The Divine Tomb chapter has finally been completed, albeit with many stumbles and setbacks.
At this moment, I feel like I've just been slapped by the Red-Haired Ancestor and then fed a magic pill. I feel like I want to vomit blood, but at the same time, I feel like my cultivation is about to break through (although it's probably just an illusion).
First, regarding the timing: Why did I insist on tackling this niche and difficult topic?
To be honest, I've reflected on this for several nights, and finally concluded that instead of taking the smooth road after Chen Nan's resurrection, we chose to plunge headlong into the chaos of ten thousand years ago.
Maybe the red hair inside my body has grown too much, affecting my brain circuitry (facepalm).
To be honest, at this point in time, other fanfiction authors hadn't really ventured into this area, and I wanted to write something unique and original (it was just one of Red Hair's small ambitions)!
Although this period is only mentioned briefly as background in the original work,
However, many major events occurred during this period; just imagine:
The Heavenly Dao is about to destroy the world; smoke is rising from the entire world.
The gods and demons are either insane or on their way to madness;
The " Heavenly Gate " opened wide, and gods and monsters from all walks of life poured into the human world like a bustling market.
It is this chaos that has given rise to creative freedom, but also brought challenges.
Chen Zhan's trajectory at this point in time deeply fascinated me. He led his family back to the Heavenly Realm, and after suffering serious injuries, he went to fight in the Western Heaven Realm, where he rescued the Sacred Battle Angel couple (who are also the Ancient God Demon Ape couple that Chen Nan later encountered).
This charismatic character forms the foundation of this chapter.
I hope that by focusing on this point in time, readers familiar with the original work can find that familiar sense of identification.
Of course, most importantly, with Chen Zhan, one of the Four War Souls, as the "traffic driver," I thought that no matter how badly the show flopped, it wouldn't be completely over (whispering: it turns out I was too naive; the subscriptions and following the story taught me a lesson).
This volume also represents one of Red Hair's attempts.
The "reversal of cause and effect" ( Shura Qing ) technique, which was not completed in Great Emperor of the Cosmos and Romance of Dragons and Snakes, was used again.
This foreshadows and makes more sense for the protagonist's future transformation into Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo.
The design of the main characters' resurrection sites—Starry Sea, Divine Spring, and Golden Lotus—is different from the style of Divine Tomb, and there's also that pool of Xuanhuang Mother Qi.
Discerning readers should be able to guess that this was left by the protagonist during his second visit to the Divine Tomb;
The small coffin that Chen Zhan obtained was also a backup plan left behind by the protagonist when he traveled to the Divine Tomb World for the second time.
All these seemingly independent clues will eventually weave together to form a complete Cause and Effect loop.
To put it simply, this entire volume is essentially a philosophical question of "which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
My idea is:
When the protagonist travels back to the even earlier Primordial Era for the second time, he achieves the position of Great Emperor (that is, the Heavenly King of Divine Tomb and the strongest of the Four War Souls ).
And in the Divine Tomb World, the protagonist begins his first transformation into Mortal World Immortal. The Star Sea and the Divine Spring are remnants left behind from one of his unsuccessful attempts.
All these foreshadowing elements will suddenly connect, forming a perfect Möbius strip.
Unfortunately, his writing skills ultimately failed to fully capture such ambition.
The plot, which I had hoped would spark discussion, turned out to be quite uneventful in the chapter reviews and comments section (laughing and crying emoji).
Ideals are good, but reality...
Of course, there are many other problems in this volume.
For example, the battle scenes in the Second Demonic Embryo were so intense that I almost dug a three-bedroom apartment out of my toes when I reread them.
It was clearly just a Lesser Heaven Rank cultivator at the Severing the Dao Immortal Three, but I wrote it as if it were a supreme battle.
I admit to being rambling and verbose when I should be being practical, and I'm perfectly compliant with that flaw!
The anticipation before the climax wasn't properly built up, resulting in a lackluster performance when the actual climax arrived.
For example, when the Eight-Nine Profound Art were created, there was not much buildup beforehand, which caused the climax of the creation to not arrive as expected. I had the same feeling when I reread it afterwards.
To be honest, I was so passionate when I was writing that I didn't realize it at all; I was completely absorbed in my creative process (facepalm).
Another point, which I'm ashamed to admit, is that the astronomical phenomena are characterized by comparing Guan Yu to Qin Qiong (a historical figure known for his unconventional characterization).
Every time I see heated discussions in the comments section about "how could XX realm be equal to XXX realm," I silently shrink behind the screen, biting my nails while questioning my own conscience:
Why did I dedicate a whole chapter to this in the first place? Was it Liang Jingru who gave me the courage? I should have just quietly written the story.
The die is cast. To be honest, the combat power system is like a well-woven spider web; moving one thread may require the entire web to be rewoven.
In order to prevent the core settings such as "time travel loop" and "second life time travel" from collapsing, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to make it work.
However (suddenly serious), I will not give up on those foreshadowing elements.
The Cause and Effect between Chen Zhan and the protagonist, the closed loop of the two time travels, and the second time travel to the ancient war against the heavens—these core settings will be presented gradually in the subsequent story in a more solid and easier-to-understand way.
After all, the tradition of our red-haired clan is: stubborn, but not stupid; reckless, but capable of reflection.
Of course, there are a few points in this volume that I really like. The fan-made content filled in two plot holes about the Red-Haired Ancestor and made up for one regret I had when reading the original work.
1. The ancient, long-lived tortoise encountered in Chen Nan Heavenly Realm, the secret of its lost cultivation (hehe, fueled by the protagonist's special coffin).
2. The death of the Shen Ji: The original work does not specify who killed her (let's just say the protagonist did).
3. It saved Heavenly Realm Yu Xin's personality from being Supreme Forgetfulness Record (later, when Chen Nan encounters Heavenly Realm Yu Xin again, it also allows the protagonist to show off indirectly).
4. Reversing cause and effect can be considered planting the seeds, which will be brought to a close when we return to the Divine Tomb World next time.
Finally, I sincerely thank every reader who has persevered and read this far.
It's your criticisms, suggestions, and occasional encouragement that allow me to keep smiling before I lose even more hair (though it might look worse than crying).
A new volume is in preparation; please look forward to it—a story that may still have flaws, but will definitely be told with more care.
In the new volume, Li Qingshan returns to the Shrouding the Heavens World." Hong Mao will try new writing techniques, experimenting with multi-line and multi-perspective narratives, ultimately bringing them together to create a more substantial build-up before the climax.
(Bowing, then tripping over his own red hair, making a perfect exit)