Hello, everyone. I'm Gu Zhen Ren.
Today, I'm bringing you a new book, "The Immortal Craftsman's Creation."
I had thought it through clearly: writing this book, I would face at least three challenges!
The first challenge: leaving the mountain to write.
From the very beginning, writing web novels had been an interest, something I loved. Having written so many books, my main purpose had always been that interest. So when I wrote "Gu Zhen Ren," even when subscriptions were dismal, I persisted for at least seven years. I was still young then, my parents had not grown old, and I had nothing to worry about. If one person ate their fill, the whole family went without hunger.
So when I wrote "Infinite Bloodcore," I would rather revise the outline. Even with no subscription income for months, it did not matter.
I'm not afraid of being laughed at—
I was clumsy. While still in the mountains, I could not pluck the moon, and fell until my head was battered and bloodied. This time, I came outside the mountains mainly to fill my worldly belly.
Reflecting on myself, perhaps my state "within the mountains" had been my personal comfort zone, fencing off a patch of land to amuse myself. Perhaps my former pursuit of art, my so-called dreams, had merely been self-indulgence, a wild and deluded fantasy.
"Outside the mountains," meanwhile, was where heroes fought for supremacy and a hundred boats raced in the current!
"The Immortal Craftsman's Creation" was my first work written after "leaving the mountain." For the first time in history, I began considering rankings, reader events, updates, pacing, and fitting mainstream reading habits.
I hoped to write something suited to mainstream reading habits, something everyone would enjoy.
I am a very clumsy person. Since it is my first time doing this, I may not do well, but I will humbly learn and strive to improve! Please offer plenty of criticism and corrections. Of course, a little encouragement would be even better!
The second challenge: socializing.
I myself am a shut-in. Besides writing and reading, my greatest hobby is playing games.
I have social anxiety. Although it has eased somewhat as I have grown older, I am still not good at interacting with people or engaging with readers.
This time, having listened to everyone's opinions, I will work hard to improve in this area, hold more events on social platforms, do some livestreams, and so on.
The third challenge: my inner self.
This was the greatest challenge.
Everyone had two lives. One was called worldly life, and the other was called ideals. For literary and artistic workers, that second life was called artistic life.
I wrote "Gu" for around ten years, on and off. Meager income occupied most of that time, yet I savored it as sweet as honey. When "Bloodcore" was revised and rewritten over several months, I shut myself away and ignored the outside world, yet my enthusiasm remained undiminished.
I loved writing books. Writing itself was the source of my motivation. These processes had all been nourishing my artistic life.
Writing after leaving the mountain might be different. To me, it might mean consuming my artistic life.
How long could my second life endure? I did not know.
Because this was my first attempt, I also did not know whether I was truly suited to this kind of writing model.
There were far too many ways to kill the second life. It was immensely powerful, yet at the same time incomparably fragile.
I could only tell myself: leaving the mountain was so that I could enter the mountain again and chase the moon.
I would do my best to adjust my mindset, find the balance within it, and work hard to transform. Perhaps this way of writing could nourish my artistic life after all.
I earnestly asked you all to bear witness.
My thanks!