Chapter 2522: Immortal Tea Talk 20: Shangguan Biao's Path

Immortal Tea Talk 20: Shangguan Biao's Path

Immortal Tea Talk 20: Shangguan Biao's Path

Finally finished this section, taking the opportunity to chat with everyone.

When the Earth Mother arc was halfway through, some readers didn't understand why so much space was devoted to Earth Mother and Shangguan Biao. Now most people see clearly: besides Earth Mother's major boosting role in later plot, Shangguan Biao himself is the protagonist of this section.

The protagonist should enjoy the protagonist's treatment; I've fully presented his story so you can all see it and make associations.

This is an extreme example, and also a true "volume king." Longwind Valley adopted a gu-rearing strategy to cultivate talent, encourage competition, hoping to select the best from the good and the strongest from the strong. The intention was good, but they failed to foresee that this method might not yield the best or strongest, but rather the most ruthless, most calculating, most shortcut-prone individual.

If the proper path is too hard to walk, what then? Many athletes adopt strategies not of painstaking depth and refinement, not of diligent practice to improve professional ability and cognition, but of finding connections, taking shortcuts, going astray. This is human nature.

You all understand what I mean, right?

Shangguan Biao is a standout among them—extreme, typical, but not uncommon.

He Lingchuan is exactly the opposite, forming a control group.

Shangguan Biao, plus the blood demon who constantly whispers pillow wind into He Lingchuan's ears—these two monsters have long used their own logic to mirror He Lingchuan, thinking they could achieve self-consistency, but the protagonist does not argue with them, for justice resides in the heart, and you all have a scale in your hearts.

I know some readers will say Shangguan Biao's environment is unfavorable, his actions forced. But He Lingchuan's initial circumstances were no better—being a divine skin vessel under surveillance and control, his life already on a countdown. Their difference lies in their resolve and means in adversity.

Shangguan Biao chose to blend with the dust, walking further down the path of unscrupulous means; He Lingchuan set lofty ambitions, feet on the ground, building achievements through solving one concrete problem after another.

Though they seem to grow stronger alike, they cannot possibly converge through different paths.

I said in earlier tea talks that this book has its intent, but while reflecting reality, it must also embody a vast and varied Great Thousandfold World.

In task-flow novels, the focus is tasks and main plot; other parts should be minimized as much as possible. Besides the protagonist, all other characters can be seen as NPCs, needing no detailed development.

When you eat steak, do you need to know the cow's story? Readers want what they want; authors give just that—what's wrong with that? In a highly commercialized society, wanting to earn money means catering to consumer taste.

But here's a problem:

Homogenized things, when eaten too much, become tiresome; people want new flavors, novelty.

Yet such authors have already gone too far down this road, unable to turn back. How to compete with peers? They must add spice, add sourness, add a drop of freshness, otherwise they sell madness, delirium, gore, and the bizarre.

When customers tire again, they increase the dosage, repeating the cycle.

This is Shangguan Biao's tactic: only take shortcuts, but easily veer further off course.

But isn't nutrition the most important thing about eating?

And for novels, isn't the most important thing the exciting story itself—where has it been placed?

And what about intent, viewpoint, humanity—where are they manifested?

Cao Cao entertained Guan Yu: a small feast every three days, a grand feast every five, exhausting all his sincerity. That made sense—too frequent, the belly can't take it; too infrequent, it seems unenthusiastic.

Today's web fiction is the same: if there's no engaging rhythm within three to five days, readers feel they're not getting their fill here, and you, the host, aren't enthusiastic enough.

I know, I know all of that.

But even if Cao Cao did it perfectly, Guan Yu ultimately didn't stay, did he?

So it's not just about catering, not just rhythm, not just enthusiasm—other more important factors play a decisive role.

Open this book *Immortal*, and you'll find: if you don't rush the process or push the main line, we actually have much more content to expand and enrich.

For *Immortal*, beyond the main line is not a side plot, but a whole splendidly varied world, the presentation of this book's soul. Obsessively fixating on the main line often means missing all the story's splendor.

Looking back at *Immortal*'s 6 million characters, its overall strength is too strong—story, thought, character actions interwoven and inseparable.

Not just intent and thought, since this is a complete world, its belonging fantastical elements are especially important: Earth Mother's distinctive mode, Jia Lou Heaven's form-shaping ability, Shangguan Biao's Secret Realm setup, He Lingchuan's problem-solving approach, multi-party struggle scenes, battle atmosphere, and shifts in character disposition and mindset—none of these aspects is unimportant.

Since we can, why not devote all our energy to doing everything as well as possible?

Now we seem to have learned to grasp the main point, simplify complex problems, and slap on labels.

But I think, with our brain capacity, actually using a bit of thought lets us absorb directly—no need to oversimplify. So-called grasping the main point often misses by a hair and leads astray by a thousand miles.

Richness, splendor, inclusiveness—only then is it the true face of the world, and also reality's reflection in *Immortal*.

At the same time, hasty profit-seeking, unscrupulous means, everything looking to money (or power), also exist simultaneously in this world's dark corners, even beginning to surface, even wanting to whitewash oneself, wanting to breathe freely under the sun.

Shangguan Biao's story, in the end, is a story of self-choice.

Is it to go with the flow and take the "shortcut," or to hold onto clarity and walk the broad, level road?

Along the way, one will also face trials of inner demons and fate, requiring especial caution.

After all, crooked paths and the broad, level road cannot converge through different ways.

—

Fengxing Shuiyun Jian / Ninefang Ye