After Youyu Weixiao finished speaking.
A long moment passed before the people in the conference room finally recovered, all of them turning to look at the stunned Youlan.
Youlan had never expected things to unfold this way.
Youyu Weixiao's performance had completely exceeded her expectations, and her resolute attitude defied all reason.
"Miss Smile, there may be some misunderstanding," Youlan said slowly after regaining her composure. "What City-Toppling Smile wishes to discuss isn't a partnership — it's an investment. I'm sure you're well aware of City-Toppling Smile's financial strength. With our backing, Candlelight Trading Firm will never have to worry about materials or funding again."
"After all, Candlelight Trading Firm isn't a combat guild. Its growth is very limited and heavily constrained by city boundaries. Perhaps it can claim the top spot in White River City for now, but surely it can't stay confined here forever? After all, the player population in White River City is finite, and so is the amount of money to be made."
"I'll admit Candlelight has deep pockets, but purchasing golden plots in other cities requires sufficient reputation. How could that compare to guilds that have been developing in those cities from the start? By the time your people finally build up reputation elsewhere, those golden plots will have long since been snapped up by other guilds."
"But once we invest, your firm loses that limitation entirely. City-Toppling Smile already has personnel in every major city. Forget the handful of cities around White River City — as long as the gold is there, we can buy golden plots in every city across the entire Star Moon Kingdom, letting Candlelight Trading Firm spread across the whole kingdom. And your firm won't have to waste enormous amounts of time and manpower on that."
"Surely you're interested?"
Youlan's words brimmed with confidence and irresistible terms, striking precisely at Candlelight Trading Firm's greatest weakness.
The reason Youlan could make such bold promises was simple: everything came from the Underworld backing City-Toppling Smile — something no other guild could replicate. Not even a first-rate guild.
The other guild executives in the conference room were visibly tempted as well. What a pity Candlelight Trading Firm wasn't theirs.
Still, they could already picture the brilliant future awaiting it. One side had the advantage of manpower and resources; the other had gold and best-selling products. The two together would be a perfect match.
"Youlan really is something — no wonder even the Underworld elders have their eye on her," Feng Xuanyang thought, his earlier rage subsiding as he glanced approvingly at Youlan. The corner of his eye flicked toward the silent Youyu Weixiao, and he couldn't hide his satisfaction.
For a trading firm — especially one with best-selling products — what it needed most was never materials but markets. And that was precisely what City-Toppling Smile could provide. They had struck straight at the soft underbelly of Candlelight Trading Firm, a move far more effective than any threat.
Only now did Youyu Weixiao speak: "The terms are certainly tempting. However, you may leave. The remaining parties still have thirty minutes to decide. If you don't wish to cooperate, you're free to go as well. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't keep you company."
The moment she finished, Youyu Weixiao walked out of the conference room without even a backward glance, as though she had never cared about any of them from the start.
"She's not even tempted?" Youlan stared after the departing Youyu Weixiao in disbelief.
The offer was so generous that no trading firm could possibly refuse. Even a rejection would at least make sense if the conditions were too harsh — but they hadn't even gotten to the conditions before being turned away...
What on earth was going on?
Before Youlan could figure it out, the other guild executives had already begun signing contracts. All the conditions they had prepared beforehand went unmentioned.
Watching this scene, Youlan understood everything at once.
Youyu Weixiao had been making an example of someone. Kill the chicken to scare the monkey — and City-Toppling Smile had been the chicken.
Feng Xuanyang had realized it too. Everything traced back to him being the first to object, which had made him the target of Youyu Weixiao's counterattack. Fury burned inside him, yet he also felt a twinge of regret — why had he opened his mouth so quickly?
As for having City-Toppling Smile deal with Candlelight Trading Firm, that was simply impossible. Life-skill players never left the city. They stayed holed up inside — who could touch them?
Even if they killed her back to level zero, a life-skill player's crafting skills would remain unaffected. It was nothing like combat players, who depended heavily on their levels and equipment.
"It seems we'll have to build our own trading firm quickly," Youlan sighed helplessly. Things were more troublesome than she had imagined, though Candlelight Trading Firm had given her an idea. "I hear Maple Leaf City's reputation threshold is almost reached. We might as well start developing trade there first — the plots are cheaper, too. We can team up with a few other cities and compete with Candlelight Trading Firm on the commerce front. Sooner or later, we'll be able to bring them down."
"Fine — I'll leave that to you." Feng Xuanyang's eyes blazed with killing intent as he stared toward where Youyu Weixiao had departed, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Since Candlelight refuses to cooperate, I don't believe every single one of their people is the same. I'll poach every last one of their blacksmiths. Let's see how long Candlelight can hold out!"
If a trading firm had no products to sell, no customers would come — even occupying a prime location wouldn't help. The only reason Candlelight Trading Firm had become White River City's number one trading firm so quickly was its Beginner Reinforced Armor Plates. Without that, it could never have surpassed Star Trace Trading Firm.
But while Feng Xuanyang was plotting how to poach Candlelight Trading Firm's life-skill players, Shi Feng had arrived at the Twin Towers Highlands.
The Twin Towers Highlands was a level 45–50 zone, a land apart. The monsters here were nothing like those in lower-level maps — most were intelligent orcs who lived and fought in tribes. Even cautious players could end up as their prey, making this an absolute death zone for current Divine Realm players. Forget the level suppression alone; even the stat disparity was enormous.
But Shi Feng couldn't have cared less. His own stats had long since surpassed the level of any player currently in the game.
With the legendary fragment Heavenly Dragon's Sacred Breath equipped, his stats were roughly on par with an ordinary level 40 player.
No level suppression, and a mere five-level stat gap — none of it mattered to Shi Feng.
Shi Feng knew the Twin Towers Highlands well. He encountered no monsters along the way and soon arrived at the zone's core area: the Tower of Death.
The Tower of Death's two towering spires vanished into black clouds overhead, their tops invisible from below. An aura of death hung thick in the air, and cold winds whistled through endlessly.
Beside the colossal Tower of Death stood tall fortification walls bristling with snarling orc soldiers — it looked like an impregnable fortress.
And this was the best place for Shi Feng to farm the Blueprint of the Light Stone.
"This should be the spot."
Shi Feng activated Wind Riding and the Ring of Void to fly straight to the top of the towering wall. He scanned the wall's base, where orc warriors of level 47 swarmed as thick as ants, and a faint smile crossed his face.