Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 1156: Chapter 181: The Thriving Dawn Church and the Nuns’ Generous, Passionate Spring Ceremony of All Things (3)

And without any outside help, the Dawn Church relied purely on its own diligence and sweat to raise the scale of the Fire Rabbits, which was extremely difficult.

Of course, this also meant that the classes and proportion of people who could actually obtain Fire Rabbits hadn’t really changed. It was still roughly one in thirty.

Su Li then asked, ”How are the Fire Rabbits selling?”

Vandar immediately replied, ”Each season there’s a peak sales period for Fire Rabbits. The Fire Attribute Knights within the Territory purchase them regularly. And precisely because of this, there’s always someone in our Territory’s army breaking through every so often. Last year, just from selling Fire Rabbits, we earned more than 48,000 Golden Crowns in Gold Coins.”

Su Li nodded in satisfaction. As the Territory grew prosperous and powerful, all those early investments were finally starting to pay off. In particular, these Extraordinary Magical Beasts and Extraordinary Plants—each one was a major source of fiscal revenue for the Territory.

Each month, Fire Rabbits alone could provide the Territory with 4,000 Golden Crowns in income.

How could the Territory’s finances not improve rapidly?

Carl then asked, ”What about the Light-Scaled Fish? How many do we have?”

Vandar immediately answered, ”Light-Scaled Fish sell even better than Fire Rabbits. After all, their effect applies to all Knights. At present, we still have 463 Light-Scaled Fish in Lake Reiflin!”

This number was far smaller than that of the Fire Rabbits, but Light-Scaled Fish require specific hydrological conditions. If the Spiritual Energy in the lake isn’t abundant enough while the number of Light-Scaled Fish is too large, Lake Reiflin would turn into a dead lake, the surface reeking, littered with all kinds of dead fish.

So if the Hesse Territory were destroyed, all of this would quickly fall into ruin. The various pastures, fisheries, gardens, forests, and vineyards of the Territory all require careful tending.

Su Li finished the last piece of rabbit meat on his plate in one go, then tilted his head back and drained his milk. Wiping his mouth, he stood and said, ”Let’s go, to the Maiden’s Ring, to preside over this year’s Spring Ceremony of All Things. How many Fathers of Grains can participate in the Blood Sacrifice this year?”

Though Extraordinary Plants and Extraordinary Animals are high-value fiscal sources for the Territory, they are like carved beams and painted rafters atop a grand hall—embellishments that add splendor. Vast fields capable of supplying endless grain are the true foundation of the entire Territory. Without this foundation, all the upper structures would be like castles built on sand—one wave and they collapse into scattered grit.

So Su Li paid very close attention to the Blood Sacrifice and to the farmlands.

Vandar immediately followed behind Su Li and replied, ”Lord, our Territory currently has 37 Natural Spirits, among which there are 12 Father Poleviks, Fathers of Grains.”

Hearing this, Su Li’s eyes widened in astonishment. He turned to Vandar and asked, ”How can there be so many?”

Su Li felt that he had always kept a close eye on this. Yet during last year’s Spring Ceremony of All Things, there were only 4 Poleviks.

He figured he’d merely neglected this for one or two recent quarters, so how had the number of Natural Spirits surged so much?

Vandar replied with a smile, ”Lord, this is actually quite normal. The main reason is the expansion of our Territory’s domain. With a broader expanse, we naturally encompass more mountains, more forests, wider plains, and more rivers and lakes. These areas may already have had Natural Essence Souls in them. Normally they’re scattered everywhere and hard to discover. Our Nuns of the Dawn Church have merely gathered them together.”

”Another reason is the Territory’s prosperity. Natural Essence Souls made a pact with Reya back in the ancient times: they would aid human production and civilization. When this Territory was desolate and barren, naturally there weren’t many Natural Spirits. But as our population increased, as large tracts of farmland and pastures arose, and as the bounds of civilization continually spread across this vast, desolate land, more and more Natural Spirits were naturally drawn to appear.”

At that, Su Li had to admit that Vandar’s words made a great deal of sense.

The Territory’s domain had expanded to nearly three times its former size. If you calculate that there might be one Essence Soul for every few hundred li of land, then with the Territory’s expansion, it was only natural that more Essence Souls would appear within the Hesse Territory’s borders.

Moreover, his Territory’s farming was indeed highly effective. Once, this was a barren land, choked with brambles and thick with weeds—grass taller than a man so that anyone entering would vanish from sight, with tigers and wolves roaming everywhere.

Now, swathes of wasteland had been reclaimed into fertile fields; numerous pastures had arisen on the flat ground; countless villages sent up their cooking smoke; the tracks of civilization continued to spread. That was bound to attract more Natural Spirits.

For example, the Hearth Grandmother requires enough ash and cooking smoke before she can condense into being.

Su Li and Vandar then led the guards in a swift march toward the Maiden’s Ring. By the time they arrived, the Maiden’s Ring was already surrounded by a vast, packed crowd. Besides many Dawn Nuns and farmers who had rushed over from nearby villages, there were also large numbers of Half-Elves, who loved gatherings and, with their keen commercial sense, had brought all kinds of handicrafts and food to sell.

On the Maiden’s Ring, Reya’s wheat effigy had already been erected, and all around it stood a dense array of various Natural Essence Souls.

Besides Polevik, Lady Logan, the Beast Master, Sleep Root, the Hearth Grandmother, and the Marsh Sage, several new Natural Spirits had also appeared.