Chapter 1: Three Challenges of Coming Down from the Mountain

Hello everyone, I am Gu True Person.

Today, I am bringing you a new book, *Immortal Craftsmanship*.

I have thought about it very clearly: writing this book means facing at least three challenges!

The first challenge: writing after coming down from the mountain.

When I write web novels, it has always been out of interest and preference from the very beginning. Having written so many books, my main purpose has always been interest. Therefore, when I was writing *Reverend Insanity*, even when the subscription numbers were miserable, I persisted for at least seven years. I was still very young then, my parents were not yet old, and I had no need to worry. If one person is full, the whole family is not hungry.

Therefore, when I was writing *Infinite Bloodcore*, I was willing to revise the outline, and even if there was no subscription income during that period, it didn't matter if it lasted for several months.

I am not afraid of you laughing at me—

I am clumsy. While inside the mountain, I couldn't pluck the moon, and I fell until my head was broken and blood was flowing. This time, coming outside the mountain, my main goal is to fill the stomach of the secular world.

Reflecting on myself, the state of being "inside the mountain" was perhaps my personal comfort zone, circling land to amuse myself. Perhaps the artistic pursuit of the past, the so-called dream, was just a form of self-delusion, a kind of wishful thinking.

"Outside the mountain," however, is where heroes contend for supremacy and a hundred boats race across the current!

The new book *Immortal Craftsmanship* is my first "post-mountain" writing. For the first time in history, I have begun to consider the charts, reader activities, update schedules, the rhythm of the prose, and compliance with mainstream reading habits.

I hope to be able to write articles that conform to mainstream reading habits and that everyone enjoys.

I am a very clumsy person. Doing this for the first time, it is possible I won't do it well, but I will learn with an open mind and strive to improve! I ask everyone to offer plenty of criticism and corrections; if there could be some encouragement, that would naturally be even better!

……

The second challenge: social interaction.

I am a homebody myself. Besides writing and reading books, my biggest hobby is playing games.

I have social anxiety, although it has eased somewhat as I have grown older. But I am still not good at socializing with people or interacting with readers.

This time, I will listen to everyone's opinions and strive to improve in this area, doing more activities on social platforms, conducting some live streams, and so on.

……

The third challenge: the inner heart.

This is the greatest challenge of all.

People all have two lives. One is called the secular, and one is called the ideal. Specifically for a literary worker, the second life is called artistic life.

I wrote *Reverend Insanity* for about 10 years, on and off, with miserable income occupying the majority of the time, yet I found it sweet as nectar. I spent several months rewriting *Infinite Bloodcore*, closing myself off in a room, ignoring the outside world, yet I was full of interest, not diminishing in the slightest.

I like writing books; writing books itself is the source of my motivation. These processes are all nourishing my own artistic life.

Writing after coming down from the mountain might be a bit different; for me, it might be consuming my artistic life.

How long can my second life persist? I am not very clear.

Because this is my first attempt, I also don't know if I am suited for this mode of writing.

There are too many ways to kill the second life. It is extremely powerful, yet at the same time incomparably fragile.

I can only tell myself: coming down from the mountain is to go back into the mountain to chase the moon again.

I will try my best to adjust my mindset, find a balance point within it, and strive to transform; perhaps I can nourish my artistic life using this mode of writing, who knows.

I implore you all to bear witness.

Thank you! ===== CHAPTER 2 =====