YM778.TV Chapter 92: Rescuing the Boat Craftsman
Another point that worried Zhen Jin was that Zong Ge had excellent equipment. He had high quality steel armor and a pair of war spears. He had never used his war spears in public, perhaps because Zong Ge found the crises he encountered unworthy of their usage.
Intuition told Zhen Jin that Zong Ge’s battle spears were beyond ordinary, they even might be of a higher rank than his steel armor.
In comparison, Zhen Jin only had a rapier that belonged to Hei Juan.
“Regardless of that, we first need to go search for Xi Suo and the others and make sure they return safely.” Zhen Jin tidied up his mood and immediately resolved.
Xi Suo was the third mate, and the old fourth boat craftsman was proficient at shipbuilding, these were key people of talent. They were important in leaving this island.
“Lan Zao, Hei Juan, you two are coming with me.” Zhen Jin looked at the two of them.
Although he wanted to move alone, after some consideration, Zhen Jin knew he needed more manpower to search for Xi Suo and the others in the forest.
It was too inefficient for him to search alone.
Regardless of whether it was Lan Zao or Hei Juan both had bronze level strength.
“Let us proceed.” Zhen Jin then gave Hei Juan back his rapier. He was a templar knight and he would never covet another’s equipment.
“It’s a good sword.” Zhen Jin praised Hei Juan.
Hei Juan took the sword and was just about to speak.
“My Lord.” Zi Di suddenly spoke with a worried heart, “If Zong Ge was the culprit controlling the beast group and saw your Lordship Zhen Jin interfering, he abandoned the attack on the camp. However, since he already knows your Lordship is heroic and valiant, will he be watching you when you enter the forest? Is this a scheme from Zong Ge’s force to lure you out?”
“That is possible.” Zhen Jin pursed his brows, “So, what do you think?”
Zi Di: “I want to move with your Lordship. I will use all of my strength to help your Lordship, don’t worry I have medicine to protect myself and I will do my best to not be a burden on your Lordship.”
Zhen Jin immediately hesitated.
Zi Di turned around and said to Hei Juan: “Hei Juan, I know your sword is not ordinary, I ask that you temporarily give it to Lord Zhen Jin so he can use it.”
Hei Juan stared blankly, and his complexion changed slightly: “But this sword is my family heirloom.”
Hei Juan expressed his refusal.
He was only Zi Di’s hired mercenary, not Zi Di’s nor Zhen Jin’s underling.
Zhen Jin faintly laughed: “Zi Di, it is unnecessary to make things difficult for him.”
Zhen Jin could transform into a silver level spear scorpion and a spear scorpion tail could threaten steel armor.
“My Lord, that won’t do!” But Zi Di insisted, “Based on our recent analysis, Zong Ge is a strong opponent. He also has top notch armor made of high quality steel and impressive war spears. Your Lordship only has ordinary weapons, if you and Zong Ge fight, there would be little difference from simply coming unarmed.”
Zhen Jin stared blankly and then bitterly laughed. He understood that Zi Di’s words had a lot of thought behind them, she was “bullying” Zhen Jin’s knightly creed of pitying the weak and protecting his comrades.
But at the same time, Zhen Jin had no choice but concede that Zi Di’s words were reasonable,
His strength and confidence came from his transformations.
But if he fought in front of everyone, he could not recklessly use the core. Especially now with various eyes around, unlike the small team of five, Zhen Jin could not be reckless now.
“My Lord!” This time, Hei Juan offered the rapier of his own accord, “This ignoramuses’ scope was too narrow. This sword can display its true worth in your Lordship’s hand. The name of my family heirloom sword is Silver Lightning. It is bound to blossom brightly and brilliantly in your Lordship’s hand.
Zi Di smiled: “Hei Juan, for this employment, I will pay you double.”
Hei Juan immediately smiled.
“That’s good. I will treat this sword well and do my best to return it to you intact.” Seeing Hei Juan’s attitude, Zhen Jin calmly received the sword.
He scrupulously abided by the templar knight’s creed, but he was not inflexible.
Since it was for his sake, for the sake of others, and to keep the heart core a secret, it was only natural that borrowing the rapier now was not a problem.
Previously when he had used and observed the rapier, he found that it really was a good sword.
Hei Juan did not exaggerate when he said it was his family heirloom.
As far as soldiers and knights were concerned, armor and weapons were expensive and something to pass onto future generations. Because equipment was expensive, many nobles that enlisted knights would only pay for their provisions and not their weapons and horses because it was too financially difficult.
Of course, weapons also had ranks. There were many factors in evaluating whether a weapon was outstanding or shoddy.
The most important element among them was how well the weapon conducted battle qi.
Zhen Jin did not know how well Silver Lightning conducted battle, however it already had outstanding hardness, sharpness, and toughness.
After a brief negotiation, Zhen Jin Zi Di, Hei Juan, and Lan Zao set off.
He could not take everyone.
The many seriously injured people stayed in camp to recuperate.
Cang Xu, Mu Ban, Fei She, and the others had no battle strength. On the battlefield, they would be a burden to Zhen Jin.
Mu Ban’s team wanted to join, however Zhen Jin refused them. Zhen Jin was still carrying his rapid fire crossbow, such a thing in Mu Ban’s hands would endanger his comrades.
If a portion of Zong Ge’s force attacked the camp, Mu Ban would shoot a signal flare, Zhen Jin would then turn back and rapidly reinforce them.
It was impossible for Zhen Jin to give up saving the boat craftsman and the others because he had misgivings about some conspiracy.
As for the flare gun, not only did the camp have one, Xi Suo also carried one too.
Xi Suo and the others were cutting wood in a place that was two kilometers to the southeast.
Just as Zhen Jin and the others were halfway there, they heard a gun fire and a pink flare rise into the air.
“That is a signal for help! They really are in danger. Run!” Zi Di cried.
“Not necessarily. Let’s play it safe. We can’t be sure this is an enemy deliberately baiting us to entice us to speed up and reduce our guard against our surroundings.” Hei Juan said.
“You guys maintain your pace; I will examine the situation first.” After saying this, Zhen Jin immediately sped up.
Although Hei Juan was reasonable, keeping the boat craftsman alive was crucial, without him it was unlikely the others could construct a large ship that could cross the ocean.
It was possible this was a trap set by Zong Ge but was just as likely it was the others.
The faster Zhen Jin went, the more likely the boat craftsman’s life would be saved.
The young knight’s pace increased as he ran through the forest.
He then activated the heart core and quietly transformed his right eye to give himself thermal vision.
By doing this, even if Zong Ge and the others were lying in ambush, Zhen Jin could find them in time.
Zhen Jin quickly heard the distinctive screech of bat monkeys.
He sped up again and wildly rushed through the forest until he arrived at a hillside.
The hill was not steep and on the top, there were many people surrounded by bat monkeys.
It was clear these were the same bat monkeys that had attacked the camp, among the group there were seven bronze level bat monkeys, and one iron level bat monkey.
The bat monkeys constantly attacked and nearly everyone was injured, all of them were in imminent danger.
Zhen Jin did not stop, as he charged up the hill, he shot the rapid fire crossbow.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh……
The arrows flew with incomparable accuracy.
Ordinary bat monkeys that were shot fell like penguins diving into the sea as they dropped to the ground in a lingering bang.
“Someone has come to save us! Everyone cheered.
The bat monkeys were enraged, and several bronze level bat monkeys threw themselves at Zhen Jin.
Zhen Jin stopped shooting the crossbow and pulled out Silver Lightning.
The distance between him and the bronze level monkeys closed.
In an instant, Zhen Jin’s rapier suddenly threw a bright silver light!
Soon after, he and the bat monkeys intertwined.
The bronze level bat monkeys seemed to break in the air, they then fell to the ground as their life aura rapidly dissipated.
Zhen Jin displayed his battle strength and for a moment, the sailors became somewhat absentminded.
The sole iron level bat monkey was provoked, it flapped its wings, puffed up his chest, and suddenly screeched.
Its screeching rippled the air and the sound waves rapidly approached Zhen Jin.
Zhen Jin already knew about this special sound wave attack, in an instant, he transformed his arm into a bear’s and threw a dart.
The dart hit the iron level bat monkey and pierced its left wing.
The iron level bat monkey was alarmed, with few bat monkeys left, it turned around to fly away.
Zhen Jin did not pursue, rather he hurried over to the hillside to see the sailors’ leader.
Their leader was a youngster with a tall and thin stature.
“Are you Xi Suo?” Zhen Jin attentively asked.
The youngster promptly nodded: “Who are you, your Lordship?”
“Where is the boat craftsman Lao Si?” Zhen Jin asked as he swept his eyes in a circle.
Xi Suo promptly pointed in a direction: “When we were attacked by the monkeys, the idiot was furious and rushed out. The old boat craftsman was worried about the idiot’s safety and ran after him.”
Zhen Jin bit his teeth, followed Xi Suo’s direction, and rushed off again.
There were clear traces showing the path and Zhen Jin quickly found his objective, another hill.
A small three meter giant was crazily waving a wooden log around.
This small giant appeared to be young, had an exposed upper body, wore a yellow leather skirt that covered his lower body, and had enormous straw sandals on his feet.
He had disheveled hair, was constantly shouting, and occasionally spat saliva all over the place.
“Die, you houseflies will die!”
“This big guy will smash you all!”
The small giant repeatedly roared, the heavy wooden log he had could easily pulverize boulders, smash trees, and would create small holes in the ground while splashing soil everywhere.
There were a few individuals around the giant shouting at him to calm down.
But the giant was completely infuriated by the bat monkeys and would not listen.
“The old boat craftsman is here!” Zhen Jin’s pupils enlarged when he saw an old man between the small giant’s legs.
Notes
“Hey did that guy have a red eye? Shut up he saved our asses.” Zhen Jin should have aimed for the head cause that bat monkey is guaranteed to cause problems later, although to be fair, said dart would have likely bounced off because of the sound waves. Remember, if no one sees it, Zhen Jin probably transformed back before he got close even if the author forgot to say it. It’s like how Zhen Jin’s clothes never blew away into the wind when he was out indulging his scaly tendencies.
The following author\'s note was published between chapter 92 and 93.
How I feel about my work: This is a challenge
The new book
Infinite Bloodcore
is now available, and it has already been 6 years since
Reverend Insanity
released.
Time is like a knife that carves the faces and hearts of every person.
6 years ago, when I started writing
Reverend Insanity
, I was unmarried. 6 years later, I have a family and a son in kindergarten.
My time writing
Reverend Insanity
gave me ample writing experience as well as many important enlightenment.
During those 6 years, I read and found many outstanding books. I am thankful to my fellow writers, during those 6 years, online literary masterpieces could be found everywhere, and they were my spiritual food.
Besides online writing, I also read the classics. I sleeplessly read
The Moon and the Sixpence
, wept tragically over
The Little Prince
, and repeatedly read and sighed over
The Red and the Black
. I also read professional composition textbooks like
What is Writing
,
Narratology
,
A Guide on How to Create a Movie
, amongst others.
I created a system to privately assess myself to these quality stories. I call it the Three Standards, it covers both webnovels and traditional literature.
I also began to have a new understanding of how beautiful novels were.
6 years ago, before I started writing
Reverend Insanity
, I followed the three golden rules. They were fast updates, conflict, belief, etc. After 6 years, I feel that a writer should have more room to write comfortably.
Reverend Insanity
being banned was an important trial for me. Because when I wrote my book, regardless of how it performed, I was never a eunuch. I do my best to finish every book because I love writing itself and I treat every book as my own child. I never want to see any of my children die prematurely.
Of all my books, I felt differently about
Reverend Insanity
because it was my old dream.
It is still banned and forced to be a eunuch.
This made me feel severe pain. When it happened, I felt isolated from the world, I felt I was alone in a boundless darkness, and I felt I was constantly falling down a boundless cliff.
During that time, I experienced the greatest tribulation of my writing career.
This experience forced me to question my own heart. It made me see things from a new angle, it made me examine the relationship between me and my readers, the relationship between me and my writing platform, and the relationship between me and my country’s society.
I began to face up to my influence, I began to reflect over how families and society should assume responsibility. I also began to mull over the relationship between webnovels and traditional literature.
Over the past 6 years, I gradually began to feel that the art of literature contains webnovels. Webnovels contain value, not simply business value, but proper literary value. Just like how good movies are not necessarily big sellers and how box office sellers are not necessarily good movies.
Compared to the updating digital works that are flourishing, I wished even more that I could create a book that could resist the erosion of time.
Under this reflection, I decided to write
Infinite Bloodcore
To tell you the truth, this is a difficult challenge.
I will try to take the best of how outstanding movies or stage productions structure themselves and merge them to create a fine and integrated webnovel that conforms completely with itself.
I will try to merge the strong parts of traditional literature into a webnovel. For example, the unearthing of human nature and reflecting about the world.
I will try to meticulously describe my written characters, portray the landscape, and detail the changes in how the characters feel.
I will try to completely unify the important themes, set ups, plot, and characters together to give
Infinite Bloodcore
a soul.
This is my first attempt.
Because of nervousness, and knowing that I am small and weak, I made a lot of preparations.
In order to outline
Infinite Bloodcore
, I spent two months planning it out.
As for the outline, I have already made 5 or 6 emergency adjustments to the first book’s outline
Apart from this, I have read many things pertaining to organisms. Such as natural history, worldwide Animal Encyclopedias, wildlife illustrations, animal dynasties, and other outstanding documentaries, as well as picture books of shapeshifting and supernatural animals, like the
Pokémon Ultimate Handbook
, World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, Monster Hunter, and much more. I had outstanding results in mixing reality, fiction, and the classics. I believe that everyone has felt this in the upgraded literary work.
In order to write a good survival plot, I watched Bear Grylls and also know of Ed Stafford. I also brushed up on
Robinson Crusoe
again.
Because my novel involves medieval Europe, I decided to read European history,
The Age of Knights——Medieval Europe
, and
The History of Medieval Life
.
Among these, I emphasized researching the institution of noble coat of arms, how castles were built, how that world dressed, referenced pictures of foreign buildings like medieval castles, and studied how medieval folklore traveled the world, etc.
Recently this week, I began to research ships, especially European Galleons. T
he History of Sailboats
,
Conversations about the Development of Sailing Around the World
, and
The Principles of Shipbuilding
were all read.
I tried to fill my webnovel with detail. Most of the previous details, even if it is a fantasy book, are from real things, so it can seem more realistic.
Speaking of which, I also hesitated on things.
Previous writing experience told me that the main reason people were opening my new book was because I was writing a lead similar to Fang Yuan. Magical fantasies are actually very similar to Xianxias. I have many descriptions of farm plots in
Reverend Insanity
. This kind of writing is not tiring and conforms with the expectations of book readers. At the same time, it is something I am an expert in, and I wouldn’t need to worry about eating.
The other alternative was to try to create something new. I know it is risky. Compared to using a new power system, creating a new genre is far riskier. Because this time, I would be using a different writing logic.
I do not know the result of this choice and I am prohibited to guess it. But I know book readers will have a change, a portion will feel I have changed and would not feel good about it, the numbers might also look terrible. The numbers might look terrible……
But in the end, I still picked the second choice.
Because I was worried that if I picked the first option, I would never leave my comfort zone.
Finally, what compelled me to pick the second choice was an understanding——I am no longer young.
Young companions, I have already been writing for many years.
Previously, I regularly pulled all-nighters like it was nothing. If I stay up now, I would be unable to get up the next day.
When I sit for over half an hour, my back will ache.
I also have rhinitis. Every season it will torture me.
When I play games now, I cannot react in a timely manner. In shooters, my hand is also unsteady. I used to be gold in Overwatch, but now I am bronze, I used to play Dota in college, now I occasionally play Heroes of the Storm as I recall my youthful memories.
Hearthstone, Plants V.S Zombies, these types of games suit me more and more.
I have witnessed my older relatives pass away, I saw my parents rapidly age, I saw my son quickly grow up, and I felt the wind of time echoing more and more in my ears. Like my hand grasping sand, I do my best to hold it tight, yet it flows away ever quicker.
Whenever I can’t sleep late at night, I feel a ball of fire burning more and more in my greasy belly, it is burning my wizened bones like firewood.
This ball of fire makes my stomach rumble with hunger.
This ball of fire makes me panic and irritable.
I know this ball of fire is my literary dream.
In the event I compromise because I am afraid of the unknown, seek for the so-called dependable, and pick the first option.
Afterwards, how many years will I have left?
My youth is far gone, I no longer have time I can calmly squander.
I am not a young person anymore, my young companions.
Yet my past literary dreams still continue to burn fiercely. I genuinely sensed a desire to create, I wanted to create something in accordance with my heart and it pushed me.
This time, I decided to take a risk!
I set aside my youth for
Reverend Insanity
, now I entrust my pursuit of literature to
Infinite Bloodcore
.
In fact, many people advised me to be safe, to consult the divines. Taking such a big step would likely sprain my feet and destroy my egg.
Thank you all of you for your consideration.
I force a smile.
Before those 6 years, I looked at the gurus, I looked at platinum, I was very envious as I looked up.
Today, after those 6 years, especially after going through
Reverend Insanity
, after the ban, I am indifferent to all of those things.
Of course, I am also vulgar, I am also a person, and I also want to make a living.
Divinity is something I also want.
But I understand: It is something I am not pursuing, and it should never become my shackles.
Having divinity is very good, even if it never comes to pass.
I wish to be just a small writer that stubbornly pursues and gradually expands his literary dream. This dream had wealth and vulgarity, but now it contains more pertaining to literature.
Like in
The Moon and the Sixpence
, I picked up a coin off the ground, got up, raised my head, and reached out my hand. This time……I want to reach the moon.
This is what the bottom of my heart says.
Thus,
Infinite Bloodcore
is an important challenge for me.
I am determined to challenge my writing style, my writing structure, I want to test and practice my new writing philosophy.
During the past few months and up until now, I have done everything in my power for this.
Again, I have to be honest, I have no choice but to tell everyone, as I have said in my preface, this will also be a challenge to you all.
Because this time, I am using the philosophy I created, my writing logic has already changed, as a result
Infinite Bloodcore
does not have the three golden rules, nor does it follow the distinctive tempo of webnovels. However, you will see a more refined and unified story structure, you will see a huge volume of foreshadowing that conforms from beginning to end, you may be caught off guard many times, but when carefully thinking about it, you will find the story reversal very rational.
Because the story structure is created like a film or a play,
Infinite Bloodcore
will not follow the usual straight and assembly line structure, it is unlikely that when the main character levels up, he will continue doing the same thing as before. It is more like a screenplay with each book being a stage. For example, the first stage is the island, thus the book reader asks, why are they still on the island, why are they still stuck in the novice village? I am very sorry; the concept of the novice village originated from games and was later applied to webnovels. That concept does not exist in this book. The entire first book will be on the island.
Because of my pursuit of literary value, I will use many exquisite words. Without exquisitely writing the surrounding scenery, there will be no style. Without exquisitely writing the mentality of the characters, one cannot explore human nature. And when I actively explore human nature, a problem will come up——it is easy to denounce. Thus, this book is just as risky. In this aspect, I believe everyone has already experienced it.
Lan Zao and Huang Zao, the miserable fate of these two brothers is my exploration of human nature where I question the significance of life via torture. The main character Zhen Jin, he has a characteristic that is different from the majority of web novel leads, he has an abundant mind, he constantly ponders and questions the process of his heart, this is also how I excavate human nature and develop the value of my literature.
The above defines the climax of
Infinite Bloodcore
, it is something different from most webnovels. The typical climax involves the sullen venting of feelings and people stamping on those they despise,
Infinite Bloodcore
has that, however the true climax lies in the exploration of human nature and the investigation in how people should interact with each other. Thus the first climax takes place from chapter 66-70.
I can’t help but admit that as the author of
Infinite Bloodcore
, this is a challenge.
Readers familiar with webnovels will surely be challenged too.
I request everyone reading to have a bit of patience, a bit of understanding, and reduce your typical expectations a little.
A friendly reminder——when reading the first book when it is completed, you will easily find that
Infinite Bloodcore
has a distinct flavor. Of course, the current chapters are well developed, reading until just chapter 70 can allow you to touch a corner of
Infinite Bloodcore
’s soul.
If you see these things, believe my writing is good, or perhaps look forward to a different webnovel work, I ask you to genuinely support me!
Currently Infinite Bloodcore is in its starting phase.
On Friday, 5/15, it will be an official work.
Every genuine experience will firmly support and encourage me.
I especially need your support.
Because I know that not many readers will accept this challenge and there will be only a few that succeed. The taste of this is a bit on the high side, only a handful of people will like it.
I especially thirst to write this time. The challenge I write can succeed.
If
Infinite Bloodcore
succeeds, it will have great significance!
It can allow me to see a new road, it can let me create better writing methods that can create more depth, more essence, and more wonderful novels. In addition, it means this novel certainly has a place in the marketplace that allows me to continue eating and living.
Perhaps it can also let other authors see and walk this road, they could create even more wonders that combine business and literary value, that would be wonderful!
Since starting this book, I have had fewer tickets.
This time, I want to request from everyone that if you approve of this novel, I ask you support me through recommending it and monthly tickets.
Currently this is the biggest requirement of this book. On Friday at 12 noon, VIP chapters will be released, it only needs 10 yuan, but it will be important to the book.
After all, nowadays, wine fragrant is also afraid of the dark alleys.
I know many people are holding off on this book, it is now gradually entering its most enjoyable stage and is already worth seeing.
Of course, continuing to hold off until there is enough to look at is also reasonable.
If you love it, I ask you to love it dearly!
Salutations and thank you, Gu Zhen Ren
2020.5.15