At 7:30 in the morning, Lu Heng finally woke up.
He glanced at the time, pushed open the door, and peeked at Klee.
The little one was curled up in bed, sleeping soundly.
Lu Heng suppressed his thoughts, deciding to let her sleep a bit longer, then opened the shop door.
Seeing Ningguang and Keqing standing at the entrance, Lu Heng raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're here so early?"
Those in high positions often tend to overthink things.
Especially when dealing with important figures, many times, you can't just take things at face value.
Ningguang thought Lu Heng was referring to the fact that they were at the front of the line and immediately replied, "Actually, we're a bit late, but everyone kindly let us take their spots. We didn't want to refuse, so we've been waiting here."
Lu Heng was taken aback.
He had just been making casual small talk, not expecting Ningguang to respond like this.
After a brief thought, Lu Heng understood.
After all, she was a powerful figure in this nation. Regardless of her actual attitude, people would naturally offer her their spots in line. Whether she remembered those who didn't yield or not, the gesture was inevitable.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't hard to comprehend.
Lu Heng didn't mind. He smiled and said, "Since I'm free now, and you've been waiting, how do you plan to draw?"
Since Lu Heng didn't mention that it wasn't business hours yet, Ningguang naturally didn't bring it up either.
She said, "I've prepared four billion Mora."
At these words, Keqing, standing beside her, widened her eyes slightly.
She hadn't asked Ningguang how much Mora she'd brought earlier.
Now, hearing this… Keqing deeply felt the wealth gap between herself and Ningguang.
She was a young lady from a prestigious family!
But Ningguang… Well, Keqing had to admit, Ningguang was simply too formidable. To rise from nothing to this level was truly admirable.
"Four billion Mora?"
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow.
As expected of the wealthiest woman in Teyvat.
The shop had opened at noon yesterday, and by this morning, she'd already brought four billion Mora in cash to spend!
Four billion! In cash!
If given more time to mobilize her funds, she might have come with tens of billions!
A VIP customer!
Without a doubt!
This was Lu Heng's first genuine high-roller since opening the shop, in terms of sheer wealth!
As for the likes of Neuvillette, representing the Palais Mermonia, or Tartaglia, backed by the Northland Bank—the former's Mora mostly belonged to the Fontaine government, and the latter was similar in nature.
Only Ningguang had personal wealth—four billion in cash!
"You're the richest individual I've ever met," Lu Heng remarked.
"In terms of being extraordinary, you're also the most impressive person I've ever encountered," Ningguang replied.
"Alright," Lu Heng waved his hand. "Let's skip the mutual flattery. You're here as a customer, so let's get down to business."
Ningguang nodded, understanding.
It seemed Lu Heng wasn't fond of unnecessary pleasantries.
Truthfully, neither was she, but such formalities were inevitable when people weren't yet familiar.
"Everyone, relax."
Lu Heng addressed not just her but also the others waiting in line.
"First, let me explain what equipment and cards are."
In a few concise sentences, Lu Heng covered the core concepts of the shop, then turned to Ningguang. "Shall we begin?"
"Sure."
Ningguang didn't hold back.
She first purchased over ten pieces of equipment, along with a phone and other items.
Then, she deposited the full four billion Mora in one go.
Four hundred thousand draws!
Even Lu Heng was slightly stunned.
The question now was—how would Ningguang's luck fare?
As he pondered, Ningguang had already started drawing.
The first ten-thousand draw yielded three purple cards.
After Lu Heng appraised them, Ningguang merely glanced at them and set them aside.
For her, the goal was five-star gold cards!
While four-star purple cards were valuable, unless their effects were exceptional, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing couldn't be bothered.
Lu Heng noted her reaction.
Players like Ningguang were what he called "whales"—those with deep pockets who weren't fazed by low drop rates.
They knew that even with terrible luck, they could brute-force their way to victory with sheer wealth!
However… Lu Heng's shop had no pity system!
As Ningguang drew, Keqing watched from the side.
Seeing her calm demeanor, tossing away hundreds of millions of Mora without batting an eye, even Keqing—a young lady from a noble family—wanted to mutter: "Damn rich people!"
On the sixty-thousandth draw—
A golden light flashed.
The light split into two in midair.
Ningguang's expression remained neutral, but inwardly, she sighed in relief.
Did she truly not care about wasting Mora?
Ningguang had grown up in poverty—she knew the value of money!
If it were just a few hundred thousand or million, she wouldn't bat an eye.
But this was a hundred million per draw!
Fortunately, she'd finally gotten something—and a double gold at that!
"Double golds are pretty rare. Your luck isn't bad," Lu Heng said with a smile.
Since Lu Heng disliked unnecessary chatter, Ningguang got straight to the point. She handed the two gold cards to Lu Heng with a smile. "Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Lu."
"No need for formalities. This is part of my job," Lu Heng replied, then appraised the two gold cards.
[Immortal Gold Silk Armor]
Rank: 5-star GoldType: [External Equipment Card]Traits: [Customizable Style], [Active Defense]Description: A magnificent armor with both style and exceptional defensive capabilities.
The card depicted the Immortal Gold Silk Armor.
It was entirely gold, resembling something woven from golden silk.
Its design wasn't the imposing type of armor but rather something sleek that could be worn underneath regular clothing.
"This is a pretty good defensive piece," Lu Heng explained. "I won't elaborate on the customizable style, but let me highlight the active defense."
"It's straightforward. For example, if I were to attack you, whether you noticed it or not, the moment the attack was about to hit, the armor would automatically activate its power to block it, protecting you!"
"Additionally, it inherently provides resistance to fire, piercing, and more!"
Hearing this, Ningguang understood the value of this equipment.
Not only did it have five-star defensive capabilities, but it also came with active defense!
Without active defense, even if an attack landed on the armor, the wearer would still feel the impact—like someone in armor being struck by a blade. The armor might block the cut, but the force would still jolt the person inside!
Active defense prevented this entirely.
It was essentially an emergency shield that activated on its own!
"Mr. Lu, where does this rank among five-star items?" Ningguang asked.
"Mid-tier among five-star items," Lu Heng answered.
Mid-tier?
That was more than enough!
Ningguang turned to the next card.
[Mystical Phoenix Feather]
Rank: 5-star GoldType: [Item Card]Traits: [Sharp]Description: A feather shed from the primordial divine phoenix.
The card showed a blue-green feather.
Lu Heng guessed this "Mystical Phoenix" was either at the peak of five-star power or had reached six-star.
But this feather… didn't seem to have any special uses mentioned!
"And this is?" Ningguang looked at Lu Heng expectantly.
Lu Heng paused for a moment before saying, "It's not very useful. Perhaps… if you gather more materials later, you could use it as a core component for forging a weapon."
Ningguang immediately understood.
In simpler terms: The item is great, but not very useful.
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T/N:
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