The Quality of Books

Great Qin and Great Chu were going to war!

Great Chu's army had advanced thirty miles north and now stood in confrontation with Great Qin's forces.

Over the past two days, the atmosphere in Dubian Town had grown increasingly tense. There were far fewer shady characters on the streets, and even the cries of street vendors had become much quieter.

The air was filled with the scent of gunpowder.

War still felt rather distant to Ma Feifei. Whether Great Chu won this war or not had nothing to do with him. All he needed to do was guard this Bookstore.

Still, the war had affected some people one way or another.

Zhao Xiaodao was one of them. She had originally been a guard under a merchant guild, often escorting the guild through the various nations. The guild had planned to remain in Dubian Town for two months, but because of the war, they had no choice but to set off early, heading east into Nine Heavens Mountain and then entering Zhao State.

Before leaving, Zhao Xiaodao still came to bid Ma Feifei farewell. Though Ma Feifei had the feeling that she was actually there to see whether the Bookstore had any new books.

Although Half a Mu of Flower Fields had not improved her cultivation, the increased purity of her spiritual power was enough to prove that the books in the Mysterious Bookstore could indeed benefit cultivators.

As for Gongsun Qiong, she had vanished as well. Zhao Xiaodao did not mention it, and Ma Feifei naturally did not ask.

Thus, the Bookstore returned to its quiet state. The difference was that Ma Feifei no longer had to sit alone on a small stool in front of the door, watching people come and go. Nor did he have to guard the Bookstore by himself. Every day, Zhou Zhuling appeared on time and kept Ma Feifei company in the Bookstore.

On weekends, Ma Feifei had to close the store as usual. He needed to continue broadening his understanding of this world. Zhou Zhuling had also finished Half a Mu of Flower Fields before the weekend arrived. Other than taking slightly longer, nothing unusual had happened.

Ma Feifei felt that there had to be some issue here that he had yet to discover.

The air of war filled all of Dubian Town. Even the taverns were discussing the imminent clash between the two nations.

It was said that the Azure Dragon Continent had not seen warfare for many, many years. Since the Five Great Empires had been founded five thousand years ago, there had occasionally been minor frictions between them, but never a war of this scale. Now that the armies of the two nations stood opposed, it was not only Great Chu and Great Qin that were affected. Every force on the Azure Dragon Continent had turned its attention toward it.

Who knew how great an impact this seemingly small war might cause? Great Chu was the leader among the five nations, with Zhao State following behind it as its little brother.

Qin State was no weaker, maintaining friendly relations with Yan State and Qi State.

If the two nations truly fought themselves into a fury, it might become a war among all five nations.

"Three hundred students from Zhenguan Academy have also arrived in Dubian Town."

Zhenguan Academy was one of the Seven Great Academies of the Azure Dragon Continent. It was an academy established by Chu Kingdom, one that specialized in teaching cultivation.

Within Chu Kingdom, Zhenguan Academy held an exalted position. Chu Kingdom's sole Spirit Saint was the academy's headmaster. Moreover, the students who graduated from Zhenguan Academy all went on to achieve great things, far surpassing others.

The three hundred students from Zhenguan Academy had arrived in Dubian Town for two reasons. First, to defend their homeland. Second, to treat this war as a trial for themselves.

"The one leading them this time is Xiaoyaozi, first on the Dragon Ranking. At such a young age, he has already entered the Spirit Sect realm. He truly is heaven's favored son!"

"It is said that he has even caught the eye of one of Vast Academy's deans. Once he graduates, he will be accepted as that dean's personal disciple."

Of the Seven Great Academies on the Azure Dragon Continent, five had been established by the Five Great Empires and were located within their respective territories. The remaining two were Vast Academy and Doctrine of the Mean Academy. The former had seven Spirit Saints stationed there, while the latter had Medicine Saint Shaoyao.

The former was renowned throughout the world, while the latter was known by very few. People could not even find the academy's location.

Though the two were vastly different, entering either was about equally difficult. The former depended on talent, while the latter depended on fate.

That weekend, all Ma Feifei heard were rumors about the war and the three hundred students.

On Monday, Ma Feifei opened the store as usual.

Before long, Zhou Zhuling arrived as well. Her complexion seemed even better than it had been two days earlier. She looked as though she were showing signs of recovery.

"Should I appropriately raise the reading fee?" Ma Feifei wondered as he looked at the large bag of Spirit Crystals on the table, stroking his chin.

Sitting in the corner with Andersen's Fairy Tales in her hands again, Zhou Zhuling had no idea that Ma Feifei was considering raising his prices. She had been in a good mood these past two days. The Bookstore had been closed for two days, but during that time, not only had she not suffered an episode, she had actually felt her body becoming increasingly comfortable. Her insides felt incomparably smooth and clear, and she was refreshed in both body and mind. Though she still could not use spiritual power, her physical strength had greatly improved. She could even jog a few steps.

Perhaps if I keep reading, my illness will be cured. That was Zhou Zhuling's thought.

Even though she had long taken life and death lightly.

Like every story, a person's life would eventually come to an end. Yet now that there was hope for her story to continue, Zhou Zhuling wanted it to be told a little longer. And longer still.

That afternoon, Ma Feifei completed his first original work in days. A flash of golden light appeared and flew into the bookshelf.

Ma Feifei walked over and took the book into his hands, only to discover that it was still a white-covered book.

"Was my writing really that bad?" Ma Feifei was a little unhappy.

If his guess was correct, white books should be the lowest-quality category among the system's books. Oh, no, the system's worst books were blue.

In other words, white books had been judged by the system as utterly worthless! They did not even meet the system's minimum standards!

"I refuse to believe it." Ma Feifei stopped writing and picked up the book he had just created to read it.

"Look at these satisfying moments, this depth, this prose, this structure. What's bad about it?"

And so, as if possessed, Ma Feifei read his own original work while muttering to himself.

Even Zhou Zhuling in the corner was drawn over. More precisely, she had been drawn in the instant that golden light flashed. This was already the second time she had seen such golden light. Whenever it rose from Ma Feifei and flew into the bookshelf, it meant that a new book had appeared.

"The owner has released another new work!" Zhou Zhuling was pleasantly surprised.

Zhou Zhuling had never read any of the books in the Mysterious Bookstore. The stories and settings within were unlike anything she had ever heard of. In her estimation, all of these books had to have been created by Ma Feifei alone, just like Thirty Poems. As for why Andersen's Fairy Tales and Half a Mu of Flower Fields had different names listed as authors, perhaps Ma Feifei had done so deliberately. Besides, wasn't it perfectly normal for a writer to have several pen names?

A new work from the owner meant more books for her to read. Without realizing it, Ma Feifei had successfully gained himself a little fangirl. And she was a stunningly beautiful one at that. Unfortunately, Ma Feifei seemed to feel nothing at all, remaining absorbed in his own work.

As his first work in the truest sense, Ma Feifei absolutely refused to admit that it was bad. Therefore, he could only dump the blame on the system.

That was right. He felt that the system was deliberately making things difficult for him and increasing the difficulty of his task.

But Ma Feifei could do nothing about the system. He could only lower his head and continue writing.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, only three days remained before the one-month main quest expired. During this period, Ma Feifei wrote original works every day, while Zhou Zhuling quietly read the massive Andersen's Fairy Tales. No one came to visit the Bookstore.

Occasionally, Ma Feifei would check Zhou Zhuling's reading progress. She only had a little left to read now, and whether Zhou Zhuling could finish the book within the specified time was extremely important to Ma Feifei.

Fortunately, Zhou Zhuling was not reading the book at a leisurely pace. Judging by her progress, she would be able to finish it just before the month ended.

Ma Feifei's path of creation had also encountered a severe obstacle. During this time, he created four more works in succession, but without exception, they were all white-covered books.

This dealt him a heavy blow. He even began to doubt his own abilities.

"Could it be that I can't even write a blue-covered book?"

"Should I copy one of the Four Great Classical Novels?" Ma Feifei pondered.

"That probably isn't allowed, right? It did say original work."

Since the system had specified original work, works that had already been written in his previous life were presumably not allowed. Although Thirty Poems could also be considered plagiarism, they were poems after all, not really books. The two could not be lumped together.

Taking a step back, Thirty Poems had also been a white-covered book. Even if he copied one of the Four Great Classical Novels, it might still end up as a white-covered book.

Thus, Ma Feifei rejected the idea.

"Huh! Why not write about stories from this world?" Ma Feifei suddenly remembered that he had transmigrated. Could he write about what he had seen and heard in this world?

That seemed like it could work!

"In two days, it'll be the weekend again. Then I can go listen to more strange tales and unusual events from this world before I start writing."