Chapter 327: Princess Luo Ying Joins! Secret Passage Through Chen Cang!

After the strategy was set, it was already night.

Early the next morning, the fox girl Qing Ling received Princess Luo Ying, who had been waiting outside the temple, and spoke with her at length.

After their long conversation, Princess Luo Ying formally offered her faith to the Lord of Flame within Qing Ling's temple, signed the Holy Maiden Pact with the Lord of Flame, and officially became Lin Yan's Holy Maiden!

To become a Holy Maiden, one must not only be physically pure but also spiritually pure, and must meet extremely high standards of devotion.

If even one requirement is unmet, the Holy Maiden Pact cannot be signed.

Therefore, after successfully becoming Lin Yan's Holy Maiden, Princess Luo Ying was now eligible to join Lin Yan's circle of Holy Maidens!

The fox girl Qing Ling summoned Meng Ying, who then revealed to Princess Luo Ying their plan for the Xiling Kingdom.

"Will I be the queen from now on?"

Princess Luo Ying had never once considered this possibility.

All she cared about now was revenge; what she would do after revenge succeeded?

Of course, become the Holy Maiden of the Lord of Flame in the temple and spread the Lord of Flame's glory!

Meng Ying nodded and said, "This is the best choice. Although the Crown Princess is your father's elder sister, she has spent almost no time in the Xiling Kingdom and is unlikely to command loyalty; moreover, her demeanor suggests no interest. My god's revelations include several models of governance, and in truth, you will need to manage very little."

Meng Ying had one more thing she did not say.

Under the Lord of Flame's divine authority, establishing a separate royal power is not the optimal choice.

Like Yan State, unifying governance and religion is currently the best method for the Lord of Flame's realm!

Having the king be the Lord of Flame's most devout believer avoids the problems common in many kingdoms across the Continent of Gods.

Just as in this Xiling Kingdom.

Princess Luo Ying was convinced.

"There are indeed many nobles in the Xiling Kingdom loyal to the royal family—I can reach out to them."

Princess Luo Ying began discussing strategy with Meng Ying and the others.

Meng Ying said, "That god still occupies your father's body, so for now, you must contact only nobles you can absolutely trust."

Princess Luo Ying said, "Sister Meng Ying, leave this to me—I'm confident I can persuade several major nobles."

Minor nobles are all fence-sitters with little strength; they're numerous but follow whoever is winning.

So Princess Luo Ying's most important goal now is to contact major nobles.

Nobles of the caliber of Count Selo.

There are still over a dozen such major nobles in the Xiling Kingdom.

Of course, she doesn't need to contact many—just one or two will do.

Major nobles are generally rational, capable of analyzing advantages and disadvantages, and most are highly shrewd.

Take Count Selo—he could deduce nearly the entire truth from minor details; if the Selo family hadn't provoked Yan State and were willing to change their faith, they might prove useful.

But there are no "what ifs"—enemies are enemies, and enemies must be destroyed.

Meng Ying said, "Good. Wait a few days. Once the war between the two kingdoms begins, you can act."

"Understood!"

Princess Luo Ying nodded firmly.

Just the next day, news arrived of the Xiling Kingdom's large-scale conscription.

This conscription by the Xiling Kingdom was exceptionally massive.

Every noble with a title must send armed warriors to war!

The lowest-ranking nobles must supply one hundred soldiers.

Mid-tier nobles like Sir Hawk must supply one thousand soldiers.

Noble houses like the Selos must supply five thousand soldiers!

In human kingdoms of the Continent of Gods, the most elite forces lie within the Wangshiyu Sect and the church.

The church's army is not large in number, but its quality is terrifyingly high.

The church's army consists primarily of the Temple Mage Corps and the Temple Knight Corps.

The Temple Knight Corps numbers at most a few thousand.

The Temple Mage Corps is roughly the same size—just a few thousand.

Beyond that, the church maintains some ordinary knights and ordinary mages, used for routine missions; their total number adds up to just over ten thousand!

In short, the church's army does not exceed thirty thousand.

But these thirty thousand are the elite among elites.

They possess formidable individual strength, superior equipment, rigorous training, unshakable mental fortitude, and divine blessings!

They are the absolute core of any war.

These thirty thousand can easily crush the three hundred thousand troops raised by the nobles!

But that doesn't mean the noble armies are useless.

If the Xiling Kingdom sent only these thirty thousand into battle, the enemy could simply wear them down with a war of attrition.

Elite forces are only elite when used in the right place.

If they're swapped out like in Tian Ji's horse racing, the loss would be catastrophic.

The royal army is relatively large in number.

The Xiling Kingdom's royal family commands a full two hundred thousand troops.

These two hundred thousand troops are also strong, with a large number of First-Ranks.

Their equipment is also excellent.

In war, the combined twenty-three thousand troops of the royal family and the church form the core.

The armies conscripted from the nobles, however, are far more numerous.

According to this conscription method, the Hellin Kingdom could raise over a hundred thousand troops just from the hundreds of nobles in the eastern region alone!

In addition to its central region, the Hellin Kingdom has a full eight regions.

That means, based on this conscription scale, the Hellin Kingdom might muster a million-man army!

Such a massive conscription effort naturally drew the attention of neighboring nations.