Chapter 45: One Must Improve Their Strength at the Fastest Speed!

Thinking of this, Lu Li no longer stood on ceremony, reaching out to accept Madam Octopus's business card.

Seeing Lu Li accept the card, Madam Octopus said nothing more.

With a meaningful "Looking forward to our next meeting," she left the lounge accompanied by her male concubines.

Dio looked at the golden business card in Lu Li's hand with envy, and sighed softly:

"How enviable..."

Lu Li was puzzled:

"It's just a business card, what's there to envy?"

Dio immediately explained:

"Holding this card, you can not only freely enter and exit the Neptune Star Region, but all residents within that star region will also treat you with the standards of their most honored guest."

"This, my friend, is the ultimate approval from a wealthy sugar mommy!"

Hearing Dio's first two sentences, Lu Li didn't find anything amiss, but as soon as the second half of the sentence registered, he shuddered violently.

What on earth?

Did that fat old octopus mom just take a fancy to him?!

Hiss...

The crucial point was that the other party was also a star region overlord.

Terrifying beyond belief!

What if one day she grew impatient and decided to force herself upon him...

Hiss...

Thinking of this, Lu Li made a fierce resolution.

He must increase his strength at the fastest possible speed!

He must never let such a terrible situation happen!

After a brief rest, Dio led Lu Li and Alisa toward the Hub Hall.

As soon as they entered, many people approached Lu Li with recruitment offers and partnership negotiations.

Although he was just a newcomer entering the Hub,

under the renown of his one-hundred-win streak, the vast majority of factions were unwilling to let this potential seed slip away.

However, Lu Li did not accept recruitment from any faction.

He was waiting, waiting for the people from the Raging Blade Chen Clan to show up.

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

As long as the people from the Chen Clan weren't blind, they would definitely be able to perceive the clues.

And he intended to use this as a stepping stone to knock open the gates of the Chen Clan!

Sure enough.

After Lu Li rejected the recruitment of the 23rd faction, a black-and-gold breaking-army robe appeared in his field of vision.

Chen Li walked toward Lu Li with his hands behind his back, leisurely and unhurried.

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

"Your brilliant and breathtaking performance in the arena, young friend, truly marks you as a peerless talent!"

"It's just that your blade technique is slightly unrefined... If it could be polished and honed, your future achievements would surely be limitless!"

"The Chen Clan dares not claim much, but our research into the blade is definitely second to none."

"If young friend is interested, how about moving aside to have a chat with this old man?"

True to being an old-timer who had lived for many years, Chen Li used just a few short sentences to drag Lu Li down from the pedestal of universal adulation.

You may be very strong, but your blade technique is somewhat lacking; if you want to refine your blade technique and continue growing stronger, only the Chen Clan can help you.

If Lu Li were truly an inexperienced rookie, he probably would have fallen for Chen Li's trap by now.

But he was not.

"Heh, calling my blade technique unrefined—are they trying to gaslight me?"

"If my blade technique were really unrefined, how could I have killed your Chen Clan's blade slave across tiers?"

Lu Li sneered inwardly, but on the surface, he put on an excited expression of finding an old acquaintance in a distant land:

"You truly are a senior master, instantly spotting this junior's bottleneck."

"To tell you the truth, this junior happened to acquire a blade manual a few days ago, and my blade technique was learned from it."

"It's just a pity that the blade manual is tattered, with only the first three tiers remaining..."

Hearing this, a sharp glint flashed in Chen Li's eyes, and then he stroked his beard and smiled lightly:

"No matter, no matter. As long as young friend is willing to join the Chen Clan, the Chen Clan is willing to complete the blade manual for you!"

Chen Li thought his plan had succeeded effortlessly, but unexpectedly, Lu Li showed an awkward expression and said:

"The blade manual... is gone."

"Gone?!"

Chen Li almost cried out.

Fortunately, his mental fortitude was exceptional, and he immediately regained his composure:

"How could it be gone?"

Lu Li wore a look of sorrow and indignation:

"This junior was plotted against by someone. Not only was the blade manual seized, but the source crystal equipment on my body was also looted clean. Having no other choice, I chose to come to the Hub Arena to try my luck."

Chen Li looked at Lu Li with some suspicion:

"With young friend's considerable strength, how could you still fall victim to such a scheme?"

Lu Li recounted the story of how he was framed and plotted against by the Chen Clan in his past life, repeating it point by point.

Every detail remained unchanged, merely substituting the names of those Chen Clan participants.

Because every word was the truth, it didn't arouse Chen Li's suspicion at all.

"Truly despicable! To set up such a vicious scheme merely for selfish desires! Fortunately, young friend is still alive; it's truly a blessing in disguise!"

Chen Li cursed angrily.

Lu Li nodded repeatedly, putting on a pitiful appearance:

"If senior is willing to offer some assistance, this junior might be able to reclaim that blade manual."

Chen Li instinctively wanted to agree.

After all, for him, helping Lu Li kill some low-level players was as easy as turning over his hand.

However, constrained by the rules, he could not personally visit those planets that had only recently awakened.

Pondering for a moment, Chen Li spoke:

"Since young friend has spoken, this old man has no reason to refuse."

"It's just that constrained by the rules, this old man's level is too high, making it impossible to personally help young friend exact swift vengeance..."

"How about this old man gifts young friend four blade slaves to lend a helping hand? What do you think?"

Originally, according to Lu Li's initial plan, he wanted 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 and use him as leverage against Chen Li to obtain the remaining six tiers of the Chen Clan's blade manual.

But now Chen Li seemed to have no such intention at all, and Lu Li found it inconvenient to say anything more.

Otherwise, if his intentions were too obvious, it would easily arouse the suspicions of this old fox.

Seeing Lu Li nod in agreement, Chen Li took out four thumb-sized jade figurines, along with a teleporation jade token.

"These four blade slaves replicate this old man's combat style, and each is at level 30. They should be enough to help young friend reclaim the blade manual."

"As for this jade token, crushing it will teleport you directly to the Chen Clan's main domain. If young friend encounters a crisis that cannot be resolved, you can use this to save your life."

Thinking to himself that this old fox was quite thorough, Lu Li accepted the items one by one.

Since he still needed to collect his arena challenge rewards, Lu Li exchanged only a few polite pleasantries with Chen Li before leaving the hall with Dio.

In Gladiator mode, winning a match awarded 100 Hub Points, and a 10-win streak would double the reward.

Lu Li won a hundred consecutive matches, ultimately receiving a total of 1,023,000 Hub Points.

With this fortune, Lu Li first purchased a spatial ring of perfect quality for himself.

It cost 200,000 Hub Points.

The internal space of the ring was about 100,000 cubic meters, roughly the size of 5 football fields.

Time stood still inside, and apart from being unable to store living creatures, it had virtually no flaws.

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

Although relying on [Soul Devour], Lu Li had collected quite a few 'defense-type' talents,

which were more than enough for combat.

However, if he encountered opponents with rule-breaking abilities like the Hellhound, those talents would lose their effectiveness.

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

The remaining 300,000 Hub Points were spent by Lu Li on purchasing real estate.

That's right, buying property!

As the central hub connecting various star regions, the Hub Land outside the Hub Arena was a prime location for purchasing real estate!

Based on his experience from his past life, as the awakening process accelerated, more and more players would flood into the Hub Arena.

By then, property prices in the Hub Land would become increasingly absurd!

Therefore, buying smartly was not as good as buying early.

In addition, Lu Li also spent 2,000 Hub Points to buy a jade token that allowed him to enter the Hub Land at will.

As for the final 3,000 Hub Points, he spent them all on a snack called 'Super Lollipop'.

This lollipop was a specialty of the Hub Land; it was delicious and could restore a minute amount of physical stamina.

Yet it was exorbitantly expensive!

It seemed like nothing more than a luxurious little snack.

However, Lu Li, living a second life, understood that this thing had a little-known hidden use.

It could be used to farm favorability with the NPC [Wandering Merchant of Ten Thousand Realms].