There is nothing wrong with the training method of the Justice Messenger

There is really nothing to be happy about. After all, with Li Nianshu's quality, it is almost impossible for him to be eliminated in the initial review.

Although we select hundreds from thousands, in the initial screening stage, what are eliminated are actually "works with no highlights and no publishing value". Most of these works have problems in the most basic aspects, such as grammar, length, subject matter, etc., which may not meet the passing standard. It is normal to screen out more than 900 books based on this standard. Strictly speaking, even among the 100 books left, there should be some that make up the number, otherwise the integer of 100 cannot be made up.

To be honest, this is not a very strict requirement. Experienced editors, authors and even readers can tell the difference at a glance.

Basically, just by reading the beginning, you can tell whether the writer has enough writing skills. If a book fails to catch people's attention at first glance, it is probably destined to be eliminated. After reading about 10,000 words, you can already judge whether it is a "qualified" book.

After all, it is a nationwide award for new talents. There are definitely many capable people, but there will be even more people who are not capable enough.

Wu Geng is a good example; her best result was just getting through the first round of preliminary review, and from what Li Nian had seen, her writing skills still had to be described as mediocre. Even so, she could already represent the level of those people on the dividing line... that is, one-tenth of them.

On the other hand, if you really have enough talent and can catch the examiner's eye at first glance, making them think: "This person seems to have written an interesting book," then you will definitely stand out - of course, this is only limited to the preliminary review.

If the initial review is just a "rough review", the subsequent review standards will be really improved, and it is necessary to go deep into every aspect of a work. The final result is that six books are selected from a thousand books and are awarded a grand prize, two excellent prizes, two good works, a special prize, and the qualification for publication.

"Like Wu Geng said, it's just a preliminary review, I'm confident I won't fail." Li Nian held his neck and yawned: "In other words, before the final review results come out, I don't think there's anything worth caring about."

"You really sound like you're sure you can pass the review. You should know that the reviews will become more and more stringent and the standards will become higher and higher. Don't think that everything will be fine after passing the initial review."

Wu Geng seized the opportunity to pour cold water on him.

"Of course I can't take it for granted, nor am I sure that I can make it all the way. Who knows what uncertainties may happen in the middle?" Li Nian shook his head: "I just think that no matter whether it is the preliminary review, the review or the final review, if I am eliminated in any link in the middle and cannot get the final publication quota, then everything is meaningless."

Kato looked at him in astonishment.

"That's why I feel that you, Li Nian, have very high standards..."

"Because if I don't publish, I won't make any money. What's the point of working so hard without earning a penny?"

"A surreal reason?!"

"Poverty is one of the driving forces of human progress." Li Nian said seriously.

"A person who is completely obsessed with money." Wu Geng sneered disdainfully.

Li Nian stared over.

"Who once said that the reason for writing a book was to make money to supplement the family income?"

Gogen looked away as if nothing had happened.

Actually, when he said he wanted to make money, he only said half of it... The main reason was that in Li Nian's cognition, only profit was the symbol of the real beginning of the "career path" and the sign of the achievement of ability - but this topic was probably too profound for a high school student, so he was too lazy to talk about it anymore.

Li Nian suddenly remembered something and asked Wu Geng.

"Just talking about this topic... Let's not talk about my affairs for now, how is the progress on your side?"

"Huh?" Wu Geng was still a little confused and didn't know what Li Nian was asking.

"I'm asking how your novel is going. I remember you said you were going to post it online. It's been so long. Have you finished the outline? Have you started writing?"

A few days ago, Wu Geng would often bring the notebook with the outline to ask Li Nian for advice. The text was gradually becoming more detailed and well-structured. The last time she showed it to Li Nian, it was almost finished. Wu Geng hadn't come to ask recently. Li Nian was happy to be free. Wu Geng didn't ask, and he never took the initiative to talk about it. But seeing that she started writing and drawing in class again, he could still judge that she had completed the outline and entered the stage of writing.

When this matter was mentioned, Wu Geng immediately straightened his expression and gave an answer that Li Nian did not expect.

“I have already started writing.”

Wu Geng still wanted to revise the work that was criticized by Li Nian as worthless. This time, she took Li Nian's opinions into consideration and swapped the genders of the male and female protagonists. She also made many changes to the plot. In fact, compared with the previous story, it has been completely changed. Judging from the detailed outline, the whole story is much more pleasing to the eye. If she can really follow the steps and write out the plot development in each stage well, it will be worth looking forward to.

"Posted it on [Become a Novelist!]?" That is a famous submission website.

"No." Wu Geng shook his head. "I plan to write a complete volume and publish it after revising it."

"……Yeah."

Li Nian showed a slightly surprised expression, which made Wu Geng confused, thinking that he had done something wrong again. He asked nervously, "Is there anything wrong?"

"…I just think that once the details are organized to that extent, I can write and publish at the same time."

Li Nian thought to himself, isn’t this the way to write a physical book? It’s not a good idea to write an online serial like this.

Speaking of online serialization, that is Li Nian's forte. You should know that before he traveled through time, he was one of the thousands of online writers who were busy typing. In his understanding, online novels have very high requirements for the number of words. To be precise, when broken down, there is a very high demand for daily updates. Only by maintaining stable updates can the readers' attention be retained. When it comes to the stage of listing, the money is calculated based on the number of subscriptions * the number of words. Writing six to eight thousand words a day is just the basic requirement. For authors who slack off all day long, without stable and sufficient updates, no matter how well they write, they will have no way to make a living, let alone be favored by website editors, get recommended positions, and have no chance of promotion.

Therefore, unlike physical books, online serials often do not have the leeway or time to consider repeatedly.

If Li Nian were in Wu Geng's shoes, she would have already sorted out such a detailed outline and started writing and posting it now.

"...Should I publish it now?" Wu Geng hesitated, "But if I don't revise it, won't the overall quality and look be affected?"

Li Nian thought about it carefully and found that his Qing Dynasty had its own national conditions. There was no such mature online literature market and platform as there anywhere in the world. Although the online novel websites in Japan were also large in scale, they were fundamentally serving the industrial chain of novelization, comics, and animation. In the end, books had to be published for the authors to earn royalties. The role of novel websites was basically just a place to increase exposure and provide library editors with a space to discover authors.

But of course, only popular works with higher popularity will be more valued... Li Nian feels that no matter where you are, stability and a large number of updates are the only way to gain popularity... No, that does not conflict with improving the quality of works. For Wugeng, it is just a delay in publication time. After writing, the most perfect work will be presented directly, which is undoubtedly better.

"…Forget what I said. You are doing the right thing. However, when you have finished writing and revising, don't rush to upload it all. While uploading it bit by bit, try to contact the editor directly."

"Oh, why?" Wu Geng had an expression on his face asking why he had to do this, and it was obvious that he planned to upload all of them at once after making the changes.

Kato was also puzzled: "Yes, why is it that it's all written? Why don't you let the readers read it all in one go?"

"Kato-san, this is to increase the exposure of a book. By updating it all the time to extend the exposure time and accumulate various data such as clicks, you can get the attention of the editor."

Wu Geng suddenly realized.

"Indeed! Books that are updated regularly can accumulate popularity... I understand! I will do that."

Kato was still a little unrelieved, and he tilted his head and muttered.

"I feel like you have such bad intentions... It reminds me of the time when Li Nian showed everyone your articles bit by bit..."

"Stop! Stop!" Li Nian slammed the table in protest, "My work is completely different! I just show you as much as I can write! I update 30,000 words a day. How many authors with such integrity can you find in the world?"

"Even though I say that... but, readers will feel bad if they can't finish the whole story. So pitiful..."

"I was planning to write and revise it before posting it, but that person was the one who was deliberately hiding it."

"Humans are such dirty creatures." Li Nian pointed at Wu Geng without any shame, and smiled sinisterly: "In order to make money from publishing books! I will do anything!"

"Look, aren't you the same as me?"

Having said that, Li Nian understands the practice of updating every five days. After all, without popularity, there will be no subsequent promotion of the website - not to mention that it is not him who has to wait for updates anyway.

He reminded Wu Geng righteously: "But don't put the cart before the horse and forget to write your own book. If you use the writing method of a physical book and spend time to build up quality, but still can't write something good, you will still fail."

"Well……"

Wu Geng shrank his head, his arrogance was about to fade away. Thinking that he had never written any good quality articles, he began to worry about his future. However, he still gritted his teeth and said loudly: "I will definitely write something good this time! I will succeed and make you look at me with new eyes!"

Li Nian looked at her expression and knew exactly what she was thinking. He did not try to discourage her but simply nodded.

"I'm sure you will."

Wu Geng was startled, his face showed joy, but he quickly restrained it and asked cautiously.

"……real?"

"Eighty to ninety percent."

"…Why are you so sure?"

"Follow the detailed outline and tell me how you want to get away with it."

The foundation for five chapters is enough. She will write according to the detailed outline. No matter how bad her performance is, at least she can write a fairly interesting story. Then she can update steadily until she has finished writing the story of the entire volume... That's enough.

"is that so?"

"Don't ask me if you came up with it yourself... Just write without thinking too much, and then you will definitely get the recognition you want."

Wu Geng then smiled and shook his head.

"Everyone can say nice things."

"You are a real troublemaker... If you really aim to publish a book, what you want to gain is far from enough. When you are praised, encouraged, and expected by others, you will find that it is just the beginning."

Li Nian was just about to give another lecture on this point when his cell phone on the table suddenly rang.

Kato had just come over to look at the review results and was now standing behind Li Nian. He subconsciously glanced at his screen and was stunned when he saw the caller note.

Li Nian then reached out to pick up the phone, and then saw the note. He frowned immediately, glanced at Kato, and flipped the screen down with his backhand.

"Excuse me, I need to go out for a moment"

He immediately stood up and went outside to answer the phone.

"that is……"

Kato stared blankly at him as he walked out of the classroom, thinking about the caller note he had just seen, his expression full of confusion.

Wu Geng also watched Li Nian walk out, and then looked at Kato's expression. He was already sure what kind of call Li Nian had received. He frowned and showed a complicated expression.

"Hey, Wu Geng, don't you think that every time Li Nian answers a phone call, he disappears for the whole day?"

"…Huh? Really? It's just your imagination."

Although Gogen said this, he knew in his heart that Kato's idea was right, because that person's job seemed to be of this nature.

"Yeah……?"

Kato looked at the back door where Li Nian left with some relief.

At this time, An Yi ran into the classroom and went straight to Li Nian's seat with an excited expression on his face.

"I've made a date with someone! I've made a date with someone... but where is he?"

Kato asked, "Isn't it in the corridor outside?"

"The corridor?" An Yi said blankly, "I didn't see him."

Kato and Gogen looked at each other, and Gogen spoke slowly.

"Then you definitely won't see him today."

Chapter 169: Tsuchimikado Natsume

Indeed, the call Li Nian received was from the Yin-Yang Bureau's dedicated line. Needless to say, there was a commission, which meant that he had to skip the afternoon classes and go out to do business.

This happens quite often. When there's a call, it means there's something to do. The call could come at any time of the day, and he could be asked to go anywhere. For example, last time Li Nian was commissioned to slay a rebellious sea beast, so he had to travel all the way to Hokkaido.

Basically, when the phone call came, Li Nian had to run around the country, but it seemed that this was the nature of the job of an exorcist, and Li Nian had gradually gotten used to it.

This time, she didn't expect that the call came when he was using his mobile phone to check the list of people who had passed the preliminary review, and when Kato was next to him, she happened to see the caller's note. It was a somewhat unexpected episode... But Li Nian didn't care much about it. Although Kato might have some ideas, when he was asked about it, he would just say that he was just calling randomly and make up a few words to get away with it.

In fact, since Gogen and the others knew his identity, Li Nian was too lazy to hide it anymore. After all, being an exorcist is an upright profession. If it is not too topical and special, it will attract a lot of strange looks if it is exposed. Li Nian is too lazy to hide it. Now that his identity has been known by the people around him, everyone is obviously able to keep their mouths shut. So far, he has not heard of any rumors pointing to him, which shows that the people in Sakurasou can still keep their mouths shut, and Kasumigaoka-senpai and Gogen should not have said anything nonsense.

Let's get back to the topic of this mission. It is a little special compared to previous ones. To be precise, this time it is not a direct commission, but a request for help from other exorcists.

Due to limited manpower, commissions from the Onmyoji Bureau are usually issued directly to individuals who are judged to be suitable. An exorcist will go to the scene to investigate and make a judgment. If he feels that the problem cannot be solved, he can apply for support.

Li Nian did call for support once. That was when he was entrusted to deal with a first-class spiritual disaster, to repair the spiritual veins and remove the miasma. At that time, he called Jianshan... Although he completed the work alone in the end, Jianshan basically had nothing to do, which made her make a wasted trip and she was quite resentful about it.

In short, it was the first time that Li Nian was called for support. The name of the person requesting support was also notified on the phone. It was a girl named Tsuchimikado Natsume. She encountered a third-type spiritual disaster and seemed unable to handle it herself, so she requested support.

Tsuchimikado Natsume... The last name Tsuchimikado is very interesting... Is he from a big family?

Li Nian didn't know any exorcists. The only one he was familiar with was Isayama. As for Tenruo and Jinguji, they were only once-acquainted relationships. This time it seemed that he would finally get to know another exorcist through work, and there might be a chance for cooperation. Li Nian was still quite interested in this.

The place where the spiritual disaster occurred was a city not far from Chiba, but there seemed to be no special car to pick up people this time. Li Nian first said hello to Teacher Hiratsuka, then left the school, hailed a taxi directly on the street, told the driver the destination, and drove straight there.

An hour later, Li Nian arrived at the crime scene, which was a small park. At this time, the entire park had been cordoned off and surrounded by police. Li Nian paid the bill, got out of the car, and walked straight to the entrance.

The policeman on duty outside the cordon saw Li Nian walking towards him and immediately reached out to stop her.

"I am the exorcist Li Nian. I have received a request for support and have been ordered to come here to assist in the investigation."

Li Nian stopped in front of them and showed his exorcist qualification certificate.

This was a common procedure, and there would not be any twists and turns. The two police officers were stunned and looked at each other, but someone muttered, "Why is there another kid here... Can he really be of any use?"

Their muttering was heard by Li Nian, who had sharp hearing. He sensed a hint of disgust and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

It was true that he came in a hurry and had no time to change his clothes. Now he was wearing a school uniform, and others could tell at a glance that he was a high school student. However, this was a common occurrence. In the past, when he showed his exorcist qualification certificate, no one dared to question his ability just because of his young age.

Fortunately, although these two police officers seemed to have some ideas, their attitude was still impartial. After checking Li Nian's exorcist certificate and confirming that it was authentic, they asked Li Nian to wait outside and notified the person in charge of the scene to come over.

The person in charge was a middle-aged uncle. He took one look at Li Nian's attire and frowned unabashedly. When he saw Li Nian's exorcist certificate, he smacked his lips and cursed bluntly.

"Is there no one left in the Yin-Yang Department? Sending a bunch of young boys who are still wet behind the ears to deal with the third type of spiritual disaster?"

"…If you doubt whether I am an exorcist, you can ask the Yin Yang Office for confirmation."

"...I don't doubt that you are an exorcist." His tone softened a bit, but still harsh and pointed: "But sorry, our time is also precious. If you are like that girl just now, and you are not even used to seeing corpses, please go home now and notify the Yin-Yang Department to send someone who is truly capable."

Li Nian was slightly startled, but he actually caught the message in the words very well.