Chapter 471: Funeral and Investiture

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last day of September.

The usually magnificent Golden Feather Palace could not help but be draped in heavy colors today.

Whether it was the guards standing post, the knights patrolling on warhorses, or the noble carriages coming and going, all were wrapped in black ribbons; this was the tradition at a funeral.

At the Royal Cemetery, the royal family members led by Bruno and nobles of all ranks gathered to hold the funeral ceremony for Hesusu and his family.

Come to think of it, the last time there was such a grand ceremony was when Kelinsiman IV passed away, which was more than a decade ago.

According to what Luoning knew, Kelinsiman IV did not seem to have departed in a very glorious manner; it seemed that after his wife died in his middle to later years, he became addicted to women and eventually died on a woman's belly.

"The one beside Blanche is His Majesty's eldest daughter, Princess Xuelun."

Lulansi was with Luoning, introducing some unfamiliar faces to him.

Princess Xuelun looked like a graceful and luxurious noblewoman, making Blanche appear rather green by comparison.

"I have heard Blanche mention her, and I know she married the Kingdom First Blazing Sun Knight, Yiben Toransi. It's just that I didn't expect Yiben would not return for such a royal gathering."

Luoning still very much wanted to see this Count of Twin Peaks Territory; like Jialete, the other party possessed exceptionally high aptitude.

Moreover, because he became famous early and was older, it had been heard many years ago that his strength had already reached the peak of the Silver Moon level, which was why His Majesty the King had bestowed upon him the title of "Kingdom First Blazing Sun Knight."

"Although the Telixiya Kingdom is in civil strife, the situation does not seem very clear. The enemy troops in Mist City have not only failed to retreat, but have actually increased. Under such circumstances, the front line naturally requires powerful figures to hold the fort."

Because Luoning was preparing to establish military merit on the battlefield, he had specifically looked into news about the enemy country these past few days.

It seemed that after experiencing the initial six months of turmoil, the situation in the Telixiya Kingdom appeared to have stabilized.

Luoning did not expect that they would actually be able to withstand the alien organization from the New Moon Continent.

One had to know that Mofisite could reach the level nine standard, so the remaining two divine envoys should have strength of a similar level.

Although they did not have the troublesome and difficult-to-counter abilities of the Witch Soul Clan, they were still not simple things to deal with.

From this point of view, the royal family still had considerable foundations; wanting to dominate the world based on personal strength alone, being Sun-level was not enough.

The funeral process was somewhat long-winded, lasting a full three hours before gradually dispersing.

When everyone returned to the Aoduoyin Dadian, a grand investiture ceremony officially began.

His Majesty the King, using the titles of "Unprecedented Genius, Kingdom First Blazing Sun Knight, Auduin Glory Defender, Terminator of Evil Aliens, Conqueror of the Legendary Dragon," bestowed upon Luoning the title of Kingdom Guardian Knight, simultaneously enfeoffed him as a Kingdom Marquis, and granted him Yueguang Valley as his fief.

When the King's longsword was placed on Luoning's neck for the formal investiture ceremony, and after the medal and scepter symbolizing the status of the Marquis of Yueguang Valley were handed to Luoning, familiar text finally appeared before Luoning's eyes:

"【Famous Throughout the World】 achievement completed, Attribute Point +1500, Energy Essence +3000."

At the same time, the multiplier on the sign-in interface changed, becoming four times what it was before; he could now obtain 4 Attribute Points every day, and at the same time, he would also receive 80, 100, 120, and 160 Attribute Points and Energy Essence every seventh day.

After the investiture was completed, Bruno announced that the wedding date for Luoning and Blanche would be held in three months, and he hoped the nobles would attend at that time.

With the blessing of double happiness, all the royal nobles knew that Luoning was the rising star of the Aoduyin Kingdom.

Except for the symbolic congratulations from high nobles like Feilunsi, many of the Kingdom's Barons, Viscounts, and Counts stepped forward one after another to offer greetings and blessings, and many of them even requested to visit Yueguang Castle.

These nobles were basically distributed around Yueguang Valley, and most of them relied on Yueguang Valley for metal ores, grain, and the like.

In the past, they had all cooperated with Hesusu; although the other party was no longer there and Yueguang Valley had a new master, they still wanted to continue the cooperation, so they naturally needed to get on good terms with Luoning.

Although Luoning was not familiar with some of them, fortunately, Lulansi was by his side, so there were no problems with socializing.

After the royal banquet ended, Luoning and Lulansi discussed the wedding matters with Bruno again, and it was already midnight when they returned.

"Luoning, how do you plan to manage Yueguang Valley?"

In the carriage, Lulansi felt some concern about the development of this territory.

"Mofisite has already destroyed Yueguang Valley completely; to develop this territory well, the remaining manpower is somewhat insufficient."

Luoning could not help but reveal a wry smile: "If I had known the entire Yueguang Valley would become my territory, I wouldn't have let Qiaofuli take more than twenty thousand people away from here."

Initially, they all thought the King would take this land back, but they didn't expect it to be granted to Luoning.

"Plans cannot keep up with changes."

Lulansi said: "It's a pity I can't spare any more people for you."

He had already provided nearly one hundred thousand people to the Wubei Territory one after another; if he were to continue large-scale transfers, it would significantly affect the operation of the dozens of towns underneath.

"Your help has already been enough; I will think of a way for the rest."

Luoning pondered and said: "His Majesty just said that the one hundred thousand people he prepared to move to me are basically confirmed and can be transferred one after another. I plan to have forty percent sent to Wubei City, and the remaining sixty percent all sent to Yueguang Valley to let the territory resume farming, while also maintaining the mining of several mines."

Yueguang Valley had large tracts of uncultivated land and, at the same time, rows of uninhabited houses; as long as grain was provided, the problem of the influx of population could be perfectly solved.

And the reason he was still sending forty percent to Wubei City was mainly to make it more convenient to build a new city with a population of one hundred thousand.

By then, with Wubei City, Yueguang City, and Purple Thunder City, these three cities with a population of one hundred thousand built, the next tier of the 【Gongchengluedi】 achievement could be completed.

"In addition to these one hundred thousand people from His Majesty, I also plan to invite their subjects to come to Yueguang Valley to work for me with relatively higher pay."

Letting other lords sell their own subjects to Luoning was somewhat unrealistic; after all, most of the subjects were not serfs or slaves and still had a little bit of rights.

However, if one were to attract outsiders to work with high wages while also allowing them to take the money they earned back, this was completely achievable.

Because in this process, the economies of these lords' territories would have a certain improvement.

Besides that, didn't the nobles of all sizes around Yueguang Valley hope to cooperate with Luoning to obtain sufficient iron ore and copper ore? In such a trading relationship, besides using gold coins to measure value, the other party could also dispatch laborers to Luoning to obtain a certain amount of ore resources through this method of cooperation.

In short, with so much land in Yueguang Valley, it needed to resume farming as soon as possible; the less wasted, the better.

"This is a good idea."

Lulansi nodded in agreement, "If you lack manpower, you can tell me. Sending you some officials is still possible; additionally, the three Knight Orders of Ruidar and Suofeiya can follow you to Yueguang City."

Although Anbian City no longer had any threats, these Knight Orders were ultimately established with the support of Wushan Castle; Lulansi lending them to Luoning for free was also a form of support.

"Thank you, Grandfather!"

"Why are you being so polite with me?"

Lulansi laughed: "I am still counting on you to become a Duke one day, or even establish a kingdom belonging to the Wushan Family on this continent!"

Luoning revealed a firm gaze, "Rest assured, it will definitely happen!" (End of chapter)