Upper District of Haitian City, Beishan Villa Community.
Staring at the three-story luxury villa that occupied an area the size of two basketball courts, Shi Feng could scarcely believe his eyes.
"You've been living here all along?"
Shi Feng looked at Ji Luorong, who had been leading the way, with astonishment.
The luxury villa before him was far superior to even the one purchased by the Giant Stone Consortium, and it occupied a much larger footprint. The Giant Stone Consortium's villa had cost upward of thirty million points—this one had to be worth even more.
Yet Ji Luorong held practically no power or influence in the Upper District. She was entirely on her own, with only an external family corporation to her name and no other backing or connections. It was hard to imagine how she could have afforded such a grand villa.
Even Mu Xin, standing off to the side, was visibly surprised. Villa properties in the Upper District weren't something you could simply buy on a whim—you generally needed first-tier clearance. Ji Luorong's records showed only second-tier clearance, which by all rights should have made such a purchase impossible.
"My grandfather left this villa behind," Ji Luorong said with a nod. "After the family declined, we had to move to the Outer District. But because my mental talent was quite good, the family used a reserved quota my grandfather had kept to bring me to the Upper District."
Hearing this, things clicked into place for Shi Feng.
No wonder the Ji family had a villa in the Upper District, while even someone of Feng Qianyu's caliber hadn't been living here—only Ji Luorong had remained.
The Upper District had been around for a long time, and over the course of that long history, plenty of families had fallen and been forced to leave. After all, the Upper District was far more ruthlessly Darwinian than the outside. Without a reserved quota and sufficient mental talent, there was simply no staying.
The Ji family clearly had once been formidable—keeping not only such a luxurious villa but also precious reserved quotas. One could only imagine how powerful the Ji family had been in the Upper District in its prime.
As for how Feng Qianyu had grown so strong, even single-handedly rising to become the master of the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion—it seemed there was reason for that after all.
While Ji Luorong shared more about her circumstances, she led Shi Feng and Mu Xin inside the villa.
It had to be said—this was truly a grand villa, incomparable to the residences in the housing district. Not only was it extraordinarily spacious, but the moment you stepped inside, its effect on your mental state was noticeably stronger than that of the housing district units. Over time, that accumulated effect would probably do wonders for boosting one's mental level.
After settling in, Shi Feng chatted with Ji Luorong at length, partly to catch up on her recent situation and partly to relay the news that Feng Qianyu had appeared in the Divine Realm.
That bit of news visibly relaxed Ji Luorong.
After Feng Qianyu's disappearance, she had been extremely anxious. She had even received word that Feng Qianyu had been sent to the Upper District, but after searching the entire foundation layer, she had found not the slightest trace of her sister. That Feng Qianyu had been brought to the Upper District, however, was backed by solid evidence.
The only conclusion she could draw was that her sister might have been taken to the Middle District. She had been desperately trying to enter the Middle District ever since to confirm whether her sister was alive or dead.
Now, learning that Feng Qianyu had still been spotted in the Divine Realm—and had even indicated she was relatively safe—the weight that had been hanging over Ji Luorong's heart finally eased.
"Oh, right—why did Lu Tiandi suddenly come after you?" Shi Feng asked Ji Luorong with some curiosity. "Did you two have some kind of prior falling out?"
His main reason for coming here had been to check on Ji Luorong's situation. After all, he had promised Feng Qianyu to look after her.
Lu Tiandi was no harmless individual. Once he had his eyes on someone, it was like a fox zeroing in on prey—nothing good ever came of it.
"I have no grudge against him whatsoever. In fact, today was only our second time ever meeting," Ji Luorong sighed. "His goal is simple enough: he wants the Eternal Glory adventure team I founded to fold into the Trembling Clown adventure team."
"He wants your team to join theirs?" Shi Feng was taken aback.
The Trembling Clown was no ordinary dark adventure team. It had been active primarily on the Western Continent, its members possessing terrifying strength. At its peak, the team boasted three Tier 6 Class holders and nine Tier 5 Class holders—a fighting force that even the great superpowers wouldn't dare trifle with.
Many experts who walked the line between light and darkness had yearned to join, but very few ever made the cut. The Trembling Clown's entry threshold was Tier 4, and those who passed were generally top-tier experts among Tier 4 players. The screening process was ruthlessly strict.
As for Ji Luorong's adventure team, he knew a little about it. Ji Luorong had been somewhat famous in his previous life as well—not quite on the level of Feng Qianyu, the Fairy Queen, but she was a genuine peak Tier 5 expert, just half a step away from advancing to Tier 6 godhood. The Eternal Glory team she had founded was a well-known top-tier adventure team whose peak fighting force rivaled that of a first-rate guild. It had not only a Tier 6 godhood expert in its ranks but also three Tier 5 Class holders.
But as things stood now, Eternal Glory was merely a somewhat well-known adventure team with very weak overall strength. Including Ji Luorong herself, they likely didn't have even a single Tier 4 Class holder. It was hard to fathom why Lu Tiandi would want Ji Luorong and her people to join the Trembling Clown.
That wasn't to say he was looking down on Ji Luorong and the others—the Trembling Clown, in terms of peak combat power, probably rivaled the superpowers themselves. And with the addition of the Star Ring Guild, their overall strength was truly staggering.