The VIP reception room on the second floor felt like an entirely different world.
Birds sang among fragrant flowers, green mountains stood beside clear waters—it was as though they had stepped into a celestial garden.
"The two-star trading company truly lives up to its reputation. Who would have thought there'd be such a wonderful place inside," Feng Qianyu said, glancing around with undisguised envy.
"If Hall Master Feng likes it, you could set one up too. It wouldn't be as spacious as what a two-star trading company offers, and you'd have fewer environmental options to choose from, but even a one-star trading company can accommodate a garden setting like this," Shi Feng said with a smile.
The Divine Realm was called an otherworldly dimension for good reason.
Nearly everything that existed in the real world could be found here, and things that couldn't exist in reality were present as well.
In the Divine Realm, players didn't just level up and fight monsters—they could also enjoy a leisurely life.
But the most captivating aspect of the Divine Realm wasn't its realism. It was the flow of time.
This was arguably the greatest technological achievement of the century, and only the Divine Realm could pull it off. No other virtual reality game could match it, and that was precisely why the Divine Realm had become so popular.
Time in the Divine Realm moved at half the speed of the real world, which effectively doubled the time available to an ordinary person. Learning, relaxing, resting—all of it could be done within the Divine Realm, giving people far more time to pursue what they wanted.
Think about it.
In a normal day of twenty-four hours, an ordinary student spent five to six hours studying, and with homework on top of that, seven or eight hours disappeared. Sleep consumed another nine hours. Factor in meals and other necessities, and the free time left over in a day was lucky to be five or six hours.
In the Divine Realm, a day lasted forty-eight hours.
That meant nearly thirty hours of free time—five times more than an ordinary person. Who wouldn't want that kind of life? On top of that, the Main God System kept expanding the Divine Realm, making it even more exciting, vast, unknown, and mysterious than the real world. Who could resist such temptation?
"Guild Master Black Flame, you're too kind. I'd love to have a room like this, but ordinary trading companies simply can't manage it. You need a luxury-grade shop, and building one of those costs a thousand gold. Right now I wish I could spend one gold as if it were two—I certainly don't have spare cash to blow on a shop like this," Feng Qianyu said, shaking her head. She gazed at the elegant interior with a look of regret.
Small guilds had their advantages. Large guilds had their own burdens.
Small guilds had fewer members, simpler management, and less need for money. Large guilds, however, were massive operations. A top-tier guild like the Dragon Phoenix Hall was especially demanding—there was money to be spent everywhere, and during the early stages, the investment was practically a bottomless pit.
Fortunately, the guild headquarters had changed things. They could earn some gold from it, and between the trading company and the teams that were already taking shape, they had finally begun turning a profit, which reduced the strain considerably.
But a trading company as extravagant as the Candlelight Trading Company was truly one of a kind across the entire Divine Realm.
"Hall Master Feng, no outsiders will ever learn of what's discussed here. Now, won't you tell me your conditions?" Though Feng Qianyu had been acting very subdued, Shi Feng didn't believe for a moment that she was that simple. She hadn't personally come here just to negotiate a minor favor—she had even offered up an Epic-tier treasure chest.
"Before I explain, I'd like you to sign this confidentiality contract first," Feng Qianyu said. She pulled a pre-prepared contract from her inventory and placed it on the table, her tone very serious. "It's not that I don't trust you, Guild Master Black Flame. It's just that this matter is extremely important. If a third party were to find out, it would be bad for both of us."
Shi Feng picked up the contract and read it over carefully. It was indeed a perfectly ordinary confidentiality agreement.