Chapter 125: The End - Spring has arrived in Blind Mountain...
"Would killing you solve everything? Would the world stop collapsing? Would the cycle end? As long as Shen Chunrong is even slightly dissatisfied with this story, she will always delete and rewrite it," Shen Cangyu said, staring at Shen Qingyan. "You can't stop her."
Suddenly, a huge hole appeared in the distant sky, and blinding sunlight streamed down from it, enveloping the surrounding dark clouds and illuminating everything that was collapsing.
Huang Menglu looked at the light on the horizon, then looked down at the name tag on her waist. At the same time, her name tag vibrated, and she said, "Wenjing has found Tianmen. Let's go there now."
As they spoke, the fish-shaped cart emerged from beneath them, carrying them into the air and flying towards the light.
"You two had all conspired together all along?" Shen Qingyan realized.
“If we’ve lived so many lifetimes and haven’t made any progress, then all these years can be considered wasted,” Huang Menglu said. “Everything we do is just following the script of the story, just to see when it will end.”
As they were speaking, a new hole suddenly appeared in the sky. The gravel underfoot brushed past the fish cart and flew upwards. A suction force came from above, stirring up the clouds beside the fish cart.
"We need to speed up." After Huang Menglu finished speaking, the large fish beneath him extended outwards, transforming into a large bird. The bird let out a cry, broke free from the suction force, and sped away into the distance.
A gust of wind swept past, carrying Huang Menglu's voice: "Let me teach you one last lesson while we still have a little time left. A person may be a cicada, a dove, or a roc. Who knows if you don't try? Never limit yourself in advance. If you think you are a cicada, you will never be able to fly the distance of a roc. The essence of 'Free and Easy Wandering' is boundless. I hope that one day you will be able to see it clearly."
There is no "what a person should be like", nor is there any good or bad; all the settings and evaluations are given to people by themselves.
The same applies to works of art; there is no inevitable ending.
The roc crashed into the halo of light and began to fall. Shen Qingyan grabbed a feather from the roc's body. In the swirling air, he heard a voice beside him: "That's right, Shen Chunrong, when will you understand?"
Shen Cangyu soared into the air, followed by Feng Xu who gracefully descended on the wind, flying towards Pei Wenjing's direction: "I brought the Spirit Pearl with me."
She landed on the ground, stepping into the snow, and felt that the snow under her feet was much thinner. Perhaps it was because the light from Tianmen was too bright. The wind and snow around her had also stopped, and the snow under her feet began to melt. The blind mountain, which was covered by ice and snow all year round, had changed its appearance for the first time, and gradually revealed a bit of the appearance of spring.
She raised her hand, and the spirit pearl in her hand flew out, hovering in the air. Under the light, the spirit pearl emitted a dazzling light and began to grow larger and larger, like a balloon being filled and filled... The spirit pearl exploded, and one after another, colorful characters flew out from it and spread in all directions.
The flying words continued to spread and converge, eventually forming a half-open door. The scene inside was unclear, but it seemed to possess a captivating magic.
Shen Qingyan looked at the door and realized that as long as he passed through this door, he could leave this world and go to another world, which might be reality.
This is probably similar to the concept of "becoming an immortal" in people's minds.
Killing a villain can complete the ending; becoming an immortal can probably also complete the ending.
Shen Qingyan finally understood Shen Cangyu's plan; it turned out she wanted to complete the story in this way. He looked up at the collapsing world around him, watching fragments being swept into the hole in the sky. As long as Shen Cangyu passed through this heavenly gate, the world's collapse would stop, and the story would come to an end.
Similarly, after the story ends, the characters in the story will also disappear along with the story.
After all, in a novel, the protagonist is the core of this world.
"Hurry up and leave, what are you waiting for?" Master Huang said, looking at the shrinking world around him. "If we don't leave now, it will be too late."
"Is there still some unfulfilled wish of yours?" Elder Hongyu raised her hand, the red thread twirling in her palm. "Wait a minute, wasn't this red thread reconnected? Do you perhaps want to cut it?"
"Everyone isn't here yet," Shen Cangyu said.
Just then, a fish cart fell from the sky, and Lu Qianhe landed on the ground with Elder Qingxiao: "Sorry we're late."
"I thought you had disappeared," Huang Menglu said sarcastically.
Elder Qingxiao said with a bitter smile, "There's nothing I can do. I've been waiting for so long and no one has called me out. I guess the author forgot about me. Now that it's the ending, they finally realized someone was missing and quickly pulled me out to make an appearance."
"You might as well just disappear; no readers will remember you anyway."
Elder Qingxiao chuckled and said, "That won't do. Even if I don't appear in the story, I still exist."
Looking at everything before him and listening to their words, Shen Qingyan felt a surge of absurdity. Everything seemed so unreal. So everyone knew this world was just a fictional world? Had they all been playing roles all along? When did they find out the truth? Why didn't he know? Was he the only one kept in the dark?
“Shen Qingyan,” Shen Cangyu suddenly spoke.
He looked at Shen Cangyu and heard her walking towards him step by step: "Do you know why Shen Chunrong has been asking me to kill you?"
He looked down and saw the Kunlun Sword in her hand, and felt a sense of bewilderment.
Didn't Shen Cangyu just say he wouldn't kill him? Why is he picking up his sword again now, looking like he's about to attack him?
Shen Cangyu raised her hand and grabbed his neck: "Because I am the image that Shen Chunrong most wanted to become, and you are the image that is most authentic to her. She inherited all her shortcomings into you, and wanted to use my hand to cut off all her shortcomings."
As she spoke, Li Jianbai's mental technique rose from Shen Cangyu's hand, and a figure was forcibly pulled out of Shen Qingyan's body.
The creator of the world revealed her true form, and Shen Cangyu looked at her and smiled, "We've finally met, Shen Chunrong."
"I didn't kill Shen Qingyan because I wanted you to know that there is no good or bad in this world, no advantages or disadvantages. Whatever you are like, that's who you are. You should accept all of this instead of cutting off what you don't want."
She's just talking; she's heard these principles hundreds of times already, and she really thinks doing them is as simple as saying them.
Shen Chunrong glared at her and said, "Why did you drag me out like this? Do you mean to kill me? If I die, this world will disappear too. Let me tell you, I'm not satisfied with this plot right now. You'd better wait for me to come back, and I'll definitely change it..."
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Cangyu patted her head, interrupting her: "You said the Spirit Pearl is very important. In your opinion, what is a Spirit Pearl?"
Shen Chunrong was stunned for a moment.
Is it an ideal?
Shen Cangyu ruffled her hair and said, "The Spirit Pearl is the Queen Mother of the West's elixir. After consuming it, one can ascend to immortality. For you, the Spirit Pearl is the same; it's something that can help you ascend."
The surrounding world is still collapsing and shrinking, leaving only the remaining map of Blind Mountain.
"Chen Cangyu, it's time to go, or this world will disappear," Elder Hongyu said.
“It is indeed time to go,” Shen Cangyu said with a smile, “However, it should be you who should leave, Shen Chunrong.”
"Huh?" Before Shen Chunrong could react, he saw his body being lifted into the air and crashing towards the Heavenly Gate.
"No!" Upon seeing this, the people around instinctively rushed over to stop the person.
Why did you throw her in there?
"What happens to this world if the author enters it?"
"We're doomed, the world is really going to end now."
Huang Menglu slowly said, "Forget it, let's just consider it a dream."
Shen Chunrong's body disappeared at the other end of the Heavenly Gate, but the collapse around him stopped at that moment. Then, the fragments that had flown into the sky began to fall, and the world began to recover.
Master Huang's eyes widened: "So this is the final solution? No wonder we haven't been able to break the loop."
Shen Cangyu turned around and looked at Pei Wenjing, catching a trace of lingering sadness in his eyes, and smiled, "What's wrong? Did you think I was going to leave?"
“You shouldn’t have stayed. Haven’t you always wanted to go home? Now you’ve lost your chance to go home…”
“Who said my home is over there?” Shen Cangyu interrupted him. “I’m a native of this place.”
Pei Wenjing realized there was an information gap between them: "Didn't you always say you wanted to go home?"
“Yes, I used to think I was a time traveler,” Shen Cangyu stroked his chin. “In my first life, when I was about to ascend to immortality, I realized that there was nothing after ascension. There was no reality and no other world. At that time, I knew that I was not a time traveler, but a local. Since there is no other world, then I will not become an immortal.”
"So what's going on now? Why did the author disappear, but this world didn't? Wasn't this world created by the author? Her connection to this world is broken, so logically, this world should have disappeared." Master Huang was completely baffled.
She looked at Pei Wenjing and said, "Now, we are free."
Pei Wenjing hugged her tightly, and as she looked up at the trees in the distance, she said, "Spring has arrived in Blind Mountain too."
【end】
Shen Chunrong suddenly opened her eyes. She stared at the word "The End" on the screen and couldn't come to her senses for a long time.
Is it really over? It felt like she had a dream, and when she woke up, the ending was already on the screen. She couldn't even remember what she had written.
She was jolted awake by the vibration of her phone on the table and looked at the message on it.
"I learned a lot of sales techniques online today. Do you still need me to act out the comments section for you? This time, I guarantee I can provide you with the most immersive reader feedback!"
(Poke)
Shen Chunrong looked at the text on the screen and thought, "Should I change it?"
Her hand rested on the delete key, but she hesitated to press it. Her fingers were icy cold. After a while, she clenched her fist.
Let's not change it.
Shen Chunrong looked at the message on her phone screen and typed a sentence: "No need, I've already finished it."
"!!! You're finished! You're finally finished!" My friend spammed emojis on the screen to express his excitement.
Yes, after ten years of writing, Shen Chunrong has finally made it to the end. During these ten years, she deleted and revised, revised and deleted again, not daring to post it online for readers to see, only daring to let her friends read her writing and let her friends act as her readers to give her feedback.
"This time, you'll send it out, right?"
"Yes," Shen Chunrong said.
"Let me see your latest story!" my friend said, then quickly added, "No, just post it on the platform. I want to follow it; let me be your first reader! @a@"
"No problem, I'll upload it now."
Shen Chunrong couldn't help but laugh. She exhaled, as if releasing all the pent-up energy of the past ten years. She hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time.
At first, she just wanted to write a simple story, but as she wrote, she felt something was wrong. Something was wrong here, something was wrong there, nothing was right.
She dared not share the story.
How can you show a work to readers when you yourself are not satisfied with it? She could only revise it again and again, only daring to let her friends see it, letting them act as readers to give her feedback and understand where she could improve...
What kind of ending is the best ending?
Can a person's life reach a point of complete fulfillment and perfection?
Looking at the words on the screen, she thought of Shen Cangyu's eyes again, and suddenly felt that nothing mattered anymore. Even if the ending wasn't perfect, it was enough as it was. At least they could live a better life in another world. She didn't need to continue dwelling on their world; it was time to return to the human world.
She still has her own life.
Shen Chunrong shifted her gaze from the screen to the distance behind her. Snowflakes drifted in through the open window, and she couldn't help but look. In a flash, it was as if her gaze passed through the skyscrapers and she saw Kunlun Mountain faintly visible on the horizon, shimmering with golden light.
She turned around, and suddenly had a whim, typed in the chat box: "Hong, do you think the world we live in might also be a world created by someone else?"
My friend replied, "Maybe, who knows?"
end.
A note from the author:
Initially, I planned to use a meta-narrative approach, incorporating commentary into the work to increase interactivity and guide the plot. After trying it for a while, I realized this method wasn't for me. It's more suited to authors with a very good mindset, but me? A couple more glances and I'd be dead on the spot. I had to resort to imagination. Looking back at the comments now, thankfully the direction they were heading still aligns. So, it's a barely acceptable ending.
Why Kunlun?
Kunlun has always been associated with ascension to immortality and eternal life, making it a perfect symbol for cultivation novels. Teacher Erdong once asked me, "What do you think a creator's role is in the world they create?"
I said, it's Chang'e.
Classical texts such as *Gui Mei* and *Zhou Yi* record that on the first and second moons of the lunar calendar, Chang'e ascended to Kunlun Mountain to consume the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and fled to the moon to bring it back to life. This imagery of rebirth is remarkably similar to the imagery that creators constantly revise and recreate in their works. Furthermore, the toad that Chang'e transformed into after flying to the moon also symbolizes longevity and reproduction; the creation of a work is a form of reproduction. Human life is finite, but words can endure for millennia.
Therefore, I say that the creator is Chang'e, and every world she creates has the same moon. As long as the moon is still in the sky, all the worlds she creates will continue in different parallel universes.
What is this story about? A thousand people will have a thousand different interpretations; it can have any ending from any perspective. Chunrong's initial intention was to follow Siddhartha's path to explore the story between the characters and the creator. She felt that the road ahead was shrouded in mist and hoped that the characters she created could come to life and guide her forward. Shen Cangyu was her savior, the one who broke through the fog. Of course, this is my personal interpretation.
I encountered many difficulties while writing this story. Too many thoughts and viewpoints were mixed together, making it feel like a battle between my left and right brains (all because of Chunrong). It was only at this time that I realized...
Okay, now I'm going to write a very, very long "acknowledgments" section. It's quite long, a total of 5,000 words. I don't like to break it into paragraphs, so proceed with caution.
I am far luckier than Chunrong. I have so many friends around me—yes, I have so many friends, and each and every one of them is crucial to my life. I am deeply grateful for everything I have today. Without them, without you all, I wouldn't be who I am today. Thank you Linlang, Da Baobao, and Bingzi; the three of them are my best friends from Weixuanyou (Weixuanyou is forever a god). It's a pity I've never had the chance to be on the same list as Linlang. This was agreed upon from the beginning, but we always missed each other due to unforeseen circumstances. I came to Fantasy, Linlang was on Weixuanyou, and when I returned to Weixuanyou, Linlang was just preparing to come to Fantasy. Da Baobao, hurry up and finish your story after your exams! You're such a bad guy who updates 6,000 words a day, but 5,000 of them are major revisions of old stories. Completion is more important than perfection! Bingzi, every time I read Bingzi's story, I think, "Sigh, why this year? If it were a few years earlier, maybe Bingzi would have become famous." Li Yuyue's old novel has also finished. She wrote a million words, which is truly amazing. I can't imagine how she managed to update a million words a day with such incredible perseverance. When will Wei Miao finish writing "Young Masters Beg Me to Attend a Noble Academy"? I'm begging you on my knees. Also, I'm very grateful to Teacher Erduo. When I came to sign the contract, Teacher Erduo was the one who guided me and pointed out the shortcomings in my writing. Who would have thought that it would take me five years to get approved? A few months ago, Teacher Erduo even gave me a calligraphy lamp with the words "Be upright, be high-spirited, walk the flower path" written on it. It's still on my desk. When I move next time, I'll send all my other luggage, but I will definitely keep this lamp in my backpack with my computer. I also want to thank my mentor who doesn't write and her friends who do. They've watched me grow from the embryonic stage to today. They even wrote Cangyu and Wenjing calligraphy for me, which brought tears to my eyes. Without your guidance, my starting point might have been even lower. I think kind people like you deserve both happiness and longevity. I also want to thank my friends, both those who write and those who don't. I promised to treat everyone to the sizzling clay pot restaurant next door when I make some money. I don't have any money yet, but I'll work harder in the future!
I'm far luckier than Chunrong, but Chunrong's story is the one I most want to write right now. In March, I officially became an author on Jinjiang Literature City and started writing. The people I come into contact with are struggling at the bottom of Jinjiang, just like me. I see many of my contemporaries either stop updating or, even if they finish, never get the chance to be published on VIP, like Yingfu, Rongchunji, Boliluoqi, Taohuayao, and Womuji (sorry Muji, I just realized our character has the same name, it's purely coincidental)... Some of them have brilliant innovations, some are good at writing battle scenes, some are good at weaving plots, and some still persist in updating daily until completion even without readers. In the end, some people's hearts broke and they stopped updating, while others persevered until they finished and went to VIP, but their next work repeated the fate of the previous one. There are too many creators like them. Ten years of honing a sword might result in a single work that shines throughout the Tang Dynasty, but more often than not, ten years of honing a sword goes unnoticed. Many times I also regret that those stories are still being painstakingly crafted, never to be published, and those explosive, ingenious stories never get to be seen. It's truly a pity.
This is the best of times, and the worst of times; the best for others, the worst for creators at the bottom. I have no power to change anything; history has always been a collective perspective, not an individual one. So I thought I'd write something down, about what I've learned and thought during this period, for whoever sees it, reader or author alike.
I've left the dumpling vinegar here. I hope all creators who read this far can believe that you are truly excellent, just lacking a bit of luck. Don't be afraid of imperfection. Look, this piece of mine isn't very well written either. When I look back, I see many shortcomings. If I were writing it now, it could be much better. But for me at that time, this was the limit of what I could do at that stage. Being able to see our shortcomings means we've made progress; we're all on the path to improvement. Imperfection is precisely proof of progress; it's a good thing, so don't be afraid of it. I know this is all the same old stuff, and everyone's tired of hearing it, but truly believing 100% in yourself is really difficult. I'm still trying to learn to give myself more love every day. I also hope that readers who have read this far can be patient with creators. Like this piece, you'll never know what kind of story it is until the very end. Don't deny its entirety as soon as it appears. Of course, in this era, the "outcome" may no longer be important to many people, so I have scattered the different meanings of the article in every corner of the process. No matter when you give up on it, I hope that you can gain some insight, even if it is just a little bit.
I've learned to accept my shortcomings. During the writing process, I doubted myself countless times, but persevered thanks to the encouragement of my friends. I never imagined this book would become so popular so early. After all, I initially came with the intention of a completed VIP chapter, like my previous book, updating slowly until the end. I never thought I'd have a VIP chapter all at once. But I also understand that this damn chaotic plot isn't suitable for following a serialized story; it shouldn't have appeared at that time, and it shouldn't have been shown to others so early. I'm sorry that after attracting everyone with super cool promotional language, I ended up leaving everyone with a dry, unpleasant experience.
There's no fancy food here at all.
I'm not good at writing fantasy novels, that's the honest truth. Whenever I write about cultivation, I can't help but delve into philosophy. I say, isn't the essence of cultivation just cultivating the mind, body, and qi? What's the difference? Writing fantasy novels is just too difficult; "cultivation" itself is simple. In the past, I didn't believe I couldn't write fantasy novels, but now I think I should believe it, since everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I've considered writing more traditional, formulaic, and simpler fantasy novels, but my brain has its own ideas. It says, "You have to write it this way. What you most want to express right now is this theme and this story. If you don't write it now, we won't have a future."
Yes, once I get past this stage of my mindset, I'll never be able to write like this again. I know its storytelling is terrible, and I know it's definitely not the kind of story people want to read. I've thought many times, maybe I should just give up, give up, give up... give up, let me just write this one last time. After this book is finished, I probably won't touch fantasy novels again in my life.
It's stuck in December 2025; I can't go back.
Many people have said that I messed up the writing. But what kind of plot constitutes a mess? What kind of plot "should" be like? That's good, this book happens to discuss these very questions. Just like Chunrong revised the text a hundred times, leading to a hundred different endings, what kind of ending is considered "right"? There's no standard template, no "should have been," no "I think this is better"... Oh well, let it be as it is. It's the best it is now, and any changes would make it no longer be itself.
Thank you all for reading this far. My purpose has been achieved thanks to your help. I usually have a good memory, and I remember most of your names and what you said. Thank you to all my friends who have supported me along the way. I am extremely grateful and don't know how to repay you. I hope this story has satisfied you. Finally, I wish you all a bright future and all your wishes come true.
Chunrong is a preachy person; by definition, yes, she likes to share many interesting viewpoints she's encountered. After all, in her eyes, Shen Cangyu is Siddhartha. More than telling a story, this piece is more like Chunrong's introspective inquiry and self-analysis. Therefore, this piece is obscure, convoluted, and chaotic, because it reflects her process of finding herself amidst the chaos. I wish Chunrong all the best in her future endeavors and that she writes many more satisfying works. In the process of creating this piece, I gained many insights. At least I am braver than before. Before, any negative comments would shatter me, but now I understand that everyone has their own thoughts. Our differing opinions are simply a matter of those who disagree with us not being able to integrate. And at any moment in the future, I will become a kindred spirit to different people.
In this piece, I need to recreate Chunrong's tone and write in her style. Of course, the next book won't be like this; this style is for the limited edition of *Up to Kunlun*. Each of my books has a different style. I'm a versatile storyteller, or rather, a professional director. I control things like camera work, set design, and lighting to ensure each piece presents a form that fits its theme. So, you might like one of my stories, but not all of them, because each one is different.
Red tide is a mass of algae that appears irregular and shapeless to the naked eye. It resembles the algae found in rivers, lakes, and seas. If you randomly pick up a clump of algae from the water and gently squeeze it, it will disintegrate. However, once it falls back into the water, it can continue to spread and thrive endlessly.
I enjoy trying different themes, using different writing styles, and expressing different central themes. I'm also good at "backstabbing" myself. For example, this book of mine says, "There is no good or bad in this world, there are no villains, everyone just has different positions, no one is purely evil." But "I Love to Slay Demons in My Dreams" is a typical Japanese fantasy novel with a hero-versus-evil template. It actually has a brainless supervillain in it, you didn't expect that, did you?
However, it will probably be several years before I finish writing "Demon Slayer." My next novel is "The Dichotomy," and the one after that is "Night Journey to Little Western Paradise." These two will take a long time to write. In the meantime, I also need to finish "First-Person Perspective Romance Observation Notes" and start two short story series: one is a simulation game-themed, un-suspenseful story called "Spice, Wine, and Dungeons," and the other is an adult fairy tale with no romantic pairing called "Useless Adult" (because I've been quite engrossed in fairy tales lately). The short stories are for practice, to get a feel for the genre. I don't have the courage to start a novel right away, since the dichotomy approach is very important to me.
I'm someone who loves making plans, always wanting to organize everything and keep things under my control. But these plans have also confined my life and my writing. I think perhaps I should try a change, a different writing style. My hobby is to slowly weave something like a spider web, starting with the outer edges and working towards the center. The downside is that the foreshadowing I plant has to be revealed at a specific point in time. Usually, by the time that foreshadowing is revealed, the plot has already progressed by 100,000 words, but revealing it prematurely is more painful than killing me. So for my next book, I want to try not to plant foreshadowing, not to set out outlines, chapter outlines, or structure outlines. I want to write whatever comes to mind, letting the characters grow wildly.
It sounds pretty scary, but as you know from following the serialization, I'm someone who can update daily even without a stockpile of drafts, and I have a bad habit of timing my writing perfectly—not a minute early or late is acceptable. That's why I set the update time to 11 PM. What if I don't have an outline for the next book? Anyway, the next story won't be any harder to write than this one (it's all your fault, Shen Chunrong).
So, Chen Wangshu, the next book is all up to you. Good luck!
Since you've read this far, I'll just briefly mention a few important elements of the "Dichotomy" framework:
The existence of human-animal embryos is intended to provide humans with more transplantable organs, and the law does not recognize the legitimate legal status of hybrid human-animal individuals.
They wanted to breed pigs with human internal organs, but they ended up breeding people with pig-like characteristics.
They are monsters, they are trash, and the moment they were created, they were forced to be thrown into the animal realm along with those humans with inferior genes.
The brand-new piece of trash landed with a thud. When Chen Wangshu opened his eyes again, he saw the furnace sun of Bliss City.
The beasts of Paradise City gazed up at the sun like pilgrims, but Chen Wangshu knew that it was just a fireball produced by burning garbage, not the sun.
"Shhh."
Grandpa said, "Put on your mechanical ears, hide your tail, and don't get into conflicts with any of the beasts. If you don't want to die, you'd better learn to be a cat."
Unfortunately, Chen Wangshu was not a cat; she was a human being—a cunning, intelligent, and adept at disguise.
Holding a gun assembled from scrap metal, she emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of fire, until Zhu Rong's beast handed her a reagent.
"Join us, and we can help you achieve genetic evolution."
The dichotomy genre is my comfort zone; science fiction, human relationships, environment, and games are all areas I'm good at, and I think I can write about them well. I really like the punk theme—cyber, steam, bio, silk—but I know it's too niche. But I love punk, I love rock music, I love blasting the stereo in my beat-up Jeep and crashing into the darkness… Punk is the most inclusive, rebellious, and vibrant genre I know, and I love it, but it's niche in every sense. The artist's sentiment and the rebel's cry merge to create punk aesthetics. Jinjiang doesn't seem to have many biopunk works, so let me write one first.
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