Start from the God of Death and break through the world.

Chapter 1151 New Contract, Current Status of Old Friends
Lu Li couldn't stop smiling as he looked at his equipment. Although his current strength was extraordinary and he could be very strong without relying on equipment, it didn't stop him from becoming even stronger.

Moreover, growth-oriented equipment is bound to oneself. Combining Lu Li's insights from this great calamity, he believes that if one cultivates it to a deep level, one can add the power of the laws within to oneself, thus transcending the realm of external things.

However, all of these equipment are now damaged and unusable, and he needs to find a way to repair them.

"What's that old saying again?"

Seeing that Lu Xueqing was not convinced, Lu Li continued to fan the flames, saying, "A mother-in-law likes her son-in-law more and more the more she looks at him."

"Humph……"

Lu Xueqing snorted coldly, "Just keep being smug. After this is over, I'll break the threads and achieve mastery of my cultivation before I settle things with you."

Lu Li didn't mind. This was how they got along. They had gone through life and death together, developed feelings for each other, but never forgot their competition in martial arts, treating each other as rivals in this field.

Lu Xueqing's thinking was simple: she had been suppressed by Lu Li all these years, and when she became powerful enough, she would definitely ride on Lu Li and get revenge!
Lu Li's current level is far above hers, so she can't compare, but they have plenty of time in the future, and she will catch up.

"Let's talk about it when you reach the peak of the ninth rank."

Lu Li smiled and continued to rummage through his Qiankun bag, discovering many rare and valuable items inside. Leaving aside the inheritance crystals, the most important thing was some rare materials. If he could find a suitable craftsman, he could even forge new Dao-level equipment.

In addition, there are several very profound martial arts manuals and two martial arts notes written by Grandma Xue, which can be described as priceless treasures.

Lu Li flipped through several books with a serious expression, when suddenly he turned to the bottom one and saw the name stamped on it. He read it aloud in confusion, “Secret Techniques of Hehuan Academy: Yin Yang Chapter. What is this? It doesn’t look like a martial arts technique.”

Lu Xueqing reacted extremely quickly. While Lu Li was still stunned, she reached out with the fastest speed she had ever used and snatched the jade slip away. "This...this is for me! You're not allowed to look at it!"

Her heart was pounding. She thought, "Great-grandmother, how could you put something like this in there? It's just...it's just..."

Although she had heard Longshe Qilu complain to her before that her great-grandmother had a well-known hobby among the elders of the clan, namely 'urging marriage', Longshe Qilu was also very afraid to see her great-grandmother because he had been single for nine eras.

But she never expected her great-grandmother to be so direct, putting this jade slip in the red envelope given to Lu Li.

"What do you mean I can't look? It's all in my red envelope, it's for me. Give it to me, let me see it."

Lu Li reached out his hand, becoming increasingly interested in the cultivation techniques contained in the jade slip.

"No!"

Lu Xueqing activated her profound inner power, storing the technique within her dantian and hiding it away.

Seeing the other party's forceful attitude, Lu Li was puzzled. In the end, he did not try to take it by force. He just muttered, "If they don't want to give it, they don't have to. Anyway, I know the source of this cultivation technique. The source is written on it. I'll take some time to go to the Primordial God Realm and visit the Hehuan Academy. They've been asking me to give lectures there."

"How about I give it to you?"

Lu Xueqing suddenly took out the cultivation manual again and handed it to Lu Li.

Lu Li was very suspicious, wondering why the other party had changed his attitude again, but he shook his head and said, "It's okay, this isn't unique. Since you said it was given to you by your great-grandmother, just keep it and practice slowly. Anyway, I can learn it at the Hehuan Academy."

"No! You're not allowed to go!"

Lu Xueqing gritted her teeth and uttered three words with a fierce tone.

Lu Li was also stunned and didn't dare to retort, "Fine, I won't go then..."

As the two were bickering, the beam of light from the origin began to slow down. When Lu Li finished checking and putting away the contents of his Qiankun bag, he saw a huge vine standing in the Sea of ​​Worlds.

These vines are similar to the ones he cultivated using the End Spirit Seed, only much larger and thicker.

Before long, they landed on the vine branches at the top of the End Space, which is usually where ninth-tier explorers live.

As soon as Lu Li landed, he heard the notification sound from the End Space.

【Respected Pioneer No. 008, welcome back. Would you like to renew the contract with the End Space?】

Lu Lixin said, "I'm not in a hurry, so why is the End Space in such a hurry?"

"Where are the contract details? Let me see them. This time, I'm not selling true spirits."

Lu Li asked, knowing that the End Space had always held a trace of the explorers' true spirit as a mark. Through that mark, the space could use the power of the source to punish the explorers.

Although Lu Li wanted to return to the End Space, he didn't want to be restricted. He wanted to help because he wanted to, not because he was forced.

The new contract terms have been drafted; please review them.

The notification sound from the End Space came again, and to Lu Li's surprise, at the top of this huge vine, there was another vine that was quite human-like, waving its hand to drive away the white light that had not yet dissipated from the Origin Space.

The giant vines only stopped moving when the teleportation beam from the Origin Space completely disappeared.

Lu Li found this scene amusing. He then carefully reviewed the new contract and discovered that it was entirely an imperial contract, but specifically for him. In other words, he had virtually no restrictions in the End Space and even enjoyed many benefits.

For example, End Space said that in the future, people can try out the Equipment Enhancement Hall for free, and it won't cost any money no matter how they play. The same goes for the training grounds; except for the ultimate training ground, they can open any training ground without paying.

Lu Li was filled with emotion in an instant, thinking to himself that one really does need strength. No wonder Manjusaka casually tossed him a bag full of Chaos-level gems to choose from, because at this level, money is no object.

However, upon closer reflection, if one has already cultivated to the peak of the ninth rank, what one lacks further is not resources. The benefits provided by the space are merely a matter of attitude.

Lu Li gladly signed the contract, re-establishing contact with the End Space. He still imprinted the Pioneer Mark on his wrist, and all functions, including the storage space, returned.

Lu Xueqing was not an explorer of the End Space, but she seemed to have a keepsake given to her by her great-grandmother before she set off, so she could temporarily enter and exit the End Space freely.

After Lu Li became a pioneer again, the first thing he did was nervously and expectantly open his friend list, wondering how many of his old friends would still be alive after a hundred million years.

He looked at the list, and sure enough, the long list was full of scarlet Xs, which made his heart tighten.

He patiently flipped through the pages, and when he saw that the profile picture of the character nicknamed 'Mirror Flower Water Moon' hadn't been crossed out, he breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but smile. "Sousuke, you're still here after all."

An era has passed, and he doesn't know if Sosuke has reached the Supreme Realm, but he feels that with the other party's talent and ability, reaching the peak of the ninth rank is at least a certainty.

In reality, Lu Li took cultivation too lightly, mainly because he was too talented and had once achieved instant success.

In reality, it's normal for most explorers to spend several epochs to progress from the early to the peak of the ninth rank. Whether they can reach the supreme realm is not something that the space's auxiliary abilities can determine. Too many explorers spend their entire lives only reaching the ordinary peak of the ninth rank, unable to progress any further after reaching their numerical limit. Even those with exceptional talent and rapid cultivation often need several epochs to advance to the supreme realm.

After confirming Aizen's fate, Lu Li felt a weight lifted from his heart and continued reading.

To be honest, he wasn't really worried about Aizen's life or death. After all, he thought Sousuke was very strong and smart, and always had a backup plan, unlike himself who was reckless and prone to making mistakes.

The other old friends were different. Lu Li went through them and found that the list of friends in the End Space was almost a list of the dead. Among the explorers he knew, apart from Aizen, only Black Lily survived, and her avatar was still lit up, which meant that she was in the space at the moment.

Even Xi Sun, who had been his friend back then and had traded and relayed messages with him many times, now had an X on her profile picture. This shows how merciless time is, and how the new and cruel cultivation mechanism of the space has greatly increased the difficulty of reaching the end.

After browsing through the Explorers' Friends page, he opened the second tab, the Supporters' Friends page. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the two avatars didn't have an "X".

Although Lu Xueqing said that Chu Chu had taken a lot of good things with her when she ran away from home and wouldn't die so easily, he still couldn't put his mind at ease. Besides, if Chu Chu didn't need to be worried too much, his other friend was too frail and seemed like she could die suddenly at any moment.

But the shrimp seemed to be really lucky; even after spending a hundred million years in the End Space, it did not perish.

"How is it? Is the person still alive?"

Lu Xueqing asked, explaining that what she had said to her great-grandmother wasn't entirely just an excuse; she was indeed planning to pass on a message to Chu Chu, asking her to go home and visit.

"Thankfully, he's alive, but his profile picture is grayed out. He was probably sent out to mine."

Lu Li said.

"That's not good news."

However, Lu Xueqing refuted Lu Li's point of view, "Don't forget that an era has passed in this space. You don't think Chu Chu hasn't grown, do you? She's managed to get this far, so she must be a top-tier supporter, maybe even at the ninth level. What kind of mining operation would need to send out such a supporter?"

"what do you mean?"

Lu Li had a bad feeling.

"The End Space must have taken action against a super-giant primordial world and sent top supporters to collect data. If nothing serious happens, Chu Chu will definitely return quickly with her abilities. If something happens, she will be trapped for a long time."

Lu Xueqing, being experienced and knowledgeable about spatial mechanisms, looked very serious. "From a probabilistic point of view, what do you think is the likelihood that she was just sent out at the moment we returned after a hundred million years?"

Lu Li understood and became somewhat anxious. "So, she might be trapped in the mission world?"

Seeing the change in Lu Li's expression, Lu Xueqing asked, "She's a close friend of mine, why are you so nervous?"

When Lu Li was asked this question, he felt inexplicably guilty. "I... of course I'm nervous. She's also my good friend, and I'm counting on her to help me restore my equipment. Only the original manufacturer could repair the damaged core part."

"Is that all?"

Lu Xueqing said suspiciously, she had discovered before that Lu Li was a blockhead in his early years, completely ignorant about matters between men and women, which may have led him to engage in many 'womanizing' behaviors without realizing it.

"Hmm... The most urgent thing is to find a solution first. What if the two of them encounter danger in this world?"

Lu Li changed the subject, saying he wanted to locate the world to help.

"The two of them!?"

Lu Xueqing's voice rose several decibels, "Who else?"

"My personal chef, Shrimp, have you forgotten? I used to do mukbangs in the group chat, and she took care of all my meals after that."

Lu Li explained, "I saw that she was still alive, and her profile picture had turned gray. I thought it couldn't be such a coincidence. Maybe we were just trapped in the same world."

Lu Xueqing hesitated for a moment, then recalled that there really was such a thing. At that time, Lu Li was still doing food live streaming and selling a lot of delicious food from the food world in the group.

"Sigh, let's not argue about this for now. Don't you have the Pioneer's authority? Ask the End Space how to solve this."

Lu Xueqing said that she is not an explorer yet, so she can say forbidden words as she pleases. Moreover, Lu Li's new contract no longer restricts his speech.

Having been reminded, Lu Li immediately wanted to inquire about the End Space.

Before he could even ask, the notification sound from the End Space arrived.

[Dear Pioneer 008, you are urgently needed for a mission. You must escort support personnel to the target world to bring supplies back to your space. Would you like to accept this mission?]

Lu Li chuckled upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "Could this be referring to Chu Chu and Xia Ren? So the End Space has been eavesdropping on me all along?"

Are any of my friends among those supporters?

Lu Li asked.

[After screening, two supporters in the target world are found in your friend list.]

Lu Li was now certain. He thought to himself that the End Space was really too clever for him. This time, he was indeed being treated like an emperor after returning.

"Alright, I'll head out right away and start the teleportation."

Lu Li readily agreed. These days, going on missions isn't mandatory for him; it just means there won't be any rewards if he doesn't go on a mission.

"I'll go as well."

Before the teleportation light descended, Lu Xueqing stood next to Lu Li, which surprised Lu Li.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I have a token that allows me to enter any space through teleportation. Besides, I came here to take Chu Chu back, so of course I need to make sure she's safe."

When Lu Xueqing saw Lu Li staring at her, she felt a little uncomfortable. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was just a little worried about Lu Li going alone.

Moreover, there were some things she wanted to confirm.

The next instant, the two disappeared from their spot in a beam of teleportation light.

(End of this chapter)