Chapter 613: The Power to Break the Ban! Fire Burns the Throne of the God-King!

In the imperial capital of the Zi Jin Empire, the commotion in the sky startled everyone.

"Your god has been defeated by the Great Flame Lord, the Holy Son has been executed, the State Tutor is dead—lay down your weapons, and you may live."

In the sky, Meng Ying's voice echoed throughout the entire imperial capital.

Her words made the people of the Zi Jin Empire feel as if the heavens had collapsed.

Countless individuals felt disbelief.

The Zi Jin Empire had been immensely powerful; over the past few centuries, it had expanded from a small kingdom into a minor empire.

During this process, it had swallowed no fewer than ten kingdoms.

But now, the Zi Jin Empire had been attacked at its very doorstep and defeated!

To be defeated was bad enough, but the key issue was that it had been crushed so utterly, so completely.

"I told you all along—these people would come back."

In the imperial capital of the Zi Jin Empire, a commoner muttered.

This commoner had witnessed firsthand, months ago, the destruction of the imperial capital and the deaths of the Crown Prince and the Fifth Imperial Prince; his impression of the Flame Empire was far from ordinary.

In fact, that incident months ago had left an especially deep impression on the entire capital.

The imperial palace had been destroyed, the Emperor had been enraged to death, and two Imperial Princes had been killed.

Yet the matter had been buried without resolution.

That incident had also dealt a significant blow to the prestige of the Huangshiyu Sect.

"It looks like the heavens are about to change—who knows what kind of god this Flame Lord is?"

Another commoner said.

Commoners qualified to live in the imperial capital were among the relatively better-off in the commoner class.

Of course, "relatively" was the key word.

"The Great Flame Lord is merciful: all of you, in the days to come, who voluntarily expose any remaining members of the Sect, will gain the right to reclaim ten mu of wasteland for each one exposed; furthermore, all commoners who pledge faith to the Flame Lord shall receive ten mu of land!"

Immediately after, Meng Ying announced the Great Reclamation Decree—the ultimate weapon.

Her voice, amplified by a sound magic, spread across the entire imperial capital.

Instantly, the imperial capital of the Zi Jin Empire erupted.

"Exposing one Sect remnant grants the right to reclaim ten mu of wasteland? Pledging faith to the Flame Lord grants ten mu of land? My heavens—is this real?"

Some commoners could not believe their ears.

On the Continent of Gods, what commoners cared about most was land.

Yet in every nation on the Continent of Gods, society followed a pyramid structure.

In terms of social class, it was a pyramid: commoners were the most numerous, and the higher up you went, the fewer people there were.

But in terms of wealth, it was an inverted pyramid: the nobility at the top held the greatest wealth and land.

In every nation, the nobility were the foundation.

Whether royal family or imperial house, king or emperor—they were merely the largest nobles in the nation.

Why would they ever give land to commoners?

But the Yandiguo Society would!

Thus, Meng Ying's simple words triggered a massive uproar in the imperial capital of the Zi Jin Empire.

Countless commoners could not believe what they heard.

After disbelief came wild joy!

The wild joy of being struck by a heavenly gift from the sky!

"We surrender!"

At that moment, on the battlefield, the soldiers of the Zi Jin Empire began to surrender.

These soldiers, after being disarmed, would be transported by airships to the Flame Empire to perform hard labor.

The Flame Empire had discovered several new large-scale mineral deposits.

These soldiers would remain there for about a year, until they all embraced faith in the Flame Lord, before being released.

Thus, on the twentieth day after the plan began, the Zi Jin Empire fell into the hands of the Flame Empire.

But the subsequent tasks were still extremely tedious.

All members of the Sect needed to be screened; the upper echelons would be eliminated, while the lower ranks, after screening, would be confined to designated areas.

The Great Reclamation Decree would stabilize the commoners.

Then the nobility had to be stabilized too.

In short, fully digesting the Zi Jin Empire would still require a great deal of time.

Additionally, three kingdoms along the desert border also needed to be absorbed.

Everything piled up at once.

But once these four nations were fully absorbed, the Flame Empire would leap from a minor empire to a great empire.

Though its ranking among great empires might still lag temporarily, a great empire was still a great empire!

Only a great empire had truly reached the very summit of the pyramid on the Continent of Gods!