I Seek Immortality in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Emmmm, it's the end of the month again. Speaking of which, this book is the slowest to update since I started writing. I thought that slow work would produce fine work, so I started writing slowly, but it turned out that it was too slow, and I didn't see the fine work. So starting from next month, I want to strive for more updates, at least 6K updates per day, and I want to push myself. Friends who see this post, please supervise me and don't let me neglect it. I also implore the able masters to give me more subscriptions. Even a monthly ticket is the motivation for me to continue coding. Thank you for your humble Weibo Street, please support me~

Those who hunt ghosts and collect demons have become those who charge into battle. Messy

Reconstructing "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", a collection of short stories full of whimsical ideas, into a fantasy epic with a grand worldview and a rigorous system presents both huge challenges and infinite possibilities. Design a complete plan, covering the realm system, the setting of parallel time and space, and how to organically weave scattered stories into the main plot. Part One: Core World View and Realm System Design To make "Liao Zhai" grand, we must first break its fragmented sense of "spirits and monsters" and establish a unified power system and world evolution model. We can set up a core concept: "Lingyuan", which is the original energy of all things in the world and is the basis of essence, qi and spirit. The essence of spiritual practice is to control and transform "spiritual energy". Core settings of the worldview: 1. Three realms pattern: - Human World (Yang World): A world dominated by humans, with thin spiritual energy but stable rules. It is the core embodiment of the laws of heaven and the center where yin and yang meet. - The world of demons (underworld/nether world): a world composed of non-human beings such as vegetation, monsters, rocks, beasts, and evil spirits. The spiritual energy is rich but chaotic, and the strong are respected. - Heavenly Realm (Fairy Realm/Law Level): The high-altitude realm of laws, inhabited by existences such as "Heavenly Officials" and "Star Lords" who control the rules of heaven and earth. They do not directly interfere with the mortal world, but only maintain the basic order of the universe. 2. "Reiki Tide" theory: The Qing Dynasty in which the story of "Liao Zhai" takes place was not an era when spiritual energy was at its peak, but an "era of the end of spiritual energy"**. In this era, the total amount of "spiritual energy" between heaven and earth is declining, making practice extremely difficult. Therefore, many monsters and monks frequently come into contact with the human world, trying to break through bottlenecks or maintain their own existence through various methods (such as absorbing essence, comprehending the world of mortals, and seeking opportunities). This provides the background for the growth of the protagonist and the occurrence of the story. Four major practice systems and realm divisions: Depending on the practitioner's identity, four main paths of practice have evolved, but ultimately they all point to the same end point. Path One: Humanity Practice (Focusing on People) Human beings have the most exquisite "soul" and are the best carrier for spiritual practice. - The first realm: induction (mortal realm) - Description: Initial induction of the "spiritual energy" between heaven and earth, which can strengthen the body, seek good fortune and avoid evil. For example, Wang Sheng, who learns the art of walking through walls in "Laoshan Taoist", is in this situation. - Ability: Basic breathing and breathing, immune to all diseases, mental strength far beyond ordinary people. - The second realm: foundation building (monk realm) - Description: Condensing the "spiritual essence" into the "sea of ​​qi" in the body, officially embarking on the path of spiritual practice. - Ability: Can control simple magic weapons and cast introductory spells (such as talismans, small-scale illusions). - The third realm: Golden elixir (real person realm) - Description: The sea of ​​qi condenses into a pill, the magic power is pure and strong, and the lifespan is greatly increased (up to hundreds of years). He is a real master. - Abilities: Fly with a sword, follow your words, open caves and build mountain gates. The Taoist priest in "Painted Skin" is a master of the golden elixir stage. - The fourth realm: Nascent Soul (Grandmaster realm) - Description: The golden elixir breaks into pieces and turns into the Yuanshen (Nascent Soul) in the form of a baby. It is a leap in the level of life, but the mind wanders into the void and is reborn. - Ability: A single thought can move mountains and fill seas, the soul can leave the body, and it is almost immortal. - The fifth realm: return to virtual reality (earth fairyland) - Description: The Nascent Soul is one with heaven and earth, returning to nature. Both the physical body and the soul can become part of the world and are no longer bound by the laws of the world. - Ability: Control the laws of heaven and earth, follow the rules of the land, establish a sect, and protect a party. - The Sixth Realm: Hedao (Heavenly Realm) - Description: Resonate with the laws of heaven and become part of the laws. This is the end point of spiritual practice, a legendary realm. - Ability: Create and destroy, reshape the world. Path Two: Demonic Cultivation (Animal and Plant Spirits) In spiritual practice, you must first transform your form and then cultivate your mind. - The first level: psychic - Description: Over a long period of time, vegetation, mountains, rocks, birds and animals have absorbed the essence of heaven and earth and opened up their spiritual wisdom. - Abilities: Able to understand human speech and have a weak ability to influence reality. - The second realm: Transformation - Description: Condensing the "demon pill" and converting the body's energy into "spiritual energy", which can transform into human form. This is the most important step for the demon clan. Such as Xiaoqian in "Nie Xiaoqian" and Yingning in "Ying Ning". - Ability: Possess a body and magical power comparable to that of a human monk, but his body is still a weakness. - The third realm: Condensation Pill - Description: The demon elixir is further solidified, the magic power is greatly increased, and the wisdom is no different from that of humans. - Abilities: Proficient in body-related talents and magical powers, with strong combat effectiveness. - The fourth realm: Refining God - Description: Start cultivating the soul and get rid of the absolute dependence on the physical body and demon pills. - Ability: Can travel with the soul and seize other things. - The fifth realm: becoming a god - Description: With the great achievement of Yuanshen, you can abandon your true body and turn into a pure energy life, which is equivalent to an Earth Immortal. - Ability: Reshape the physical body and live freely in the world. - The sixth realm: Demon Lord - Description: Become one with the way of heaven and become the incarnation of the laws of the demon world. Path Three: Ghost Path Cultivation (Attribute of the Dead Soul) Ghosts feed on yin energy, making the path of cultivation even more bizarre. - The first realm: Ghost - Description: After death, the soul remains, wandering between the yin and yang realms. - Ability: Influence people's emotions and create a small-scale cold environment. - The second realm: Fierce ghost - Description: Staying in the world due to obsession or resentment, swallowing the yin energy or life essence, becoming powerful. - Ability: Can affect the physical world, create illusions, and confuse people's minds. - The third realm: Ghost General - Description: Leader of a party of ghosts, with powerful domain and combat skills. - Ability: Command all ghosts to establish a ghost realm. - The fourth realm: Ghost King - Description: The master of the underworld, with profound magical power, equivalent to the powerful Jindan/Nascent Soul master in the world. - Ability: Can distort a space and form a country of its own. - The fifth realm: Ghost Emperor - Description: The supreme ruler of the underworld, recognized by Heaven, is in charge of part of the order of reincarnation. - Ability: Control the book of life and death, judge the souls of the dead. Path Four: Demonic Cultivation (Those who become obsessed with evil) Regardless of whether it is a human being, a demon, or a ghost, if one's mind is not correct when practicing, or one uses taboo methods in order to seek quick results, he will fall into the devil's path. - Features: The power grows extremely fast, but the foundation is unstable. The mind will be eroded by evil thoughts and eventually become a slave of power. - Realm: Demon Soldier -> Demon General -> Demon King -> Demon Lord -> Demon Lord.   Part 2: Setting of Parallel Time and Space (Dongtian Paradise/Small World) Your intuition is very correct. Using "parallel time and space" is the best way to deal with the strangely logical and self-contained stories in "Liao Zhai". We can call it **"Dongtian Paradise" or "Small World"**. 1. How is it produced? - The "folds" of the Law of Heaven: In the long evolution of the universe, the Law of Heaven is not perfectly smooth, and will produce some "folds" or "bubbles", and independent small spaces with slightly different rules will be formed inside these bubbles. - The legacy of the ancient powers: Some powerful people who have reached the realm of "integration" or "returning to the void" will use their great magic power to open up a small world as a place of inheritance, a place for collecting books or a retirement cave before ascending or incarnation. - The "brand" of extreme emotions: Some places carry too strong emotions (such as undying love, grief and indignation after the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed). These emotions will combine with the earth's spiritual energy to form an "emotional copy" that is far away from the real world. - The internal space of the heaven-reaching magic weapon: A wide space may also be opened up inside some powerful magic weapons (such as the universe bag, treasure mirror, and painting scroll). 2. Special setting of entry and exit thresholds (your core issue) In order to avoid chaos in time and space, strict access thresholds must be set: - Token key: You must have a "token" related to the cave to enter. For example: - "Painting Wall": The painting itself is the key. - "Abao": Sun Tzu Chu's infatuated obsession is the "key" to enter the illusory world of love. - Rakshasa Sea City: Breaking in may require a specific ship or at a specific tidal time. - Bloodline/Spiritual Resonance: Some cave heavens and paradises are left by ancient powers, and can only be opened by those who have their bloodline or spiritual power that resonates highly with them. - Tiandao coordinates: Some small worlds will move or hide over time. Only by mastering their "Tiandao coordinates" (a complex knowledge of astrology or formations) can they be located and entered. The protagonist can master these coordinates through learning or adventure. - Special nodes: Only at specific times (such as full moon nights, solar eclipses) or locations (such as cracks in time and space, the intersection of yin and yang), the entrances to certain caves and paradises will be briefly opened. 3. Differentiated design of the rules of heaven This is key to making every story unique. Each cave heaven paradise has its own unique "secondary heaven": - The world of "Painted Wall": The rules are dominated by "mind". Whatever you think about, something will happen. But "form is empty." Once the mind retreats or is interfered by the outside world, the world will collapse. - The world of "Rakshasa Sea City": The rules are based on "beauty and ugliness". The aesthetic here is completely opposite to the outside world. The uglier you are, the higher your status is. The strength system may also be linked to "appearance". - The world of "Xi Fangping": This is a "legal" world with extremely rigid and absolute rules. Everything operates according to "reason", favors and flexibility have no effect here. Xi Fangping's struggle is challenging the underlying code of this world. - The world of "Lu Pan": This is a world of "physical transformation". The heaven here allows rough "surgery" on the soul and body, including changing the heart and head. However, this kind of transformation is absolutely prohibited in the outside world. Once you leave this world, the transformation effect may fail or cause catastrophic consequences. 4. How to avoid conflict with the main space and time? - Energy isolation: There is a strong energy barrier between Dongtian Paradise and the main world, so it is difficult for internal forces to affect the outside. - "Anchor point" mechanism: Each Cave Heaven Paradise needs an "anchor point" in the main world (such as that painting, that mountain). If the anchor point is destroyed, the Cave Heaven Paradise will also collapse. - Difference in time flow rate: The internal time flow rate may be different from the outside world, "one day in the sky, thousands of years on the earth" or vice versa. This provides the protagonist with the opportunity to grow up quickly or experience vicissitudes of life.   Part Three: Main plot idea—how to connect all the stories We can create an original protagonist, such as a scholar who comes from a declining spiritual family. He not only wants to seek fame in the imperial examination, but also explores the secrets of the decline of the family and the depletion of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Protagonist setting: Ling Xuan (ziwei), a seemingly weak scholar, is actually possessed of the "Taixu Spirit Body" and is a unique spiritual wizard who can easily perceive and shuttle between various "cave heavens and blessed places". Main line: 1. Departure: On the way to take the exam, Ling Xuan accidentally obtained a family ancient artifact (such as a jade pendant that can reflect the "coordinates of heaven"), and accidentally broke into the first cave of paradise - "Painted Wall". In it, he experienced a demonic fantasy and realized for the first time the vastness and strangeness of the world. 2. Exploration and growth: Ling Xuan discovered that he had the talent to enter these "small worlds". He used this ability to participate in the imperial examinations in the human world and maintain his superficial identity; while exploring various caves and paradises, looking for opportunities and improving his strength. - In the world of "Nie Xiaoqian"**, he met the chivalrous Taoist Yan Chixia, learned the art of subduing demons and eliminating demons, helped Xiaoqian escape from the sea of ​​suffering, and understood the conflict between "love" and "Tao". - In the world of **"Laoshan Taoist"**, he learned from his masters and understood the principle of "the simplicity of the road, the sincerity of the heart", and abandoned the mentality of being too ambitious. - In **"Rakshasa Sea City"**, he saw a completely different civilization and rules, sharpened his mind, and learned the wisdom to survive in any environment. 3. The conspiracy emerges: During the exploration process, Ling Xuan discovered that many cave heavens were collapsing, and the spirits and laws inside were leaked, posing a huge threat to the human world. He gradually realized that this was no accident. There seemed to be a powerful force behind it that was plundering the original energy of each small world. 4. Revealing the truth: Ling Xuan finally discovered that the masterminds behind the scenes were a group of ancient monks who fell into the evil way. In order to extend their lives and break through the realm in the "End of Dharma Era", they launched an evil plan called "Swallowing the Heavens". By destroying the "anchor points" of each cave heaven and paradise, they extract the original spiritual energy inside them for their own use. And many of the tragedies in "Liao Zhai" are exactly the by-products of this plan**. 5. The final battle (dual time and space battle): - The first battlefield (human world): Demonic monks established a huge blood sacrifice formation in the human world, trying to use the entire Yang world as the final "big tonic". Ling Xuan fought fiercely with the righteous monks and monster allies here. - The Second Battlefield (Dongtian Paradise Network): Ling Xuan used his talent to enter the core of the "space-time network" composed of countless Dongtian Paradise. Here, he needs to face the leader of the demonic path and prevent them from completely tearing apart the fabric of time and space. This battle is not only a confrontation of strength, but also a duel of understanding and application of "rules". Ling Xuan may need to unite the "guardians" of various cave heaven paradises (such as Lu Pian, Xi Fangping's Obsession, etc.) To jointly fight against foreign enemies. 6. Ending: Ling Xuan successfully stopped the "Swallowing the Heavens" plan, but he also paid a huge price. Although the spiritual energy between heaven and earth could not immediately return to its peak, the declining trend of the "spiritual tide" was reversed, and the world began to slowly recover. Ling Xuan became the new "Guardian of Time and Space" and continued to travel between the human world and various small worlds, repairing the cracks in time and space, and guarding this hard-won peace.

I saw someone in the book review saying that this book was a double-labeled dog, so I searched for "Tiger", and sure enough, in Chapter 27, I saw that the protagonist defended the rapist on behalf of God, and also swore there that "I will go where the righteousness is." "Leave aside Huang Sanlang's faults, don't you, Tiger, have nothing wrong at all?" [Tilting head and laughing] The logic of the protagonist is either a holy mother or a double-standard dog.

The author will not write if the protagonist is not injured. Although life is not always smooth sailing, the protagonist must be injured, seriously injured. Just can't die

Ancient Muay Thai is like a dance

It's just a third-rate horror drama that insists on immortality. Really third-rate

To sum up, there are three points: Our Lady loves to meddle in others' affairs without distinguishing between right and wrong.

There are serious problems with the three outlooks

This book has a very problematic outlook on things. Although the protagonist is eager for justice and justice at the beginning, he is very unreasonable and has double standards and has no sense of right and wrong. ! I'm speechless. That man raped the daughter of a mountain god. The mountain god only wanted a man to get married. The protagonist actually insisted on saving the rapist regardless of right or wrong because he was entrusted by the rapist's parents. I'm speechless. The rapist's parents are human beings. Do the mountain gods and their daughters deserve to be treated like this? Still righteous? ? ? ? ?