Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 356: Winning the Championship, A Perfect Ending!
If the vast majority of people in the entire territory were overjoyed at Su Li's identity as the Golden Hammer, then there was one person who was definitely not among them.

That's Blood Shield Jayce Stewart!
Although he was a knight from outside the territory, his enormous debt had already destined him to become Su Li's squire.

So, in the finals, he and Su Li went to play together?
If he wins, won't the lord make things difficult for him in the future? If he loses, won't all that money and ransom he spent be wasted?
What do you call this? This is called being stubborn and getting stuck at both ends.

Therefore, on the day of the finals, everyone was very pessimistic about him. Inside the Lion Ring Arena, the deafening cheers were almost all for Su Li.

Jess Stewart is just mentally resilient; otherwise, the contrast would be so stark that he would feel frustrated and break down, as if he were facing the whole world all by himself.

In fact, it wasn't just him who didn't think highly of the game; gamblers also cast their votes with real money.

The vast majority of people have invested their entire fortunes to support Su Li. Although they might earn less from the odds under these circumstances, the bet is guaranteed to be profitable. When you know the outcome of a match and the potential return is substantial, perhaps 10% or even 20%, who wouldn't go crazy?
If an ordinary person invests 10 gold crowns, they can earn 2 gold crowns in one game, which is equivalent to their family working hard for a year.

Which ordinary person could refuse a year's income for free?

Of course, the buyer is never as shrewd as the seller.

After discovering the unbalanced odds, the casino decisively shut down the betting, no longer accepting bets on the lord's outright victory, except for those already placed. Instead, the betting became more refined, with the odds shifting to the lord's chances of defeating Jess Stewart. For example, a 4-0 victory, a complete rout, had the highest odds. A 4-3 victory was next, and 4-3 and 4-2 also had corresponding odds.

Of course, to attract bets, casinos do accept direct bets on Jess Stewart's victory. However, these bets are generally placed by extremely reckless gamblers and die-hard Jess Stewart fans.

There's no way around it; anyone with a modicum of sense can see that Su Li's strength is a perfect counter to Jess Stewart.

Jess Stewart always relied on his overwhelming abilities to wear down his opponents, ultimately turning the tide of the match. It's a story of a foolish knight defying fate; he struggles to gain an advantage in the early stages of the battle.

However, if he can't even defeat Su Li in the first round, then as his own strength gets weaker and weaker, it will be even less likely that he will win the following battles.

After all, while others might have their morale eroded by him, Su Li wouldn't. With his various items, Su Li could maintain his peak condition from beginning to end. If Su Li didn't fall for Jess Stewart's tactics, then all of Jess Stewart's subsequent strategies would be ineffective.

Su Li's fully armed appearance drew cheers from the crowd, leaving Jess Stewart feeling a chill run down his spine.

Su Li wore a rare-grade battle armor, held the warhammer "Breaker" given to him by the dwarven lord, and wore a legendary-grade amulet! The golden emblem of the Bauhinia family shone brightly on his chest. All of this spoke volumes about his unparalleled power.

Frankly speaking, even if he stood still and let Jace Stewart attack him, it's hard to say who would suffer more injuries. After all, the protection, rebound, and massive explosive damage of this rare-grade armor would be enough to severely injure Jace Stewart.

When it comes to the rare-grade equipment, the knights become even more durable and tough, like nails. They are firmly rooted to the ground, and when the enemy's big foot stomps down, the damage they suffer may even be greater than the wounds they inflict.

Otherwise, humanity would not have been able to withstand the siege from countless evil legions coming from all directions! Those evil monsters rely on their overwhelming numbers to defeat the elite human legions.

Standing opposite Su Li, Jess Stewart felt the immense majesty emanating from the lord's bloodline and equipment. For this battle, Su Li had brought all his equipment. When he carried the mythical-grade material, the Twin-Tailed Comet Fragment, and the Scale of Vokartrex, he radiated an aura of power, faith, and majesty, truly as fiery as a dragon!
Su Li looked Blood Shield Jess Stewart up and down, a smile appearing on his face. He said, "Looks like you've got someone backing you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to find a single piece of rare-grade armor or a rare-grade amulet!"

Su Li had no idea that there was a third set of rare-grade armor in his own territory. He didn't know which caravan had transported it or whether it was the core of a knightly family's wealth.

But without a doubt, these people intend to use this huge investment to reap unparalleled profits.

Jess Stewart gave a wry smile: "Yes, my lord. Last night, a group of people approached me, saying they would give me a large amount of top-tier equipment to help me win. That's why at least 10000 gold crowns were wagered on me today. But I never expected you to have a legendary amulet!"

These people are just trying to make a fortune by pulling off an upset.

However, their plans were clearly going to fall through. Su Li patted Jess Stewart on the shoulder and said, "Since you're going all in, go all out. Let me see what you're capable of."

The referee was fairly impartial, not giving Su Li any special treatment because of her status, and directly announced the start of the match.

Jess Stewart took a deep breath. At this point, he had no choice but to fight with everything he had! Unlike Edwin, he already carried a heavy burden of loans and debts; a little more wouldn't hurt, he could simply spend his life paying them off. Only by fighting to the very end could he have a glimmer of hope!
So he directly raised his perfect-grade Blood Axe and slashed at Su Li. This stunning attack drew gasps from everyone present.

This was undoubtedly the most dangerous attack in the entire arena. The elite knights in the finals were all equipped with their finest gear, the kind of gear they needed to fight on the battlefield. This fierce and ruthless strike, the axe flash illuminating the entire arena, carried immense power that sent chills down everyone's spines. One could easily imagine how devastating the fate would be for enemies and monsters facing such a blow.

Su Li merely turned slightly to the side, narrowly avoiding this terrifying and ferocious attack. The sharp axe grazed his shoulder almost as close as a hair's breadth!

Jess Stewart's eyes widened instantly, because such an extreme distance was beyond the precise judgment of an elite knight like him. Until the last second before they passed each other, he was still full of confidence that his attack would definitely hit the lord! He had even prepared for the huge recoil damage from the rare-grade armor.

But as if protected by a goddess, his axe was altered by the slightest distance by the threads of fate, narrowly missing the lord. In this situation, he had no time to retract his battle axe. The next moment, a violent impact surged from his abdomen, making him feel as if his internal organs were churning. Terrifying flames burned his entire body, causing him to tremble, as if his blood vessels and skin were about to burst.

The Forgebreaker is a powerful, rare weapon. When used by a fire-attribute knight, it is enveloped in a blazing fire fox aura, inflicting terrifying fire damage on enemies.

Furthermore, this fire-attribute damage will continuously stack the vulnerability status, putting the opponent in a state of fear of fire, and the subsequent damage is close to the holy damage caused by divine magic.

It's safe to say that the sensations felt by Jess Stewart were not an illusion at all. If he were to remove his armor, one could see that the area on his abdomen where he had been struck by the fiery hammer was now cracked several millimeters wide, resembling lava from a volcanic eruption.

This was only because of the protection provided by his rare-grade armor, which withstood a large number of physical attacks. Only the near-holy damage of the burning flames could not withstand it. If a monster like a river troll, stone troll, or a giant green-skinned creature were to be hit by such an attack, it would probably be killed instantly, with a huge warhammer wound appearing in its abdomen.

Jess Stewart roared immediately, enduring the damage, and swung his battle axe at Su Li's abdomen again.

His title of "Blood Shield" is well-deserved; he can withstand continuous attacks and thus defeat his opponents.

However, this also means that he is actually very easy to lose in the early stages, and his attacks are far less oppressive than Edwin's attacks yesterday in Su Li's opinion.

Moreover, Su Li was protected by a legendary amulet, so even though Jess Stewart had been very conservative with his attack, Su Li was still able to completely dodge it.

Even since the start of the battle, he hadn't moved his feet. With just one martial skill, Mountain Collapse, he struck Stewart's chest and abdomen again, right next to his shoulder. Before the knight could unleash his furious battle axe, Stewart was sent flying four or five meters away.

This scene, which resembled a one-sided thrashing, immediately drew thunderous cheers from the surrounding spectators.

The contrast was stark, especially when Jess Stewart roared and launched another attack, slashing down on Su Li with a powerful blow, only to have Su Li grab his shoulder, give him a violent jolt, and slam him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw. Then, with a powerful kick of his right foot, Su Li's right arm snapped at a 90-degree angle, leaving his forearm unsupported and hanging limply at his side.

Everyone could see that the difference in combat strength between the two sides was too great.

With the blessing of the legendary amulet, Jess Stewart couldn't even touch the hem of Su Li's clothes. Su Li stood still and didn't even use his Bloodlust ability, yet he directly broke Stewart's right arm. This was a complete crushing of Jess Stewart's combat power.

The key point is that Jess Stewart is not like Dawn Knight Edwin or the legendary foul-mouthed Logan, who possess the ability to unleash near-championship-level power.

When Su Li activated [Blazing Blood: Crimson Dragon King's Flame], Jess Stewart was even less able to resist. His combat strength was usually enough to defeat most other knights in the first few rounds. Moreover, facing Su Li in his current peak state, after unleashing the power of a champion-level knight's bloodline, Su Li directly pressed down on his neck and slammed him to the ground. The sound of bones cracking made one wonder if his spine had been broken.

This heavy blow knocked him unconscious. Su Li hadn't even used any other abilities yet, and easily won the first round.

The referee had to step in and separate the two, then called in Medic Knight, who used a potion to revive Jace Stewart, and then asked, "Are you still going to fight?"

The referee's question made his stance very clear: he saw absolutely no chance of Jess Stewart winning!
The lord defeated him almost utterly, without even expending much energy, rendering Stuart's tactics meaningless.

He's already used up two chances to use the potion just to recover his fighting strength. He's severely weakened, while his opponent is calm and collected. How can he possibly win?

Jess Stewart was also dizzy and lightheaded. He felt lightheaded and unsteady on his feet after standing up.

He wasn't without defeats before; in fact, he fought his way up, losing almost every battle in the elite group before finally managing to turn the tide and win.

But this was the first time he'd ever been this miserable. The lord's ferocious onslaught made him feel like a goblin struggling desperately in the jaws of a brutal red dragon.

He tried his best, but couldn't even make a dent in the enemy's strength.

But no matter how hard the goblins try, can they really shake the dragon's massive body?
He remained silent for a long time before finally making up his mind after the referee urged him for the third time, saying, "Fight! I won't be satisfied until I've fought to the end!" A moment later, Jess Stewart's blood-stained figure slid across the ground for more than ten meters, fell heavily two or three times, and crashed hard off the field.

In this situation, he couldn't even see Su Li's attacks, let alone figure out her attack patterns.

With just its powerful bloodline ability, it could suppress it so much that it couldn't raise its head.

"Shall we continue?" Su Li stood at the edge of the arena, looking at the blood-stained knights below, and asked the referee.

"continue!"

Su Li shook her head slightly: "Then you'd better show some real skill. How can you win by just taking a beating like this?"

Jess Stewart crawled back into the arena, gritted his teeth, and roared, "Divine Spell: Soul Fire!"

This is a divine spell from the Church of Ridmar, which manifests the wrath of the god-king Ridmar on earth and surrounds him with the fire of purification.

Under the blessing of this powerful divine magic, the knight will awaken the strongest willpower and potential within himself, enabling him to withstand the blows of his opponents and demonstrate the knight's indomitable spirit.

It even has great resistance to the lord's bloodline abilities, after all, the wrath of the god-king will not make him kneel under the domain of royal power.

If he's forced to kneel down again at the start of the game, he'll be at a huge disadvantage.

If he loses this round, the game will reach match point. He will then have to use all his cards to deal with the opponent's general probing attacks in order to avoid falling into a disadvantageous position and losing outright.

So he absolutely has to win this game! He can't afford to give up right from the start!
Su Li remained calm, waving his hand with a smile and saying, "High spirits! Very good! As expected of a knight of Ridmar! You win this round."

Jess Stewart nearly coughed up blood; he felt as if his all-out punch had landed on cotton.

He used divine magic and burned his fighting spirit, but the other party simply didn't respond.

He roared angrily, "Come on, fight! What do you mean I won? Let's have a fair fight!"

"No need," Su Li said with a smile. "I'm going to get some water. You should rest too. We'll settle this in the next round!"

Jess Stewart really wanted to charge in recklessly, forcing Su Li to fight him with all his might. Why should he be able to fight whenever he wanted, and not fight whenever he wanted?
But the referee was clearly not going to allow that to happen, and was cautiously watching the panting, furious Jess Stewart.

Rules are rules! There's no why.

In war, your opponent will not blindly fight to the death and suffer heavy casualties just because you are furious.

The saying goes, "The morning air is sharp, the midday air is sluggish, and the evening air is returning." Therefore, a skilled strategist avoids the enemy's sharpest energy and strikes when they are sluggish and returning—this is the art of managing morale. To await chaos with order, to await turmoil with stillness—this is the art of managing the mind. To await the distant with what is near, to await the weary with ease, to await the hungry with what is plentiful—this is the art of managing strength. Do not attack a well-ordered banner, nor strike a well-organized formation—this is the art of managing change.

Your Lordship is employing military strategy in this competition, which is encouraged by this grand event.

So if Jess Stewart really impulsively rushes in, he'll experience the crushing power of a championship-level referee.

Su Li remained calm and composed. After finishing his water, he returned to the arena and asked Jess Stewart, who had finally managed to compose himself, "Shall we continue?"

"beat!"

Su Li was of no concern. Whether he won or lost this round, as long as he played, Jess Stewart was essentially losing. It would deplete too much of his resources. As long as Su Li didn't suffer too much damage, he was even willing to let Jess Stewart win another difficult round. By this round, most of his resources had been used up.

In subsequent rounds, if he was low on health and didn't have any healing items, it would be like entering a battle at a critically low level, while Su Li would be at full health and have all her skills maxed out.

As the battle began, the situation became worse than Jess Stewart had anticipated.

Even though Su Li fought him head-on, he still couldn't gain the upper hand. After a fierce battle lasting more than ten minutes, he was once again suppressed by Su Li's bloodline ability, and he knelt on one knee on the ground. At the same time, Su Li grabbed his right arm and twisted it like a pretzel until it was dislocated.

Then the warhammer struck violently, slamming him into the ground. The arena floor shattered completely, leaving a large crack, and his entire body sank into the ground.

The match has officially reached match point!

By the time the medics had done everything they could to save him, Jess Stewart was too weak to stand.

Su Li stood in front of him, looking down at him condescendingly, and asked, "You can barely stand, you could fall with a single blow. Are you sure you can fight me three more times and win?"

Jess Stewart needs to win all three matches to secure victory, but even as the Blood Shield Knight, the spectators have absolutely no confidence in him.

He had already used up his precious healing attempts during the battle, which limited the Medic Knight's healing abilities and prevented him from being fully restored.

This means that in the upcoming matches, Jess Stewart will have to fight a knight who can maintain championship-level fighting ability at any time, while dragging his seriously injured body and being unable to use any bloodline abilities or divine powers.

So what makes him think he can win?
Keep in mind that even at full health and strength, he couldn't defeat the lord.

Although the Blood Shield Knight always manages to turn the tide of battle, it's not because he can unleash a powerful burst of damage when low on health, but because he consistently wears down his opponents. In simpler terms, he drags his opponent into a state of exhaustion and then uses his extensive experience in this area to defeat them.

Right now, the lord shows no signs of exhaustion, and the gamblers who placed their bets on Jess Stewart have come in despair.

Only Jess Stewart refused to give up. Even with blood and sweat obscuring his vision and his body staggering, he still insisted on shouting, "Keep fighting! I can still go on!"

Su Li's eyes revealed a hint of approval. Although he made a completely different choice from Edwin yesterday, they were undoubtedly the top knights in their respective churches.

As Violet's knight, Edwin is able to make the most calm decisions, avoid battles that are detrimental to him, remain unaffected by external influences, and always put himself in the greatest tactical advantage.

As a knight of the Church of Redmar, Jess Stewart always maintains human perseverance and resilience. Even with such unwavering devotion, he has not been corrupted by the Chaos God. He is undoubtedly a human being who is faithful to his faith and remains pure.

Both of them are outstanding knights in their respective churches and have a very high probability of breaking through to the champion stage.

Su Li said very solemnly, "Very well, I will give you a glorious ending."

As soon as he finished speaking, the match began, and Su Li immediately used his full strength, unleashing all his fiery abilities. His aura suddenly surged, and the intense radiance of the Goddess of the Sun shone upon him.

At this moment, with the enhancement of his fiery blood ability, his combat power was infinitely close to that of a champion-level knight. His swift speed was too much for Jess Stewart to defend against, and he was instantly sent flying.

Before he could even land, while his body was still in mid-air, Su Li suddenly appeared behind him, and his warhammer slammed down, smashing him into the arena.

The ferocious attack immediately drew cheers from the crowd, and these cheers grew increasingly excited and fervent.

Because everyone could see that the champion of the most widely participated and most watched elite competition at the competition celebration would be born in this event!
As a blood-stained figure was blasted out of the arena, the cheers throughout the Lion Ring Arena exploded!
The champion has been crowned!
At this moment, the abundant divine grace of the Goddess of the Sun poured down, and even a dazzling golden light appeared in the sky, illuminating the heroic figure below who held the warhammer high!
With universal celebration and divine approval, the tournament concluded with a perfect ending.

Su Li also excitedly raised his arms and shouted. Although Hilde had said that he would definitely win the championship, he was still thrilled when he personally achieved it.

This means he has completely bid farewell to his past cowardice and childish mentality, and adapted to this cruel and dark world. Even without the daily intelligence system, he can survive in this world.

More importantly, the abundant divine grace completely transformed him, enabling him to break through and become a champion knight!

(End of this chapter)