Chapter 575: Thousand-Year Birthday! A One-Month Conquest Plan!

The emissary of the Eternal Night Empire had originally brought three invitation letters.

These three invitation letters were addressed to three grand dukes—the former kings of the Hilin Kingdom, the Horden Kingdom, and the Hunhe Duchy!

The kings of these three kingdoms were all enfeoffed as dukes by the Eternal Night Empire, and the titles were passed down through generations.

Noble titles are inherently hereditary!

Around the Eternal Night Empire, there were no shortage of such human kingdoms.

In fact, every empire had numerous human kingdoms surrounding its borders.

However, when the Eternal Night Empire's emissary reached the skies above the Flame Empire's territory, he learned from the winged guardians and human warriors on patrol airships that the three human kingdoms to the east of the Eternal Night Empire had unified!

This came as a considerable shock to the Eternal Night Empire's emissary.

Well, trade between the Flame Empire and the Eternal Night Empire still took place in three border provinces of the Eternal Night Empire; when the Crown Princess had gone to those three provinces to secure trade rights, the Flame Empire had not yet been established.

Thus, news of the Flame Empire's founding had not yet reached the capital of the Eternal Night Empire.

Though surprised, the emissary of the Eternal Night Empire still handed up one of the three invitation letters.

All three invitation letters contained identical content; the one the emissary handed over was originally intended for the Hilin Kingdom, and the signature still bore the title of Grand Duke Hilin.

That title now belongs to Princess Luoying.

"Since the three kingdoms have unified, I will report this to the imperial court, and someone will soon deliver a new invitation letter."

The emissary of the Eternal Night Empire said as he departed.

After the emissary of the Eternal Night Empire left, Meng Ying opened the invitation letter.

Then they understood why the Eternal Night Empire had issued the invitation.

In just one month, the Emperor of the Eternal Night Empire would celebrate his one-thousandth birthday, so the empire had invited all surrounding human kingdoms to attend the birthday celebration.

In fact, the Eternal Night Empire had also invited many other empires.

This was a grand event for the Eternal Night Empire.

"The Emperor of the Eternal Night Empire is actually a thousand years old? Crown Princess, do you know the Emperor of the Eternal Night Empire?"

After reading the invitation letter, Meng Ying asked the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess shook her head and said: "The Emperor of the Eternal Night Empire rarely appears in public; within the empire, many don't even know if he is male or female. But one thing is certain: the Emperor of the Eternal Night Empire is certainly above Legend, possibly even in the Sacred Realm."

Human lifespans are nothing like those of elves.

An elf, regardless of strength, lives for thousands of years.

Stronger elves can live even longer.

But humans cannot live beyond a thousand years unless they reach Legend.

As one of the top ten empires on the Continent of Gods, the Emperor's strength must be formidable.

"How long would it take to reach the Eternal Night Empire's imperial capital from here?"

Meng Ying asked again.

The Crown Princess said: "The Eternal Night Empire's imperial capital is close to its eastern border; with the fastest airship, it would take roughly one and a half days."

One and a half days!

The Flame Empire's fastest airships can fly at least six to seven hundred kilometers per hour; in one and a half days, they can easily cover over twenty thousand kilometers.

Yet one and a half days is barely enough to travel from the eastern border of the Eternal Night Empire to its imperial capital!

The territory of the Eternal Night Empire is truly vast!

At least ten times larger than the current Flame Empire!

It rivals the three demon dynasties of the Mebius Abyss.

Land on the Continent of Gods is far more valuable than land in the abyss.

On the Continent of Gods, more land means more population, more resources—and such a nation becomes stronger!

No wonder the Eternal Night Empire has become one of the top ten empires on the Continent of Gods!

"Crown Princess, do you think we should attend the Emperor's birthday celebration?"

Meng Ying asked again.

The Crown Princess thought for a moment and said: "The Eternal Night Empire has invited a large number of kings and emperors. I believe the Queen should attend—it would help us better understand the continent's political landscape."

Meng Ying and Sister Qing Ling exchanged glances, then nodded and said:

"Fine. Since it only takes one and a half days, we'll depart in the final two days—there's still less than a month. Sister Shengnu, within this month, we'll conquer those three human kingdoms and the Zi Jin Empire."

The fox maiden Sister Qing Ling also nodded and said: "Yes! Sister Meng Ying, you handle the strategy."

Meng Ying stood up and said: "The three of us will lead the campaign. Luo Ying and Ai Wei will hold the imperial capital and the City of Miracles. Tonight, we move—first, transport the troops. Once they engage, we split into three columns and directly conquer the three human kingdoms."

With great strength comes such confidence.

The three human kingdoms are roughly equal in strength to the former Hilin Kingdom.

Though their territories are large, their populations are similar, and their overall strength is comparable.

Each human kingdom can muster sixty to seventy thousand, even up to a million troops—but those armies vary wildly in quality and cannot compare to the current Flame Empire; a single Legend-level commander leading twenty to thirty thousand Flame Empire troops would be enough to crush them.

As for the gods behind the three human kingdoms, they were even less of a concern.

Their backing was the great Lord of Flame.

After the plan was set, the Flame Empire began operating at full speed.

The first step: transport the army by airship.

In the City of Miracles, over two hundred airships rose densely into the sky, heading for the Flame Empire's new capital.

There, a million troops had already assembled in battle formation.

With the speed of the airships, they appeared over the Flame Empire's new capital just over an hour later…

Two hundred airships could transport over five hundred thousand troops in a single trip.

And crossing the endless desert with airships took only slightly more than ten hours.

A round trip takes only twenty hours, less than a day.

In this way, within less than two days, the entire million-strong army can be transported across!

As for military rations, there's no need to worry at all!

Magic bags are still relatively rare; the Flame Empire cannot match the Elf Empire, where every elf has a magic bag, but Meng Ying and Sister Qing Ling have produced large quantities of magic bags, each filled with vast amounts of boiled potatoes.

In the Flame Empire today, the staple food of commoners is a mix of potatoes and rice, and they can frequently eat meat.

Life is incomparably better than before.

But during war, nutrition need not be considered—replenishing energy and filling one's stomach is what matters most.

Thus, Meng Ying and Sister Qing Ling's military rations consist entirely of boiled potatoes.

Potatoes are convenient; once boiled, they only require magical preservation to be eaten directly, without needing to be reheated.

Almost the entire million-strong army consists of warriors above First Rank; eating potatoes raw poses no major problem.

While fighting on the front lines, the flying ships can return to the rear to transport higher-nutrition rations, such as milk and meat products, to sustain the Gao Jie warriors!

Fifty thousand troops gradually boarded the flying ships.

Of course, tens of thousands of troops remain stationed domestically.

"Holy Maiden, I'll go ahead with the Crown Princess—you join the next wave of soldiers."

Meng Ying said to the fox girl Sister Qing Ling.

"Alright, Sister Meng Ying, safe travels!"