Chapter 409: Volume Five Summary, Completion, and Completion Event Explanation

Volume Five Summary, Completion, and Completion Event Explanation

Volume Five Summary, Completion, and Completion Event Explanation

Routine report on the results: as of today, roughly 15,000 to 16,000 24-hour follow-up subscriptions, over 26,000 average subscriptions, an increase of about 7,000 in average subs over five months—faster than before, clearly because the book has gotten fatter... But here I must apologize and thank everyone, especially the esteemed readers who have been diligently following the updates. My update pace has truly made following along particularly tough.

Next, let's talk about the content.

In terms of content structure, Volume Five is actually a structurally chaotic volume.

Because, plot-wise, this volume is clearly divided into two main stories: one is the inspection tour of Jiangnan, and the other is the first half of the Northern Expedition. But to be honest, the content of the Jiangnan inspection tour is too thin. This is mainly the direct result of my attempt to write some specific content well, which ultimately failed, forcing me to rely on the first half of the Northern Expedition to gather word count and flesh things out.

And this problem, combined with the update issue, has been my creative struggle since the New Year.

It's really been a lack of energy, a weakness, a drifting of focus... I don't want to say much more. Many authors go through it, many books end up like this in their final stages. It's not unique to one person or one book.

I can only say I'll do my best.

As for specific content analysis, there's nothing much to say. Fight, wrap up, finish the book—that's it. No further elaboration.

And since we're talking about finishing the book, given that the first half of the Northern Expedition has already been written, the final volume of this book, which is the upcoming Volume Six, will likely only contain half a volume or a little more than half before the entire book ends directly.

Then, for the final volume, there will be several quite significant events that I hope everyone will actively participate in.

First, the Shao Song character card set is about to enter Qidian's card pool.

Here, I especially want to thank Qidian's Role Cat and related staff, as well as those who participated in the design and coordination work: Yi Zhi An Miao, Liu Li Qin, Wei La, 196, Xiao Xiao, Qi Sui, and others. Especially the leader, An Zong, Miao Zong, An Miao Zong. Everyone else has privately told me that An Zong put in tremendous effort to help organize this event... She might not have worked 007 for her job, but for this card set, together with several administrators, she spent many days and weeks communicating with Qidian's official team, helping find artists, helping modify images, and helping design fan merchandise.

The final character cards are very impressive and beautifully crafted, along with accompanying character emoji packs and such. Everything you can imagine will be officially released during the event. I sincerely hope everyone will participate enthusiastically.

The second event should be the so-called completion event.

Actually, I've always been confused about Qidian's official rules. I don't know if there's a dedicated official completion event, nor whether that card pool counts as the official completion event. But it doesn't matter. Just like with *Fu Han*, we have our own completion fan-fiction event.

That is, everyone posts fan works—all kinds of fan works: classical Chinese, modern Chinese, long pieces, short pieces, poetry, new ones, old ones. You can also organize and repost ones you've previously posted in the academy, or ones from Lofter. For pieces that are too long or have too many problematic banned words—in a word, as long as it's submitted, as long as it's a fan work that pours passion into *Shao Song*, our judges will accept it.

Additionally, one point that must be emphasized is that this event is independent. It belongs to me, the writer, and the book's management team, and all participants of this book. It is the final effort to maintain the creative ecosystem of this book.

Because this is what web novels are.

Web novels take the form of serialized online publication. This model certainly has its own problems, but it also has its own benefits. That is, through interactive forms like chapter comments, fan works, monthly tickets, tips, and reviews, an ecosystem is formed. Besides myself, every administrator, every fan creator, every chapter comment creator, every voter, every tipper, and the most fundamental identity that almost everyone shares—the reader—all of us together are the true owners and creators of this book.

To put it in a sentimental way: *Shao Song* was typed by me, yes, but it belongs to all of you.

Even to an extreme: after I've finished typing it, you can absolutely say, "What the hell does Liudan know about *Shao Song*?" without caring about my writing intent... By the same token, it doesn't matter whether your fan content is reliable, whether the comments are absurd, or even whether I acknowledge or like them.

None of that prevents them, you, and me from all being components of this book.

I sincerely hope that this book will, together with everyone, achieve a proper beginning and end, and I sincerely hope to complete this novel together with everyone.

But... so here comes the "but"... I definitely have to say "but"... But to be honest, returning to the completion event issue, because my own updates have been so terrible, a very troublesome situation has arisen.

What does that mean?

First, I don't know what everyone's enthusiasm level is... Let's not even talk about Qidian's official side. On a personal level, I've prepared a total budget of 30,000 RMB for this event, three times that of the *Fu Han* event. The several administrators and judges are also very dedicated, with 196 taking the lead. They've come up with many plans and produced a bunch of fan prizes.

But the problem is: suppose we prepare a hundred backpacks, but there are only eighty posts. Wouldn't it be awkward if the 30,000 RMB worth of prizes couldn't even be fully distributed?

So, we need everyone to participate actively and early, so the administrators can finalize the prizes based on everyone's level of enthusiasm... If there are many participants, we'll do it seriously and add more variety. If there are few participants, we'll just directly give out money, saving everyone trouble.

But at the same time, holding the event early and encouraging everyone to post in advance creates a second problem. Some esteemed readers might churn out ten poems in one evening, while others might plan to write complete character biographies that need to wait until the book is finished... This means the entire event period will essentially coincide with my writing time for the final volume. And given my current state, I can't effectively control the update schedule for the final volume, and I'm afraid that if the timeline drags on too long, everyone will lose interest.

After some discussion, we roughly settled on a method of "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell."

Everyone can post first—you can start posting with the tag tomorrow. But we won't release the specific event details until after May 15th, based on the situation. Whether posted early or late, the judging criteria will be the same. However, to encourage those who post early, among the winners, those who posted before the 15th will be selected to receive an additional, insignificant little gift.

Specifically, it will be a *Shao Song* themed postcard stamped with Xiao Yu's paw print.

The postcard itself is, of course, insignificant, but it's a token... However, the specifics still depend on the discussion results between 196 and An Zong and the others. It might still change. My words are just hot air.

For those who find the above too long to read, just know that the completion event has started. If you have fan works, just submit them directly.

Finally, I must specifically thank the esteemed patrons who supported the book after Volume Five concluded... Ming Yu Ba Ba, A Lan Xian Sheng, Ben Chu Gong, Shi Zi Wan Ge zzzzz, jamesxu-SBZ, Ji Xian Feng (gunslinger)... Among them are those who have become patrons multiple times and those who have just become patrons. Thanks to the support of these individuals, this book now has 201 patrons.

The achievement of two hundred patrons—I originally thought it would only be reached when the book was completed.

Above all, thank you again for your tolerance and support... I bow to you all. May everyone have a good beginning and a good end... Good night.