Chapter 1

At four in the morning, the sky was still dim, and the streetlights outside the window were still on, with a thin mist barely visible.

Chen Chuan got up from the bed, walked to the window, and pushed it open. The fresh mist outside rushed in. Breathing in the fresh air, Chen Chuan was momentarily lost in thought.

He was originally an ordinary college senior in modern society. Last year, he followed the trend and wrote an urban novel online, but later abandoned it because he couldn't continue.

However... somehow, just yesterday, he actually crossed over into the novel he wrote, becoming one of the supporting characters—Chen Chuan!

Such an event couldn't be explained by science.

Coincidentally, this supporting character also shared his name, Chen Chuan, because he had simply used his own name when writing to save time.

In the past ten minutes, Chen Chuan had used his phone to check the major news and other information of this world, and browsed social media sites like Weibo and Zhihu. He concluded that this was a parallel world almost identical to Earth, but with some characters and settings from his novel integrated.

As for whether this world had integrated characters and settings from other novels, he didn't know yet.

And just now, a voice appeared in his mind:

【Chen Chuan, you can now choose one of the following two items to start your life in this world】

【Option One: A lottery ticket worth 500 million yuan】

【Option Two: A storage ring of a cultivator】

【You have one hour to make your choice】

So now, Chen Chuan stood by the window, pushed it open, and took deep breaths of the cold air at the end of summer, making his decision in his mind.

Choose 500 million yuan?

This world, parallel to the current Earth, is almost identical. With 500 million yuan, he could live a carefree life.

Even the protagonist "Du Hao" in the novel, with his godlike system, didn't accumulate as much wealth by the end of the story as 500 million yuan.

Moreover, the 500 million yuan lottery ticket was a legitimate source of money, and he could spend it without worry.

Most importantly, in the novel, "he" was a minor character, and his girlfriend, Zhou Qi, was attracted to Du Hao's wealthy and carefree lifestyle and left him. Now, if he suddenly had 500 million yuan, what would Zhou Qi think?

As for the cultivator's storage ring...

What would be inside?

"Can you reveal what's in the storage ring? If there are secret manuals, what language are they in? Will I be able to understand them? And can I freely use the items in the ring?"

His cautious nature came into play, and these necessary questions were important.

But the voice in his mind didn't respond, only repeating:

【You can now choose one of the following two items to start your life in this world】

Time was running out...

Looking at the streetlights in the darkness, Chen Chuan gritted his teeth and made his decision: "I choose the cultivator's storage ring!"

【The storage ring has been issued】

【After accumulating 10,000 reputation points in this world, you can choose whether to return to your original world and take one-tenth of the wealth you have accumulated here.】

The voice in his mind disappeared, and Chen Chuan felt a cold object in his palm.

Looking down, he saw a white-gold ring with an ancient and somewhat desolate appearance.

【Storage Ring】

Chen Chuan tried to silently say, "Open."

In the next moment, Chen Chuan saw a grayish space, where various items were neatly stacked, and the air was filled with a mysterious glow.

The space wasn't large, and he counted ten items.

Chen Chuan silently tried to take out an item.

But... to his dismay, the items didn't budge!

He couldn't control them at all!

Chen Chuan's forehead broke out in a sweat. Damn, he was tricked! He really couldn't take them out?

Chen Chuan tried each item and found that all of them were shrouded in a gray mist. He could vaguely sense that one of the items was a "mountain of gold."

Chen Chuan silently said, "Take out the mountain of gold."

Rustle! Rustle rustle!

A few sounds, and Chen Chuan felt something heavy hit his feet.

Looking down, he saw a pile of golden leaves on the floor.

Although the room was dark, the faint light from the streetlights outside revealed the unmistakable shine of gold.

Picking up a handful, the heavy and cold feel of the gold confirmed that it was real.

Chen Chuan turned on the flashlight on his phone and carefully examined the golden leaves. Each leaf was slightly larger than a one-yuan coin, about 2 centimeters wide and 5 centimeters long, intricately detailed and lifelike.

Chen Chuan looked back at the ring and found that only a small part of the "mountain of gold" had been taken out, with most of the golden leaves still inside the ring.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Chen Chuan, what time is it? What are you doing in there?"

His mother's voice came from outside the door.

Chen Chuan quickly moved the golden leaves back into the ring and said, "Nothing, I knocked a book over. I'm going to sleep."

His mother's footsteps faded away, and Chen Chuan continued to study the storage ring. After a while, he noticed a pattern.

The space inside the ring was divided into ten small compartments.

Only the first compartment, which contained the "mountain of gold," was bright, while the other nine compartments were shrouded in mist.

"So, items shrouded in mist can't be taken out," Chen Chuan muttered to himself.

"Right, you've discovered the pattern. Items sealed by the mist require higher conditions to be taken out and used," the voice in his mind suddenly spoke.

Chen Chuan was startled, thinking the voice had left after he chose the storage ring.

Chen Chuan: "What are the higher conditions?"

"The ring is now yours. How to use it is for you to explore."

Chen Chuan studied for a while but couldn't figure anything out. Since it was late, he yawned and fell back into bed, falling asleep.

...

The next morning, sunlight filled the room.

Buzz! Buzz!

The phone on the bedside table was vibrating.

Chen Chuan opened his eyes, checked the time, and saw it was already nine in the morning.

A WeChat message from Zhou Qi:

"Chen Chuan, do you have time today? I want to meet you and talk about something."

Zhou Qi was the most beautiful girl in Chen Chuan's high school class and his girlfriend.

However, Chen Chuan knew that according to the story's timeline, Zhou Qi was going to break up with him today.

Since he had crossed over into the novel and knew the story's direction, he didn't waste time and replied: "No need to meet. Let's break up."

He turned off his phone, not caring about Zhou Qi's reaction.

Chen Chuan took out a pile of golden leaves from the storage ring, planning to sell them and get some money.