Chapter 952: Hesitation
And this was just the members who had gathered the materials.
There were plenty more who wanted to upgrade their gear but hadn't gathered the materials yet!
Nearly 90% of the two legions!
Members of both the Demon-Slaying Legion and the Amethyst Legion each basically had at least a semi-Sacred Artifact or a full Sacred Artifact.
But don't assume Sacred Artifacts were commonplace…
As previously mentioned, the Demon-Slaying Legion was made up of top-tier young prodigies. Even if they weren't from noble families, they had earned plenty of material rewards from their local academies.
And the Amethyst Legion were all battle-hardened veterans. Years of accumulation had left them with quite a deep stash.
So, each having a semi-Sacred Artifact or Sacred Artifact was normal.
Additionally…
Upgrading Sacred Artifacts required a ton of materials.
Most people simply couldn't afford it.
And that's not even the worst part.
The failure rate during upgrading was extremely high!
Not even a 10% success rate!
So no one dared try it lightly.
Because once you failed—
A massive pile of materials would be gone in an instant!
And…
The equipment would also shatter!
The cost was enormous!
To the point that…
Even now, many high-level powerhouses were still using 1-star Sacred Artifacts, and only a few elite ones had 2-star or 3-star Sacred Artifacts.
So…
Just from that, you could tell how rare the Sacred Artifact Boundary-Breaking Stone from yesterday's system reward was.
If Ling Zhan were to sell that thing—no doubt…
Top powerhouses from around the world would scramble for it!
And the price would soar to an utterly terrifying level!
Possibly…
It'd take the wealth of an entire kingdom to purchase that one Boundary-Breaking Stone!
Sounds exaggerated?
Remember, this stone boosts five whole star levels!
Meaning a 4-star Sacred Artifact could directly become a 9-star one!
Just one step away from the Divine Artifact tier!
Of course…
The stone's cap is upgrading to 9-star Sacred Artifact at most.
It can't go any higher.
"Commander Ling Zhan, is there a reason you're collecting these lists?"
Zhou Xue'er asked softly.
During work, she still addressed Ling Zhan formally as Commander.
But in casual settings, she would just call him by name.
"I plan to help this batch of members upgrade their gear..."
Ling Zhan said plainly.
As soon as those words landed—
Zhou Xue'er blinked in surprise, visibly caught off guard.
"Go ahead and tally up everyone's military merit from this campaign."
"Then open the War Supply Vault and grant access to merit exchange."
"Remind them..."
"Quickly use their merit to redeem upgrade materials. I'll figure out how to help them upgrade."
Ling Zhan had clearly made up his mind.
Several officers nearby looked stunned upon hearing this!
Even Avina and Clodas couldn't help but walk over and ask:
"Commander Ling Zhan, can you guarantee a 100% success rate?"
Ling Zhan calmly shook his head and said, "No."
He really couldn't.
Because the Lucky Potion didn't specify.
Its description simply said that upon drinking it, you'd become extraordinarily lucky.
But to what extent—even Ling Zhan didn't know.
However, he had attempted multiple enchantment enhancements before, and every single one succeeded.
So Ling Zhan believed the luck bonus was top-tier. After all, it was a system-produced item.
Technically, this world also had items, gear, and titles that increased luck.
But the luck boost was minimal.
It might raise your success rate from 1% to 3%, at best.
Not useless.
Just… not very impactful.
Whereas the system's Lucky Potion likely gave a massive boost.
At least Ling Zhan hadn't failed once.
"Anyone who wants to upgrade their gear within these next three days can come to me."
Coordinating tens of thousands of gear and material sets was no small task.
So Ling Zhan wasn't in a rush to continue the campaign.
Instead, he chose to take this time to boost his legion's gear.
After all…
Stronger gear meant higher survivability on the battlefield—and easier enemy kills.
Although he had that merit wager with Adasim, Ling Zhan wasn't worried about three days of delay.
Besides…
Ling Zhan had already researched some intel on Adasim and had a basic understanding of the guy's personality and tactics.
There were loads of online articles criticizing Adasim.
Calling him arrogant and conceited.
Calling him a dictator.
And so on.
With a general like that, Ling Zhan didn't believe he could possibly win.
In fact, if it weren't for the Rotten Witch Cathy accompanying him, the western siege might've gone horribly sideways.
For now, Ling Zhan could afford to play it safe.
When Avina and Clodas passed the intel down…
The entire Amethyst Legion was stunned.
"What? That non-specialist says he's going to upgrade our gear?"
"Can he guarantee success, though?"
"Yeah, if it fails, all the materials we've saved for years go to waste…"
"Not just that—our gear would shatter. That'd be a massive loss."
As expected…
Everyone was hesitant.
Even though the War Supply Vault was temporarily open and merit had been tallied, the Amethyst Legion's veterans remained indecisive.
Which made sense.
These old soldiers had fought all their lives. If they squandered their hard-earned stockpiles, it would be painful.
"Anyway, I've delivered the message. What you choose to do is entirely up to you—no one's forcing anything."
The officer said, then turned and left.
Leaving a group of old soldiers exchanging puzzled looks.
"Upgrade… or not?"
"No idea. They said we've got three days to decide. After that, the offer's off the table…"
"Tough call. Could that non-specialist secretly have some powerful crafting subclass?"
"Let's think on it..."
Compared to the hesitant Amethyst Legion—
The Demon-Slaying Legion was firm and decisive.
"Count me in!"
"Same here!"
"Since Instructor Ling said so, I'm definitely letting him handle my upgrade."
"I trust Instructor Ling Zhan…"
Members of the Demon-Slaying Legion had already idolized Ling Zhan.
Anything Ling Zhan said, they followed without hesitation.
Even geniuses like Moldes, Ye Qingling, and Bazel didn't hesitate to add their weapons and materials to the list.
All while full of anticipation.
"No doubt about it... it's already decided!"
"Heard the Amethyst Legion's veterans are still hesitating."
"Forget them. Let them hesitate all they want—we're not!"
"Once our upgrades succeed, those hesitant ones will be stuck watching us in envy."
"..."