When Li Xiaohu opened his eyes, a stark white ceiling greeted his vision. Looking down, he saw his entire body wrapped in strips of cloth, his nose filled with the strange scent of medicine. Was he... still alive?
Li Xiaohu was a young Daoist priest at an ordinary Daoist temple outside of Yuzhou City. He had lived in the temple for as long as he could remember. His only family consisted of two masters. According to his masters, before taking him in, he had lived with a tiger, which was how he got the name Xiaohu.
Since he was three years old, his masters had taught him the Dao. Blessed with natural intelligence, in ten years he had mastered all the Daoist arts passed down by his sect. When he was fifteen, his masters passed away. Following their dying wishes, he descended the mountain to gain experience. Later, he befriended a few companions, and while capturing a demon, they accidentally strayed into an ancient tomb, tripped a mechanism, and plunged into an endless abyss.
Thinking he was bound for the underworld, it seemed someone had saved him after all. Li Xiaohu struggled to sit up. A kindness as small as a drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring, let alone saving a life. Since someone had saved him, no matter who it was, he must repay them.
A woman dressed in white just happened to walk through the door. Seeing Xiaohu sitting up, she quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't move around. Your wounds haven't healed yet, you need to rest quietly."
With that, she called over a man also dressed in white. Together, they pressed Xiaohu back onto the hospital bed and began examining him. Xiaohu checked his own injuries; they certainly looked severe, but fortunately, they had not damaged his dantian, and his repertoire of spells included healing arts. Still, he couldn't bring himself to reject the kind intentions of these two people, so he let them examine him.
When the examination was finished, Xiaohu spoke up, "Thank you for saving my life. I will repay you well."
Finishing his check of the wounds and seeing no deterioration, the doctor let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Mr. Iceburg saved you. When you were first brought here, your condition was critical. If it hadn't been for the timely rescue, you'd have been in grave danger."
"So the two of you are physicians? My benefactor is named Mr. Iceburg? Once my injuries heal, I will definitely pay a formal visit."
"Physician? Uh... I'm a doctor, and she's a nurse."
"A doctor? Do you mean a medical practitioner? And what is a nurse?"
"This... have you never been to a hospital?"
"What is a hospital?"
"..., sir, please lie back down. I need to examine your brain. I suspect there might be a slight concussion or sequela."
Before Li Xiaohu could react, the doctor pushed him into a strange container. After quite a while, the doctor found nothing wrong.
"Strange, there's no brain damage. Do you remember your name, or where you came from?"
"My name is Li Xiaohu, from Tianming Temple in the suburbs of Yuzhou."
"Yuzhou? Tianming Temple? Never heard of it. Nurse, have you ever heard of that?"
"I haven't either."
Li Xiaohu asked in confusion, "Although Yuzhou may not be as bustling as Chang'an, Yuzhou's Xin'an Pawnshop is renowned far and wide. How could you not have heard of it?"
"This... we really haven't heard of Yuzhou. This is Water 7, also known as the City of Water. Alright, let's not dwell on this for now. Your injuries haven't healed, so you need to get some rest, and I need to report the situation to Mr. Iceburg." With that, the doctor instructed the nurse a few times and went outside. The nurse patiently asked about Xiaohu's condition and said she would go prepare some food for him.
After the nurse left, Xiaohu closed his eyes and looked inward at his dantian, where a Yin-Yang Taiji was slowly revolving.
According to the mental cultivation method he practiced, Li Xiaohu's cultivation had already reached the Three Flowers stage.The Daoist technique he practiced was called the *Yin-Yang Secrets*, and its stages were Taiji, Two Modes, Three Flowers, Four Images, Five Qi, Six Yao, Seven Stars, Eight Gates, and Nine Revolutions, with each stage divided into nine tiers. Legend had it that upon cultivating the Nine Revolutions Yin-Yang to completion, one could break free from the shackles of the mortal flesh, achieve the status of an Immortal Sovereign, and live as long as heaven and earth. However, even his master had only reached the eighth tier of the Eight Gates before passing away with lingering regrets.
The most fatal wounds on his body had already been treated. The remaining flesh wounds, which had not damaged his meridians, could be healed by the *Yin-Yang Secrets*. He quieted his mind and concentrated, guiding a surge of True Qi from his dantian toward his meridians. Yet this time, the True Qi, usually infallible, met with heavy resistance. What was going on?
With great difficulty, Xiaohu circulated the True Qi once. His wounds felt somewhat better, but he was left slightly out of breath. Sensing carefully, he realized there was nothing wrong with his meridians; the problem lay in the outside world. This realm seemed to possess an invisible pressure suppressing the flow of True Qi. Furthermore, the spiritual energy here was extremely volatile and impossible to cultivate with.
Fortunately, Xiaohu quickly discovered his Qiankun pouch on the table beside the bed, which contained the Spirit Stones left behind by his masters. Thus, Xiaohu took out the Spirit Stones to restore his True Qi.
After spending some time, Xiaohu managed to heal more than half of his injuries, enough that they no longer impeded his movement. At that moment, the nurse brought in the food. Feeling ravenous, Xiaohu thanked her and began to wolf down the meal. As he ate, he asked the nurse about Water 7. Her answers, however, left him completely bewildered.
Clearly, this place was entirely different from the regions he knew. Water 7 was a city built upon the sea, featuring intricate waterways and Galley-La Company, the largest shipbuilding company in the world. As for Mr. Iceburg, he was the mayor of Water 7 and the president of Galley-La Company, deeply loved and admired by the citizens.
The nurse went on to mention a few famous landmarks, such as the Red Line and Marineford. Xiaohu indicated he had never heard of any of them. Meanwhile, the places Xiaohu named were equally foreign to the nurse.
After the nurse left, Li Xiaohu wrung his brains trying to figure out what on earth had happened after he fell into the abyss. Could this be a world within the abyss? Yet looking out the window, the sky and earth appeared completely normal.
Unable to make sense of it, Li Xiaohu decided to first find an opportunity to repay Mr. Iceburg for saving him. As a cultivator of the Dao, one should adapt to whatever circumstances arise. Right now, the most important thing was to repay this debt.
"Ding! Sword and Fairy System activated. Quest received: Repay Mr. Iceburg for saving your life. Quest time limit: Unlimited. Quest reward: Sword Control Technique."
What was that sound? Li Xiaohu jumped in fright. A strange voice had suddenly appeared in his mind; could someone be attacking him? He hurriedly fortified his sea of consciousness to resist external invasion. However, he found no enemies; instead, he "saw" a scroll materializing within his sea of consciousness.
"Sword and Fairy System? What is this thing?"
Sensing that the scroll posed no threat, Li Xiaohu cautiously probed the information inscribed upon it.
"Name: Li Xiaohu"
"Level: Three Flowers - Stage 1 (Level 19)"
"Vigor: 180/300"
"Qi: 12/150"
"Spirit: 43/220"
"Technique: Yin-Yang Secrets"
"Equipment: Celestial Master Daoist Robe, Longquan Sword"
"Skills: Taiji Boxing, Tianming Swordplay, Celestial Master Talisman Art, Basic Formations, Artifact Crafting, Alchemy, Qi Healing Art, Appraisal Art."
"Is this record detailing my condition?" Li Xiaohu continued reading downward.
"Quest: Repay Mr. Iceburg for saving your life. Quest time limit: Unlimited. Quest reward: Sword Control Technique."
"Immortal Spells: None."
"Items: None."
"Teammates: Party mode not unlocked, please level up as soon as possible."
"This Sword and Fairy System... is it a magical treasure? Then was the voice just now the artifact spirit? Does this magical treasure grant cultivation methods and swordsmanship by completing the tasks it assigns? The Sword Control Technique... isn't that from the Shushan Immortal Sect? Does this magical treasure come from Shushan? Then how did it choose me?"
Li Xiaohu felt that after waking up, his confusions had only multiplied. Still, it didn't matter. As long as he remained devoted to the Dao, one day he would achieve enlightenment, and at that time, he would understand all things in the world.