Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 378 The Fantastic Distribution and Numerous Separations of the Black Pine Forest

This Valley of Memories, a fantastical region within the Black Pine Forest and a sanctuary of opportunity, naturally offers unparalleled benefits. However, the problem lies in the significant risks, which can lead to a loss of sanity and the invasion of dreams by the souls of fallen elven soldiers.

Otherwise, among so many rock people in the area, it's not like only Nayadarin possesses such powerful communication skills.

Therefore, Su Li felt it was unnecessary for him to enter this Valley of Memories; he could let the true geniuses and elites go in. At the very least, they should be able to remain unaffected by it, like Naya Darin.

Black Forest Territory may not have much else, but it's overflowing with geniuses. After all, with so many Lightscale Fish forcibly boosting their aptitude, even just feeding them would have produced a bunch of geniuses.

Nayadarin then revealed his true intentions, saying, "My lord, you must have heard that I am currently recovering some relics that our elves scattered throughout the border princely territories."

"Many of them ended up in your territory, since it's the closest to the Black Pine Forest. Perhaps we can reach a win-win agreement: you help me retrieve these relics, and I'll bring your people into the Valley of Memories. For every relic I receive, I'll bring one person in. What do you say?"

"Hmm, that's fair enough." Su Li nodded, then said, "But I'd like to know, besides the abilities gained after entering the Valley of Memories, what else is inside?"

This Valley of Memories can be considered a small community of elves, containing a mass grave for elves, numerous statues from the Golden Age and the War of the Longbeard in the Dream, and a group of elven survivors.

Is there anything that Su Li is interested in?
For example, the seeds and spiritual plants left behind by the elves?
Nayadarin calmly said, “There are many adventures and opportunities in the Valley of Memories. For example, there is the Wood Elf's Guardian, a chosen one of the Wood Elves. She chased the beastmen herds into the Valley of Memories, determined to eliminate the chaotic monsters surrounding the forests and villages. It is said that she had already killed two dozen beastmen before being struck down by a horned beast axe. She single-handedly saved dozens of human villages from being slaughtered. If your people can bring her out of the Valley of Memories, she can serve you just as well.”

"Perhaps you can find the answers to everything you need from her, such as rare plant species, powerful magical items, and countless mineral deposits and gems."

A chosen one, an unclaimed elf?
Su Li's eyes lit up immediately!
Perhaps it is true, as Nayadarin said, that if he could gain her loyalty, he could easily find many things he wanted.

After all, she's lived for so long, and spent a considerable amount of time in the elven community, slaying countless beastmen. No one can know exactly how many valuable items she possesses.

Su Li decisively extended his right hand and said with a smile, "Then it's a pleasure to cooperate. I'll immediately send the Pegasus Knights to the Medici Manor to invite Knight Jeff Hoffman to the manor as a guest, so we can observe the situation of the Black Pine Forest together."

Su Li was being very respectful to Sir Jeff Hoffman by inviting him to observe, but in reality, given the domineering nature of the nobles in this world, everything within the Black Forest Territory—besides the land Su Li had allocated to him, whether it was the sky, the earth, or every blade of grass—belonged to the lord. Anyone else who even glanced at it was considered to be coveting and committing a crime.

But there's nothing he can do; Su Li has a moral weakness. He cares a lot about his reputation and can't bring himself to do something like forcibly taking something from someone else.

When Sir Jeff Hoffman saw that Purplethorn Keep had specifically brought a Pegasus, he knew he had no room to refuse. Otherwise, would he really have dared to secretly go to find the Sky Titans alone, knowing that the lord already knew?
That night, Sir Jeff Hoffman brought the simple blueprint to the Bauhinia Palace and studied it in detail with a dozen knights from the territory in the war room.

Upon seeing this, he was secretly relieved that he hadn't made any unwise choices. Clearly, the release of this map was a consensus within the territory, aligning with everyone's common interests.

After reaching this point, he suddenly understood, and his previous obsession with overthinking eased.

Sometimes, putting yourself in someone else's shoes can make many things clear instantly. The lord had previously had opportunities that he generously shared with all the knights, which is why the knights flocked around him, forming a group based on mutual benefit.

They reaped the benefits of their lot, quickly rising from knights to manor owners, becoming the beneficiaries. Now, when he reveals the opportunity to benefit everyone, he suddenly becomes selfish and hoards it?

To be honest, he was still a bit resentful before he came. He had considered secretly hiding the blueprints and going to find the Sky Titan behind everyone else's back. After all, who doesn't dream of being a knight? That dream of being the protagonist in a knight's tale, seizing opportunities, and becoming a hero.

Seeing so many knights waiting for him there, he was genuinely glad that he hadn't done anything foolish, otherwise he would have really incurred the wrath of the crowd.

After many people studied the opportunities involved, Jeff Hoffman realized even more clearly how right he had been, and that he could not possibly keep all the profits for himself.

Because this sage not only marked the location of the ancient Sky Titan, but also marked many other resource points on the map. If it weren't for the interpretations of Verena's Chosen, the Elven Merchant, and the Mages, he wouldn't have recognized them at all.

For example, the Sky Titan is located more than 1500 miles northeast of the Griffin Forest. Between there and the Griffin Forest lies a Sky Griffin's Nest perched on a cliff. Southeast of the nest is a Well of Life, around which lurks a Tatakhan, one of the Zodiac Behemoths, a colossal creature fallen from another realm to the Old World. In the Emerald Kingdom of another world, some human tribes use it as a mount. An adult Tatakhan is larger than a wind eagle, possessing a hard shell and many horny legs. Its head is shovel-shaped, with enormous antlers, powerful mouthparts, and numerous compound eyes.

In addition, the map also marks many terrifying monster lairs. For example, the basilisk's lair is located on a mountain not far from the foot of the Sky Titan.

The sage described this beast vividly in cryptic writing: If you are led on your journey to the entrance of a cave, and the rocks on either side of the entrance resemble terrified warriors, I urge you to turn back immediately. This must be the territory of the gargoyles, creatures whose origins I have no idea about; they are utterly terrifying, half-bird, half-serpent creatures, surely corrupted by ancient, evil forces. The reassuring thing is that they usually reside in their burrows and seem to prefer feeding on wounded animals or carrion. However, they can suddenly become incredibly ferocious, truly terrifying; my guard, Stieg, perished because of this, having stumbled upon a gargoyle's cave while seeking refuge.

The basilisk's beak is incredibly sharp, and its claws are imbued with an evil power, but these are not its true weapons. Only those who perish at its hands truly perceive this. A basilisk's gaze twists a creature's body with a terrifying force, ultimately turning it to stone. This transformation is horrific, and it begins with just a fleeting glance; when the beast savagely attacked my guards, I saw its reflection in the pool of water for only a second in the moonlight, and my two toes turned to granite. Some mages believe that those cursed by the basilisk do not die, but continue to think even as stone statues. These creatures have a particularly erratic diet, their eating habits both cruel and horrific, yet they can devour stones as easily as flesh, making them truly peculiar beings in a certain sense.

In addition to these, the sage also marked the precious trees and fantastical resources within the Black Forest, such as the Valley of Memories, the Gold and Silver Trees, the Wishing Forest, the Elf Altar Ruins, and the Valley of Despair.

The tree that best met Su Li's requirements was the Gold and Silver Tree. It was an ancient, towering tree in the heart of the Black Pine Forest, with two magnificent coniferous groves covered in moss. The dense canopy blocked out the sunlight, but the metallic threads in the bark ensured the forest was never completely dark. At night, moonlight and torchlight reflected off the massive trunk, creating eerie flashes and illusions.

This place yields all sorts of precious treasures, such as golden threads, silver moon fruits, and magic net threads! It is a powerful and extraordinary spirit tree that can bind all biological magic and divine spells to it. At the height of their power, elves could use almost endless magic simply by standing under this tree, blasting any intruder into dust.

With the elves' retreat, the tree has lost its magical power supply and may soon perish completely.

Unfortunately, it was too enormous, its massive size obscuring the sky, leaving Su Li helpless and unable to bring it back. Perhaps even with the full strength of the Black Forest Territory, they couldn't dig up even a single root of it.

Su Li didn't aim too high. His goal was clear: the location marked on the map as the "Sleeping Giant." In order to communicate with this giant, Su Li dispatched four people: Alfred, the Grand Master of the Knights of the Light Arrow; Ashfield, the halfling hero; Grondall, the beast mage and orc scourge; and Luna Deshan, the patriarch of the Church of Tar.

They all rode on giant eagles, giant deer, and other forest creatures, and were very adept at navigating the forest. Nayadarin also brought two attendants with him, who accompanied them to this land where the giants slumbered.

I hope to make contact with this last surviving Sky Titan and exchange some old stories or secrets of the forest.

The group consisted of seven people, not a large group. Bringing a large army wouldn't have been useful; after entering the forest, they still had thousands of miles to go, truly deep into the Black Pine Forest, a place teeming with danger and monsters. If their whereabouts were exposed, even an army would be surrounded and killed by monsters from all sides.

Therefore, they might as well streamline their forces into a small, hidden operation and infiltrate the area.

After seeing the team off, Su Li felt that the following period of time would be shrouded in an atmosphere of farewell.

That evening, after seeing off this small, streamlined team, Su Li got up early the next morning and held a grand farewell ceremony to send off an army of unprecedented size since the establishment of the territory!
The two champion knights, Gilles the handsome and Constantine the Grand Master of the Sun Crown Knights, led more than 5,000 elite infantry and cavalry from Blacksend City and officially set off for Maleburg to participate in this sacred expedition of the human empire!

Don't be fooled by the fact that Su Li's expeditionary force is only a small border colony and assumes it's the smallest in the human empire. In fact, his expeditionary force is larger than that of countless kingdom knights, barons, and even counts.

Even among the Earl's troops, his army was among the largest.

His ability to amass such a large following was a result of perfect timing, favorable location, and popular support. It just so happened that a grand ceremony was being held in his territory, and he used his unparalleled influence to rally more than 20,000 wandering knights and adventurers from outside his territory.

It can be said that this army he assembled was almost entirely in the name of the Goddess of the Sun's Chosen, so it was quite formidable.

To supply this unit, there were more than 2000 military trucks, and 20 huge merchant ships on the Brienne River carrying food, weapons, and supplies.

But this only covers the army's own supplies and provisions; behind them follows a caravan of nearly 3000 merchant vehicles. About half of these vehicles will accompany them as war merchants, providing fresh vegetables and supplies, and buying their spoils and materials. They will also offer services such as prostitution, gambling, and loans.

The other large portion consisted of caravans from various merchant guilds heading to Maleburg. After all, there was no better business opportunity; the journey itself provided ample opportunities to sell goods to these knights, soldiers, and mercenaries. More importantly, their destinations were remarkably aligned. The expeditionary force was heading to Maleburg, and so were the caravans. Following the expeditionary force offered a significant guarantee of safety.

No more worries about being robbed by monsters or harassed by bandits on the road. Even when passing through the territory of the Red Dragon, the Red Dragon dares not show itself to stop such a massive army.

The expeditionary force and knights were only seeking glory, regardless of the objective. If a red dragon appeared, they wouldn't hesitate to plunder its lair and then continue their journey to Maleburg.

Although the red dragon is powerful, it would be difficult for it to gain the upper hand against nearly 1000 elite knights and more than 4,000 armed squires and mercenaries. Once it exhausts its strength, these thousands of expeditionary troops could easily skin it alive.

Normally, even the most foolish red dragon wouldn't bother the expeditionary force. After all, even if it won, other expeditionary forces would come rushing in, wave after wave, endlessly.

Also departing with the expeditionary force were Roger, the chairman of the Gray Market Trading Company, and members of the Ramsey family. As merchants, they naturally hoped to hitch a ride on this journey and minimize losses and expenses.

Their trip to the territory was quite fruitful, achieving all their initial goals. President Roger might have fallen slightly short, but he was still very satisfied, taking 600 sets of [Star Armor] with him when he left.

Although selling to him would have yielded the greatest profit, the Black Forest Territory did not choose such a short-sighted move as to hand over all the armor to him. Instead, they chose to seize this opportunity to establish the territory's reputation in one fell swoop.

During the Glory Festival, the territory's Chosen Armor was created, and then, while the expedition was being prepared, the Blacksin Territory produced as many armors as possible and sold them to knights from all directions.

This is a golden opportunity to build a good reputation! Countless knights will help promote Su Li after purchasing weapons and equipment from Black Forest Territory.

To meet this enormous demand, Su Li even took out his strategic reserves and some of the active-duty equipment from his armed attendants to sell during this grand expedition.

Once these knights leave, the Black Forest Territory only needs to develop steadily for a month or two to replenish its armor and other equipment.

This allowed Su Li to amass a fortune; Gilles alone took away as many as 12 gold coins. He would hand over this wealth to the commander of the expeditionary force, who would then send someone to deliver it back to Princess Phyllis.

To be fair, with such a large sum of money, 12 gold crowns, Phyllis could live on it for a long time.

In particular, the fact that a large number of her troops were crammed into the expeditionary force will significantly reduce her maintenance costs for at least one or two years.

She is now the Grand Princess of the Surland Province, recognized by the Imperial Elector Council. Even if her direct army is slightly weak, the other nobles of the Surland Province dare not start a rebellion, let alone assassinate her.

Su Li can finally breathe a sigh of relief; it's estimated that Phyllis's finances will improve significantly this year.

Especially now that it's summer planting season, and the war in her territory has subsided, the finances will gradually improve as long as her people resume production.

She is now doing things wisely and reasonably, focusing on cutting military spending, rebuilding production in the territory, working on post-disaster recovery and development, and gradually reducing the fiscal deficit.

With the deficit level decreasing and Su Li providing over 100,000 gold coins in assistance, even if her methods aren't particularly sophisticated, she can easily get through this year.

Next year, things will be even better. Not only will her territory's tax revenue increase, but Su Li will also provide her with more assistance.

After settling things off here, another old friend of Su Li's bid him farewell.

The Dwarven Kingdom's diplomatic ambassador, Bairgar Ironsworn, has completed his mission and officially withdrawn all his troops from the territory. He had previously traveled to the Redbeard Clan and the Grayrock Clan to gather an allied force and clear the path to the Dwarven Kingdom through the Gray Lady Pass.

This period has been remarkably fruitful, so when he was about to set off for the Dwarf Kingdom, he made a special trip back to Black Forest Territory to say goodbye to Su Li, taking with him the army and the last batch of traded goods.

He's gone now, and he won't be back for at least this year. After all, escorting so much stuff makes it a long journey home.

With the departure of the expeditionary legions, the dwarven legions, and numerous caravans, a sudden silence descended upon the entire Blackforest Territory. It was like a festival when guests arrive, the house is bustling with activity, and then suddenly the lights dim and quiet have fallen.

Of course, after a brief period of adjustment, Su Li also thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful life that followed.

He's been living a very comfortable life lately. Although the territory's finances haven't turned from loss to profit, he still has over 50000 gold crowns in his account. Even if there's no income from now on, it's enough to last until the summer or even autumn harvest.

But this is obviously impossible. Given the current booming development of the territory, there will be a bumper harvest in the fall. The Holy Wisteria Tree of Blackforest Territory has already made a name for itself through this Glorious Festival.

Dwarven lords, engineering masters, human mages, and renowned merchants have already sent people to Black Forest Territory to contact Su Li and reserve these blessed wisteria pods.

In the minds of ordinary people, such a powerful fruit, a supernatural treasure that can increase lifespan, must be extremely rare, if not incredibly valuable!

But they all underestimated the yield of the Blessed Wisteria tree. This Blessed Wisteria tree can produce more than 200 pods every year, enough to add a year to the lifespan of hundreds of people.

Last year alone, the results brought Su Li more than 20000 gold crowns.

This year, there may be more pods, and they will be more valuable.

A lifespan of one year is neither a long nor a short time. At least for some noble families, they are very willing to spend a fortune to buy the fruit pods of the blessed wisteria tree.

Su Li was just waiting for word to spread about the effects of the blessed wisteria tree's fruit pods, so he didn't engage in any scarcity marketing.

Using such petty tricks now can only affect his enormous, real wealth. He needs more people to experience the effect and then spread this amazing, extraordinary ability.

Even if they double or triple the price by using scarcity marketing, they'll only earn a few hundred more gold coins.

Su Li is very ambitious; he wants to make money from the truly wealthy and noble people.

By then, the nobles will generally recognize the value of the Blessed Wisteria pod, and a single Blessed Wisteria pod can easily earn them thousands of gold crowns.

Isn't this much wiser than resorting to stingy scarcity marketing and ruining our reputation?
Therefore, Su Li promised everyone who inquired that he would definitely save a portion of the fruit pods from the Blessed Wisteria Tree for them during this autumn harvest.

Moreover, the price is very favorable, only 280 gold crowns, slightly higher than last year, but the increase is less than 50%. It has truly been realized that as long as they support the Hessian Territory, the Hessian Territory will treat them as friends.

This also allowed him to gain many friendships, which can be considered a versatile function of extraordinary spiritual plants.

In this kind of life, Su Li would naturally spend a lot of time diligently cultivating under the Wisteria Blessing Tree, and Ailiria was thoroughly conquered by him.

With the blessing of the eye of the Jilun Wind, the little green dragon's aura and strength were rapidly approaching maturity. Wearing its emerald crown, it resembled a cool and noble queen. Such aura was something that illusion magic could never imitate; it was either there or it wasn't. This gave Su Li an overwhelming sense of conquest.

(End of this chapter)