Lian sat across from Elara in the quiet underground cave, the faint blue light from scattered bioluminescent moss casting gentle shadows on the stone walls. The air was cool and still, carrying the distant echo of dripping water from deeper tunnels. He had been sorting through the loot for hours while she rested, but now that she was awake, it felt right to include her.

“I have started checking everything out while you were resting,” Lian said, his voice calm but carrying a hint of satisfaction.

Elara blinked a few times, still adjusting to full consciousness. She flexed her alloy fingers experimentally, feeling the smooth flow of energy through her systems.

“Okay,” she replied softly. “Did you find anything useful?”

“A lot,” Lian answered, gesturing to the growing piles around them. “Come and help me.”

Elara nodded and stood up slowly, testing her balance. She felt surprisingly strong — the medicine had worked better than expected. She walked over and sat down opposite him, cross-legged on the cool stone floor. The space between them was covered with scattered items: storage rings, loose credits, pills, herbs, weapons, and various artifacts.

Lian pointed at the ring on her finger.

“And we haven’t even checked your own ring yet,” he said.

Elara looked down at her finger, noticing the simple but sturdy storage ring she had been wearing since before the auction chaos.

“Yeah,” she said, a small smile touching her lips.

She began removing rings from her storage space one by one, dumping them onto the cleared center area between them. Storage ring after storage ring appeared — some plain, some ornate, some cracked from battle damage. She kept going until the pile stopped growing.

Lian watched carefully.

When she finished, he activated the Nexus Scan Gauntlet on his wrist. The device hummed softly, projecting a blue holographic interface that scanned the entire collection.

“378 rings in total,” he announced. “Grade E: 120. Grade D: 215. Grade C: 40. Grade C+: 3.”

Elara’s eyes widened slightly as she watched the gauntlet work.

“What did you use just now?” she asked, curiosity clear in her voice.

“I took it from one of the representative’s men,” Lian replied. “It’s called the Nexus Scan Gauntlet. It scans items and displays their name, grade, primary uses, and sometimes hidden properties. Very useful for sorting loot quickly. It can even analyze unknown objects to a certain extent.”

Elara looked a little jealous, her gaze lingering on the sleek device on his wrist. She didn’t say anything, but the slight tightening of her jaw gave her away. Lian noticed but paid no mind to it. Resources were resources. He would share what mattered.

“Help me take out anything useful from the rings,” he said.

She nodded, and they both began working.

The first few rings they opened were packed with Qi crystals. So many that they formed small glittering piles on the floor — clear, glowing stones of various sizes and purity. Lian picked up an emptied Grade D ring from the ground, slipped it onto his left hand, and pointed it toward the crystals. With a soft hum, all the Qi crystals floated up and disappeared into the ring’s internal space in an organized stream. He didn’t bother checking the exact grades of the crystals yet. I’ll check them later, he thought.

They continued this way for a while. Elara opened rings one at a time, carefully examining the contents before handing useful items to Lian. Some rings held only basic supplies — food rations, water purifiers, spare clothing. Others were far more valuable: high-grade healing pills, rare cultivation herbs, defensive talismans, and even a few technique fragments.

Lian kept sorting efficiently, separating everything into clear categories: immediate combat use, long-term cultivation, trading value, and emergency survival. The cave floor slowly transformed into an organized makeshift inventory.

Elara occasionally glanced at the growing piles with quiet amazement. “This is quite a lot,” she said at one point.

“Yeah,” Lian replied simply, not looking up from his work.

They kept going in companionable silence, the weight of their recent survival still hanging in the air. Outside, the broken world above continued to settle, but down here, in this hidden sanctuary, they were building something new — a foundation for whatever came next.

Lian allowed himself a small, cold smile as another valuable item was added to their growing collection.

This was progress.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder)

Foundation Realm (Layers 1–9): Body forging, no external Qi.

Circuit Awakening Realm (Early–Peak): First Qi loop, internal bursts.

Core Condensation Realm (Early–Peak): External Qi release, short flight.

Stellar Circuit Realm (1–9 Stars): True flight, Qi armor, energy projection.

Nebula Dominion Realm and higher: Domain control, galaxy-level power, etc

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders