A droplet of clear water slowly fell from the peak of the stalactite at the top of the cave.
"Drip... drop..."
The droplet hit the pool, sending ripples spreading across the water's surface, becoming ever so pronounced in the midst of this silence.
Unaware of how long he had been unconscious in the darkness, his consciousness began to trickle back into his body like water returning to its channel.
Xu Yuan's eyes fluttered slightly and, after a moment, he slowly opened them.
Perhaps due to the disorientation from the prolonged unconsciousness, he could not see the dim surroundings clearly.
In the stillness, a faint female voice gently came from beside him:
"You're awake."
"Hmm..."
Xu Yuan replied subconsciously in a low voice, his vision gradually focusing, allowing him to see the person speaking.
Ran Qingmo sat beside him, quietly cross-legged.
The two of them were very close, and through their clothes, he could faintly feel the warmth emanating from her jade-like legs.
It was somewhat curious, and he did not understand why Ran Qingmo had chosen to sit so close.
His sluggish thoughts slowly began to churn, and Xu Yuan gradually sat up from the ground.
Then,
he suddenly realized that the reason she was sitting so close was that he was still holding her slender wrist in his hand.
He was gripping it tightly, and even streaks of redness had appeared on her fair, delicate wrist.
As memories of previous events bubbled to the surface, Xu Yuan remembered that this was the obsession he held onto before falling unconscious.
With the 3 points of luck inherent to his original body, he dared not let go of Ran Qingmo even in his state of unconsciousness.
But now, already having entered the cave precisely, Xu Yuan also let go of her, rubbing his brow and softly explained:
"Sorry, it was unavoidable."
Ran Qingmo shook her head, her beautiful eyes gazing into Xu Yuan's:
"Thank you."
Her gratitude was sincere and earnest.
Yet, Xu Yuan was taken aback by her unexpected thanks.
He was somewhat puzzled as to why.
But after a moment of thought, he came to an understanding.
The woman before him, known as the Big Ice Lump, did not know that entering this cave abode required something as vague and intangible as luck.
Perhaps in her eyes, it was precisely because he had clung to her, even as he fainted, that she was able to safely enter the cave as well.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuan had no intention of clarifying the misunderstanding.
This kind of pleasant misunderstanding, let it continue then, heh-heh...
With a slight smile, Xu Yuan also looked towards her and said:
"Miss Ran..."
HIs gaze caught sight of her, and Xu Yuan's mind suddenly jolted.
"....."
She was not wearing a veil.
The black veil that had been covering her face had quietly drifted away during the fall from the cliff.
This was the first time Xu Yuan had seen her without the veil.
The beauty, which was exhaustively described in the first-person perspective and seemed so meager in the presence of her true countenance.
Xu Yuan collected his thoughts, chuckling softly as he gently shook his head.
No wonder those novels always depict their heroines as ethereally beautiful; now, he truly understood.
His gaze returning to calm, Xu Yuan looked into her beautiful eyes and said softly:
"Miss Ran, 'thank you' is the most worthless thing in this world."
As he spoke,
Xu Yuan pushed himself up from the ground with his knees, staring at her with a smile and said:
"We survived, so it looks like I won the bet. You now owe me a favor."
Ran Qingmo looked up slightly, falling silent for a moment:
"Alright..."
After a pause, she softly asked:
"What do you want me to do?"
Hearing the other's words, Xu Yuan smiled slightly:
"Keep it, there's nothing I need you to do for me for now."
After saying that, Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to scan the surrounding environment.
This seemed to be a cave; some white pearl-like objects embedded in the walls emitted a faint glow, resembling the legendary Luminous Pearls, and by their light Xu Yuan could make out most of the cave's details.
The cave wasn't very large, by the measures of his previous life, it would only be about twenty square meters or so.
A pool of water and a circular jade bed about ten meters in diameter comprised the entirety of this place.
Xu Yuan's brows furrowed slightly at the sight.
The size of the cave and the appearance of the jade bed and pool weren't beyond his expectations.
However,
what happened to the large golden treasure chest next to the bedhead?
All the wonders of this cave were stored in that chest!
"What's wrong?"
Ran Qingmo seemed to notice something odd about his breathing, and her crisp voice came through gently.
Xu Yuan composed himself, steadied his breathing, and responded casually:
"It's nothing. I just realized there seem to be some problems with my memory."
"Oh..." Ran Qingmo said no more upon hearing this and continued to close her eyes and meditate.
Xu Yuan walked towards the jade bed at the far end of the cave.
Cooling down, he deduced that the disappearance of the treasure chest must be the world's way of automatically completing its scenario.
In a mysterious cave like this, the appearance of a shining golden treasure chest seemed utterly out of place.
Since it was verified that the cave drew people in based on their fortune, then the items Cangyuan Chronicles placed here couldn't possibly disappear.
As he approached the jade bed, Xu Yuan examined it closely.
The bed itself was pure white, like white jade, and emitted a faint luminescent glow.
There were no blankets or the like on the bed, just two rectangular-shaped pillows. The only place that could possibly hide anything was under these pillows.
After a moment's hesitation, Xu Yuan slowly reached out and grabbed the pillow.
The pillow felt cold, almost like mystic ice.
Setting the pillow aside, as expected, Xu Yuan saw an extremely ancient black ring underneath.
Seeing this object, Xu Yuan immediately realized what the ring was.
A Sumeru Ring, also known as a storage ring.
Xu Yuan had not expected to find such a thing here and suddenly felt the world's autocompletion sometimes was quite beneficial.
Unlike some other cultivation worlds where everyone had a storage ring,
In this world, a Sumeru Ring was a top-tier treasure.
Even someone as powerful as Ran Qingmo could only honestly use a bag to carry her belongings, showing the ring's rarity.
The manual had explained this:
A simple concept,
the Sumeru Ring involved the segmentation of space.
If Sumeru Rings were commonplace, wouldn't that mean any Forging Master could be a space-time authority?
Regardless, under the world's autocompletion, having a Sumeru Ring in place of that "golden treasure chest" was indeed an unexpected pleasure.
Xu Yuan held the extremely ancient black Sumeru Ring in his palm and grinned.
But this smile quickly faded.
Although the treasure was valuable, he couldn't use it.
The Sumeru Ring required Origin Qi to be activated, and he was still just an ordinary man.
After taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan casually tossed the Sumeru Ring to Ran Qingmo, who was sitting nearby.
Ran Qingmo caught it and looked down at it. Having seen something similar with her master, she recognized what the ring was at a glance.
But even with such a top-tier treasure in her hand, the expression in her eyes showed no change, only a touch of confusion as she looked towards Xu Yuan.
She didn't understand why Xu Yuan would throw the Sumeru Ring to her.
Meeting her gaze, Xu Yuan smiled slightly and said softly:
"Inside, there's medicine for your healing, and some things from my past life. I can't get them out now, so I need your help."