At the topmost floor of the
The study was not large. The entire room contained only two bookshelves, filled with books that were quite worn and tattered. Some had lost even their covers, clearly showing they were of considerable age. A few even radiated a faint divine aura.
In the Divine Realm, any item capable of emitting a divine aura was exceedingly rare and precious. Such items had once belonged to gods themselves, and after prolonged exposure to divine presence, they had acquired a measure of divine power—their importance was self-evident.
Books were especially valuable among them, because they recorded either knowledge that interested the gods or knowledge the gods had left behind. Some even contained guidance on the path to becoming a Sixth-tier God.
Therefore, on the Divine Realm's market, even a useless book, so long as it radiated a divine aura, was worth no less than a thousand gold—a price comparable to an ordinary piece of Epic-tier equipment.
And on these bookshelves, there were at least fifty such books…
"So this is the study of the White River City Hall?" Shi Feng looked at these aura-radiating books and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.
To ordinary players, being summoned by the City Lord in his study was no big deal—the City Lord could receive players in any part of the City Hall.
But few people realized that under normal circumstances, the City Lord would never summon a player to this study.
Only after becoming the Auction House controller of a city could a player enter the City Hall study. It was a privilege exclusive to the Auction House controller. Any other player would never set foot inside this room in their entire life—even a Sixth-tier player wouldn't make an exception. It was, without exaggeration, the most heavily defended location in the entire NPC city.
The reason wasn't some extraordinary magical formation, but rather that the space this study occupied was somewhat special. It was like an entirely different world—without permission, even a Sixth-tier god could not enter.
Right now, City Lord Whitman sat at his desk by the window, carefully leafing through a book made entirely of pure gold.
Compared to the last time Shi Feng had seen him, Whitman had advanced to a Level 200 Fifth-tier Holy Magic Guide.
This was one of the benefits of the Divine Realm's first batch of upgraded cities. With a Fifth-tier Class holder stationed within, even Fourth-tier players wouldn't dare act too brazenly inside the city. The city's safety rating was on a completely different level from ordinary large cities—it wouldn't be destroyed by some minor incident, allowing players to develop there in peace.
"You've come. What business do you have with me?" Whitman glanced at Shi Feng with an amiable smile.
Thanks to his tier advancement, Whitman's expressions and intelligence had both improved further. He appeared thoroughly approachable, and the intimidation aura that a Fifth-tier Class holder normally radiated had been entirely suppressed—players wouldn't feel even the slightest hint of it.
Had Shi Feng not used an observation skill to check, he might have mistaken Whitman for a common elderly gentleman.
"Honorable City Lord, I came to see you because I wish to make this city even more prosperous. I would like to connect White River City's Auction House with those of other cities, and I hope to receive your permission," Shi Feng said calmly.
The Auction House was a city's vital economic pillar. The growth of the Auction House meant the growth of the city; the prosperity of the Auction House meant the prosperity of the city.
In his previous life, the major powers had obtained NPC city Auction Houses and treated them one and all as their personal money bags and keys to controlling the NPC cities. None of them realized that the true purpose of controlling the Auction House was actually to serve as a shortcut for accelerating guild town development.
And this realization had come a full year too late—an entire year!
With the foot traffic and economic boost brought by an NPC city's Auction House, a guild town could have advanced to a High-rank city. The Divine Realm had been open for over two years, yet not a single High-rank guild city existed. Even the Mid-rank guild cities that had been upgraded were still a long way off from reaching the High-rank threshold—it would take three to five years of grinding to get there.
Guild towns in the Divine Realm were the foundation of every major guild's development, and the gap between each rank was enormous. The jump from Mid-rank to High-rank, while not a qualitative transformation, represented a massive quantitative leap. Moreover, certain specialized buildings that benefited players could only be constructed in a High-rank city.