Chapter 1 A Quiet and Elegant Study

Inside the White River City hall, at the very top floor, Shi Feng was led by a high-ranking executive into a quiet and elegant study.

The study wasn't large, furnished only with two bookshelves filled with tattered books. Some of these books were missing their covers, showing their age. Some even radiated a faint divine aura.

In God's Domain, anything radiating a divine aura was extremely rare and valuable. These items were once owned by gods and, over time, became infused with their aura, making them incredibly important.

Books were especially precious because they contained either knowledge the gods were interested in or knowledge left behind by the gods. Some even held guidance to becoming a Tier 6 god.

So, in the markets of God's Domain, even useless books that radiated divine aura were worth over a thousand gold, no less valuable than a piece of ordinary Epic-grade equipment.

And on these bookshelves, there were at least fifty such books…

"This is the White River City hall's study?" Shi Feng couldn't help but click his tongue as he looked at the books radiating divine aura.

To ordinary players, being summoned to the study by an administrator seemed ordinary, since administrators could be anywhere in the hall.

But what people didn't know was that administrators would normally never summon players to the study.

Only players who had become the auction house controller of the city could come to the hall's study. It was a privilege of the auction house controller. Any other player, even a Tier 6 player, would never be able to step foot in this study. It was the most heavily guarded place in the entire NPC city.

This wasn't because of some amazing magic array but because the space where the study was located was special, almost like another world. Unless allowed, even a Tier 6 god couldn't enter.

At this moment, Administrator Whiteman was sitting at his desk by the window, carefully reading a book made of pure gold.

Compared to when Shi Feng had last seen him, Whiteman was now a Level 200 Tier 5 Saint Magister.

This was one of the benefits of being among the first cities upgraded in God's Domain. With a Tier 5 class player stationed there, even Tier 4 players wouldn't dare to be too arrogant in the city. The city's security level was completely incomparable to ordinary big cities. It wouldn't be destroyed by simple events, allowing players to develop here with peace of mind.

"You've come. What do you need?" Whiteman glanced at Shi Feng and smiled kindly.

Now that Whiteman had been promoted, his facial expressions and intelligence had improved, making him very approachable. Even his Tier 5 class aura was completely suppressed, so players couldn't feel it at all.

If one didn't use an observation skill, they would probably think Whiteman was just an ordinary old man.

"Respected Administrator, I have come to see you because I want to make this city more prosperous. I want to connect White River City's auction house with the auction houses of other cities, and I hope to receive your permission," Shi Feng said slowly.

The auction house was an important economic pillar of a city. The development of the auction house was the development of the city, and the prosperity of the auction house was the prosperity of the city.

In the previous life, after various forces obtained the auction houses of NPC cities, they treated them as their own money bags and the keys to controlling NPC cities. They didn't know that the real purpose of controlling the auction house was to accelerate the development of the guild towns.

And this matter was delayed by more than a year, a whole year!

With the popularity and economy brought by the auction houses of NPC cities, they could have been promoted to advanced cities. It was because of this that after more than two years since the opening of God's Domain, there was not a single advanced guild city, and even the upgraded intermediate cities were still far from advanced cities. It would probably take three to five years of slow, steady work to achieve that.

It should be known that the guild towns in God's Domain were the foundation for the development of the major guilds, and the gap between each level of guild towns was very large, especially from intermediate to advanced. Although it was not a qualitative change, the quantitative gap was very large, and some special buildings that assisted players could only be built in advanced cities.

Therefore, the major forces regretted it when they learned of this.

If they had known this earlier, the development speed of the guild and the level of the players could have been improved, especially the level of the players, which would have been a huge help.

This was because, as the players' levels continued to increase, the territories within the kingdoms and empires were no longer enough for players to advance further.

This further advancement was not just about the players' levels but also about the transfer to Tier 3 classes. Level 100 could be said to be a major hurdle in God's Domain. This wasn't just because monsters above Level 100 were much stronger than monsters at Level 99, making them extremely difficult to deal with, but more because of the Tier 3 class issue.

The prerequisite for advancing to Tier 3 was neutral maps, but these neutral maps above Level 100 were very dangerous. They were so dangerous that even expert Tier 2 players had a hard time surviving there. The most important thing was that the environment was very harsh. The low magic environment of the Witch's Hill was just the basics.

If players wanted to develop well on such neutral maps above Level 100, they needed to rely on guild cities. It was like ordinary people walking in a barren desert, and guild cities were like oases.

Whether players could develop well on neutral maps largely depended on the level of the guild cities. It could be said that the basic cities were just the bottom line, allowing Tier 2 players to survive there.

That's right, just survive, so they wouldn't die unexpectedly for some sudden reason.

At the level of intermediate cities, players wouldn't be so difficult in neutral maps. At the level of advanced cities, it would be great. It could be said that players could live very comfortably on neutral maps above Level 100, and it would be much easier to advance to Tier 3. This was why the major forces were going crazy.

If they had upgraded the guild cities to an advanced level earlier, the speed and number of players who transferred to Tier 3 could have been increased, widening the gap with other forces.

This was also the main reason why Shi Feng was desperately trying to win the auction house.

Super forces were still super forces. The resources and the number of guild members they controlled were not comparable to Zero Wing. Everyone thought that Zero Wing was only one step away from super forces, but they didn't know that this one step was a world apart, not something that could be easily achieved.

Moreover, this gap would gradually show itself over time. This was the so-called snowball effect. At the beginning, at Tier 2, it might not be obvious, but after Tier 3, the gap was simply despairing.

If he didn't lay the foundation now, when the major forces had Tier 3 class players emerging one after another, he could protect himself, but it was debatable whether Zero Wing could protect itself in front of super forces.

"Connect the auction house with other towns?" Whiteman pondered for a moment, put down the book in his hand, and slowly said, "It's not impossible, but this matter is not easy. If it's not done well, it will cost a considerable price. Are you really willing to accept it?"

"Yes," Shi Feng nodded heavily. He already knew this, otherwise he wouldn't have come.

"Then, which town are you going to choose?" Whiteman asked.

"Stone Forest Town!" Shi Feng said.

The Witch's Hill where Zero Wing City was located was a treasure land for leveling up, so he couldn't move Zero Wing City to a neutral map. Stone Forest Town, which was currently located in the Stoneclaw Mountains, had already begun to decline in popularity, and it was already an advanced town, only one step away from being a city, so it should naturally be developed first.

Although connecting to the auction house of a town was a little more difficult than connecting to a city, it was only the difficulty of an Epic-grade team task, so it wasn't a problem for him now.

"Good, as the Administrator of White River City, I grant you this right. This is what you need to accomplish. I hope you succeed!" Whiteman took out a piece of parchment and handed it directly to Shi Feng.

As Shi Feng received the parchment, a system notification sounded in his ear.

System: Congratulations to player for accepting the Sub-Legendary quest "Road to Prosperity."