The Man Looking for Sheep

Favor Points -4000

River Affinity: 0.06% → River Affinity: 0.1%

After his affinity reached 0.1%, the most obvious feeling was that his connection to this river had grown stronger.

Having finally reached the 0.1% threshold, Su Mu could not wait to upgrade his abilities.

He opened the upgrade interface for Water Manipulation.

Separation: Level 1 (0/100)

Stillness: Level 1 (0/100)

Acceleration: Level 1 (0/100)

Backflow: Level 1 (0/100)

Now that the "progress bars" were visible, it meant the restrictions had been lifted, and he could continue upgrading them.

Separation +100

Separation: Level 2 (Further upgrades available after River Affinity reaches "1%")

Description: Range expanded to "ten jin." Can manipulate up to "ten jin" of water at once, separating it from the water's surface.

Su Mu was dumbfounded.

What the hell??

Ten jin?

What kind of obscure unit was that?

After working so hard to raise it to Level 2, it was telling him he could only control ten jin of water?

Wasn't that way too weak?

Su Mu raised his right hand, and roughly ten jin of water rose from the river's surface, gathering into a water ball. He could control those ten jin of water to attack, move, change shape, and perform a series of other actions.

Still, compared to the ten drops of water he could control before, it was a huge improvement. Su Mu could only console himself that way.

Stillness +100

Stillness: Level 2 (Further upgrades available after River Affinity reaches "1%")

Description: Range expanded to "fifty square meters." Can render a fifty-square-meter area of water still, stopping its flow.

Backflow +100

Backflow: Level 2 (Further upgrades available after River Affinity reaches "1%")

Description: Range expanded to "fifty square meters." Can make a fifty-square-meter area of water flow backward.

After upgrading all three abilities, Su Mu had only 25 points left, not enough for another upgrade.

Standing by the riverbank, Su Mu extended his right hand and used his abilities to make fifty square meters of water stand still or flow backward.

The river is calm today. Reward for successful guarding: Favor Points +50

In view of your diligent care of the river channel over the past few days, Favor Points +30

Host detected diligently patrolling. Favor Points +10

In just three days, Su Mu had saved up more than two hundred Favor Points. Together with the 25 he had left over, he now had a total of 275 Favor Points.

Acceleration +100

Acceleration: Level 2 (Further upgrades available after River Affinity reaches "1%")

Description: Range expanded to "fifty square meters." Can accelerate the flow speed of water within a fifty-square-meter area.

Su Mu decided to upgrade his Swimming ability as well.

Swimming +100

Swimming: Level 2 (Further upgrades available after River Affinity reaches "1%")

Description: Can roam through any body of water and walk upon its surface. Speed increased twentyfold, endurance increased twentyfold, and negative effects caused by water reduced by 30%.

Su Mu jumped into the water and found that his speed had reached one hundred meters per second!

With my swimming speed, if I went back to Blue Star, Phelps and the rest would all have to step aside and hand Grandpa his medal!

"Where has Little Mahi run off to lately?"

Su Mu had not seen Little Mahi for nearly a month. If not for their mental connection, he would have suspected it had already died.

Through their mental connection, Su Mu discovered that Little Mahi was no longer in this stretch of water. It had gone upstream, and quite a distance away at that.

As long as it was alive, that was fine.

One day, while he was taking an afternoon nap, Su Mu heard some movement on the river's surface through his drowsiness.

He sat halfway up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked toward the river. He vaguely made out a figure walking atop the water. Su Mu's pupils abruptly shrank. His drowsiness vanished instantly, and he rose to his feet, stepping across the water toward the figure.

Li Qi Ye was walking upstream against the current, his expression extremely wary as he kept watch on his surroundings at all times.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of water ahead. Looking up, he saw a man stepping across the water toward him. The man arrived before Li Qi Ye with effortless ease and blocked his path.

Li Qi Ye felt as though he were facing a formidable enemy. He stared at Su Mu in disbelief for a long while before finally asking, "Y-you, who are you?!"

Hearing that, Su Mu laughed. You barged into my territory, kid, and you're asking who I am? "That's what I should be asking you."

"You entered my territory without permission. You think you can leave without even saying hello?"

Li Qi Ye looked as if he had heard something utterly unbelievable. His face was filled with shock, and even his voice stuttered. "Y-your territory? You're saying this river belongs to you?"

"What?"

"Is there a problem?"

Su Mu frowned. The aura around this man was somewhat strange. He did not seem like a Transmigrator who had just arrived; he was likely a native cultivator.

Su Mu could not see through the other man's cultivation, so his realm was probably not low.

"No problem."

Li Qi Ye was also secretly assessing Su Mu's cultivation. The more he looked, the more shocked he became, because it had been many, many years since he had seen someone with such a low cultivation realm!

He had nearly forgotten that the Golden Core realm even existed. It was too distant, too insignificant.

But!

He absolutely did not dare treat this man walking upon the River of Time as some ordinary weakling at the Golden Core realm. It had to be a facade.

"Where are you planning to go?" Seeing the urgency in the man's expression, Su Mu asked.

"To find my sheep."

Li Qi Ye answered bluntly.

"Find sheep?"

"You came all the way here to find sheep? What kind of sheep can be on a river?" Su Mu felt that this man was a little unhinged. Which psychiatric hospital had this patient escaped from?

"Other people's sheep might not be able to be on this river, but mine might."

Li Qi Ye replied.

"Find whatever sheep you want."

"I am the River Warden here."

"I opened this river. If you want to pass through, leave behind a toll."

Su Mu could not be bothered to waste words with him. In his eyes, this man was here to cause trouble. As long as he maintained order, he could earn Favor Points, so how could he possibly let the man do as he pleased?

Hearing this, Li Qi Ye's heart skipped a beat. No matter how he looked, he could not see through the man's true cultivation. There was only one possibility: the other man's cultivation was far above his own.

At that moment, Li Qi Ye suddenly cupped his fists and smiled. "I wonder if Fellow Daoist has heard of the name Li Qi Ye?"

"Could you do me this favor?"

Li Qi Ye had cultivated to the supreme realm. He was also a frequent visitor to the River of Time and often passed through it. In his later years, he had traveled through countless Great Worlds in search of his sheep, and his name resounded throughout the Myriad Realms.

He had come to the River of Time before, yet he had never seen any River Warden. Why had one suddenly appeared?