Chapter 87: Author

Wah yah yah yah!

Old Zhang is going up on subscription again!

This new book has a bit of a difference.

What’s different?

Gentlemen, listen to me tell you!

Once upon a time, since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors… wrong start, let me try again!

Let me first complain a bit.

At thirty-five, some authors are already financially free and retired early; others have made a name for themselves—but this year, I, Old Zhang, only just started in this field…

At forty-one, I have elders above and children below, the most pressured time in life; though I’ve earned some money, enough to support my family, I haven’t let those who called me crazy laugh at me…

But to be honest, I haven’t written anything remarkable yet.

And a bigger problem has emerged.

Even though among my peers I’m an oddball, always chasing new things and new ideas, the generational gap caused by age is unavoidable.

Many popular books, I’ve gradually stopped understanding.

Many trending Shuang points, I’m completely baffled by.

Many longtime readers have gradually stopped reading.

I know, times have changed…

It’s a fear—if I keep chasing so-called trends, I’ll become just another old fool, groveling beside the young, trying to chat awkwardly, only making everyone uncomfortable.

So, I must change.

In olden days, storytellers in the Jianghu would draw circles on the ground, scrape together a living—they needed a unique skill to survive, or starve.

So, what should I write?

Stories!

Of course, back to stories!

My last book’s performance was average—not quite a top-tier masterpiece—so at its end, I began recalling and digging into my deepest memories.

Where do my stories come from?

From summer days as a child, lying on a bamboo mat reading The Legend of Yue Fei…

From elders at the village entrance under the big tree, telling tales of rural ghosts and wonders…

From old masters’ storytelling on the radio…

And even more, from the strange, dazzling Jianghu of novels in my youth…

So I chose to blend national martial arts with folk customs.

To prepare for this new book, I bought countless reference books—they now fill an entire bookshelf.

I once went to the foot of Mount Tai to consult a fascinating Zhengyi Daoist priest…

I once visited a massage parlor and asked a sister whose family ran a spirit-medium hall… I traveled to Cangzhou to trace old Jianghu legends…

I once found the Cao gang’s handwritten manuscripts in the Grand Canal Museum…

I did all this, just to give this new book something different.

Trembling with awe, yet brimming with anticipation.

To be honest, before launching this book, my goal was simply to reach a thousand first-subscription readers, to write a serious, multi-million-word epic, not chasing early hits or Shuang points—only seeking a complete story.

To honor everyone, and to honor myself.

Now, the new book has fifty thousand collections and five thousand ongoing reads—perhaps there’s a real chance at a first-subscription masterpiece, far exceeding my expectations.

Thank you all for your support.

Enough small talk—let’s get to the real stuff.

This book goes live tomorrow.

!.

The update time is noon, twelve o’clock; due to VIP chapter update issues, it may be delayed by a few minutes.

Five updates on launch day—four-thousand-word chapters, totaling twenty thousand words.

After launch, updates will still be daily at ten a.m.

I’ll try my best to deliver three updates per day, ten thousand words total.

Bam!

Gentlemen, let’s hit the Jianghu.

————

In the Jianghu, you have many friends—so you must offer up a sacrifice!

《Immortal Cage》, by Bu Gu Liao. Cultivation through talismans, ingestion to ascend to immortality. A ten-thousand-subscription xianxia masterpiece, two million five hundred thousand words, fully ripe for harvest, currently stable at six thousand words daily.

《Purple Sky Dao Master》, by Yao Seng Hua Wuxue. Two million words already ripe—ready to be slaughtered!

《Spirit Chapters》, by Xun Chun Xu Zhou. Synopsis: Yue Hanzhang’s spirit wanders a realm, gathering lonely souls and wandering spirits, deducing wondrous methods, ascending to the pinnacle of transcendence! Passionate high-cultivation fantasy!

《Witch!》, by Tian Li. Transmigrated to another world as a fallen noble lord; with the help of a proficiency panel, he begins cultivating from his ancestral knight’s breathing technique, steadily following the path of the witch, embarking on a bizarre and mysterious journey.

《Entertainment: Starting with Begging from My Ex-Girlfriends》, by Fu Pin Ci Shan Xian Feng. Whenever the name Zhen Jiecheng is mentioned, the boys at Beijing Film Academy grit their teeth in hatred—yet can’t help sighing, “Ah, another day envying Jiecheng.”

《Turns Out I’m the Nian Beast》, by Chi Bu Bao. [Folk Customs] [New Setting] The Nian Beast ravages the world; to resist it, professions arise—firecracker makers, costume performers, divine generals, spirit-traveling seekers… all called “Guardians of the Year.”

《Invincible from the Moment I See the Boss’s HP Bar》, by Wo Ye Hen Juewang. Recommendation: When the boss reveals its HP bar, the nature of this game has changed!

《Battle at the Peak of Heaven’s Dao》, by Long Lin Feng Gui. Retired from the martial world—Min Rou, Luo Bing, Huang Rong appear together; outside Xiangyang, Xiao Feng, Guo Jing, Hong Qi Gong face national peril; in the Water-Moon Cave, Master Jiu, Ma Xiaoling, Shi Jian open the Heavenly Eye; infinite crossovers—Zhao Hao watches Xiao Feng herding horses, sees Liangshan’s rebellion succeed, sees Liu Bei rebuild the Han…

《After Civilization Fades》, by Feng Huang Chuan Qi. After catastrophe, the world restarts; a floating city hangs in the sky, preserving the spark of civilization, using residual technology and the mysterious Twelve Steps to Divinity, surviving and exploring this reborn world, seeking the highest peak and long-buried secrets.

(End of Chapter)