Hello, dear readers.
This is a rare standalone chapter, to discuss a few things.
Volume 5, "The Overlord of Demons," has now come to an end. This volume was indeed written to be very long — it will be the longest volume in the entire book. But it couldn't be helped. This volume covers the greatest span of Fang Yuan's power, truly transforming him from a chess piece into a chess master. I believe that by now, you all understand.
Honestly, the writing pressure for Volume 5 was immense — heavier than any of the previous volumes, and even heavier than the upcoming final volume.
There was simply too much that needed to be written.
This great battle involved the entire Five Regions, along with certain blessed land worlds — it essentially covered the entire map of the novel.
At least sixty factions were involved, with characters including Wu Yong, Chi Quyou, Song Qiyuan, Shen Congsheng, Shen Shang, Zhang Yin, Granny Rong, Great Five Elements Mage, Bing Saichuan, Mao Liqiu, Fang Dichang, Dragon Lord, Qin Dingling, Fairy Ziwei, Yuan Qiongdu, Fang Yuan, Bai Ningbing, Shadowless, Emperor Cangsheng, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, Star Constellation, Red Lotus, Primordial Origin, Wild Ancient, Ye Fan, Hong Yi, Feng Jinhuang, Feng Jiuge, and many more.
Far too many characters!
Each of these characters has their own level of cultivation. Some are merely mortal Gu Masters, such as Feng Jinhuang. Others possess extraordinary strength, such as Fang Yuan, Feng Jiuge, and Dragon Lord.
Each has their own killer moves. For instance, Dragon Lord's two combat systems and over a dozen killer moves were all designed to match his image. Wu Yong's killer moves — Infinite Wind and Farewell Wind — are one righteous and one demonic, complementing each other perfectly. Fang Yuan has even more — Red Lotus's methods, Song Qiyuan's killer moves, Shen Shang's techniques. All required detailed yet varied descriptions.
Each of these characters has their own schemes and plans. For example, Bing Saichuan, single-mindedly devoted to fulfilling Giant Sun's dying wish; Wu Yong, harboring grand ambitions; Dragon Lord, willing to sacrifice everything for Heavenly Court; Fang Yuan, seeking eternal life; Red Lotus, striving to overturn fate — and so on.
These characters include not only the living but also the deceased. The Venerables of past eras, for instance, and Wu Yong's mother, Wu Duxiu.
All these characters needed to be as fleshed-out as possible. Red Lotus Demon Venerable, Dragon Lord, and Fang Yuan in particular were given heavy focus, and I believe they left a deep impression on readers. What I wanted even more was for some of the minor characters to have their own distinct signatures. Yuan Qiongdu, for example — the key figure responsible for repairing the Fate Gu — who chose self-sacrifice at the critical moment. I believe that should leave many impressions with readers. This character's memories from two great battles across his past life and present life can be woven together to form his own story, embodying a philosophy of duty. This also echoes the theme in the Legends of the Human Ancestor, where the Freedom Gu brings the burden of responsibility. Other minor characters, such as Ye Fan and Hong Yi, also had their own fortuitous encounters. As for Qin Song — a member of Heavenly Court's Immortal Tomb who had very little screen time in the previous life — he displayed formidable strength in this life. Heavenly Court's grand teleportation formation also depended on his completion.
These characters each experienced their own life-altering transformations. Feng Jiuge shifted from the Righteous Path to the Demonic Path, openly betraying Heavenly Court. The groundwork for his transformation was laid long ago through numerous foreshadowing elements. For instance, he was originally a reclusive cultivator who had opposed the ten great ancient sects. Additionally, Dragon Lord once asked Feng Jinhuang whether she believed in fate — she said she didn't — and Dragon Lord reflected on this, feeling that part of the problem lay with Feng Jiuge. It was a matter of upbringing. If you reread these foreshadowing elements, they become clear. Then there's Feng Jinhuang herself — a seed of Great Dream Immortal Venerable — but with the Fate Gu destroyed, her heavenly destiny was gone, and her father had betrayed their side. Where would she go from here? And what about Fang Yuan's clone, Fang Dichang, trapped in Emperor Spirit Palace — what encounters would he face there?
With so many characters centered on the Fate Gu, unfolding an unprecedented great battle, the arrangement was extraordinarily demanding.
I believe this is not only the most unprecedented great battle in this book, but across the entire web novel world, such a super-large-scale battle is exceedingly rare.
The sheer number of characters involved and the breadth of the map covered are already extraordinary. What makes it even harder is that this great battle had to be fought twice — once where Fang Yuan failed before his rebirth, and once where he succeeded after.
These two battles required comparison and contrast, layer upon layer of escalation, minimal plot holes, and foreshadowing throughout.
In chapters 943–945, you should be able to see the foreshadowing I carefully laid out. These threads began being set up more than half a year ago and were only activated now. On the surface, they appeared to be unrelated stories — they had to be disguised well. Only when they all appeared together could the author's true intentions be revealed. What makes me happy is that no reader has seen through this yet.
To achieve my writing goals, I needed to flesh out the characters and lay groundwork more than half a year in advance. Beyond that, I needed a clash of philosophies.
In the first battle, I primarily wrote from Heavenly Court's perspective, and many readers were moved by it. In the second battle, I primarily wrote from Fang Yuan and Red Lotus's perspective, and many readers felt passionately energized by it.
This was exactly the effect I wanted to achieve.
Only through a clash and triumph at the level of philosophy can the greatness of each side be truly revealed, making it easier to understand these characters' motivations and actions.
And the reason I wrote these philosophical conflicts was to further deepen the book's exploration of the struggle between the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path.
What is the light of righteousness? What is the darkness of the demonic?
Any mature person knows: this world is not simply black and white. The boundaries between Righteous and Demonic, between darkness and light, are actually very blurred.
The first half of this book focused on depicting the differences between Righteous and Demonic. The second half began to explore what they have in common.