Author’s Word

Some Explanations for the Recent Plot (From the Author)

First, there have been many people who have complained about falling in love at first sight. In reality, I myself had considered that part for a very long time as well. I wrote it, deleted it before adding it back.

Because I know there will be some readers who dislike it. I can understand their feelings very well. Compared to loving someone, being loved is still easier and makes people happier. Out of the novels I’ve read, just how long has it been since a main character has taken the initiative to love someone? The fixed trope is that the main character won’t love anyone. They’ll demonstrate their charms and attract all the beauties to them, and then there’ll be arcs of romance.

Let’s not talk about whether this pattern is reasonable or not. After all, just by existing, it’s reasonable. However, after hesitating for a long time, I still ended up adding this part, breaking out of this trope, because what I want to write is a person of exceptional ability, a great sage, someone who possesses great ambitions, or should I say wild ambitions, that exceed ordinary people. Just like how Xiang Yu saw the emperor of Qin on tour and looked him straight in the eye and said, “I can replace you.”1

Regarding what many people have mentioned, that Gu Yanying’s description was insufficient, I think this is the most direct description there is. If you see her and you don’t fall in love with her at first sight, you can’t call her a beauty of startling talent and ability. And if you do see a beauty of startling talent and ability, but you don’t have the wild ambition of conquering someone like that, you wouldn’t be a great person of exceptional ability and ambition.

All I want to write is some relatively ‘normal’ feelings, as there are many novels, perhaps due to the influence of real life, where liking a woman seems to be groveling to them, falling head over heels for the woman and willing to do anything for them. However, with Li Qingshan’s resoluteness, how would that be possible? When he faced Gu Yanying, who was countless times stronger and more noble than he was, Li Qingshan only wanted to take her as a wife on equal footing. Instead, you’ve all placed yourselves on a pedestal that’s far too low right from the start.

Next is the battle of the mountain god temple.

I feel like I’ve already written it clear enough. Li Qingshan still hasn’t joined the Wolfhawk Guard yet. Wang Pushi only gave him a promise. He clearly dislikes Li Qingshan very much, which was why Hua Chengzan told Li Qingshan to run. That’s because they could all foresee this battle happening. Even Gu Yanying could foresee this. She wanted to probe out Li Qingshan’s true form. There’s also another detail that many people might have missed. Wang Pushi told Li Qingshan to report to Zhuo Zhibo in Jiaping city, yet it was exactly Zhou Zhibo who had sent Feng Zhang here.

Li Qingshan originally wanted to lure Feng Zhang into battle alone, but Feng Zhang’s craftiness had basically taken him by surprise, using the spiritual ginseng and the pills to entice a few fire-rate masters into his plan. In the face of such a critical situation, Li Qingshan could try to flee, but he would very likely fail and it would weaken his bearing, the awe he struck into the hearts of people, making him lose half the battle already. As for fighting, he was not exactly without confidence, and there was a chance for him to break through. As a result, he went with the wisest choice.

The last issue has to do with the levelling system.

I’ve said before that this is only a tool, but not a tool that’s absolutely necessary. I have considered making my own system before, which wouldn’t be too difficult. All I have to do is come up with a few names. However, I’ll definitely have to make many complicated introductions when I do so. I’ve hesitated over this for a long time. This system that platinum author Wangyu2 created was just perfect. It was concise, and it got to the point. There is no point, or should I say, no need to give up on the tools readily in my grasp and go create a set of tools that don’t suit me.

However, I’m not copying outright. I’ve adapted and added a lot of things myself, making it more suitable for this novel. These aspects will all be presented one after another later on. If there are readers who dislike the names, I can only request you to set aside your prejudice. I don’t plan on turning this into a mortal stream fantasy novel.3 This will be a completely new story.

You can count this novel as my work where I seek novelty and change. Many problems will arise with that, so I welcome you all to point it out. However, I do hope you can accept and understand as well. At the very least, I’m writing this novel with great sincerity. So far, the change has been successful. Compared to my previous novel where it became more strenuous the more I wrote, I have absolute confidence and motivation right now because the fascinating parts have yet to come. A magnificent world, a touching story and charming characters are waiting for me to write them.

There are many parts where it’s my fault for not explaining clearly. However, I want to make my writing as succinct as I can, with less explaining for me to do. It’ll mostly be expressed through the details or the actions of the characters. The way Li Qingshan treats Gu Yanying in the future will obviously show he’s not someone who loses his mind at the sight of a beautiful woman. And as the world expands, it’ll obviously demonstrate whether I’ve been copying or not. But what can you do about the fact that this is webnovel? I can only take one step at a time. I’ve decided to avoid explaining so much in the future. Those who will understand will obviously understand.

1. Emperor of Qin refers to the first emperor of China, who united the lands of China for the first time in history. Xiang Yu refers to this historical figure.

2. Yes, Wangyu, as in the author for Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality. The author is deriving his cultivation system from RMJI.

3. Mortal stream fantasy novels are like Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, Demon’s Diary, and Portal of Wonderland. Mortal stream fantasy is characterised for their realism regarding cultivation, given that the main character starts off as a mortal, without any particular knowledge regarding cultivation. It vividly paints a picture of the struggles that the main character goes through for cultivation. Wangyu is the progenitor of this genre, and he solely writes in this genre, but many other authors write it as well now, thus making a stream in Chinese fantasy novels.