Chapter 1: Opening the river

Great Deer Kingdom, Li Prefecture City.

A large river, named Li River, flows through the city.

Li Prefecture is named after the Li River. This great river not only traverses Li Prefecture City but also splits into two downstream: one goes north into Song Kingdom, and the other goes south into the sea. It can be said to be accessible in all directions, making it a very important waterway for transportation in Great Deer Kingdom. Except for winter, it is incredibly busy during other seasons, with hundreds of large and small boats passing through every day.

Hence, there has been a poem since ancient times:

“The Li River’s convenient for boats and ships, south to the vast sea, north to Song. Waves carry wealth, one river achieves a nation’s prosperity.”

It was clearly the transition from winter to spring, the great river had just thawed, and the season was still windy, yet the dockside was bustling with heat and crowds. The combined heat of the laborers and Boat Towmen surged outwards with the stench and heat, making it especially intense.

Today is the Beginning of Spring, and the Li River has unfrozen from its winter ice. Even if it hadn't,民夫 laborers would be called upon to smash the ice layer open and force boats through. This entire process is called “Opening the River.”

Every year for Opening the River, people who make a living from the Li River's water transport gather here. Laborers chisel and weaken the ice, and then Boat Towmen pull a heavy boat to crush the ice, completely clearing the river channel.

Boat Towmen pull boats, laborers smash ice, wind blows sweat and blood, sun tans skin, and the boatmen’s chants are non-stop.

“The rope on my shoulder, oh, ninety-three feet! Ho-hey!”

The Boat Towmen shouted their chant, exerting their strength together to pull the large boat. The thick bottom of the boat, with sails billowing, was also assisted by sailors, who, with the help of wind power combined with human strength, crushed the ice layer.

“A life of toil, oh, bound to the shoulder! Ho-hey!”

This boat is no ordinary vessel; it's a specially made large boat brought out only for Opening the River each year. With an iron-cast bottom and a hull made of century-old wood, no ice layer can withstand a single impact.

“Feet on stone, oh, hands scooping sand! Ho-hey!”

As the ice layer was crushed open, cracks appeared everywhere. Some large chunks of ice tumbled in the water, even creating small icebergs.

“Don't say boats can't sail against the current! Ho-hey!”

The Li River, a great river, is a full five li wide. Opening the River is a massive undertaking, requiring an entire day of work, and even the Governor of Li Prefecture will personally supervise.

The iron-bottomed large boat charged into the ice layer with astonishing force. The terrifying cracking sound broke apart the ice, like a battering ram, sending ice fragments high into the sky, falling around the Boat Towmen like hail. There was also fine icy mist, reflecting the sunlight, casting one rainbow after another.

Icy mist steamed in the air, and steam rose from people's bodies, the cold and heat intertwining to create plumes of white smoke.

As the first batch of Boat Towmen exhausted their strength, a second batch immediately caught up, took over the burden, and continued to pull the icebreaker.

The first batch of Boat Towmen, having shed their heavy burden, quickly dispersed, seeking rest.

Only one person stood still, unmoving.

His skin was dark brown, appearing extremely healthy. Years of pulling boats had developed his muscles, giving him a well-proportioned physique.

What made him stand out even more was that while most other Boat Towmen had rough appearances and hunched backs, he alone stood straight, with handsome features, at first glance not at all resembling a Lifter.

His name is Li Qi.

Li Qi, who had just put down the tow rope, looked at the large boat and the icy river before him and sighed. Even though it was his third time seeing it, he still found it magnificent.

However, before he could even finish his sigh, an old Lifter next to him already embraced him, pulling away Li Qi, who was foolishly standing there admiring the scenery.

“Let’s go, Little Li, it’s time for the second round. Let’s go have some hot soup first!”

“Uh, ah… Okay, Uncle Liu.” Li Qi nodded and walked to the shore with a group of bare-chested Boat Towmen, wearing only loincloths.

Li Qi is also a Lifter, but unlike the others, he wasn't born into generations of Boat Towmen.

On the shore, others had already prepared hot soup and clothes to warm up the Boat Towmen and sailors coming down from Opening the River, because in a little while, once their strength recovered, they would have to go up for the second time.

Sitting together, the Boat Towmen changed into their clothes, cupped their bowls of meat soup, and began to devour their food with loud slurps, their eating manners not at all refined.

Only Li Qi squatted by the river. Although he was also very tired, covered in sweat, and bore scars from the tow rope, he still waited quietly, not rushing to grab the meat soup cooked by the government.

Only after the crowded people had all gotten their share did he step forward, receive his bowl, and return to the riverside, sipping his soup in small mouthfuls while watching the other Boat Towmen pull the large boat.

“Brother Li! Come, I found you a stool!” A Lifter carried a stool from afar, no one knew where he got it from.

“You’ve worked hard, no need, no need, everyone else doesn't have a stool…” Li Qi was about to say something, but he was pressed down by the Lifter next to him.

“Uncle Liu has one too, Brother Li, don’t decline. This first round of Opening the River was obtained for us by you and Uncle Liu. It’s just a chair, what’s there to not sit on?!”

“Exactly, exactly!”

“The first round was personally bestowed by Governor of Li Prefecture. Brother Li helped us get this position, so what's wrong with sitting on a chair?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“Me too!”

Seeing this, Li Qi no longer refused and sat down. While resting, he watched the “second round” of Boat Towmen pull the large boat.

Unconsciously, he had already witnessed Opening the River three times.

It has been almost three years since he came to this world.

Yes, he is not from this world. As he looked at that large boat, this thought resurfaced in his mind.

That large boat probably had a displacement of several thousand tons, yet one or two hundred Boat Towmen, plus the sails, could actually pull it and even smash through ice!

He looked at his own muscular physique again; among the Boat Towmen, he didn't appear thin. Back when he was just an ordinary researcher, how could he have such a physique?

But here… At this thought, he suddenly stood up and fiercely threw a punch!

The air seemed to compress, emitting a whistle with his fist, and dust rose from the ground not far away, as if a heavy object had fallen.

Seeing this, the other Boat Towmen praised, “Brother Li’s Wave-Breaking Force is truly exquisite!”

“I’ve practiced for ten years, and I can’t compare to Brother Li’s two or three years of effort!”

“Nonsense, who are you? Who is Brother Li?”

The Boat Towmen laughed and joked, simply assuming Li Qi suddenly felt like moving a bit, not finding anything strange about it.

Men, when they suddenly get the urge, throwing a couple of punches into the air is perfectly natural, surely no one hasn't done it.

But Li Qi was sighing with emotion.

More than three years ago, after his plane crashed and he lost consciousness, he found himself here, and he came in his physical body. In his pocket, he even had a broken game console and his travel backpack, though most of the contents inside were burned, leaving only a few pieces of scrap metal.

He Transmigrated, and he came with his body.

Transmigration wasn't unheard of, but what about the promised inherited memories? What about the promised original identity?

Nothing at all, not even a household registration.

Others even bring smartphones when they Transmigrate; he only brought half a game console.

Fortunately, he met the local Boat Towmen and was saved. Plus, as a researcher, he at least had some brains, which helped him establish a foundation among the Boat Towmen. After gaining their trust, Uncle Liu taught him some of the Boat Towmen' ancestral methods for strength training.

Yet in just three short years, he can now carry large packages weighing seven or eight hundred catties with ease. He even wonders if he is still human? Can humans achieve this level through exercise?

According to Uncle Liu, the Boat Towmen' method of strength training is still very crude. The methods in the military, government, and among Schools are truly profound, far beyond what Boat Towmen can achieve.

At first, he was incredibly excited, thinking he could achieve great things with the knowledge in his head!

Then reality slapped him hard, and he discovered that this place was incredibly developed, rendering his little cleverness useless… The mathematics he excelled at? In Li Prefecture City, there was a School called Qianji Gate, skilled in divination. Its members could mentally calculate and analyze tables, and they were incredibly proficient in probability theory.

There are indeed no cars here, but the people here can travel a hundred li a day on foot. It is said that wealthy families even have Spirit Beasts, capable of traveling a thousand li a day without effort.

This is still on mountain roads. If there were a highway, could this horse compete with an F1 car?

Yes, there is indeed no machinery here, but what would one do with those machines?

The peculiar rules here have led this world down an entirely different Dao. Although there are few tools, almost all tools can be replaced by human power.

Trucks? Boat Towmen can carry seven or eight hundred catties, and those strong men, each can carry two or three thousand catties and work all day.

Precision machine tools? Li Qi once saw a master craftsman carve a hundred-man battle scene on a grain of rice with a needle in fifteen minutes, just to show off his skill.

Doing research? Are you kidding? The Qianji Gate I mentioned earlier, not to mention their mental calculation abilities, is said to not be considered a major School among the upper echelons of Li Prefecture, but when Li Qi heard them recruiting members, he found that these people's research on probability theory and Chaos algorithms even far surpassed his own world; he couldn't understand it.

Human power, in this world, has been infinitely magnified. Through cultivation method, humans have completely replaced all tools; no tool is as effective as a human themselves.

Even with weapons, Li Qi believes that even if an entire modern army group were placed in this world, it would likely be annihilated by the Li Prefecture's military force.

He had seen those people from the military force when he used to pull boats for important figures. At that time, the military force commander performed martial arts for the officials on the boat, holding a long saber, and with one strike, he cut off the flow of the five-li-wide Li River for a few seconds.

That scene gave Li Qi nightmares for three nights.

Moreover, productivity is not bad at all.

It's said that people from other worlds are all idiots, still in an agrarian society after ten thousand years of development?

They are agrarian, but the problem is, have you ever seen rice yield three or four thousand catties per mu? And it's Spirit Rice, with energy levels that are probably terrifyingly high. When Li Qi hadn't practiced Wave-Breaking Force yet, he couldn't even eat half a bowl at a time; it was too filling. But now, three catties per meal is only half-full.

It's just that he can't eat meat.

Because there is not much livestock farming in this world, meat mainly relies on hunting. However, the cost of hunting is very high, so only during festivals, like when Opening the River is happening now, can they eat some minced meat and meat soup.

Because of this, those Boat Towmen ate like starving ghosts.

Livestock farming is almost non-existent. Li Qi initially thought it was a business opportunity, but after trying it, he gave up.

In this world, people are already so fierce, and those wild beasts are even more extraordinarily fierce. A pig is like a tank, very difficult to domesticate on a large scale. Li Qi has never seen a tiger in this world, but he estimates that thing probably wouldn't have much trouble dismantling a Gundam.

To this day, the only domesticated animals he has seen are the Spirit Beasts that occasionally appear at the docks.

He heard there are also demon beasts and Spirit Beasts, but those are too far removed from Li Qi. As a Lifter, he belongs to the lowest class of society and has no opportunity to witness them.

It's not that he isn't ambitious; for the first two years, he never gave up trying to climb higher, hoping to become a protagonist-like figure.

However, in such a world, cultivation method would inevitably become the most precious resource.

People, relying on cultivation method, gathered into one small group after another.

For example, in this Li Prefecture City, there are three Lifter Gangs: one is their Paibo Gang, and the other two are called Water Horse Gang and Strongmen Gang, totaling seven or eight hundred Boat Towmen.

The three Gangs have extremely strict internal security over their cultivation method. Only after background checks, a pledge of allegiance, and a long period of observation can one be granted the right to practice the cultivation method and officially become a Gang member.

Afterward, they must also swear a poisonous oath and sign a written agreement not to spread the cultivation method. If there is a traitor, not only will there be internal punishment, but even the government has clear regulations prohibiting the disclosure of cultivation method after signing the agreement. The punishment is extremely severe, often involving exile for thirty thousand li, and he doesn't even know how large this continent actually is.

Under these circumstances, the small groups in various cities divided people according to cultivation method. The various Gangs and groups were solidified to an unbelievable degree, and he simply couldn't learn cultivation method from other families.

For three years, aside from relying on his brains to become a strategist in this Paibo Gang, earning the respect of one or two hundred Boat Towmen, he really accomplished nothing.

“Alas…” Thinking of this, he sighed.

Living an uneventful life, though he could eat his fill of rice every day, adding vegetables required some thought. As for meat… that depended entirely on the reward from the important figures above.

He Transmigrated, and his life seemed to have gotten worse… except for his body becoming stronger.

Oh, more than just a little.

It's just, he felt somewhat unwilling.

“Uncle Li, Grandfather Liu is looking for you!” Just then, a child, accompanied by another Lifter who looked forty or fifty years old, ran over and shouted to Li Qi.

As the child shouted, he drooled uncontrollably.

Seeing the child's appearance, Li Qi was amused. He smiled and handed over his half-finished bowl of meat soup: “Alright, looking at you, take it. Remember to return the bowl after you finish drinking!”

The child let out a joyful cry, jumped up happily, grabbed the bowl, and drank the freshly drooled saliva along with it, smacking his lips as he chewed the minced meat inside, even forgetting to say thank you.

However, the old Lifter, referred to as Uncle Liu, frowned when he saw the child. He placed the stool beside Li Qi and then sat down: “You hardly get to eat meat all year, and you gave it to him just for showing the way?”

“Having been rained on, one will hold an umbrella for others. Having been hungry, one will know the preciousness of a casual bowl of soup. If Uncle Liu hadn't given me a bowl of soup back then, wouldn't I have died?” Li Qi said with a casual smile.

Then, he turned to the main topic: “Alright, let’s not talk about that, Uncle Liu, what do you need me for?”

“What I gave you back then was vegetable soup!”

Uncle Liu mumbled, but didn't delay the matter, immediately bringing up the main point: “Little Li, you’re smarter. Help me figure this out, it seems we’ve run into some trouble.”

New book is out! Not a System story, just a heads-up.

Already has a million words completed, no breaks, no abandonment, feel free to follow.