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Watching fireworks alone is fun.

But watching them with Dan Xingyu is even more delightful.

“The nights in Gold Hole City have a moon; it’s not as dark as the Star Forest,” Qiyu said.

The hazy moonlight, combined with the glow of the distant fireworks and the lanterns—dimmed by two degrees due to the late hour but still illuminating the path beneath their feet.

On a night like this, it’s not scary at all.

“Do you really like Gold Hole City?”

Qiyu nodded: “Mm-hmm!”

Actually, it wasn’t just Gold Hole City—he loved every place he’d ever been to: the Winter Ice Plains, and even the Royal City of Ophelia, where he’d faced difficulties.

Of course, his absolute favorite was definitely the Forest of Stars.

“The Survival Game world is truly‌ wonderful.”

Dan Xingyu thought again of the question that had been swirling in his mind all night, but seeing the young mage’s bright, joyful gaze as he watched the fireworks, he smiled and let it go.

Never mind.

It doesn’t matter anyway.

No matter where he comes from, Qiyu is Qiyu.

The next day, Qiyu woke up in the morning light; the sky was a beautiful pale blue.

He found himself and Dan Xingyu shoulder to shoulder, head to head, snuggled intimately together—they’d actually spent the entire night sleeping like that on the rooftop.

Dan Xingyu wasn’t awake yet.

He glanced at the time on his Survival Tablet: 6:30 a.m.

He had no recollection of when he’d fallen asleep last night. He only remembered that the fireworks kept going and going, and he’d just kept staring at them—even when he got sleepy, he couldn’t bear to go to sleep. After all, with a mage’s constitution, sleeping under the open sky wouldn’t make him sick.

Even in his dreams, there were dazzling fireworks.

At this hour, the Star Forest was still shrouded in darkness.

Feeling a rare burst of enthusiasm, he used his Survival Pad to snap a photo of Gold Hole City bathed in the morning light.

He posted it in the “01 Survival Squad” group.

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Whoa, it’s dawn! Is it already light out in the outside world? 】

【I Love Survival Game: You’re awake this early?】

After saying that, he remembered some of his stats, so Qiyu added:

【I Love Survival Game: Or did you not sleep at all?】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: I slept, I slept. I pushed myself too hard a few days ago, so I caught up on sleep yesterday. I slept enough, and now I can’t fall back asleep.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Gaming pro, are you guys coming back soon?】

【I Love Survival Game: Yeah, we are.】

After replying to Dare Not Open My Eyes’ message, he turned his head and noticed that Dan Xingyu was awake and looking at him.

“Dan Xingyu, you’re awake too?” He greeted him earnestly, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Dan Xingyu said. “Let’s go downstairs and tidy up a bit. Jin Qian and the others should be back soon, too.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Qiyu sensed their presence. Before long, he spotted Leslie, yawning nonstop.

Jin Qian, on the other hand, was full of energy, showing no sign of having pulled an all-nighter.

The group exchanged greetings, then went their separate ways to wash up; the chef had already prepared breakfast.

After breakfast, Leslie led the group to pick up the supplies they’d ordered the day before, and then it was time to say goodbye.

Jin Qian looked reluctant to leave; he felt that 24 hours had been far too rushed—he hadn’t had enough time to enjoy himself.

Qiyu told him that after going out to explore, the map would unlock. If he ever wanted to return to Gold Hole City in the future, there would be plenty of opportunities.

This was something Dan Xingyu had told him: whether using an Exploration Scroll on his own or teaming up with friends, any place he’d visited would be marked on the map.

For areas he’d already explored, he wouldn’t need to spend another Exploration Scroll next time—he’d only need to pay a certain amount of gold coins as a teleportation fee.

This was also limited to once a month.

Qiyu selected “Go Home,” summoning the wilderness carriage.

Soon, the wilderness carriage stopped at the entrance to his territory.

By then, dawn had broken in the Star Forest.

Apparently detecting that the player had returned to the Star Forest, the survival game system—cruelly—didn’t give him any time to tour his territory. Almost the moment he touched down in the Star Forest, a white light flashed, a teleportation portal appeared, urging him that his party had disbanded and that he must return to his territory immediately.

Jin Qian: “Damn it! I was hoping to take a look around the boss’s territory!”

A prompt popped up on the Survival interface, reminding him to return home.

Jin Qian shouted, “Boss, wait for me until I’m ready—I’ll bring a scroll and come visit you!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his entire body was swallowed up by the white teleportation gate.

Two people remained in the territory.

Dan Xingyu asked, almost impatiently, “Do you have anything urgent to do right now?”

Qiyu thought for a moment—no, he didn’t.

He had originally planned to open the two exploration chests and the prestige blind box he’d just received, but clearly, he could wait a little longer to do that.

Seeing him shake his head, Dan Xingyu said, “Then come with me first.”

Qiyu followed him through the portal and arrived in the Golden Desert.

It was the familiar balcony.

Passing through the bedroom and the hallway, the two entered a room on the first floor.

Dan Xingyu looked around and shouted, “Come out!”

Since they were on his best friend’s property, Qiyu refrained from using his mental energy.

He heard a faint rustling sound, and then, right in front of them, the smooth floor beneath their feet suddenly bulged outward, and a tiny figure burrowed back out from within.

Amazingly, once the creature had emerged, the floor returned to its smooth, flat state, as if it had never been disturbed.

What had burrowed up from beneath the floor was a gray mouse about twenty centimeters long.

The mouse was covered in warm gray fur; at first glance, it looked quite ordinary and unremarkable. Only upon closer inspection could one see that a tiny speck of gold shone at the very center of its black, bean-like eyes. Additionally, two thin golden whiskers hung from the corners of its mouth, longer than its body itself.

“Squeak,” The mouse let out a cry that sounded pitiful.

The moment he saw the mouse, Qiyu’s survival interface automatically displayed the mouse’s information:

【Treasure-Seeking Silver-Gray Mouse (Purple): An evolved species of the Treasure-Seeking Gray Rat clan. Possesses the innate skill “Treasure-Seeking,” allowing it to sniff out valuable items.】

Qiyu had originally thought this gray mouse was a bit ugly, but after reading the description, he immediately realized how narrow-minded he’d been.

Who says this treasure-seeking silver-gray mouse is ugly? That silver-gray fur is so understated yet luxurious.

Dan Xingyu said, “Yesterday, when I went out to explore, I accidentally fell into a hole and ran into this group of guys.”

Qiyu: “So this is what you meant when you said you had something to take care of yesterday?”

“Mm-hmm,” Dan Xingyu said. “Don’t let their small size fool you—they’re really fierce. If I hadn’t had a bit of skill myself, I’d probably have been eaten clean.”

Eaten clean in the literal sense.

“But you don’t need to worry now—I have already signed a contract with it.” Dan Xingyu thought of something and asked him, “You’re not afraid of mice, are you?”

Qiyu shook his head: “No, I’m not.”

Satisfied, Dan Xingyu said cheerfully, “Its talent is very useful. From now on, I’ll bring him over to your place in the morning and take him to the forest—he’ll never miss a treasure chest. Then I’ll bring him back in the afternoon to search the Golden Desert.”

The mouse squeaked on the floor: “……”

After saying that, Dan Xingyu led Qiyu to the next room.

Rows of cabinets lined all four walls of the room, dividing the space into individual display compartments. At that moment, an entire row of compartments on the left contained fist-sized specimens.

They were silver and gave off a faint glow.

【Mithril (Purple): An epic-tier rare material with multiple uses.】

Purple-quality materials—Qiyu’s gaze swept across the room, and an entire row of cabinets was filled with them.

“Did you strike a mithril vein?” he asked without thinking.

Then he saw Dan Xingyu’s smile.

Qiyu:?

He exclaimed in amazement, “Dan Xingyu, you really did strike a mithril vein!”

Dan Xingyu nodded: “Yeah, I found it yesterday—not far from the cave.”

If this stuff weren’t so incredibly valuable, he wouldn’t have been able to rest easy until he’d dug it up and brought it home. He’d already followed Qiyu to Gold Hole City when Qiyu invited him.

“That’s amazing.” Actually, Qiyu wasn’t quite sure what mithril was exactly, but he knew it was worth a fortune!

On the price list Duo Ju had given him earlier, the price of mithril was terrifyingly high.

He said enviously, “Dan Xingyu, you’ve struck it rich.”

But he still didn’t quite understand: “Why did you leave your gear here?”

“Although it’s safe in my territory too, it’s more convenient and reassuring to leave it here.”

Dan Xingyu: “……”

He admitted, “I just called you over here on purpose to show off a little. I’ll put them back in my backpack once I’m done looking.”

“Oh.” Qiyu got it.

He played along, saying, “Well, you’ve succeeded in showing off, Dan Xingyu. I’m dying of envy right now.”

Dan Xingyu burst out laughing.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be envious—what’s mine is yours.”

He told Qiyu that mithril could be used to craft gear, or to reforge existing gear to improve its quality.

“But the forging process for mithril is pretty complicated; I can’t use it just yet,” he said regretfully. “I’ll just have to set it aside for now.”

Qiyu finally caught on: “So this is the ‘surprise’ you mentioned earlier?”

Dan Xingyu nodded, saying mysteriously, “There’s more.”

This time, it wasn’t the room next door. He took Qiyu on a long detour to a basement in the palace.

Qiyu followed him a long way, and his only thought was: Dan Xingyu’s house is really huge.

After walking down the dimly lit stairs, they came to a massive, heavy door at the end.

Dan Xingyu pushed it open.

The sudden brightness made Qiyu, who had just been in the dim surroundings, instinctively close his eyes.

When he opened them again, his eyes widened.

What a huge room.

What a dazzling room.

Gold coins, gold and silver vessels, golden jewelry, all kinds of glittering ores and crystals… all were casually piled on the floor, forming a glittering golden carpet.

Right in the center of the room was a huge nest.

As he drew closer, Qiyu realized it was a dragon nest forged entirely of gold.

A miniature dragon, shrunk in size, was curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully inside the nest.

The nest was also lined with sparkling ores.

At that moment, these ores were slowly melting and being absorbed by the dragon’s scales.

Qiyu: “What’s this?”

Dan Xingyu explained, “It’s growing. Once this evolution is complete, it should officially enter its growth phase.”

Knowing how much Qiyu loved little dragons, he added, “Once it enters the growth phase, its body and strength will stabilize. Then, I’ll be able to take him to the Star Forest to play whenever I want.”

He thought for a moment: “We can even stay overnight in the Star Forest.”

Knowing the little dragon was fine, Qiyu put his mind at ease and focused on admiring the beautiful, spacious room.

He sincerely marveled, “Dan Xingyu, you’re so rich.”

So many gold coins, so many crystals.

He envied the little dragon; he, too, wanted to sleep in a house like this.

Dan Xingyu could clearly see his thoughts written all over Qiyu’s face.

Dan Xingyu fell into deep thought: Could my beloved, who looks and carries himself like a celestial being, actually have such simple tastes and aesthetics?

That’s fine then.

The Golden Desert may not have much else, but it’s rich in minerals.

He blinked and offered a devilishly tempting proposition: “You like it? Then I’ll build you a golden house in the palace. How about it?”