The Great Thief

The reality was that Ruling Sword had been created by Lu Li. Although others had contributed, most acted on his directions.

Lu Li was from the Common District, but he wasn’t lacking in organizational abilities.

As a leader, you needed to know how to make your subordinates feel fulfilled and you couldn’t take all the credit for yourself. Although Ruling Sword was his, he didn’t want this title to mean anything.

These two explanations prompted a whole new level of respect for Lu Li. These kinds of words would be unsurprising for someone who was older and wiser. Sorrowless had saved Glory Capital too and brought it to glory, but he also generally never took credit for himself. However, Lu Li, who appeared to be reclusive and eccentric, actually possessed high emotional intelligence. Perhaps the lesson to be learned was that no successful person could be deficient in this way.

“It is said that you couldn’t afford a helmet in the beginning, so you went to Star Moon Guild to become a Gold Collection member. Later, you were forced out of the guild… forgive my bluntness,” Jiufeng began, then continued, “So, can you tell us about your living conditions before entering the game?”

“Poor would be the one word to describe it,” Lu Li sighed. “It wasn’t just that I couldn’t afford the helmet. If I didn’t work for a day, I would have to go hungry the next day unless my neighbors helped me. I am not a rich second-generation child, nor an outstanding student.”

“Wow, what about now?” Jiufeng asked, then added, “I don’t know how much you have in your accounts, but according to the game’s annual inventory, Ruling Sword is valued at about 45 million dollars. If Ruling Sword wins this season of the professional league, this number could double.”

“From nothing, you have created something worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Dawn now has a success story of an ordinary person rising to the top,” Four Seas Dragon followed up.

Lu Li was a little embarrassed, as he knew that he was being advertised for Dawn. However, he maintained his straight faced and went along with them.

The so-called valuation didn’t mean that he could sell his guild for that amount of money. It also took into account things like developmental potential. Even if Lu Li wanted to withdraw from Jianghu, who would transfer 45 million dollars to him for Ruling Sword?

There would be few people foolish enough to do that.

( AllNovel )    Immediately after the interview, a large number of merchants turned up to talk to Lu Li about working together. Everyone now knew that Ruling Sword would not take any capital injections, but that was not the only form of cooperation. There was still advertising and endorsements, among other methods. There were some people who wanted to send Ruling Sword a floating car that bore their cooperate logo for more publicity.

These issues were not things that Lu Li could be bothered discussing, so he left them to Square Root 3.

After exiting the game, Lu Li saw Soul Eater. After all, he had come to the door of another’s home. Everyone here was an ally, and there was little space for privacy. Lu Li greeted him with a handshake, which was ordinary behavior among professional players.

Lu Li was also planning to visit Soul Eater’s training location.

Although Peerless City was still a new guild, they were supported by Drizzle Court. This meant that they had all the industry standard equipment. It was much more comprehensive than what Square Root 3 knew from the Star Moon Guild and more advanced than the set that Cat Dad had many years ago.

“Hey, who is this visiting our club? It’s a wolf in the sheep pen,” Soul Eater snorted.

“Why? Are you angry because you lost?” Lu Li shot back as he glanced at him. In reality, he was much more mundane looking, now that he wasn’t wearing all the equipment. However, Soul Eater’s scornful manner immediately cast Lu Li’s mind back to the time when Soul Eater lost the match.

Even though he knew that Lu Li was provoking him, he couldn’t help but respond, “Sorry, this is just the first match. We’ll see what happens in future.”

In the quarterfinals, there would be three matches. Whoever had the most points at the end of the matches would win. What Soul Eater said was not a lie, but they both knew that the chances Peerless City had for a comeback was slim. They had already lost on home turf; how could they win now that they going to be on the away team?

Did they expect their opponents to be dumb?

“If that’s the case, then lead the way,” Lu Li said straightforwardly. Most of the clubs were located in the suburbs. The main reason for this was because the house prices were cheaper and they could take up more space. The suburban air was also of a higher quality. For example, the Peerless City Club was near the mountain ranges and waters. There was a lake to the left and a mountain at behind.

After getting out of the floating car, Soul Eater took Lu Li and several other Ruling Sword players in.

“We have a rowing competition here every week and we can also visit the temples in the mountains,” Soul Eater said proudly. In terms of landscape, Qiantang was indeed quite unique. Even Drizzle Court couldn’t match them in this regard.

“Hey Boss, this is a nice place. When are we going to change locations? Our place is too quiet,” Fat Monkey said. He obviously preferred a livelier location.

In fact, the place where Ruling Sword was located also had waters and mountains, but its original design wasn’t suitable for a club. They were still waiting for an internal designer to redesign it. For now, the guild’s professional players and elite members were still in small rooms in an apartment provided by Square Root 3’s friends. As such, the environment was not great.

“The rent here is over a million dollars, and that is after the discount we received. Moreover, you couldn’t get this location on a whim even if you had the money,” Soul Eater said as he shook his head, not hiding the amount they had paid for this environment.

“Rent is always expensive, whether it is in Jiangnan City or Qiantang City. There are no low house prices. The suburbs are a bit better, but once the area improves, it will cost tens of millions more,” Lu Li sighed. “Glory Capital bought a large piece of land within the capital. I can’t even imagine what that was like.”  ( AllNovel )

“I have seen it, and it’s quite shocking. It’s hard to imagine that they have made this much money over all these years,” Soul Eater said smugly.

The group continued to walk inside. There were some players from the Peerless City Club, members of their elite group and their families. This area was open to many people – otherwise, there wouldn’t be an officially sanctioned discount.

Lu Li’s location was a little cheaper, but it was still a few hundred thousand, which was an incredible amount by a normal person’s standards.

The money earned by clubs in these few years made many people jealous. They had managed to produce greater earnings than most large companies. However, these industries were usually made up of so many people that when it was divided up, there wasn’t much left to go around.

For example, when Lu Li wanted to reward everyone during the last Spring Festival, giving 100 dollars to 100,000 players was the same as giving out 10 million dollars.