On the 36th floor—the highest level—of the Golden Bridge Grand Hotel, the Jinhai Social Mixer had officially begun.
Most of the attendees were well-known figures from various industries across Jinhai City, with only a small fraction being graduating students from Jinhai University.
This year's Jinhai Social Mixer was the grandest yet, with the largest number of invitees, and it also gave the graduating students more opportunities. After all, the virtual reality game Divine Realm had won the approval of people from every industry, who saw enormous potential in its future. Divine Realm offered far more than just adventuring and combat—it provided a wealth of life and entertainment experiences, far richer than reality, and many real-world industries were eager to venture in.
An elderly man in his late sixties, wearing a white Zhongshan suit and brimming with vigor, stood in one corner of the venue. He was surrounded by influential and powerful figures from Jinhai City, including Zhao Jianhua, the second uncle of Zhao Ruoxi, who sat nearby.
"Have they not arrived yet?" The elderly man in the white Zhongshan suit suddenly turned to the student council president He Youcai, who stood nearby.
"They're already here, but…" He Youcai's expression was hesitant, as though he couldn't bring himself to finish.
The elderly man before him was none other than Xu Wenqing—both the president and board chairman of Jinhai University. He had nurtured countless outstanding students who had become prominent figures across various industries, and he was deeply respected in Jinhai City. If he stamped his foot, the whole city would tremble.
"Speak," Xu Wenqing's voice turned cold without warning.
"They're just outside." For a newcomer like He Youcai, the pressure of such authority was something he had never experienced before—he nearly lost his footing.
"If they're outside, then why aren't they coming in?" Xu Wenqing demanded. "Am I, an old man, supposed to go and invite them personally?"
"Their egos are quite something—expecting old Master Xu to go invite them. Do they really think just because they're decent at games they can look down on the rest of us?" Zhao Jianhua said, a touch of anger in his voice.
"Go check on them. Tell them to come up—and tell them I said so." Xu Wenqing pondered for a moment. Something felt off, and aside from the professional players running game studios, quite a few celebrities from fighting tournaments were also absent.
"Yes, sir." Several tall bodyguards in black suits and dark sunglasses took the elevator downstairs.
"I just don't understand—what's wrong with these people? Staying downstairs and refusing to come up. What's going on down there?" Zhao Jianhua was furious about those who hadn't arrived yet. In his heart, he looked down on these professional players. In his view, no matter how impressive they were at gaming, they were still just gamers. Without the sponsorship and support of corporate groups like his, they were nothing more than clowns putting on a show.
"I'm puzzled too. What kind of mentality do young people have these days? Maybe we old folks just can't keep up with the times anymore." A lean middle-aged man in a black martial arts uniform smiled and spoke self-deprecatingly. There was no trace of sharpness about him—instead, he carried the calm, gentle presence of the vast ocean, inviting and warm.
Yet no one would dare underestimate this middle-aged man, for he was Chen Wu, the renowned martial arts master of Jinhai City. Just a few years ago, he had been the perennial champion of the city's fighting tournaments—the undisputed number one. He had since stepped away from competition due to age and opened a martial arts school in Jinhai City, which enjoyed immense popularity.
"Master Chen, you're too modest. The young simply don't know their place. It's just a virtual game, after all. With your skills, if you entered that Divine Realm game, you'd surely become a top player in no time—making a name for yourself across the land," Zhao Jianhua offered.
"Reality and virtuality are different things, after all. And the times have changed. The future belongs to the young," Chen Wu shook his head. As a martial artist, he was highly perceptive of everything around him, and he could already feel the pace of the era accelerating—especially with the emergence of Divine Realm. Setting aside the fact that major financial groups from around the world were flooding into Divine Realm, the game's player base alone had already far exceeded anyone's imagination. Anyone could see the immense future potential of Divine Realm, not to mention the secrets it harbored.
But Chen Wu didn't know what exactly those secrets were—secrets compelling enough to draw world-class financial groups like moths to a flame. This virtual reality game called Divine Realm was far simpler than it appeared.
Major corporate groups in Jinhai City would certainly enter Divine Realm, but those groups were like stray cats sniffing the scent of fish—they had no idea what secrets Divine Realm truly held.
After the two chatted for a while, Xu Wenqing received a phone call from his bodyguards.
"Master Xu, these people say they have important matters to discuss and need a little more time before they can come up."