this time was terrible indeed, but though they suffered heavy losses, many soldiers still had fighting strength left—enough to pursue.

Thus, the Zi Yun Empire also joined the pursuit.

The barbarian army soon realized they couldn't escape!

Behind them were those terrifying beastmen warriors, each one two or three times taller and larger than them.

In front were the centaur warriors—human upper bodies atop equine lower bodies!

Many barbarian warriors had never seen beastmen before and were terrified by their overwhelming combat power.

"Huhah! Break through!"

In this barbarian army, a "old man" shouted loudly.

Thirty thousand centaur warriors formed a line stretching dozens of kilometers, while their side had several million barbarian warriors—on the surface, it seemed they could break through.

But before the "old man" finished speaking, Meng Ying instantly incinerated him with a burst of flame.

The other barbarian warriors surged forward like a tidal wave toward the centaur warriors.

The centaur warriors didn't use bows—they held shields in one hand and spears in the other, standing firm as mountains against the barbarian charge, not retreating a single step!

"Boom!"

At this moment, Meng Ying acted.

Flames began to churn in the sky—it was still her Crimson Flame Sea, though it had not yet descended.

Once it fell, the casualties would be catastrophic.

"We surrender! We surrender!"

Among the barbarian warriors, someone cried out in a strangely accented Common Tongue of the Continent.

Seeing they couldn't break through, the pursuers already upon them, and the terrifying flame sea above, each barbarian warrior fell to the ground, faces filled with terror, muttering prayers.

Meng Ying listened closely and realized some barbarians believed the "Fire God" was descending to punish them, hence their desperate pleas for forgiveness.

In the Heavenly Realm, there indeed existed some "Fire Gods"—beings who wielded flame as their weapon and controlled certain flame laws—but how could they compare to Lin Yan?

Soon after, the barbarian tribes' army began mass surrenders.

This battle didn't last long, but the Zi Yun Empire's casualties were heavy—over a hundred thousand dead, and countless wounded.

The Flame Empire suffered almost no losses.

After seeing the barbarian tribes surrender, the Zi Yun Empire's commander ordered his troops to retrieve the dead and wounded, then withdrew from the battlefield.

Their eastern front was still in fierce combat—they had finished one battle, but another awaited.

The barbarian army's losses were also severe.

"Many among them only took this desperate gamble because of the plague; only a few tribes were fully controlled by the Demon God."

Said the girl Jian.

Meng Ying nodded.

The Demon God usually preferred to control only large tribes, using them to gather other barbarian tribes before launching attacks against human nations.

This time, to force this assault, the Demon God even unleashed a plague, driving these barbarian tribes to desperation and compelling them to attack.

Among these millions of barbarian warriors, those fully controlled by the Demon God were quickly identified.

Immediately after, these tribes were utterly purged by the centaur warriors.

As for the remaining barbarian warriors, they were put to hard labor.

If the Flame Empire killed them all, it would play right into the Demon God's scheme.

The Demon God might have intended them to be sent here to die.

A battlefield drenched in blood was the favorite haunt of demon gods who wielded evil powers.

The newly fallen souls within would be the finest material for crafting vengeful spirits!

In some demon gods' divine realms, there were no holy spirits—only endless, boundless vengeful spirits.

Besides, the Eight Eastern Provinces now needed vast labor forces for development.

After the tribes under the Demon God's control were purged, the remaining barbarian warriors were easier to control.

Scatter them into several groups, assign a few strong warriors and a small contingent to guard them.

Their demands were probably even lower than those of common civilians.

Simply guaranteeing them enough food would make many surrender.

"We will provide you with food, water, shelter, and clothing. You need no longer live in fear. As long as you cause no trouble, after working hard for a certain period and achieving sufficient devotion to our God, you may regain your freedom and become subjects of the Flame Empire."

Above these barbarian warriors, an arch-mage shouted loudly.

"Anyone who attempts to contact the Demon God will meet the same fate as them."

The arch-mage pointed toward the tribes purged by the centaur warriors.

Upon hearing there was food, many barbarian warriors' eyes gleamed.

Immediately after, the arch-mage demonstrated his power, terrifying the barbarian warriors thoroughly.

The barbarian warriors were quickly divided into several groups and sent to various regions to build roads.

Above each group, an arch-mage and several grand sorcerers watched over them.

Meanwhile, Meng Ying built another spatial gate on the southern border of the Eight Eastern Provinces, conscripted an army on the spot in the small city where the gate stood, and left thousands of beastman warriors to garrison it.

These beastman warriors would later be gradually replaced by local garrison troops.

Immediately after, Meng Ying, accompanied by the girl Jian and the she-wolf, passed through the spatial gate and arrived at the edge of the Kuibei Province of the Flame Empire.

There, it was also the northernmost edge of the former Zi Jin Empire; further north lay a wilderness stretching over ten thousand kilometers from north to south.

To the north of this wilderness lay the Flame Empire's twenty northern provinces.

This wilderness was also vast, containing numerous wild tribes and abundant magical beasts.

In the past, the reason the southern kingdom of the Star Fall Empire had a long, narrow shape was to guard against threats from the wilderness.

Dealing with these threats was not difficult.

But the problem was, before eliminating them, they might inflict massive losses upon your nation.

"Jian, what do you think of this region?"

Meng Ying said.

The she-wolf kicked off with all four paws and soared into the sky, surveying the wilderness below.

After a while, she flew back and growled softly to Jian.

The girl Jian said: "Auntie Wolf says this place is ideal—better than the wasteland we used to live in."

Meng Ying nodded and said: "If so, then we'll temporarily settle them here."

Yes, Meng Ying's Yingzhunbei Sect would send its aerial fleet to retrieve those magical beasts and relocate them into the wilderness between the central and northern provinces.

The wilderness surrounding the Zi Yun Empire has been contaminated by the plague released by the evil god; its water sources are utterly polluted and unsuitable for habitation.

This is the perfect opportunity to relocate all these magical beasts here.

This wilderness, stretching over ten thousand kilometers from north to south and even longer from east to west, also contains vast numbers of magical beasts.

Meng Ying could use these magical beasts to form a magical beast army!

Jian could also travel to the eastern provinces at any time via the spatial gate; after the plague clears, she could gather more magical beasts in the east or south of the Zi Yun Empire.

This time, Jian had gathered hundreds of thousands of magical beasts—each one powerful—and with the Flame Empire's current transport capacity, deploying numerous troop transports could move them all over in a single trip…

As for their food needs, there was no problem at all.

Introducing hundreds of thousands more magical beasts into that wilderness posed no issue whatsoever.

Perhaps the wilderness itself could sustain them without any food supply from the Flame Empire.

Of course, even if food were provided, it would be no burden.

Herbivorous magical beasts required no care; the meat needed by carnivorous ones could now be fully supplied by the Flame Empire.

The Flame Empire's meat supply had become abundant, and its livestock techniques had gradually matured; the output of some large pig farms was astonishing.

Under the bonus of the Civilization Fire title, there were no strange or rampant diseases; moreover, the pig breeds on the Continent of Gods were different, growing larger and yielding more meat.

Additionally, settling these magical beasts in this region held another crucial significance.