As the bitter cold of winter ended, the long-awaited Spring Equinox festival finally arrived.
This was one of the eight important festivals not belonging to any specific month, symbolizing the Dawn Goddess Leia reclaiming the land from Uller, the Lord of Winter.
On the day of the Spring Equinox, a pre-dawn mist shrouded the fields, and the Dawn Goddess finally took control of the wheel of the year. As the first light of dawn appeared, the mist gradually dissipated, and the sky displayed a vibrant, light golden hue.
Although the remnants and influence of winter still lingered, the temperature was already slightly cool, especially after the sunlight penetrated the clouds and gradually warmed the air. The spring breeze that blew was a warm breeze, and the air was filled with the moist scent of soil and the fresh fragrance of newly grown grass.
Before dawn, the priestesses of the Dawn Church in the territory and countryside were already walking barefoot through the dew towards the circle of standing stones in the suburban fields, holding copper bells and bundles of wheat ears. They gently shook the bells along the way to dispel the remaining "sluggish spirits" of winter.
This was their purification ritual. The priestesses scooped up stream water with oak spoons and sprinkled it around the stone circle, chanting softly: "Frost retreats, soil awakens, Leia's breath unlocks the chains of winter."
Su Li was awakened by the melodious ringing of bells and the sacred prayers. After all, his manor was the most important area for farming. Whether it was under the Blessed Wisteria tree, the Extraordinary Grain wheat field, or the Fantasy Garden, Herb Garden, and Amethyst Grape Field, they all had the diligent cultivation and cleaning of the Dawn Church nuns.
When Su Li opened his eyes, the nuns had already lit mugwort and sage, and were clearing the fallen leaves and gravel within the stone circle amidst swirling smoke.
In the more distant countryside and suburbs, this ritual was even more grand. The villagers had long carried the scarecrow symbolizing winter (Uller's incarnation) to the front of the stone circle, where it was lit by the priestess. At the same time, led by the priestess, they chanted the "Snowmelt Prayer", and then evenly scattered the ashes into the soil, symbolizing "death nourishes new life."
There was also a children's bell offering ceremony. Newborns or infants under one year old in the village were brought to the stone circle, and copper bells were tied to their ankles. The ringing of the bells represented "Leia hears prayers."
However, there were no newborns in the Purple Thistle Manor. The nuns were worried that this ritual would remind the lord of the reality of separation from his flesh and blood, so they deliberately omitted this环节.
But in fact, Su Li did not have such deep feelings. Phyllis had taken the initiative to go to the Souland Province and had gained the allegiance of twelve divinely chosen knights. She was likely to reign over the entire province amidst the changing circumstances.
Su Li had always had a relatively optimistic attitude, so after he opened his eyes, he immediately felt the festive atmosphere of the Spring Equinox festival.
Even on this grand festival, he rarely woke up so early without resentment, but instead felt refreshed and his blood was pumping.
Aili Ruya had followed the army to quell the rebellion, and only Ingrid had served Su Li last night, so Su Li had not been able to fully enjoy himself.
So after getting up, he reached out and hugged Ingrid, whose skin was smooth and delicate, soft and fragrant, under the covers.
His fingertips caressed her lower abdomen, drawing a pattern of abundance on her delicate skin: "My darling, today is the Spring Equinox ceremony, we have to practice it ourselves and cooperate with the doctrine. Come, let's practice three times and try to get you pregnant."
Ingrid bit her drooping hair ribbon, and two red clouds floated on her cheeks, and even her delicate neck was dyed with a layer of blush.
Since last night, the lord had been practicing two or three times under the guise of the Spring Equinox ceremony. The spilled honey wine stained the velvet carpet with amber patterns, reflecting fine golden light with the fluttering sleeves.
Especially since the lord had also told her about a regional difference in the [Flower Crown War]. In the Tyr Tirth region, girls would compete for the "Leia Crown" woven from thorns and roses. The victor could designate a man to spend the night with, and if she did not conceive, it would be regarded as "the goddess's displeasure."
So all last night, she had been playing the role of the Flower Crown girl.
[1: The Spring Equinox festival has arrived, and Leia's divine grace is generously scattered throughout the world. Plant three oak saplings next to the Dawn Church's holy land [Starlight Pool] in the Black Forest Territory, and use [Vitality Growth] to allow the oak trees to continuously absorb today's divine grace. Consider its entire growth process to be in a divine grace environment, obtain divine abilities, and grow into [Vitality Oak Trees]. Planting them around the orchard can increase the yield of at least 30% for every 35 acres of orchard, and the brewed fruit wine will have a slight oak recovery effect.]
[2: This year's Dawn Goddess's divine grace contains [Grace of Life]. On the night of the Spring Equinox festival, all residents, creatures, and plants will receive life protection. Pregnant women carrying Leia amulets can walk barefoot through the wheat field under the moonlight, which can make the wheat harvest abundant and the wheat ears have a trace of life force. If the newborn consumes the wheat from the wheat field that the mother has walked through, their physique will be comparable to that of a calf or even a tiger cub. This fully demonstrates the Dawn Goddess's generous rewards, but opposes the greedy church creed. If you, as the lord, can reward these wheat ears containing divine grace to the residents, in the near future, you will harvest a large number of knight bloodlines.]
[3: After praying on the Spring Equinox festival, you can transport the most sacred Ogham stone monument in the territory to below the Spring of Life, and let the Dawn Church nuns complete the symbiosis dance here. The flow of the Spring of Life will increase by 2 tons/day.]
[4: The Clover's Fate Gamble: The Dawn Covenant. When the first ray of melting snow seeps into the frozen soil, the Dawn Goddess's oracle manifests in the morning mist - those four-leaf clovers with emerald fluorescent veins are the core sacrificial offerings for communicating with the divine realm this season. These spiritual plants born under the Blessed Wisteria tree only unfold their fourth leaf at the moment of the Spring Equinox, and the golden threads on the edge of the leaves weave into a miniature [Fate Spinning Wheel Diagram]. Moment of Divine Selection: At the moment when the midday sun penetrates the wisteria flower curtain, harvest the four-leaf clover with unsullied silver scissors, and an amber juice exuding the fragrance of wheat will seep out from the cut, and the fate amulet will have a recovery effect. Altar Array: Arrange nine four-leaf clovers into a three-ring starburst array, place a moonstone stained with a virgin's first blood at the center, and performing a sacrifice has a chance to summon the [Dawn Weaver] phantom, whose spindle can transform the grass leaves into threads of fate. But there is also a chance of being invaded by chaos, and the blessing will use corrosive liquid to irrigate the four-leaf clover to cultivate [Ulcerated Luck], causing at least 10 of your granaries to breed maggots.]
[5: Spring is the season of rejuvenation for all things. Your territory's two griffins are restless, and urgently need the company of the opposite sex. This is certainly a risk, but also a huge opportunity. After meeting their needs, your territory will usher in the first batch of griffin eggs.]
[6: The Thorn Sister's Paradox: The Dawn Church nuns in your territory are undergoing ideological shocks and tremors. If you can guide one of them to complete asceticism, she can gain the ability to manipulate Leia's thorns, but her flesh and blood will gradually become plant-like, and eventually irreversibly become an emerald oak tree. There is no need to be sad for her, after all, the fate of most Kiran mages and emerald wizards is to have their skin plant-like. The [Extraordinary Grain] cultivated with its juice will acquire the [Holy Blood] characteristic, and grinding it into powder can heal any external wounds.]
[7: After reverse-driving the Holy Grail Sundial that you reshaped from the wandering astrologer, in this spring of material recovery, you can briefly open a rift to the Palace of Pleasure. Divinely chosen knights can briefly enter the Chaos Demon Realm and steal the [Desire Fire Rose]. After planting it in the vineyard, the aphrodisiac effect of the brandy brewed will be greatly enhanced. The price of brandy will increase by at least 3 times. (If you are lucky, you will not encounter many color abuse demons on the periphery of the Palace of Pleasure, but this is difficult to predict, and even the gods are powerless to peek into the future of the Chaos Demon Realm)]
[8: At noon on the Spring Equinox, a solar halo vortex will suddenly appear above the Star Dew Rose Garden, and thousands of sun bees with golden-edged wings will break through the air. But don't choose the wrong hymn, this is the new year's gift that the Sun Goddess bestows on the territory because of its exemplary performance. The sun bees can accelerate the pollination of the Star Dew Rose orchard flowers, and the honey produced will directly turn into gold after solidification. The only thing to be wary of is that as a favored race of the Sun Goddess, these sun bees will be as violent and warlike as knights. So their alias is also killer bees. Strictly control your residents, don't let the serfs offend these bee colonies, otherwise they will slaughter all active humans within a few kilometers.]
【9: After the purification of the Willow Silk Butterfly Obelisk on the heart of the lake, the lake water will condense into [Frost Tear Pearls] at midnight tonight. Grinding them into powder can cure heatstroke, but there is a low probability that it will cause the user's blood to freeze, severing their blood vessels and internal organs. Mixing it with Holy Ashes selected by the Sun God can temporarily grant resistance to heat (extremely suitable for the expedition to the Arabian countries in the southern part of the Central Sea).】
【10: Today is also a day of fervent celebration for the beastmen. A large number of beastmen totems will appear on the edge of your territory's forest farm, carved with chaotic whispers and curses. Under the blood moon, these totems will bewilder a large number of animals, causing them to smash their heads against them until they bleed. After the beastmen's mad bulls eat this flesh and blood, they will evolve into terrifying minotaurs.】
After reading the last line of golden text, Su Li's joyful mood became even more excited.
He hugged Ingrid tightly and said with a smile, "Baby, it's really a new year with a new atmosphere! Once this Spring Genesis Ritual arrives, it feels like the whole world has changed its style, and there's no more harshness and hardship of winter."
Spring is just like spring should be!
Even the intelligence system is full of blooming flowers, lush greenery, and a vibrant, competitive appearance.
Of course, the divine power turbulence caused by the changing seasons will, as always, trigger various crises.
For example, the beastmen's totems, which are taking advantage of the spring's revival of all things and the active time of various animals, have begun to do evil again.
There are also the terrifying killer bees. If Su Li doesn't make arrangements in advance, hundreds or thousands of his territory's residents and nuns near the Starlight Pool and the Star Dew Rose Orchard will be slaughtered.
With their violent tempers, if the poems praising them are not prayers from the Church of the Sun Goddess, but prayers from the Church of the Morning Light, it would be easy to anger them.
However, if they can be appeased, it can indeed be regarded as a generous reward from the Sun Goddess.
The Sun Goddess Violet likes things that are relatively pure: flowers, gold, and human skulls, which symbolize beauty, wealth, and unparalleled supreme purity.
The flower and the sword are her symbols.
So she directly rewards her believers with a large amount of gold. The sun bees can convert pollen into honey, and then directly solidify it into gold.
The scale of this cannot be small. Calculated at about 100 pounds of gold per year, that's also more than 1,000 gold crowns.
This fiscal revenue is not a one-time thing, but a permanent existence. As long as the territory is not destroyed, and the orchard still exists, it will be able to continuously harvest a large amount of gold.
Moreover, judging from the situation of so many nuns from the Church of the Morning Light in the territory, the scale of these killer bees will inevitably increase further. By then, 2,000 gold crowns or 3,000 gold crowns per year will be possible.
Although this number seems insignificant compared to the territory's current huge expenditure of tens of thousands of gold crowns per month.
But little things add up.
Oliver is thinking about how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure every day, and this is obviously the best way to increase revenue.
With such a new source of fiscal growth every year, he won't have so much pressure.
Ingrid was also affected by Su Li's good mood, and a faint smile appeared on her usually cold face, saying, "Looking at the smile on your face, I know that the Spring Genesis Ritual has brought a lot of vigorous vitality to our territory."
Su Li nodded with a smile, then got up and started putting on his clothes, saying to Ingrid, "And it's not just for the territory, it's the same for you."
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"Our mystical garden is about to usher in a harvest."
Logically speaking, this year's Covenant of the Morning Light is undoubtedly the most complex item in the intelligence.
It involves too many things and the levels are too high. The first time Su Li saw this intelligence system, he couldn't predict the future outcome.
Ingrid was unaware of the risks involved and showed a bright smile of joy. As a forest witch, the growth and density of vegetation is one of the few things that can bring a smile to her face.
She immediately asked, "Will our mystical garden have good news?"
Su Li nodded and said, "At noon today, a batch of four-leaf clovers will be produced under our Blessed Wisteria Tree, and this year the four-leaf clover has been selected by the Goddess of the Morning Light as one of the core sacrificial offerings of high value."
"You need to prepare several pairs of unsullied silver scissors and cut more of them. Do you have those?"
Ingrid nodded and said, "Yes, I usually use silver scissors, but I'm not sure if they've been stained with blood. I've learned about this aspect in witchcraft books. Using iron scissors to pick certain spiritual plants will cause curses and taboos, and the spirituality of some spiritual plants will dissipate, turning into poisonous vines that entangle the picker."
Su Li raised an eyebrow. The witch's erudition really surprised him. He thought this was a unique revelation from the intelligence.
However, he immediately smiled easily, which was also beneficial to him.
It meant that if he had a long enough lifespan, such as relying on the Blessed Wisteria Pods to survive for thousands of years, then the knowledge added to him every day solely by intelligence information would make him extremely erudite and powerful.
This could also be regarded as indirectly prompting him to live and learn.
Then Su Li put on his clothes and asked Ingrid to put on her dark green witch robe as well, instructing her, "I will have the territory's silversmith help you make a set of silver scissors in a while, don't worry about spending money. Let's cut more four-leaf clovers and then summon the [Morning Light Weaver] phantom to weave the threads of fate."
"Threads of Fate! ?" Ingrid's usually indifferent voice suddenly rose, her beautiful eyes widened, and she looked at Su Li and asked, "Are you talking about the legendary [Threads of Fate]? The mythical material in the hands of the three Sisters of Fate that can change the trajectory of life?"
Su Li spread his hands and said, "I guess so. I only know that it is indeed called the Threads of Fate, but I don't know if it is the mythical material in the hands of the three Sisters of Fate."
However, it's likely to be.
Otherwise, the intelligence system would not be able to predict it.
It is clear that the Threads of Fate in the hands of the gods are likely to directly change the trajectory of fate.
And this sacrifice will actually be targeted by Grandfather Nurgle, the Plague Father, with a probability of forcibly eroding and corrupting this place, causing the grain in warehouse 10 to possibly become infested with maggots.
At least 30,000 pounds of grain are stored in one warehouse, and in some cases, it may be more than 50,000 pounds.
This means that this sacrifice has a 50% probability of not only gaining nothing and losing nine four-leaf clovers, but possibly losing 500,000 pounds of grain.
This is Grandfather Nurgle's curse on the goddess Rhea. It should be known that the divine power Rhea's abundance doubles the amount of grain in the warehouse and eliminates mold, pests, maggots, and other sources of spoilage, making long-stored food fresh again.
Basically, the positive authority of the Order Gods corresponds to a certain evil authority in the hands of the Evil Gods.
Obviously, Nurgle's erosion corresponds exactly to the Morning Light Goddess's abundance.
Su Li is also considering whether to carry out this sacrifice. How valuable are the Threads of Fate, and is it worth taking such a big risk to gamble on them?
"If it's the Threads of Fate in the hands of the Sisters of Fate, what effect will it have?"
Ingrid didn't waste any words, she was always indifferent, and said directly, "There are too many effects. Regardless of the future, if you give me these Threads of Fate, I can make several God-chosen amulets for the territory! Even when my strength improves, legendary equipment is not impossible."
"Legendary equipment! ?" Su Li also raised his voice excitedly.
He didn't even have time to lament the missed opportunity for Archibald's legendary sword, and didn't expect that the second piece of legendary equipment was already waving at him!
Ingrid is now a third-circle witch, roughly equivalent to an elite knight, and as a forest witch, with the Blessed Wisteria Tree, her strength will definitely increase by leaps and bounds.
Perhaps the next piece of legendary equipment will be unveiled in the territory in a few years!
From the perspective of a long-established territory, a few years is just a blink of an eye for the development of the territory. Su Li has been running the Black Forest Territory for a year without realizing it.
He said decisively, "I will fully support you and make sure you successfully create a piece of legendary equipment!"
