It’s that time again...time to see what fate has in store for the book as it goes on the shelf.
Even though I’m a seasoned author, I still can’t help feeling nervous when I receive the notice to go on the shelf, and I just want to chat with you, my lords.
Let’s talk about the updates after going on the shelf first.
After the book is shelved, I will update 10,000 words a day for three consecutive days. (Guaranteed)
For every 20,000 rewards in gifts, I’ll add one more update, capped at twenty chapters. (Not recommended)
For every additional hundred monthly tickets, I’ll add one more update, capped at ten chapters. (Highly recommended)
For every additional five hundred average subscriptions, I’ll add one more update, with no upper limit! (Crazily recommended)
All the above added updates can be cumulative, and will be tallied at the end of the month.
After three days, updates will return to normal, with a guaranteed 4,000 words a day, with any excess counted as bonus updates. Fengyun will try to deliver all bonus updates within thirty chapters in this month.
If it exceeds thirty chapters, it will take two months...
This bonus update might seem a little less, but I can only shamelessly ask for understanding from you, masters, for a middle-aged writer whose body, mental strength, and hand speed are all on the decline, and who truly cannot afford too many bonus updates.
Writing a book is a long, drawn-out process that requires meticulous labor. Too many updates too quickly, and neither my health nor the quality of the book can withstand it.
About subscriptions...
Fengyun is a full-time author, relying entirely on writing to feed the family, establish a livelihood, so I earnestly request that those of you lords who are more financially comfortable must subscribe and support Fengyun, and I guarantee I’ll give it my all, striving to make every penny of your support worth it.
For lords who are a bit tight on funds, Fengyun understands that following several books at once can indeed be quite costly, but I still earnestly request everyone to at least keep one initial subscription. The early metrics are really too important. Relying on writing to get by means I have no extra options but to thickly ask for everyone’s support.
As for tipping...
Please, lords, do only what you can afford. Money is hard to come by these days, and reading books is just a way to pass time; there’s no need to spend too much. If you really tip a lot, I won’t feel right about it either.
Especially for students and those just entering the workforce, please do not tip. Even in the worst of times, Fengyun might just eat a little worse, dress a little simpler, but my basic life is still secure. You gentlemen should spend your money on yourselves.
Everything is up to you, my lords! (Humbly bowing)
......(The following is some rambling about this book, and lords who can’t be bothered can just skip away)......
The idea for this book has been around for a very long time.
Even before I finished my last book, I often felt my blood boil with excitement over some of the characters and plot lines in this book, and I couldn’t wait to start writing!
But during the few months of rest, I almost gave up on this book several times.
Because from both the author’s and readers’ perspectives, I couldn’t find a selling point for this book.
There’s no golden finger.
No new settings, no new elements.
Even the story itself can hardly be called novel...
From any angle, this book contradicts what a hot data-producing web novel in the current market should look like.
So I started to write, and again and again I gave up.
In the end, even I kept asking myself: what are you aiming for by writing this book?
I’m not boasting here, but with my current level, it might be very difficult to write a super-hot book, but just to write a book that’s good enough to make a living... really isn’t hard.
But I just can’t let go of this book.
I can’t let go of those characters.
I can’t let go of those storylines.
I can’t let go of those touching moments...
They’re like living beings, appearing countless times in my midnight dreams, under the star-filled sky during my night runs.
Sometimes I even get the illusion: they are actually real, just using Fengyun’s hands to tell their stories to you all...
In the end, I still couldn’t overcome my own resistance and followed my heart, starting this book.
To be honest, I wrote it with the mindset of failing. As long as I could still afford to eat, I thought I’d complete it properly.
The lords in the readers’ group can testify; when I started this book, everyone advised me to be more confident every day.
My answer every time was: don’t get your hopes up too much, it might flop.
Unexpectedly, after this book was recommended, the metrics kept rising and the results were so good that even I found it a bit unreal.
Not embarrassed to admit it to you guys.
The data from the new book period may still be nothing to mention, still trounced by the big shots out there.
But it is indeed the best book I’ve written over all these years.
This contrast has made even me scratch my head, unable to understand how such a book that should be extremely niche could be liked by so many lords?
Thinking it over, there is only one answer: this time, we’ve hit upon the gentlest, most tolerant, most handsome, and wealthiest readers in the web novel circle!
Moving back to this book.
Many lords who have followed both my books have been asking why the protagonist of this book is the way he is?
I want to say... surely not every book’s protagonist should be carved from the same mold?
Of course, as a protagonist of any book, he should indeed be determined, positive, unyielding, with great courage, perseverance, ambition, and desire...
But regardless of the era, there should be a place for common people, for salted fish too, right?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёwebnovel.com.
If ordinary people and salted fish can’t be the heroes of the times, they can at least be the heroes of their own stories, right?
This may seem contradictory and hard to understand.
No worries, that’s my job. Lords, you don’t need to overthink it; all you need to do is follow your preferences to decide whether you like this protagonist and whether you want to subscribe to the book...
The acts of writing and reading a book are really a lot like cooking and eating.
I’m a Sichuan cuisine chef, so I can only cook for customers who like Sichuan cuisine.
Lords have their own tastes too. If you like Sichuan cuisine, you go to a Sichuan restaurant; if you prefer Shandong cuisine, you go to a Shandong restaurant; if you want Cantonese cuisine, you go to a Cantonese restaurant.
I cannot, and should not force, lords who don’t like Sichuan cuisine to come to my place to eat.
Lords who like Shandong or Cantonese cuisine wouldn’t go to a Sichuan restaurant and ask a Sichuan chef to cook Shandong or Cantonese dishes for them, would they?
It would be uncomfortable for both the chef and the lord to do so.
Also, regarding the upcoming plot.
I want to say that some of the storylines in this book may be old, ones that everyone has seen before.
But please, lords, trust Fengyun that I can write something of my own, worthy of your deep affection, worthy of every penny of your support!
...Grateful and true to my word.
I humbly invite you, together with Fengyun’s perspective, to enjoy another journey through the martial world!
— Listening to Fengyun from the Pavilion.
2023.11.10.