Chapter 73: Non-narrative Chapter 003: Thoughts on Release

Releasing at midnight on November 1st! That is tonight!

I never imagined I would have a day to write a "thoughts on release" post!

For so many years, I don't know how many such posts I've read from others, and I've even fantasized about how I would write this post if I were to write a novel myself, yet I never thought this day would truly arrive.

A thousand thoughts crowd my mind.

I don't know how to write this post either; the last time I wrote something similar was a thank-you note three years ago. I'll just write from the heart!

First, I am still grateful for my own luck (when I typed this, the input method suggested "Yunqi" first, haha. Many people have complained about this name, but the meaning behind it is actually quite good. However, everyone doesn't need to worry too much; before long, the protagonist will have a Daoist name. That will be a more formal title, just like Feng Jihu, Wen Sukong, or even Lu Zu. But I am still thinking about the Daoist name; I don't even dare to use the one I thought of before starting the book, fearing everyone won't be satisfied. I'm quite conflicted).

I have written two books in total. The first was "New Legend of Nezha: Investiture of the Gods." At the time, I thought of titles like "Nezha," "Legend of Nezha," "Investiture of the Gods: Nezha," and "Investiture of the Gods: Legend of Nezha," but they were all taken, so I had to settle for the unsatisfactory "New Legend of Nezha: Investiture of the Gods" to successfully upload it. This novel was inspired by the song "Nezha," specifically the line "He was once peerless in the world." It was a whim, coinciding with the pandemic lockdown during my first year of graduate school. With nothing to do at home, I picked up the pen and wrote. However, after returning to school, the research workload was heavy, and I updated less and less. I would write a chapter whenever I had ideas and time, so the results were naturally poor. But I didn't care at the time; I was just writing for fun. Later, when I wrote about the Great War of Shang and Zhou, where various saints and gods appeared but were entangled with mortal warfare, my writing ability gradually fell short. Those who know the original work should know that having military generals fight immortals in there is truly too absurd; I couldn't quite accept it.

So I slowly thought about how to break the deadlock, and updated even less, but there were still readers who watched every time a new chapter came out. I am very grateful to them. When my writing ability improves, I will continue to write it; I think that is also a very wonderful world!

While imagining the Investiture of the Gods in my mind, I also conceived another world: Shushan. My impression of Shushan first came from the movie "The Legend of Zu" and the TV series "Chinese Paladin." I liked them very much. When I went to read the original work, I found I couldn't finish it; Huanzhu Louzhu was truly too unrestrained, and the plot jumped around severely, so I skipped through it, basically knowing the gist (but I am definitely not an expert; even now, I check while I write). Then I went to look for other Shushan novels and saw Toad's "Shushan," which was another unique style. After that, I didn't find any novels I particularly liked, so naturally, I wanted to write one myself.

But the Shushan world is magnificent, yet Emei was not my first choice. In the original work, Emei is too overbearing, acting as if they are the only ones supreme in the world, which doesn't quite fit with the character of a "hero." So I wanted to write a protagonist from a traditional Daoist sect—powerful but gentle, upholding justice and saving the world. It's that simple, but there are too many Daoist immortal mountains in China, and I was very conflicted about which one to choose. Just then, Qidian held a writing contest for Mount Sanqing. Once I looked into it, "Oh my, perfect!"

There are many scenic spots in Mount Sanqing, and the terrain of Sanqing even has spots arranged according to the Eight Trigrams. There is too much material to work with here, so the idea quickly took shape. I began to conceive the whole story and, just in the last few days before the contest ended, I published "Shushan World-Suppressing Earth Immortal." I remember clearly: the contest ended on September 30th, I published the book on the 27th, and on the 30th, I went to Dali with my wife to take wedding photos. I was still updating on my phone in the hotel that night.

After "Shushan" was published, the contract came quickly—by the fourth chapter. I am also very grateful to my editor, Peigen, for signing my second book while my first was not yet finished, and doing so so early.

Perhaps there are many fans of the original work? After "Shushan" was published, there were quite a few readers. Later, the book friends who love the classical Xianxia genre exerted their strength, and with the editor's recommendations, it quickly reached the first round of recommendations, then skipped the second round directly to the third, and made it onto the Gu Xinshu List. When it first hit the Gu Xinshu List, it was around 90th in the Xianxia category, then it changed every day, rapidly rushing into the top ten. At the same time, it could be seen on the overall Gu Xinshu List. After that, it made it to the Sanjiang list and stayed firmly at number one in the Gu Xinshu Xianxia category and in the top three of the overall list. This all stems from everyone's support.

So, I am especially grateful to everyone for your support here. Those who tipped, voted with monthly tickets, cast recommendation votes, left comments, and those who read silently—I am very, very grateful to all of you. It is you who gave me the motivation to keep writing! I previously thought about listing everyone who tipped, voted, or commented to thank them one by one, but the book's performance gets better every day, and I found I couldn't thank everyone in time!

I will open a separate chapter to thank everyone in the future, but I can't do it today; there really isn't enough time. I am still making up for the extra updates tonight—how bitter!

Let's talk about updates; it's too bitter. I am a part-time writer and can only write at night after work. As soon as I get off work, I run, racing against time, writing until 12:10, very nervously completing the two chapters every day. Even so, my boss has already noticed and asked if my work hasn't been very fulfilling lately—how bitter!

So I also shamelessly ask all book friends for a little understanding.

Then there is the classic thank-you segment, completely from the heart, absolutely no faking!

Book friends are the most important; a thousand thanks are not enough to repay them. They are the foundation of this book's conception and the key to its survival. But because everyone knows that book friends are too important, I have nothing to write. Is this what they mean by "great kindness needs no thanks"?

Then I want to thank my wife, who fully supports me. Every night when I write on the sofa, she plays by herself nearby, keeping the volume of the shows she watches very low. When she gets sleepy, she sleeps on the sofa first, sometimes even giving me a massage. After I finish posting the two chapters after twelve o'clock, I call her to go back to the room together. Her company is the greatest motivation for me to keep writing!

Secondly, I thank my editor, Peigen. I may not necessarily be a "thousand-mile horse," but once I became one, she must be my "Bo Le"! Both books were signed not long after I started writing, which is why I dared to write and dared to start a second one. She let me know that someone recognizes my writing!

Finally, I thank the operations team. When they left a message in the comment section saying they wanted to be operators, I didn't even know what operations were before that—do novels even have operations? It wasn't until I saw their subsequent series of actions that I marveled at how professional they were, saving me so much trouble and guiding me in many ways. I won't name them one by one here; everyone can see them by clicking on the book friend circle.

I've thanked almost everyone. Writing to this point, I realized that "Thoughts on Release" is much easier to write than the main text! It feels like it reached two thousand words in no time. If only I could write the main text as freely—haha.

Alright, I'll stop writing the thoughts here; I don't dare to ramble anymore. Now I have to hurry up and write the headache-inducing main text!

Finally, finally, the book is about to be released. If you readers think it's okay, I implore you to subscribe and support it, letting this book go further. Thank you!

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 74 =====