NOVPUBOrion pondered for a moment, then replied to Caesar's message.
To be honest, with Orion's current strength and judgment, if he were to select goods for Caesar's current combat power, Caesar would definitely be the one getting the better end of the deal.
Orion's offer was to point out the path forward for Caesar.
"No problem, I'll listen to you."
Receiving Caesar's reply, Orion fell silent, contemplating what items to give Caesar.
After a long while, Orion traded three items to Caesar.
Two balls of Alpha-level life essence, and a set of hero-level leather armor.
The former was a rare resource of the Stoneheart Horde; the latter was a collectible from Orion's personal treasury.
"The life essence is for advancing and enhancing strength."
"The leather armor is of very good quality; it's for saving your life."
Orion explained. Caesar hadn't been online for a while before, likely because he had suffered heavy injuries.
Currently, for Caesar, increasing his strength and adding life-saving measures were the best choices.
Therefore, Caesar, without a second thought, eagerly accepted the items Orion offered.
On the cliff, Caesar leaped up excitedly and took out a ball of life essence.
The rich life energy stirred the energy within Caesar's body, making it restless.
"What is this?"
"Just holding it in my hand, I can feel the energy in my body slowly increasing."
"With this, I can definitely break through to Sword King!"
(Sword King is Alpha-level; some worlds have different naming systems for power levels, and similar instances will appear later.)
To be honest, the items Orion provided were very timely for Caesar.
Under normal circumstances, for Caesar to advance to Sword King, he would have to struggle for at least several years.
This was assuming he had sufficient talent and potential. Of course, since Caesar had the Survivor's Platform, he would certainly encounter some items that could help him break through.
However, he was unlikely to come across items with better effects than life essence.
"This is such a great deal!"
Without any haggling or complaints, Caesar accepted the trade so straightforwardly.
This gave Orion, who had been expecting Caesar to bargain, a sense of inexplicable pleasure.
"Let's wait a bit more. When I advance to arch lord, I'll see if I can bring him into the Champions Alliance."
The Champions Alliance had an unwritten rule: to bring others into the team, one's own strength must be arch lord level or above.
Furthermore, the person being brought in must be Legendary level.
To put it bluntly, currently, Orion, Kraken, and Isabella were not qualified to bring new members into the Champions Alliance.
Of course, a prerequisite for joining the Champions Alliance was good character.
"Character" here didn't mean kindness, but rather having one's own code of conduct that aligned with the Champions Alliance.
These were things Orion had tacitly come to agree with after spending time with Alexander, Leonidas, and Arthas.
It is said that birds of a feather flock together; there's some truth to that.
"Whether Caesar can enter my selection range depends on whether he can grow strong enough."
Survivors had their own advantages, but most weren't as fortunate as Isabella, who had an arch lord-level father upon awakening.
The vast majority of survivors, in the process of rising, would be harvested and lose their lives.
Even Orion himself had found it exceptionally difficult to reach the peak of Legendary level.
Gathering his wandering thoughts, Orion turned his attention to Scarecrow.
It was currently the dark beast tides period; he should be online.
"Bro, are you there? I want to buy grain."
Having known each other for a long time, Orion and Scarecrow had become familiar.
Moreover, Orion discovered that whenever he initiated a conversation with Scarecrow, the guy would always sell him some grain, more or less.
This time was no different.
Scarecrow said nothing and directly put 100,000 tons of grain up for delayed listing.
Orion smiled and instantly bought all the grain.
"Have you become a Legendary level powerhouse?"
"Among my friends, only a few lords are as short on grain as you are."
This was a message from Scarecrow, a test, and a very sincere one at that.
While asking Orion for information, Scarecrow also revealed some information about his own Legendary level friends.
"That's right. As long as one is a lord, they will be short on grain, infinitely short."
These words weren't false at all. 𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑝𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝘮
At the same time, Orion indirectly admitted the fact that he was Legendary level and a lord.
As long as one was a lord and a survivor, they would definitely aspire to become an arch lord.
To advance to arch lord, one needed to gather faith and condense a body of faith.
And where did faith come from?
From population, and it had to be an intelligent population.
To have a large population, one needed vast territories and enough grain.
Therefore, Legendary level powerhouses were always short on grain.
Whether waging war or developing territory, grain was indispensable.
"You are stronger than me. I've been stuck at Alpha peak for a very, very long time."
Orion didn't respond to this statement from Scarecrow.
Because if he did, it would likely involve a trade for a Lord's Stone.
Orion didn't lack this item now, but he didn't dare to give it away carelessly either.
The Stoneheart Horde had many Alpha-level elders. Orion believed that even if the probability was small, a few would definitely eventually reach Alpha peak.
Reaching Alpha peak meant one was qualified to strive for Legendary level and would need a Lord's Stone.
Furthermore, the Lord's Stone was also one of the main sacrificial items for the Titan Emblem, a trump card for Orion to strengthen himself.
"I also had good luck and received help from someone, that's how I luckily advanced."
This was also a big truth. To a large extent, Orion had indeed been nurtured by his sponsor, Arthas.
Without Arthas's help, Orion could have advanced to Legendary level, but he would have lingered at the lower Legendary level for a very long time; he had too much foundation to accumulate.
Not to mention other things, just the two opportunities when Arthas invited Orion into the Godforsaken Land and the Valkorath Realm to fight fungal creatures had greatly enhanced Orion's strength.
Especially the fight against the fungal creatures, which directly compensated for the Stoneheart Horde's shortcoming of insufficient innate foundation.
Countless Stoneheart Horde bloodline warriors were strengthened in the Valkorath Realm.
Even those Alpha-levels on the council had their stuck levels raised through the confrontation with the fungal creatures.
Almost all Alpha-levels who had fought against the fungal creatures were no longer at the bottom rank among Alpha-levels.
After the baptism of the fungal creatures, they all became veteran Alpha-level powerhouses.
Such various benefits truly couldn't be repaid by gifting one or two precious items and saying a few words of thanks.
Therefore, Orion was grateful to Arthas, respected him, and also hoped he would awaken from his slumber soon.
When that time came, they could go to the Emerald Dream Realm together to share the benefits there.
