Once he returned to his normal state, Li Bai reacted quickly.

She was pondering Yang Jia's proposal. As she'd said, this game had an impact on reality, and that impact was significant. So if she could control the game, perhaps she would indeed have some leverage in negotiations with those people.

Li Bai understood the Li family all too well. To them, blood ties and emotional connections were nothing compared to profit. As long as there was profit, anything was negotiable. Li Bai's own affairs were naturally included.

As long as she can grasp the opponent's lifeline and get more important bargaining chips, after weighing the pros and cons, they will naturally know how to choose.

Moreover, although the game is virtual, the players are not.

Li Bai didn't get to interact with many people in real life, but in the game, it was different. These young people came from all over the world, each with their own unique strengths. They were a force to be reckoned with. Among them were even heirs of various families, the future pillars of the Chinese region.

If they can be gathered and trained, this loyalty will naturally continue into reality.

By that time, even if the Li family wanted to contain themselves, it would be impossible.

"Okay." Li Bai nodded to Yang Jia.

Seeing Li Bai agree, Yang Jia's eyes lit up. He extended his hand towards her with a smile on his face. "Then... a happy cooperation?"

"It's a pleasure working with you." Li Jia extended his hand and shook hers, the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably, and he felt as if his whole body had become relaxed. Was this feeling happiness?

But before she could think clearly, Yang Jia stood up and said, "Okay, for our future, we must go back and rest now. We'll continue to discuss what to do tomorrow."

There was an unquestionable firmness in her tone, so Li Bai did not refute. After watching Yang Jia enter the room, he turned around and walked towards his own residence.

But after walking for a while, she changed her mind and returned to the door of Yang Jia's room. Looking around, there seemed to be no place to hide. After a slight hesitation, Li Bai stepped on the railing, took advantage of the momentum, and jumped lightly onto the roof.

As it fell, it made a slight sound, which carried far in the quiet night. Fortunately, the sound was not unusual, so it did not arouse Yang Jia's suspicion. Li Bai listened carefully, and when he was sure that she did not react, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the roof.

She was different from others, and this was evident in every aspect. For example, she needed far less rest than the average person. She could go two or three days without any loss of energy. And at this moment, Li Bai was certain that even if she returned to her room, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Given that, she preferred to stay closer to Yang Jia.

Yang Jia said, ask your heart.

And now her heart told her to stay here.

…

Yang Jia didn't know someone was keeping watch on the rooftop for her, because Li Bai had left before dawn. Otherwise, when the others woke up, they might see her. Even if they did, it wouldn't matter, but Li Bai subconsciously didn't want Yang Jia to know.

However, the two did not have time to discuss and plan their future that day.

Because the two of them had to lead their men out of the city, open up a road to Bailu City, and reunite with the team there. This would be of great benefit to the future development of both cities, so they naturally couldn't slack off.

Before leaving, Yang Jia visited Zhang Zitao again. He was truly a computer genius; in just one night, he'd come up with several feasible solutions, all of which still needed to be tested. Li Bai offered some encouragement before leaving.

Before leaving, he left Bai Ting and Qin Yan in the city to oversee the situation and introduced Zhou Jie to them. With these three people guarding the city, handling daily affairs would be no problem. Phoenix City currently had no "intercity affairs" to attend to. The most important task at the moment was to follow the exploration team and pave the road. Once the road was opened, it would be accessible to traffic and supplies could be delivered immediately.

At first, the team leaving the city moved quickly because this area had been explored long ago and there was no danger. However, as they went deeper into the forest and entered areas that had not been explored before, their pace slowed down and became more cautious.

Fortunately, Yang Jia was there. Carrying a complete map, she could accurately predict what was around them, greatly reducing the likelihood of encountering danger. Sometimes, she and Li Bai wouldn't even take action, leaving the opportunity for others to undergo training and upgrade.

After all, after going through many ups and downs, those who are still staying in Phoenix City and by Li Bai's side are all trustworthy. They are also their team for a period of time and must be trained well.

It is worth mentioning that this time, it is not just the people from their Nirvana Guild who came with the team.

Because, at Li Bai's suggestion, Yang Jia had Zhang Zitao spread the word and openly recruited members within the city, many individual players who hadn't yet joined a guild signed up. While the number wasn't large, according to Li Bai, this was an effective way to increase influence.

They were currently a pioneering team, so of course, they weren't many. Once the path was discovered, more and more players would come out of the city. After all, even casual players didn't want to stay in the city forever; they would come out and explore, but they hadn't had the opportunity before. Once they created the conditions, these people would naturally come.

By then, this road would be bustling with activity, and there would naturally be no danger. They wouldn't even need to take action, as people would naturally come to hunt beasts and collect supplies.

Yang Jia, with her petty mentality of hiding everything she had, found it difficult to understand Li Bai's approach. She believed that once the news was announced, it would be difficult to conceal it from others. What if other cities followed suit?

But Li Bai had a different view. "Even if they do this, they're just learning from us. Being learned from is also a testament to our strength. We need not only prestige within the city, but also influence in other cities. That way, when we're ready to expand our influence, others will come to us and rely on us. Right now, we don't need to monopolize the benefits, but rather become leaders, walking ahead of everyone else so they'll subconsciously follow and imitate us."

It was rare for her to speak so many words in one breath, explaining things so clearly. After Yang Jia finished listening, he was immediately impressed. As expected, Li Bai was omnipotent. There were some things she just didn't like, not things she couldn't do.

During the process of exploring the new land, Yang Jia and Li Bai would also pay attention to these individual players, intending to recruit the best among them into the guild.

Anyone who dared to sign up to join the team in the exploration must have some strength. But even so, there was still a significant gap between them. Soon, a group of people stood out from the crowd and caught the two's attention.

Regardless, they soon discovered that these exceptional individuals all had their own teams, though of varying sizes, none of them were solely individuals. It was obvious that with strength, a group would naturally gather around them. Even a lone ranger like Li Bai had followers like Bai Ting.

These teams ranged from as small as three people to as large as a dozen. If there were more, the situation would become a mixed bag of good and bad, making it less noticeable.

While they were observing, they could clearly feel that some of the players were also observing them.

This is perfectly normal. The Nirvana Guild controls Phoenix City, and the City Lord is also part of it. Anyone with even a modicum of ambition would undoubtedly assess their abilities. Even if one doesn't join the Nirvana Guild, living in Phoenix City necessitates some understanding. Having not had the opportunity before, it's only natural to observe them closely now.

Li Bai welcomed this.

She even analyzed these people with Yang Jia in her free time. Which ones wanted to join the guild but were currently waiting and watching, which ones were just joining for show, and which ones had other ideas. There were even a few who were sent from other cities to gather information.

But they still pretended they hadn't discovered anything. If they wanted to find out, let them do it. After all, there was nothing shameful about opening up a new path.

Because most of the time, when encountering a more difficult beast, it is Li Bai who appears and directly suppresses it with his powerful force, sweeping it away. Even if other cities want to imitate this, it is not so easy.

After all, the distance between the two cities is not very far. During such observation and discussion, they gradually approached the border between Phoenix City and Egret City.

However, after arriving here, they discovered a very difficult problem.

Although the map showed the two areas closely connected, seemingly one complete entity, once they reached the border of Phoenix City, the pioneering team discovered they could no longer move forward. It was as if an invisible wall of air separated the two sides.

Everyone brainstormed and tried many plans, but nothing worked. Even when the pioneering team from Bailu City, led by Zhou Su, arrived at the border, they still hadn't made any progress.

What’s interesting is that they found that although the two sides were very close to each other, separated by a thin invisible barrier, they could not hear each other’s voices, no matter how loud they shouted.

"It's probably a game setting issue. Certain conditions must be met before the barriers between cities can be truly breached," Yang Jia concluded. After all, she'd played a lot of games before, so she knew the mechanics well.

Just like there is currently no channel between the three regions, it will only be opened after certain conditions are met.

But it’s hard to say what these conditions are.