But just when things seemed to be going well, a new crisis quietly unfolded in the book.
Compared to Lin Shuyi, who now practiced music cultivation, a sword cultivator like Qi Hanzhou naturally carried far more bloodlust.
[[When Qi Hanzhou took a few steps closer, the spirit deer suddenly bolted and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
“You’re carrying more killing intent than before.”
Lin Shuyi turned to look at Qi Hanzhou. Ignoring his attempt to dodge, he directly grasped his wrist and closed his eyes to carefully examine him.
The wrist, being one of the vital points, was not something even the closest Dao partners in the cultivation world would easily allow others to touch.
But Qi Hanzhou simply lowered his gaze and let his senior brother check.
“There’s been unrest at the foot of the mountain lately. There are too many missions to lead.” He explained in a low voice.
Lin Shuyi opened his eyes upon hearing this, his brows furrowing slightly in thought.
Because of his presence, the original plot had changed significantly.
In this life, after he cautioned his father, the sect master, Elder Gu was gradually guarded against and alienated from the core of Miao Xuan Sect, and Qi Hanzhou had never fallen under his tutelage.
But with this major threat removed, a new demonic sect, one that had never appeared in the original book, emerged.
The disciples of Miao Xuan Sect had profound qi and techniques, but little real combat experience. Meanwhile, the demonic cultivators thrived on bloodshed. When the two factions clashed, it was often the Miao Xuan disciples who suffered heavy losses.
As a result, Qi Hanzhou, who frequently led teams down the mountain for missions, had to take action himself, staining his hands with more and more demonic cultivators’ blood.
Just as Lin Shuyi was hesitating, a new message arrived from Miao Xuan Sect.
Elder Gu had led a group of elite inner disciples into battle against the demonic sect, and was utterly annihilated!
That confirmed it. Elder Gu was indeed a problem.
However, Lin Shuyi had yet to realize that this conspiracy was actually aimed at Qi Hanzhou…]]
[Conspiracy? And it’s targeting Hanzhou? Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, if you don’t explain this clearly, we won’t be able to sleep at all! QAQ]
[I’m biting my blanket in nervousness. And by the way, what exactly is “inner demon”? It was mentioned earlier, but I was too busy watching Shuyi play the guqin to ask.]
Many observant readers had naturally picked up on the foreshadowing Yu Mian had planted earlier.
“An inner demon is, of course, a classic plot device. And once this major demonic sect arc is completed, we’ll be reaching the climax of the first volume.”
After finishing this chapter and clicking publish, Yu Mian wasn’t surprised to see the comment section instantly explode with excitement. He then carefully reviewed his outline again.
The full novel of “The Vast Immortal Path” would be published in two physical volumes.
The first volume covered Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core, with the final battle taking place within Miao Xuan Sect. The second volume would feature Nascent Soul, Incarnation, and Grand Ascension, with the ultimate showdown inevitably tied to Qi Hanzhou’s father, a BOSS who cultivated the Ruthless Dao.
Now that the first volume was steadily unfolding towards its climax, the book’s overall data were reaching new heights.
Yu Mian could see from the system’s backend that the new book was performing exceptionally well.
And ever since he learned that related interactive events could significantly boost popularity, he had been keeping a close eye on their number and type.
The collaborative ink painting exhibition between “The Vast Immortal Path” and the Freckton Gallery had finally been officially launched, fulfilling the long-standing anticipation of countless readers.
During its opening week, the Freckton Gallery on Central Star was packed with visitors.
After avoiding the peak hours, Yu Mian naturally dragged Huo Ting along to attend. Donning a hat and mask to blend into the crowd, they entered the exhibition.
This was actually his first time visiting a gallery owned by the An family.
At the entrance of the Freckton Gallery’s exhibition hall hung a grand and imposing ink painting of a vast mountainous landscape.
Countless readers and visitors stood in awe before the artwork, gazing up as if the immortal cultivation world of “The Vast Immortal Path” had materialized before them.
“Wait, this is painted by Yin?!”
Yu Mian couldn’t help but exclaim.
“No, no, this one was painted by Master Joriks. Ever since he learned about ancient Blue Star ink painting, he became deeply fascinated and has been experimenting with it. This is one of his proudest works.”
After hearing the visitor’s question, a nearby guide eagerly explained with pride.
Master Joriks was An’s father, a national treasure-level interstellar painter.
If the oil painting “Da Xi and Gredo” that he once created for “King of the Tian Mountains” was done at his son’s enthusiastic recommendation, then this “Vast Mountains and Rivers” was entirely the result of his own deep interest after reading the novel and immersing himself in the art of ink painting.
“We plan to tour our exhibition across various major star systems next. This is one of Freckton Gallery’s key strategic plans for the year. After all, the IP popularity of Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ works is amazing. You and your friend must have read The Vast Immortal Path,’ right? Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou!”
The guide proudly introduced the exhibition while looking at the ink painting before them, completely unaware of the subtle look in Huo Ting’s eyes.
But before Yu Mian, who was holding back his laughter, could respond, a heart-wrenching roar erupted nearby.
“The limited edition Ten Thousand Weapons Tomb archaeological blind boxes are restocked! Hurry, or you’ll miss out!”
“What? Finally restocked!”
“I have to dig out the same guqin as Shuyi this time!”
In an instant, everyone turned toward the special limited-time merchandise counter outside Freckton Gallery and started a 100-meter sprint.
Yu Mian was so startled that he pressed down his baseball cap. Huo Ting grabbed his hand and looked toward the commotion in the distance.
‘So they were finally restocked?’ Yu Mian had indeed heard from Editor Shaxs that the blind boxes had been out of stock for a long time.
The recent surge in ‘The Vast Immortal Path’s’ popularity was also closely linked to Huanyu’s official release of the Ten Thousand Weapons Tomb archaeological blind boxes.
As soon as the 108 blind box spiritual treasures were announced on the official website, they caused an earthquake-level reaction among Fish fans.
Even people outside the fan community, upon seeing the screenshots, couldn’t help but be curious about where they could buy these exquisite little treasures.
The key was that Huanyu had priced them very reasonably, deliberately lowering the profit margin to encourage more readers to participate in drawing the blind boxes.
Considering that the drop rate for the 108 spiritual treasures would be relatively low, they even thoughtfully launched an event where collectors who pulled duplicate figures under certain conditions could exchange them for a specific non-hidden blind box.
With these promotional events in place, the blind boxes sold out instantly on release day.
Offline merchandise counters across major star systems were completely wiped out, and Huanyu’s online store went out of stock in a second. Many fans directly ordered hundreds of boxes in one go to collect them all.
Surprisingly, Ernis was extremely lucky and became the first person to draw the limited hidden edition of Lin Shuyi’s Scorched-Tail Guqin blind box.
“I got it! Hahaha, I got it!”
Unable to contain his excitement, Ernis started a live broadcast, dancing wildly as he showed off the Scorched-Tail Guqin in his hands, creating another wave of publicity and promotion.
Because this miniature Scorched-Tail Guqin was actually an interactive music box, stroking different strings could play different famous guqin pieces.
The musical scores were a 1:1 restoration of ancient Blue Star’s Huaxia compositions, making them highly collectible.
The accompanying manual recorded the stories of ten legendary guqins from Blue Star, from Cai Yong saving a guqin to “High Mountains and Flowing Water”. Each story was paired with an ink painting style illustration.
[Help, it can actually play music? Who can resist this? Fine, I’ll buy it! Just restock a little more, okay? The way I refresh the official website like a maniac every day is truly embarrassing. TwT]
[I’m so jealous, I can’t even watch this live broadcast. Xiao Er, I’m going to be so jealous I might shapeshift and unfollow you. Wuuuu.]
Thank you for the update!!