Sender: Feng Qi Longxi (Feng Qi Longxi), board: xianlu
Posted from: Two Sides to Every Story bbs (Aug 1, 2005)
Immortal Road's uniquely ethereal grace seeps through its exquisite prose, refreshing the heart and soul. A life that is quiet without being dull is the true essence of Daoism, so Master Guan, there's no need to overthink it. Just write according to your own vision.
While I'm here, a few suggestions for your consideration:
1. Aside from feeling more familiar, I personally think immortal arts outshine magic chiefly because of their limitless possibilities. Just as combination magic and demon swords find favor in fantasy stories, immortal arts founded on Dao Power in Eastern magical systems have an innate advantage: they give the author free rein to create. So I look forward to more wonderfully inventive immortal arts.
2. Its refusal to follow tired formulas is Immortal Road's greatest strength. Compared with stories where people sacrifice themselves to become demons or leap through the ranks to become immortals at the drop of a hat, Immortal Road has fewer turbulent clashes, but also less bluster. Divine pills and miraculous medicines are for the lazy; bursting forth with power after being driven into a death trap is what those martial-training brutes do.
3. Immortal Road is simply a path of pursuing the Dao, as mild as clear water, with nothing but the purest breath of heaven and earth and a little worldly dust to give people something to daydream about over tea after a meal. Perhaps someday, lots of adorable little demons will gather under the banner of Four Seas Hall and embark together on a splendid journey of cultivation. I also hope that as Xing Yan progresses, he gives the demons around him opportunities to progress alongside him. :)
4. Cultivation stories