First, thank you all for your votes, tips, and comments. I saw plenty of familiar faces in the comments, as well as many new ones. Thank you for your support.
Next, let's talk about the Western Continent storyline. Some readers in the comments said they enjoyed it, while others said those parts felt somewhat immersion-breaking.
When I first saw those comments, I felt a little anxious. But after looking at the bookmark and latest-chapter subscription figures, I felt reassured. Whenever several Western Continent chapters appeared in a row, bookmarks and latest-chapter subscriptions were roughly a quarter to a third higher than usual, while the number of monthly votes I received roughly doubled.
Judging by the numbers alone, plenty of readers still enjoyed the Western Continent storyline, so those chapters will continue to appear at their current frequency. Readers who don't enjoy them can skip those chapters. I'll make them easier to identify through their titles, and this is a supporting storyline, after all.
That was the compromise I came up with.
One thing that made me very happy was that, so far, no one in the comments had called any particular plot development a deal-breaker. That told me I was on the right track.
During my month-long break, I kept reviewing the mistakes I had made in my previous book. Eventually, I realized my biggest mistake was this: I had wanted to improve too badly!
Although many plot developments in Black Emperor drew criticism, the book performed fairly well. That misled me into thinking my writing had reached a new level. So when I wrote Marrying Queen Mystic, I insisted that I had to get the fanfiction worldbuilding right, flesh out the characters properly, and write meaningful plot developments.
What you ended up reading was sluggish storytelling and overly elaborate