Chapter 1369: Offering Up Books
“What about it?”
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance gazed at him in confusion. Because the two sect masters of the Myriad sect regularly ventured to beyond the Nine Heavens to follow the Elder of Heavenly Tomes, only he remained in the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes all year round. He did so to protect the sect from any intruding enemies and to complete the Myriad Heavenly Tomes so that he could accumulate knowledge and use for cultivation.
He had always prefered peace and quiet, so this job was extremely suited for him. His primary source of entertainment was reading too. Only the various novels and interesting stories from books of all sorts could survive the erosion of thousands of years, allowing him to maintain his interest. As for other books, whether they were exceptional poems or extraordinary discourses, they were not worth reading at all. With his intelligence and knowledge, he had surpassed most of those authors already.
Everyone in the sect knew about this hobby, so disciples would regularly collect stories and offer them up to him in exchange for some contribution and bookmarks to satisfy this small interest of his. In essence, the colossal Myriad sect basically existed to serve a very small number of people, like the Elder of Heavenly Tomes, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance, and the two sect masters.
Li Qingshan said excitedly, “I’m a novelist!”
“Heh, now that’s unusual!”
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s lips curled slightly. He had probably smiled more today than in a usual year.
“Really.”
Li Qingshan originally wanted to say he had written novels before, but in hindsight, he had basically plagiarised them all before passing them to Xiao An to spice up the details, so they had absolutely nothing to do with him. The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance would probably see through that the moment he said it, so he could not bring himself to tell a lie like that.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance looked at him indifferently. His expression was filled with contempt. Even when Li Qingshan “provoked” him earlier, the contempt was not this heavy.
“Heh, you really are wet behind the ears, aren’t you? Just go back to what you were doing before!”
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly. If Li Qingshan said he could become a True Immortal, he might have believed it a little. As for being some novelist, he could save it! Even with his eyes shut, he could tell how much literary talent he had in him.
“I said I would serve the Myriad sect. You’re right here, senior, so why would I try and attempt something beyond my reach? Are there any bookmarks or contribution if I offer up a novel?” Li Qingshan gazed at the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance like he was looking at a treasure trove of bookmarks, oh of course, as well as a tremendous amount of contribution.
“If it’s interesting and worth a read, then there’ll naturally be bookmarks and contribution, even more than regular cultivation methods and manuals.” The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance clearly did not think Li Qingshan could produce anything readable.
This novel is _hosted_ by hosted novel.
“Alright, I understand. Please lend me the jade slip again, senior.”
“What are you trying to do?”
Li Qingshan’s eyes shone brightly. “I want to offer up a book.”
The jade slip soared through the air along an arc and ended up in Li Qingshan’s hand. He immediately shut his eyes and began recording a novel in there. A while later, he returned the jade slip to the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance.
“The Legend of the White Ape King. Did you write this?”
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance furrowed his brows and became slightly surprised. With the nimbleness of his soul sense, he had read over a hundred thousand characters in the blink of an eye.
“I did. What do you think, senior?”
This was Li Qingshan’s only original creation, and he had put quite a lot of effort into it.
“The language is shallow, the characterisation is rigid, and there’s a bunch of random, low level martial arts mixed in. It’s both long and foul!”
In the blink of an eye, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance read another several hundred thousand characters and gave him a string of criticism.
Li Qingshan knew he was not made for this. The entire reason why he had written the Legend of the White Ape King in the first place was to use the random, low level martial arts to gather readers. There were not a lot of people in the original small world who would criticise the contents, but receiving feedback like that still left him a little discontent.
At this moment, the badge on his chest lit up slightly, and a few Black Wood bookmarks were thrown his way. He grabbed them and gazed at the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance in surprise.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance said indifferently, “But there are also some areas worthy of notice. It attempts to achieve harmony throughout the world, where all are equal. It possesses quite the compassion and spirit. There’s still some length to it after all, so it’s worth a few Black Wood bookmarks and a few points of contribution. Alright. I’ll be accepting this book.”
It felt a little like he was simply trying to send away a beggar disturbing him, but Li Qingshan was still extremely happy. “Thank you, senior!”
This was still one of his own creations after all. It had taken him great effort, so being able to sell it for something was better than it being worthless. This was not just a few Black Wood bookmarks and a few points of contribution either, but a door of opportunity open to him.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was about to leave when Li Qingshan said, “Don’t go, senior. I have more with me!”
“Hmm?”
Li Qingshan offered up another book, but it was no longer written by him.
In the World of the Five Continents, their god appeared in person, scouring the world.
The hundred schools of thought had always prevailed in the nine provinces. The school of Novels had never been particularly prosperous, but they still had a very long history. Over such a long period of selection, there were still many classics and famous works that remained.
As Li Qingshan spoke with the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance, he used his will as the god of the world to collect these books, recording them in the jade slip through his main body.
The World of the Five Continents and the Human realm were separated by an invisible boundary. It was only possible to connect the two through the Heaven Climbing Vine. Otherwise, it would be impossible to bring even a grain of sand between the worlds. However, his main body and his clone shared the same knowledge and memories, so this was sufficient.
“Yeah, this is a little interesting, and the language is much more coherent and eloquent…”
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance nodded in satisfaction. He even slowed down his reading speed like he was trying to savour it. However, he still finished it in a single moment.
The badge on Li Qingshan’s chest lit up again, and he obtained a few Yellow Bronze bookmarks this time. It was not particularly precious, but it was an extremely good start. He seemed to be able to see Le Tian’s unlucky figure from losing the gamble already. He immediately offered up another book.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance glanced at him and became interested. He downright gave Li Qingshan another jade slip so that he could continue recording without interrupting his reading. Actually, he rarely ever had the opportunity where he could read so many quality novels endlessly.
As he was quite difficult to impress, the novels gathered by regular disciples struggled to interest him, so the rewards were not particularly high. While these rewards would mean something to readers, attendants, and servants, they did not even possess the right to enter the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes. Even if they could offer up some books through the Book Collection department, their area of activity was very narrow, and their ability to find books was restricted as well.
As for formal and inner disciples, these rewards normally would not interest them. If they had the time to do this, they were better off doing something else, and they would gather much more contribution and bookmarks. Direct disciples went even more without saying.
Due to these various reasons, coupled with the fact that he read far too quickly, he normally just reread some old books.
He was aware that Li Qingshan definitely was not the author of these books. He had probably guessed that Li Qingshan had brought them over from another world. These books had been accumulated over time in a different world, which was the only reason why there was such quantity and quality.
But according to the cultivation method he had offered up, it was very likely that the world he came from was already approaching its end or even destroyed already. In short, there were books to read, so he no longer cared about those small details. He gathered his focus and read through them one by one, even urging him on. “Faster, faster.”
