Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 350 Su Li's Path to Godhood

After a slightly more relaxed and enjoyable day, the competition at the Glorious Arena quickly heated up again.

The main reason is that the loser's bracket matches ended yesterday, and the group stage of the round of 32 officially started today!

To maximize the enthusiasm of the region and attract betting funds, the round of 32 adopted a group round-robin system, which means that the teams were divided into 8 groups, with 4 teams in each group.

Su Li was very lucky. He was the ace in his group, crushing the other three elite knights. One of the knights even surrendered after seeing that his opponent was Su Li, in order to conserve his energy and try to qualify for second place.

For the Church of Ridemar and the Church of Yurik, avoiding war was unacceptable. However, for the followers of the Goddess of the Sun, it was permissible to temporarily retreat and avoid the enemy's sharpest attack when the situation was unfavorable, thus choosing a more advantageous battlefield to fight on.

Of course, Su Li's smooth sailing might also be due to behind-the-scenes manipulation by the organizers, Oliver or Hilde. It's said that Group 8 is practically hell on earth; the incredibly resilient Blood Shield Knight Jess Stewart, along with Green Valley Knight Matilda and Iron Lung Calvin Trun, were placed in the same group!
If Su Li's situation was just a possible behind-the-scenes manipulation, since he might have just been lucky enough to draw Group 4, which made it easier for him to advance, then the situation in Group 8 was definitely a behind-the-scenes manipulation by the organizers.

This is to make the competition more intense and exciting, attracting more betting funds, so as to prevent the enthusiasm of participants and gamblers from decreasing during the competition.

This intense competition indeed caused a huge sensation, as all three of them were considered to be strong contenders for the championship!

As a result, on the first day of the group stage of the 32-team tournament, one of the championship candidates was destined to be eliminated!

This was quite a gimmick, and the announcement of the group list ignited a new wave of frenzy at the competition festival.

When Su Li finished three matches and successfully advanced, the battle between Blood Shield Knight Jess Stewart and Iron Lung Calvin was still ongoing, and the betting amount attracted had already reached more than 6000 gold crowns!
More importantly, their odds were almost perfectly matched, at 49.8 to 50.2!

With Blood Shield Knight Jayce leading by less than 0.5%, the match was incredibly close both on and off the field, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats.

Su Li also personally went to see the battle between the two, and it was truly exhilarating and thrilling. Their attacks were brutal and deadly, and every move was filled with the knights' explosive power and unwavering will.

Iron Lung Calvin initially gained the upper hand, repeatedly striking Blood Shield Knight Jess's body with powerful training spears, even piercing his chest and abdomen several times, causing Jess to pant heavily and roar madly.

Just when everyone thought Jess would continue to be on the defensive, he suddenly erupted, swinging his warhammer and smashing it like a cannonball into Calvin's chest, sending him flying several meters. The devastating force of the hammer shook the ring. Calvin knelt on one knee on the floor, surrounded by a dense array of huge, jagged cracks within a 5-meter radius.

The two exchanged blows for dozens of rounds, neither gaining the upper hand. The surrounding spectators cheered excitedly, their voices cracking.

In the midst of fierce battle, the first round was decided. Iron Lung Calvin successfully pierced a gap in Jess's armor, pinning the Bloodshield Knight to the ground with his training spear, preventing him from getting up.

When the referee announced that Iron Lung Calvin had won, his lungs were pounding like a burst bellows, his whole body was convulsing from exhaustion, and his right leg was trembling. This was a reaction to the aftereffects of his blood rushing and extreme mental tension.

But it's clear that Bloodshield Jayce won't give up so easily. This is only the first round. He's extremely good at long battles and easily defeated his opponent when both sides were extremely tired.

So no one was surprised that the Blood Shield Knight would pay the ransom and fight again.

Of course, Su Li was also very happy, because with Jess Stewart's playing style, even if he made it all the way to the championship finals, the ransom he owed would be enough to keep him in debt in Hessen until he died. Currently, he already owed 300 gold crowns, and the interest rate was rising steadily, currently at 6%. As his debt increased, the loan sharks became increasingly less confident in his ability to repay the debt and his chances of winning the championship, making it inevitable that the interest rate would continue to soar.

As everyone expected, Blood Shield Jayce fought all seven games and ultimately turned the tide!

By the time their battle ended, it was already afternoon. Even with his iron lungs, Calvin couldn't withstand such intense fighting. As a result, he only fought two rounds with Matilda, the Green Valley Knight, before collapsing completely, leaving the female knight to win.

After a fierce final day of competition, the Lion Ring Arena earned an astonishing 17500 gold crowns just from commissions and taxes!
While excited, Su Li was also nervous and thrilled, and got up early the next morning to prepare.

Because today is the day to compete for the top 8!
The remaining candidates are all incredibly powerful, many of whom are no weaker than Blood Shield Jess, and some could even easily defeat him in the first few rounds.

Watching their battle, Su Li even doubted whether they were really just elite-level knights.
Su Li wasn't the only one with this question; many spectators were also shocked. Could such powerful combat strength and destructive force really be caused by an elite knight?
Therefore, Su Li had no choice but to prepare for the battle in time. Winning this competition would be far more difficult than what Hilde had said.

The round of 16 can still be manipulated, but once you get to the quarterfinals, you really have to bring out your true strength and fight your way in.

So after dinner, Hilde, Thranville, and Tiberius came to the training ground together to help Su Li carefully analyze and design today's battle plan.

Seranville, who was mainly in charge of intelligence gathering, explained to Su Li in detail: "My lord, your opponent today is the elite knight, the legendary foul-mouthed king, Logan Herbert Quentin."

"Legendary?" Su Li raised an eyebrow. Having witnessed Archibald's combat prowess, he felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing the word "legendary."

Thranville immediately explained, "The 'legendary' aspect doesn't refer to his strength, but rather the extent of his foul language—it's incredibly rare and sharp, almost legendary. In battle, his constant trash talk can greatly disrupt an opponent's mindset, even reducing their attack and accuracy. However, it doesn't affect his own attack rhythm. He wields a training greatsword, his attack speed is lightning fast, and possessing beast blood, he can achieve partial transformation at the elite stage after activating his bloodline, mixing bone and flesh with the Amber Wind to twist his body into the shape of another enormous beast."

"With the power of his beast form, he grows to over 3 meters tall and can unleash champion-level strength. So even though he only has mid-level champion-level strength, he has been able to crush his way into the top 16. So far, he has never lost a single time."

Su Li hated this kind of player. Wouldn't that mean the territory wouldn't receive any loans or profits?
So Su Li forcefully swung his fist and said with great momentum, "Then I'm going to shatter his winning streak today! Who isn't a winning streak king?"

Su Li was confident in himself; once his bloodline erupted, he would be able to display champion-level strength.

Although Tiberius was a rough and unreliable man, he was very cautious in battle. He said, "My lord, the opponent's strength is not just a simple bloodline burst. If you underestimate him and try to win easily by relying on your bloodline abilities as before, it will not be an easy task. You must not only be careful of his [Beast Appearance], but also his [Amber Claws]. After he activates his bloodline, his nails will grow into sharp claws like crystal amber. His unarmed attacks will be considered magical attacks, and the damage will be equal to his strength plus his will and mental power. When he deals damage, he will also inflict a bleed status."

"Therefore, he has a significant advantage when all the participants are using training weapons. Your Lordship, you must be careful about all of this."

Hilde's handsome face remained calm as she said, "My lord, I believe that if you can arrange your tactics properly, your chances of winning are extremely high. You have all the advantages he has, but the advantages you have are far inferior to his."

Su Li calmly thought for a moment, then quickly realized what he meant and asked, "You mean the consumption of his energy?"

“That’s right. If you fully unleash your bloodline power, even if you lose the first few rounds, you can still exhaust his strength. If you both use a lot of bloodline abilities, he will be far from being your match in the later stages. It’s like a large-scale war. If you want to achieve a great victory in the end, you can’t be concerned about the gains and losses of a single city or battle.”

That makes sense. After thinking for a moment, Su Li confidently waved his hand and said, "Then watch my performance."

As the sun rose, Su Li quickly composed himself and entered the arena.

Even while he was still in the entrance corridor, he could hear the frenzied shouts outside, and a large proportion of them were chanting his name, Burning Golden Hammer!
As he donned his armor, wielding his warhammer, and passed through the passageway, the bright summer sun shone down, and the sounds of revelry instantly engulfed him, plunging him into a sea of ​​celebration!
"Burning Gold Hammer!"

"Burning Gold Hammer!"

"Burning Gold Hammer!"

"My charming darling, with your dashing demeanor and extravagant elegance, crush this ugly monster!"

"That's right, let's show our opponent what a true exemplar knight of the Sun Goddess looks like! Use the tips of your gold-plated boots to kick this ugly freak's ass to pieces!"

"Burning Golden Hammer, your ass is the sexiest, I'm obsessed with you! Baby, if you win this fight, I'll give you my whole being and serve you, my powerful master!"

That's insane!
Su Li took a deep breath, then stepped onto the arena, calmly and confidently waving to those in all directions, eliciting cheers and screams. This was the nature of the empire's people: fond of gambling and intensely worshipful of the strong. As long as you could consistently win, you would gain the fervent admiration of countless people, even if you were a tyrant.

The people of the empire are not afraid that their leader is a tyrant; what they cannot accept is the leader's cowardice and defeat.

Therefore, Su Li must win this tournament. When he removes his mask on the final stage, the immense glory will attract the fervent admiration of countless knights, granting him even greater prestige. This single victory and championship will attract a large number of knights to settle in his territory.

"Oh, let me see, isn't this the Butt-Butt Knight? You coward, do you know that your ass is your symbol and your face? Hahaha, today I'll give your charming ass a good caress." Luo Ge, holding a heavy sword, walked over from the opposite side of the arena.

Su Li lifted the warhammer, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and sneered, "I'll shove your filthy mouth down your ass in a bit!"

As the referee, Champion Knight Edwin couldn't help but glance at Su Li, who was carrying a warhammer, a few more times. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with this masked knight with a very strange aura.

Although he thought of all the knights he knew, he couldn't find one whose figure was similar to his, but he inexplicably felt that he must have had a lot of contact with him, but some ability had changed his aura.

But the situation didn't allow him much time to think. He immediately mounted his griffin and approached the two men. As one of the few griffin riders in the territory (and his griffin was his own), he was highly valued and nurtured by the territory, serving as the head referee for the elite group. So even if this guy with the Burning Gold Hammer had some contact with him, he wouldn't show any favoritism. After separating the two, he spoke with great excitement, his loud voice carrying throughout the entire arena: "Look, our two contestants have quickly gotten into the swing of things. Through their sharp exchanges, I can clearly see the tension between them."

"You're all seasoned competitors, so I won't go on and on. I'll just reiterate the three rules one last time."

"First: All witchcraft and magic are forbidden."

"Second: Recovery items are allowed, but the total number of times cannot exceed 7."

"Third: Adhere to the values ​​of the Goddess of the Sun, restrain anger and passion, and strictly prohibit attacking the head, neck, and groin."

"Then, count down from three, three!"

"two!"

"one!"

"The contest begins!"

With a wave of Edwin's hand, the griffin beneath him flapped its wings and soared into the sky with a gust of wind.

Within the griffin's massive shadow, two figures, one red and one silver, collided instantly. Edwin's eyes twitched in mid-air. Could he really mediate a battle of this magnitude?

The two below simultaneously unleashed their bloodline abilities, their powerful auras surging like a meteorite impact, violent and uncontrollable.

Logan roared and swung his training sword at Su Li's shoulder. With the power of the Amber Bloodline, his wildness enabled him to unleash terrifying power even with a two-handed sword.

Amber's energy manifests as a cold, silvery flame; it is indifferent to civilization and exists most intensely only in creatures with the minds of beasts.

The sword energy was like the roar of a tiger, sending chills down one's spine.

However, Su Li also possessed a powerful tyrant's aura. Although he had devised a strategy, he would not easily give up the previous matches. Holding his warhammer, he charged forward without dodging or avoiding.

On the arena, the two were like a rampaging red dragon and a fierce tiger, exchanging blows so fast that they left behind a series of afterimages, and cracks appeared in the marble under their attacks.

In a short while, Logan bore several heavy marks from the blows. Its amber eyes revealed cruelty as it stared at Su Li like it was its prey: "Come on, you filthy thing with your face hidden in your ass, let me see how much real talent you have besides your bloodline ability!"

Su Li sneered, "You? You'd better withstand the immense power I unleash after my bloodline erupts first. With your level, you're not even enough to figure out my true strength. Besides spouting nonsense, don't you have any real skills?"

Logan seemed to have been hit where it hurt, or perhaps he was inherently very violent, because upon hearing this he immediately went berserk: "You ignorant bug, I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your father!"

The next moment, Logan unleashed a powerful burst of bloodline energy: [Blazing Blood - Beast Appearance]!
He suddenly grew taller, his back muscles bulging as he bent over, his arms seemingly expanding. Then, with a roar, he transformed into a powerful beast with tiger-like arms and a muscular build, possessing arms as strong as a tiger vanguard, a bronze-like head, and a massive two-handed sword gleaming with silver light.

Su Li immediately took a deep breath. Good heavens, once he activated his beast form, his aura was no less powerful than that of a champion knight activating his Dharma form.

One can imagine the terrifying damage a knight like this would inflict on the battlefield, solely based on the activation of his bloodline ability. He could easily take down at least 3 to 5 horned beasts that are nearly 3 meters tall. If there were no monsters like horned beasts, ogres, or trolls to stop him, and he charged into a horde of horned beasts or goblin ranks, he could truly tear apart a whole group of monsters.

However, although he will greatly enhance the army's combat effectiveness in the future, he is currently just a hurdle that Su Li must overcome.

Su Li decisively gripped the warhammer, cautiously took a step back, and extended her hand to him.

Logan was instantly enraged. He roared and swung his greatsword as he charged forward, leaving only a silver afterimage on the ground.

In this situation, dodging was almost impossible, so Su Li directly took the sword strike head-on, while his warhammer slammed down on Su Li's steel frame.

The next moment, Su Li was sent flying backward, causing a gasp from the crowd. After all, the massive splatter of blood was quite frightening.

Logan also rolled around a few times, touching his chest with his tiger paw; a large dent had appeared there.

He wasn't even sure how long he could maintain this bloodline ability by trading injuries for injuries like this.

But before he could recover from the excruciating pain, Su Li rolled on the spot and slammed his warhammer heavily into his abdomen.

Logan felt a churning sensation in his abdomen, and he staggered a few steps, looking at Su Li in disbelief: "How could you recover so quickly?"

Su Li calmly shook off the blood on his body, then looked at Logan with a faint smile: "You don't think you can kill a powerful elite knight with a single blow, do you? Especially since you're using a training sword. Breaking through my perfect-level defense won't be so easy."

"Then don't blame me for using the power of amber! This is what you deserve, you bastard."

The next moment, huge amber claws grew from his palms, and he directly used the divine spell, Tar's Foot Binding Technique!

Just as he was about to pounce, Su Li suddenly raised his right hand, signaling, "Let's stop fighting!"

Logan almost coughed up blood. His fierce attacking posture froze in mid-air as Edwin pressed his lance against Logan's shoulder, preventing him from advancing any further.

He felt as if all his strength, about to be unleashed, had been thrown at him like a punch to a ball of cotton. His gaze fixed on Su Li, he asked, "Not fighting anymore!? What do you mean, not fighting anymore?"

"That means you won this round!" Su Li calmly put away his warhammer, waved to the armed attendant beside him, and had him bring over a bottle of cool spring water. Then he sat down next to the arena, drank the water, and said with a smile, "Let's take a break and prepare for the next round."

Logan was so enraged that he went berserk and struggled to rush forward: "If you can fight, you can fight; if you can't fight, you can't fight. What do you mean by taking a break?"

Edwin unleashed a burst of power with his lance, the tip of which emitted a blazing golden light. The steel frame that Su Li's warhammer could not break was instantly pierced by the lance, leaving a bloody hole and pinning Logan firmly to the spot, unable to advance.

"Rules are rules!" Edwin said coldly. "The Goddess of the Sun's Art of War says that war is not decided by a single moment's victory or defeat."

Logan was still filled with resentment and roared, "Then why can he just fight whenever he wants, and not fight whenever he wants?"

Su Li calmly finished a bottle of cool spring water, then handed the porcelain bottle to the armed attendant waiting beside him. He smiled and said to Logan, "Because I am a knight with brains. Knights have an absolute advantage on the battlefield, able to decide when to retreat and when to attack. Even if I fail to probe the enemy several times, as long as I seize the opportunity, I can strike decisively and chase the enemy until they collapse."

Clearly, Su Li not only wanted to win, but also wanted to promote the goddess's teachings while winning the match.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, one could sense that a large number of followers of the Goddess of the Sun around him had an epiphany. The military strategies that were previously obscure and unclear suddenly became clearer to them.

Su Li's actions were practically a sermon, allowing tens of thousands of spectators and believers to hear the profound teachings of the Goddess of the Blazing Sun.

"Well then, your rest time is over." Su Li smiled and took a sip of the genuine medicinal wine she carried with her, fully restoring herself to her full strength. "Since your mind was clouded by rage, you wasted your precious rest time. Now, accept the goddess's punishment!"

Logan, unwilling to accept defeat, tried to struggle desperately, but with Su Li's fierce and violent attack, he was slammed away and flew three or four meters into the air, his body bent over!
The first round consumed too much of his bloodline energy, making it impossible for him to compete against Su Li's undefeated state. Therefore, in the second round, Su Li brutally suppressed him, causing deafening cheers from the audience.

The people of the empire love to see such scenes of brutally crushing their opponents, because the empire needs such fierce and intense offensives to break through the endless siege of monsters.

When Logan was smashed away by the golden warhammer and fell heavily to the ground, the cheers from the crowd nearly shook the heavens.

For the first time, Su Li felt so clearly that the Goddess of the Sun was favoring him and bestowing upon him abundant divine grace!

(End of this chapter)