Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3556: An Excuse

Servants soon appeared, most of them fox beastkin as well.

They moved gracefully and efficiently, bringing trays of refreshments to the guests. Tea with a faint floral fragrance was poured into delicate cups, accompanied by small dishes of fruit and pastries.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Huli Zu leaned forward slightly.

"So," he said with a friendly tone, "what brings honored guests from the Western Immortal Court to our humble world?"

Lin Mu answered calmly.

"We are simply travelers."

"This world is only a stop along our journey."

Huli Zu nodded.

That matched what he had expected.

Very few outsiders visited the Fox Scion World for business. Those who did usually came through official channels arranged months in advance. Unscheduled arrivals like Lin Mu’s group were almost always wanderers, explorers, or cultivators passing through.

"Then where are you headed next?" Huli Zu asked. "If you tell me your destination, I can arrange a teleportation slot for you."

Lin Mu shook his head.

"That will not be necessary."

"Our destination cannot be reached through normal teleportation arrays."

Huli Zu looked slightly surprised.

"Oh?"

Lin Mu continued calmly.

"We plan to travel through open space."

The fox lord’s brows rose slightly.

"Space travel?"

Lin Mu nodded.

"I am searching for certain rare minerals that can only be found in the void between worlds."

The statement was not entirely false. But it was also carefully incomplete. This explanation had already been discussed among the group before arriving.

They could not reveal the existence of the dwarves’ hidden refuge on the Runeweld Barren World... That secret was too valuable.

So instead, they used the most believable excuse possible.

Space mineral exploration.

Huli Zu leaned back slowly, clearly intrigued.

"That is... quite an ambitious journey," he said.

In truth, very few cultivators willingly traveled through open space. The space was vast, dangerous, and unpredictable. Anyone attempting such a journey was either extremely capable...

Or extremely reckless.

Huli Zu looked at Lin Mu again, recalling his sister’s earlier words.

"Strong."

A faint smile appeared on the fox lord’s face.

"Yes," he said quietly.

"That sounds exactly like the kind of journey someone like you would undertake."

Huli Zu leaned back slightly in his chair after hearing Lin Mu’s explanation, his fox ears twitching with curiosity.

"Space travel for minerals," he repeated thoughtfully.

He tapped a finger lightly against the armrest of his seat before looking back at Lin Mu.

"I cannot help but ask," Huli Zu continued with a polite smile, "what kind of mineral could possibly be rare and valuable enough to justify such a dangerous journey?"

The room grew a little quieter as everyone waited for Lin Mu’s answer.

Lin Mu had expected this question.

Before leaving the Fifteen Ryze World, he had carefully researched the spacial geography around the Fox Scion World and the kinds of mineral deposits that had historically been found within nearby asteroid fields.

If anyone pressed him for details, he had already prepared several plausible explanations. So when the question came, his answer arrived without hesitation.

"I am searching for Stellar Scorched Cassiterite."

The name hung in the air for a moment.

Huli Zu blinked.

His ears drooped slightly as confusion crossed his face.

"Stellar... Scorched Cassiterite?"

He repeated the words slowly, clearly unfamiliar with them.

The fox lord turned his head toward his sister.

"Miyeon," he said, "have you heard of such a thing?"

Huli Miyeon tilted her head slightly, her eyes drifting upward as she thought.

Her fox ears flicked gently as she searched her memory. After a few seconds, recognition appeared in her expression.

"Yes," she said quietly.

Everyone in the room turned their attention toward her.

"Stellar Scorched Cassiterite is indeed a rare mineral," she explained.

"It forms only under extremely unusual circumstances."

Huli Zu leaned forward with renewed interest.

"How unusual?"

Miyeon clasped her hands lightly in front of her as she continued.

"It forms when a stellar body is destroyed by an intense energy outburst from a star."

Meng Bai blinked in surprise.

"A star... destroys a planet?"

Miyeon nodded calmly.

"Or a large asteroid," she clarified.

"When a star releases a violent energy eruption, the shockwave can travel across astronomical distances. If a planet or large asteroid happens to lie in the path of that eruption, it may be shattered completely."

She paused briefly.

"Normally, such an event would vaporize all matter involved. The temperatures and energies are so extreme that almost nothing survives."

Huli Zu nodded slowly.

"That makes sense."

Miyeon continued.

"However, under certain rare conditions, fragments of the original planetary material become superheated and compressed before cooling rapidly in space."

Her golden eyes flickered with quiet fascination.

"The resulting mineral structures are heavily altered by the stellar energy."

She looked toward Lin Mu.

"That is how Stellar Scorched Cassiterite forms."

The explanation left the room momentarily silent.

Even Huli Zu looked genuinely impressed.

"So for such a mineral to exist at all," he said slowly, "the conditions must be extraordinarily rare."

Miyeon nodded.

"Yes."

She folded her arms thoughtfully.

"And most deposits discovered in known asteroid fields were mined long ago."

Huli Zu raised a brow.

"Wait."

He turned back toward her.

"Are you saying our world’s region actually had deposits of this mineral before?"

Miyeon nodded again.

"I remember reading about it in some old archives."

She tapped a finger lightly against her chin as she recalled the details.

"Hundreds of thousands of years ago, an asteroid belt near the Fox Scion World contained traces of Stellar Scorched Cassiterite."

Her expression grew slightly uncertain.

"But according to most historical records, those deposits were exhausted tens of thousands of years ago."

Huli Zu frowned.

"Then how could they still be searching for it?"

Miyeon shrugged faintly.

"It is possible that some asteroids remain unexplored."

She looked toward Lin Mu again.

"Or perhaps fragments drifted farther away after the original mining efforts ended."

Lin Mu inclined his head slightly.

"That was my thinking as well."

He spoke calmly, maintaining the composed demeanor of an experienced traveler.

"I heard that the mineral was once found in the region surrounding the Fox Scion World."

"So I decided to come here and try my luck."