Chapter 659

Holy Maiden!

These two words stirred a change in Empress Tina's expression!

Empress Tina did not know that Mengying's Holy Domain had been directly elevated by Lin Yan using forbidden power.

In Empress Tina's view, Mengying, a Holy Domain, willingly served as the Holy Maiden of the Lord of Flame!

On the Continent of Gods, no female Holy Domain would be willing to do such a thing!

Unless the Holy Maiden had been nurtured from weakness directly by a god!

Or unless that god was powerful enough.

Generally, only a Third-Tier god could possibly attract a Holy Domain to take residence!

Hmm, merely possibly.

And if it were a Second-Rank Holy Domain, the difficulty of attracting one would be even greater!

"The Lord of Flame seems to be an extremely powerful god. With the Lord of Flame's strength, he could easily support the expansion of vast territories. To your north lie the Great Snow Mountains; to your southeast, across a swamp, there are several nations; to your east lies the Endless Desert. Have you decided on your direction of expansion?"

Empress Tina asked.

The implications in her words stirred subtle ripples in Mengying and the Crown Princess's hearts.

Mengying pondered for a moment, then decided to temporarily withhold the news that the Purple Gold Empire had already been conquered by the Flame Empire.

Even though Empress Tina now appeared amiable and conversed warmly with Mengying, her identity was Empress of the Eternal Night Empire.

The Flame Empire was still far weaker than the Eternal Night Empire.

But what if the Eternal Night Empire sensed a threat from the Flame Empire?

So Mengying simply murmured, "Hmm," then changed the subject:

"Empress Tina, from your words, it seems there are nuances to a nation's expansion?"

Empress Tina nodded and said, "Mengying, have you ever heard this saying?"

Mengying looked at Empress Tina.

Empress Tina whispered, "Wherever the divine light shines, it is divine land."

Then she explained:

"A god's nation can theoretically expand infinitely, but the divine light cast down from the Heavenly Realm has a finite range. Beyond the reach of this divine light, the god cannot collect faith from those regions. To avoid endless wars, a god does not recklessly expand—better to properly govern the lands already under divine light."

"Thus, the size of a god's nation often reflects the god's strength."

"A god grows stronger each day, but generally only when their strength reaches a qualitative leap will they choose to expand their nation, for that means war between gods and war between nations—without absolute certainty, no god will act."

Empress Tina added.

Wherever the divine light shines, it is divine land!

Empress Tina's words made Mengying recall the gods of the Hutton Kingdom and the Hiling Kingdom.

The earlier divine war was likely instigated by the god of the Hutton Kingdom.

In fact, the divine lights of both kingdoms' gods should have been sufficient to illuminate even larger realms—otherwise, the god of the Hiling Kingdom would not have had such ambition.

As a god grows stronger, their need to expand their nation grows—but without reaching a certain level of strength, they will not rashly expand.

Then Mengying thought of her own god.

The Lord of Flame!

Before attacking the Purple Gold Empire, Mengying had specifically prayed, and the Lord of Flame's reply was simple.

Just one word: War!

According to Empress Tina's explanation, if attacking the Purple Gold Empire and expanding territory did not extend the divine light to cover it, the Lord of Flame would not have chosen expansion.

Choosing expansion means the Lord of Flame's divine light can cover that territory.

Beyond that, there are the Three Kingdoms, and the Endless Desert!

The current Flame Empire's territory is already substantial.

And in Mengying's perception, the entire Flame Empire lies within the Lord of Flame's divine light.

Moreover, Mengying knew that north of the Continent of Gods, the Lord of Flame also ruled an Elven Empire.

That Elven Empire's territory was also vast, and it still held potential for expansion.

All of this pointed to one fact for Mengying:

Her god, the Lord of Flame, was truly powerful!

Such a vast nation, still expanding, all under divine light—the Lord of Flame's strength had surpassed Mengying's imagination.

Yet, the stronger the Lord of Flame became,

the more joy Mengying felt.

She wished nothing more than for her god to grow ever stronger—even to become the supreme King of All Gods!