The day after Kamiyā Yuu uploaded the cover illustration for 'Battle Through the Heavens' to the original artwork section of the 'BIUBIUBIU' bullet-comment video website, the novel finally passed review and was officially published on Fantasy Book Alliance.
It began with the standard "fallen genius and broken engagement" setup.
The protagonist, Xiao Yan, had fallen from genius to trash, plunging from his former position high in the clouds into an abyss where everyone around him looked down on him. The younger members of the clan who had once admired him all changed their attitudes, and only his ethereal childhood friend, Xiao Xun'er, continued to stay by his side and believe in him.
His clan had become utterly disappointed in him, while Nalan Yanran, a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect who had originally been betrothed to him because of his talent, disregarded his dignity entirely and tore up the engagement.
The fallen-genius opening had always been an enduring classic of web novels.
As the saying went, to raise something, first push it down. With this kind of opening, the protagonist would begin at rock bottom before rising again and forcing everyone to see him in a new light. Even readers who identified with the protagonist could feel the exhilaration of that reversal.
This fixed opening had been used to death in web novels, yet the fact that it continued to exist naturally meant there was a reason for it. Or rather, the formula itself was simply a method of advancing a story.
Countless films, novels, and comics used the same structure, merely dressed in different skins.
A manga protagonist was mocked by an enemy, the protagonist's companions were harmed, and then the protagonist erupted with astonishing combat power.
In a movie, monsters slaughtered humans, humanity rose to counterattack, and multiple factions cooperated to destroy the monsters.
Once stripped down to their basic structure, regardless of differences in genre and plot, these methods of advancing a story were fundamentally the same as the fallen-genius formula: suppress first, then elevate.
In web novel circles, there was a concept known as the "Golden Three Chapters."
In other words, the first three chapters of a web novel were extremely important to its initial performance. Within those three chapters, the protagonist, the protagonist's cheat, and the primary conflict all had to appear. If the author could also create a satisfying payoff within that span, it would be even better.
Simply put, the purpose of the "Golden Three Chapters" was to give readers a reason to keep reading. The examples above were merely the most commonly used methods.
Authors who already possessed a certain degree of popularity generally didn't need to care much about the so-called "Golden Three Chapters" theory, and they could also use other methods to achieve the same purpose.
The entire reason the "Golden Three Chapters" existed was to make readers want to continue. As long as that goal was achieved, any kind of novel opening could work.
'Battle Through the Heavens' was probably one of the classic textbook examples of the "Golden Three Chapters."
In the first chapter, the protagonist's fall from genius planted the initial foreshadowing. The second chapter established the male protagonist's determination to rise again. The third chapter brought Nalan Yanran to his door to break off the engagement, creating the main point of conflict.
Foreshadowing and suspense were buried throughout the oppressive atmosphere. By the sixth chapter, readers had seen the danger of the protagonist's situation, yet because they could also glimpse the possibilities surrounding him, their curiosity continued to grow.
Then, beginning in Chapter Eight, the appearance of the portable old grandfather, Yao Lao, became the first ray of hope to break the deadlock.
From that moment onward, all the disadvantages accumulated earlier began to disappear, and readers became eager to see the protagonist rise again.
In the Chinese web novel industry of this world, although the fallen-genius opening was also a classic formula, it had yet to become as rampant as it had been in Kamiyā Yuu's previous world. It had not yet become the "cancerous opening trope" that readers instinctively hated.
Kamiyā Yuu therefore still strongly approved of the textbook-level fallen-genius and broken-engagement opening of 'Battle Through the Heavens'. He hadn't changed much of it, merely strengthening Xiao Yan's distinctiveness so readers could glimpse hope earlier while also intensifying the core conflict.
From there, all he needed to do was gradually resolve that conflict as the story progressed.
Kamiyā Yuu had prepared five hundred thousand characters of 'Battle Through the Heavens' in advance.
Once the novel passed review, he uploaded the entire batch into the author backend of Fantasy Book Alliance and scheduled one three-thousand-character chapter to be released every hour.
Five hundred thousand characters would roughly last a week.
Ever since the first chapter went live, 'Battle Through the Heavens' had attracted a respectable amount of attention thanks to the cover illustration and promotion Blank had posted on 'BIUBIUBIU'.
A custom cover from an illustrator had always been a treatment reserved for top-tier authors.
And now, a brand-new author had somehow received a custom cover from a top-class illustrator.
Whether they were merely spectators or fans of the illustrator Blank, people couldn't help becoming curious about 'Battle Through the Heavens'.
That evening, Kamiyā Yuu checked the novel's page and discovered that readers had already filled all ten positions on its donation leaderboard.
The smallest donation was one thousand Fantasy Book Coins, equivalent to ten yuan.
The largest had actually reached the Helmsman tier: ten thousand Fantasy Book Coins, or one hundred RMB.
"Title: 'Battle Through the Heavens'
Written by: Does Not Eat Tomatoes
Eastern Fantasy, Otherworld Continent
Work Information — Reviews (272) — Table of Contents (13 Chapters)
Synopsis: This is a world belonging to battle qi. There is no dazzling, magnificent magic here. There is only battle qi, developed to its absolute peak...
42,000 characters — 11,000 total views · 7,269 weekly member views — 682 total recommendations · 682 weekly recommendations
..."
The results were within expectations, yet Kamiyā Yuu still stared in speechless amazement.
"Damn. I did update more than ten chapters today, but I didn't expect such a huge donation this quickly. Back when I was still writing web novels, getting a one-hundred-RMB Helmsman probably would've kept me happy for days."
Donations like this weren't uncommon.
Many veteran authors with stable fanbases could achieve them easily, while top-tier authors could sometimes receive ten Alliance Leader donations on the very first day of launching a new book.
But for this to happen to a completely new author with a brand-new work was extremely rare.
"As expected of the great Heavenly Silkworm Potato. I could barely be considered a failed veteran author back then, and whenever I launched a new book, I wouldn't get a single donation on the first day."
Looking at the information displayed on the screen, Kamiyā Yuu felt all kinds of complicated emotions.
Somehow, receiving a Helmsman-tier donation from a reader on the first day of publication felt more shocking than 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' taking first place in anime popularity.
"Click~ Click."
Kamiyā Yuu scrolled down with the mouse and continued browsing the review section of 'Battle Through the Heavens'.
[Supporting the author! Wishing your new book massive success! Also, if you don't mind, feel free to check out my work 'Swordsman of the Mortal World'!]
[So this is the novel recommended by the great Blank? Leaving my mark!]
[Great book, recommendation vote sent!]
[Holy freaking hell, this update speed scared the piss out of me. Thirty thousand characters on the first day!?]
[Good read! Voting in support!]
...
The familiar reviews.
The familiar flavor.
Kamiyā Yuu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The review section looked almost exactly like the comments under his novels back when he had been a failed author.
He had rarely managed the reviews under his own novels in those days.
He knew that his writing wasn't particularly good, and in order to protect his perfectionist but fragile ego from being shattered, he had simply posted the most basic announcements and then stopped reading the review section altogether.
Otherwise, he was certain that the readers' various venomous comments would have roasted him so badly he wouldn't have been able to function normally.
Most of the reviews under 'Battle Through the Heavens' were meaningless chatter, though there were also a small number of readers offering genuine suggestions.
Kamiyā Yuu marked those comments as featured and pinned them.
Whenever he encountered harsh criticism, however, he didn't feel discouraged in the slightest.
It wasn't his work anyway.
Even the pen name had been copied from another top-tier author of the same level whom he happened to like.
Go ahead and curse!
Curse all you want!
Keep it coming—don't stop!