"Oh?"
The merchant's face lit up with joy as he exclaimed, "Wonderful! Let's finalize the trade!"
Hearing this, the surrounding crowd was stunned.
"Wow, someone's actually buying it?"
"Must be a strong faction—only someone like that could afford to cultivate this unit!"
"Unbelievable. But even at 9 million, it's quite expensive!"
"Not necessarily. The value of this kind of item is subjective. For a golden-grade token, 9 million isn't that bad."
The crowd murmured in hushed tones.
Lucien remained silent.
Seeing his hesitation, the merchant grew nervous, worried that Lucien might back out. He quickly added, "Friend, my price is very fair! A golden-grade token for only 9 million Void Crystals—this is a loss for me!"
"If I weren't in urgent need of money, I wouldn't sell it this cheap. Just wait a few days, and millions would be lining up to buy it!"
The merchant's words drew laughter from the crowd.
Lucien, however, kept his composure. "I'll trade you some equipment instead."
"What?"
The merchant was stunned.
Lucien wasted no time and brought out several pieces of purple-grade equipment obtained during battles with Lin Daiyu and others, such as.
Heavenly Silk Gloves
Victory Armor
A few other purple-grade items that he didn't need.
Due to the special nature of the Beginner's Trial, nearly all of the next 20 boss encounters had dropped golden equipment, except for the final boss, which yielded a skill book.
Thus, Lin Daiyu's gear was primarily legendary golden-grade, with only a few purple-grade items filling the remaining slots.
Qin Keqing's setup was similar.
Only Jia Yingchun lacked any equipment, as she didn't need it.
Originally, Lucien had planned to save the purple-grade items for the next hero he summoned.
But for this trade, he had no choice but to use a few.
The merchant examined the items, surprise flashing in his eyes.
The equipment Lucien offered ranged from level 10–15. Though low-level, their excellent attributes made them highly valuable.
The merchant frowned slightly before saying, "Friend, I'm not an equipment trader. I'll take these items, but nothing more."
He listed the pieces he was willing to accept and continued, "I can calculate their value based on market rates—140,000 Void Crystals in total."
While purple-grade equipment was valuable, the merchant's price was already high, considering the low-level nature of the items.
Still, compared to the 9 million price tag, 140,000 was far from sufficient.
Lucien frowned and replied, "I'll add 500,000 Crystals."
"No, friend, even with 240,000 Crystals, we're still far from 9 million!"
The merchant protested.
Lucien cast him a cold glance and turned to leave.
The surrounding crowd chuckled at the failed deal.
Seeing this, the merchant gritted his teeth and shouted, "Add 1 million more, and it's yours!"
Hearing this, Lucien stopped. "800,000."
The merchant hesitated briefly before agreeing. "Deal!"
Exiting the Universal Forum
Lucien's steps were noticeably lighter as he exhaled deeply.
Although he had maintained a calm demeanor during the negotiation, he had been inwardly nervous.
A golden-grade unit, no matter how flawed, was still a golden-grade unit. Most people hadn't realized its true value yet, but once word spread, others would inevitably try to buy it.
Fortunately, Lucien had secured the purchase just in time.
"This deal was all thanks to Andrew!" Lucien chuckled to himself.
Back to the Red Pavillion
Lin Daiyu and the other two women greeted Lucien with curiosity and amusement.
Lin Daiyu teased, "Young master, what kind of honey did you eat? You seem so sweet!"
"Eat your honey!" Lucien rolled his eyes at her and pulled out three transfer certificates.
He handed them over. "Here—use these to change your classes. Once you're ready, show me the results."
"Heh!"
The three women exchanged smiles, taking the certificates and chatting softly as they headed toward the palace.
Lucien retrieved the Barracks token from his Small World inventory and activated it.
"Notification: You have obtained the barracks [Spirit of the Lu Tree]. Please choose your transformation direction."
"Direct Transformation! Selected: [Forest of the Lu Tree]."
Lucien made his choice.
In an instant, five-colored divine light enveloped the barracks token.
The token floated into the air, expanding rapidly until it transformed into a magnificent temple shrouded in mist.
The structure descended gently before Lucien, occupying several hundred square meters of land.
The temple resembled an ancient sanctuary surrounded by strange, massive trees.
Inside, several totems depicted the sacred beast, the Lu Tree Spirit.
[Forest of the Lu Tree]
Type: Barracks
Level: 1 (0/500)
Recruitable Units: Spirit of the Lu Tree (Cost: 2,000 Void Crystals each)
Owned Units: 0
Description: Will these units, blessed by the Lu Tree Spirit, bring fortune or disaster?
"I've got twenty spirit fields!" Lucien muttered with excitement.
He quickly upgraded the Forest of the Lu Tree to level 2 and recruited 20 units in one go.
The wind blew softly, rustling the trees in the Lu Tree Forest. Branches swayed wildly, and the temple's doors creaked open.
To Lucien's surprise, several figures emerged, staring at him with blank expressions.
"Master!"
A crisp voice called out.
The figures stepped forward and stood quietly before Lucien.
They were humanoid, around 1.6 meters tall, dressed in simple leaf-woven garments. Their skin was pale and luminous, with a jade-like glow.
Short hair crowned their heads, adorned with two small white antlers.
Their innocent faces were strikingly beautiful, radiating purity. Despite their petite stature, their physiques were as developed as adult women.
Compared to the maidens of the Lunar Moon Palace or even the immortal Qin Warriors, these girls were unparalleled in beauty.
The simple leaf clothing barely covered their delicate figures.
The Lu Tree Forest, due to its unique nature, could only recruit female soldiers.
"These units are stunning…" Lucien muttered, looking them up and down.
He had initially expected them to resemble deer, but instead, they were a humanoid army.
Monsters? Spirits? Ghosts?
His curiosity piqued, Lucien opened the attribute panel of one of the Deer Spirit Maidens.