Chapter 437: Forbidden Power! Three Ninth Ranks!

The Eldest Princess arrived soon after.

During this period, the Eldest Princess had been in seclusion within the Spirit Kingdom, and her strength had improved significantly.

After all, she had effectively received a spiritual energy cluster from a Holy Spirit.

But the Eldest Princess was never like Meng Ying, Lin Yan's most beloved favorite, so she was still some distance away from Ninth Rank, while Meng Ying was only a step away from Ninth Rank.

"The god of Hutton Kingdom descended a divine avatar?"

Upon hearing this news, the Eldest Princess was slightly surprised.

Immediately, she rummaged through her magic bag and pulled out a magical scripture.

She flipped to a page in the scripture and handed it to the several women.

The several women gathered around to examine it.

"This was during a battle twenty years ago, in a human kingdom farther west than the Eternal Night Empire, when a divine avatar appeared—its power was nearly Legendary Rank, that is, Ninth Rank!"

Said the Eldest Princess.

"Is a god's avatar only as strong as Ninth Rank?"

Luo Ying asked.

The Eldest Princess said: "Of course. For a god's avatar to descend to the Continent of Gods, the cost is immense, the suppression is severe, and if it is lost, the god loses a quarter of its own power. Moreover, descending an avatar requires extensive preparation and consumes vast treasures, so under normal circumstances, no god wishes to send one down."

What she said was true—the god of the Spirit Kingdom, even after losing the Divine War, refused to descend an avatar and instead chose a Holy Spirit.

The Eldest Princess continued:

"The power of the Sacred Domain is not easily obtained. If the god of Hutton Kingdom wishes to descend an avatar equivalent to the Sacred Domain, even if he is a Second-Tier God, he must sacrifice more than half his power. Moreover, he faces one greatest risk: a Sacred Domain avatar must carry Rule Force, and a god's Rule Force is complete. If he dares to descend a Sacred Domain avatar, the nearest Sacred Domain of the Eternal Night Empire would likely risk coming to hunt him down."

Luo Ying said:

"So, if Sister Meng Ying reaches Ninth Rank, she can fight him?"

The Eldest Princess shook her head. "It's difficult."

Seeing the surrounding Holy Maidens looking at her, she explained:

"Though a god's avatar is only at Ninth Rank, do not forget—he is a god. Even without carrying complete Rule Force, if he remains on the Continent of Gods for two days, he can effortlessly draw in fragments of Rule Force. His combat power can already reach the level of the Sacred Domain—at least, the level of a novice in the Sacred Domain."

She added: "So we must still pray to my god. This is now a war between gods. But once the god's avatar descends, those three Holy Spirits will likely be promoted to Eighth Rank peak or even Ninth Rank—Meng Ying will be our opponent."

After hearing this, Meng Ying nodded firmly.

The Eldest Princess continued: "If my guess is correct, the god's avatar will need three days to adapt to the laws of the Continent of Gods. After three days, Hutton Kingdom will surely launch a direct attack. During these three days, I will perfect the forbidden spell I just learned."

The Eldest Princess revealed all her conjectures.

Having a member so learned and well-traveled was indeed valuable.

Sometimes, experience matters greatly.

In fact, Lin Yan's several Holy Maidens were all catching up—they were reading vast quantities of magical scriptures to expand their knowledge.

After listening to the Eldest Princess, Meng Ying said to the fox maiden Qing Ling: "Holy Maiden, let us all pray to my god. In these three days, I should be able to achieve Ninth Rank Legendary status."

The fox maiden Qing Ling murmured "Mm."

Meng Ying then said to Queen Luo Ying: "Luo Ying, prepare the army. We will meet them at the Southern Highlands."

Luo Ying nodded. "Understood!"

Hutton Kingdom had fully mobilized. They had long completed their troop conscription, and this time, their conscription scale was even larger: a kingdom of twenty million people had raised a million-strong army!

The ratio of population to troops reached twenty to one!

And because the god had descended an avatar, the morale of Hutton Kingdom's army was unprecedentedly high—entirely united, a world apart from the Spirit Kingdom's previous state.

This battle would be a hard one.

On the Spirit Kingdom's side, fifty thousand royal troops had already set out, marching in grand formation along the newly built direct road toward the Southern Highlands.

Yan Kingdom's twenty thousand troops had also mobilized.

Together, Yan Kingdom and the Spirit Kingdom fielded seventy thousand troops!

Though outnumbered by thirty thousand compared to Hutton Kingdom, their quality was exceptionally high.

Hutton Kingdom's army consisted largely of troops conscripted from nobles—combat effectiveness was questionable.

Such troops, let alone Yan Kingdom's beastmen army,

could be defeated two-to-one by the royal army, even against numerically superior foes.

Among Yan Kingdom's troops was a massive carriage.

The horses pulling it were bred on Yan Kingdom's northern plains—selectively bred for exceptional height and size.

In fact, the royal army's heavy cavalry now all rode these horses.

Though the centaur warriors were powerful, their numbers were too few. Since the Spirit Kingdom had become part of Lin Yan's realm, it was natural to arm its heavy cavalry.

This was an excellent supplement.

Inside the carriage sat Meng Ying, the fox maiden Qing Ling, and Queen Luo Ying.

The Eldest Princess rode atop a beast, patrolling the skies.

The fox maiden Qing Ling had reached Seventh Rank.

And Meng Ying was just a step away from Ninth Rank.

After praying to the Lord of Flame, Qing Ling had received a revelation from the Lord of Flame.

The revelation contained only one word!

Fight!

That single word instantly filled Lin Yan's women with confidence.

Even though the enemy god had descended an avatar.

But if the god said fight, then fight!

And they believed—fight, and they would surely win!

After delivering the revelation, Lin Yan turned his gaze toward Meng Ying.

Meng Ying was still too young.

It had been over a year since she met Lin Yan among the Misty Ranges.

Yet in that year, she rose from Second Rank to Eighth Rank peak, on the verge of becoming a legend of Ninth Rank.

And she was only seventeen years old.

A seventeen-year-old legend!

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

But precisely because she was so young—unlike Lomina of the Night Elves, who had lived for centuries and possessed vast knowledge and calm composure—Lomina could break through to Ninth Rank swiftly, while Meng Ying always fell just short.

"The blessing of ordinary divine power likely won't play a decisive role for Meng Ying now. A high-tier divine blessing might extend the duration of her magical perception boost, but what Meng Ying needs now isn't an increase in magical perception."

In the Abyss, Lin Yan weighed his options.

"By the way, try chaotic divine power!"

Lin Yan had a sudden idea.

If chaotic divine power acted directly on Meng Ying, it would be no different from a sacrifice.

That would be forcing growth—and might destroy Meng Ying.

But now, Lin Yan was using chaotic divine power merely as a driving force to activate the virtual divine emblem's blessing!

That posed no problem.

Perfect chance to test the difference.

So Lin Yan inserted a single drop of chaotic divine power into the virtual divine emblem.

Just as he was about to activate the blessing, he inexplicably added a drop of ordinary divine power as well.

These two divine powers couldn't yet merge, but could they be used simultaneously to activate the blessing?

Immediately, the blessing activated!

Then Lin Yan saw—on the carriage—a terrifying surge erupted from Meng Ying's body; she had directly ascended to Ninth Rank!