Chapter 3: Progress

(It's not a System, it's traditional Xianxia. If you have questions, please continue reading; everything has a reason.)

The pale-faced young scholar, dressed in cotton clothes, was holding up precisely the half of the game console that Li Qi had discarded!

Then, to his even greater surprise, another burly man emerged from the Strongmen Gang and pulled out the other half from his embrace!

Holy crap! Had his home been robbed?!

These people went to his house and stole his game console?

Although the thing was already broken, and even when he found it, only half remained, he had kept it by his side as a memento, stored in his house.

The Strongmen Gang actually took advantage of the river opening, when no one was home in the Paibo Gang, and found someone to steal it?

What secret did his game console hold? Why was the half he discarded found, and the half in his room stolen?

Are they looking for death?! Not only was that thing useless, but if he reported it to the authorities and they were caught, they would be severely punished.

The constables in this world were not to be trifled with; each of them could fly, escape, divine, and track, with very strong professional abilities. The thieves who usually contended with them had to be at least at the level of Thief Saint Bai Zhantang.

Mere Boat Towmen who dared to steal would definitely be caught and made an example of.

He had always kept his Transmigration a secret, but now it seemed… something was amiss.

He carefully made no sound, but his eyes were fixed on that young scholar.

The man held up the reassembled game console with both hands and looked at the crowd:

"Do you all know why I came here, and why I offered a reward, promising a cultivation method, to have you bring me this strange item?" the young scholar asked, holding the game console.

The burly men below shook their heads vigorously, even the leader of the Strongmen Gang beside the young scholar was no exception.

The young scholar watched them shake their heads, a hint of superiority in his expression.

"We who pursue the Dao, some pursue the Heavenly Dao, controlling natural power, wielding earth, fire, water, and wind, summoning wind and rain with a flick of a finger, solidifying earth into steel with a wave of a hand, knowing the secrets of heaven to understand gain and loss, seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster, free from calamities and tribulations."

"Some pursue the Human Dao, uniting the hearts of millions, manipulating the destiny of the people, sweeping through armies on the battlefield, enjoying the sustenance of the world from the throne, able to establish nations and form divine dynasties, drawing strength from the masses for themselves. All nations in this world are followers of the Human Dao."

"And some pursue the Dao of Reason, seeking the principles of object operation, using these principles for their own benefit, forging weapons and mechanisms for attack, building formidable passes and high cities for defense, discerning patterns, perceiving truth. This is called 'clarifying all things through doctrine,' those who clarify all things through doctrine."

He spoke eloquently, his expression triumphant.

However, just as he was about to continue, he saw that all the strong men around him were utterly bewildered, their faces filled with dazed, clueless expressions.

His initial triumph and pride instantly deflated, his face fell, and he sighed: "Alas, forget it. You are as stupid as pigs and dogs, naturally you won't understand this profound meaning."

Then, he regained his calm expression and held up the game console: "However, although you are like livestock, only knowing how to exert yourselves, I am unwilling to deceive you. This is an object born from one of the Daos, named 'Outer Dao.'"

"Among the Daos, the Heavenly Dao is the highest, commanding all Daos. However, there is one Dao that does not submit to the Heavenly Dao's jurisdiction, and its origin is unknown. Even the Dao of Reason cannot discern its patterns. This Dao is named the Outer Dao."

"More than three years ago, I was in the mountains and divined an anomaly, but objects of the Outer Dao are strange and unpredictable, and divinatory methods struggle to trace their whereabouts."

"So, I spent two and a half years performing a Grand Ritual, and only then did I calculate your Strongmen Gang. The results of the Da Ji suggested that the Strongmen Gang could obtain an Outer Dao object for me. So I descended the mountain and had you do the work, using human effort to search for it on my behalf."

"This is why you all had to search the mountains for the past few months, and why you couldn't get the river opening qualification. After all, your energy was spent helping me find things. I didn't say anything before, just out of concern that you might leak the information."

He explained to the burly men of the Strongmen Gang.

But on the other side, Li Qi, listening to all of this, was utterly stunned.

The Strongmen Gang couldn't get the river opening qualification because this person instructed it?

Outer Dao? Isn't that a Transmigrator?! Did this person divine his existence? Holy crap, then wouldn't he be in extreme danger!?

Wait, calm down. He just said, 'Outer Dao objects are strange and unpredictable, and divinatory methods struggle to trace their whereabouts.' It was precisely because of this that he only divined the existence of an Outer Dao object, but didn't know what it specifically looked like.

Even just calculating the game console, he only sensed a slight anomaly. Later, he spent a full two and a half years performing a Grand Ritual to confirm the clue of 'Strongmen Gang.'

Although he didn't know what a Grand Ritual was, the mere fact that it took two and a half years surely meant it was no easy task.

Considering this, his Transmigration should not have been exposed?

Putting those aside, let's observe a bit more for now.

He knew the origins of the game console; it was just a piece of junk. Besides being an Outer Dao object, it was completely useless. The motherboard was broken, so what good could it be? Just a collectible.

However, the cultivation method that young scholar gave to the Strongmen Gang might affect the dynamics of the three Lifter gangs within the city later on. He needed to at least gather some intelligence here.

And... this was his first true exposure to the world beyond its lowest stratum.

He had never heard of the 'Daos' concept. Having been a Lifter for three years, his understanding of this world was too limited, confined to the lowest social rung, where even eating vegetables required consideration, and meat could only be had through rewards.

He didn't want to be a Lifter for his entire life.

However, no one paid attention to Li Qi's internal monologue. Instead, the young scholar, having finished rambling about why he sought the Strongmen Gang, happily put away the game console.

"Cough, cough, we who practice Shaman Dao must not go against our true nature. My true nature is pure, kind, and honest, so I am unwilling to deceive you. Therefore, I have told you about driving you to do this, and I will not be stingy with the reward you are due."

"This cultivation method is your reward." The young scholar lightly waved his hand, and a purple light coalesced in his palm.

Upon witnessing that purple light, Li Qi suddenly felt his brain roar!

It was like a sledgehammer striking his head. His eyes instantly saw stars, a strong urge to vomit assailed him, his legs went weak, and he directly slipped to the ground, tumbling out from the corner of the wall!

Damn it!

This scared him into a cold sweat. Although his headache was still severe, he forced himself to look up, wanting to stand.

However, when he looked up, he found that the other burly men were all like him, clutching their heads and wailing in pain on the ground, even rolling around, while the young scholar had already turned around, preparing to return to his room.

No one noticed him!

An opportunity!

Even though he was in so much pain that cold sweat streamed down and his vision blurred, he immediately propped himself up, enduring a brain that felt like it was boiling, and stumbled towards the distance.

But before he left, he looked back again.

In that glance, he happened to see the leader of the Strongmen Gang, while rolling on the ground, make eye contact with Li Qi.

"Someone!" he struggled to roar!

And on Li Qi's side, danger and fear swept through his entire body, so much so that he couldn't even maintain thought, remembering only one thing.

Run! Run! Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to escape!

Stumbling and scrambling, he ran wildly, even knocking over many people on the way, not knowing how many passersby cursed loudly.

There was even a burly man who, after being bumped, directly punched him, knocking him to the ground, half of his face swollen.

But Li Qi seemed oblivious, crawling on the ground, his eyes vacant, mumbling only: "Run... run quickly..."

The burly man wanted to hit him again, but seeing this scene, his anger turned to disgust. He spat: "Pah, turns out he's a madman. This master won't bother with you."

After speaking, he kicked him again, then walked away.

Li Qi, however, felt nothing.

Because he could no longer feel his body.

His current sensation was like someone was using an iron hook, inserting it through his nose, ears, and other orifices, then slowly scraping out his brain matter.

The almost unimaginable pain completely destroyed his sanity. Besides the thought of "escaping for his life," he could no longer think.

Thus, he practically tumbled and scrambled back to the riverbank.

The second phase of the river opening was not yet over, so the Paibo Gang members were still there.

He barely managed to run here, then collapsed to the ground, rolling twice.

"Brother Li!?" Someone spotted him first.

"Brother Li is hurt! Quickly go call Uncle Liu." A Lifter immediately said.

Only then did Li Qi finally breathe a sigh of relief. The moment the taut string relaxed, an intense dizziness swept over him, dragging him directly into the abyss of unconsciousness.

Everything went black before his eyes.

His body felt as if it were crushed by a giant boulder, unable to move.

Suddenly, streams of data flowed across his vision.

He had studied programming before, and vaguely remembered... this looked like memory loading?

Why... was he seeing data streams?

In a daze, Li Qi's faint consciousness surfaced with a question.

But those data streams quickly flashed by, then disappeared.

Finally, a series of error messages appeared!

The entire data stream turned red, piling up rapidly in his mind, completely filling his vision.

Then, a big 'ERROR' consumed all his thoughts.

"Ugh—! Ah!" This feeling made him cry out in pain!

Then, all sensations abruptly ceased. He suddenly flipped over, drenched in cold sweat, his clothes soaked, as if he had just emerged from water.

"Brother Li is awake! Water, get water!" A Lifter shouted.

"Water, your head! Meat broth, meat broth!" Uncle Liu, standing nearby, tapped the man and shouted to the other Boat Towmen.

"Right, right, meat broth, bring the broth over!" The man quickly said.

A bowl of meat broth was passed from hand to hand. Although the Boat Towmen kept swallowing, it was quickly delivered to Li Qi's hands.

Li Qi, however, was horrified, flustered, and trembling so much that he couldn't even hold the bowl.

Seeing the soup about to spill, Uncle Liu immediately reached out, took the bowl, and then brought it to his mouth.

Li Qi instinctively gulped it down, soup and meat, until it was all gone. His strength and hydration were replenished, and he finally regained some Qi.

Seeing this, Uncle Liu helped Li Qi up and waved to the other Boat Towmen: "Don't stand around staring, it stinks! Clear out some space, let the wind in. If you're idle, go guard the second phase of the river opening. It's almost our turn, don't delay the important business."

The other Boat Towmen, hearing this, although still somewhat worried, followed Uncle Liu's instructions and all walked away.

Uncle Liu, supporting Li Qi, slowly helped him into the shed by the river dock, which was a resting place for fishermen.

"What happened? How did you get like this?" After helping him inside, he anxiously asked Li Qi.

Because Li Qi's expression was now horrified, half his face was swollen, and he was covered in dust, as if he had rolled all the way back.

He knew this young man, Li Qi. Although his origin was unknown, he was steady in his actions, intelligent, could speak many Doctrinal Canons, and his talent was also very strong. He had cultivated Wave-Breaking Force to Major Achievement in two years, which many old Boat Towmen who had practiced for ten years couldn't do.

Although the Wave-Breaking Force cultivation method was crude and only had one level, it was still a cultivation method. To reach Major Achievement in two years, he was still the most talented person Uncle Liu had ever seen.

How could such a person be so scared?

But Li Qi did not answer him.

Because in his eyes, the world had changed.

He didn't look at Uncle Liu, but stared intently at the river opening scene outside.

Below the large river opening boat, a very abrupt, very rustic-looking box appeared.

And it had a line of Chinese characters written on it:

"River Opening Ceremony, Progress 46%."

Corresponding to this line of text, inside that box, there was also a progress bar, which had advanced to just under halfway.

He then looked at the Lifter drinking soup on the other side.

Below the Lifter, a line of text appeared, and a similarly rustic box.

"Eating, Progress 84%."

The box also had the same progress bar, and it quickly completed, turning into 100%.

As the progress bar turned 100%, the Lifter just finished drinking the meat broth.

Then, he put down the bowl and let out a long sigh of relief.

The progress bar above the Lifter's head changed to "Resting, Progress 1%."

"Little Li? Li Qi?" At this moment, Uncle Liu's face appeared before Li Qi. He leaned close to Li Qi, his expression worried, his brows tightly furrowed.

Li Qi could clearly see that Uncle Liu had a progress bar above his head, identical to the previous two.

"Observing Expressions, Progress 21%."

The box clearly displayed what Uncle Liu was currently doing!

"Little Li?" Uncle Liu raised his voice.

"Huh!" Li Qi quickly replied. He suppressed the doubts in his heart and temporarily didn't pursue what was appearing before his eyes.

"What happened? What did you encounter? Are you hurt?" Seeing Li Qi finally respond, Uncle Liu quickly asked.

"No, nothing, I'm fine." Li Qi stood up, shaking his head, walked to the edge of the shed, looked around, and then asked: "How long was I unconscious? Did anyone chase me?"

"You were only unconscious for less than a quarter of an hour. No one chased you. Were you discovered by the Strongmen Gang?"

"Yes, I saw that the Strongmen Gang, I don't know how, hooked up with a powerful expert who taught them a new cultivation method!" Li Qi said.

cultivation method!

Hearing these two words, Uncle Liu's face instantly turned pale.