I'll Trade With You

In Cangyuan, if a player wanted to obtain a Sumeru Ring, aside from painstakingly gathering rare materials to have one crafted, Xu Yuan knew of one other place to acquire it.

The method was simple.

In the early stages of the game, quests would lead players through a map called Heaven Origin Mountain.

One only needed to venture to the very depths of this map, where they would encounter an old man with white hair and three blood-red question marks hovering above his head in a bamboo grove.

He would offer quests to players, but if one wanted the Sumeru Ring, they couldn't engage him in dialogue; they had to draw their weapons and attack him on sight.

Fortune favors the bold.

As long as the old man was killed, he was guaranteed to drop a Sumeru Ring, complete with a ring full of heaven-sent treasures.

Memories flickered through his mind, and Xu Yuan shook his head with a faint, wry smile before turning his gaze toward the woman in black opposite him.

Although her master possessed a Sumeru Ring, it was clear that Ran Qingmo had never handled one before. Her beautiful eyes widened as she fiddled with the ring for a long time, only barely managing to extract a few items from within.

Three bottles of pills, two ancient-looking books, and a red silk robe.

Aside from these, there were over a dozen empty jade bottles and jade boxes.

After taking these out, Ran Qingmo raised her eyes to look at Xu Yuan, blinking.

"There's nothing else."

"I know."

Xu Yuan nodded slightly, scanning the books and bottles laid out on the ground.

Compared to the game, this storage ring contained a few more empty jade bottles and boxes, but otherwise, the contents were exactly as expected.

One cultivation technique, one secret art, a Blood Jade Glazed Robe, and three bottles of pills with varying effects.

Nine Return Pill, a sacred medicine for healing.

Blood Spirit Body-Fusion Pill, used for soothing the soul and merging the body.

Calamity Meteor Pill, an essential item for practicing the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art.

In the outside world, any one of these would be considered a top-tier treasure.

Xu Yuan's gaze finally settled on the three bottles of pills.

Reality was not a game; the names were not labeled on the items.

Although Xu Yuan knew what the three types of pills were, he couldn't distinguish between them.

But that didn't matter; he had an "old grandfather" figure by his side to guide him.

With that thought, Xu Yuan looked at the woman beside him.

"Miss Ran, my memories regarding these pills are somewhat fragmented. I would trouble you to help me identify them."

Upon hearing this, Ran Qingmo glanced at Xu Yuan, her expression odd and suspicious.

She found Xu Yuan's selective amnesia strange, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

After a moment of contemplation with no conclusion, Ran Qingmo nodded in agreement.

"Hmm... this bottle is the Nine Return Pill, this one is the Blood Spirit Body-Fusion Pill, and this... this one..."

When she reached the final bottle, Ran Qingmo's dark brows furrowed slightly. She stared at the small vial intently for a long time, but ultimately couldn't identify it.

"This one... I don't know."

"It doesn't matter if you don't know," Xu Yuan replied softly.

It was normal for Ran Qingmo not to know about the Calamity Meteor Pill.

The Calamity Meteor Pill was specifically concocted to complement the practice of the Blood Origin Heart-Fall Technique, and that technique had been lying dormant in this cave dwelling ever since it was created.

It could be said that, other than Xu Yuan, who had once been a player, no one else in this world knew of the existence of this technique.

He walked closer and picked up two of the bottles. Glancing at the remaining one, he paused and said softly to Ran Qingmo:

"Well... you keep this Nine Return Pill for your healing."

Ran Qingmo immediately looked up, her clear, tranquil eyes flickering.

She knew the value of the Nine Return Pill.

Gently biting her red lips, Ran Qingmo looked at Xu Yuan and suddenly asked:

"Um, could you give me a jade box?"

"A jade box?"

Xu Yuan glanced at the empty jade bottles and boxes, smiling casually. "Just take whatever you need."

"Oh."

Ran Qingmo nodded, picked up a jade box, and opened it. Then, right in front of Xu Yuan, she raised a slender hand and reached into her bosom, fumbling around for a moment.

"..."

Reorganizing his thoughts, Xu Yuan asked in a low voice:

"What are you doing?"

Ran Qingmo did not speak; she silently pulled the Snake Heart Lotus from her bosom and placed it into a jade box.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan was a bit surprised.

He remembered that before jumping off the cliff, he had tucked this item into his own robes.

Most likely, while he was unconscious, this Big Ice Block had quietly swiped her own spoils back.

He couldn't help but smile.

Closing the lid, Ran Qingmo adjusted her collar, stood up, and handed the jade box to Xu Yuan, saying softly:

"I... I am trading this with you."

"..."

Watching her earnest gaze, Xu Yuan was silent for a moment before smiling. He did not refuse: "Fine, I will accept it. Help me put it in the Sumeru Ring."

"Oh." Ran Qingmo nodded, and with a single thought, the jade box in her hand vanished.

As her voice faded, neither of them had anything left to say for a time.

Ran Qingmo did not feel awkward; she glanced at Xu Yuan, then went off on her own, taking the Nine Return Pill she had traded for to the corner of the cave to heal her wounds.

Xu Yuan slowly picked up the Blood Jade Glazed Robe and the two ancient books from the ground, then sat down on the jade bed inside the cave.

This was his cave; he slept on the bed, and Ran Qingmo slept on the floor. It was only reasonable.