Prefect

A technique!?

"You're sure it's a technique?" The expression on Uncle Liu's face froze solid.

"Mm, a technique, but... I don't know how, but it seems like I learned it too?" Li Qi rubbed his head.

Yes, besides that progress bar that had inexplicably appeared in his mind, he also had another set of memories.

No, it couldn't be called memories, because there were no concrete words or images inside—it was more like... an insight?

"You learned it too? Can you teach it to the gang?" Uncle Liu's previously dejected expression suddenly turned to surprise.

"I don't know... I can't use it yet, and I don't know how to describe it. It's like a feeling, no words, I can't put it into words. Give me some time." Li Qi didn't know what to say.

"It should be a Divine Will Inheritance. It's normal that you can't describe it." Uncle Liu nodded, acknowledging Li Qi's explanation.

"Uncle Liu, you know about this?" Li Qi was stunned.

"Who do you think founded the Wave-Pushing Gang? Who brought the Wave-Pushing Strength here first?" Uncle Liu said with a smile.

Then he reassured Li Qi: "It's fine. Getting a Divine Will Inheritance is a pure profit for us. The only problem is, how did the Mighty Gang manage to latch onto a master?"

Li Qi explained: "I overheard that the master divined the Mighty Gang could help him obtain an 'Outer Path Object,' so he hired them to find it. And they actually did find it. So that master rewarded them with a technique. I happened to witness it and seemed to be affected too. Uncle Liu, what is a Divine Will Inheritance?"

After confirming again that Li Qi had grasped the Divine Will Inheritance, Uncle Liu's expression completely relaxed. He first looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then continued: "I don't know exactly what a Divine Will Inheritance is, but what I do know is that it's like having a book thrown into your head. As long as you train regularly, you can learn the techniques inside. I had a stroke of fortune myself back then and learned the Wave-Pushing Strength, which is how the Wave-Pushing Gang came to be."

"You'll teach us, right?" Uncle Liu asked, his expression a bit tense.

Although he trusted Li Qi greatly... that was still a technique, after all.

"Don't worry. Once I learn it, I won't forget the people in the gang." Li Qi quickly promised.

The Wave-Pushing Gang had taught him the Wave-Pushing Strength, and Uncle Liu had saved him in the first place. He wasn't an ungrateful person, nor would he hoard a technique for himself.

Besides, teaching it to the gang would make them stronger. Maybe they could even branch into other business and live better lives. It was mutually beneficial—no reason to keep it secret.

"Good. Then you don't need to go to the River Opening. We'll cover for you, and your share of the reward won't be cut. Go back now and focus on the Divine Will in your head. See if you can get the technique." Uncle Liu waved his hand, ready to send Li Qi back.

But Li Qi shook his head: "No, I can't go back now."

"Even though I was masked, someone from the Mighty Gang definitely saw me. They won't let it go."

"They'll definitely come after us. If they find someone didn't go to the River Opening, they'll realize something's wrong, just like we did." Li Qi said.

They themselves had noticed something was off when the Mighty Gang didn't show up for the River Opening and went to investigate. The Mighty Gang wasn't stupid—they'd definitely notice something was wrong with the people who went back.

"So, we should proceed with the River Opening as usual. When you all surrounded me earlier, just say I had a sudden fever and collapsed, and you were saving me. Make sure the story is consistent. Uncle Liu, go personally instruct them. Remember, no one left today. I collapsed because of a fever."

"Right, right, right. I was too hasty. We'll do as you say! You rest first. I'll go talk to them." Uncle Liu nodded repeatedly, then quickly walked out of the shed and hurried toward the Wave-Pushing Gang members.

Li Qi, meanwhile, shook his head and sat back down.

Until the next River Opening shift.

For an entire day, he continued the River Opening work, pulling the boat with extra effort.

Until evening, on the Li River within the city, the ice was crushed to pieces, the water began to flow, and the River Opening ended.

But he didn't show anything.

Over the course of that day, he had realized...

What was in his head was probably the last remnant of his game console.

The so-called "Outer Path Object" was that progress bar.

That was his guess—not necessarily correct—but after thinking it over all day, it seemed likely.

Probably some leftover game progress bar? The last bit of his game console?

Damn it. If the console had been intact, would he have a system right now? Instead of just this seemingly useless progress bar?

But complaining was useless. Better to accept reality.

As for that strange "insight" in his mind, he had also figured out what it was.

How?

Of course, by just focusing on that insight, the progress bar would pop up before his eyes:

"Learning: Ox-Strength Technique. Progress: one percent."

So this insight was called the Ox-Strength Technique?

With "technique" as a suffix, it really did seem like a technique.

It had been at 0% originally, but he tried it. It seemed that by immersing himself in it and moving his body in accordance with its rhythm, he could gradually begin to comprehend the method within.

He had sunk into that insight, using something like an "instinct" from it to apply to pulling the boat. After a whole day of this, it had finally reached 1%.

"The River Opening is over. All boat trackers, come here. The Prefect himself will personally give you your rewards!" A clerk stood by the river, shouting at the exhausted trackers.

Hearing this, even though they were drenched in sweat and dead tired, the trackers scrambled to their feet.

After a whole day of labor, and even the fierce competition before the River Opening, wasn't all of it for today's reward?

The river wasn't navigable yet—only this section's ice had been crushed. The Li River stretched for thousands of li; how could it all be opened at once?

The River Opening was just a ceremony, a prayer for the river to thaw quickly.

However, after the River Opening ceremony, it usually takes only seven or eight days for the entire river to be navigable by boats.

And Li Qi, casting aside those superfluous thoughts, hurried over and stood among the crowd.

He wasn't in a hurry; the longer he could stall, the better.

After all, during the River Opening period, the Li Prefecture Armed Guard was here, and the Prefect of Li Prefecture was also here. That young man he'd seen earlier probably wouldn't dare to cause trouble, right?

Although he knew this was essentially useless—if the other party truly wanted to find trouble with him, no one could save him—but what could he do? Delay as much as possible, right?

There were many people around, roughly ten thousand, lined up along the banks of the Lishui River for a full two or three li.

The River Opening ceremony didn't just involve boatmen; there were also sailors, shipwrights, weavers, and so on—dozens of groups in total, all coming together to perform the complete River Opening.

So after the ceremony ended, the Prefect of Li Prefecture, under full ceremonial escort, would circle the river, bestowing rewards upon all the participants along its banks.

Li Qi also watched the progress bar for the River Opening ceremony before him, which had reached 97%.

He estimated that once the rewards were given out, it would hit one hundred.

"The Prefect's carriage has arrived! Bow!" a clerk shouted loudly.

At the command, the crowd by the river all fell to their knees. For three li along the Lishui, the tens of thousands of people, like a wheat field swept by wind, dropped to the ground in unison with a shua!

Such was the authority of a prefect.

Drums, carriages, ceremonial guards, banners.

First came a line of black-armored warriors, each eight feet tall, immensely sturdy, with icy gazes that looked upon the boatmen as if they were livestock. They paid no heed, silently raising their halberds to lead the way.

Li Qi had participated in the River Opening twice before, so he naturally understood what this was.

This was the Li Prefecture Armed Guard.

Every single one of them was a humanoid mecha. Li Qi had personally witnessed the Armed Guard Commander cleave the Lishui River with a single sword strike, halting the river's flow for a full several seconds.

The black-armored warriors cleared the path, and behind them came the carriage.

The carriage was ornate, engraved with mountains and rivers—layered crimson cliffs, sheer standing rocks, hazy light interweaving, stone hues as if about to take flight. Amid countless peaks, twin towers stood facing each other, layered cliffs encircling the outside, and a great river cut through.

If one paid a little attention, they could see that the carriage bore the Fengshui Map of Li Prefecture.

Upon this carriage sat the Prefect, while a man nine feet tall with a strikingly handsome face drove it, slowly proceeding along the banks of the Lishui.

Wherever they passed, he would recite a sacrificial prayer, and then a clerk would step forward to bestow the rewards.

They walked all the way until they reached the boatmen where Li Qi stood.

A voice, full and vigorous, came from the carriage: "Within Qinghua Palace resides the Spirit of the Lishui River, commanding forty-two offices, leading ninety million followers, governing the myriad spirits of ten thousand li of the Lishui. You boatmen are one of these offices, pulling boats and steering ships, resolving heavenly calamities above and aiding the dark realms below. At this River Opening ceremony, you have dissolved calamities through water, erased sins and faults—rewards are due!"

With this prayer, three clerks stepped forward, hauling up nine fat pigs, nine nets of fresh fish, two handfuls of copper coins, and two blocks of ice just fished from the river. These were placed before the kneeling leaders of the Water-Horse Gang and Uncle Liu.

The pigs were estimated to weigh a thousand or two thousand jin, with black bristles and sharp tusks. Their stiff hairs looked like they could turn blades, yet now they were bound tightly, unable to move.

The fish were also close to half a meter long, some even bearing sharp teeth, clearly ferocious.

The two gangs split the rewards evenly. The Wave-Pushing Gang, as the lead group, took an extra share—five pigs and five nets of fish.

The two gangs accepted their rewards but did not leave.

Because everyone had to wait until all the rewards were distributed before they could depart together.

"What's going on...?" Li Qi, who had only wanted to buy himself some peaceful time, suddenly saw a progress bar appear above the Prefect's carriage: 'Ritual Enhancement: Ninety Percent.'

This progress bar advanced extremely quickly, finishing right after the rewards were given to the Boatman Gang.

Li Qi didn't lower his head again but kept staring.

Then, he personally witnessed that every time someone was rewarded and a different prayer was recited, this Ritual Enhancement progress bar would appear once.

All the rewards were handed out.

The Prefect's carriage departed, silent from start to finish, never once showing his face.

But Li Qi suddenly thought of something.

It was what that young scholar had said: "The Way of Humanity gathers the masses for one's own use. All nations under heaven follow the Way of Humanity."

Was this sacrificial ceremony a form of the Way of Humanity?

Li Qi guessed as much.

Then, he looked back at the Lishui River.

This time, he was stunned to find a progress bar hanging over the Lishui.

"River Opening Ceremony: Progress 99%."

"It's not over yet? What's going on?" He was surprised to discover this.

In the past, once all the rewards were given out, the River Opening ceremony was finished, and everyone could disperse.

If not for the progress bar's reminder, this would have been the first time he noticed that the River Opening ceremony wasn't actually complete yet.

Just then, a fellow boatman came up to call Li Qi.

"Brother Li, let's go! Tonight we still need to find a butcher to slaughter the pigs!"

"These five fat pigs and the big fish today—that's definitely enough for our whole year!"

The boat trackers were elated. Some were preparing to take fish home, while a dozen others hoisted fat pigs, ready to carry them to the butcher for slaughter.

In this world, butchering a pig was a technical skill. Even if these trackers wielded cleavers, they couldn't cut through the hide of such large pigs. They had to seek out specialized butchers, whose techniques were heavy and forceful, and who knew the vital points of pigs and sheep. Only they could kill these fat pigs and then carve out the meat.

Thus, the butchers had also formed a small clique.

In this world, almost everyone was inevitably part of a small group centered around a cultivation technique.

"You all go back first. I'm not going," Li Qi suddenly said.

"Huh? Not going? Then where are you headed, Brother Li? They're about to clear people out by the Li River," a tracker asked, puzzled.

But at that moment, Uncle Liu stepped out and kicked him. "What's with all the questions! I've arranged something for Little Li. You pig-heads, stop asking! Go on, your wives are waiting for the meat to put in the pot!"

With Uncle Liu saying that, the others stopped asking. Their minds had already flown to the fat pigs and fresh fish.

They couldn't usually eat this stuff!

They could catch fish, sure, but only small ones. These big fish had terrifying strength in the water; if your technique wasn't refined, a single slap could knock the breath right out of you. They weren't a common delicacy for these trackers.

So they all crowded around Uncle Liu and the pigs and fish, heading off cheerfully.

Uncle Liu didn't ask Li Qi what he was going to do.

After all, Li Qi was still carrying a task right now. It should be about that.

This was also the benefit of a small group.

Here, an individual was nothing without the group, so rules and trust were especially important. After Li Qi made his promise, Uncle Liu unhesitatingly gave him equal trust.

After watching them leave, Li Qi prepared to head out as well.

He had to go. Just as that tracker had said, if he didn't leave, they'd force him out.

After the River Opening, no one was allowed to stay.

It was this rule, along with the progress bar stuck at 99%, that made Li Qi suspicious.

A human path method... strengthening oneself through rituals?

The River Opening ritual wasn't finished, yet the Prefect was already driving people away.

This sparked a wild thought in Li Qi.

Could he take a share of the River Opening ritual!?

After all, he was a participant in the first phase of the River Opening, a part of the ritual itself.

Now that he had secretly learned the Mighty Gang's techniques, by the customs of this world, he was a man marked for death!

Besides, he didn't want to be a boat tracker for the rest of his life!

The sudden awakening of his golden finger, along with the techniques in his mind, all drove Li Qi to consider taking this gamble!