Who Said Transmigration Didn't Require a Toll?

Su Mu slowly opened his eyes and felt incomparably refreshed, his entire body suffused with an indescribable sense of comfort.

He hurriedly checked his status panel:

Host: Su Mu

Cultivation: Qi Refining Fifth Stage

Mastered Divine Abilities: Water Manipulation, Swimming

Controlled Water Beasts: None

Rivers Under Control: None

River Favor Points: None

Seeing that his cultivation had directly reached the Qi Refining Fifth Stage, Su Mu was dumbfounded.

Didn't they say cultivation was difficult?

He had only eaten one fish, yet his cultivation had shot up like a rocket??

That fish had to be a treasure!

After his cultivation improved, Su Mu walked to the shore, mobilized the spiritual energy within him, gathered it in his palm, and blasted it at the river before him.

Yet the instant the spiritual energy attack landed on the River Surface, it vanished, like a clay ox sinking into the sea. It did not even raise the faintest ripple.

Seeing this, Su Mu was stunned.

No way???

That weak?

He only wanted to catch a fish. Was it really that hard?

I'm a dignified Qi Refining cultivator. I just want to catch a few fish. What did I do wrong??

After several fruitless attempts, Su Mu gave up.

Fortunately, after his cultivation improved, he no longer felt hungry. He had probably reached the legendary Semi-Seclusion state, which meant he did not have to worry about starving to death for the time being.

The next second, Su Mu used the divine ability "Water Manipulation" and discovered that he could still only control a single drop of water!

This made Su Mu start questioning his life.

Su Mu plunged headfirst into the icy river and began searching for prey, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not find a single fish. He did not even see a hair!

That golden carp from before had definitely been a treasure, so Su Mu planned to find another one.

But he could not find even the slightest trace of one. The river water was freezing as hell, and after swimming for less than three hours, he was shivering from the cold and climbed back onto the shore.

At that moment, Su Mu once again prayed devoutly to the great river. "Great River God, I owe you another beautiful girl. Please send down another divine fish!"

After he spoke, there was no response.

He begged again, but there was still no response.

Su Mu scratched his head in frustration. How had he ended up trapped in this godforsaken place?!

One month later.

A sallow-faced young man leaned on a crutch made from deadwood as he limped along the riverbank. Starvation had made his cheekbones protrude, and his vision had gone dark.

He had overlooked an important factor: Qi Refining cultivators could indeed enter Semi-Seclusion, but they still needed to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

"What kind of damn place is this? A damn place!"

Su Mu felt as though he had been cursed with terrible luck. He had transmigrated to this hellhole, where he could not sense even a trace of spiritual energy in the air, and the oxygen was thin too.

He had been hungry for an entire month, so hungry that he was about to start hallucinating.

Then, in his daze, he saw a Small Boat appear ahead, with someone standing on it.

He threw down his crutch and ran toward the Small Boat, shouting, "Hey, hey, hey! Help!"

But no matter how he shouted, the other person could not hear him. It even seemed as though the man could not see him.

Su Mu could not care about that anymore. He jumped straight into the river and swam toward the Small Boat.

A young man stood on the Small Boat, dressed casually. His shirt was BOY, his shoes were A Di, and his pants were Noble Bird.

The young man wore a bewildered expression as he let the Small Boat drift along on its own.

Then he saw someone swimming toward him on the River Surface and jumped in fright.

After Su Mu drew near the boat, the young man cupped his fists and bowed. "No offense intended, no offense intended."

Hearing this, Su Mu furrowed his brows. When he saw the young man's clothing, his pupils contracted, and he instantly perked up.

Dressed like that... could he be from Blue Star too?!

Well, damn. Had he run into a protagonist who had transmigrated from Blue Star to another world??

Su Mu jumped onto the Small Boat and looked at the young man kneeling before him. "Who are you?"

The next second.

The young man raised his head, looked at the man before him who was bare-chested and wearing only a pair of blue shorts, and replied, "This Little Brother is Han Xiaopao. May I ask where this place is?"

"You don't know where this place is either?" Su Mu asked.

"I don't know."

Naturally, Han Xiaopao could not say that he had transmigrated. As someone from another world, he could not reveal his identity to the natives.

"I was about to ask you where this place is."

Han Xiaopao looked at Su Mu with hope in his eyes.

Su Mu shook his head. Looking down, he noticed two large characters written on the deck of the Small Boat—"Tiannan."

"You can't see the words on there?"

Su Mu pointed at the two large characters on the deck and asked.

"I can't see them."

"Are there words there?"

Han Xiaopao looked in the direction Su Mu was pointing but saw nothing, so he shook his head.

At that moment, the Small Boat was still moving forward on its own.

Su Mu stroked his chin and muttered inwardly:

Could it be that the place this Small Boat is headed for is somewhere called Tiannan?

Perfect!

I can take this strange Small Boat and leave this pathetic little river together with him.

"Would it be convenient for us to travel together?"

"I'm the River Warden here. My boat broke down, and the town is too far away. Going by boat would be faster."

Su Mu asked.

"Fine."

Han Xiaopao did not refuse and agreed.

And so, the two sat in the boat and drifted forward with the river's current.

Suddenly, the Small Boat came to a complete Stillness.

The two stared at each other.

Su Mu turned to Han Xiaopao and asked, "Brother Han, is there something wrong with your boat?"

At his words, Han Xiaopao's heart skipped a beat. This boat was not actually his. When he opened his eyes after transmigrating, he had already been on this boat, and he could not even jump off—it had trapped him aboard.

He was actually shocked by how the young man before him had managed to board it.

At that moment, the system's voice rang out in Su Mu's mind: Please disembark, Host. You cannot leave this river for the time being. Please refine this river before attempting to leave again.

Hearing that voice, Su Mu felt like crying without tears.

Well, damn. So it was forcing him to be a River Warden??

Then an idea struck Su Mu, and he said to Han Xiaopao, "Brother Han, I know a little about repairs. Unlike my boat, which is completely wrecked, your boat should only have a minor problem."

"But if I repair your boat, you'll have to pay me a repair fee and a River Crossing Fee."

"You know, I'm the River Warden here. Any boat passing through has to pay a little River Crossing Fee."

Han Xiaopao was dumbfounded.

What???

Did transmigration require a toll now too??

Han Xiaopao searched all over himself before finally pulling out a Snickers bar. He handed it to Su Mu and said, "This is all I have."

Hearing that, Su Mu finally realized that made sense.

Han Xiaopao had only just transmigrated, so he would not have anything valuable on him.

Forget it. This kid had only just started transmigrating, and he did not even have a Golden Finger yet. Naturally, he had no toll to pay.

Still, Su Mu had no intention of letting him pass so easily.

"Do you have any paper on you?"

"What kind of paper? Toilet paper? What, do you need to take a dump?"

"No, paper you can write on."

Han Xiaopao took out a stack of brand-new A4 Paper from the briefcase at his waist.

Seeing that, Su Mu snatched the entire stack and pulled out one sheet.

"Do you have a pen?"

"No."

Su Mu looked at the ink-black river water, extended his index finger, dipped it in the water, and began writing something on the A4 Paper.

"Then I'll give you a plan."