Chapter 62

Zhuo Yihang sighed, and the events of the past dozen years flashed through his mind: the first meeting in the Yellow Dragon Cave, the night talk in the Bright Moon Gorge, the disputes on Wudang Mountain, and the parting in the vast desert, all vividly before his eyes... The poem reads: After parting, no news from either side, knowing well that rumors will abound. Only because there is a true friend in the world, can one believe that the ends of the earth are as close as neighbors... The North Star in the sky has risen again!

Liu Jingteng's eyes sparkled, and his expression gradually became radiant. When he typed the final exclamation mark, "The White-Haired Demoness" was finally completed!

"The White-Haired Demoness" consists of thirty-two chapters, each with over ten thousand words. Despite the time spent on classes, playing with classmates, and writing "The Seven Swords" and "Shuke and Beta," Liu Jingteng still managed to write one chapter per day, which is quite impressive.

Even without much planning, this was no small feat; after all, he was not a robot.

Liu Jingteng typed out the entire story and added a note at the end: The story of Zhuo Yihang and Lian Nishang, among others, is also narrated in "The Seven Swords of Tian Shan." For more details, see the relevant sections.

He then completed the historical notes appended to the original work, placed them in a folder, and opened Lu Yichou's encrypted email.

...

"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..."

This rhythmic knocking came from the office of the president of Qianhong Culture. At that moment, Lu Yichou was sitting at his desk, his left hand supporting his chin, and his right hand tapping the table.

Last night, he received a message from Liu Jingteng saying that his new book would be completed today. Upon receiving this news, Lu Yichou almost woke up laughing this morning. In late September, more than a dozen publishing houses announced that they would launch martial arts novels in October. Thinking about the smug inquiries from those old acquaintances in the industry, Lu Yichou felt a surge of anger.

For the entire morning, there was no news from Gu Yongseng. Lu Yichou did not urge him but patiently waited. After lunch, he smoked and chatted with the company's executives as usual, then went to the editorial department to check on the junior editors, and returned to his office to handle daily affairs. Gu Yongseng's avatar on the company chat remained gray, showing no activity.

The experienced Lu Yichou naturally did not push, but occasionally refreshed his email.

In the editors' group, they were discussing the ongoing battle without smoke.

"Xue Muliang didn't delay the manuscript this time."

"This trick is only used by him, to show his status."

"They are really diligent, the official announcement of the Golden Week book tour lists nearly ten cities."

Lu Yichou, perhaps to relieve his stress, joined the discussion and asked, "Has anyone read 'Tianluo Tower'?"

Several editors quickly responded that they had read it. Without waiting for further questions from the boss, they eagerly shared their impressions. The discussion only stopped when Kuang Heng spoke, as he was both experienced and had personally mentored Beige Tang, making him the most authoritative.

"The story structure largely follows 'Fengyi,' with too many conspiracies and an overly powerful dark force. The resolution lacks depth, and the early setup is not adequately resolved. Additionally, to distinguish it from Gu Yongseng, the narrative style is too modern."

Kuang Heng, after a quick read of Beige Tang's new novel, could easily make these observations. After commenting on Beige Tang, he also briefly reviewed the other two popular novels: "Duan Dao and Qinse are straightforward, both admitting to imitating 'The Seven Swords.' So far, Duan Dao's 'Seven Kill' stands out, while Qinse's martial arts writing still has a strong feminine touch."

After Kuang Heng spoke, there was a brief silence. Then a female editor said, "But Qinse writing martial arts from a female perspective and making a female the protagonist is a significant breakthrough, isn't it?"

Lu Yichou replied, "Using a female protagonist is not Qinse's innovation."

Everyone fell silent, knowing that when the boss spoke, there was always a reason, but they couldn't figure out what it was.

The chief editor, Wei Wuzhi, asked, "What do you mean, Mr. Lu?"

Lu Yichou did not respond directly but instead shared a screenshot of a conversation with Gu Yongseng.

Gu Yongseng: Mr. Lu, the manuscript is complete, sent to the email.

Lu Yichou: (Confetti) Great work, the rest is up to me!

After sharing the screenshot, Lu Yichou announced with great joy, "Gu Yongseng's new martial arts work, 'The White-Haired Demoness,' will be released in October. Everyone, get ready!"

It was like a small bomb; the group immediately buzzed with excitement. Wei Wuzhi, Hou Lei, Hong Ming, and other executives all appeared to leave messages, expressing their joy. Hong Ming from the public relations department said, "I've been feeling stifled lately, seeing other companies thriving while we could only worry. It turns out our big move was this, Mr. Lu, assign the tasks!"

Kuang Heng added, "Although Gu Yongseng has always been famous, he has never had a representative work until now. Choosing this time to release a new book is perfectly timed."

The group was filled with a festive atmosphere due to Gu Yongseng's new book.

"Old Wei, the manuscript is in your email; Vice President Hou, contact the printing factory, at least fifteen; Hong Ming, post the announcement on the official Weibo; all editors, start the forum discussions!"

"Understood, Mr. Lu!"

"Understood, Mr. Lu!"

...

No one, including Lu Yichou himself, had read "The White-Haired Demoness," but no one doubted the impact it would have. The editors, admiring Lu Yichou's composure and strategy, began to sweep through the forums.

"Breaking News!!! Gu Yongseng's new work, 'The White-Haired Demoness,' is about to hit the market!!!"

"October chaos, Qianhong strikes hard, Gu Yongseng releases a new work!"

"Yue Nu's exit, the Demoness's rise!"

...

The news of Gu Yongseng's new book in October spread like wildfire across the internet. Qianhong Culture maintained a technical silence for a while before the official Weibo account announced:

Dear readers, regarding the rumors about Gu Yongseng's new work, 'The White-Haired Demoness,' the editor confirms—rumors are true!!!

That's right, after months of seclusion, Gu Yongseng's masterpiece, 'The White-Haired Demoness,' will be grandly released by Qianhong Culture!

For those who found 'Yue Nu Jian' too short and 'The Seven Swords of Tian Shan' too slow, you are in luck. Gu Yongseng's new work skips all the serialization and is released in full, ensuring you can read to your heart's content!

...

After forwarding the post, Lu Yichou commented, "This copy sounds like a TV commercial. It's too flowery and lacks substance. I'll add some practical details. 'The White-Haired Demoness' is a prequel to 'The Seven Swords,' providing detailed introductions to characters that left readers wanting more. For this book, Gu Yongseng researched dozens of historical documents, a scale comparable to a doctoral thesis. In three days, the first million copies of this exciting martial arts epic will be distributed nationwide. Latecomers will have to wait for the second batch."

Chief Editor Wei Wuzhi read through "The White-Haired Demoness" in three hours and, after a minute of silence, said in the group, "After a quick read of 'The White-Haired Demoness,' the martial arts novels currently on the market seem like kindergarten exercises."

It was rare for Chief Editor Wei to be so candid, and everyone praised him, asking to see the manuscript.

Lu Yichou said, "The current value of this book is 25 million. If everything goes well, this number will triple. So, everyone, please wait a bit longer."

Wei Wuzhi added, "Including film and television, a tenfold increase is a conservative estimate."

Lu Yichou casually asked, "How many agents have called so far?"

The operations director replied, "In five hours, eighty-seven agents have called."

Lu Yichou said calmly, "We've unexpectedly set a new publishing record. I imagine our colleagues are quite busy. What are everyone's thoughts?"

...

"Everyone, speak up," Xue Muliang said, his face expressionless, supporting his chin with his hand. "What did we miss in our information gathering?"

The meeting room was silent, and no one dared to speak. "Tianluo Tower" had been on the market for less than two days when Qianhong suddenly made its move, and it was so swift and precise that it caught this young and sharp leader off guard.

In Xue Muliang's view, when two equally popular books are released simultaneously, the key is promotion. When he confirmed that Gu Yongseng would not release a book in October, he confidently judged that Beige Tang would be invincible, and thus reduced the promotional efforts. However, he never expected that the experienced Lu Yichou would use Han Shuo, Yi Shui'an, and the ongoing serialization of "The Seven Swords" to cover for Gu Yongseng's new book, making a surprise move.

"Let's face it head-on. Ultimately, the quality of the work will decide the winner," Beige Tang said, his tone indifferent.

Xue Muliang did not comment, saying, "They can afford to be more relaxed, but this is not anyone's fault. I have nothing to pursue. Arrange for all company employees, including our authors, not to comment on Gu Yongseng's new book. No matter what provocations or media questions, ignore them all."

This presidential order meant that Dingjie Culture would not cooperate with Qianhong to create buzz for their new book.

Xue Muliang's success was largely due to his skillful cooperation with the media and various channels. In an interview, he once said, "While good wine doesn't need a deep alley, putting the wine on the street is even better."

Besides Dingjie Culture, other publishing companies like Tieshulu and Wan Chui also held emergency meetings to discuss Gu Yongseng's new book, mainly to monitor its latest developments and whether Qianhong would make any related statements.

Xue Muliang, with his high self-regard, was unwilling to be a stepping stone for Qianhong, but other publishing companies were eager to engage in a battle with Qianhong.

...

To everyone's surprise, Qianhong did not make any promotional moves outside of Gu Yongseng's new book. Not a single word. Lu Yichou, who had read the entire book, said with a smile, "If 'The White-Haired Demoness' needs promotion, it would be a disservice to both me and Gu Yongseng."

All businessmen understand that only the consumer's word of mouth is the true, 100%, and most powerful form of promotion!

Three days later, "The White-Haired Demoness" was officially released!

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