From his recent spoils, Lucian obtained two barracks, but his territory hadn't been upgraded to Level 5 at the time, so placing the second barrack was impossible.
The battle with the boss, combined with the previous monster tides, highlighted the weakness of his Steel-Armored Boars.
While the boars were decent against lower-tier units due to the territory's buffs, their inherent flaws became glaring when facing advanced enemies.
"Fighting isn't just about numbers; the boars have too many weaknesses," Lucian muttered.
He took a deep breath, tossing a Barrack Token into his inventory, only to be greeted by a surprising notification.
[System Alert!]
Detected symbols:
[Great Qin's Elite Soldiers]
[Rogue Archers]
[Lunar Palace Cultivators]
Options:
Random transformation (free).
Directed transformation (requires the corresponding military token).
The notification didn't come from the Heart of the Lord but rather from his Mechanical Core.
Lucian's gaze shifted to the three military tokens he had obtained during yesterday's battle.
[Great Qin's Elite Soldiers]
Type: Military Token
Grade: Purple (Exceptional)
Description: Summons a battalion of peerless Qin warriors, famed for their unparalleled strength and discipline.
[Rogue Archers]
Type: Military Token
Grade: Green (Rare)
Description: Summons a battalion of skilled archers adept at ranged combat.
[Lunar Palace Cultivators]
Type: Military Token
Grade: Purple (Exceptional)
Description: Summons a battalion of ethereal cultivators skilled in both martial and mystical arts.
Military tokens directly summon troops. However, using them to create a Barracks Template required rare resources, only available to advanced lords who dismantled their high-level barracks.
Such templates were extremely valuable.
"The market is always clamoring for these templates. A rare green-grade template was auctioned off within minutes a while back," Lucian mused.
"Demand will only grow in this era of lords. Unfortunately, most people can only dream of obtaining one."
Lucian's situation was different, however. His Mechanical Core streamlined the process, offering him flexibility that few could match.
"Let's decide," he thought.
The Rogue Archers were an easy choice to discard. While stronger than the Steel-Armored Boars, they weren't significantly better.
The real dilemma lay between the Qin warriors and the Lunar Palace cultivators, both purple-grade units.
"The Qin soldiers are likely melee specialists, possibly with formations that boost their effectiveness."
"But cultivators? They might have martial prowess, or they could wield mystical arts. That's rare!"
His decision wasn't easy.
At that moment, his gaze fell on the Steel-Armored Boar Pen.
An idea struck him.
"Why not both?"
Suppressing a pang of regret, Lucian selected the Dismantle option for the Steel-Armored Boar Pen.
[System Alert!]
Steel-Armored Boar Pen has been dismantled. No resources recovered due to insufficient territory level.
The pen crumbled to dust, leaving an empty patch of land.
"It served its purpose. Farewell, Peppa."
With a bittersweet smile, he pulled out two barracks tokens.
[Assign Great Qin's Elite Soldiers]
[Assign Lunar Palace Cultivators]
As he activated the tokens, two streaks of multicolored light burst from his core, enveloping the barrack tokens.
In an instant, the tokens expanded, transforming into towering structures—a stately bronze barracks and a palace shrouded in an ethereal glow.
[Great Qin's Barracks]
Type: Barracks
Level: 1 (0/500)
Function: Recruitment
Troops: 1,000 Great Qin Warriors
Description: The unparalleled soldiers of ancient Qin, invincible on the battlefield.
[Lunar Palace]
Type: Barracks
Level: 1 (0/500)
Function: Recruitment
Troops: 1,000 Lunar Palace Outer Disciples
Description: Cultivators of the Lunar Palace, masters of mystic arts and martial prowess.
The two structures were breathtaking in their contrast.
The Great Qin Barracks radiated an aura of discipline and strength, while the Lunar Palace emanated serenity and mystery.
Although their doors remained closed for now, their presence brought a sense of invincibility to Lucian's territory.
"The Qin barracks project might and resolve," Lucian murmured, marveling at its design.
"And the Lunar Palace… it feels like a glimpse into heaven itself."