He fell off a cliff but unexpectedly gained a cultivation inheritance.

The instant the feeling of weightlessness washed over him, Zhang Bufan braced himself for excruciating pain and emptiness. He closed his eyes tightly, and the last thing that surfaced in his mind wasn't the humiliation of being laid off, the frustration of job hunting, or the loneliness after his divorce, but rather the gray hair at his parents' temples and the unspoken worry in their voices during each video call. "Dad, Mom, your son is unfilial; I can't take care of you in your old age and see you off in your final days," he murmured silently to himself, two hot tears uncontrollably sliding down his cheeks.

Fortunately, he had been frugal for over a decade, with no bad habits, and had already paid off most of the mortgage on the 120-square-meter apartment he bought in Shenzhen after years of hard work. Selling the apartment would conservatively net him over three million yuan in cash, which, combined with his savings and the 300,000 yuan severance pay, would bring him over four million yuan in total. This money would be enough for his parents to live out their remaining years peacefully in their hometown, without having to worry about making a living or his "good-for-nothing" son. As for anything else, there seemed to be nothing else to worry about.

His ex-wife, Ye Qingxue, had already started a new life. Although the two maintained contact after the divorce, it was limited to occasional holiday greetings. Presumably, upon learning of his death, she would at most sigh a few times and then quickly forget about it. His former colleagues and friends all have their own lives now, and his absence wouldn't make much of a difference.

Thinking this way, Zhang Bufan's tense nerves relaxed a little, and the resentment and despair in his heart were gradually replaced by a sense of relief. Perhaps, for a middle-aged man like him who was deeply trapped in a predicament, death was also a kind of relief.

Immediately afterward, a severe wave of dizziness washed over him, as if he had been thrown into a washing machine; the world spun around him, and his internal organs seemed to be out of place. His consciousness began to blur, his thoughts became increasingly chaotic, and finally, he sank into a state of complete confusion. Time lost its meaning here.

Zhang Bufan didn't know how long he had been drifting in this chaos; it felt like a second, a long day, or even a century. He had no senses—no hearing, no sight, no touch—as if the entire world consisted only of his wisp of consciousness, sinking into boundless darkness. Just when he thought he would sink like this forever, a cold touch suddenly came from below, instantly jolting him awake from the chaos.

"Hmm?" Zhang Bufan let out a soft groan, his consciousness gradually returning. He could clearly feel that he was lying on a cold, hard surface, rough to the touch, like a polished stone. Something was wrong! He was suddenly stunned, a storm raging in his heart. Hadn't he fallen from a 700-meter-high cliff? Logically, he should have been smashed to pieces long ago, not even a complete corpse remaining. How could he feel such a realistic sensation?

"Am I already dead?" Zhang Bufan was filled with doubt. "Why does the stone beneath my body feel so real? Does the dead really have souls? Is this the underworld?" He didn't open his eyes immediately, but continued to lie there, carefully sensing everything around him. A cold sensation spread from his back, making him shiver involuntarily. A faint, clean scent, like a mixture of earth and grass, filled the air, and inhaling it actually relaxed his tense nerves considerably. There was no howling wind as he had imagined, nor the eerie terror of the legendary underworld; instead, it was unusually quiet, so quiet that he could hear his own faint breathing.

Zhang Bufan lay there with his eyes closed for several minutes, his doubts deepening. He couldn't understand the situation, so he decided to verify it himself. He slowly raised his right hand and pinched his thigh hard. "Hiss—" A sharp, intense pain shot through him instantly, so clear it made him gasp. This wasn't a hallucination! If it were a soul, how could it feel such real pain? Zhang Bufan was completely bewildered. He began to wonder if he hadn't died at all, but had encountered some extraordinary event during his fall.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his shock and confusion, and slowly opened his eyes. The scene before him made him gasp, his eyes widening, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment. He wasn't lying in the underworld he had imagined, nor among the rubble at the bottom of a cliff, but on the ground in the middle of an enormous cave. Above him was a nearly hundred-meter-high arched stone wall, a deep bluish-black color covered with fine patterns, seemingly formed naturally yet also sculpted, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura. What surprised him even more were the few egg-sized, milky-white stones scattered across the wall, emitting a soft glow like stars in the night sky, illuminating the entire cave and allowing him to barely see his surroundings.

Zhang Bufan slowly sat up, looking around, his shock growing stronger. This cave didn't resemble a naturally formed karst cave; rather, it looked like a man-made tunnel, but its scale far exceeded his imagination. It was about fifty meters wide, wider than the widest three-lane highway tunnel he had ever seen, and its height was astonishing. Standing beneath it, one felt as small as an ant. The two ends of the cave were drastically different. He was near one end, which ended in a smooth stone wall, perfectly blending with the ground and the walls on either side without any gaps—it seemed to be the beginning of the cave. The other end of the cave, however, stretched downwards, seemingly endless, its length unknown, deep and dark, like a lurking beast waiting for its prey to come to it.

"Where...where am I?" Zhang Bufan muttered to himself, his voice echoing clearly in the empty cave. He shook his head violently, trying to calm himself down. Falling from a 700-meter cliff unscathed and inexplicably ending up in such a bizarre, enormous cave was completely beyond his comprehension. He looked down at his body. His clothes were torn from the fall against the branches on the cliff face, and he was covered in dust, but there were no wounds, not even a scratch. He moved his limbs; apart from being a little stiff from holding one position for so long, he felt no discomfort, and his strength had returned considerably. This was all too bizarre!

Zhang Bufan stood up, walked to the stone wall beside him, and reached out to touch it. The stone wall was cold and hard, rough to the touch, with uneven textures; his fingertips could clearly feel its texture as they ran across it. He then walked to a milky-white stone embedded in the wall and carefully reached out to touch it. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the stone, a faint warmth emanated from it, gently brushing against his fingertips, causing him to involuntarily withdraw his hand. This warmth was very comfortable, like the winter sun, making him feel completely at ease.

"What are these stones? They can glow and emit heat?"

Zhang Bufan's doubts deepened. In his thirty-eight years, he had never seen such a stone; there was no record of it in books or in real life. He walked to the sealed end of the cave and examined it closely. This stone wall was also bluish-black, its surface perfectly smooth, without any trace of a door or passage. It was as if a naturally formed wall had completely sealed off this end of the cave.

Zhang Bufan tapped the stone wall with his hand, producing a dull, heavy "thump-thump," sounding incredibly solid and impossible to break through by force. Since this end was impassable, only the end extending diagonally downwards remained. Zhang Bufan turned around and looked at the other end of the cave, deep and dark. It was dimly lit there, with only scattered slivers of light filtering down from the stone walls above, barely enough to see the path beneath his feet. The slope of the passage wasn't too steep, but it wasn't gentle either, requiring extra caution to traverse.

"No matter what's ahead, I have to go and see. I can't just stand here in a daze," Zhang Bufan thought to himself.

In his current situation, he had no choice but to keep moving forward. Staying put would only lead to greater despair; only by actively exploring could he find a way out and figure out where he was. He took a deep breath, checked his physical condition again, and after confirming that there were no problems, he started walking towards the downward-sloping passage.

As soon as Zhang Bufan stepped into the passage, he felt the ground beneath his feet was also made of dark bluish-black stone, somewhat damp and slippery. He instinctively slowed his pace, moving forward cautiously. The cave was unusually quiet, with only the echoes of his footsteps and breathing. As he went deeper, the milky-white stones on the upper walls became increasingly sparse, and the light in the tunnel grew stronger. The fragrance in the air grew richer, mixed with a faint moisture, making his skin feel slightly damp.

As Zhang Bufan walked, he carefully observed his surroundings. The stone walls on both sides were still bluish-black, and the patterns on them were becoming clearer, looking like some kind of complex pattern. He could vaguely make out some symbols that resembled writing, but due to the dim light and the ancient and obscure patterns and symbols, he could not make them out at all.

He didn't know how long he had been walking; it felt like three or four hours. The passage stretched downwards without any turns or branches. He was almost exhausted; fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he felt a growing hunger in his stomach. But he dared not stop and could only grit his teeth and persevere.

Suddenly, his foot slipped, and he stumbled forward a few steps. Zhang Bufan was startled and quickly reached out to grab the stone wall beside him, barely managing to steady himself. Looking down, he saw that the stone beneath his feet was covered with a thin layer of moss, which, combined with the moisture, had made it extremely slippery.

"That was close!"

Zhang Bufan patted his chest, a wave of lingering fear washing over him. If he hadn't grabbed the stone wall, he might have slipped all the way down the passage, with unimaginable consequences. He became even more cautious, testing the ground beneath his feet before taking each step, only moving forward when it was safe. At the same time, he carefully observed his surroundings, hoping to find some useful clues.

After walking for about ten more minutes, Zhang Bufan suddenly felt that the air around him had become more humid, and the fragrance in the air had become more intense. He looked up and saw that at the end of the passage, there seemed to be a brighter area, and he could faintly hear the sound of flowing water.

"There's light ahead? And the sound of flowing water?" Zhang Bufan was overjoyed, his spirits instantly lifted. The light meant there might be an exit or another space ahead; the sound of flowing water meant there was a water source nearby. This was undoubtedly good news for him.

He quickened his pace, heading towards the light. As he drew closer, the light grew clearer, and the sound of flowing water grew louder, transforming from a faint murmur into a babbling brook. After walking several hundred meters more, Zhang Bufan finally emerged from the dimly lit passage, and the scene before him once again left him speechless with astonishment.

At the end of the passage lay an even more expansive space, resembling a massive underground cavern over three hundred meters high, with countless stalactite columns, tens of meters thick, connecting heaven and earth, or perhaps acting as supporting pillars. The cavern's ceiling was also inlaid with numerous milky-white, luminous stones, emitting a much brighter light than the previous passage, illuminating the entire cavern as if it were daytime. In the middle of the cavern, a clear stream flowed, its water babbling gently, the pebbles on the bottom clearly visible. On both banks of the stream grew plants he had never seen before; their leaves possessed an unusual emerald green color, shimmering faintly in the dim light, and emitting a rich, sweet fragrance.

Zhang Bufan stood there, stunned, for several minutes before slowly coming back to his senses. He simply couldn't imagine that such a magical place was hidden beneath the cliffs of Mount Hua. Everything here was beyond his comprehension, filled with mystery and the unknown.

He walked to the stream, squatted down, and carefully observed the water. The water was icy cold, crystal clear, and devoid of fish or shrimp, only containing some smooth pebbles. He reached out, scooped up a handful of water, and took a sip. The water was sweet and refreshing; upon tasting it, a cool sensation instantly spread throughout his body, relieving his fatigue and even refreshing his mind.

"Good water!" Zhang Bufan couldn't help but exclaim. He had never drunk such sweet water before, better than any mineral water he had ever tasted. At that moment, Zhang Bufan felt that he should still be alive, otherwise the feeling of hunger and thirst would not be so real.

He stood up and looked around again. The underground cavern was also very vast, stretching as far as the eye could see, with many stone pillars obstructing his view. But he knew he couldn't stay here any longer. He had to find a way out as soon as possible, figure out where he was, and then find a way to contact the outside world and tell his parents that he was still alive.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his hesitation, and walked along the stream towards its flow. Whether what lay ahead was a way out or danger, he had to face it bravely.