The Original Works Showdown

This was arguably the most terrifying sentence Ma Feifei had ever heard.

The reason for his fear wasn't that he was afraid of being used as a guinea pig for research; his current strength meant he no longer needed to fear his secrets being discovered.

The fear stemmed from a secret he had kept hidden deep within his heart, a secret he believed would never be discovered in his lifetime, which had now been revealed!

In that instant, Ma Feifei thought of many things, the most likely of which was that Liu Ying was also a time traveler, just like him!

If that's really the case... as the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain...

"What are you saying?" Although Ma Feifei was shocked, her expression remained normal except for a slight daze.

"Shopkeeper, tell me quickly, are you the god who created the Azure Dragon Continent! The Azure Dragon Continent is actually a book, just like the books in your Bookstore. Is the Azure Dragon Continent we are in now a world within a book?" Liu Ying was very excited, her face was already very red, and her hands gripping her skirt were trembling slightly.

"..." Ma Feifei was speechless for a moment. He felt a strange sense of relief, but then he couldn't help but marvel at Liu Ying's incredible imagination. She could actually imagine the Azure Dragon Continent as a book?

How is that possible?

But as he thought about it, Ma Feifei suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He looked up at the sky and thought, "Damn, who knows!"

"Silly girl, don't overthink it. Go back now, I need to catch up on my sleep." Ma Feifei waved his hand; he had no interest in discussing such things with Liu Ying.

"Shopkeeper, did Liu Ying guess correctly? Is that why you're choosing to avoid me now?" Liu Ying pointed at Ma Feifei, with an expression that said she had already seen through everything.

"What the heck is going on..." Ma Feifei was truly defeated by the girl's wild imagination.

"I knew I was right! But shopkeeper, couldn't you have described me as stronger and better looking? Why don't you change it now, change my cultivation level to the Immortal Realm, and my appearance doesn't need to be too exaggerated, just a tiny bit prettier than Goddess Yin Yue would be fine."

As Liu Ying got more and more excited, she barged in uninvited and naturally put her arms around Ma Feifei's arm, leaving Ma Feifei completely dumbfounded.

Liu Ying didn't take it seriously and said, "It must be because you wrote it that way, shopkeeper. That's why I grabbed your arm. You're so mean, shopkeeper! I'm a character in the book!"

"I..." Ma Feifei was speechless.

"It's alright, since the shop owner wrote it this way, I can't refuse. But could you please not let Sister Chuxue have any more children? She's already had five! If she keeps having more, our family could start its own sect!"

"No..."

"If you insist on writing it this way, shop owner, then fine. But could you please tell me which of my nephews has the most potential in the future? I'd like to build a good relationship with him first..."

"This..."

"And shop owner, could I ask you quietly, who is my future Mr. Right? It can't be Zhou Guanyu, I don't like gigolos."

Ma Feifei was completely taken aback by Liu Ying's words. It was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and he had no idea how to respond.

"Bite!"

Suddenly, a sound rang in his mind, Ma Feifei raised a finger to signal Liu Ying to be quiet.

Liu Ying had been talking non-stop, saw Ma Feifei's serious expression and obediently stopped talking, standing still in place.

"I need to do a good job... If I do well, the shop owner might give me more screen time."

Poor Ma Feifei has already been identified by the Liu Ying as the creator of this world.

Of course, Ma Feifei didn't have time to chat with Liu Ying about these things right now. The system's notifications puzzled him. If Ma Feifei remembered correctly, today's system notifications were the most frequent they had ever been, and the content was correspondingly more and more sensational.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, for triggering the Mysterious Bookstore Anniversary Celebration Quest."

"Mission Title: September 15th marks the first anniversary of the Mysterious Bookstore. Please organize an anniversary celebration event, which will consist of two main categories."

"Category 1: Original Works Competition: Book lovers are welcome to create their own books of any genre and style. Once created, the Mysterious Bookstore will rate the books. Books rated Blue Quality or higher will be added to the Mysterious Bookstore, and the author will receive a portion of the revenue from their work. (The rating device has been placed in the Supplier Warehouse; please retrieve it yourself.)"

"The second type is a knowledge competition: On the anniversary day, the system will select questions based on the books already available in the Mysterious Bookstore, including but not limited to: story plots, poems, characters, etc. Book lovers who answer the questions correctly will receive rewards on the spot."

Rewards for this event include: cultivation points, martial arts techniques, spiritual weapons, sprites, divine artifacts, Divine Abilities and Spells, and Literary Examination Qualification Certificate...

Host's reward: A calligraphy brush.

Note: Because the Mysterious Bookstore Branch Two has not been in operation for a full year, this promotion is only available at the Mysterious Bookstore.

"Has it already been a year?" After hearing the system's notification, Ma Feifei's first thought wasn't about the mission, but about time. If this mission hadn't suddenly appeared, Ma Feifei wouldn't have known that he had been in this world for almost a year.

"Time flies, years pass like an arrow..." Suddenly, Ma Feifei let out a long sigh, and all desire to go to Rest vanished, replaced by a deep sense of melancholy.

"The shop owner has such a beautiful writing style!" Liu Ying, who had been standing obediently to the side, flattered him.

Then Ma Feifei stopped feeling melancholy and turned to stare intently at the Liu Ying.

Liu Ying's face flushed red again. She quickly lowered her head, clutching her skirt with both hands, her heart pounding. "I'm so embarrassed! I'm so embarrassed! The shop owner wouldn't have designed such a scenario, would he? What if he really did? I wonder if he designed it so that I would resist or submit..."

If Ma Feifei knew that Liu Ying had such thoughts, she'd probably want to kill her... ugh... I mean, beat her to death! What kind of nonsense is this?!

"Liu Ying, you're really overthinking it. But even though your guess is off, it gave me an idea. Next month is the first anniversary of the Mysterious Bookstore's opening, and since you mentioned books today, how about we hold an original works competition for this event?" Ma Feifei had to dissuade Liu Ying from this idea! Otherwise, if this girl went around spreading rumors, things would get really messy.

"An original works competition?" Liu Ying was indeed intrigued by what Ma Feifei was talking about, her face full of curiosity.

"Didn't you think that Azure Dragon Continent was a book I wrote? To prove it's not, in this event, you can write your own book and then take it to the Mysterious Bookstore for a rating. Books that reach Blue Quality or higher can be placed on the Mysterious Bookstore shelves for everyone to read, and the author can also receive a portion of the book's revenue."

Ma Feifei believes this task is really good for book lovers. What if someone writes a Legendary-grade quality book with content about a war between gods and demons? Wouldn't the rewards be absolutely incredible?

Moreover, this task can perfectly resolve the doubts raised by Liu Ying, because once all the book lovers can benefit from their books and enter the world within the books, then naturally there will be no longer any situation where only Ma Feifei's books can benefit everyone.

Everyone can do it; surely not everyone can be from the Azure Dragon Continent?