The deeper Lin Miao delved into the close bond between deities and their vassals—a relationship akin to a shared destiny—the more clearly he realized that this connection was vastly different from his past vague understanding of Earth's various religions and concepts of divine right, back when he was practically an atheist.
Even the existing deities could not trace the origin of the Divine Net, nor could they precisely define this two-way bond that had existed since time immemorial.
This was an established law rooted in the deepest foundation of the universe.
The scale of this law was grand beyond imagination. Even if the mysteries of the Divine Net could be translated into words he could understand, he would never believe that a mere few sentences could carry all the information it contained.
One thing was beyond doubt: any existence that broke through their limits and attained a divine seat had to possess vassals willing to follow them if they wanted to secure their title as a deity.
Lin Miao was not entirely ignorant of this. His long, hands-on experience had allowed him to figure out the rules step-by-step, gradually adapting to this cosmic system.
Once a deity and their vassals formed a bond, both sides would receive exclusive Divine Status buffs, obtaining what they needed and helping each other succeed.
While a deity could indeed exert extremely strong influence over their vassals, this connection was never a one-way street.
In turn, the accumulated achievements, colony size, and controlled territories of the vassals would directly determine the level of the deity's Divine Status and the upper limit of their power.
Relying solely on the resources of a single home planet was simply not enough to support a deity in breaking through their shackles to advance to the Mid-Tier Deity rank or higher.
The civilization levels of various planets in the universe were highly uneven and could not be generalized. Even on top-tier advanced planets, the resources of a single planet alone could hardly nurture a high-tier deity.
Thus, Lin Miao had long been certain that the relationship between a deity and their vassals was by no means a one-way subordination or obligatory submission of subordinates to an absolute god as secular society perceived it, nor did it have anything to do with so-called humanitarian constraints.
The core of the two was symbiosis.
The bond between a deity and their vassals was far more fair, equal, and mutually reinforcing than the world imagined.
Deities possessed supreme authority, but the roles and benefits their vassals brought to the table were equally irreplaceable.
Scenes of the past flashed through Lin Miao's mind: as the Great Devourer colony continuously multiplied, grew, and evolved, his own Divine Status had also steadily climbed alongside them.
Unlike orthodox deities, Lin Miao's method of awakening was highly unconventional. He had not nurtured vassals on his home planet, nor had he relied on the faith and bonds of a colony to fuel his divine authority.
He had never taught top-tier technology or high-tier magic to the Great Devourers roaming various worlds, nor could he directly bestow power to forcefully elevate the colony's combat strength.
Yet, just as Elise recognized, for the Great Devourers who had long broken free from mortal shackles and completed their metamorphosis, the influence Lin Miao left throughout their evolutionary history was deeply rooted and irreplaceable.
All the genetic information engraved within the hive mind originated from Lin Miao.
This included the formation of the self-awareness of the queen-grade individuals, especially his eldest daughter, Elise, the Great Queen.
The beginning of everything was nothing more than a common Queen Ant and several worker ants that Lin Miao had brought.
Yet, from this insignificant starting point, the brand-new race of the Great Devourer was born, and the entire colony firmly believed that Lin Miao was their sole creator and supreme ruler.
【Elise ordered the attack on the enemy's home planet, declaring publicly that all the glory of this battle belonged entirely to the supreme Lord.】
As the war progressed to this point, Elise had almost completely dismantled all the peripheral territories of the Goddess of Light Association, or had pinned down the enemy's forces in various war zones.
Then, she deployed the main legion, which had long been prepared and waiting, to launch a general offensive on the enemy's remaining core territory—Arcadia, the dwelling of the Goddess of Light, Hestia.
Although they had not yet cleared the Goddess's vassals from all the lands, the Goddess no longer possessed the power to defend the entire planet.
For high-tier deities of higher civilizations, their direct vassals and other matters already consumed too much of their energy, making it impossible to fully commit their strength to defense.
Watching the battle on the screen, Lin Miao had already come to a conclusion.
He had originally wanted to send a message to Hestia to urge her to surrender, but ultimately chose to hold back.
Now was not the best time to expose his identity. He did not need to step forward personally; he only had to convey the message through his vassals' mouths to pressure Hestia without revealing his Divine Net identity.
“So this is the power of a deity...”
Looking at the battlefield from the other side of the screen, Celia's eyes were filled with shock as she murmured softly.
From the grand Palace of Sacred Radiance floating high in the sky, a beam of clear holy light suddenly shot out, piercing through the vault of heaven in an instant and precisely shooting down a Chronos fighter.
The destructive power of this strike was terrifying. The defensive barriers and hard exoskeletons that the Chronos had deployed with all its might were utterly fragile before the holy light, instantly shattered and pierced through.
Although this beam of light seemed far weaker than a magical attack constructed by a massive astral formula, it could unleash world-destroying power. The root cause lay in the high-tier deity status carried within it.
Beings with low Divine Status could not glimpse the essence of this power at all; they could only vaguely sense the invisible aura floating in the air. However, Lin Miao, who also possessed a Divine Status, could clearly perceive the majesty and overbearing nature of this divine power.
At this moment, the pure white holy power not only enveloped the entire floating palace but also covered and guarded most of Arcadia's territory in layers.
Lin Miao pondered to himself whether he would also be able to control such power to rule over stars and guard stellar domains if he advanced to a high-tier deity in the future.
After all, he had no master or school, and was still completely ignorant of the cultivation path and power control methods of a high-tier deity.
“...Everything is as expected. Deploy more troops and continue to advance.”
Seeing her warriors fall one after another under the crushing weight of the Goddess's absolute divine power before they could even clash, Elise's expression remained cold, showing no sign of retreat.
She had long known that with the colony's current combat strength, they simply could not confront the extraordinary Divine Status of a high-tier deity head-on.
However, after multiple rounds of territorial conquest and continuous attrition, Hestia's divine power had already been heavily depleted, to the point where she could no longer fully protect her own home planet.
The defensive divine power covering the entire planet was riddled with flaws. Elise kept her eyes glued to the battlefield, constantly searching and persistently digging out every single gap in the divine power.
To preserve their core combat strength and keep their trump cards for a turnaround, Kerrigan, the various legion commanders, and all the high-tier Great Devourer individuals remained stationed in the rear without moving.
As the Goddess's territories continued to fall and her vassals rapidly dwindled, Elise continuously poured in waves of troops to attack, intending to completely exhaust Hestia's divine power and drag her down to exhaustion and defeat.
The forces deployed and sacrificed to breach the home planet of Arcadia had already far exceeded the losses from previous campaigns in the peripheral territories and the suppression of the Goddess of Light Association's resistance.
Yet, with the fall of every territory and the demise of every batch of vassals, the flaws in Hestia's divine power continued to expand and spread, making her defensive vulnerabilities increasingly fatal.
Lin Miao watched the battle closely. Judging that Hestia was already deeply mired in the crisis of her home planet falling, with anxiety and fear surely taking root in her heart, he knew that the time had finally come to resolve this long-standing confrontation and misunderstanding.
He immediately sent an oracle to Elise, commanding her to convey his will and initiate a dialogue with Hestia.
Lin Miao was certain that when pushed to a dead end, any existence would waver.
If Hestia was rational enough and wished to preserve her vassals and maintain her status as a deity, she would surely accept the proposal to surrender.
Upon receiving the oracle, Elise immediately deployed a batch of Lictor individuals that had undergone flying species modifications.
This batch of individuals had been modified from the bodies of tiger hornet ants, discarding their original insect heads and forelimbs to evolve human faces and arms.
They were ordered to fly around the Goddess's Palace of Sacred Radiance, broadcasting messages of surrender on a loop.
“Goddess, admit defeat.”
“Submit to the supreme existence.”
“Integrate into the colony, and co-exist in symbiosis.”
Countless Lictors circled the high-altitude palace, their hoarse, low voices echoing through the sky over and over again.
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