127: Paper submission

After eating their fill, the three set off for the high tower.

The environment here was quite good; trees were planted on both sides of the road, which was quite an achievement considering it was within the mountains.

Entering the high tower, it was eerily quiet. If one closed their eyes, they would feel as if no one was there.

Wu Zijin led Xu Bai to a side resting area and handed him a book.

This wasn't really a book, but more like a loose-leaf binder, with various names inside.

“This is the catalog of books and periodicals in the high tower. What would you like to read? Once you've chosen, you can get the corresponding periodical based on the catalog. Oh, and you need to pay points to take out books; 1 point for 2 books.”

Xu Bai took the catalog but didn't open it immediately. He remembered what Ji Yun had told him earlier.

“Wu Bai, I want to ask, who do I submit a thesis to?”

“A thesis?”

Wu Zijin looked up and carefully scrutinized Xu Bai.

“Are you sure? You know, the cards-making principle and method that allowed you to become a Three-Star Card Maker is your main source of income right now. If you publish these, it means many Card Makers will know how to make them.

Actually, we encourage Card Makers to publish these, and I don't want to stop you. I just want to give you a heads-up. You need to think it through yourself.”

Xu Bai smiled easily: “Thank you for the reminder. I'm not looking to publish the making method right now. I've written a different thesis. I find this theory very interesting and want to see if it can be published.”

“Alright, give it a try. The final result is hard to say. I'll take you to Ms. Yin Jia first. She's in the high tower library office. She's one of our province's thesis reviewers. Once it passes her, you can submit it to a periodical.”

...“Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.”

“Come in.”

Wu Zijin pushed open the office door and greeted, “Good afternoon, Ms. Yin Jia!”

Xu Bai followed Wu Zijin into the room. Inside was an elegantly dressed lady with silver hair meticulously coiled on her head. Many badges were pinned to her left chest, representing her life's achievements.

“Good afternoon. You're not going to make me look at your terrible thesis again, are you? When will your thesis format improve? Please stop using words like 'about,' 'appropriate amount,' 'small amount.' This is a thesis, not a cooking recipe.

Your thesis idea is good, but it's just too unprofessional, and too...”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Wu Zijin quickly interrupted her rambling and pushed Xu Bai in front of him to block the storm.

Xu Le didn't dare to go up at this time, hugging Wu Zijin's leg and not letting go.

A little scared!

“Ms. Yin Jia, please listen to me first. Today it's not me; it's this gentleman next to me. He wrote a thesis and wants you to review it.”

Yin Jia stopped her urge to continue complaining, adjusted her glasses, and examined Xu Bai.

She had bought these glasses two days ago. They allowed her eyes, which had been reading for a long time, to see clearly again. She heard they were called 'myopia glasses,' and she liked them very much, wearing them while reading these past two days.

After a moment, Yin Jia was a bit puzzled and directly asked.

“I've never seen you at the guild. Are you a Card Maker from another province? Or a newly joined Card Maker?”

“Ms. Yin Jia, he's new today. His name is Bai Xiaobai, and I'm his introducer.”

“New? Coming to submit a thesis? You're not mistaken, are you? Are you making fun of me?”

“I'm new today. These are some theories I summarized while making cardss and some research on these theories. I'm not joking.”

Xu Bai replied while opening his backpack, taking out the stack of papers he had taken from the drawer that morning and handing them to Yin Jia.

Yin Jia took the thesis and began to read it slowly.

First, she looked at the title: “Derivation and Application of the Description Method Based on Light Refraction and the Law of Refraction.”

Yin Jia nodded; the title was well-chosen. Now it remained to be seen if the content lived up to the title.

“Ms. Yin Jia, Bai Xiaobai is here for the first day, and it might be his first time writing a thesis. Please be gentle with your criticism so as not to discourage the new person.

If you find anything commendable, please give him some guidance. New people need care.”

While Yin Jia was reading, Wu Zijin spoke up for Xu Bai. In fact, he was a little worried now that he and Xu Bai might be thrown out. He should have read it first.

Forget it, it's better not to read it. It would be bad if he was misunderstood as trying to steal his thesis.

Wu Zijin waited anxiously, while Xu Bai was very calm. He felt that what he wrote was not problematic... Yin Jia read through the thesis page by page. The more she read, the more serious her expression became.

Xu Bai had given her not just one thesis, but three: “Derivation and Application of the Description Method Based on Light Reflection and Refraction Law,” “Experimental Proof of Light Reflection and Refraction,” and “Refraction and Reflection of Light in Transparent Media.”

And the content was not haphazard; it contained very rigorous theory derivations and experimental procedures. At the same time, it wasn't mindless fluff; the content of the three theses each had their own focus.

At this moment, Wu Zijin was unaware of Yin Jia's thoughts. Seeing her serious expression, he was already prepared to be scolded.

He shouldn't have brought Xu Bai here directly just for the points...

Yin Jia finished reading the thesis in her hand and once again carefully examined Xu Bai.

“You've surprised me greatly.”

“Surprised?” “Surprised?”

Wu Zijin and Xu Bai both asked at the same time.

However, their intentions were different. Xu Bai thought she was surprised by him submitting three theses at once; Wu Zijin thought she was surprised by Xu Bai's poor thesis writing.

“Yes, very surprised. All your theses have passed the review. These three theses are all very good. Do you have a periodical you want to submit to?”

Yin Jia asked.

“Wait a minute, three theses, and all passed the review? Ms. Yin Jia, did I hear correctly?”

Wu Zijin poked his ears, looking at the thesis manuscripts in Yin Jia's hand with disbelief.

Xu Bai didn't mind Wu Zijin's surprise and instead asked Yin Jia for advice.

“I don't know which periodicals there are. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Let me first tell you about the precautions for submitting to periodicals. A thesis cannot be submitted to multiple periodicals simultaneously.

However, if one periodical rejects it, you can submit it to another, but that would take a long time.

But if you want to avoid wasting time by submitting to periodicals with very low influence...

The guild points you receive will be much lower, and the probability of it being seen by others will also be less. You might not get points for being cited later.

Think about whether you want to publish it quickly to get points sooner, or if you can wait.”