Chapter 1 The Jin Hai Association

The Jin Hai Association has officially begun on the 36th floor, the top floor of the Jinqiao Grand Hotel.

Most of those present were well-known figures from all walks of life in Jin Hai City, with only a small number of students about to graduate from Jin Hai University.

This year's Jin Hai Association is the grandest ever, with the largest number of people invited. It also provides more opportunities for the graduating students. In particular, the virtual reality game Shen域 (Shén Yù) has made people from all walks of life optimistic about its future prospects, because besides adventure and combat, Shen域 (Shén Yù) also has many life and entertainment experiences that are much richer than reality. Many real-world industries can enter it and develop.

An energetic old man in a white Zhongshan suit, nearing 60, was in a corner of the venue, surrounded by celebrities with power and influence in Jin Hai City, including Zhao Ruoxi's second uncle, Zhao Jianhua.

"Have they not arrived yet?" the old man in the white Zhongshan suit suddenly asked He Youcai, the student union president standing beside him.

"They have arrived, but…" He Youcai hesitated, stopping short of saying what he wanted to.

The old man in front of him was none other than Xu Wenqing, the president and chairman of Jin Hai University. He had taught many outstanding students, who were all prominent figures in various industries. He was highly respected in Jin Hai City, and his every move could shake the city.

"Speak," Xu Wenqing said, his voice suddenly turning cold.

"They are outside." For a novice like He Youcai, he had never felt such pressure, and he almost lost his footing.

"If they are outside, why aren't they coming in?" Xu Wenqing questioned. "Does he want this old man to invite them in person?"

"They really have big egos, wanting Old Xu to invite them. Do they really think they can ignore us just because they play games well?" Zhao Jianhua said with slight anger.

"Go and take a look, and tell them to come up. Tell them it's what I said," Xu Wenqing thought for a moment, feeling that something wasn't right. Besides the professional players who opened game studios, many celebrities from the fighting competitions hadn't arrived either.

"Yes." Several tall bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses took the elevator downstairs.

"I'm just wondering, what's wrong with these people? Why are they staying downstairs and not coming up? What's happening downstairs?" Zhao Jianhua felt very angry about the people who hadn't arrived yet, and he looked down on these professional players from the bottom of his heart. In his opinion, playing games well was still just playing games. If it weren't for the sponsorship and support of their group companies, they wouldn't be able to do anything. They were just clowns.

"I'm also wondering, what kind of mentality do young people have these days? Maybe we old folks are just out of touch with the times," a middle-aged man in a black martial arts uniform smiled and said self-deprecatingly. There was no sharpness about him, but rather a calmness and gentleness like the sea that made people feel close to him.

But no one dared to underestimate this middle-aged man, because he was Chen Wu, a well-known martial arts master in Jin Hai City. A few years ago, he was the perennial champion of the Jin Hai City fighting competition, the undisputed number one. But now that he was older, he no longer participated in any fighting competitions, and instead opened a martial arts gym in Jin Hai City, which was very popular.

"Master Chen, you're joking. It's just that young people don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. It's just a virtual game. With Master Chen's skills, entering that Shen域 (Shén Yù) game, you'd probably quickly become a top expert, famous in all directions," Zhao Jianhua said.

"Reality and virtual reality are different after all, and times have changed. The future belongs to young people," Chen Wu shook his head. As a martial artist, he was very sensitive to everything. He could already clearly feel that the pace of the times was accelerating, especially with the emergence of Shen域 (Shén Yù). Not to mention that major consortia around the world were entering Shen域 (Shén Yù), the number of Shen域 (Shén Yù) players had already far exceeded expectations. Anyone could see how huge the future potential of Shen域 (Shén Yù) was, not to mention that there were some secrets inside Shen域 (Shén Yù).

However, Chen Wu didn't know what kind of secret it was that made so many world-class consortia flock to it. This virtual reality game Shen域 (Shén Yù) was definitely not as simple as imagined.

Although the major groups in Jin Hai City would enter Shen域 (Shén Yù), these groups were just wild cats smelling the fishy smell and didn't know what secrets Shen域 (Shén Yù) held.

After the two chatted for a while, Xu Wenqing also received a call from his bodyguard.

"Old Xu, these people say they have important matters to discuss and need to wait a while before they can come up."

"Important matters? What important matters could be more important than this association? Don't they want sponsorship and support from other group companies?" Xu Wenqing's voice was much lower. People who knew Old Xu's temper knew that this was a sign that Old Xu was angry.

"It seems they want to talk to the higher-ups of the Zero Wing Guild, but there are too many people in line, so it will take them a lot of time."

"Zero Wing Guild? Is that a guild in Shen域 (Shén Yù)?" Xu Wenqing asked curiously.

It was just a game guild. Did so many famous studios in Jin Hai City have to curry favor with them?

Could it be that the Zero Wing Guild was very powerful in Shen域 (Shén Yù)?

Although he didn't play virtual games, he knew about the well-known guilds in the virtual game world, but there was no such guild as Zero Wing among these well-known guilds.

"They say that this Zero Wing is very famous throughout the Star-Moon Kingdom, and in some aspects, it even surpasses first-rate guilds. Many large consortia want to meet with the higher-ups of Zero Wing, but Zero Wing is too mysterious, and they haven't had a chance to contact them. They don't want to miss this opportunity."

"So this Zero Wing Guild is really not to be ignored." Xu Wenqing became somewhat interested in this Zero Wing Guild. Especially in a city like Jin Hai City, the appearance of such a guild made him want to meet them even more. "Since such a powerful guild has appeared in our Jin Hai City and this old man doesn't know about it, then please invite a representative of the Zero Wing Guild to come up and sit down. This old man also wants to see what kind of person they are."

Moreover, it wasn't good for so many people at this association to be staying downstairs. He might as well let the people from the Zero Wing Guild come up, so that the other studio guests could also participate in the association.

Everyone was slightly shocked to hear that Master Xu would actually invite an unknown guild representative.

Downstairs, the bodyguards had already arrived in front of Shi Feng and told him about this matter, sincerely inviting Shi Feng upstairs.

However, to the bodyguards' surprise, Shi Feng directly refused.

"Mr. Shi Feng, Master Xu sincerely invites you to go up and guarantees that you won't be disappointed," the bodyguard leading the group said earnestly.

"I understand, but I haven't finished recruiting people here. Even if I agree, you can ask the people in line if they would agree," Shi Feng smiled and pointed to the long line of thousands of people in front of him. "And even if I'm willing to go up, someone will kick me out. I'm a timid person. That person threatened me not to set foot in that hotel. I still have interviews to conduct, so please don't make things difficult for me."

Xu Wenqing's bodyguards were speechless. Wasn't this clearly an excuse? But they could only report this matter to Xu Wenqing.

"What? Someone threatened him not to come in?" Xu Wenqing couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "Just tell him it's okay. As long as this old man is still here, I guarantee that nothing will happen to him at the association, and no one will dare to kick him out."

"But he still says he doesn't dare to come, and he doesn't want to be kicked out a second time," the bodyguard said helplessly.

"Kicked out a second time? So he was originally a guest at this association?"

"Yes."

Xu Wenqing was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized what was going on, and a surge of anger welled up in his heart. Someone actually dared to kick out the guest he had invited. Wasn't that slapping him in the face?

"Who is it? Who dared to kick out the person I invited?" Xu Wenqing's voice was extremely loud and cold at this time. Although he wasn't a martial artist, his astonishing aura frightened many people present.

The bodyguard trembled all over and took a while before he said, "He Youcai."