Chapter 122: The New Book is Wuxia (Seeking Monthly Votes)

At 6:30 PM, Li He updated the side story of *Martial Universe* right on schedule.

The notification that *Martial Universe* had updated chimed on countless phones. Readers of the novel promptly unlocked their screens, tapped the app, and dove into the latest chapter. They asked for nothing else; they only hoped to see a perfect ending for Lin Dong.

The side story was unusually short, only two thousand characters—a sharp departure from the author's typical style. But the readers didn't care. Whether it was two thousand or twenty thousand characters didn't matter, as long as the protagonist, Lin Dong, could find the family and friends who had died in the final battle. Everything else was secondary.

The readers were buzzing with excitement. They knew the side story was destined to provide a perfect resolution; it had to. Countless readers clicked into the chapter, only to find Lin Dong struggling as he tried every method imaginable to locate his two brothers and two wives, yet found no trace of them in the cycle of reincarnation. Their souls were not in this world.

Anxiety set in. Halfway through the chapter, there was still no clear answer. The readers began to panic. Was the author going to follow in the footsteps of the "Great God" and truly leave the four of them dead?

Reading further, they saw Lin Dong attempt everything, even stepping into the River of Time and walking through reincarnation himself, yet he still could not find the four figures. Now, the readers were truly frantic.

As Lin Dong continued his search, the Flame Ancestor found him and revealed the origin of the Twelve Ancestors. They did not belong to this world; they had followed the Symbol Ancestor here from the Great Thousand World. If Lin Dong wanted to find the four of them, he would have to set out for the Great Thousand World, as that was the only place where their reincarnated souls could be found.

Lin Dong understood that Ying Huanhuan, being the reincarnation of the Ice Ancestor, hailed from the Great Thousand World, but how could Little Marten and Little Flame also be from there? Lin Dong couldn't fathom it, thinking perhaps he would only find the truth once he found them.

But there was a problem: travel to the Great Thousand World required world coordinates. The Flame Ancestor and the others had been resurrected, and the aura of the Great Thousand World had long since faded from them. Without coordinates, reaching that realm was impossible.

Lin Dong searched the entire world, from the Demon Realm to the Chaotic Star Sea, then to the Eastern and Northern Xuan Regions, and finally to the Great Yan Empire, where he had lived in his youth. There, he finally found the coordinates he needed.

"Qingtan, how could it be you?"

Indeed, his younger sister, Lin Qingtan, also came from the distant Great Thousand World. But Lin Dong had no time to dwell on it. He used the life essence of his sister as a navigational coordinate and set off for the Great Thousand World.

With that, the side story of *Martial Universe* came to an end.

Wang Ke fell into deep thought. "The Great Thousand World—the higher plane of *Martial Universe*. I wonder if the protagonist will still be Lin Dong, or if there will be a new lead." There was too little information and no clear hints to determine what the new book would be like.

In the review section, while readers weren't entirely satisfied with the resolution, it was still a thousand times better than the tragedy depicted in the original finale. With the side story finished, *Martial Universe* was officially complete. The readers' attention shifted to the higher-level world revealed in the text: the Great Thousand World. Through the side story, they could guess that the background for the author's next book would be set there.

"What does 'Great Thousand World' mean? Is it a sequel?"
"Judging by the name, it sounds like a universe composed of thousands of worlds. That would mean the world of *Martial Universe* is just one of many. The scale of the map just expanded instantly."
"I hope the protagonist of the next book is still Lin Dong."
"Exactly, I only recognize Lin Dong as the lead. I won't accept anyone else."
"It's unlikely. If Lin Dong were the lead, the author wouldn't have needed to finish this book; he could have just kept writing. Changing the book title but keeping the same lead would just be annoying for the readers."
"True, that would be disgusting, but I believe the author wouldn't do that."
"No way, no way. Does anyone really believe they'd change the book but not the lead?"
"Don't guess anymore. The author's new book releases tomorrow. We'll know everything then."
"Another day of waiting? Why not just post it today!"
"Waiting is torture. This is infuriating."

Discussions about the new book raged in the comment section. Because the side story provided so little information, the debate remained purely speculative. However, one thing was certain: the new book would definitely be set in the Great Thousand World. Why else would the author introduce such a setting in the side story? It would be a waste of effort otherwise.

Readers also began to suspect that the side story was just a promotional tool for the next book. Many authors had done this before, and the readers didn't mind. *Promote away! Just release the new book quickly.*

It had to be said that the premise of the protagonist from *Martial Universe* venturing into a new world to save people had built up immense anticipation for the next project.

It wasn't just the readers; authors were discussing it in their private groups as well.

In the Fantasy Authors' Group:
"Little Sapling": "The author's move here is brilliant. The anticipation is through the roof."
"Playing Cards": "The map of the Great Thousand World is several times larger, but with the author's skill, he'll have no trouble controlling it."
"Falling Leaves": "I want to do that too, but my readers wouldn't allow it."
"Venturing Afar": "So, is the protagonist of the new book going to be Lin Dong or not?"

The group was active. Li He noticed that every time he opened it, there were over 99 messages. *These authors are so idle, just chatting away...* Seeing the discussion, Li He decided to chime in.

"The Great Author": "The protagonist is not Lin Dong."
"Venturing Afar": "Captured the legend!"
"Little Leaf": "So, is the new book still a 'good-for-nothing' trope?"

Since the protagonist wasn't Lin Dong, the new lead would surely have to rise from humble beginnings. Li He thought to himself that they were quite accurate. In the original trilogy, the third book, *The Great Ruler*, featured Mu Chen, who indeed followed the "good-for-nothing" path. However, Yang Guo (the planned protagonist) was no "good-for-nothing"; he was a genius among geniuses.

He typed back: "Not a good-for-nothing. The protagonist is a genius."

*A genius crushing all before him?*

The authors in the group paused for a few seconds, doubting if the person typing was actually the real author. After all, besides the founding "Great God" of the genre, he was the most successful writer of the "good-for-nothing" trope. And now, he was telling them he wouldn't be writing that anymore, but a story about a genius? It sounded absurd.

"Venturing Afar" typed anxiously: "Are you serious? You're kidding, right?"
"The Great Author": "I'm serious."

In the world of *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, Yang Guo was a martial arts prodigy with immense natural talent.

"Little Sapling" asked timidly: "Is there something wrong with the 'good-for-nothing' trope? First the Great God left to write Xianxia, and now you're going to write genius-protagonist stories? You're scaring me away from writing 'good-for-nothing' stories for my new book."

The two most successful authors switching gears gave the others an uneasy feeling. The Great God was a freak of nature—he had pioneered the "good-for-nothing" fantasy trope, then moved to the Xianxia circle and revitalized the entire genre. He was the type to strike once and then move to a new battlefield. Now, the author right behind him was leaving the trope as well. Something was definitely up!

Li He hadn't expected their imaginations to run so wild.

While Li He was interacting with the authors, Wang Ke, who had been lurking, was stunned. *Not writing a 'good-for-nothing' story? The protagonist is an unparalleled genius?* He rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was true; the author had said it himself.

"What the hell?" Wang Ke was bewildered. "The author isn't writing a 'good-for-nothing' story?" Before this, no one would have doubted the new book's direction. With *Martial Universe* doing so well, why wouldn't he continue? But now, he had admitted it himself: it was a "genius" trope.

Wang Ke hurriedly opened his chat with Li He: "How many chapters of buffer do you have for the new book?" He didn't ask for the genre; he wanted to see the draft.

Li He thought for a moment and typed back: "Not much, just a hundred thousand words."

*Good grief.* *Martial Universe* ended yesterday, and he already had a hundred thousand words ready? The "two great human word-processing machines" of the industry were no joke.

Wang Ke replied instantly: "Can you send it to me to take a look?"

Before the author could reply, Wang Ke's fingers flew across the keyboard, tentatively probing: "It's still a fantasy 'good-for-nothing' story, right? With the reader base from *Martial Universe* and your experience with the genre, another hit is guaranteed."

Wang Ke was desperately hoping. He held onto a sliver of hope that the author was just joking in the group to confuse his peers. Two of the pillars of the "good-for-nothing" trope had already left one; he couldn't afford to lose another.

"The Great Author": "No."

Wang Ke froze. The new book really wasn't a "good-for-nothing" story. After five seconds, Wang Ke replied: "Then what genre is it?"

The "genius-crushing" market was also quite large. With the author's prose and control over the pacing, it should be fine. *Maybe he's trying a feint to catch everyone off guard? Everyone expects a 'good-for-nothing' story, but he delivers a genius lead instead. That would be a refreshing surprise.* He was truly bold, refusing to stay in his comfort zone and daring to break through.

*No one understands him better than I do...* Wang Ke felt his guess was likely correct. But when he saw the reply, he went rigid. The answer was completely unfamiliar, yet strangely recognizable. It was unfamiliar because it wasn't fantasy at all. It was recognizable because he had just seen this exact move a few days ago—from the Great God, who, coincidentally, was also a writer of "good-for-nothing" stories.

*What the hell!*

"Wuxia."

Wang Ke couldn't process it for a long time. The Great God had kicked fantasy to the curb to write Xianxia. Now, this author was paying tribute to his predecessor, imitating him perfectly—kicking fantasy aside and diving into the world of Wuxia.

Wang Ke felt like he was falling apart. Wuxia was different from Xianxia. Before the Great God released *Jade Dynasty*, Xianxia was a stagnant pool where authors went to retire. But Wuxia was different; due to the influence of cultural heritage, every man had a Wuxia dream. Wuxia novels were consistently in the top three of the web novel world.

And he wanted to write Wuxia.

Wang Ke felt like life had lost its meaning. He finally understood the pain of his rival. It was great to have talented authors under your wing, but it was a headache when they were this unpredictable. If they were minor authors, he could force them to listen, but with a top-tier author, you had to treat them like royalty.

Liu Da, noticing his rival's strange behavior, strolled over holding a water cup and asked casually: "Yo, what's wrong? Are you having a bad day?"

"It's worse than a bad day."

*He didn't even snap back...* Liu Da thought it was strange. "What happened? Did the star author cause trouble again?" He didn't know why, but his first thought was that the author had stirred the pot.

Wang Ke looked up: "The new book releases tomorrow."
Liu Da paused, suddenly losing interest in talking.
Wang Ke continued: "He's writing Wuxia."

Liu Da immediately perked up. "Wuxia is great. It has a lot of potential. That's excellent."
Liu Da felt the weather was lovely and his mood was fantastic.
"Are you even human?" Wang Ke was on the verge of a breakdown.
"Ha!" Liu Da sneered. "When he was writing Xianxia, did you forget what your face looked like? All that smugness? You've forgotten, haven't you?"

Liu Da felt he was being merciful; not setting off fireworks to celebrate was already being kind to his rival. What else did he expect? A pep talk?

Just then, Wang Ke received the file for the new manuscript. He ignored his gloating rival, sat down at his computer, and bit the bullet as he opened the file.

The page loaded.

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PS: Posted first, edited later. Please point out any errors...