Chapter 974

In fact, it wasn't just the Starfall Divine Lord who was stunned.

Several deities in the Starfall Divine System were terrified!

They quickly opened portals and returned to their own divine realms, each deity looking shaken and unsettled.

"Divine Lord, what should we do?"

One deity said anxiously.

"Do you remember the tremor that lasted half a minute before the Eternal Night Goddess's disturbance?"

At this moment, a deity from the Starfall Divine System asked.

The other deities nodded in unison.

"A few months ago, when the Lord of Flame fought in the Elven Divine Realm, he was merely at the third tier—but now, the Lord of Flame has become fourth tier. I suspect he broke through to the fourth tier during that battle."

That deity said.

"But how could someone suddenly reach the fourth tier in half a minute?"

One deity voiced doubt.

"It's certainly impossible for us—but what if the Lord of Flame was a powerful ancient deity who was injured in ancient times and fell to a lower tier?"

The same deity said.

His hypothesis made the other deities' eyes light up.

Because only this could explain why Lin Yan had been third-tier strength a few months ago, yet now he was fourth-tier.

In their view, if Lin Yan had already been fourth-tier during the Elven Divine Realm battle, killing a single third-tier great deity and three second-tier deities would have been effortless, with a completely different aura of power.

"This also explains why the Flame Empire rose so rapidly—now it clearly seeks expansion, and our Starfall Empire has already been targeted. No matter what we do, we're powerless to turn the tide!"

The deity who made the speculation said grimly.

The other deities' faces grew extremely grim, their hearts heavy with dread.

Because they knew he spoke the truth.

Now, no matter what they did, they were truly powerless to turn the tide!

"The current situation isn't the worst for us yet, because we haven't started a divine war."

That deity added.

The other deities nodded again, a flicker of relief appearing on their faces.

This was likely the only thing worth being relieved about.

If we had already started a divine war, that would be the worst-case scenario.

"Divine Lord, we can no longer save the Starfall Empire. I suggest we abandon it and beg for mercy from the Lord of Flame, letting our Church lead our remaining forces out of the Starfall Empire to establish a new realm in the wild eastern lands."

"The eastern wildlands hold many primitive tribes; our Church can quickly integrate them and, over centuries, rebuild an empire."

That deity said again.

After speaking, he looked at the Starfall Divine Lord.

The other deities of the Starfall Divine System also turned their gazes toward the Starfall Divine Lord.

The Starfall Divine Lord fell silent.

His heart struggled.

If the Starfall Empire could have defeated the Flame Empire, the Starfall Divine Lord would have had far more choices.

But the problem was, the Starfall Empire could not possibly defeat the Flame Empire—and in the Heavenly Realm, they dared not start a divine war.

"In a war of faith, losing and begging for mercy isn't shameful—especially when begging a fourth-tier deity. As long as we preserve enough strength, with our current power, few divine systems will dare target us!"

"Let it be done!"

After a long silence, the Starfall Divine Lord sighed and said.

After making his decision, the Starfall Divine Lord personally led the nine deities to the Elven Divine Realm to beg for mercy.

And half an hour later, the Starfall Empire's Church and Meng Ying both received divine oracles.

That afternoon, the Starfall Empire formally surrendered to the Flame Empire.

The Starfall Empire's Church, along with the churches of the other nine kingdoms, led loyal followers out of the Starfall Empire and the nine kingdoms, heading far east to develop the wildlands.

The Starfall Empire was vast, and the Church took many people—up to one or two million—and even some prisoners from the Flame Empire were released.

These people's faith reached an extremely deep level.

For example, temple knights raised from orphans since childhood by the Church.

If they stayed behind, they would become destabilizing factors.

Of course, they could only take these believers and a small amount of grain—the Starfall Empire's vast wealth was beyond their right to take.

Lin Yan's acceptance of the surrender meant he could stabilize the Starfall Empire the fastest.

After the Starfall Divine System and the Starfall Empire surrendered, they would no longer continuously cause trouble.

Otherwise, if the Church kept causing unrest, stabilizing such a vast empire would take years at the very least.

This war was a standard war of faith.

Not for any other reason, but solely to seize territory and faith.

The Starfall Divine System had never offended Lin Yan; without having violated the dignity of a deity, accepting their surrender, stabilizing the Starfall Empire swiftly, and absorbing it yielded far greater gains than exterminating them completely.

Of course, besides total surrender, the Starfall Divine Lord must still obey the Lord of Flame's commands for the next ten years.

Thus, another unfortunate divine lord joined the ranks of the doomed.

"Sigh, unlucky!"

Back in his divine realm, the Starfall Divine Lord sighed endlessly.

A fourth-tier deity appears once every few thousand years—and this one suddenly appeared right beside his empire.

Other fourth-tier deities already had vast realms, mostly reaching the limit of divine radiance, and generally had little desire for further expansion.

Additionally, the realms of other fourth-tier deities are located in other more prosperous regions of the Continent of Gods.

Yet he happened to encounter a fourth-tier deity who had just broken through, and that deity was precisely expanding his territory, with his own lands right next door.

If not him, then who?

The Star Fall Divine Lord does not yet know he is not the first to suffer misfortune.

The first one to suffer misfortune, in fact, betrayed him, for he did not reveal the Flame Lord's whereabouts.

"Divine Lord, the Flame Empire lies beside the Eternal Night Empire—does this not mean the Flame Lord may also be eyeing the Eternal Night Empire?"

At this moment, a deity spoke.

"It's possible. Keep your mouths shut—don't spread this news. With so many Divine Lords, I can't be the only one to suffer!"

The Star Fall Divine Lord spoke coldly.

"This imperial capital has a considerable population."

At this moment, within the imperial capital of the Star Fall Empire, Meng Ying stood with arms folded at the highest point, gazing down upon this thousand-year-old imperial capital.

This imperial capital was vast, with a population of several million, and exceedingly prosperous.

Of course, it paled in comparison to the imperial capital of the Eternal Night Empire.