Chapter Summaries

After opening his Mysterious Bookstore, Ma Feifei struggled to attract readers and sought work at Old Man Wang’s bun shop to avoid starving. His first attempt at manual labor left him exhausted, and he went to bed wondering how people in this world could be so strong.

• Ma Feifei finished copying Andersen's Fairy Tales, and the system placed the book on the bookstore shelf as it opened.
• After the bookstore drew no customers, Ma Feifei asked Old Man Wang for work in exchange for meals and agreed to try the job that evening.
• At Old Man Wang’s home, Ma Feifei failed to move the stone mill that the Wang family's young lady had been pushing.
• Wang Liu Shi showed Ma Feifei how to knead dough, and he managed to finish the task despite struggling with its weight.
• The Wang family gave Ma Feifei two copper coins and a hearty dinner, but he declined the job after realizing how weak he was.

Ma Feifei opened his Mysterious Bookstore and welcomed Zhao Xiaodao, who became absorbed in Andersen's Fairy Tales. When Zhao Xiaodao stole the book and fled, Ma Feifei chased her out of town and finally got it back along with a Spirit Crystal, though the system's reading count remained incomplete.

• Ma Feifei opened the Bookstore and invited Zhao Xiaodao to read Andersen's Fairy Tales for free.
• Zhao Xiaodao spent the day reading while Ma Feifei waited for the system's reading count to update, but it stayed at 0/1.
• Ma Feifei returned from buying buns to find Zhao Xiaodao eating roast chicken and wine, then later woke to discover she had left with the book.
• Zhao Xiaodao ran more than twenty li from Dubian Town with the book, and Ma Feifei chased her down beneath a tree.
• Zhao Xiaodao returned Andersen's Fairy Tales to Ma Feifei and gave him a Spirit Crystal as an apology before leaving.

Ma Feifei let Zhao Xiaodao read Andersen's Fairy Tales after she paid him five Spirit Crystals, and she finished the book after half a month. Her reading completed Ma Feifei's opening task and triggered a dramatic breakthrough for her, leaving Zhao Xiaodao wondering whether the book or her own cultivation had caused it.

• Ma Feifei spotted Zhao Xiaodao passing his Bookstore repeatedly, and she paid him five Spirit Crystals for permission to read there.
• Zhao Xiaodao spent half a month reading Andersen's Fairy Tales while Ma Feifei watched and counted gold coins.
• The system rewarded Ma Feifei with Half a Mu of Flower Fields and raised his cultivation to Peak Spirit User Stage Nine, then assigned him a new task to obtain ten reading points.
• A white light surrounded Zhao Xiaodao, and she discovered she had advanced from Peak Spirit User Stage Eight to Spirit Master Stage Five.
• Zhao Xiaodao reread the opening of Andersen's Fairy Tales but felt no spiritual fluctuations, so she wondered whether her breakthrough came from her talent and twelve years of cultivation.

After discovering that reading could improve cultivation, Ma Feifei copied Half a Mu of Flower Fields and prepared to explore Dubian Town. Zhou Guanyu, the town chief’s son, discovered the bookstore’s strange effects and returned the next morning, but found it closed.

• Ma Feifei learned that completing bookstore tasks and reading could benefit cultivation, then spent three days copying Half a Mu of Flower Fields.
• Ma Feifei decided to tour Dubian Town and opened the bookstore to Zhou Guanyu, who paid one Spirit Crystal to read.
• Zhou Guanyu found only two books in the shop and chose Half a Mu of Flower Fields, then noticed his spiritual power fluctuating as he read.
• The bookstore’s system returned the book to its shelf when Zhou Guanyu’s paid time ended, startling him with its unseen power.
• Zhou Guanyu paid to read for two more hours but finished less than a third of the book, then went home unable to sleep.
• Zhou Guanyu returned to the Mysterious Bookstore early the next morning and found it closed.

Ma Feifei explored Dubian Town and learned about its adventurers, neighboring states, and the looming Chu-Qin conflict. Meanwhile, Zhou Guanyu told his gravely ill sister Zhou Zhuling about the Mysterious Bookstore, and she collapsed after asking him to take her there.

• Ma Feifei visited Adventure Paradise and heard stories about Yan State’s succession, a Level Six Spirit Beast, and the gathering Chu and Qin armies.
• Ma Feifei was astonished to learn that Saint Chu was three thousand five hundred years old and wondered about cultivation and long life.
• Zhou Guanyu remained listless over the book he had read at the Mysterious Bookstore and explained its strange rules to Zhou Zhuling.
• Zhou Zhuling persuaded Zhou Guanyu to take her to the Bookstore, and he agreed to send a servant to check whether it was open.
• Zhou Zhuling coughed up blood and fell unconscious, prompting Zhou Guanyu to call for Teacher Huang.

Ma Feifei worried that his Bookstore’s reading count was still zero with only three weeks left to complete the system mission. When Zhou Guanyu returned with his sister Zhou Zhuling to read, Ma Feifei realized that the shop needed more books and considered writing his own.

• Ma Feifei fretted that his Bookstore had almost no customers and that his reading-count mission remained at zero.
• He remembered Zhou Guanyu and Zhao Xiaodao as potential readers, regretting that he had not gotten their contact information.
• Zhou Guanyu arrived with his haggard but beautiful sister Zhou Zhuling and paid ten Spirit Crystals for them to read.
• Ma Feifei hoped Zhou Guanyu would bring more relatives, then realized the Bookstore had only two books to offer.
• As Zhou Guanyu and Zhou Zhuling chose their books, Ma Feifei wondered whether he could write short stories, poems, or original works himself.

Ma Feifei discovered that he could compile poems into a new book, while Zhou Guanyu noticed that reading in the bookstore had eased Zhou Zhuling’s serious illness. The chapter ended with Zhou Guanyu asking Ma Feifei to save his sister.

• Ma Feifei wrote poems by Li Bai and Luo Binwang and discovered that thirty poems would make a book.
• Ma Feifei spent the day composing poems while Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu read in the bookstore.
• Zhou Guanyu noticed that Zhou Zhuling had not coughed up blood and that her health had improved since entering the bookstore.
• Zhou Guanyu suspected that Andersen's Fairy Tales had affected their spiritual energy and might help cure Zhou Zhuling.
• Zhou Guanyu saluted Ma Feifei and begged him to save his sister.

Ma Feifei struggled to write enough poems and closed the Mysterious Bookstore, while Zhou Zhuling’s illness remained unusually calm after reading there. The next morning, the Zhou siblings returned to test their theory and found the bookshelves empty.

• Ma Feifei refused Zhou Guanyu’s request to treat Zhou Zhuling, and Zhou Guanyu returned to sit with his sister.
• Ma Feifei spent an hour composing poems, then closed the Mysterious Bookstore and refunded the Zhou siblings’ payment.
• After dinner, Zhou Zhuling walked without support and felt stronger, while Teacher Huang found that her illness had been suppressed but not cured.
• Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu suspected that reading had calmed her illness and kept their visit to the bookstore from Teacher Huang.
• The next morning, the Zhou siblings arrived at the Mysterious Bookstore and discovered that its bookshelves were empty.

Ma Feifei completed Thirty Poems, which transformed into a book and triggered a System quest to write an original work of at least one hundred thousand words and Blue Quality. As the customers watched the book appear, the Beautiful Woman recognized the phenomenon as the legendary Books Formed by Brush.

• Zhou Guanyu offered Zhao Xiaodao and her friend one hundred Spirit Crystals to borrow their books, but Zhao Xiaodao refused.
• Zhou Zhuling suffered a severe flare-up of her Nine Cold Syndrome and vomited blood; the Beautiful Woman identified her as Zhou Wuji's daughter, whose illness Medicine Saint Shaoyao could not cure.
• After Zhou Zhuling drank medicine and rested, Ma Feifei copied thirty ancient poems, causing the pages to become a book of golden light.
• The System gave Ma Feifei a quest to complete an original work of at least one hundred thousand words and Blue Quality within three months, with Thousand Gold Formulas as the reward.
• Ma Feifei noticed that his new book was white while the System books were blue, as the customers reacted to its appearance.
• The Beautiful Woman connected the book's sudden appearance to an ancient legend and identified it as Books Formed by Brush.

Ma Feifei discovered that readers of his own books increased the system’s reading count, while Zhou Zhuling found that reading in the Bookstore calmed her illness. Zhou Guanyu failed to buy a copy, and the siblings stayed to read as Ma Feifei began planning another book.

• Zhou Guanyu bought Ma Feifei’s Thirty Poems for Zhou Zhuling, and both siblings read it.
• Zhou Zhuling finished the collection, and Ma Feifei’s reading count rose to 2/10.
• Zhou Zhuling told Zhou Guanyu that reading calmed the energy inside her and seemed to suppress her illness.
• Zhou Guanyu offered Ma Feifei five thousand Spirit Crystals for a book, but Ma Feifei refused to sell any books and offered to save books for the siblings to read.
• Zhou Guanyu and Zhou Zhuling stayed in the Bookstore to read, while Ma Feifei started considering what to write next.

Ma Feifei tried to increase Thirty Poems’ readership by offering it to Zhao Xiaodao and Gongsun Qiong, while Gongsun Qiong noticed that the bookstore’s books held strange spiritual effects. Over the following days, the regular customers brought readership progress to 8/10, and Ma Feifei learned that Gongsun Qiong could read ten lines at a glance and memorize every book.

• After the Zhou siblings reread Thirty Poems and left, Ma Feifei offered the collection to Zhao Xiaodao, but she refused because she was reading Half a Mu of Flower Fields.
• Gongsun Qiong asked to read Thirty Poems, and Ma Feifei handed it to her after she promised to finish Andersen's Fairy Tales the next day.
• While reading, Gongsun Qiong noticed that the bookstore blocked outside spiritual power and that Andersen's Fairy Tales contained faint spiritual fluctuations, unlike Thirty Poems.
• Zhao Xiaodao asked Gongsun Qiong about the poems, and several customers began sharing books around the bookstore.
• Over the next few days, Ma Feifei wrote at night as the bookstore gained regular customers and his main quest readership progress reached 8/10.
• Ma Feifei learned that Gongsun Qiong could take in ten lines at a glance and recite every book she had read from memory.

Ma Feifei observed that reading purified Zhao Xiaodao and Zhou Guanyu’s spiritual power without raising their cultivation, while Gongsun Qiong remained unable to cultivate and Zhou Zhuling continued reading slowly as her illness improved. With Zhou Guanyu leaving for the front lines and his bookstore mission still short two reading points, Ma Feifei relied on Zhou Zhuling and the novel he was writing.

• Zhao Xiaodao and Zhou Guanyu finished books and found their spiritual power had grown purer, though their cultivation had not increased.
• Zhou Guanyu judged the purification from Half a Mu of Flower Fields greater than the effects of the Chu Kingdom’s Tranquil Pool.
• Gongsun Qiong noticed Zhao Xiaodao and Zhou Guanyu’s changes but could not cultivate because of her unusual constitution.
• Ma Feifei compared the customers’ reading speeds and concluded that none of them had broken through.
• Zhou Guanyu prepared to leave for the Great Chu–Great Qin front, while Zhou Zhuling’s illness improved and she kept reading at the bookstore.
• With two reading points still needed for his mission, Ma Feifei placed his hopes on Zhou Zhuling and the novel he was writing.

With war approaching, Ma Feifei kept the Bookstore open and struggled to produce an original work that rated higher than a white-covered book. As Zhou Zhuling’s health and reading progress improved, Ma Feifei decided to seek stories from his new world for inspiration before his quest deadline.

• Zhao Xiaodao bid Ma Feifei farewell before leaving Dubian Town with her merchant guild, while Gongsun Qiong remained missing.
• Rumors spread that three hundred Zhenguan Academy students, led by the Spirit Sect Xiaoyaozi, had arrived in Dubian Town to defend Great Chu and gain battle experience.
• Zhou Zhuling returned to the Bookstore after its weekend closure feeling healthier, and Ma Feifei considered raising her reading fee.
• Ma Feifei finished an original work, but the system rated it as a white-covered book, prompting him to criticize the story and blame the system.
• Over the next several days, Ma Feifei produced four more white-covered works while Zhou Zhuling continued reading Andersen's Fairy Tales and neared the end.
• With three days left before the main quest expired, Ma Feifei abandoned the idea of copying a classic and planned to gather local tales for inspiration.

After completing his main quest, Ma Feifei received books and a cultivation boost, then learned of a new quest demanding reading and reputation points. At a tavern, he met Yang Chengzhi and discovered that Yang was the student Xiaoyaozi had defeated in a fight over command of Zhenguan Academy’s students.

• The system rewarded Ma Feifei with The Legend of the Condor Heroes, My Fair Princess Part One, and cultivation reaching Peak Spirit Master Stage Nine, then assigned him a new quest for reading and reputation points.
• Ma Feifei decided to visit the tavern and prioritize copying the two books while considering how to meet his other writing and quest requirements.
• Ma Feifei wandered through the quiet Dubian Town, worried that the coming battle between the Qin Chu Two Saints could destroy it, then visited the trading market and tavern.
• Yang Chengzhi asked to share Ma Feifei’s table, and the two exchanged names before overhearing a discussion about a fight at Zhenguan Academy.
• The tavern patrons revealed that Xiaoyaozi had defeated Yang Chengzhi over the right to command the students, and Yang admitted to Ma Feifei that he was the defeated student.

Ma Feifei encouraged the disgraced Yang Chengzhi to visit his Mysterious Bookstore, hoping he could regain his strength and help Ma Feifei complete his missions. On Monday, Zhou Zhuling brought Ma Feifei pastries, and an intimate misunderstanding left them both flustered.

• Ma Feifei imagined turning Yang Chengzhi's defeat by Xiaoyaozi into a comeback story and invited Yang to visit the Mysterious Bookstore.
• Yang Chengzhi wondered whether Ma Feifei's invitation offered him a chance to defeat Xiaoyaozi, then noticed Ma Feifei had left without paying for the meal.
• Zhou Zhuling visited Ma Feifei's shop and gave him pastries she had made, pleased when he eagerly ate them.
• Ma Feifei offered Zhou Zhuling a pastry, and she took a bite directly from his hand, leaving them both embarrassed.
• Zhou Zhuling hurried away, while Ma Feifei wondered if his racing heart meant he was becoming attracted to her.

Ma Feifei finished copying The Legend of the Condor Heroes and puzzled over how copying time related to a book’s quality and readers’ gains. As spiritual energy churned across the sky amid rising tensions between Great Qin and Great Chu, he feared a battle between their supreme experts and returned to copying; Yang Chengzhi finally arrived at the end.

• Ma Feifei reflected on how long The Legend of the Condor Heroes was taking to copy and developed theories about book quality and reader yields.
• Ma Feifei completed The Legend of the Condor Heroes, while Zhou Zhuling, Zhao Xiaodao, and Yang Chengzhi remained absent.
• Great Chu and Great Qin’s students demonstrated their strength in Nine Heavens Mountain, and Xiaoyaozi and Qin Wudao fought to a reported draw.
• Ma Feifei sensed spiritual energy churning in the dark sky and suspected Saint Chu and Qin Sage were fighting, so he hurried back to the bookstore.
• Ma Feifei copied My Fair Princess Part One, and Yang Chengzhi finally arrived.

Yang Chengzhi visited Ma Feifei before returning to Zhenguan Academy, worried that his stagnant cultivation would cost him his Dragon Ranking place and lead to expulsion. Ma Feifei introduced him to The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and Yang Chengzhi became so absorbed in it that he began considering returning to read more instead of going back to the academy.

• Yang Chengzhi told Ma Feifei that he had been ordered to return to Zhenguan Academy and feared losing his rank because his cultivation had not advanced.
• Ma Feifei suggested Yang Chengzhi could regain his standing by defeating Xiaoyaozi in the upcoming Dragon Ranking Tournament.
• Ma Feifei charged Yang Chengzhi ten Spirit Crystals to read The Legend of the Condor Heroes in the bookstore.
• Yang Chengzhi read the first chapter, became engrossed in its story, and forgot his troubles until Ma Feifei announced that the bookstore was closing.
• Yang Chengzhi left wondering whether to return the next day to read more and questioning whether going back to the academy mattered.

Yang Chengzhi became engrossed in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, while Ma Feifei wrote a fictional tale about Yang Chengzhi’s rise and downfall. Ma Feifei ended the opening with his bookstore as the hero’s mysterious opportunity, leaving Yang Chengzhi unaware that he had become the story’s protagonist.

• Yang Chengzhi visited the Mysterious Bookstore daily and became absorbed in The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
• Ma Feifei began writing a story modeled on Yang Chengzhi, inventing a miraculous birth and extraordinary cultivation talent for him.
• Ma Feifei gave his fictional Yang Chengzhi a doomed romance, fourteen years of stalled cultivation, and a crushing defeat by his rival.
• Ma Feifei revised the story so the disgraced hero found the Mysterious Bookstore, then finished the opening while Yang Chengzhi continued reading, unaware of the tale.

Yang Chengzhi continued reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes despite running low on Spirit Crystals, while Zhou Zhuling returned to the bookstore because reading had eased her illness. After seeing Yang Chengzhi admire Zhou Zhuling, Ma Feifei decided to kill him in his unfinished story, Yang Chengzhi's Revenge Chronicle.

• Yang Chengzhi worried that he could no longer afford the reading fee, but continued reading after deciding to hunt spirit beasts rather than pawn his spirit sword.
• Yang Chengzhi realized that techniques in The Legend of the Condor Heroes had improved his cultivation, which had been stalled for two years.
• Zhou Zhuling told Ma Feifei that she had come to the bookstore for treatment because reading Half a Mu of Flower Fields had reduced her attacks and symptoms.
• Ma Feifei recommended My Fair Princess, and Zhou Zhuling began reading it across from Yang Chengzhi.
• Yang Chengzhi was captivated by Zhou Zhuling's smile, but Ma Feifei interrupted him and decided to write Yang Chengzhi's death into his unfinished story.

Ma Feifei joined Yang Chengzhi on a trip to Nine Heavens Mountain to investigate how reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes had helped Yang advance. They headed toward the mountain, with Yang choosing the third layer for their hunt and Ma Feifei trusting Yang to keep him safe.

• Zhou Zhuling invited Ma Feifei to dinner at the Zhou Manor the day after tomorrow, and Ma Feifei happily imagined she might fall for him.
• Ma Feifei decided to accompany Yang Chengzhi to Nine Heavens Mountain after learning Yang had advanced to Spirit Master Stage Seven.
• On the journey, Ma Feifei questioned Yang about reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes and learned that practicing its techniques had accelerated Yang’s cultivation.
• Ma Feifei realized the trip could be dangerous but went along so he could gather material for his writing.
• Yang Chengzhi chose the mountain’s third layer, where level-four spirit beasts lived, and Ma Feifei felt reassured by Yang’s strength.