Don't Offend the Author

After The Legend of the Condor Heroes passed through the system's hands, Ma Feifei himself wasn't sure what kind of magical effects would appear.

However, all hope for Yang Chengzhi to achieve self-redemption and for Ma Feifei's original work to be completed rested on this book.

But what broke Ma Feifei's heart was that Yang Chengzhi read books far too slowly, even more exaggerated than Zhou Zhuling! A whole weekend had passed, and Yang Chengzhi, at an average of one chapter per day, had successfully broken the record for the slowest reader in the history of the Mysterious Bookstore.

It would probably take Yang Chengzhi a month to finish this novel of over a million characters.

Ma Feifei was truly anxious!

However, Yang Chengzhi was even more anxious than him.

Yang Chengzhi wasn't bothered by reading slowly; what made him anxious was that his Spirit Crystals seemed to be running out...

Just reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes these past few days had cost over seventy Spirit Crystals. Coupled with the daily cultivation he needed to do after returning home, his supply of Spirit Crystals was now dwindling, not even enough to pay for tomorrow's reading fees...

This was quite awkward...

"Sigh..." Yang Chengzhi sighed lightly and opened The Legend of the Condor Heroes to continue reading. In his mind, he wondered if he should pawn the Spirit Sword at his waist tomorrow or go to Nine Heavens Mountain to hunt some spirit beasts.

In this day and age, without Spirit Crystals, you couldn't even read a book! What a world!

But this book was truly good! Moreover, Yang Chengzhi felt that every time he read this book, he gained some insight. When he cultivated at night, it was twice as effective. His cultivation, which hadn't progressed in two years, was showing signs of loosening, which was truly magical.

Especially the day before yesterday, when he read the fifth chapter, "Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Condor," the Taoist priest taught Guo Jing methods for breathing, sitting, walking, and sleeping. Yang Chengzhi tried to follow along and found that it could indeed induce spiritual energy fluctuations in his body. When he cultivated at night, combined with this breathing and energy-guiding method and the art of tranquil sitting and calming the mind, his cultivation speed increased by more than thirty percent.

"Could this be a cultivation technique?" Yang Chengzhi, astonished, became even more engrossed in reading. He wasn't as diligent even when cultivating.

But what he never expected was that he was out of money!

There was a time when he too was destitute, struggling for a few Spirit Crystals.

But how many years ago was that? Five years? Ten years? Yang Chengzhi couldn't remember. Yang Chengzhi only knew that ever since he displayed his extraordinary cultivation talent, he had never worried about Spirit Crystals.

Although not a lot, it was enough to support his cultivation.

Especially after making it onto the Dragon Ranking, the academy would reward him with a thousand Spirit Crystals each year, allowing him to cultivate with peace of mind. This meant Yang Chengzhi's cultivation path had never reached the point of 'no crystals to use.'

But now...

"I'll go hunt spirit beasts tomorrow. Pawning the Spirit Sword is too much of a loss," Yang Chengzhi decided. He then cast aside his distractions and began to savor The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Ma Feifei naturally didn't know that Yang Chengzhi was worrying about his lack of Spirit Crystals. Even if he did, it wouldn't help.

Reading without paying was absolutely impossible; it would never happen in this lifetime.

These were the rules set by the system; no one could override them.

However, Ma Feifei didn't have time to dwell on whether Yang Chengzhi had money or not. He had to attend to a new customer: Zhou Zhuling had arrived.

Counting the days, it had truly been a while since he had seen Zhou Zhuling, and he missed her dearly. As Zhou Zhuling approached the bookstore, Ma Feifei's eyes began to dart around.

Zhou Zhuling's complexion wasn't good. Although it hadn't returned to the state it was in when Ma Feifei first met her, her small face showed no trace of rosy color, looking sickly.

"Is Miss Zhou feeling unwell recently?" Ma Feifei asked with concern. He didn't really understand Zhou Zhuling's condition, so he didn't know she had a terminal illness. He just thought Zhou Zhuling had been frail and sickly since childhood.

Zhou Zhuling seemed not to have forgotten the last incident. Her small face lowered slightly, not daring to meet Ma Feifei's gaze, and she said softly, "Yes, I had an episode yesterday."

Ma Feifei remembered the first time Zhou Zhuling had vomited blood; that was a symptom of her illness. Instantly, Ma Feifei's kindness overflowed, and he said anxiously, "Suffering from illness, you must seek medical treatment promptly! Go rest quickly; why are you still coming to my bookstore?"

Zhou Zhuling heard this, looked up at Ma Feifei, and said meaningfully, "I came here to be treated!"

After Zhou Zhuling finished reading Half a Mu of Flower Fields, she unexpectedly discovered that the restless energy that often surged within her had suddenly decreased significantly. Although it hadn't completely dissipated, her body had recovered a lot. For many days, even without visiting the bookstore, her illness hadn't recurred, except for yesterday.

Even yesterday's episode wasn't as frightening as before; she only felt weak and looked sickly, without vomiting blood.

By this point, if Zhou Zhuling still couldn't figure out the reason for her body's condition, she would truly be foolish.

Ma Feifei was stunned for a moment, then thought of Zhou Zhuling's changes in the days since she started coming to the bookstore, and then thought of the book Half a Mu of Flower Fields she had read.

'Could that book, Half a Mu of Flower Fields, have treated this girl's injuries? That's the only possibility.'

Zhou Zhuling's words proved that Half a Mu of Flower Fields had indeed treated her illness, but it seemed the illness wasn't completely cured, as Zhou Zhuling had an episode yesterday, which is why she came to read today.

"Awesome! Reading can increase cultivation, and now it can even cure diseases! I'm really broadening my horizons," Ma Feifei couldn't help but exclaim.

Although he had many speculations before, they were just speculations. The current situation was more shocking than any proof.

Although Ma Feifei was the owner of the system, he was no different from others; he had no idea what benefits the books provided by the system could bring to readers.

Ma Feifei was certain that reading could increase cultivation after seeing Zhao Xiaodao jump six levels.

Now he had witnessed the healing effect on Zhou Zhuling's condition.

'So, are there other functions within the books?' Ma Feifei couldn't help but ponder.

"Shopkeeper?"

Seeing Ma Feifei suddenly lose focus and not snap back for a long time, Zhou Zhuling called out.

"Ah!" Ma Feifei snapped back to reality, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. He had been thinking too much, his mind wandering. He chuckled and said, "Then please, take your time and browse freely."

Speaking of which, Ma Feifei seemed to have thought of something and pointed to the bookshelves. "A few new books came out these past two days. One was taken by that guest, and another is placed next to Half a Mu of Flower Fields. It's called My Fair Princess, quite interesting, you can take a look."

Zhou Zhuling was an old customer, and rereading Half a Mu of Flower Fields wouldn't increase her reading count. What was the use of just earning Spirit Crystals? So, as the shopkeeper, Ma Feifei couldn't help but promote it.

"My Fair Princess? An interesting name," Zhou Zhuling mused. She left enough Spirit Crystals, strolled towards the bookshelf, found My Fair Princess, found a seat, and began to read.

Although she came for treatment, she also enjoyed the stories within the books. Moreover, the books here seemed to suppress her condition, so she was very interested in the new book.

It was quite a coincidence that Zhou Zhuling was sitting on the north side, with her back to the bookshelves, while Yang Chengzhi sat on the south side, also with his back to the bookshelves. This arrangement meant they were facing each other, separated by two tables and a small open space in between.

When Yang Chengzhi looked up, he saw Zhou Zhuling.

Their eyes met.

Zhou Zhuling gave a slight smile, a form of greeting.

Yang Chengzhi, however, was stunned by her smile, staring blankly at Zhou Zhuling.

"What a beautiful girl!" Yang Chengzhi praised inwardly. In his twenty-six years of life, he had never seen a woman as beautiful as her.

Especially that gentle smile, it had completely melted his heart.

"Brother Yang, are you still reading this book?"

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Yang Chengzhi, blocking the line of sight between him and Zhou Zhuling. Yang Chengzhi looked up and saw Ma Feifei's smiling face, which seemed more like a grimace.

"Ahem," Yang Chengzhi snapped back to reality and said awkwardly, "Of course, I'm reading. Reading."

Why did this feel like being caught peeking at someone else's wife by her husband? Yang Chengzhi found it strange. Nevertheless, he put the thought aside and continued reading. After all, no matter how beautiful Zhou Zhuling was, she couldn't compare to The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Yang Chengzhi truly benefited greatly from it, especially as he read further.

"In a couple more days, I should be able to break through to Spirit Master Stage Seven!"

"This book is truly magical."

While Yang Chengzhi marveled at the extraordinary nature of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Ma Feifei was fuming.

"I'm going to kill Yang Chengzhi with this story, kill him!" Ma Feifei returned to his seat and glared at the unfinished book, which featured Yang Chengzhi as the protagonist in a revenge plot, muttering hatefully.

'Damn it, such a cute and beautiful girl, and I haven't even made a move yet, but you're already thinking about her?' Ma Feifei said, poking the unfinished book with his pen. However, the paper quality was too good, and after poking for a long time, no hole appeared.

But in Ma Feifei's mind, he was already contemplating Yang Chengzhi's final demise in the story.

"Yang Chengzhi must die, but it has to be a death that doesn't affect the plot, so readers won't have any complaints about Yang Chengzhi's death."

"Readers shouldn't just accept it; ideally, they should feel regret and sadness at the protagonist's death, a sense of satisfaction tinged with a hint of regret. That might even elevate the quality of the book!" Ma Feifei thought.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed to Ma Feifei. In his past life, many widely circulated books, TV shows, and movies often had tragic endings.

For example, Titanic. The male protagonist died at the end, yet the movie was a massive hit. Nine out of ten viewers cried when they left the theater.

Take the novel To Live. The protagonist's family members died one after another, leaving him with only a cow for companionship. This novel was also incredibly successful. Not only was it adapted into a film that won awards at international film festivals, but the author also received the French Order of Arts and Letters and had the novel translated into various languages and distributed worldwide, becoming a huge sensation.

You see, only a tragic ending can highlight the excellence and greatness of a work! Therefore, Yang Chengzhi must die!

Hmm, never offend the author.