Chapter 840: Uploading Announcement

Uploading Announcement

Tomorrow marks the official release, and my emotions are complex.

First, let me share with you the creative concept behind this book and the upcoming plot direction.

In the final author’s note of my previous novel, *Fighting with Superman*, I said I wanted to write a book about the everyday lives of ordinary cultivators under the backdrop of Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods.

What is an ordinary cultivator?

Let me illustrate with the dialogue between Sun Wukong and Patriarch Bodhi from *Journey to the West*:

The Patriarch said: “The Dao gate has three hundred and sixty subsidiary paths, each capable of leading to true enlightenment. But which one do you wish to learn?”

Sun Wukong replied: “Whatever my master decides, I will follow with utmost care.”

The Patriarch said: “Shall I teach you the path of the ‘Shu’ gate?”

Sun Wukong asked: “What does the Shu gate entail?”

The Patriarch said: “The Shu gate involves summoning immortals, using divination rods, fortune-telling with yarrow stalks—it teaches how to avoid misfortune and seek auspiciousness.”

Sun Wukong asked: “Can this lead to immortality?”

The Patriarch said: “No! No!”

Sun Wukong said: “I won’t learn it! I won’t learn it!”

The Patriarch said again: “How about the ‘Liu’ gate?”

Sun Wukong asked: “What is the meaning of the Liu gate?”

The Patriarch said: “The Liu gate includes Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Yin-Yang, Mohism, medicine—reading scriptures, chanting sutras, worshipping immortals and celestial beings.”

Sun Wukong asked: “Can this lead to immortality?”

The Patriarch said: “To seek immortality through this is like installing a pillar inside a wall.”

Sun Wukong said: “Master, I’m a simple man—I don’t understand market slang. What do you mean by ‘installing a pillar inside a wall’?”

The Patriarch said: “When people build a house to make it sturdy, they place a support pillar between the walls. But when the building eventually collapses, that pillar will rot first.”

Sun Wukong said: “Then it won’t last. I won’t learn it! I won’t learn it!”

The Patriarch said: “How about the ‘Jing’ gate?”

Sun Wukong asked: “What is the true enlightenment of the Jing gate?”

The Patriarch said: “It involves abstaining from grain, preserving essence, cultivating stillness and non-action, meditating, sitting in contemplation, observing silence, keeping vegetarian vows, practicing sleeping or standing cultivation, and entering deep meditation or seclusion.”

Sun Wukong asked: “Can this lead to immortality?”

The Patriarch said: “It’s like a clay brick fresh from the kiln.”

Sun Wukong laughed: “Master, you’re really being cryptic! Just now you said I don’t understand market slang—what do you mean by ‘clay brick fresh from the kiln’?”

The Patriarch said: “It’s like a clay brick shaped in the kiln—it’s formed, but hasn’t yet been fired by fire and water. When a heavy rain comes, it will dissolve.”

Sun Wukong said: “Then it won’t last either. I won’t learn it! I won’t learn it!”

The Patriarch said: “How about the ‘Dong’ gate?”

Sun Wukong asked: “What is the Dong gate like?”

The Patriarch said: “It involves active manipulation—harvesting yin to replenish yang, drawing bows and stepping on crossbows, massaging the navel to circulate qi, using alchemical methods, burning herbs and forging cauldrons, ingesting red lead, refining autumn stone, and consuming women’s milk.”

Sun Wukong asked: “Can this lead to immortality?”

The Patriarch said: “To seek immortality this way is like trying to scoop the moon from the water.”

Sun Wukong said: “Master, you’re at it again! What do you mean by ‘trying to scoop the moon from the water’?”

The Patriarch said: “The moon hangs in the sky; its reflection appears in the water. You can see it, but you can never grasp it—it remains empty.”

Sun Wukong said: “I won’t learn it! I won’t learn it!”

The Shu, Liu, Dong, and Jing paths offered by Patriarch Bodhi may seem inferior to Sun Wukong, but they are already the highest-tier disciplines in the cultivation world.

Using universities as an analogy: Tsinghua and Peking University are top-tier, but not every graduate becomes elite.

Tsinghua and Peking students are still ranked: those who secure full scholarships to world-renowned universities or top labs in their senior year rank first; those who stay for a Ph.D. rank slightly lower; those who enter the workforce fare better if they land a job at a major company, but if they take an ordinary job—especially if they “fall” into civil service exams—they rank even lower.

Patriarch Bodhi’s Slant Moon Three Stars Cave is the Tsinghua and Peking of the cultivation world.

Sun Wukong is the top student who received the full scholarship.

His fellow disciples can only master one of Shu, Liu, Dong, or Jing, yet they still rise above ordinary cultivators.

Then what of the elite universities, ordinary universities, vocational schools, high school diplomas, and junior high diplomas in the Journey to the West world?

I wanted to depict the “everyday life of ordinary college students” in the Journey to the West world.

That was the original intent of this book.

Therefore, from the very beginning, I set Xiao Yu’s starting point low.

I hoped to show, through her perspective, a three-dimensional world of immortals, gods, demons, and spirits—from the bottom to the top.

But judging from the current outcome, perhaps I should have made Xiao Yu even more ordinary—starting as a village girl or a common townswoman, without being captured, without any experience in the Jiaosifang, simply leveling up step by step through battles, winning every time, never losing, accumulating small victories into monumental triumphs—it would have been more satisfying to read, and the reception would surely have been better (if I write another book, I will try this approach).

How to put it? I’m just an old struggling writer with no trace of a top author’s aura—haven’t I read enough books by the greats?

It’s mainly my own stubborn obsession.

The inspiration for Xiao Yu’s “Shaman” identity came from several years ago from Song Hye-kyo’s film *The Kingdom of the Winds*.

The idea of Xiao Yu entering the Jiaosifang also came from watching Liu Yifei’s Zhao Pan’er in *Dream of Splendor*.

Hehe, Liu Yifei and Song Hye-kyo are both goddesses in my heart.

Some readers said that Re Gan Mian wrote this book because of *Black Myth: Wukong*.

Actually, no—the idea has been around for a long time.

In *The Kingdom of the Winds*, Song Hye-kyo plays a “barbarian woman”—cool, handsome, yet tragic; I felt deep sympathy for her.

Zhao Pan’er needs no introduction—a famous courtesan of extraordinary spirit.

I’m not copying their plots—Xiao Yu’s time in the Jiaosifang is merely a period of accumulating strength, preparing for a soaring ascent and fierce domination.

Long-time readers should know I also wrote a *Game of Thrones* fanfic where Daenerys begins pregnant.

Don’t say I’m just an old struggling reader of novels—even a new writer knows this kind of setup is “toxic.”

I’m not being aloof, nor am I, as some readers assume, filtering my audience—I have no right to do that; I want everyone to love my book.

I simply can’t control myself—or I forget to try.

Why does a writer write novels? To make money? To turn inner inspirations into stories? Or because some indelible shadow in memory becomes an obsession...

Ahem, I’ve strayed too far—let’s return to the plot.

My mind may be a bit slow, but I still truly value reader suggestions.

After receiving feedback, I adjusted part of the plot direction for Volume Two, “Storms over Tianmen Town.”

Originally, I planned to write more everyday stories of Xiao Yu’s life in the Hongxiu Fang to portray the lower strata of the cultivation world; now I’ve intensified the plot conflicts, bringing her into contact with the top-tier masters of the Honghuang world earlier than before—even if only briefly.

Volume Two should be better than Volume One... I hope so.

Alright, that’s all I’ll say about the plot—tomorrow at noon, the book will officially launch. Please support it. Thank you.