Chapter 958

Behind Yuer the Great God, the avatar of the Purple Cloud Divine Lord waited patiently.

The ten deities of the Purple Cloud Divine Lineage seemed to be awaiting judgment.

But across from them, there was still not the slightest movement.

After one minute, the Purple Cloud Divine Lord's face showed hesitation and struggle; finally, his avatar also knelt down!

"Even the Divine Lord has knelt!"

Among the Purple Cloud Divine Lineage, one deity looked as if he had seen a ghost!

This second-tier deity had never encountered a fourth-tier deity in the Heavenly Realm; he only knew that fourth-tier deities were immensely powerful, but he did not know exactly how powerful.

But now, he knew.

It was a power so great that even a peak third-tier Divine Lord had no choice but to kneel, to appease the possible wrath of the other!

A peak third-tier and a fourth-tier are both called Divine Lords, but "Divine Lord" refers to the master of a divine lineage, not a cultivation realm—these two "Divine Lords" were not even on the same level of prestige!

After the Purple Cloud Divine Lord knelt, Yuer the Great God felt his inner balance improve somewhat; in fact, even if he still felt unbalanced, there was nothing he could do!

Even if a deity possessed his own dignity.

But before a more powerful deity, dignity was not worth as much as life.

Because that deity's dignity was worth more than your life!

In the sky, after the Purple Cloud Divine Lord knelt, five to six minutes passed before a five-colored passage opened above.

Immediately after, a small fairy with wings flew down.

This little fairy was none other than Gassia the Fairy.

Gassia the Fairy carried no great power.

She did not even possess Eighth Rank power.

As a being similar to a Holy Spirit, carrying too much power made it impossible for her to descend.

Moreover, Gassia differed somewhat from Holy Spirits; Holy Spirits needed vessels to maintain their combat strength upon descending.

Although she carried no great power, no one dared lay a hand on Gassia the Fairy.

After arriving, Gassia calmly tossed out a glowing orb: "Enter this divine power space to meet the Divine Lord!"

Saying this, Gassia flapped her tiny wings and flew back.

The avatar of the Purple Cloud Divine Lord took the glowing orb—it was a divine power space accessible by will alone!

"Come, follow me to pay homage to the Flame Lord!"

Saying this, the Purple Cloud Divine Lord and the other nine deities projected their wills into it.

As soon as they entered, the Purple Cloud Divine Lord felt as if he had arrived in a vast expanse.

This kind of divine power space could be created at will by the Purple Cloud Divine Lord; each deity's form within was merely a projection.

However, divine power spaces created by different deities varied considerably.

The divine power space the Purple Cloud Divine Lord created had no such sense of boundlessness.

This simple divine power space was divided into many layers of heavens; the Purple Cloud Divine Lord looked up and sensed that the Flame Lord's will resided atop the highest layer.

The Purple Cloud Divine Lord, accompanied by the nine other deities, knelt again.

"Great Flame Lord, the Purple Cloud Divine Lineage has no intention of offending you; we offer ten thousand high-grade divine stones, one thousand grams of divine essence, and one hundred rare resources in exchange for your forgiveness!"

The Purple Cloud Divine Lord whispered.

The Flame Lord made no sound, as if he had no intention of communicating with them.

The Purple Cloud Divine Lord sensed another presence stepping forward.

It was a deity whose form they could not discern at all!

Across the battlefield in the endless desert, all warriors of the Purple Cloud Empire remained kneeling on the ground, not a single warrior daring to move.

Every warrior felt the torment.

Yet some warriors felt a sense of relief.

Because earlier, when they fought against the Flame Empire's army, they had been crushed relentlessly; even as reinforcements poured in endlessly, they could barely hold back the Flame Empire's advance.

But this containment came at the cost of countless warriors' lives!

The longer it lasted, the more they would collapse.

Every second, countless comrades died beside these warriors.

None of them knew if they would survive.

So, surrendering like this now was actually better—at least they had no immediate threat to their lives.

After more than ten minutes, the avatars of the Purple Cloud Divine Lord and the other nine deities reappeared in the sky.

But immediately after appearing, the Purple Cloud Divine Lord and the nine other avatars vanished from the sky.

Then, the Purple Cloud Holy Son received a divine decree from the Purple Cloud Divine Lord.

The Purple Cloud Holy Son's eyes narrowed sharply.

"All warriors, lay down your arms!"

The Purple Cloud Holy Son issued the order.

Instantly, nearly three million soldiers of the Purple Cloud Empire across the battlefield began stripping off their weapons and armor en masse.

On the other side, Meng Ying also received a revelation from Lin Yan.

After this force of three million Purple Cloud Empire soldiers laid down their arms, they would be sent to the northern provinces of the Flame Empire to build roads!

The Flame Empire's southwestern four provinces now had a fully interconnected road network.

Broad, flat roads stretched everywhere, making transportation in the four southwestern provinces exceptionally convenient.

But in the thirteen northern provinces, roads were still relatively sparse—so far, only one major north-south highway existed.

The primary task of these three million Purple Cloud Empire soldiers was to carve tunnels and erect bridges through a continuous chain of mountains.

Their strength is immense—perfect for carving tunnels!

On the Continent of Gods, the number of tunnels is extremely scarce; the Continent of Gods has no large machinery, so tunnel carving can only be done by the strong.

Other nations never use powerful warriors or mages to carve tunnels.

The Flame Empire previously never assigned powerful warriors to such tasks.

But now, this massive army of the Purple Cloud Empire is just right.

Although the Flame Empire now possesses a vast number of flying ships, for a population exceeding three hundred million, flying ships can satisfy only a tiny fraction of demand.

The ground road system remains critically important.

Meanwhile, Meng Ying also received another revelation: send a massive army to the Purple Cloud Empire east of the Endless Desert, and take over more than half of the Purple Cloud Empire's territory!

Yes, this time the Purple Cloud Deity Lord has bled heavily to appease the Flame Lord's wrath.

First, this powerful Purple Cloud Empire army shall surrender entirely and serve as laborers in the Flame Empire, only to be repurchased by the Purple Cloud Empire after ten years.

Second, the Purple Cloud Empire shall cede half its territory to the Flame Empire, guaranteeing that this half contains no fewer than five hundred million civilians, and must not incite these civilians to rebel!

Third, the Purple Cloud Pantheon shall pay the Flame Lord twenty thousand high-grade divine stones, and additionally, surrender half of its future century's revenue to the Flame Lord!

Fourth, within the next hundred years, the Purple Cloud Pantheon shall obey the Flame Lord's commands—effectively becoming a vassal pantheon for this century.