End-of-Volume Summary

Let me briefly report on the results.

The data is currently normal, with both subscriptions and follow-up subscriptions steadily increasing.

The average number of subscriptions reached 7,200, a significant increase from the initial subscription, and the number of favorites also exceeded 50,000.

Thank you so much for your support, dear readers.

And thank you to all the big shots who silently vote for me every day. Although many of them rarely speak, their IDs are very familiar to me. Thank you again.

Orz

In addition, I rarely delete comments or ban people, except for those that stir up trouble or flood the screen.

I even featured several long reviews from Book Friends Circle, which were critical of me.

I think that since they've written so many comments, they must be readers who have seriously read the plot.

Regardless of whether I personally agree with these suggestions or criticisms, I am grateful for everyone's support of this book.

Let's summarize Volume Two.

Let's talk about the Simulation scenario first.

Unlike the first Simulation, this Simulation involved far fewer key figures.

This is the first time that Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue have a scene together, but this time, the main storyline is about disciplining Zhu Zhuqing.

Unless I create a new character for Zhu Zhuyun, but that doesn't feel very interesting.

However, as I wrote, I realized that this setup was a bit too simplistic.

To avoid writing a rambling, disjointed account, I had no choice but to accelerate the progress of the Simulation storyline.

The main reason for this situation is that the detailed outline was somewhat naive and lacked sufficient consideration of the details.

This will be corrected and optimized in the plot setting of the next volume, and the conflicts between the characters will be made more intense.

Then comes the main storyline in reality.

There shouldn't be any major problems with the progress of this part.

From Zhu Zhuqing to Qian Renxue, and then to the meeting of the three, everything became clear.

The relationships between the characters are now fairly clear.

This includes the first clash between the two female protagonists, and Ah Yin's change of mindset catalyzed by the Soul Ring incident.

Taking advantage of an opportunity created by Su Cheng, Zhu Zhuqing managed to connect with Bibi Dong through her own efforts, which also helped to balance the gap in strength and resources between herself and Qian Renxue to some extent.

As for what happens next, both of them are now aware of each other's existence, and it's up to them to decide what to do next.

Returning to the Spirit Master Competition itself, I don't think the process of the battles or the final outcome are particularly important.

At least it's not so important that I need to sacrifice plausibility to give the protagonist a cheat code in order to win in the end.

The core plot of this book is not about showing off and slapping faces; that's just a secondary element.

If it's original content, this part will definitely be emphasized.

But in Douluo fanfiction, to be honest, the stories of showing off and getting slapped in the face have been overdone, so there's no need to insist on winning the final championship.

There were no spectators, the final was held behind closed doors, with only the two teams' academies and a group of big shots present. The protagonist himself also performed well enough, having shown off all the necessary flair, and that was enough.

Moreover, the Spirit Hall itself is not an enemy force, and the protagonist's initial purpose in participating in the competition was simply to demonstrate his strength.

The climax of the real-world storyline is actually when they get the Soul Ring.

However, this part wasn't written particularly well; it felt like it was lacking in polish, but it still contained everything that needed to be written.

Finally, let's talk about the controversial plot.

One is Zhu Zhuqing's Simulation. As I reflected on at the beginning, this part did indeed lack some consideration in its plot development.

The other one is the storyline of Ah Yin.

To develop this romantic storyline, a drastic approach is needed; otherwise, given the character's personality, it would be difficult for Ah Yin to realize her true feelings.

The main problem is that the setup wasn't done well enough; this part of the plot could have been handled better.

Then there are a few points of contention regarding the main characters, and I'll briefly share my thoughts.

In harem novels, to develop a distinctive female lead, the male lead needs to be weakened to some extent. Overemphasizing the male lead inevitably sacrifices the female character's individual traits.

Unless there's no harem and it's a single female lead story, then if the male and female leads have scenes together and share sweet moments, their relationship will be more balanced, similar to the situation between Su Cheng and Qian Renxue in the first Simulation.

Alternatively, you could write a fictional ancient setting where having multiple wives and concubines is considered normal in a world where the female protagonist can easily accept it. That would also work.

However, if you're writing about Asura triangle, there should be at least two relatively strong and important female characters.

This is determined by the worldview and background; a female protagonist with a strong personality will not easily accept having her feelings shared.

It's a matter of trade-offs.

When I first started writing this book, I had already designed the personalities of the main female characters.

I really didn't want to be reborn from Old Liu's masterpiece. Chen Hansheng was even criticized so much in it. (I don't mean to compare myself to the great author; I'm just using this classic urban harem novel as an example, since it's so deeply ingrained in people's minds.)

Is Chen Hansheng not rich enough? Is his social status not high enough?

Why are Xiao Yuer and Shen Youchu unwilling to accept him having a harem?

Without these independent personalities, would these two female protagonists still have so many readers?

Those who say it's because the protagonist isn't strong enough have some interesting ideas.

This is like someone in real life keeping several mistresses because they're rich. Are these people with you for love or for money?

Or do you think that once the protagonist becomes invincible, given Qian Renxue's personality in this book, he will easily allow her to build a harem?

Which female character with a truly independent personality would be willing to share with someone else?

This isn't like the ancient worldview where the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues were deeply ingrained, and it was normal for men to have multiple wives and concubines.

Why should they?

Even if the protagonist is invincible, they just won't share.

Because what they're after isn't the protagonist's strength, but the person himself.

If you want to read a story where the protagonist mindlessly collects women, you can just look for harem novels. There are plenty of female characters in them, and they don't care if the protagonist has multiple women on one side or the other, they just sleep with each one they see and enjoy it.

In addition to the reasons mentioned above, we also need to consider the character's underlying personality.

Being unwilling to share doesn't mean you can't share; it also depends on the person.

This would hold true if it happened to Ah Yin in the book, or to someone like Hu Liena who admires strength.

However, this doesn't make sense when applied to Qian Renxue in this story, or to Xiao Wu in the original work.

Qian Renxue is willing to die for the protagonist, or even die with the protagonist. To put it dramatically, she could even walk around the world with Cheng Ge's head in her arms, but she would never accept the appearance of another person.

(Of course, the above only reflects the current situation.)

However, Zhu Zhuqing is somewhat different from Qian Renxue.

Her emotions are not as morbid as Qian Renxue's, and she is currently in a weaker position than Qian Renxue in all aspects, so she will be more calm, think more deeply, and will not use methods that are directly out in the open.

However, those will need to be written about later.

The reason so many comments are so mind-numbing is because some comments are completely thoughtless; they're just arguing irrationally, skipping over the plot while looking for bugs, which is ridiculous. (This isn't meant to be offensive; I've read all the normal comments, and I haven't banned or deleted any that don't spam or stir up trouble.)

I've never used this account before for writing books. Sometimes I even feel like venting in the comments section of the chapters on the account I use to read books.

But I'm afraid of being exposed as using a fake account to stage a charade, so I never post comments. To be honest, it's really hard to hold it in.

Next volume: The Sea God's Roar.

Main characters: Bo Saixi, Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue, Zhu Zhuqing, Ah Yin.