After opening the Trial Treasure Chest, Lin Yu inspected the Lord's Heart. He found a slot underneath it—the socket for an Elemental Core. However, it could only be socketed with a single Elemental Core.
This discovery left Lin Yu with so much to complain about, he didn't know where to start.
'So, I went through all that trouble to beat a trial at 18x difficulty for this treasure chest, just to get six extra Elemental Cores to look at?'
'I can only socket one core. Is there even a choice? Of course I'll pick the rainbow-grade Wood Element Core.'
However, Lin Yu was still reluctant to let so many Elemental Cores go to waste.
'Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth... I'm just missing Gold from the five elements. I wonder if I can synthesize a Divine Dragon if I collect them all?'
'I also have an extra gold-grade Wood Element Core, and a purple-grade Wind Element Core.'
'I wonder if I can trade with other players for a Gold Element Core. I refuse to believe everyone got an Elemental Core they're happy with.'
[World Chat Channel (789654)]
Ding Dong: "Buying Elemental Cores! Anyone selling useless Elemental Cores? I'll pay in points or Gold Coins. PM me with your price!"
Dou Jiji: "Trading for a Wood Element Core, purple-grade or higher. [Fire Element Core (Purple).jpg]"
Zhang Lv: "Buying Wind Element Cores, any quality. I'll pay in points or Gold Coins. PM me with your price."
Hu Yuli: "Big brothers, will anyone give little me a gold-grade Elemental Core? I have no way to repay you, but I can send a nude photo!"
...
As expected, the chat channel was flooded with messages about Elemental Cores.
The few rich kids he had met in the first stage were also in the world channel, calling out to buy cores.
Lin Yu sent a private message to Ding Dong, the one he was on the best terms with, to ask about the current situation.
Lin Yu (PM): "Brother Ding, Brother Ding! I'm back with more questions. I'd really appreciate your help."
Ding Dong (PM): "Yo, let me see, isn't this Younger Brother Lin? Haven't heard from you in days. I thought you'd failed your high-difficulty trial."
Lin Yu (PM): "Sorry, Brother Ding, I've been busy with my territory these past few days! Isn't there a Prosperity leaderboard? Aren't you guys going to compete for the rankings?"
Ding Dong (PM): "What's there to compete for? For the first month's ranking rewards, only first place is worth anything. Look at the first place score. What's the point? We're letting him have it."
Lin Yu (PM): "But aren't there rewards for the top 10,000?"
Ding Dong (PM): "Just some resources. What's the use? Can't I just buy them myself with Gold Coins? The only thing you can't buy is the random gold-grade building for first place."
Ding Dong (PM): "I've asked around. Anyway, this person isn't from our group of Cuiwei Star's upper crust."
Ding Dong (PM): "Hmph, only those commoners who got lucky with some dogshit luck would stay anonymous, afraid someone would come knocking."
Ding Dong (PM): "It's a shame about that gold-grade building. If I knew who stole my blueprint, I'd definitely make them pay."
Lin Yu broke out in a cold sweat listening to this. Thankfully, he had cautiously chosen to remain anonymous.
'Even though we get a chance to unlock physical enhancements for lords in the second stage, back on Cuiwei Star, that won't be enough to stand up to all kinds of high-tech weapons!'
Lin Yu (PM): "Brother Ding, are gold-grade buildings that hard to get? Don't you get a gold-grade Divine Hall for joining a Divine Hall faction?"
Ding Dong (PM): "Not the same, not the same at all. Even if you build that Divine Hall, and as a lord you can use it, the ultimate ownership belongs to the gods."
Ding Dong (PM): "This random gold-grade building is different. It belongs completely to the player. If a commoner gets it, they can defy heaven and change their fate. If I get it, it's like giving wings to a tiger."
Lin Yu (PM): "I see! Oh, right, Brother Ding! Why are you guys buying Elemental Cores? Can't the Lord's Heart only be socketed with one Elemental Core?"
Ding Dong (PM): "You don't know? I can tell you weren't paying attention during the briefing."
Lin Yu (PM): "Ah? For the briefing, I was late. By the time I got in, it was already over."
Lin Yu (PM): "[100 Point Red Packet]"
Lin Yu (PM): "Brother Ding, it's just a small token of my appreciation. Please, could you explain it to me?"
Ding Dong (PM): "Are you looking down on your Brother Ding? You think someone of my status needs a measly 100 points?"
Lin Yu (PM): "[1000 Point Red Packet]"
Lin Yu (PM): "Bro, that's really all I have. I only passed a 2x high-difficulty trial, I don't have any more."
Ding Dong (PM): "[Red Packet received.]"
Ding Dong (PM): "Younger Brother Lin, no need to be so polite. Your big brother here is a little short on cash from buying Elemental Cores, so I won't be polite either."
Ding Dong (PM): "Elemental Cores can be synthesized. Every 10 Elemental Cores of the same quality can be combined into one Elemental Core of the next higher quality."
Ding Dong (PM): "Also, the Point Shop sells an 'Element Core Quality Enhancement Scroll'. It can raise an Elemental Core's quality once, but there's only one, and it's bound to the lord."
Lin Yu (PM): "I see, thank you, Brother Ding!"
Ding Dong (PM): "You're welcome. By the way, do you have any extra unwanted Elemental Cores? It's not like you have the money to synthesize them anyway. Why not help out your big brother? Once I've made it big, I'll guarantee you pass the second stage."
Lin Yu (PM): "Sorry, Brother Ding, my luck was bad. I only pulled one Elemental Core, and I've already used it."
Ding Dong (PM): "Ah, forget it. You go on and get busy. I need to keep buying cores."
Lin Yu (PM): "Talk later!"
After finishing his conversation with Ding Dong, Lin Yu watched the chat channel while browsing the Point Shop.
After searching carefully for a few minutes, Lin Yu finally found the "Element Core Enhancement Scroll" (Usable on cores below gold-grade) in a corner.
It wasn't that expensive, only 1,000 points. After buying it, Lin Yu still had over 13,000 points left.
Afterwards, Lin Yu upgraded the Fire Element Core (Purple) into a Fire Element Core (Gold).
Of the five core elements—Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—he was only missing a Gold Element Core. The other four he possessed were now all gold-grade at minimum.
After that, Lin Yu turned his attention to the new buildings from his Lord's Heart upgrade.
For some reason, the Lord's Heart upgrade had only added one new building: the Spring of Life. As for the others, his existing buildable structures had simply gained an upgrade option, allowing them to reach a maximum of level 5.
The expected buildings like the tavern, altar, Blacksmith Shop, and alchemy lab didn't appear at all.
To trade items with other lords, you needed a special building—the market. This was a buildable structure that Lin Yu did not have.
Fortunately, the Point Shop sold generic buildings.
After spending 300 points, Lin Yu obtained a market building blueprint.
[Name]: Market
[Category]: Generic Building
[Grade]: Exceptional (Blue)
[Description]: A place for the territory's residents to conduct trade. Contains a subspace communication device and an item Teleportation Array, allowing trade with lords on the other side of the world.
[Effect]: Enables trading with other lords. Transaction fee: 30% (charged based on estimated value).