James died and he got the chance to reincarnate into the world of his choice.Follow his adventures in the world of MY HERO ACADEMIA!!!!!!!!! 

Disclaimer: I have only watched the anime and have not read the manga.Also this is my first book ever.(unless you count essays for school).I do not own the picture used as the cover.

"It's just a little thing that I've been doing on the side, nothing big," I said, closing my laptop.
Lana sat across from me, reading a book on musical theory. She was in her second year of classical music in university. I had decided it would be best for me to work. I didn't get accepted into any of the sports teams in college (not like I was really aiming for it). My side business had boomed since high school, and I made good money from the students at Lana's university. She was my ticket in, and I spread my net like a fisherman and caught a haul.
"I told you I'm fine. It's just rumours. I know you been writing essays and papers for people since high school," she said, not taking her eyes off her book.
"You knew about it in high school," I asked, grabbing the tv remote and putting my feet up on the coffee table.
"People talk, Jamie. Nothing stays secret forever."
"Tell that to CIA."
"I'm sure they already know." I poked her side, and she giggled. "Stop." I did it again, and she tried her best to keep it all in. "Jamie."
"Is that book more interesting than me," I said, abandoning the idea of tv and trying to snuggle up.
"Uh, yes."
"You don't mean that." I poked her some more till I was able to wrap my arms around her. I pulled her on top of me and started kissing her neck.
"Jamie," she said, not refusing me (she was enjoying it as much as I was). "I need to study."
"So do I. It would seem that I have forgotten what you looked like without clothes on."
"Maybe you need a reminder."


I jolted awake. "A dream," I thought, "More like a memory."
I glanced around the room and noticed the strange woman bathing in the water I had drunk out of.
"Gross," I said.
"When you live here, you don't complain," the woman said. She was at least thirty to forty meters away from me, but she heard me as clear as if I was right next to her.
I found myself sitting on the stone bed. It wasn't cold like I had thought but was warm and comfortable.
"How're you feeling?"
I balled my hand into a fist tightly and then released it.
"Better, I guess."
"Why don't you check your stats?"
"Status," I said, and a green screen appeared before me. It was almost see-through like the blue screens, but this one wasn't cracked. My level was still one, but my stats were positive again. Each stat at ten, and my growth had jumped up to four times. What struck me more than my increased growth was the titles I had obtained. The first was the Mask, a title I had gained after many fights and battles with people I have copied skills from.
I had worn a mask to hide my face from strangers; I wasn't wearing it in the fight, my sisters. I had put it away since I was going home. It drew more attention than it was worth.
The second title (which was above the Mask title) was Administrator. I knew exactly what that meant. I was now in charge. There was even a tab for all the skills in the system. That was when I learned what it was made for.
I admit that Drykena was a deity and strong one at that. There was no way for the system to make the administrator powerful. You couldn't hack your way to the top, such as changing health or strength values. Just like it was on earth, you had to work hard to get strong.
The system's strength came with the ability to share it with others. It was made to gain followers and thus creating an army that you could call your own. Meaning every individual on the planet who had the system could be manipulated and forced to fight for Drykena. Because everyone on the planet used the system. They are born with it.
"Looks like it works," the woman said, approaching me. I quickly looked away.
"Geez! You could at least put some clothes on," I said.
"Relax, we're all adults here."
"Still, please."
"It's my cave. Deal with it."
I kept my head turned away. I could hear her getting closer, the water dripping off her toned body and plopping onto the floor. Curling the dust on the ground in small balls of mud.
I had never really looked at her before. I was too busy dealing with the amount of information that was dumped on me. She wasn't old, but she sounded old. She looked at least in her thirties, but her skin was as young as a twenty-year-old.
"Are you dressed," I asked, and she sighed.
"Yes."
I turned around to see her still naked but now sitting by the table. I quickly turned away.
"What's wrong with you?"
"For a guy with no eyeballs, you seem to see very well."
I had forgotten about that. I had gotten too comfortable without realizing it. My body was still the blackened mess that it was—a starving mess.
"[Overseer]," I said, and the woman's status screen appeared before me. It was a red screen, but her name, stats, and titles were shrouded in question marks.
"You can't see my stats because I haven't given you access to my system."
"Is there more like us?"
"Of course, many other worlds have systems, or I think they do. Haven't left Rolrista, but I'm sure theirs other individuals with their our systems."
"We're the only ones on the planet that has their own system," I said, trying to keep my curiosity down.
"No, I am not the first to have the [Copywriter] skill, but you are the first earthlings to have your own system."
"Now what?"
"What else have you copied?"
"Everything."
She laughed, howling. "You're like a kid in a candy shop. You want everything."
"I don't think I did anything wrong," I said.
"Of course not, but you've been living wrong."
Living wrong. The way she said it hurt my pride. It was all I ever knew of living. I would copy from the best, and that would pay my rent. I stole from everybody. Stole. I didn't change the way I lived from my old life. I just kept living it out in the open. I had lost my family just like how I had lost everything in my first life. Lana, what have I done to you?
"Can you teach me," I asked.
"I can't just release you back into the world like that. You look just like a demon."
"I'm not a demon."
"I know," she said. I could hear the sadness in her voice. She knew my pain. Being called something you weren't even though you begged to be recognized. You were an outcast. "But you need learn that you will never be one of them."
I glanced down at my hands. They were long, and my skin was clinging to my bones—the skin just a space black of emptiness.
"First thing I will teach you. You copy for a reason. You take to build something not to hoard, and then you make it yours."

James wasn't your typical writer. He gave a new meaning to Copywriting. His life wasn't great but he was doing well for himself; six figures in his bank account, and a hot neighbour that he had more than one wet dream about. His life was great until he died of course. Now he's stuck in another world with a secret mission. He's ready to spin another new meaning to copywriting.

"Is there a problem?" Qiao Nan blinked her eyes. "Sister, why are you suddenly so concerned about my studies?"
"I am your sister, is it wrong to be concerned about you?" Qiao Zijin smiled embarrassedly. "Tell me honestly, what did you write for today's essay?"
"I didn't write much. If you really care about me, I can tell you. I feel that I did quite well, you don't need to worry about me. Sister, you need to work hard too." Qiao Nan smiled. The more Qiao Zijin asked, the more Qiao Nan refused to answer.
"I don't need you to worry about it." Qiao Zijin said unappreciatively. "I just wanted to know what you wrote. You can just tell me directly. Won't that do?"
"Then, Sister, why don't you tell me what you wrote today? We were given the same question. Shall we discuss?"
Qiao Zijin said a sentence, and Qiao Nan said another. After haggling for a long time, Qiao Zijin did not gather anything useful. Instead, she nearly let the cat out of the bag.
Qiao Zijin did not know what to say. "You are really too much. Just be straight to the point and answer me. Why are you talking crap?"
"When I asked you, you didn't reply either."
"Qiao Nan, did you do this on purpose?" Qiao Zijin's heart was in a flurry. 
"Do what on purpose?" Qiao Nan raised her eyebrows and asked Qiao Zijin to make herself clear.
"No, nothing. Forget it if you don't want to say." Qiao Zijin could not continue with the conversation any longer. She could not possibly tell Qiao Nan that she had stolen one of her essays and plagiarized it for today's competition, then asked Qiao Nan if she had written something else or regurgitated that old piece of work.
With nothing in return after trying for a long time, Qiao Zijin was burning with anger inside, yet she could not vent it at Qiao Nan. She could only stamp her feet and left with a pale face.
Qiao Zijin had just left Qiao Nan's bedroom when Ding Jiayi came looking for Qiao Nan in a fearsome manner. "Did you bully your sister just now?"
"How could I bully Sister? During today's essay competition, I bumped into her. Coincidentally, we were at the same place. Furthermore, the test question for both junior and senior high school were the same, so Sister came and asked me how I fared. It's that simple." Qiao Nan was happy. She bullied Qiao Zijin? 
She would be lucky if Qiao Zijin bullied her less.
"It's really so simple?" She clearly saw Qiao Zijin looking unhappy when she came out of Qiao Nan's room.
"Yes, it's that simple. Mom, you can ask Sister if you do not believe what I said. You will surely believe whatever Sister said? If I bullied her, would she not let you know?" It would not be Qiao Zijin if she did not complain.
"That better be. If not, I'll not let you off." Ding Jiayi was so protective of Qiao Zijin, like a cow shielding her calf, she scolded Qiao Nan even before anything happened.
Although Ding Jiayi got a reply from Qiao Nan, she still felt uncomfortable. As such, she specially looked for Qiao Zijin to find out more. 
Qiao Zijin did not look good when she glanced at Ding Jiayi. "That's what it is, Mom. I just finished the competition and feel really tired, I would like to take a break." 
"Sure, Mom will not disturb you. Rest well. I'll call you after preparing the meal." Seeing that the elder daughter seemed troubled, Ding Jiayi dared not disturb, so she quietly left Qiao Zijin's room, closing the bedroom door along the way.
Alone in the room, Qiao Nan took out her essay book and opened it.
Qiao Nan touched the page that was missing, her eyes revealing that she was deep in thought.
Yesterday, she suddenly found that she was missing a page in this essay book, as if the page had been torn off.
To prevent from being discovered, the person had torn away the other side of that page as well.
Qiao Nan was not sure who had torn the page. Until today, all her pens were broken, Qiao Nan could not help suspecting that this was the doing of one of her classmates.
After all, during the times when she was in school, her schoolbag was not by her side at all times. There would be opportunity for someone to tear the book.
However, a while ago, Qiao Nan had finally confirmed the person who tore the page of her essay book.
It was not someone else, it was Qiao Zijin.
During today's competition, Qiao Nan had a great shock when she saw the question. For a while, she hesitated and wondered if the person who tore her book would simply copy her work.
This idea flashed briefly in Qiao Nan's head, but she decided to use it eventually as she did not see any reason not to, and it was her own essay.
As for the person who would copy her essay, she was too daring!
After putting the essay book away, Qiao Nan sneered. Qiao Zijin always thought that she could continue to bully Qiao Nan. Now, starting from this essay book, Qiao Nan would show Qiao Zijin that this was not so.
During mealtime, Ding Jiayi dared not ask a word. On the contrary, Qiao Dongliang asked his two daughters how they fared in today's essay writing. 
Qiao Nan laughed nonchalantly, "As usual."
"How about Zijin?"
"Not, not sure." Qiao Zijin nearly choked on her rice.
Initially, in such a situation, Qiao Zijin wanted to proudly proclaim that she had done very well. However, Qiao Zijin was no longer in the mood now. "Not very sure, it will depend on the Teacher's views." 
"No anxiety, it is extremely good that you can join the competition this time. It will be great if you receive a prize. If you did not, take it as a learning experience." Qiao Zijin did not sound confident. Hence, Qiao Dongliang dared not harbor high hopes.
In comparison to the past where the elder daughter did not have any involvement with such activities, he had obviously seen significant improvements. 
"Both of you have worked hard, eat more." Qiao Dongliang lovingly filled the two daughters' bowls with lots of protein dishes. 
Ding Jiayi opened her mouth but did not say a word. She then quickly filled Zijin's bowls with a few more servings of vegetables with her chopsticks.
While Qiao Zijin felt extremely uneasy, the teacher reading the test essays was in a good mood. The teacher of the high school's language team held an essay in his hand: "This essay is really good, you all have a look too." 
"Oh, let me take a look. Yes, it's really quite good."
"So good?" After reading it once, all the teachers in the Chinese Language team gave a score to the essay based on their criteria. As expected, the final score was good. 
"Why don't we do this?" Set one for the first place, two for the second place, and three for the third place. After picking out six essays, the teacher submitted the list of winners and the respective essays.
After the high school department had finalized this, the junior high school team had almost done so too.
During the last review, something was wrong.
"Why, you see, this essay is for the first place in junior high school, and this is for the second place in senior high school. The similarity of the two is more than 90 percent, but…" When the two essays were placed together to compare, someone immediately saw the problem.


Qiao Nan: Crap! I am your biological daughter, yet I am treated as if I was picked up from the streets. In fact, you treat me worse than that!

Mother Qiao: Qiao Nan, you are not as pretty or smart as your elder sister. You are not as blessed as her. You have no right to study, marry, or to have your happiness!

Qiao Nan: Why am I not allowed to study, marry, or to seek my happiness? I will find a man right now and marry him!

Qiao Nan is dumbstruck upon discovering that the man right beside her is a powerful figure in the quad—the person who has the most promising prospects to be the future Chief.

Qiao Nan stares at the well-built man in front of her. He has firm abs and cold, chilling eyes. She swallows the lump in her throat as she says her greetings, "Good Morning, Chief!"

As expected, after the tournament, there was a heady atmosphere in my classroom. My classmates continued to be in a buoyant mood, congratulating Jin Bai He on her championship. I also felt happy for her. This was the last time she would be participating in a high school tournament, and what better way to bow out than winning the trophy?
Embarrassed, Jin Bai He stuck to her best friend, Shi Xiao Nian. The shorter girl continued to doodle away, drawing cartoons, deliberately paying her best friend no attention. Until Jin Bai He began to complain, she focused on her scrapbook in front of her.
"You should just accept their congratulations," Shi Xiao Nian told Jin Bai He with a smile. "You deserve it, after all the work you put in."
After class, I headed to the library. If I wanted to perform well in my examinations, the only way was to study hard and work diligently.
Before I looked for a desk, I picked up a bunch of books from the shelves that were supposed to help me with studying for the exams. Then I continued moving down the aisle to look for more relevant titles. And irrelevant titles, because I gave into temptation and grabbed a couple of light novels as well as How to Write guides. I probably didn't have the time to read all of them, but I could just borrow them and read them at home later. This was called flexibility.
While I scanned the shelves, I caught sight of an interesting title. It was a book on Daoist practices and mythical sects. For a moment, I paused and stared at it. Then I decided to check the book out. It was a long shot, but Kai Li Si did say there were cultivators in this world as well. Maybe they wrote books on the subject. If that was the case, then this book might provide some useful information. Perhaps not on Heaven and Earth Formula specifically, but at least a glimpse into the secret world of cultivation.
After getting a bunch of books that I deemed useful for studying, I found an empty table and settled down on it. With the exams drawing near, it was only natural that the library was full. Normally, I would have preferred to study at home, but today I had come to the library for one reason.
"Hey, Shu Cong."
I looked up and caught sight of Jin Bai He and Shi Xiao Nian approaching me. They were carrying a bunch of books.
"Oh, hey. Are you guys here to study as well?"
"Actually, we already studied," Jin Bai He replied. "We're just about to leave."
"I was thinking it's better to study at home," Shi Xiao Nian agreed. She shuddered. "What with all the incidents involving those other poor girls…and we're not allowed to stay in school for too long."
"It's okay," Jin Bai He assured her and hugged her. "I'll protect you if any idiot dares to attack you, Xiao Nian!"
"Thank you, Bai He." Shi Xiao Nian smiled. Then she turned to me. "You want to join us? I'm holding a study party with the other girls."
"Uh, I think I'm fine here. I'm waiting for Tong Xue, actually, so I can't go.���
That was a good reason, but even if I didn't have an appointment with Tong Xue, I wouldn't have accepted the invitation. It would super awkward for me to go to a girl's home, with everyone else being female.
"You girls, stay safe. The police has yet to catch the culprit yet, so it's best to go home early. Don't stay in school too late."
"Okay then." Jin Bai He was about to leave but she caught sight of one of the books I had taken. She stared at it. "Huh? That English book…"
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" I asked. "What about it?"
"I didn't know it would be on the exams."
"It isn't, I just took it for fun." I shrugged. "I'm thinking of doing Literature in university, so I decided to pick it up, to improve my grades in English."
"That makes sense." Shi Xiao Nian nodded before tugging Jin Bai He's arm. "We won't disturb you then. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay." I nodded and watched them leave before returning to my books. A few minutes later…
"Ah, Shu Cong, here you are."
I glanced up as Tong Xue hurried over, looking a little sheepish. He sat down opposite me, leaning in his chair and sighing heavily.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Usual high school drama." Tong Xue waved my concern away. "Anyway, thanks for agreeing to help me out."
"Wouldn't Ban Zhang or one of the others be better?"
"Come on, you're one of the better students in class. Aren't you good at math and history? Help me out here!"
I shrugged. Yeah, I was studious and scored above average, but that didn't make me one of the better students in class. Okay, maybe I ranked among the top ten, but there was nothing impressive about being top ten in a class of about forty students.
"What do you need help with, in particular? I'll put it out here, I'm bad at integration and matrices."
"Ah, just factorization, differentiation and trigonometry. I remember you're pretty good at trigonometry, right?"
It was just a matter of remembering which was sin, cos and tan. That was all. As long as you had the angles and lengths of the triangles, it was pretty easy. I treated it like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.
Apparently, Tong Xue didn't, and he pondered and scowled over the various equations. I helped him as best as I could, explaining quadratic equations, and struggling alongside him with integration.
"Ugh…! This is so hard!"
"I know, right?" I sighed wearily. "I'll be glad once I don't have to do all this after we get into university."
Tong Xue snorted. "I don't want to hear that from you! You always get an A for math!"
"The secret is practice, practice and more practice," I replied sternly. And then paused for a moment.
Come to think of it, that was the exact same formula for martial arts. Even though I had yet to find a sect that could teach me more techniques, I knew the only way to progress was unending practice. If I still couldn't grasp the next stage, then I would have to practice some more. And then practice again. Until I could practice no longer.
Perseverance and practice. That was key to mastering anything, whether it was math, history, language, art, sports, martial arts or cultivation. The more I practiced, the better I would become at it.
"Ugh! I can't take it anymore! My mind's going to blow up!" Tong Xue was clutching his head and doing his best to keep his voice low so that he wouldn't disturb others in the quiet library. He watched me in disbelief as I continued to read the workbooks and practiced writing essays according to the template. "How are you still doing this?"
"Discipline and sheer fucking will," I replied without pausing in my writing.
"Man, I don't know where you get that discipline and iron will from." Tong Xue shook his head. I didn't tell him that practicing martial arts contributed to it. He wouldn't listen to my advice. "Anyway, I need a break. I'm going to get a drink. Want one?"
"No, I don't. Go ahead."
"Later." Tong Xue rose to his feet, stretched himself, and then departed. I barely spared him a glance because I was engrossed in practicing for the Gao Kao, but I somehow managed a wave.
Finally…I had some time to myself, time I could spend studying peacefully. At least, that was what I thought, but there was a sudden furor in the library.
At the sudden commotion, I found myself looking up in exasperation, wondering what the fuss was about this time. The students in the library were making a ruckus as they all turned toward a specific direction.
"Look!"
"She's here!"
"Why is she in the library?"
"Isn't that the school's number one beauty, Na Lan Yan Ran?"
"Whoa! It really is her!"
Several of the girls waved at her while the guys ogled at her sparkling figure, their eyes turning into hearts. You know, the usual cliché scene where the most popular girl in school walked about, drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity. I probably didn't have to describe any more details.
Na Lan Yan Ran strolled across the library, her long, silky black hair waving slightly from her movements, and she scanned the desks. As I had mentioned earlier, the library was full of third year students cramming for the Gao Kao. Of course, right now almost everyone was more interested in ogling the school's idol than studying, but that didn't change the fact that almost every seat in the library was occupied.
Fortunately for Na Lan Yan Ran, she spotted a single empty seat and she quickly made her way there.
"Don't mind if I sit here?" she asked, pulling out the chair that Tong Xue had recently vacated. I blinked and glanced up at her irritably.
"Sorry, but someone else is sitting in that seat. My friend left to get something. He'll be back soon."
"Oh, really?" Na Lan Yan Ran asked in disbelief. "A real friend or an imaginary friend?"
I sharpened my gaze and jabbed a pen at Tong Xue's stationary and workbook. "Do those look like they belong to an imaginary person? Or are you really that stupid to think I would deliberately bring along a second set of stationary and books just to pretend that I'm studying with someone else?"
"How would I know?" Na Lan Yan Ran retorted. "There are plenty of crazy people in this world. Maybe you're one of them."
I glared at her for a moment, and then shook my head.
"Then it's best if you don't share a table with a crazy person like me. Besides, my friend isn't going to take very long"
"Hah! You can keep that act up. How can a loser like you have a friend?"
This bitch was getting on my nerves. Unfortunately, this was the library so I couldn't afford to raise my voice and snap at her. Especially not when the ghost had already hushed me. Speaking of which, the ghost hadn't reacted to the commotion so far, choosing to bury her phantom features in the book she had chosen.
If the students continued raising the volume, they were going to be screwed.
In any event, I would like to laugh at Na Lan Yan Ran's expression when a stupefied Tong Xue showed up to find that the school's number one beauty had taken his seat. Most likely he would just give it to her while trying to hit on her. Knowing her character from the rumors I had heard, she would most likely boogey out of there before long.
Na Lan Yan Ran was not known for being patient with guys approaching her.
For some reason, she was currently eying one of the books I had borrowed. Something about Daoist magic and mythical sects. I had picked the book earlier on a whim because I was searching for information on Heaven and Earth Sect or at least cultivator sects. Of course, it was unlikely that any of the information in the book was true, but I thought I might as well give it a shot.
Without asking, Na Lan Yan Ran reached out to take it.
"Ho? You're interested in such subjects as well?" She scoffed. "Not that it's going to be of any use to you. I'll be borrowing this book instead."
"Oi!" I was beginning to lose my patience. School's number one beauty or not, she was quite the rude and arrogant brat. What was with her entitled attitude? "I borrowed that book. You could at least ask me before you take it."
"Why so petty?" Na Lan Yan Ran retorted coldly. "Since you're a man, you should be more bighearted."
What was with this sexist bullshit? Some women were like this, always demanding for gender equality, but then switching to this misogynistic nonsense when it benefited them. They wanted to have their cake and eat it.
I was about to protest, but then I saw the white ghost turn toward me sternly. It wasn't a good idea to kick up a fuss right now, not until I had gotten rid of the ghost. I shouldn't waste too much time. Even though I wanted to allow her to finish reading her book before she passed on, I was worried that she might pose too much of a danger to the students in the library.
Perhaps I should get on with it.
Before I could stand up, though, there was another uproar. This time, the students in the library were clamoring over another person.
"Oh! It's Young Master Ting!"
"Young Master Ting is here!"
"…what is it with this clichéd turn of events?" I asked, already dreading the next predictable event that I knew would definitely come to pass.

In the far future, in a distant realm ruled by cultivators, the demonic sects have conquered much of the Celestial Realm. Only one man stands between them and total domination - the leader of the resistance, the Heaven and Earth Saint who united the remnants of the orthodox sects.
Unable to defeat him, the demonic sects decide to send demonic cultivators back through time and space - to the distant past, where Shu Cong is still a young teenager on Earth - to...uh, Terminate him before he eventually becomes the leader of the resistance.
However, the orthodox sects have also sent their own agents back in hopes that at least one of them would reach him in time, to train him for the upcoming battle...

TLDR: As with every end of a book, I will be taking a break and will resume posting on 12th November 2018. I know, it's a longer break than usual, but since it is the end of Act One, I think it should be justified... Oh and since this author thoughts is really long, it really is a too long didn't read, lol.

Hi there guys! Linodo here! WE FINALLY MADE IT!!! We finally made it to the end of ACT ONE!!! *Confetti pops!* Haha, that's right, these first four books are actually part of one act. I know, I know, if it took me about five to six months to complete one act, how long would it actually take for me to finish the entire story?! Three years? Five years? Or should I go full Oda and write it for twenty plus years?

Well, joking aside, I didn't plan for my writing to take this long. If you followed me from the start, you would have known that I wrote Book One in just one month during my semester break. Naturally, the chapter length and quality of writing have been steadily improving (at least in my opinion), so there's that, but the real issue that I have is time management. As a final year university student, school is my full-time job. The most important thing that I must focus on is my school, even if it means decreasing the release rate of Spirit Immortal. And let me tell you, it sure was a challenge. University courses were tough enough, now I have even less time to study and do assignments? There were even times where I just wanted to write an apology letter to you guys and drop the entire novel altogether. However, there was no way that I could do that. Why?

Because I love writing.

I don't know why, no matter how stressed I am, when the clock ticks ever closer to 11 pm, I look forward to when my chapter to go live so that I can see how you guys liked it. You guys don't know it, but there were many days where I would refresh my latest chapters just so that I could see your thoughts about the chapter. In fact, I might be refreshing this chapter right now! Hahaha! So don't be shy to leave a comment or a review about the novel. Let me tell you now, the fear of an author isn't a negative comment or a negative review, the true fear is that no one reads your work.

Before I go in depth about the things you guys really want to know, let me tell you a little bit of my background. As many of you already know, I am an avid anime fan and got into reading web novels because I wanted to read light novels (the source material of a significant portion of anime). To tell you the truth, I didn't like reading books growing up. That's why my English is somewhat lacking as compared to most authors. I did, however, love watching shows/movies/cartoons. I watched many Chinese/Hong Kong dramas, American movies when the K-Wave first started I'd even watched Korean dramas. But, my one true love was still anime. I grew up watching Inuyasha, Shaman King, Naruto, One Piece, Katekyo Hitman Reborn… The list goes on… 

The peak of my anime obsession came when I was about 13-15. Those three years, I probably watched like two-three hundred anime titles, and that's when my life really changed. I watched timeless pieces like Code Geass, FMA, Cowboy Bebop, Fate/Zero, Hunter X Hunter… I delved into comedy anime like Baka Test (which I finished reading on Baka-Tsuki), Daily Lives of High School Boys, Seto no Hanayome, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Niichijou… I had even watched Shoujo anime (even though I was not a young girl) like Seitoukaichou wa Maid-sama, Ouran High School Host Club, Kimi ni Todoke and thoroughly enjoyed them.

However, up till that point, watching anime was just an entertainment hobby of mine. Only after I was exposed to Slice of Life anime did my opinion change. I first watched Angel Beats, and when the ending came, I found myself in tears. I was amazed at how a single storyline could affect my emotions that much. Following that, I binged watch several Slice of Life anime. Air, Kanon and so on. One day, at the peak of my obsession, I discovered a little title called Clannad. I soon discovered that it was by the same company that made some of the titles that I'd watched before, so I went into it with some high hopes. And well, season one was touching, but it was well within my expectations, after watching Angel Beats and whatnot. However, Clannad had something that the other titles did not. A second season. Curious, I thought, well why not?

Boy, was I not prepared for that fucking second season… Clannad: After Story destroyed me. If any of you haven't watched it, stop reading this post and go watch it now. I don't care if you drop my story, I'm just content that I had enriched your lives by letting you know how awesome After Story is. For the first time in my life, after watching a series, I felt empty. I felt as if there was an endless void that ripped my heart in half and that feeling lasted for a solid week. Ever heard of feels train? Clannad: After Story is like getting run over by the feels train while the conductor used the feels bat to hit you every single second. So, once I was finished griefing, I thoroughly reflected upon my experience. How could a story, that had no living creatures in any part of its production, tear me into shreds emotionally? Then, I had an epiphany. It was all about the story. You see, all forms of entertainment that I enjoyed, movies, dramas, anime, manga, light novels, video games, they all had one thing in common. They all had a story. It sounds stupid to say, but it was something that my young mind had pieced together. So, a slight flicker of passion started to burn within me. I wanted to write stories that made people feel that way.

As I grew older, I started watching many more mature animes, like Kara no Kyoukai, Death Parade, Death Note that all had a theme of morality behind it. Instead of the emotional train wreck that Clannad had put me through, it made me question the existence of everything, something that very little Hollywood or Chinese/Korean/Japanese drama ever could. Also, let me shout out a little-known anime called "The Legend of the Legendary Heroes." Severely underrated in my opinion and I can't seem to get my friends to start it. Perhaps you guys would after reading through this post. :p

I wanted to be like Maeda Jun (writer of Clannad, Angel Beat and Kanon) and write touching and thought-provoking titles, and what better way than to write a web novel? Naturally, I'm nowhere near the level of Maeda Jun and the folks at Key, but I'm trying my hardest. After all, how could I climb Mount Everest without taking the first step? If I could make you guys feel even a fraction of what I felt after watching Clannad: After Story, then I'm content. 

So yeah, before this turns into an anime recommendation section, let's talk about the pacing of the story, which was a significant issue that had been brought up by multiple users. As a novice writer, I'm still trying to figure out when I should speed up the pace and when there should be more exposition. At the start of this novel, I had a more direct 'tell not show' writing style which is something that I am still trying to fix till this day. Furthermore, I feel that my writing has a systematic structure that had been ingrained into me due to my numerous years of schooling and learning how to write reports, essays and whatnot. That's why I have been reading multiple successful author's works, trying to find the best style that fits me. Trust me, I have been researching. I read many successful works and analysed their styles. I took time off going to social events just so that I could read/write more. After all, I want to improve my writing. I want to deliver the awesome story of Spirit Immortal (I'll get to that later) in the best possible writings to you guys. In conclusion, my writing style still is a work in progress, and I hope that you could bear with me as I continue my experimentation.

Okay, now that the soapy stuff is out of the way, let's discuss the actual story. This is something that I don't often do in Author's Thoughts or any comments in general as I am not a good secret keeper. I'm afraid that I might accidentally divulge everything, in an accidental comment or otherwise. So I'll try to be very careful here.

The theme of Act One is family. Or to be more precise, what is a family? This is something that I had deliberated on for years, even before I decided to become an author. In Chinese culture, there is this saying, "Blood is thicker than water." I'm sure many of you who are frequent readers of eastern fantasy have come across this quote. However, one day I asked the question. Is blood really thicker than water? Why is it that just because someone is related to you, they must be closer than anyone else in the world? That's how the idea of the orphans came about. I wanted to explore the relationships between children, who have no clue about whether their related or not, and see whether they can be as close as real family. Furthermore, I wanted to see if the adults that adopted them, in this case, the First Elder, the Instructor, etc. would treat them as if they were their own children. And I tried to show you guys that they genuinely loved for the orphans, albeit in a flawed way.

Let me give another hypothetical example. A child was adopted as a baby by a foster family. The child was loved for, cared for and even treated as the most important family member by those who had no blood relations to him. However, one day, when the baby is grown to be fifteen years of age, the biological mother demands that the foster family hand over the child back to her custody. Is it truly right? If we're going by the doctrine that "Blood is thicker than water," the child should be reunited with his mother. However, she is no longer part of his 'family.' There had been no ties of love, memories shared or anything that could bind the two together. The foster family, which had treated him as their own son, is now his true 'family.' That's why when Shin found out about the truth of the Awter Clan, he didn't go full on rage mode and vow to kill everyone who had the Frie Clan's blood. It was because even though he is the heir of the Awter Clan, in his mind, he had no ties to it. 

Junius, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. He loved his family and would do anything in his power to reunite the orphans with their rightful 'family,' those that shared the blood of the Awter Clan. Although his purpose is righteous, his methods are flawed, which led to the unhappy circumstances in 'The Unfulfilled Promise.'

And now… We are finally addressing the elephant in the room. I'm sure many of you who read the last chapter are just dying to wait for me to talk about this. The deaths of Ariel, Lily and Linus. 

When I planned out the entire story, this was the turning point of everything. Ariel's death. The promise that had been made in chapter one will forever remain unfulfilled. I had actually run into some issues when I first started to write book four. A problem that no author should have… I didn't want to kill off Ariel. I had grown too attached to her antics, and I wanted Shin and her to remain together and become some sort of power couple. I had even toyed with the idea of re-planning the story from scratch just to keep her alive. However, the more I thought about it, the more it would ruin my beautiful ending. If Ariel lived, the ending wouldn't make any sense. So, I stuck to my guns, and I wrote the initially planned story, as much as I didn't like to. I'm sure that there will be many who will dislike my choice to kill Ariel and might even drop the novel altogether. And that's fine. I can't force you to read my story anyway.

I'm sure you guys can tell that I try my best to avoid the Wuxia/Xianxia cliche storylines that follow the same arc over and over. However, that, in turn, means that my writing style has to flesh out many details so that you guys can follow the story. So bear with me on that. Each Act will follow a theme. For instance, Act One's theme is family and Act Two's theme is… Well, read to find out!

The future of Spirit Immortal is unknown, even to me. I will be starting my internship soon and possibly, a job offer might come. Once I have the job, there would be so much less time for me to write so I don't know if I can continue my daily releases. Especially since I'm not getting paid to write and this is essentially my hobby. However, I promise you this, as long as there are readers, I will continue to write. I just love the story too much to just walk away. I will try to finish the story within two-three years, but as it stands now, I don't know if that's a reasonable estimate. So, who knows what the future would bring?

Alright, I shouldn't talk anymore lest I accidentally leak my entire storyline to you guys. To be honest, I have been dropping many hints about the end of Act One, and I'm sure many of you caught on early. In truth, I had also dropped subtle hints about the final ending in many of the chapters. I wonder if you guys have picked up on some… 

If you like the story, feel free to leave a review or a comment in the latest chapter, especially for my readers on Webnovel. I don't get notifications if you post comments on older chapters so I won't be able to respond. Please don't ask questions hinting for spoilers. As I explained earlier, I'm not good at keeping secrets so I will ignore the question altogether.

Thank you for supporting Spirit Immortal! Do leave a comment or review that tells me how you think about the novel! I hope that you have a lovely week ahead! Till next time! :D

Over a million years ago, the first human contracted with the first Spirit. Ever since then, Spirit use has become commonplace. Humans used Spirits to carry items and start fires. Eventually, even start wars. Thousands upon thousands of years past and one day, one human did the impossible. He transcended his mortality and ascended to the realm above.  

In the present day, the Frie Clan was once a great clan of the Himmel empire. However, a devastating battle ten years ago crippled the clan and their numbers dwindled. To make up for their loss, the upper echelons decided to adopt young orphans and nurture them to become a future pillar of the weakened clan. Shin was one of those orphans. 

Although picked up by the Frie Clan, not all is smooth sailing for Shin and the other orphans...
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Tags: Action, Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, Drama, Male Lead, Tragedy.

For some reason, QI doesn't allow you guys to see my tags so here they are. Also, there is no Harem in this novel for those of you who are curious.

Chapters are released daily at UTC+8 0100 unless stated otherwise

Support me at: https://www.patreon.com/Linodo
For additional content, visit me at: https://linodofictions.com/

Asher

I did nothing on the weekends. Like literally I spent my whole weekend on my bed sleeping a lot. I've been monitoring my sleep since last week and approximately I slept for more than 24 hours this week, though the time I slept in school is not counted. 

But anyway, it's Monday again and I hate Mondays. Even if it's just hours in school, it feels forever. I don't know but that's what I'm feeling every Monday. I hate the fact that 1 hour feels 1 day, and the whole day feels like an eternity. 

Weird but that's what I feel. 

We did so much studying this day. It's August and exams are coming next week. So, the whole week is for studying. Yes, also the Friday, that is where that day will be different. When exams are coming, Fridays will be also spent as a normal day. A full study day. 

Right now, I am in the office because Mr. Eric wanted to see me. 

"Here are the list of the team. All of their informations are there including birth months, birth years, blood types, grade level, and more." Mr. Eric said then gave me a folder, full of papers. 

I opened the folder and yes, all of the team's informations are there. "So, I'm suppose to study this or what?" I asked while flipping through the pages of the folder. 

"Not study but you must know them so you can be friends with them or to be close to them." 

"I am not good at making friends." I shook my head. 

Mr. Eric sighed, he leaned back on his chair. "Do you know why I chose you to be the team's manager?" he asked. I shook my head. 

"Not really, no." I answered. He then leaned forward and placed his arms on the desk. 

"Well, it's because I wanted you to change. For yourself. I want you to step out of your comfort zone and start experiencing things." he explained. 

I didn't talk, I just continued listening on what he was saying. "The first time I saw you, I immediately thought that you're struggling with something. And my thought was right. You're stuck in your own comfort zone, Asher. You're stuck and you don't know what to do because you are alone in that zone and you convinced yourself that there's no way out. But, that's wrong, because there is always a way out. You just need to stop overthinking for once in a while and look for clues to help you find your way out."

What he said totally hit me. It's true, I'm stuck in my comfort zone for a long time. I don't know when it started, but I am struggling. I'll mark his words and do what he wants me to do. Not only for the team, but also for myself. 

I will also help myself.



The next day, Tuesday, we focused on writing essays and writing essays and writing essays and just really writing essays. We did a lot of writings today. I think I did wrote 200 paragraphs today. 

My hands hurt like hell. I can't feel my fingers. My eyes and my mind are really tired. But, I have to study hard, I need to study hard for me to be able to climb to the honor's list. 

Last grading period, my Mom was disappointed. I was last in the honor's list, she was very disappointed because I used to be at the top five, but now...now I am at the last. 

And what hurts the most, is me being disappointed by myself either. 

Very disappointed. I didn't even know why I ended up at the last. I mean, I did my best to climb at the top five but, it seems not quite enough. 

That's why I need to study hard this time. To make my Mom, my friends, and myself proud. So, that I can keep up with their expectations and they can be proud having me. I don't want to disappoint anyone, so, I'll be doing my best to keep up.

I went to the library because I can't focus with my friends around. I'll be probably distracted easily, but that won't happen because I'm here peacefully in the library. Reading a book with my earphones plugged in.

I was really focused on the book that I am reading, to the point that I didn't hear Justin calling my name. I was really deaf not until he snatched my headphones off my ears. I flinched and blinked a lot as I look at him. And he's just there laughing at my scared face. 

"Devils, Justin! You buggin' scared me." my voice were at half-whisper and half-shout. He just continued laughing but I can't here any noise coming from his mouth. He must be keeping it inside his chest and not letting it out because we're in a library. 

I just stared at him until his very last laugh. 

I raised my eyebrows while looking at him. "You done?" I asked him with irritation. 

He looked at me too. "Dude, I called you ten times and you didn't even bother looking at me. you should've seen your face." he answered then handed me my earphones. 

I was dumbfounded when he said that I didn't even realize that he was calling me 10 times already because I was just too busy. "You do know I'm wearing earphones, right?" I asked him again. 

"Yeah, so?"

"You are really so dumb." I shook my head and he chuckled. I turned my attention to the book. He just stared at me and I felt uncomfortable. 

"What?" I urged to ask while still looking at the book.

 "Nothing." he answered. Again, I got annoyed and glared at him. He innocently smiled at me then looked away.

I slammed my book close then leaned forward. "I know something's up, Justin." I said full of seriousness. "It's either you tell me right now or I'm gonna kick that bloody ass of yours out of here." 

He was silent for a moment, then he looked at me with his face wearing seriousness. "What's happening to you, Ash?" he asked and I can see the look at his face. He is worrying. 

"What do you mean?" my eyes widened.

"What's happening to you? You're not like this." he continued. I just stared at him in confusion. I can't talk. I'm frozen at my own seat. 

"Hey!"

I woke up with that voice. My arms are crossed at the table and my face were buried at my arms, I got up from my sleeping position and  scratched my eyes.

When my vision got completely adjusted, I looked at the person in front of me holding two cups of coffee.

It was Candice. 

She took a seat at the other end of the table, facing me. "You alright?" she asked while fixing her position. I smiled and nodded at her. "I just overslept.." I said, still nodding. "..I think."

She gave me the coffee she was holding earlier. Then I realized why there are two. One for me, one for her. "Here, so you won't fall asleep again." she said then I grabbed the coffee. 

"Thanks." I smiled. 

I took a sip from the coffee. After taking that sip, I stared at the coffee like a weirdo. I looked at Candice, astonished. "How did you know about my favorite blend?"

"Life's full of surprises, Asher." she said, also smiling. I stared at her then smiled and took a sip from the coffee again. 

We stayed silent for minutes. I'm just reading my book and taking down notes while she's in one of the shelves, searching for a book. Next thing I know, is that I'm staring at her. She's really good looking. 

The perfect warm vibe of her presence made me smile. Her dark long hair sways with her as she moves and her angelic face always stands out.

"You don't need to work yourself too much." Candice said while walking towards me. I realized that I was staring at her for a long time. 

"Actually.." I smiled. "..I really do need to. I have to catch up on my grades." 

She took a seat again but with books on her hands now. "Are you kidding?" she chuckled. "Asher, you're one of the most smart guys in our class. You don't have to study that much. It's not like you have someone to compete to. I mean, the jocks in our class doesn't really care about their grades though."

Her words are literally awesome. That did made me smile. "Thanks for the compliment, Candice, but no. I really need to study. For my mom." I said then smiled. 

"Oh, so you're motivated." she smilingly said. 

I just nodded at her then turned my attention back to my book. I'm not motivated. I'm doing this just to meet my parent's expectation. So, she won't be disappointed at me. 

I spent the rest of the days in the week just fully studying. I really need to get on that place again. I want to impress my family. I want them to be proud at me. 

So, I'll be doing my very best.

When challenges hit you like a struck of lightning, there's nothing you could do but face them. You realize that life do sucks. Problems that block your way to the path of life should be destroyed. 

But what can you do to overcome these challenges? How far can you go? What sacrifices will you make?

In this dramatic life-inspiring story, a dedicated boy will do everything to live his life to the fullest. He'll make the last year of his senior high school life surely memorable and unforgettable.

Pei Zi Yun looked at the gift before him and took a sip of his tea. He then asked plainly, "Another person has sent a gift for me?”

The butler was a stocky and dark man, who treated Pei Zi Yun with utmost respect. He answered carefully, "Yes, and there’s a note on it as well.”

He then handed the note over reverently to Pei Zi Yun, who took a look at the note, "In order to create a reputation for myself, if I wanted to pursue my studies and become a Grand Scholar, I would have to limit my social interactions.”

Becoming a Daoist would naturally imply that he would not be able to advance in his studies. However, as long as nobody knew about it, it could still be done.

The past few days have seen talk all over the capital and An Prefecture about the appearance of a literary genius. Ever since Pei Zi Yun composed the wondrous poem, many students penned the exact poem down in order to immortalize it. In the words of a famous poet, Zhang Anzhi, this poem seemed like it was written by a deity himself. A piece like this was only seen once every hundreds of years. 

Invitations to various banquets had been presented to Pei Zi Yun, and yet he rejected them one and all. The reason for doing so was to generate a certain value to his poems and appearances. Were he to attend every other banquets, he would be as common as regular cabbage and would lose his value. He would occasionally attend a banquet or two every few months. This was referred to as marketing value in his previous world.

“The first step is completed. And now I have to execute the next step.”

The books in Fu Mansion’s library were all good books. However, for him to really establish a name for himself, just composing poems was not enough. According to the original owner’s knowledge and memories, he had to write books as well.

All he had to do was think, and the knowledge from all the books he had ever read came flooding into his mind, and presenting them before his eyes. This was probably a use of the Plum Blossom. Apart from whenever the original owner wished to withhold information from Pei Zi Yun, the rest of the information and knowledge would be crystal clear for Pei Zi Yun to peruse anytime he wished. 

He thought for sometime, filtering his thoughts and excluding the poems from his mind. 

“Who would’ve expected that failing in stocks would actually be beneficial to me today. After I was badly hit and lost a substantial amount of money, I went into seclusion, licking my wounds, and finding solace in reading old books. From there, I gained a valuable insights.”

“An example would be the collection of annotations from The Great Learning, written by Confucius. This set of annotations and discussion was one of the biggest hits back in his modern world.”

“The discussions and criticisms do not have to be plenty. In fact, as long as a few good representation of my ideas are present, it would do just fine.”

Pei Zi Yun was upstairs reading intently. He then took out a piece of paper, prepared his ink and chose a quill with the finest tip. He dipped the quill into the ink and started writing the notes and annotations from his memories. He started writing slowly, but picked up speed as he progressed, his quill waving back and forth along the paper. Within a day, he had written 3,000 words.

When he was done, he cleaned up his quill and left the ink to dry. He then picked up his writing and took a look at it.

“The discussion on The Great Learning had already been penned down. However, the response it receives might not be the same as the enthusiastic response received back in my world. If I wish to be a pioneer and gain reputation for myself in this regard, I would need to provide more insightful critiques and discussions.”

As he was thinking, he walked out of the study to look for High Scholar Fu. 

High Scholar Fu was in the pavilion by the yard, sun tanning. He held a book in his hands as well. Pei Zi Yun greeted him, and asked for some guidance. When High Scholar Fu heard this, he pondered for a moment before replying, "What you mean to say is, you’re looking for more philosophical books to read?”

Pei Zi Yun replied him, "Yes, Uncle Fu. After reading Confucius works over the past few days, I’ve learnt a great deal and wish to compound these thoughts in my head by reading more books that are similar. From this, I wish to write an essay highlighting my thoughts.”

“The library in the Academic Institution is the best place for you to begin your search. They have a wide variety of books, with varying depths. Since you are a High Scholar yourself, you will be permitted entry.” High Scholar Fu pointed in the general direction of the institution and said.

Pei Zi Yun bade farewell to High Scholar Fu, before returning to his study room. He then binded his essays together using a string and left for the institution. Pei Zi Yun was browsing through the books in the library of the institution when he saw someone returning a book, placing it onto a shelf. Pei Zi Yun retrieved that book and looked through the contents. It was close to what he was looking for, except it didn’t provide much discussion. He started his search all over again, and only emerged an hour later.

He looked through the content pages of the books he had picked out, discarding the unsuitable books onto the table. He was holding onto a few books in his hands. These books were all relevant to his objectives. With the last few books in his hands, he started comparing the contents of the books.

“Although my ideas and thoughts are deemed to be radical and novel in this world, I still have to conform to the general sentiments and structure of literary and philosophical works. In order to do so, I would have to read these books to get an idea of what their structure is like.”

“But I only have myself, and there are thousands of books around. How long would I need to finish browsing through these books?”

“Obviously I won’t kid myself and say it’s possible to finish reading these. What’s more these books are all copied versions and not the original. This means I wouldn’t be able to absorb them as legacies.” Pei Zi Yun sighed as all these thoughts flooded his mind. According to the original owner’s memories, the third cultivator who managed to transform his body into that of a saint, would manage to do so within this decade. Pei Zi Yun knew that time was not on his side.

“Brother Pei, you are here too.” Pei Zi Yun was still deep in thought when he heard the voice. When he turned around, he saw Wei Ang standing before him, holding a fan in his hands. 

“Young master Wei, you’re here to borrow books as well?” When they were in the outside world, most Free Cloud Sect members always addressed each other in a semi-formal tone.

“Yes, I’ve come to borrow some books as well. Ever since I’ve heard your poem, <Let's Drink Up>, during the last banquet, the other poems I’ve been reading paled in comparison to yours, and left me bored. So I’m here to borrow some books and essays to pique my interests. I didn’t expect to find you here as well.”

Pei Zi Yun smiled, "I’ve come to search for certain books. But I’ve already finished reading. Since we’ve met by coincidence, let’s go in together. I shall return my books and you can borrow yours.”

“Will do.” Wei Ang wasn’t long winded and followed Pei Zi Yun inside.

Within half an hour, Wei Ang managed to find the book he was looking for and the pair proceeded to leave. At this point the weather was starting to change as clouds darkened. Wei Ang started grumbling, "This stupid weather. If we’d known it would start to rain soon we would’ve taken an ox-cart. Quick, we have to walk faster, if not we’ll get caught in the rain.”

Just as they were walking, rain started descending upon them. Pei Zi Yun and Wei Ang had no choice but to seek shelter from the rain.

Since there wasn’t any shelter nearby, they stuffed their books and papers into the folds of their clothings. After running frantically for some time in search of a shelter, they stumbled upon a small temple ahead. They ran towards it, and hid themselves from the rain.

They both looked around, and saw that many people had entered the temple to seek shelter from the rain as well. Nearby, there were three students and one of them was extremely unhappy, "The weather is really ruining my mood. It was a nice and sunny day. Now it’s raining so heavily.”

“Ai, it’s just a small rain no need to get so upset. Anyway, have you heard. The counties on the east side of the river have been under attack by Japanese pirates. Even Lucky Entrance County was not spared and is under siege by these pirates. The magistrate of the Lucky Entrance County has been martyred by them. The situation is dire, and some people answered their call to arms, and tried resisting these pirates. Many people have died and even more women have been abducted.” 

When Wei Ang heard this, his expression was one of anger and disgust. The students were still talking, "These Japanese Pirates would not dare to attack the capital city. I’ve heard that among these pirates, there are sorcerers. Which explains why they’re able to be everywhere at once, and be this formidable while remaining undefeated.”


“Let’s not talk about such grim topics anymore. Shall we pray to the deities, so they might extend their protection to us. As for the pirates, we have to leave them to the Imperial Court.” Another student replied. He then started walking towards the shrine.

“If that’s the case, I would want to pray to the deities for protection.”

“Come, let’s go. There’s shelter all the way to the shrine, I shall go with you.”

Hearing these, Pei Zi Yun was somewhat surprised. The dynasty had been established and peace was restored. Were the pirates this bold to attack now?

According to the original owner’s memories, he was cooped up in the village studying while all these was happening, and thus wasn't aware of the details. Only after hearing this conversation did Pei Zi Yun find out about the existence of pirates in this world, ‘And they had sorcerers too? Pei Zi Yun tonight quietly to himself. If that's the case, does the Yin Yang Sect from Japan exist? Does Teacher Yin Yang exist in this world too?’

While he was still deep in thought, he felt a pat on his shoulders. When he turned around, Wei Ang sighed deeply and said, "The civilians have a hard life and suffer plenty. Let's go in and pray to the deities as well. Maybe they would do something about the crisis pertaining to the pirates.”

“Pray to the deities?” Pei Zi Yun was just about to refute. This was a matter regarding the imperial court and the pirates, what has this got anything to do with the deities? Just as he was about to speak his mind, he understood. Deities existed in this world. Clearly it was different from his own world. 

They both entered the shrine and saw a woman on her knees praying. She was praying to a female goddess. The shrine wasn’t large and the interior was lined with mud. In the middle was a wooden bench. Incense was burning within and the interior was extremely stuffy.

Since it was a rainy day, it was somewhat dim inside and was rather hard to see. However, they could make out a woman on the floor, praying to the statue of the deity before her. She could be heard muttering, "Please protect my father. Protect him from the attacks of the bandits, and let him be safe. If you would grant me this wish, I would return regularly to give sacrifices. I humbly ask for your protection on my father.”

Her words were filled with sorrow, and everyone around that heard her felt extremely sorry for her plight. 

Pei Zi Yun recalled the pirates invasion that lasted an entire century. For a split second, he felt as if the two worlds he knew collided. The pirates problem was deep seated and had caused the deaths of many people, breaking up countless families. Seeing a scene like this unfold before him, he felt some pity in his heart. Feeling somewhat closer to this foreign world than he had ever been before, he asked, "Who’s this goddess?”

“Are you asking about the legitimacy of the goddess?” Wei Ang laughed and replied, "She’s everywhere on the streets. She’s definitely legitimate. This goddess is Madam Luo. She was conferred a title on the previous dynasty.”

“That's so!” Pei Zi Yun knew that unless there was an imperial decree mentioning otherwise, the titles conferred in the previous dynasty would also be recognized in this dynasty. He then retrieved an incense before stepping forward.

Before the goddess statue was a table, and a notice was pasted onto the table. There was a paper and a quill on the table, where a donation box was as well. Manning the shrine was a middle aged man. He wore a grey robe and stood up, "Hold on young master.”

The people within the shrine were surprised by his actions. When the keeper of the shrine noticed that people were surprised by his sudden intrusion, he pulled Pei Zi Yun to the side and said softly, "The goddess told me that she's pleased by the fact that you're here to offer her incense. However, you've brought some secular treasure within our shrine. And we do not allow this.”

Pei Zi Yun was shocked, "I'm only carrying 5 taels of silver, and several bank notes. What treasure are you speaking of?”

“It's what's in your hands that I'm speaking of.”

“But these are just books.”

The books that the shrine keeper was referring to were those that were written and tied up by Pei Zi Yun himself, "If young master wishes to proceed, may I suggest he place his books outside the shrine before paying his respects?”

When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he didn't understand the logic behind this. Although in both his lives, he had never learnt the rituals and customs of such practices. However, this shrine keeper was a conduit for the spiritual realm, and could feel the presence of deities and other spirits. It seemed like the books were hindering his connection to the spiritual realm. Pei Zi Yun then wondered if the books he had written were able to make a mark on this world, without any further amendments required. 

When Wei Ang had finished with his rituals, he walked over to Pei Zi Yun and took the books from him and said, "Let me hold it for you.”

He then took the books away from Pei Zi Yun.

Pei Zi Yun didn’t mind. These books were meant to be read, since he wanted his works to be recognized all over the nation. Besides, he had interacted quite a fair bit with Wei Ang of late, and decided that he wasn’t as bad as he had initially thought. 

He walked up towards the goddess to offer his incense. Pei Zi Yun was not especially religious. Furthermore he was a Daoist cultivator, with the knowledge of the original owner. He didn’t especially need anything. Thus he stepped up and offered the incense without asking for anything.

Wei Ang was outside the shrine, flipping through the books nonchalantly. However, something within the book caught his eye. He started flipping through, as if in a frenzy. When Pei Zi Yun went out, Wei Ang was appalled, "This book, was it written by you?”

“Of course it is. It’s just that this is my first draft, and I have yet to edit or make amendments to it. I have plans to improve on it, maybe then it would be presentable.”


Earth Immortals are cultivated from a blessed land,
Heaven Immortals move to and fro from the divine mountains.
I have a stalk of plum blossom, and I shall maraud the Will of the Heavens with it!

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