Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 322 The Approaching Grand Ceremony and Su Li's Advantage

When Oliver mentioned the territory's festival and games, Su Li immediately took notice.

This is indeed the most important event in the territory for some time to come.

Many knights, priests, adventurers, and even nobles from all over the world will come here to participate in this important celebration of the Church of the Sun Goddess.

Su Li decisively said, "We must make this celebration extremely grand, so that this unique event of our territory becomes a famous event renowned throughout the entire Sun Goddess camp and even the entire empire, attracting a large number of people to come for pilgrimage and revelry every year."

Su Li's goal is undoubtedly to create an event similar to the Spanish Bullfighting Festival or the Brazilian Carnival. Although these events are unique to a particular country or region, their global renown attracts people from all over the world to revel and dance before and after the festival, participating in this grand celebration.

There are successful examples of this in this world, such as the Summer Solstice Burning Ceremony in Maleburg.

Every year on the summer solstice, the Cathedral of Eternal Flame holds a grand Summer Solstice Burning Festival. On this day, the Knights will ride flaming chariots through the city, lighting giant stone pillars of fire along the way. Then, the knights will duel in front of the cathedral with unsharpened weapons coated with phosphorus powder. The victor's sword will be lit with sacred fire and become the 'Goddess's Blade' in the ceremony. The Grand Master will throw this Goddess's Blade onto the map. The territory where the blade is planted is the "Prophecy of Ashes". Afterward, the Knights will issue the 'Holy Order of Conquest'. All believers of the Church of the Sun Goddess will gather in this direction to extinguish the monsters or evil god orders in this territory.

Every year in late spring and early summer, a large number of devotees of the Goddess of the Sun travel to Maleiburg with a pilgrimage-like mentality to participate in this grand festival with singing and dancing.

However, this festival has a very strict participant restriction: only knights and believers of the Church of the Sun Goddess will participate in this grand ceremony. After all, it was an event organized by those burly men of the Flame Sun Knights.

However, the number of followers of the Goddess of the Sun is still too small compared to the overall size of the empire. Within the entire empire, the gods of order are already very large, and their followers are countless.

Leaving aside other matters, there are three main deities in charge of war: Yurik, Ridmar, and Violet, as well as some other order deities with smaller followings.

Among them, Yurik had the most followers, Ridmar had the greatest influence, and Violet had the strongest followers (Note: This is the claim of the Church of the Sun Goddess, and Yurik's followers and Ridmar's followers have different opinions on this).

As a staunch follower of the Goddess of the Sun, Su Li naturally accepted the church's claim. However, regardless of the circumstances, Violet's followers were among the smallest, even within the knightly ranks.

This is mainly because Violet's faith is still in its early stages, and she only recently gained an electoral vote for the first time.

However, what encourages the believers is that the faith of the Church of the Sun Goddess is constantly developing and expanding, and more and more people in the Empire are beginning to believe in this powerful and civilized goddess.

As a prospective chosen knight of the Radiant Sun Church, Su Li naturally had to strengthen the spread of the church and its faith. And this Radiant Arena Festival was a perfect opportunity for that.

This competition is suitable for all knights to participate in, regardless of faith or sect.

Especially for those knights of the Church of Yurik and Redmar who love to compete, this is their greatest celebration, and the mere desire for honor is enough to make them flock to it.

The darker and more desperate the times, the more people worship heroes.

An artist or singer can gain countless crazy fans, let alone a champion in such a powerful and rapid arena.
At that time, countless fanatical believers from the church will come to the territory to frantically support their church's knights. Their numbers will inevitably exceed those of the knights, and may be tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times greater!
At this time, if a knight from any church wins the championship in the arena, it will not only gain unparalleled personal glory, but will also inevitably receive divine grace! Winning in such an occasion can greatly enhance the glory of his church, promote its spread, and attract more believers.

This world is that realistic: the stronger you are, the more people will believe in you. The siphon effect will reach its peak at this moment.

If a church were to achieve a three-peat in a single year, winning championships in all three ranks—Regular Knight, Elite Knight, and Champion Knight—it would likely ignite extreme fervor among its followers, instantly attracting a large number of converts.

Therefore, Su Li naturally attached great importance to this Glorious Competition Festival.

Oliver immediately replied, "My lord, we are already making every effort to prepare for this event. For this grand celebration, the Academy of Engineering and the Engineers' Guild have specially assembled a large number of people to improve the arenas from the Lion Ring Arena to the ordinary arenas in various villages and towns. We are determined to ensure the smooth running of the celebration."

"At the same time, the provincial council also set up a special team, led by His Excellency Hilde, the high-ranking steward, together with the episcopal conference of the territory, the cabinet ministers and the noble families of the villages and towns, to be responsible for the safety, stability and procedures of this celebration."

The specific procedures are still being finalized, but the competition format has been largely determined and announced. However, how to incorporate elements of the Church of the Goddess of the Sun into the festival celebrations and the long competition period without appearing overly deliberate or formulaic is something the ministers need to carefully consider.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As the organizer, how could he not take this opportunity to promote church exports?

Having seized control of the discourse and the public opinion front, it would be a terrible waste not to utilize it. As the saying goes, "If Heaven bestows something and you don't take it, you'll suffer the consequences." Therefore, even though he forcefully incorporated certain blatant rituals from the Church of the Sun Goddess, the knights understood.

After all, we've spent so much money and supported so many people, isn't this what we're here for?

Su Li then said, "Very good, then I look forward to your performance on the day of the ceremony."

Actually, it's something to look forward to, as the summer solstice is just around the corner.

Spring has arrived, and the territory is now filled with green hills, clear waters, and blooming flowers.

Basically, by the time it takes for a caravan to make one round trip, the harvest season should be approaching.

Once the harvest season ends, Tal will take over the annual cycle, and the summer solstice will arrive.

Therefore, the time left for the territory to prepare is actually not much.

After basically finishing all the discussions with Oliver, the inspection of the academy also came to a successful conclusion. Next, the territory will be fully preparing for the harvest season and the Glorious Games Festival.

Before dusk, Su Li left the academy surrounded by the Black Forest Guard knights.

Once they were away from the crowd of people at the academy, Hilder rode her griffin to Su Li's side. Her handsome eyes held a clear smile as she looked at Su Li and asked, "My lord, would you consider participating in this grand ceremony?"

Without much thought, Su Li instinctively replied, "Didn't I already say this back in Maleburg? I won't participate in this game, otherwise I'll lose the hearts of the people regardless of the outcome."

Hilde's eyes gleamed with amusement: "I wasn't talking about gambling."

"Not gambling, then what is it..." Su Li's eyes widened instantly, and she turned to Xi Lu in disbelief: "You don't mean you want me to personally participate in the competition, do you?"

“Of course.” Hilde’s eyes curved into beautiful crescent moons with a smile: “I have already registered you. You are one of the few available positions for a high-ranking personal attendant.”

"Don't mess around." Su Li refused without even thinking: "My cultivation is all internal energy, the kind I practice in bed. I rarely practice martial arts or combat, how could I possibly go to the arena?"

Hilde immediately took his right hand, gazed at him intently, and gently encouraged him, "My lord, you are really underestimating yourself. In fact, in my opinion, you are very strong, and may even win the elite-level championship. It's just that you haven't changed your mindset."

That's definitely not the case. Su Li was a giant baby living in socialism in his previous life. In terms of mentality, he really didn't have the ruthlessness of the capitalist world.

I've only been here for a little over a year. Although I've changed a bit, it's impossible to change someone's mindset that has lasted for decades in just one year.

Even if he had to take the field before, it was out of necessity.

Therefore, he never considered himself particularly powerful in martial arts, which was also related to his values ​​in his previous life. For a monarch to personally lead troops into battle was not bravery, but recklessness.

Hearing Hilder's encouragement, he replied directly, "I know you're trying to motivate me, but this is too unrealistic. With my strength, how could I possibly win an elite-level championship?" Hilder's handsome face was filled with a determined expression: "No, my lord, I'm not trying to comfort or encourage you. On the contrary, this is an absolutely accurate judgment I've reached after careful analysis."

"First of all, you have the foundation in terms of absolute strength. You have been infused with the most resources in the territory, from the Crimson Pearl Bracelet to the Burning Pearl, from Dragon Blood Stone to the Extraordinary Spike. Your strength, physique, life, endurance, and so on are all far beyond the ordinary level. This is also an important reason why you can easily kill monsters on the battlefield even though you don't train much. It can be said that your physical qualities are the kind of physique that knights dream of on their path of training. It includes not only innate divine strength, but also steel bones, lightning-fast reflexes, exceptional sturdiness, and extraordinary perception, among many other characteristics."

"Even with the physical strength and cultivation foundation you've built up with these resources alone, you're destined to be stronger than others. This is a significant advantage in the arena, where unsharpened weapons are used, which can only knock people unconscious, not kill them. Even if you don't dodge or evade, trading blows for blows, you can easily defeat your enemies by relying on your superior endurance and resilience."

That makes sense. A strong physique is something many cultivators can only dream of. Some people are born with exceptional physiques, a natural advantage for cultivation.

For example, reaction speed. Some people are just fast. When they see an enemy's knife coming at them, some people may need a second to react, while others can dodge in the blink of an eye and even disarm the attacker with their bare hands.

Su Li's reaction speed used to be relatively slow. After all, in his previous life he was just an average person, and things like sword-wielding, discerning, and blocking had nothing to do with him.

But this life is different; there are so many extraordinary resources that can continuously improve a person's physical fitness.

Of the four essential elements for spiritual practice, wealth, Dharma, place, and companion are listed first.

Some extraordinary items offer an advantage once used compared to not using them, and some foods can permanently grant the body certain traits or feats after consumption, such as quick reflexes, dark vision, wild senses, and so on.

Su Li undoubtedly has an overwhelming advantage in this regard. With the help of daily intelligence, the opportunities and extraordinary resources of his territory far surpass those of any other territory. Therefore, in terms of wealth and resources, he may be even richer than some dukes.

This gave him unparalleled physical attributes and advantages. In battles between opponents of equal strength, relying on this physical advantage, he could react faster and more agilely, while also being more powerful in both offense and defense.

"But the tournament is ultimately about competition." Su Li hesitated for a moment. He was already somewhat tempted. If he could change his mindset and build his confidence in combat through this tournament, he would undoubtedly be happy to participate. He only had one hesitation: "But if the difference in martial arts skills is too great, I'm afraid even a physical advantage won't be enough to make the most of it?"

If his opponent manages to disarm him or disarm him, he won't be able to use his skills.

Su Li had indeed witnessed the knights' superb combat skills in this world. It could be said that a well-trained and skilled knight, even without extraordinary strength, could easily defeat seven or eight civilians or even raiders by relying solely on his thrusting and fighting techniques.

As for those whose martial arts skills are almost divine, their battles can only be described in one word: pleasing to the eye!
The same elite knight, the one with the superior martial arts skills, can easily suppress the other elite knight from beginning to end, leaving the opponent with no chance to fight back.

Just like Orstein's battle at the Forbidden City, he didn't use any supernatural abilities in the early stages, but relied solely on his combat skills to overwhelm three or four elite knights.

If Su Li were to encounter an elite of this caliber, she would truly be left with no choice but to take the beating without even being able to touch the opponent.

Hilde was very confident about this, saying, "My divine magic is the Master of Combat, which can instill Her Majesty Violet's martial arts into allies, making them more skillful when wielding weapons. As long as I use this divine magic on you every day from now on, you will definitely gain melee weapon specialization, quick blocking, lightning-fast reaction, and devastating strikes. Your martial arts level will not be worse than other knights."

"As a follower of the Goddess of the Sun, or even a chosen one favored by the Goddess of the Sun, you are naturally endowed with characteristics such as a calm mind, meticulous thinking, and combat wisdom. As long as you remain calm and composed, and gain more combat experience after a few battles, I believe you will be able to easily challenge for the championship."

"As for combat experience, you don't need to worry. As long as you have the need, I believe Freya, Tiberos, and even myself, along with a large number of champion knights and chosen knights, will spar and fight with you, allowing you to quickly accumulate a lot of combat experience and skills."

That's certainly true; Su Li has a greater advantage in this regard. After all, how many elite knights can obtain a sparring partner from a Chosen Knight?
Basically, the Chosen Knights could teach Su Li any combat skills and tactics that the elite knights could think of, and also teach him how to counter their moves.

Combat is something that comes with practice. If you can tell where your opponent is going to attack and what tactics they will use as soon as they raise their hand, you can easily and effortlessly counter their attack in the best way and defeat them.

With so many advantages, even if he doesn't win the championship, he can at least defeat many elite knights and gradually build his confidence.

So Su Li thought for a moment and said, "Let's give it a try. We'll train first and then participate in the competition among the high-ranking attendants."

There are a total of 18 slots for high-ranking personal attendants, but those are four heavyweight slots, with only 6 slots for elite-level attendants.

Elite knights constitute the largest number among high-ranking personal attendants, amounting to nearly two squadrons. This means only 6 out of 240 will be selected. With a selection ratio of 40 to 1, passing the first stage of the selection process is no easy feat.

Su Li really needs to train hard during this period.

Fortunately, he didn't have anything else to do, so this activity became his biggest pastime and source of motivation during this period.

With Hilde's guidance and training, his strength will surely improve by leaps and bounds.

His ambition quickly attracted Freya's attention, and the aloof, noble, and icy female dean of the academy and commander of the knights took the initiative to join in his tutoring.

For more than half a month, Su Li spent his days being tutored by the female knights and his nights tutoring the female knights.

Of course, there are also classic plot points, such as the teachers promising Su Li that if he completes certain training programs and exercise goals, they will cooperate with and fulfill some of his requests.

This gave Su Li a lot of motivation. With his efforts, the aloof Freya quickly transformed into a gentle, alluring beauty. This was because Su Li had already achieved his goal through training, placing the erotic brass bell on Freya's neck during training and guidance!
So during this time, Freya would make a series of clear, tinkling sounds during her battles and training with Su Li. The sound was originally so clear and melodious, but at this moment it became so captivating and alluring.

Sometimes, before Su Li could even hit her, the sensitive female knight would suddenly tremble, grip her training sword tightly, and collapse to the ground in a duck-like position.

This filled Su Li with a sense of conquest and accomplishment. Probably no one could have imagined that the icy female dean would involuntarily reveal such a voice and posture in front of him, the icy eyes seeming to melt into a pool of hazy spring water, exceptionally alluring.

Meanwhile, during the time that Su Li was undergoing intensive knight training with the female knights in the manor, the territory finally underwent a tremendous change.

While he focused on his cultivation for the past two weeks, the number of knights in his territory gradually increased, and some of the faster knights had already arrived in Hessen territory from Maleburg.

Moreover, this number is not small; walking through the streets of Blackwood, you can see knights, mercenaries, and adventurers wearing all kinds of armor everywhere.

It wasn't until these knights were together that the commoners of the territory realized the vast differences among them. Their attire was incredibly diverse. For example, the Knights of Ridmar from the heart of the Empire were the most flamboyant, earning them the title of "Flowers of the Empire." This title stemmed from their dazzlingly colorful clothing. Not only were their helmets adorned with vibrant feathers, but their armor was also decorated with indigo and maroon fabrics. Beneath their skirts, their brightly colored striped trousers were particularly eye-catching and even garish (though in the central Empire, this was considered a symbol of fashion and trend), and their pointed iron boots gleamed brightly.

But do not underestimate their fighting power. They have a famous oath: "In the name of Redmar and the Empire, I solemnly swear that I will always be loyal to my captain and my legion. I will never back down in front of any enemy. I will never suffer the stigma, humiliation and contempt of my comrades."

Basically, they all possess the characteristic of fighting to the death. The Rydmar can always awaken loyalty and perseverance in the hearts of believers, so they are far more fearless than knights of other churches. When fighting against the forces of Chaos, it is common for these Rydmar knights to fight to the last man.

Besides the Rydmar knights, the streets were also filled with Mor Black Knights draped in raven feather cloaks, White Wolf Knights wearing wolf head armor, Predators bound with Chaos Grimoires in chains, and even the bald-headed Kisliv knights from the far east.

Of course, the most numerous were undoubtedly the Sun Goddess Knights, clad in gilded plate armor and adorned with roses on their chests. These knights were the epitome of flowers and swords; they were extremely wealthy and extravagant, making the owners and waiters of the taverns, brothels, inns, general stores, and equipment shops throughout the territory beam with joy!
Sometimes the tips they give are equivalent to one or two months' salary for an employee. Especially if the service is particularly good, they can toss out a silver coin with a mere flick of their wrist!
Silver coins! In a world where a copper coin could buy a full meal, a silver coin could truly allow a family to live comfortably for a month.

The entire territory is now filled with the sounds of "Praise to the Goddess of the Sun," and at this moment, the people feel even more deeply the generosity and blessings brought by the Goddess of the Sun.

While the common people benefited, the knightly orders stationed in Blackwood also reaped huge profits. The Sunfire Knights took the opportunity to select and recruit a large number of new knights, and even the more unique Knights of Light Arrow recruited a group of reserve members. This made Sylvanas, that little green tea b*tch, beam with joy, as she hadn't had time to perform her tea-tea art in front of Su Li lately.

According to Freya's calculations, the two knightly orders will gain at least 100 knights and hundreds of reserve believers, armed attendants, and so on during this grand event.

(End of this chapter)