Must Improve Strength at the Fastest Speed!

At that thought, Lu Li stopped being polite and reached out to accept Octopus Lady's business card.

Seeing Lu Li accept it, Octopus Lady said nothing more.

After leaving behind the meaningful words, "I look forward to our next meeting," she departed the lounge with her male companions.

Dior looked enviously at the golden business card in Lu Li's hand and said wistfully, "That's really something to envy..."

Lu Li was puzzled.

"It's just a business card. What's there to envy?"

Dior immediately explained, "With this card, not only can you freely enter and leave the Neptune Domain, but every resident within that star domain will treat you according to the standards reserved for the most honored guests."

"This is recognition from a rich woman!"

Lu Li had found nothing strange about Dior's first two sentences, but when he heard the latter half, he immediately shuddered.

What was going on?

Had that fat old Octopus Mom taken a fancy to him?!

Hiss...

The key was that she was still the overlord of an entire star domain.

Terrifying indeed!

What if one day she couldn't wait any longer and tried to force herself on him...

Hiss...

At that thought, Lu Li made a firm decision.

He had to increase his strength as quickly as possible!

He absolutely could not let such a horrible situation happen!

After a brief rest, Dior led Lu Li and Alisa to the Hub Hall.

The moment they entered, quite a few people approached Lu Li with recruitment offers and invitations to discuss contracts.

Though he was merely a newcomer who had just entered the Hub Land, with the reputation of a hundred consecutive victories, most factions were unwilling to let such a promising prospect slip away.

However, Lu Li accepted recruitment from none of them.

He was waiting—waiting for someone from the Mad Blade Chen Family to appear.

The blade techniques Lu Li had deliberately displayed while fighting Blade Slave had already been obvious enough.

As long as the Chen Family members were not blind, they would certainly spot the clues within them.

And he intended to use that as a stepping stone to knock on the Chen Family's door!

Sure enough.

After Lu Li rejected recruitment from the twenty-third faction, a suit of Black Gold Armor entered his field of vision.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Chen Li strolled toward Lu Li at an unhurried pace.

"Greetings, young friend. This old man is Chen Li, currently serving as the Third Elder of the Mad Blade Chen Family."

"Your performance in the arena was truly brilliant, young friend. You are indeed a peerless genius!"

"It's only that your blade technique is somewhat rough... If it can be properly refined and polished, your future accomplishments will surely be boundless!"

"We Chen Family dare not boast about anything else, but when it comes to the study of the blade, we are unquestionably among the very best."

"If you are interested, young friend, why not join this old man for a talk?"

Chen Li truly deserved to be an old fox who had lived for so many years. In just a few short sentences, he dragged Lu Li down from the pedestal where everyone had been praising him.

You were strong, but your blade technique was lacking. If you wanted to improve your blade technique and continue growing stronger, only the Chen Family could help you.

If Lu Li had truly been some greenhorn fresh out of the gate, he would probably have fallen for Chen Li's trap by now.

But he was not.

Heh, saying my blade technique is rough? You're trying to PUA me here?

If my blade technique was really that rough, how could I kill your Chen Family's Blade Slave while fighting above my level?

Lu Li sneered inwardly, but on the surface, he put on an excited expression as though he had encountered an old friend in a foreign land.

"As expected of a senior. You saw through this junior's bottleneck at a glance."

"To be honest, this junior happened to obtain a Blade Manual some time ago. This blade technique was learned from it."

"Unfortunately, the Blade Manual is incomplete and only contains the first three levels..."

At those words, a sharp gleam flashed through Chen Li's eyes. He then stroked his beard and chuckled.

"No matter, no matter. As long as you are willing to join the Chen Family, we are willing to complete the Blade Manual for you!"

Chen Li had thought the plan would be easy to carry out, but Lu Li said awkwardly:

"Blade Manual... it's gone."

"Gone?!"

Chen Li nearly cried out.

Fortunately, his composure was excellent, and he immediately calmed down.

"How did it disappear?"

Lu Li looked grief-stricken and indignant.

"I was set up by someone. Not only was the Blade Manual stolen, but all the Origin Crystals and equipment on me were looted as well. Left with no other choice, I came to the Hub Arena to try my luck."

Chen Li gave Lu Li a suspicious once-over.

"Young friend, your strength is not weak. How did you still fall victim to such a plot?"

Lu Li recounted, in full detail, the story of how the Chen family had plotted against and harmed him in his previous life.

Every detail remained exactly the same; only the names of the Chen family members involved had been changed.

Since every word was true, Chen Li had no reason to doubt him.

"How truly despicable! For their own selfish desires, they actually devised such a vicious scheme! Fortunately, young friend, you survived. That is a blessing amid misfortune!"

Chen Li cursed furiously.

Lu Li repeatedly nodded, putting on a pitiful expression.

"If you would be willing to lend me some aid, Senior, I might be able to reclaim that Blade Manual."

Chen Li instinctively wanted to agree.

After all, helping Lu Li kill a few low-level Players would be effortless for him.

However, bound by the rules, he could not personally travel to planets that had only recently begun to revive.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Li said, "Since young friend has asked, I have no reason to refuse."

"However, due to the restrictions of the rules, my level is too high for me to personally help young friend settle his grievances..."

"How about I give young friend four Blade Slaves to lend you a hand?"

Lu Li's original plan had been to lure Chen Li into sending Chen Kou to assist him.

Once he returned to Earth, he would find a way to control Chen Kou, then use him to threaten Chen Li into giving him the final six layers of the Chen family's Blade Manual.

But Chen Li clearly had no such intention now, and Lu Li could not say much more.

Otherwise, his intentions would be too obvious and might arouse the old fox's suspicion.

Seeing Lu Li nod in agreement, Chen Li took out four thumb-sized Jade Figurines, along with a Teleport Jade Token.

"These four Blade Slaves have replicated my combat methods, and all of them are level 30. They should be enough to help young friend recover the Blade Manual."

"As for this jade token, crushing it will teleport you directly to the Chen Family Domain. If young friend encounters a crisis you cannot resolve, you may use it to preserve your life."

This old fox really has thought of everything, Lu Li thought as he accepted the items one by one.

Since he still needed to collect the arena's challenge rewards, Lu Li exchanged only a few polite words with Chen Li before leaving the hall with Dior.

In Gladiator Mode, winning one match earned 100 Hub Points, while achieving a ten-match winning streak doubled the reward.

Lu Li won one hundred matches in a row, earning a total of 1,023,000 Hub Points.

With this fortune, Lu Li first bought himself a Space Ring of perfect quality.

It cost 200,000 Hub Points.

The ring contained roughly 100,000 cubic meters of space—about the size of five football fields.

Time inside was frozen, and aside from being unable to store living creatures, it had virtually no drawbacks.

In addition, Lu Li spent another 500,000 Hub Points on a set of equipment with the highest defensive attributes.

Although Lu Li had gathered quite a few "defense-type" talents through [Soul Devour], they were more than sufficient for combat.

But if he encountered an opponent with magic-breaking abilities like the Hellhound, those talents would become useless.

Therefore, to be safe, Lu Li had to make multiple preparations.

Lu Li used the remaining 300,000 Hub Points to purchase property.

That's right—buying a house!

As the center connecting all Star Domains, Hub Land outside the Hub Arena was an excellent location for purchasing property!

Based on his experience from his previous life, as the revival process continued to accelerate, more and more Players would pour into the Hub Arena.

When that happened, housing prices in Hub Land would become increasingly outrageous!

Buying well was no match for buying early.

Additionally, Lu Li spent 20,000 Hub Points to purchase a Jade Token that allowed him to enter Hub Land at will.

He spent the last 3,000 Hub Points entirely on a snack called "Super Lollipop."

This lollipop was a specialty of Hub Land. It was delicious and could restore a tiny amount of stamina.

But it was expensive!

It seemed to be nothing more than a luxurious little snack.

Yet Lu Li, having lived a second life, knew this thing had a little-known hidden use.

It could raise the favorability of the NPC, Myriad Realm Trader.