Chapter 820: End of the volume

Although the last few chapters were a bit rushed, Lu Changsheng finally reached the Nascent Soul Stage, so it’s time to say something as usual now that we’ve entered the Nascent Soul arc.

I know some Readers are just waiting to see how I’ll spin this, how I’ll explain how a mere Breakthrough in Realm can fill so many words.

First, I want to thank all the Readers and esteemed patrons for their support.

This is a 4.25 million-word novel, with the Core Formation arc alone taking up 2.5 million words, and yet three to four thousand people still subscribe and support it immediately every day. I’m truly grateful.

Especially seeing many Readers from the early stages of the book through comments, votes, and rewards—I’m truly thankful.

Thank you for your immense support!

I’ve been reading novels for over ten years.

Aside from frequently following updates in my early years, I haven’t followed or finished a novel in a long time without realizing it.

So, for someone to follow my novel for over two years is undoubtedly a huge recognition, and I’m truly grateful.

It can be said that without your support, this novel wouldn’t exist.

Regarding this volume, if I were to review and summarize it, there isn’t much to say.

Having written for so long, I deeply realize that the content of a novel is tied to the author’s own understanding, concepts, and logical thinking.

Mistakes made in the early stages are likely to be repeated later due to the same understanding and thinking.

Sometimes, being too involved, I might not even realize it at the time.

So, some issues present in the first two hundred thousand words also appeared in these two million words.

If I were to review them all, it would be extremely verbose.

However, looking back, many ideas were validated, and I feel that it’s actually not bad and not a major problem.

First, let me explain why a single Golden Core Realm took 2.5 million words.

First, paying for the early stages.

Many old Readers know that this book started purely for fun, without any framework, settings, or outline.

I just stitched in whatever setting I thought was good, threw in plot hooks randomly, and never considered how to write it later, which led to fundamental problems with the entire book.

This writing style was quite enjoyable in the early stages.

There were no restrictions; every plot, framework, and setting served the protagonist.

But as the word count grew, it began to test my wisdom; I had to pay for the earlier plot.

Issues like the constantly criticized power levels, the protagonist’s power versus his Spirit Pet’s power, the System lottery, and marrying and having children are all related to the haphazardly written early plot.

A regular lottery draw yields a Heaven Rank Bloodline Spirit Pet, which then advances to the fourth rank in five hundred years; a Qi Refining Stage cultivator obtaining a heavenly spiritual treasure—is this a plot a human can write?

Despite having a Dragon-slaying System and a body full of Spirit Treasures, he chooses to follow the Dao of caution, constantly shackled and putting out fires for his Family and children.

Don’t I understand these problems myself?

When I entered the Foundation Establishment Stage, I realized many future problems and tried to save myself by adjusting the plot’s direction.

But many problems aren’t solvable just by knowing them.

Looking back now, it might be much clearer, but at the time, I was also very confused and could only choose what I thought was a relatively correct direction.

Moreover, while solving problems, the novel had to progress normally, and this process would create new problems.

For example, at the very end of the Foundation Establishment Stage, despite having laid out a lot of plot, I chose to accelerate the Breakthrough to Core Formation.

The Realm in Xianxia novels is very important.

Once a Breakthrough occurs, power, identity, and status all increase, and at this point, the previous plot no longer applies.

For example, taking female companions.

If a female cultivator is one Realm higher than the protagonist, Readers can be somewhat tolerant.

But at the same Realm, Readers easily adopt a condescending attitude of a superior.

Whether it’s a sense of gain, conquest, or strategy, it will all create a problem.

So, you can see that after the protagonist broke through to Core Formation, he didn’t form connections with several Golden Core Realm female cultivators.

Besides taking female companions, the Family, factional struggles, and even the children’s plot are all affected by the protagonist’s Realm Breakthrough.

So, in the early Golden Core Realm, I wrote with great difficulty; I could only abandon the hooks and setups from the early stages one by one and re-establish them.

I had to spend words to remedy the lingering problems from the early stages and the new problems that arose.

Therefore, this is one of the reasons why the Golden Core Realm took so many words.

It’s also why I was pressured so much during the Golden Core Realm, getting scolded daily for not breaking through.

I knew very clearly that breaking through too early would force me to spend even more words to fix things in the Nascent Soul Stage.

At that point, I would not only continue to be criticized but also risk the book collapsing in a vicious cycle.

Second, validation.

Writing novels is a long-term endeavor, and it’s normal to encounter writer’s block, confusion, abuse, doubt, misunderstanding, or a decline in performance during the process.

Before this book was even published, a group of people predicted it wouldn’t exceed 300,000 to 500,000 words, then 1 million, 2 million, 3 million, 4 million, and 5 million words.

There are still a bunch of abusive posts in the book reviews, not to mention the chapter comments.

I don’t know if other authors are affected, but I still am.

From the early stages, I often explained my thoughts in the comments and even revised and changed the text, which shows I wasn’t that resolute.

During this Golden Core volume, I also wrote with self-doubt, even questioning my self-perception and my understanding of reading novels for over ten years.

I got scolded for writing about taking female companions; I got scolded for writing about Family daily life; I got scolded for writing about Family struggles; I got scolded for writing about the protagonist’s growth arc; I got scolded for writing about the children’s growth arc; I got scolded for writing about the lottery.

Many times, even a single sentence or two words would lead to criticism afterwards.

If it weren’t for the consistently stable and gradually improving performance in the backend, I would have been completely lost long ago.

So, I’m very grateful to the Readers who have consistently followed and subscribed.

However, in the early, and even Middle Stage, of the Golden Core Realm, I still wrote with restraint, afraid to write anything, feeling that whatever I wrote would be problematic and meaningless.

I gradually realized that if I continued to write this way, not only would the book collapse, but I myself would also collapse.

So, I just gave up.

My skill is just this; I can’t write anything high-level or good plot-wise, and since I’m going to be scolded no matter what I write, I might as well just follow my thoughts and write blindly.

Even if I know some plots will draw criticism, if I feel there’s no major problem, I’ll just write them, even some self-indulgent plots for my own amusement.

So, this volume is more diverse than before, and even some inexplicable plots appeared.

This was all to validate my ideas and the writability of this book.

To validate the writability of the plot and the soundness of my ideas, this process undoubtedly added many irrelevant plots, which is also one of the reasons for the increased word count in this volume.

So, I’m very grateful to the Readers who have consistently followed and subscribed.

Without the real money spent by these Readers for subscriptions and support, as my confidence, how would I dare to continue writing like this?

However, looking back, it seems to be okay; the performance has currently increased to an average of 13,000 subscriptions.

This book had 2,600 followers before it was published, but only 1,200 initial subscriptions. To write it step by step to an average of 13,000 subscriptions, I personally am very content and have a great sense of accomplishment.

Third, it’s simply because I’m unskilled, afraid of collapse, and prefer stability.

It’s good to know oneself.

I have a clear understanding of my writing ability—it’s at a junior high school level. I can’t write flashy plots, intricate foreshadowing, grand climaxes, or major storylines; I can’t control them. I rely purely on my years of reading experience.

So, the plot will progress slowly, written gradually, taking one step and looking two or three steps ahead, never rushing.

If a problem arises, I might even go back a step or two to see if it can be resolved.

Just like Lu Changsheng’s Breakthrough to Nascent Soul was well-prepared, and many Readers of Xianxia novels know that many novels start having problems once they enter the Nascent Soul arc.

So, to have enough buffer, to smoothly transition into the Nascent Soul, and to have enough plot to write, I laid out more plot.

This writing style, laying out the plot, also increased the word count of this volume.

These are, in my opinion, why a single Golden Core Realm could take over two million words to write.

In my opinion, the protagonist was still too rushed after forming his Core, neglecting and downplaying many emotional storylines involving his Family, wives, concubines, and children.

If I had written it slowly, it might have been even longer.

But unless I can update ten thousand words daily, or even twenty thousand, this writing style is torturous for Readers who follow and subscribe.

Unless some Readers completely view this book as a slice-of-life novel, the reading experience is very poor.

Regardless, a major chapter has been completed, and looking back now doesn’t have much meaning; we will now enter the Nascent Soul arc.

Regarding the Nascent Soul arc, I don’t think much introduction is needed; the first two chapters already roughly outlined the upcoming plot.

Lu Changsheng will enter a period of seeking answers, starting to demand explanations from people, and will no longer remain as cautious as before.

Or rather, he will certainly still be cautious, but he is no longer the insignificant figure he once was. Having ascended to the first tier of existence in the Nanhua Cultivation World, he no longer needs to be as overly cautious and hesitant as in his early years.

That kind of experience is also very poor; he needs to become more assertive.

In fact, it can be seen from the Golden Core Realm that the protagonist is no longer as cautious. In my opinion, this can be understood as him coming into contact with this world and gradually gaining confidence and a clear understanding. Facing the future, he no longer relies solely on the System for upgrades but will actively strive for things.

And the storyline of the Nanhua Cultivation World is already very clear: war, great calamity, a grand era, a galaxy of stars, and the Chang Sheng Lu Family emerging like a great sun across the sky.

In this volume, the Chang Sheng Lu Family will come online, and Lu Changsheng and all his wives, concubines, and children will step onto the stage and enter this grand curtain of demonic tribulation.

This is why, even though I was constantly criticized and maligned, I still wanted to write about the children’s growth and allow some wives to keep up with the protagonist’s pace as much as possible.

Not to be equal in strength to the protagonist, but to be qualified to participate and enter his storyline.

For example, during the Demonic Path tribulation, when Lu Changsheng faces several Nascent Soul Divine Lords, his wives, concubines, and children are qualified to appear on the battlefield.

Even if a wife’s combat power is limited and she cannot contend with a Nascent Soul, she can still activate a Spirit Treasure to help Lu Changsheng and the Lu Family disciples beat drums and cheer them on.

Sons with major plotlines like Lu Ping’an must stand on the battlefield, fighting side by side, holding a banner embroidered with the four large characters “Chang Sheng Lu Family”!

Of course, the core of this book, marrying and having children, will never change.

Whether it’s finding his daughter Mu Que, visiting Nangong Yaoyao, or Lu Quanzhen, Lu Qingshan, Lu Ping’an, and Lu Wangshu exploring new areas, Lu Changsheng’s plot will derive from these events.

Some hooks for the East Sea and North Plains have already been thrown out, and the hooks for the West Desert and Central Plains have already been conceived; they will naturally appear when the time comes.

So, the Nascent Soul arc will be about being invincible in the Nanhua Cultivation World, the Chang Sheng Lu Family, and Divine Lord Changsheng and his wives, concubines, and children.

As for the map-changing issue that many Readers are concerned about, I currently still follow the lotus map theory of the great author Zhai Zhu.

That is, at the beginning, Qingzhu Mountain is the lotus seat, and Nine Dragon Market, Hongye Valley Market, Qingyun Sect, Nine Heavens Immortal City, and so on are the petals of the lotus.

Now, the lotus seat is Bihu Mountain, Jiang Country Cultivation World, and the Star Constellation Sea and the various countries of the Nanhua Cultivation World are the petals of the lotus.

When the East Sea, North Plains, and West Desert maps are to be opened, the entire Nanhua Cultivation World will be the lotus seat.

So, there won’t be any sudden map changes or relocations; the protagonist’s map will only be slowly upgraded.

As for other issues, my mind is still a bit hazy, and saying more would be verbose, so that’s it.

Thank you for all the support, tolerance, and love from all Readers throughout this journey. My humble bows!!!