In the days that followed, Yang Chengzhi began making daily trips back and forth to the Mysterious Bookstore. The story in The Legend of the Condor Heroes had captivated him, and he was completely absorbed in it.
Every day, whenever Ma Feifei opened the store, the first person he saw was always Yang Chengzhi. The anxious look hidden beneath his smile never failed to make Ma Feifei sigh. The cultural industry in this world was simply too underdeveloped.
This was a world of cultivation, where people revered the path of training. Although ordinary people made up the vast majority of the Azure Dragon Continent, most of them served the small minority who were cultivators.
People had few ways to enjoy themselves mentally. The entertainment and cultural industries were practically nonexistent. That was even more true for cultivators. Yang Chengzhi was proof of it, as were Zhou Guanyu and Zhao Xiaodao.
In such an environment, The Legend of the Condor Heroes was especially captivating.
It was unlike Half a Mu of Flower Fields and Andersen's Fairy Tales. One was a diary written by its author during her life, reflecting her calm acceptance of life and her regrets; the other was a collection of fables and fairy tales. Neither could really be called a novel. They had no complete world or cast of characters.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes was different. It was a world of its own, with a complete story.
Compared with the Azure Dragon Continent, the world in the book might have been one of low-level martial arts. But that didn't mean a low-level martial arts setting couldn't appeal to people from the Azure Dragon Continent, especially when the story was as gripping as The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
Yang Chengzhi was hooked—completely and utterly.
He had begun cultivating at the age of five. For twenty-one years, he had spent every day cultivating without pause.
Cultivation was tedious and lonely. Yang Chengzhi thought that if he hadn't wanted to climb higher and gain more, he might have gone mad.
This book suddenly brought color to his lonely life. As he read its words, he felt as though he had entered another world, where he could ride out in fine clothes, sword in hand, and roam the land.
As the book put it, this was the world of the martial heroes.
There was no cultivation to immortality, no Sword Flight, and no mighty supernatural powers.
Instead, there was the world of the martial heroes: a world of vengeance and justice, loyalty and valor, and heroes who fought for their country and its people.
Yang Chengzhi was hooked, but Ma Feifei was busy too.
After finishing copying My Fair Princess, Ma Feifei had started using Yang Chengzhi as the model for a story of his own.
"In the thirty-five thousand and second year of the Azure Dragon Continent, a son was born to an ordinary family in Dubian Town. Legend had it that strange signs filled the heavens at his birth: a rainbow encircled the sky, and birds and beasts for ten thousand miles around bowed before him. It was a truly miraculous sight."
"When the lord of Yuanfang City heard the news, he rushed to Dubian Town to find the child. Upon seeing him, he was astonished and cried, 'What extraordinary bones! The face of a peerless genius!' He adopted the boy as his son and named him Chengzhi!"
Good grief! It was lucky Yang Chengzhi hadn't seen what Ma Feifei had written. Otherwise, he might not have been able to accept being given such an incredible background out of nowhere!
For starters, he wasn't from Dubian Town. And the whole business about omens in the sky and beasts bowing was just nonsense! It was said that the only time such a thing had happened was when Goddess Yin Yue, of the Canglong Fairy Ranking, was born. Luan Feng had sung in unison then, shaking the entire Azure Dragon Continent.
Goddess Yin Yue had lived up to her fame. At fifty, she entered the Spirit Saint realm, setting the record for the fastest ascension to sainthood in the history of the Azure Dragon Continent.
In the thirty thousand years of the continent's history, Goddess Yin Yue was the only one to be born amid such heavenly omens. And now Yang Chengzhi had become the second! At least, in Ma Feifei's story.
"Chengzhi could speak at a hundred days old, had read the classics of the various schools of thought by the age of three, and had achieved minor success in cultivation by eight, reaching the peak of Spirit User Stage Nine. At ten, he reached Spirit Master Stage Nine. His talent for cultivation surpassed all who came before him!"
At this rate, Ma Feifei was about to turn Yang Chengzhi into a god. But if the story went on like this, there'd be no chance for Xiaoyaozi to humiliate him later. So now it was time to make the challenges tougher.
Ma Feifei continued writing.
"When Yang Chengzhi was twelve, he went to the imperial capital to cultivate and happened to meet a young woman. He fell for her at first sight. He went up to confess his feelings, but she rejected him! Chengzhi refused to give up. He confessed again—and was rejected again! Chengzhi returned home, heartbroken."
"After that, Yang Chengzhi pined for the woman for fourteen years, and his cultivation never advanced an inch. The heaven-blessed genius became just another face in the crowd."
"Fourteen years later, Yang Chengzhi entered the Zhenguan Academy of the Chu Kingdom to cultivate. There, he met the woman from all those years ago, only to discover that her heart already belonged to someone else."
"Chengzhi refused to accept it and challenged her beloved."
"He was utterly crushed..."
"Damn, even I'm getting fired up writing this! If this book doesn't become a hit, there's no justice!" Ma Feifei set down his pen and looked over the story he'd written, unable to keep himself from praising it.
Honestly, this was the first time he'd felt so talented!
Meanwhile, poor Yang Chengzhi was still absorbed in The Legend of the Condor Heroes in the corner, completely unaware that Ma Feifei had made him the hero of his story.
"I absolutely can't let Yang Chengzhi see this book once it's done," Ma Feifei thought.
The story was inspiring, and the protagonist would get a happy ending. But Ma Feifei had forced it into a love triangle. If Yang Chengzhi saw it, he might come after him and fight him to the death!
"Next, I can write about Yang Chengzhi coming to my bookstore to read and train after being crushed. Should I make the bookstore sound a little more impressive?" Ma Feifei mused.
If the book became a hit, would readers take an interest in the Mysterious Bookstore, the place that gave Yang Chengzhi a chance to make rapid progress?
Would it help if he made the bookstore seem a little more mysterious and upscale?
That would be good for maximizing profits!
With that thought, Ma Feifei picked up his pen again.
"Chengzhi was defeated by his rival in love and fell into despair, with nothing left to live for. He found a mountain and leaped from its peak. Luckily, a river ran below. Chengzhi fell into the water and was carried downstream to a small island."
"Would it really make sense to put the bookstore on a small island?" Ma Feifei wondered. It would make the bookstore seem mysterious, and the gimmick was certainly there. But what if someone actually went looking for the Mysterious Bookstore on an island? Wouldn't that be like shooting himself in the foot?
Ma Feifei shook his head, crossed out that passage, and rewrote it.
"Defeated by his rival in love, Chengzhi was utterly disheartened. He left the academy and returned home, where he drowned his sorrows in wine each day. The lord of Yuanfang City scolded him for wasting his life and disowned him. The prodigy who had once shaken the continent faded into obscurity."
After reading this passage, Ma Feifei nodded. This worked. The protagonist had to lose everything after his defeat, to be driven to the brink, so that the opportunity he encountered later would seem all the more incredible.
"One day, Chengzhi was wandering through Dubian Town. Two li north of town, he happened upon a bookstore called the 'Mysterious Bookstore.'"
"The name was grand and imposing, and seemed to carry a hint of the Great Dao. Inside, spiritual energy hung thick in the air, clouds and mist swirling all around. It was truly mysterious."
"The store housed two or three books, each more astonishing than the last."
"Chengzhi was captivated, forgetting to eat or sleep."
After writing tens of thousands of characters, Ma Feifei finally finished the opening section. He let out a satisfied sigh, set down his pen, and glanced at Yang Chengzhi, who was still reading. The story's all set up. Now it's up to you, buddy.
Before you continue