Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence-Chapter 569 - 25: Spring Brings Life to All Things Festival (Part 3)
The slaves inside are tasked with tending to the hundreds of acres of fertile land surrounding the estate.
This year’s ritual is being held at this estate mainly because, not long ago, the diligent farming of the estate’s slaves resulted in the harvest of [pearl wheat].
Though the pearl wheat is not much, just a little over 3 pounds, it is a crucial offering to the goddess.
Last winter, Su Li held off from sacrificing this batch of offerings, waiting until today’s grand ceremony to use it.
After offering to the Dawn Goddess, all pregnant women in the territory will receive the [Goddess’s Womb] blessing, boosting the survival rate of newborns by 99%! This means the probability of infant mortality for this batch of newborns drops to a mere fraction of a percent, comparable to some modern countries. (Of course, this only applies to this birth; a second birth within the year by the same woman will not receive this blessing.)
Moreover, there is a 5% chance amongst these newborns to be born as [Child of Dawn], with eyes naturally attuned to the Wind of Jilun, and they are certain candidates for training as cultivators of the Dawn Goddess Church.
If combined with the Dawn Church’s ongoing development of the Mother Earth’s Holy Pool, the future scale of Jilun mages and Dawn nuns in the territory will be substantial.
When Su Li arrived at the Ogham Stone erected at the estate, a large number of the territory’s citizens and Dawn Church’s nuns had already gathered here.
The villagers had piled the last bundle of hay left from winter, moldy grain, and faded dried flowers in the center of the stone circle.
In the field beside them, a few young farmers were handling colorfully adorned plows, decorated with green vines, ready to start ploughing at the word of the noble lord.
Upon Su Li’s arrival, the farmers immediately played a joyous hymn using instruments made from fresh wheat straw.
As the Shepherd Leader of the Dawn Church, Vandar immediately ordered the ritual to begin upon the arrival of the territory’s most esteemed guest.
Merrily to the music, a full 14 nuns clad in emerald magic robes formed two lines and approached the Ogham Stone, beginning to sing and dance.
This dance was quite ceremonial, with the priestesses forming a spiral pattern, mimicking the sprouting of magic seeds: bending to touch the ground, slowly rising, and stretching their arms like branches and leaves.
Though lacking talent for dance, their movements were not perfect, but a dozen budding maidens together showcasing their graceful curves and slender bodies was already a delightful sight!
"Dawn Goddess, maa of the fertile fields, spread your golden skirt across our furrows."
"Generous Master of Life, the earth awakens, we sow hope and seeds."
"In the name of Reya, may our lip mark be a covenant—the land gives me abundance, I give it reverence!"
With their singing and dancing, the ritual quickly reached a climax, as the clear notes gradually soared, the fourteen nuns stood still and simultaneously touched the linens at their waists with their fingertips.
Their green nun robes slipped from their fragrant shoulders to beside their ankles, revealing fourteen silken white bodies before everyone, their long hair swaying like ripples at their waists.
The surrounding faithful and citizens suddenly cheered: "Praise the generous Goddess Reya!"
The atmosphere of the rite became frenzied, at that moment everyone devoutly believed in Reya’s generosity!
Su Li also watched with joy, he had to admit the Dawn Church had something special; their dance perfectly showcased the sanctity of the religion and the devotion of the priestesses.
On the graceful bodies of the young girls, Su Li saw not lust, but the new sprouts of spring breaking through the earth—the girls’ rotund shoulders were like dew-drenched berries, slender waists reminiscent of wheat stalks swaying in the wind, the curves rising and falling with their breaths more akin to the Earth’s own rhythm.
Watching them, Su Li thought of Philis. The young thought of their lively lovers, while old widowers could even see their young wives from decades ago in the wavering strands of the girls’ hair. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
In everyone’s appreciation, this [Symbiotic Creature] continued until just before high noon.
Once the nuns donned their magic robes and left the Ogham Stone, their breaths slightly labored, it marked the end of the high noon songs and dances.
Vandar held a torch out to Su Li, who used it to ignite the moldy grain, straw, and dead leaves left from last winter, the roaring flames like the rays of the Dawn Goddess.
Then Su Li offered the carefully prepared sacrificial prayer of the territory: "O most holy Dawn Goddess, your radiance illuminates the earth shrouded in chaos."
"We pray in the mortal world, please heed the pulse of the bloodlines of Hesse Territory—"
"We sacrifice the first crack of thawed frozen earth as the fetus stirs in the womb as a sacrifice
And the young girl’s fingertips stained crimson with berry as a sacrifice
In exchange for your grace of the golden ears bending low"
"Let the crops yield double fruits in the reflection of the Holy Pool
Let streams gush honey and salt under the Jilun magic staff
Let the cries of mothers become the morning song of larks
Let every inch of black soil produce hands gripping sickles"
"Our plows shall be engraved with your holy emblem
The barn beams shall be made of oak from the Dawn Church
The first cry of a newborn
Shall be a living poem offered to you"
With his prayer, all the carefully prepared offerings of the territory were cast into the altar.
"Henceforth
The smoke from Hesse Territory is sacrificial smoke
The labor pain of pregnant women is the holy bell
The tracks of the plow are prayers
Until our bloodlines reach like roots
Through the rock strata to your feet"
As he ignited the first altar’s golden holy flame, soon in all directions of the territory, altars within monoliths blazed golden flames.
From the clouds, looking down upon the earth, the holy flame was like starlight spreading over the land with boundless vigor. Each budding flame left a glowing divine rune on the soil, turning the wheat fields into flowing amber, causing the streams to vaporize into rainbow-colored mist.
When the fire of the last altar pierced the dusk, thousands of strands of golden threads suddenly descended from the sky, weaving into the totem of a crown of thorns at an altitude of three hundred feet.
Vandar, moved to tears with joy, said, "Lord, I’ve lived for hundreds of years, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a sacred scene! Could it be that our sacrifice truly caught the goddess’s attention? It must be so, it must be so. The so-called blessing is merely the glance of the Divine Spirit that mortals earnestly seek."
Su Li smiled faintly, not disillusioning this devout follower’s enthusiasm.
This likely has nothing to do with your church’s sacrifice.
Were it not for my intelligence system’s efficacy, and the four-leaf clover provoking the goddess’s vision, you devout follower would likely never earn a glance from the goddess even in centuries.
