The Reckless Scholar

At nine o'clock sharp, the Bookstore opened its doors.

"Good morning, shop owner!" Ma Feifei, who was finishing up her Pokémon, suddenly heard someone call her. She looked up and saw a man standing in front of her with a smile. He was energetic, Hustle, and sunny, making it very easy for people to like him.

"Jiang Bieli, are you here to read books too?" Ma Feifei recognized the man as the boy who had learned a simplified version of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms from Yang Chengzhi's Revenge Chronicle.

Jiang Bieli seemed somewhat surprised that Ma Feifei still remembered him. He nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, shopkeeper, I queued up and bought today's special number."

As luck would have it, after Jiang Bieli first entered the Bookstore to read books, he obediently went to queue up again. However, there were too many people at that time, and according to the queuing progress, he might have had to wait for half a year. But just then, Wantong Trading Market and Mysterious Bookstore jointly launched a special number. As soon as the news came out, Jiang Bieli happened to be at the back of the queue. With this turn, he was one step ahead and was fortunate enough to be at the front of the queue, and bought a special number with a relatively recent expiration date.

Ma Feifei glanced at Jiang Bieli and asked curiously, "Then why are you still chatting with me here?"

Queuing is difficult, but getting into Bookstore and snagging a popular book is even more difficult.

The moment Jiang Bieli and Ma Feifei were talking, several of the most popular books in the Bookstore had already been snatched up, and all the remaining Blue Quality books were also taken away, leaving only some white-covered books.

Of course, there's also that "Thousand Gold Formulas," which is also completely ignored.

"Ah!" Jiang Bieli didn't understand the meaning at first, but after looking around, she realized what he meant. Jiang Bieli a little annoyed at first, but a smile quickly appeared on her face. She said to Ma Feifei, "It's okay. If we can't get a good book, we can just buy a special number later. We can wait for another thirty years."

Ma Feifei was a little confused. She put down her paintbrush and asked, "This isn't a problem? You have to pay the price of waiting another thirty years just to say a few words to me. Don't you think that's a huge loss?"

Jiang Bieli smiled and shook his head, saying, "The shop owner is Bieli benefactor. When I see my benefactor, I must greet Bieli first, even if it costs me thirty years, Bieli think it's worth it."

"This..." Ma Feifei was speechless. Was this guy out of his mind? If you wanted to say hello, couldn't you at least take the book first? Did he think I was some kind of grown man who could just run away? And when did I become his benefactor?

"Shopkeeper, Bieli won't bother you any longer," Jiang Bieli said softly. Seeing Ma Feifei nod, he then stepped aside to look for a book on the bookshelf.

Ma Feifei watched Jiang Bieli's retreating figure, shook her head, picked up her paintbrush, and continued to finish the Pokémon.

Jiang Bieli searched for a while, took a white book from the bookshelf, and then walked to the table where Jiang Yibei was sitting, saying, "Brother, may I sit here?"

Jiang Yibei was reading the Legend of the Condor Heroes when he saw Jiang Bieli talking to him. He looked up at Jiang Bieli and saw the white book in Jiang Bieli's hand. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why are you holding a White Quality book?"

Jiang Bieli replied somewhat embarrassedly, "The others have all been taken, leaving only the White Quality books."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yibei shrugged and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Who told you to be so brainless and go trying to get close to the shop owner? What? Did you think that by saying a few nice words, they would give you a book of the same quality as the Diamond Sutra?"

Jiang Bieli gave an awkward smile and didn't reply.

"Sit down." Jiang Yibei was too lazy to lecture him and turned back to continue studying the Legend of the Condor Heroes.

This book is truly interesting, and the stories within are unlike anything I've ever heard of. Although I haven't yet encountered any profound martial arts techniques, the storyline has already successfully captivated Jiang Yibei.

Jiang Bieli sat down as instructed, glanced at Jiang Yibei, opened her mouth as if to speak, but swallowed back in the end, silently opened her book and began to read.

The Bookstore was quiet; no one spoke, and no one seemed to gain any insight from the books—no breakthroughs in cultivation, no new techniques or martial arts skills. The Diamond Sutra was in the hands of an elderly cultivator, but he, like Puzhi before him, had failed to enter the world within its pages.

'Swish~'

Suddenly, a golden light shone from the Bookstore, attracting everyone's attention. They all stopped reading and looked up in the direction of the golden light.

A beam of golden light shot out from the shopkeeper's hand and into the bookshelf, where a brand-new, Yellow Quality book appeared.

"It's out again!" exclaimed the practitioner in the Bookstore.

"Yellow, yellow, it's on par with the Diamond Sutra!" one practitioner exclaimed excitedly.

"Whoosh!" Someone was quicker and ran straight to the bookshelf to grab the newly released Yellow Quality book.

"How dare you! Who gave you permission to take it? Put it back!" a cultivator shouted angrily.

"Why can't I take it?" The cultivator looked at the cultivator who was angrily rebuking him and sneered, "If I don't take it, am I supposed to sit there and sigh like a bunch of idiots?"

"You!" Everyone was furious; this man's words had essentially offended all the cultivators in the Bookstore.

"Aren't you afraid of not seeing the sun rise tomorrow, given your arrogance?" a cultivator said with a gloomy face.

"Hehe!" The cultivator who had snatched the newly published book laughed and said, "My name is Liu Changsheng, and I currently reside at Tongfu Inn. You are all welcome to join me for a gathering tonight."

Tongfu Inn is the largest inn in the center of Dubian Town, and it is inhabited by cultivators with extremely high levels of cultivation.

Liu Changsheng was bold and arrogant! He directly told everyone his name and address, seemingly unafraid of being assassinated.

However, it was precisely because of his arrogance that everyone fell silent after he said those words, and no one dared to question him.

Seeing that Liu Changsheng had actually managed to intimidate everyone with just a few words, Ma Feifei couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Damn, he's really arrogant! I just wonder if he has the right to be so arrogant."

Anyone can talk big, but whether they can actually deliver on those promises is the real question.

Seeing that the crowd had stopped threatening him, Liu Changsheng didn't provoke their anger any further. Instead, he put the White Quality book he was holding back on the shelf, picked up the newly released Yellow Quality book, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Is this a painting?"

"It doesn't quite look like it. There's text next to it, Pokémon? Is that the name of the book?" Liu Changsheng looked at the Pokémon in his hand, walked to his seat, and muttered to himself.

Of course, his words reached the ears of all the cultivators, and everyone knew that the book was called Pokémon, and that it seemed to be more of a picture book than a book!

Unfortunately, after Liu Changsheng finished talking to himself, he stopped speaking. In addition, since he had just had a conflict with everyone, no one was too embarrassed to ask Liu Changsheng what kind of book it was. They could only look at their own books while paying attention to Liu Changsheng's situation.

Ma Feifei also leaned on the table, staring at Liu Changsheng. The Pokémon, but Ma Feifei didn't know how readers would obtain Pokémon.

Yun Qingyang, standing at the door, also turned her attention to Liu Changsheng. Ever since the Diamond Sutra incident, Yun Qingyang had become interested in the books in the Bookstore. Of course, this was limited to books of similar quality to the Diamond Sutra; she seemed very curious about the magical effect of being able to enter the world within the book.

Time passed slowly as Liu Changsheng flipped through the Pokémon. Everyone watched for a long time but didn't notice anything unusual, so they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"Why is there absolutely no response to this book? Is it just another useless book?"

"Probably not, after all, it's a Yellow Quality book."

"Exactly, look at those two medical texts, the Thousand Gold Formulas and the Diamond Sutra. Which one is useless?"

"Then why isn't there any response?"

"This person probably just has low comprehension."

"No way! He was so arrogant just now, he couldn't have acted like that without some skill!" One cultivator said in disbelief. While it was impossible to discern someone's cultivation level inside the Bookstore, Liu Changsheng's courage to confront everyone present alone suggested a high level of cultivation, at least higher than everyone else there. Moreover, he wasn't very old; to possess such a high level of cultivation at such a young age meant he must be one in a million in terms of talent. Would someone with such talent have low comprehension? Clearly impossible.

"Does arrogance mean he has high cultivation? These days, nine out of ten arrogant people are just faking it. Just wait and see, it's not certain he'll even see the sun tomorrow." Some cultivators were unconvinced. At this stage, who among those who can enter Bookstore to read books isn't someone with both money and high cultivation? Liu Changsheng just offended everyone here; it would be a miracle if he survived.

"Look, it seems there's some movement!" Suddenly, a cultivator who had been watching Liu Changsheng exclaimed.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it.

'Swish~'

Suddenly, the book in Liu Changsheng's hands detached and floated in mid-air. Then, the book emitted specks of golden light, which finally radiated outwards, enveloping Liu Changsheng and drawing him into the book!

The book began to turn its pages without any wind, and above the book, a projection gradually appeared.

The world within the book opens once again!