“My matter isn’t urgent.”
Li Feng shook his head, looking at Hu Yuanyuan. “Right now, in my view, hiring a secretary team for you is the top priority. You may think there aren’t enough tasks to justify it now, and that hiring secretaries is premature, but I disagree.”
“I believe recruiting a secretary team now will help them adapt to the company. That way, when the company grows, we won’t be caught off guard.”
“Besides, I don’t think we’ll have to wait long for the company’s expansion. After Intelligent One launches, new products will roll out one after another. By year-end, we’ll release at least three new products. Do you think you can handle all the work then?”
“What? Three new products?” Hu Yuanyuan was stunned.
“Surprised?” Li Feng glanced at her. “This is just the beginning. Otherwise, with Fengyuan Group’s current revenue, it won’t cover my expenses.”
“What do you mean?” Hu Yuanyuan looked at him, puzzled.
“You know about my Black Eagle Team. It has over twenty members, with daily expenses of at least 20 million, and that’s increasing every day. Do you think Fengyuan Group can sustain that in the future?” Li Feng said.
“That much? How is that possible?” Hu Yuanyuan’s face was full of disbelief. Over 20 million a day meant 700-800 million a month, and billions a year. Even with her composure, she was shocked.
“Surprised? ‘Poor scholars, rich warriors’—it’s an ancient truth. The eight top-tier families became top-tier because they have powerful martial artists protecting them, while they provide vast resources for those martial artists,” Li Feng said gravely.
Since learning from Zhong Shuhui about the existence of Innate Realm martial artists in the eight top-tier families, Li Feng had significantly raised his estimation of their strength. Cultivating one Innate Realm martial artist required more resources than training ten peak Acquired Realm martial artists. Moreover, each of these families likely had more than one Innate Realm martial artist, showing just how deep their foundations were.
Legend had it that the eight top-tier families had histories spanning over a thousand years. Some within the families might doubt this, but Li Feng believed it. There may not be thousand-year dynasties, but thousand-year families were not uncommon. The Kong family, home of Confucius, had existed for over two thousand years—a prime example.
Hu Yuanyuan’s mouth hung open in shock. This was a world she had never encountered. Though the Hu family had centuries of history, she knew little about this aspect. She had only heard from her father about the existence of martial artists.
In her mind, becoming a martial artist simply meant meditating and cultivating as depicted in TV dramas. She never imagined it required such immense resources.
If it weren’t Li Feng speaking, and if he weren’t a martial artist himself, she might have thought she was hearing a myth.
“Poor scholars, rich warriors—an unchanging truth through the ages. That’s why martial artists from poor families often end up as bodyguards or lackeys for the wealthy. They can’t afford cultivation resources and must sell their lives to the rich.”
Li Feng glanced at Hu Yuanyuan and continued, “You’ll cultivate in the future too, so you’ll understand this gradually. I’m telling you this now because, in the coming period, the company needs to grow rapidly. If you stick to your current methods, it’ll be hard for the company to develop.”
“Do you know about the Li family’s Li Group? How does Fengyuan Group compare to it?” Li Feng asked.
“The Li Group is a behemoth, a massive multinational conglomerate spanning finance and industry. Its financial arm includes banking, securities, trusts, insurance, funds, and asset management, while its industrial arm covers real estate, engineering, resources, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and IT. Its total value is in the trillions. Fengyuan Group can’t compare,” Hu Yuanyuan said, shaking her head. Mu Chunfeng of the Li Group was someone she admired and aspired to emulate.
“But the Li family isn’t just the Li Group. They have countless other ventures. Yet, even so, they only rank alongside other top-tier families, not at the top. Do you know why?” Li Feng asked.
Hu Yuanyuan shook her head, hesitantly saying, “Could it be because…”
“Exactly. It’s for the cultivation of their martial artists. From what I know, the Li family spends at least tens of billions annually on martial artist cultivation,” Li Feng said.
Of course, this was his speculation, but it was grounded. With Innate Realm experts and other martial artists, tens of billions wasn’t excessive.
Hu Yuanyuan was stunned, deeply shaken. This was a world she had never touched. In that moment, she realized that despite her knowledge, she was just a frog in a well.
“And you?” She looked at Li Feng. With his formidable skills, was it due to resources from the Li family?
“Me?” Li Feng shook his head. “My achievements have nothing to do with the Li family. I obtained my cultivation method by chance. You’re the first to know I’m a martial artist—not even my parents know.”
He paused, then added, “As for cultivation resources, do you think I’m someone who lacks money?”
Hu Yuanyuan shook her head. She knew Li Feng’s ability to make money—any technology he produced could fill his coffers.
“The Black Eagle Team is my creation. I won’t take a cent from the Li family for it. My time is limited, so I can’t run a company to make money. The resources for the Black Eagle Team must come from Fengyuan Group. To meet their needs, Fengyuan Group must accelerate its growth.”
Looking at Hu Yuanyuan, he continued, “I know you’re wondering why I’m building the Black Eagle Team. I can only say it’s for precaution. Countless people want to harm me, so I need a force to protect myself.”
“Besides, the Black Eagle Team has other uses, but their strength is too weak now to fulfill my plans.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go to the job market tomorrow to recruit,” Hu Yuanyuan said, taking a deep breath. What Li Feng described was beyond her imagination, but if he was right, she needed to revise the company’s plans.
“Not just secretaries—start hiring talent for all relevant roles. We can’t scramble to recruit when the time comes,” Li Feng said.
Hu Yuanyuan nodded. As the company’s manager, she knew better than Li Feng that their current talent pool was insufficient for rapid growth.
Li Feng continued, “Yuanyuan, you haven’t started cultivating yet, so you have time to manage the company. But once you do, you’ll need hours daily for cultivation. Without a secretary team, you might not even be able to run the company.”
“Like you?” Hu Yuanyuan frowned. Li Feng rarely came to the company—could it be due to cultivation? If so, she might reconsider cultivating.
“No, no, I have other matters. Cultivation doesn’t take all day. Except for seclusion, three or four hours daily is enough,” Li Feng said, shaking his head.
“That’s a relief,” Hu Yuanyuan sighed.
“Alright, now to my matter.” A glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes as he said gravely, “I came today because of Zheng Haoyuan.”
