Dragon Country, Dujiang County, by the reservoir.
A man wearing a bamboo hat and draped in a blue raincoat stared intently at the float on the river's surface.
At the moment Su Mu lit a cigarette, a massive strike.
Su Mu quickly clamped the cigarette in his mouth, but the lighter fell into the water. He picked up the fishing rod and began to tug.
He tugged for five minutes.
Yes, that's right, a bighead carp, ten pounds.
After reeling it in, he patted the fish's belly and released it. At this moment, several anglers on the banks shouted angrily: "Didn't you say fishing is not allowed here at the reservoir? Why can you fish?"
Hearing this, Su Mu took one last puff of his cigarette, put his hands in his pockets, and said: "You need a license."
As he spoke, he took out a blue booklet engraved with three large words—"Fishing License."
"Got this thing?"
The two anglers on the bank looked at each other, "Not sure. Just a mere security guard, look how arrogant he is! Let's go, find another spot."
"Hope he night-fishes into the power lines!"
Saying that, the two anglers left reluctantly.
.....
In the night.
Su Mu, night fishing by the bank while warming himself by the fireplace, was on the phone.
"Su Mu, are you out of your mind? Why leave a fifty-thousand-a-year executive job to become a security guard at a reservoir?"
"Watch your words. I took a test for this, a reservoir administrator, a legitimate position with full benefits."
"What's the use? Two thousand a month? When will you marry me? When will you save enough for the dowry?"
"Wait? Who are you?"
"I'm Xiao Li!"
"Oh."
Beep beep beep—
After hanging up, another colleague came out of the duty room and asked, "Old Su, who was that?"
Su Mu coughed up some phlegm, staring at the glowing float on the river's surface: "Ex-girlfriend."
.....
"No bites tonight."
With that, Su Mu picked up the sea rod, took a few steps back, revealed his Qilin arm, and hurled it forcefully towards the river's center.
Unexpectedly, he threw it too hard, landing straight onto the power line opposite.
The next second, amidst the flashing lightning and thunder, Su Mu instantly transformed into the fiery spirit Brand, engulfed in flames, and plunged into the water.
"Old Su!! Old Su!"
Falling into the icy river, his body kept sinking, and the voices from the bank grew faint. On the brink of consciousness, a montage of his chaotic life flashed before his eyes. Su Mu knew he was in trouble.
Reflecting on his unfortunate life, it truly seemed unlucky; he had only been guarding the reservoir for less than a month, just starting to enjoy life...
Is it the end?
....
The next second, after an indefinite amount of time, having lost all sense of time.
Su Mu regained consciousness, his body re-experiencing the chill; he opened his eyes to find himself floating on the river...
The river was dark, icy, and piercingly cold.
He stood upright, started treading water, and assessed his surroundings.
Damn it, where have they brought me, is this still my country?
In Su Mu's moment of despair, an ethereal voice echoed in his mind:
[River Guardian System, successfully bound!]
Upon hearing this voice, Su Mu, fond of reading fantasy novels, instantly understood—he had transmigrated!
But why was he still guarding a river??
Even after transmigration, why am I still tasked with this?!
He swam vigorously towards the riverbank, climbed ashore, and lay on the bank, gasping for breath.
After resting for a while, he finally caught his breath.
...
[Host: Su Mu]
[Cultivation: None]
[Mastered Divine Techniques: Water Control, Swimming]
[Water Beast Tamer: None]
[River Authority: None]
[River Favor Points: None]
Su Mu checked his attribute panel, all uniformly marked: "None."
After hours of back and forth, Su Mu finally understood his system's function.
His system could refine any water beast in the water bodies for his use. He could also control rivers. Essentially, as long as it had anything to do with "water," he could fiddle with it.
Su Mu gazed at the small river before him and murmured, "Let's start with this small broken river then."
"But first, I should find a household to settle down in."
...
However, after walking along the riverbank for several days, Su Mu found no trace of any households or signs of human life.
He was starving, having lasted seven days as a mortal was his limit.
Su Mu, pale and exhausted, sat on the bank, staring at the river, swallowing his saliva, he resolved to revert to his old profession.
But he didn't even have a fishing rod; how could he fish?
Moreover, the water was freezing and deep, plus his exhausted state; going into the river to catch fish was impractical.
Could he starve to death here??
This cramped death would probably top the "most pathetic transmigrated protagonist" list.
At this time, he remembered, didn't he awaken a Divine Technique called "Water Control"?
Walking to the riverbank, Su Mu spread his hands, spiritual power highly concentrated, diligently working for half an hour, his face turning red!
Finally, he managed to control a drop of water!
"Damn, this is way too weak?!"
Besides, what's this "swimming" considered a Divine Technique??!!
....
Su Mu, face ashen, plopped to the ground, knelt by the river, clasped his hands devoutly, and said: "Great River God, I don't have beautiful maidens for your offerings, can we put it on credit? Kindly, send a fish to eat."
Splash—
The next second, the sound of a splash resounded.
A golden carp leapt out of the water, landing in front of Su Mu.
Seeing this, Su Mu was overjoyed and said: "Allow me to praise you, Great River God, I'll owe you the beautiful maidens and repay you later."
With that, Su Mu grabbed the golden carp and found some oddly shaped cobblestones by the bank to set up a simple makeshift stone grill.
After searching for a long time, he found half a piece of dead wood and a cone-shaped sharp stone. Despite rubbing until his hands smoked, he still couldn't start a fire.
Staring at the raw carp, Su Mu couldn't care less, found a sharp flat stone, opened its belly, and cleared out the viscera, washing it clean in the water.
Ignoring if it had any strange parasites inside, he dug in eagerly.
With one bite, Su Mu froze, stars popping out of his eyes.
Oh my god!
This fish is insanely delicious!
No trace of any fishy smell, intensely savory, with incredibly tender meat.
Moreover, after eating half of it, he felt a significant sense of fullness, a warm comfort settled in his stomach.
He saved the remaining half for later.
However, after finishing that half, his eyelids felt heavy, drowsiness overwhelmed him, and he lay on a stone, closed his eyes, and drifted to sleep.
In his dreams, he seemed to hear a crackling sound akin to boiling water echoing by his ears.
....
ps: Cultivation realms from low to high: Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Purple Mansion, Mahayana Stage, Divinity Transformation Realm, Tribulation Crossing Realm, Ascension Realm, Human Immortal, True Immortal, Earth Immortal, Celestial Immortal, Immortal King, Immortal Emperor...