Ever since “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” became a huge hit, more and more authors across the interstellar world had started writing new unlimited flow works, and among them were quite a few masterpieces.
Indeed, unlimited horror was gradually becoming a genre with a massive, dedicated audience, leading to a flourishing of related works.
Seeing Yu Mian’s reply, Shaxs was certain that his author had once again made up his mind.
Though Teacher Fish Soup Noodles had a good temper, he was also unwavering when it came to decisions he had made.
[Crispy Shark: QWQ Alright, but once everyone finds out, I bet they’ll cry again.]
[Fish: It’s not a big deal. The new book will likely be released before the final chapter of “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain”. =v=]
Unexpectedly, Yu Mian’s message brought the entire editorial department a huge surprise.
Fish Soup Noodles’ new book was actually coming?
At that moment, in the Waltz Academy Writing Club’s activity room, Professor Simon was leading a group of students in organizing the latest issue of “Blue Star Expo”.
The magazine was no longer struggling on the brink of shutdown as it had in the past.
Even after the initial boom, sales remained stable, and many enthusiasts of ancient Blue Star culture had become long-term subscribers.
With ample funding, the content of “Blue Star Expo” also became much richer. In addition to basic knowledge about ancient Blue Star, a fiction section had been added.
Most of the stories in this section were set in the ancient Blue Star era of Huaxia.
Since its introduction, the section had been well received by readers and had remained a staple, with numerous submissions coming in every month.
“But do you guys think Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ new book will really push “Blue Star Expo” sales even higher?”
“I think the current sales are already unbelievable. I can’t even imagine how they could go any higher. What kind of book is it?”
Amid the discussions, anticipation and speculation about Yu Mian’s new book grew.
Everyone present was among the few in the entire interstellar world who had some inside knowledge about the new book.
After all, they had been assisting in gathering various ancient Blue Star materials during this period.
Daoist elixirs, legends of spiritual herbs, ancient music scores, records of legendary swords… The sheer range of topics made it impossible to predict what kind of novel it would be.
No other book in the entire interstellar world had ever included these elements, right?
As the lively discussion continued, Professor Simon coughed lightly and, with a smile, shared a piece of good news:
“Although Teacher Fish Soup Noodles has not published any works in our magazine, he is considering setting up a special fund using his new book’s royalties, which will be dedicated to the study and promotion of ancient Blue Star Huaxia culture. That means our magazine may never have to worry about funding again.”
The moment this news was announced, everyone in the room was stunned.
Was Teacher Fish Soup Noodles a literal god?
“Fortunately, we had the principal invite Teacher Fish Soup Noodles to participate in our school’s events back then. Otherwise, I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened to our magazine without him.”
“So the reason his new book will boost magazine sales even more is because of this?”
While excitement and curiosity ran high, their anticipation for the new book only grew stronger.
However, if Yu Mian knew about these speculations, he would have told them they were slightly off the mark.
Because this new book would take place in a cultivation world, but the specific subject matter would be none other than “transmigration into a book”, which was just as popular as rebirth on Earth.
Didn’t people always joke that whenever a transmigration novel became popular, anyone with the same name as the protagonist would immediately trigger a flood of comments urging them to “recite the full text immediately”?
Yu Mian planned for the protagonist of the new book to be transported into a novel world after reading a story with a Blue Star background in “Blue Star Expo”. There, he would become a character with the same name as himself, embarking on a grand cultivation adventure in which he’d fly on a sword, roam the heavens and earth and gaze down upon rivers and mountains.
Of course, a sweet and sour romance arc would also be essential.
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make sense to first publish the original story from the book world as a short piece in “Blue Star Epo”? Then, when the transmigration novel officially launches on Huanyu, the connection between the two would make the immersive experience even stronger.”
As Yu Mian pondered this new approach to starting the book, he grew even more interested.
This way, he could fully establish the story’s original world before transmigration and simultaneously build hype for the unique cultivation setting.
“Blue Star Expo” could even provide insights into various cultivation-related background details.
After writing infinite horror for so long, changing the style and writing about transmigrating into books and cultivating immortals felt exciting.
After all, the book every author loved the most was always their next one.
Yu Mian flicked his fish tail and began furiously typing on the light brain.
As for the establishment of the special fund, it was a carefully thought-out decision on his part.
With his growing surplus of royalties, Yu Mian wanted to put some of it to meaningful use.
So after consulting Secretary Hals about the relevant procedures, he decided to go ahead and give it a try.
So, as “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” neared its final chapter, preparations for the new book were also in full swing.
Also, the interstellar haunted house competition, co-hosted with Piedmont Amusement Park, concluded just before the book reached its finale.
However, the final winning star system was neither the Federation Star, which had the largest number of players, nor the Kael Star System, which had the highest average individual scores.
Instead, it was the smallest, least populated Eternal Night Star System!
This outcome was largely due to Lilith and the other Bart book fans, who, upon realizing their points were lagging behind, immediately made a decisive move; leveraging their financial prowess to hire bounty hunters for points!
“Mystery reward. Must. Obtain.”
Lilith firmly declared that their Eternal Night Star System was determined to win the series of mysterious rewards promised by Huanyu.
And as the saying goes, “Great rewards bring out great warriors.”
With the Bart clan of Eternal Night Star System waving their star coins, they instantly attracted a swarm of “warriors” to their side, causing their points to skyrocket.
The organizers at Piedmont Park were left dumbfounded, feeling as if these young masters and ladies of the Bart clan were engaging in a little… cheating.
But…
[Don’t worry about it! How can this be called cheating!? This is clearly a friendly invitation to visit and help each other out!]
[Exactly, exactly! Who cares about Star Coins? The main thing is that we want to travel to the Eternal Night Star System, do you understand?]
[This kind of challenge was unfair to the Eternal Night Star System from the start. The Bart clan has fewer people and needs to sleep often, what’s wrong with us helping out a little!?]
Piedmont Park had just started looking into whether this bounty system was reasonable when they were immediately “persuaded” by countless netizens to drop it.
There was no helping it, Eternal Night System was simply offering too much!
Just by participating, one would get a free chartered starship. Who could resist?
And so, the final champion of the haunted house competition was none other than the Eternal Night Star System.
As for the mysterious reward announced by Huanyu and Piedmont… It turned out to be an offline book signing event for “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” with none other than Fish Soup Noodles himself in attendance.
[Fuck! Wuuu, I really want this! Even though Miss Lilith and the others won, I’m not bitter at all. OwO At least, for once, an event’s first stop isn’t in the Federation Star, hehe!]
[Damn it! It doesn’t matter! Our Federation Star will definitely get a signing event from Teacher Fish Soup Noodles someday. You just wait! TwT]
[A book signing? Wait a second… Does that mean “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” is ending? I refuse! Wuuu!]
The moment people heard the news, they screamed in excitement, only to suddenly realize that this might mean “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” was about to officially end and be published as a physical book.
Even though the novel had already amassed a massive word count, it still felt like there was never enough to read.
Huanyu, of course, acknowledged this as well.
[Huanyu Reading V: Yes, “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” is about to enter its final dungeon. The grand finale event will be packed with surprises and tons of prizes! Join us for a chance to win!~]
A few weeks later, “Blue Star Expo” made a major announcement. They were publishing a short story by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles–”The Vast Immortal Path”!
“The Vast Immortal Path? So the new book isn’t a full-length novel but a short story in a magazine?”
“A short story is fine too! The previous ones by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles were all amazing.”
At the research institute where Lu Wei worked, more and more people were keeping up with Yu Mian’s books and he was no longer the only dedicated fan.
Since the discovery of the “Blue Star Expo” magazine, the research institute always attached great importance to it and purchased many copies of each issue for archiving.
This magazine, founded by students and faculty of Waltz Academy, was unexpectedly professional.
Its articles explaining ancient cultures were fascinating, even for casual enthusiasts of ancient Blue Star culture.
And ever since they added a fiction column, their popularity skyrocketed.
But no one had expected Fish Soup Noodles to personally contribute a story.
After all, ever since Yu Mian had risen to fame, his manuscripts had become very hard to commission. Many magazines were desperate for one but never got a chance.
They could only say that “Blue Star Expo” had played it smart. By directly inviting Fish Soup Noodles to join the school as a consultant, wasn’t getting a manuscript practically guaranteed?!
“And it’s actually pretty interesting, “The Vast Immortal Path”… “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” introduced ghosts, and now the new book introduces immortals?”
“What a gorgeous illustration!”
Someone in the office immediately flipped to Fish Soup Noodles’ short story and was stunned by the breathtaking, ultra-long, full-color foldout illustration at the beginning.
A group of cultivators, dressed in flowing robes with long black hair cascading like waterfalls, each held symbols representing their distinct elemental abilities and were all in different poses.
One had lowered eyes, seemingly watering a plant, as a vibrant spiritual herb flourished under their care.
Another stood beside several fluffy immortal beasts, their pure white fur gleaming with nobility, while the nine tails of a fox-like creature swayed mesmerizingly.
“A fox with nine tails? Is this a mutated star beast? Will the new book feature star beast companions like “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King”?”
Someone immediately associated it with the previous upgrade novel, “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” which had practically pioneered the interstellar novel genre’s leveling-up system. Its worldbuilding was really easy to grasp.
“But isn’t this immortal in a white-robe the most beautiful? How have you all not noticed?”
More people were soon captivated by the next character design.
A fairy-like woman in elegant white robes sat with her eyes closed, playing a simple yet ancient-looking xun. Her presence exuded a sense of detachment from the mortal world.
“This outfit actually reminds me a little of “Bei Xing’s Necklace”, but it’s full-on historical attire now. So stunning.”
“The elements surrounding them…do they represent different types of cultivation?”
“Wait, there are descriptions underneath.”
The office staff discovered that beneath the illustration were detailed notes, and what they read left them even more amazed.
“Sword Cultivation, Talisman Cultivation, Weapon Cultivation, Formation Cultivation, Beast Cultivation, Pill Cultivation, Music Cultivation…”
“I get it! The one holding the instrument is a Music Cultivator, the one controlling spiritual beasts is a Beast Cultivator, the one drawing on the ground is a Formation Cultivator, and the one covered in yellow papers is a Talisman Cultivator?”
“These methods can also lead to immortality? But with such a vast worldbuilding, can a short story really cover it all?”
Just this explanatory illustration alone was enough to get everyone excited.
[Be careful before entering the pit! A serious warning! Don’t rush to read it all at once just because you’re starving for books! TwT This story is a knife, it’s a knife!]
It wasn’t long before the first wave of unfortunate early readers emerged online, having eagerly devoured the short story, only to be left heartbroken. They were now crying out in agony, trying to warn others.
But such warnings were ultimately futile.
After all, who could resist the temptation of a brand-new book in their hands?
“Well, the original book that is to be transmigrated into should be quite tragic. Otherwise, how could the protagonist transmigrate into the book to save and change the world?”
Yu Mian, this fish, coughed lightly and silently flicked his fish tail.
