Metal ore?

The attackers included not only a World Lord recognized by the Laws, but also several Domain Lords.

Who on earth would dispatch a World Lord just to ensure the death of a single Domain Lord?

He lowered his head, logged the situation into his optical computer, and sent it out with an edited message: "Newly promoted Domain Lord-level 'Giant Axe Warrior' Li Yilin suspected to have been attacked; status unknown."

Although the Giant Axe Arena was loosely managed, that did not mean they did not value their people. On the contrary, those warriors with exceptional talent, firm willpower, and good luck were highly regarded.

As it happened, Li Yilin was exactly the type of person who possessed talent, willpower, and luck.

Even though he had not officially joined the Giant Axe Arena, that did not mean he wouldn't in the future.

Furthermore, being attacked right after earning the title of "Giant Axe Warrior" was a clear provocation against the Giant Axe Arena. It showed a complete disregard for the organization and demanded a thorough investigation.

"Requesting an investigation into Li Yilin's latest asset changes, with a focus on his home planet, Mulan Planet, and his mother planet, Wunuo Star, to determine the cause of the attack."

For thirty thousand years, Li Yilin had never left Mulan Planet except for life-and-death battles. He was not a troublemaker by nature, so the possibility of personal grudges or vendettas was extremely low.

Excluding those reasons, only financial disputes remained.

After Sawatdee recorded all available information and verified there were no omissions, he boarded his spaceship and left.

He could only do so much.

In the silent expanse of the universe, meteorites drifted aimlessly.

Within a speck of dust as fine as a grain of sand, a flash of purple lightning crackled, and a ragged figure appeared out of thin air. A twisted right arm, empty sleeves, and wounds still bleeding... only the slight rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Yilin opened his eyes, his brow furrowing instinctively from the intense pain racking his body.

"Haa!" He gasped for air, the agony causing cold sweat to pour down his body. These injuries were more perilous than any life-and-death battle he had ever endured.

He had nearly perished!

He took a Life Fruit from his ring and swallowed it quickly.

A rich surge of life force spread through his body. In just a moment, his missing lower body regrew, and his damaged soul was replenished and restored. The excess energy even pushed his strength up by two minor stages, reaching the seventh rank of the Domain Lord level.

Feeling his strength fully restored, Li Yilin did not hesitate; he pulled out a spaceship and flew inside.

The ship accelerated, and once it reached the speed of light, it vanished from the original universe.

Dark Universe.

Inside the ship, Li Yilin slumped in his chair, his face filled with the relief of someone who had survived a brush with death.

"So close. I almost died."

"Damn it!"

"Who exactly are these people?" He gritted his teeth. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't find a reason, so he had to set it aside for now.

After such an encounter, he could not return to Mulan Planet, nor Wunuo Star, until he dealt with the people in the shadows.

Mulan Planet was just a Desolate Planet, so it didn't matter, but Wunuo Star...

There were over six million of his clansmen there. If he ignored them!

Li Yilin hesitated.

To be honest, he was just a soul who had taken over this body halfway through; he naturally didn't value the original owner's clansmen as much as the original owner had. For thirty thousand years, he had never thought of quitting the life-and-death battle contract, all to repay the body the original owner had left him. He was determined not to let Wunuo Star fall into becoming a slave planet.

Since he had occupied someone else's body, he naturally had to shoulder their responsibilities, provided it didn't involve race, life, or fundamental stances.

But all of this was predicated on ensuring his own survival.

Yet...

He pressed his fist against the left side of his chest, feeling the beating of his heart.

"Thump, thump-thump! Thump..." The clear, powerful rhythm proved he was still alive.

Should he risk his life for those clansmen?

Li Yilin asked himself.

He was not a purely good person, but he wasn't a bad one either.

He couldn't do something like sacrificing his life for a grand cause, nor did he want to.

But...

Memories of that planet flashed through his mind like a series of paintings—some beautiful, some not—but no matter what he experienced, they always brought him peace.

The original owner had no parents and relied on his clansmen to grow up. After he grew up, his talent for cultivation was revealed, and he naturally gained more attention from his people. They spared no effort in teaching him and invested vast resources, allowing him to become a Universe-level powerhouse before the age of ten thousand.

The original owner had died, but his nearly ten thousand years of memories, including his emotions, were left to Li Yilin without reservation...

"I was wrong!"

Li Yilin gave a bitter smile and resigned himself to his fate, lowering his head.

When he inherited the original owner's memories, emotions, strength... everything, his own feelings and the original owner's had long since become indistinguishable.

The memories of his previous life, spanning only a few decades, were so insignificant compared to the vast, indescribable expanse of memories and emotions accumulated over tens of thousands of years that they were almost invisible. So... what did it matter if he distinguished them or not?

"Beep!"

The vibration of his smart optical computer pulled Li Yilin back to his senses. He looked down and discovered that Sawatdee was actually still sending him messages, asking about his situation.

When he was attacked, he had sent an email to Sawatdee to ask for help.

He hadn't expected Sawatdee to actually come.

Looking at the messages on the optical computer, he hesitated for a moment, edited a message to send back, and simultaneously connected his consciousness to the Virtual Universe.

Virtual Universe.

Aldo Island.

Inside a quiet villa, Li Yilin and Sawatdee sat opposite each other.

"This is 'Star Brew Dew', a fairly famous beverage in the Noah Universe Kingdom. Please, have a taste, sir." Li Yilin poured a glass and placed it in front of him.

"Then I must have a taste." Sawatdee picked it up, took a sip, smacked his lips, and nodded. "Not bad."

"If you like it, sir, I'll bring you a couple of bottles later." Li Yilin set down the bottle and sat back in his chair.

He stopped stalling and went straight to the point. "I asked to see you this time because I want to investigate something."

"Are you trying to ask if the attack has anything to do with Wunuo Star?" Sawatdee asked.

Li Yilin nodded. "I want to know what Wunuo Star has that would make them target me."

Sawatdee laughed. "I didn't expect you to guess the situation so accurately based on mere speculation."

He sighed, then continued, "If it were an ordinary Sector Lord, they really wouldn't be able to find out, but I am different. I have a King-Level Immortal backing me. I used that lord's authority to check, and the reason they attacked you... is because Wunuo Star has a metal mine."

A metal mine!

Li Yilin's pupils constricted, and his hands clenched instinctively. Seeing him remain so composed, Sawatdee felt a sense of admiration and continued, "Not only that, but the metal mine is a D6-Grade Metal Mine..."

Hearing this, Li Yilin almost couldn't stay seated. But he relied on his formidable willpower to keep himself glued to the chair.

Sawatdee continued, "It is a large-scale metal mine."

It could be said that almost half the planet was this metal mine. Knowing that such a massive deposit of high-grade metal appeared on a life-bearing planet, even he was quite surprised.

Generally speaking, planets capable of producing high-grade metals cannot evolve into life-bearing planets, because the energy required to form high-grade metals is too vast, and the energy a planet can obtain from the universe is limited.

Unfortunately, Wunuo Star had already been returned to Li Yilin the moment he earned the title of "Giant Axe Warrior".

It was hard to say whether Li Yilin was lucky or unlucky.

The bad luck was that the value of Wunuo Star had been exposed.

The good luck was that this metal mine only erupted after he had obtained the title of "Giant Axe Warrior"; otherwise, facing such immense profits, it would have been difficult for him to survive his life-and-death battle.

The people behind the scenes probably never expected that he would use the authority of a King-Level Immortal for a Domain Lord who was merely a supervisor and participant in a single life-and-death battle.

Regrettably, he still underestimated the interests involved behind this ambush. Using that authority also meant the exposure of the information.

The fact that Wunuo Star had a D6-Grade Metal Mine had already spread through the middle ranks of the Giant Axe Arena, and Li Yilin did not have much time left.

If not handled well, the people on Wunuo Star would definitely not survive.

It all depended on how Li Yilin chose to proceed.

No wonder!

So that was it!

Li Yilin's face revealed a sudden realization.

The so-called assassination was simply because he had obtained ownership of Wunuo Star. With his knowledge, once he returned to Wunuo Star, he would definitely be able to uncover everything about it.

That was why those people had acted against Wunuo Star before he could return, all to ensure they could claim the metal mine for themselves while everyone else remained in the dark.

"Wunuo Star has a metal mine, why didn't my clansmen know?" Li Yilin asked in confusion, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

If it were a large-scale metal mine, the mining process shouldn't be able to remain absolutely hidden.

If there were even the slightest anomaly, it would definitely have attracted the attention of his clansmen.

Yet, for these past thirty thousand years, he hadn't received even a shred of information.

"Have many of our clansmen been controlled by them?" he asked softly.

Sawatdee was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Out of the 6.51 million Wutuo Clan members on Wunuo Star, nearly 380,000 were secretly implanted with Bio-Chips."

The Wutuo Clan was Li Yilin's race, a seventh-rank bloodline, where everyone was an "Apprentice-Level" upon reaching adulthood.

The appearance of the Wutuo Clan was similar to the humans of his past life; the only difference was that the Wutuo Clan had larger builds, with an average height of over two meters, and it was not uncommon for them to grow to three meters or taller.

"Among these 380,000 people, most were Planet-Level or Star-Level warriors; only a few were ordinary people and Universe-Level warriors living near the metal mine..." When he said this, a hint of coldness flashed in Sawatdee's eyes.

To prevent the news from leaking, those people had implanted Bio-Chips to control every Wutuo clansman living near the metal mine, regardless of age or gender.

It was precisely because of the control of the Bio-Chips that Li Yilin had remained completely unaware of this.

"When our people arrived at Wunuo Star, all 380,000 people implanted with Bio-Chips were ordered by the mastermind to resist to the death, and in the end, they all... sacrificed themselves."

As soon as the words fell.

"Crack!"