Young Master Jiang Meets His Match: The Travelers' Guild

"Let me introduce myself. My name is He—I govern all rivers across the heavens."

The young River God stepped before Jiang Che and began his introduction.

"Oh? He? Then our names are somewhat alike. My surname is Jiang, and my given name is Che," Jiang Che said with a roguish grin. Though he couldn't defeat the River God now, Jiang Che had a long memory. Once his system finished its breakthrough, he'd slap this guy to death first!

"Jiang..." The River God twitched his mouth.

"Jiang Che, you and I share the same status—we are conceptual gods. May I ask why you've entered the River of Time?"

"Nothing much. I'm just going upstream through the River of Time to the past to do something."

"Oh! But the River of Time involves many complications... Even for transcendent beings like us, changing past events is still somewhat difficult."

"River God, I'm new around here... Don't you want to give me something as a token?"

Jiang Che's blunt request left the River God speechless.

You've already scooped up all those Yin-Yang Fish from my domain, and now you're asking for gifts?

Those Yin-Yang Qiankun Fish were immortal fish nurtured for millions of years, and you've taken them all? Now you're asking me for something—are you even human?

But no matter how incensed he was, Jiang Che was still a peer, and a peer could never be offended.

"Here. This is a supreme divine artifact I've refined for eons: the Qiankun Alms Bowl, a Dao-grade item. Inside it are countless catches—Yin-Yang Fish from the River of Time, and Destiny Goldfish from the River of Fate..."

The River God hoped to smooth things over. Who could have expected a transcendent being to barge into the River of Time?

"Thanks!" Jiang Che never left empty-handed.

That damned River God had cost him tens of billions worth of item cards. It was only right to squeeze some compensation out of him.

And then... Jiang Che swaggered away in front of him, continuing his light boat upstream.

The current timeline marked the fall of the Heavenly Court, so Jiang Che clearly couldn't descend here. He planned to journey all the way back to the Primordial Honghuang Era—it had more people, making it easier to con them.

And so the River God could only stare blankly as Jiang Che departed. If his status were lower and could trigger the trouble-making system, this wave would have brought Jiang Che tens of billions in points.

"Where did this transcendent being even come from?" the River God muttered gloomily.

He must be a member of the Wanderers' organization. Although the River God had joined the Wanderers, they were too mysterious for him to know exactly how many members there were. But without exception, all were transcendent beings from beyond the heavens.

Including himself, every Wanderer had nearly identical status—the absolute limit that the heavens could bear.

With their infinite lifespans and conceptual-level abilities, they called themselves wanderers pacing at the end of time, just like the River God himself.

The River God had once experienced ten thousand consecutive reincarnations. In every life, he drowned in a river at age eighteen. In his 10,001st reincarnation, he awakened a River God system and quickly became invincible across the heavens. Now, he governed the River of Time, the River of Fate, and even anyone whose name contained the character 'he' (river).

The River of Time and River of Fate in these Nine Heavens and Myriad Realms were but a fraction of the waterways he managed. The Nine Heavens were merely a small corner of the vast cosmos.

But no matter how vast the cosmos, his status as River God remained—still governing all 'rivers' across the heavens.

"Jiang Che... mastery over death force? He decides who lives and who dies? Such terrifying, overbearing power. It's just like that guy," the River God said, touching his chest in lingering fear.

"Pfft—"

Suddenly, he spat out another mouthful of blood. The severe wound from that super instant-kill item card still hadn't healed.

If his status had been even slightly lower, that death-force item card would have truly taken him.

The Wanderers included many powerful figures, a variety of transcendent beings.

There was an entity of supreme intelligence who achieved infinity through technology, his network of consciousness spread across the heavens. There was a prophet whose every word came true—even if he said the universe would end in the next second, it would happen.

Then there was a painter: whatever he drew became reality.

These were still within normal boundaries. But many others had stranger abilities. The River God had heard of a loan shark who became invincible while collecting debts, so debtors existed throughout the myriad worlds.

Of course, their status had reached the peak of the heavens. It was like they'd learned from the same master—no one could break another's moves.

The original Dao source of the heavens meant nothing to them. Since they'd already transcended, what need was there for the Dao?

As for those foolish cultivators who spent billions of years toiling toward transcendence? All he could do was sneer. It was utterly impossible!

Status was innate. Even if one cultivated for a billion years, that final step would never be taken.

Transcendent beings weren't elevated through hard work. They were transcendent from the start—they just had to reclaim their own power.

"Still, this Jiang Che is quite interesting. Since I'm bored, I might as well watch what he plans to do by going against time."

The gray-robed youth soon caught up to Jiang Che's boat.

"Damn it—!" Jiang Che was speechless. Why the hell is this guy back again?

"Jiang Che, I'm bored..." the gray-robed youth explained.

Jiang Che's anus tightened. He was absolutely, unequivocally straight, okay?

"Which era do you want to go to? I might be able to help you. Transcendent beings may have great power in some areas, but they also have weaknesses..." the gray-robed youth said.

"Sorry, I'm omnipotent!" Jiang Che declared, then leaped off the boat and plunged headfirst into the River of Time below, swallowed by its endless, surging waves.

"Primordial Honghuang Era? Interesting..." The youth's figure blurred and faded as he too entered the River of Time.

...

"Damn, what bad luck, running into some sticky plaster," Jiang Che grumbled.

He shouldn't have sneaked the fish in the first place. Now that damned River God had followed him.

At Jiang Che's current status, since his system hadn't fully upgraded and he hadn't taken that final step, he really couldn't do anything to the River God.

At most, he could spend tens of billions of points on instant-kill cards and slam them into the River God's face, but it probably wouldn't kill him for good.

What troubled Jiang Che the most was that, with the River God watching over him from behind, he would have to be much more cautious when traveling through time and space. For example, many beautiful girls... he could probably only look at but not touch, since who knew if that creep might secretly become a spectator.

“Damn it, I’m definitely going to earn this trillion points and then directly kill your sorry ass!”