Monsters Die When Killed

The prologue volume was really just an introduction. It’s essentially part of the first volume, but I split it off because of the change in setting.

I’ve said before that I wanted to challenge myself with this new book and write a different kind of story from another angle. While it seems some sci-fi elements have unavoidably crept in, I think it’s still within an acceptable range... right?

When I first came across the Spiritual Energy Revival genre, I found it fascinating. But perhaps my focus is a little different. I’m more interested in a ’modern-like,’ ’fictional’ (emphasis on fictional) setting, and how society and people change after various Extraordinary Powers emerge—as well as the little details of daily life. Every time I wanted to read a story like that, I could never find one with that kind of plot, so I decided to write one myself.

And I ended up writing too much.

The pacing in the first volume is on the slow side. It mainly tells the story of how Su Zhou has an accident, makes a pact with Yara, and becomes a true Transcendent. It covers how he helps his friend out of a tough spot, gradually becomes a Demon Hunter, and steadily firms up his resolve.

Most importantly, I have my own ideas about the significance of the Spiritual Energy Revival plot point.

But this part of the story dragged on. I didn’t write it well, and I have to admit that.

My editor urged me to move the plot along faster several times, and as I was writing, I also realized there was too much slice-of-life content that could have been saved for later volumes... But I guess it wasn’t all bad. After all, this book is doing far better than my previous one at the same point in its life, which is hugely motivating. I’m not such a perfectionist that I’d have a mental breakdown just because I found something I wrote wasn’t good.

I’ll correct it as I go. It’s just how I’m used to writing.

The shortcomings I’ve identified in this volume are ’too much exposition, too much repeated information, and slow pacing.’ (This is surprisingly the complete opposite of the criticism for *The Soul of Burning Steel*—’the pacing is breakneck, it dumps a bunch of lore and then jumps right into a fight, it’s exhausting to read’—so it seems I might have overcorrected.) It also seems many readers have a hard time accepting a ’less-than-normal protagonist’.

I thought the ’Superpower User + a little bit crazy’ tag was pretty obvious.

A personality like Su Zhou’s is obviously not *chunibyo*. A *chunibyo* character is at least self-important and thinks the world revolves around them. Su Zhou is very self-aware. At most, he’s just genuinely a little crazy. His logic is just different from a normal person’s. That should be pretty easy to understand, right?

In any case, thank you all for reading. The story in the second volume will be much more exciting—if it isn’t, the book is going to flop.

And thank you to all the readers who have sent tips! You guys are the best, *sniffle*!

The first Chapter of Volume Two will be updated in the early hours of the morning.

What follows is some rambling about the world’s structure and lore.

===Some ramblings after the end-of-volume thoughts. You can skip this if you’re not interested. You can skip this if you’re not interested. You can skip this if you’re not interested. I’ve said it three times now, so don’t you dare call me long-winded if you keep reading!===

Although I’ve written about this before, I want to clarify: A Great Being like Yara and the various Snake Gods have a corresponding relationship. Those Snake Gods are all independent entities, but they each reflect one of Its aspects. The same applies to others of their kind.

The Great Beings want to break free from their seals, while the Extraordinary beings and Deities of human civilization work to prevent Their resurgence. They are not in a subordinate relationship; they are in opposition. The Order Array was created for this very purpose: to annihilate the vast majority of Evil Demons.

The Immortals and Deities in this novel (who, for reasons I’m sure you all understand, will not actually be making an appearance) are different from those in any other book. They don’t need Belief, they don’t exploit others, and they live very positive, happy lives. If I see anyone randomly discussing related real-world topics that are off-limits, I will delete the comments. This is the fictional world of Yin Heaven.

By the way, that line from the prologue—’Evil has revived, and so has Good. Chaos has revived, and so has Order’—wasn’t just empty talk.

With Extraordinary Power, any evil imaginable can happen. When faced with a Transcendent, ordinary people are quite helpless. They might not even know they’ve been Cursed or attacked, able only to suffer passively. They are powerless against the malice of a Transcendent.

But by the same token, with Extraordinary Power, any good thing can happen as well. A single Blessing from a High Tier Extraordinary could benefit an entire city block, healing everyone’s latent injuries, and it cannot even be refused. In the face of such goodwill, ordinary people are, in a sense, just as ’powerless’.

Of course, some might think you can’t compare the two. After all, one can gain from committing acts of evil and Chaos, while goodness and Order are purely about giving.

But that idea is just an illusion.

Committing evil also requires an expenditure of power to harm others. The benefits they gain are, in essence, no different from the benefits gained by the side of Order through labor. The only difference is that their gains are more dangerous, as they break the public order and risk backlash. To use a simpler example: an Evil One earns a negative reputation in society, while a good person earns a positive one. While the usefulness of reputation varies, it provides tangible returns and power within a society. To say nothing else, if this were in another country, it would absolutely translate into more votes.

So why does it feel like there’s so much to be gained from evil and Chaos? It’s simply because Evil Ones bypass the constraints of ’the law.’ Their profits come from attacking and oppressing those who cannot fight back.

But that method is less efficient than slavery. The benefits gained from construction and production led by a Transcendent—in other words, the methods of ’Order’—are far, far greater.

The former is a zero-sum game; the latter is about making the pie bigger for everyone.

So, why does this misconception exist? I think it’s simply because plunder sounds more thrilling. You have total control over your gains, unlike in an Orderly system where you have to do your part and collect a wage, and might even be exploited by your superiors. To be honest, that thrill of chaotic evil is a part of human nature, but an even larger part of human nature is the drive for Order.

There’s no denying this. Even the Order we get from laws, morals, ethics, or government control is something humans created themselves—a system built for more efficient production and greater benefit. Anyone who wants to argue can put down their phone. I have a few friends from Africa, and they’re experts in the law of the jungle over there... oh wait, no. Even Africa has chieftains. What now? The tribal system is actually one of the earliest forms of modern ordered societies. Huh.

So should we go back to the age of ancient apes, then?

Next are some explanations of the lore—Evil has revived, and so has Good. Chaos has revived, and so has Order.

Pure acts of Chaos and evil can draw power from the Abyss, the Dusk, and the evil in human nature. In the same way, pure acts of goodwill can draw power from Merit and Holy Light.

In a world without Extraordinary Power, if Good People donate money to help disaster victims or build a school, they generally won’t receive any material reward—only peace of mind and praise. But in an Extraordinary world—at least, in mine—they can directly obtain Merit (provided it was their own money and it genuinely helped), Holy Light, and Destiny. Or who knows, maybe they’ll be protected by an Ancestral Spirit, an Earth Vein, or even the power of Belief from those they helped. The effect is immediate and just as direct as Evil People killing for treasure, but with even fewer side effects. If you disagree, that’s your problem; I’m not debating it.

Of course, Evil Ones have their own ways of gaining power. I have never denied the evil in human nature, and I imagine you’re all familiar enough with those methods that I don’t need to elaborate.

In fact, I believe that these methods of doing good—the powers and systems that support Order, be it Merit, Holy Light, the protection of an Ancestral Spirit, or being favored by Destiny—shouldn’t be obscure concepts. Everyone knows about them. So why is it that when the Spiritual Energy Revival occurs, no one seems to think of them?

Extraordinary Power never favors one side over the other. And since humans are social animals who have managed to build such a vast civilization over a long history, I’m going to assume that in the ’spiral of Order and Chaos,’ during the time humanity has existed, ’Order’ has held the upper hand.

It is precisely because of this that in an Extraordinary world, if a power of Order were to emerge, its existence would be far more stable than our own uncertain, chaotic reality. Because Order itself is a form of power, and Good People doing good can become stronger than those who commit evil.