The Azure Mountain

Book 1: Summary (Author's Afterword)

I hadn't originally planned to write a summary, but seeing the enthusiastic calls for one in the comments — and with the atmosphere already built up — it would've been wrong not to take a day off and write one.

Haha.

A brief recap of the Prologue and Volume One: Chen Ji arrives in a new world. As a transmigrator who hasn't recovered his memories, he needs to find his footing in this world, step by step uncovering his former identity and mapping out his social relationships.

Due to his circumstances, he becomes entangled in the struggle between the Ning Dynasty and the Jing Dynasty.

Going forward, the story will continue to center on the intelligence-system conflict as its main thread through the later arcs.

So far, I've tried using a small cast of characters to sketch the outline of this world — to first show everyone what kind of story I'm telling and the environment in which it takes place.

Compared to The Naming of the Night, this story isn't as "thrilling."

Unlike The Naming of the Night, the Prologue and Volume One unfold within a suppressive atmosphere.

Friends, fellow authors, and editors have all advised me to make it more exciting. It's not that I don't want to — I deliberated carefully and concluded that given this story's setting and the world Chen Ji has arrived in, there's simply no way for him to coast on power fantasies.

Everyone around Chen Ji kills without blinking, and with so many practitioners closing in, he doesn't have plot armor to spare. Naturally, he has to survive in the cracks, with little room even for clever schemes.Writing power-fantasy content would certainly draw a larger audience and more subscriptions, but forcing Chen Ji into that mode while abandoning logic would come with serious consequences down the line.

The Prologue and Volume One set the tone for the entire book and lay the groundwork for the story's main threads. So I've been fairly restrained in this section, and I expect to continue being so.

Let me summarize current progress in a few parts.

First, a summary of current characters. Most major characters for the first three volumes have already appeared. The outline revolves around these characters, gradually revealing the shape of this world.

In Volume One, every character's appearance was essentially a debut — distinct but not yet fully fleshed out. The volume was named "First Acquaintance" precisely because that was the plan: introductions. Volumes Two and Three will continue developing them, giving readers more storylines to see who these characters truly are.

I'm quite satisfied that every character introduced so far serves a purpose. Even those who have departed will return at key moments to complete storylines I've been eager to write.

For instance, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu. Or Gui and Wu Hongbiao.

I hope to build the characters steadily and keep improving.

Second, a summary of current worldbuilding. This book's setting is a "semi-alternate" Ming Dynasty — rooted in Ming Dynasty history, plus about 50% of my own fabrication...

As for the cultivation system, one of the core premises is conservation of energy. Volume One has only introduced this concept; neither the protagonist nor the supporting characters have truly delved into conflicts arising from it. For now, just keep it in mind. Many important plotlines in the future will revolve around this principle — not just Chen Ji's own Mountain Lord and Sword Seed paths, but other characters' paths as well.

At the same time, once Chen Ji inherited the Mountain Lord legacy, he was inevitably set on a collision course with imperial power.

Third, a summary of the current plot. Honestly, there are parts of Volume One I'm not entirely satisfied with. For example, the storyline about Chen Ji surviving in the cracks got a bit convoluted — not a matter of "complex" versus "simple," but rather me not designing the plot structure well enough. It wasn't concise or punchy enough.

That said, it's not a critical flaw for now.

What I wanted to write in Volume One was a beautiful dream amid encircling danger. Chen Ji lost his family and arrived in this world. At first, he lost all hope for life — until he decided to survive alongside Wu Yun. Then came the betrayal by his fellow apprentice She Dengke, and the coldness from the Chen Estate. He concluded he was fine on his own, that he needn't expect too much from this world.

Until he met the Prince Heir and Baili.

This beautiful dream is about heroism and friendship. I wanted it restrained yet warm — not some flashy, passionate blaze of color, but something as gentle as body heat.

So far, I think this part's completion level is acceptable — at least above my own passing grade.

Finally, a few words on the creative approach for this book.

Looking back at the goals I set for myself, I'm most satisfied with abandoning the old habit of heavy omniscient-narrator exposition in favor of letting the story and characters show the plot's development.

The pacing is also tighter. I no longer get carried away writing power-fantasy moments at the expense of logic.

Additionally, compared to my previous writing methods, this book pays much more attention to detail. I immerse myself more deeply in the world, which hopefully gives readers a clearer sense of being there.

Overall, apart from the word count going down, everything else has improved! And improvement is always a good thing!

Applause!