TLDR: I will be taking a break from the eighth to the thirteenth of May. It’s a shorter break than usual since the book is quite short. So yeah, see you in five days.

Yoyoyo! Pondayo! How have you all been! I’ve been doing great, thank you very much!

Alright, first things first, the reason why this book is short is because of the contents of the story. I only wanted to write something about the Summit, since it was such an integral part of the overall storyline. The joining of the three superpowers and the rise of the Black Masks signifies the second act of Spirit Immortal. Furthermore, it has finally set the tone for future books where the Black Masks gets to take centre stage, instead of academy rivals or competition between nations.

There’s one vital aspect of Book 7 that I wanted to get across to you guys though. And that is the existence of Lukman. When Shin first awakened his innate spiritual ability, the power to create and manipulate water, it was set that he would learn from a sand-wielding counterpart in a later book. That’s why Shin hasn’t been experimenting with his first spiritual ability for all this time. He just wasn’t shown the way just yet. Of course, that’s all going to change, and in Book 8, I finally get to write him as the badass that I’d always imagined he’ll be.

So don’t worry, the pace of the story will speed up now. I know I’ve made that promise many times before, but this time, it really is the case. Everything will now revolve around Shin’s potential and strengthening as a character.

Also, Shin’s meeting with Longyu Tian and the Luminaries from the Lantis Republic. That was a key focal point of the book that I’ve wanted to highlight. I’m sure many of you have guessed it by now, in fact, some had already figured it out since he awakened the Sovereign Koi, but Shin’s Spirit isn’t as innocent as it seems… Stay tuned to find out!

Oh, and Book 7 is also a homage to many Wuxia shows/comic books that I’d read/watched growing up. The most obvious one would be Jin Yong’s books and a comic book that my uncle follows and reads to me sometimes, ‘Oriental Heroes.’ Also known as, Long Hu Men or Dragon Tiger Gate. I’m not sure if any of you had caught on, so I’ll explain it one by one.

The first one would be the names of the five main Master Sects of the Kori Federation. Dragon Tiger Gate, Shaolin Temple, Emei Church. These three were homages to the Wuxia background that I’ve read, while the other two, Khan Tribe and Dalgeom Sect, are mostly my own creations. Yes, yes, Khan is part of the Mongolian lore, but let’s not get into that just yet. There's bigger fish to fry.

In many popular Wuxia fictions, the Shaolin Sect and Emei Sect were two prominent organisations. Shaolin Sect always had upright and moral men, while the Emei Sect only admitted women into their ranks. The martial arts that they used, like Brahmadhvaja Kittichat, are mostly taken from the fictions that I’ve read. For instance, Golden Bell Shield, Varja Body and the Iron Shirt technique are all Shaolin Sect’s martial arts.

Lorian Yang’s Yang Sun Spirit is actually a play on Xiao Hu from ‘Oriental Heroes’ and Xiao Hu’s Jiu Yang Shen Gong, which literally translates to Nine Suns Divine Technique. Just like Xiao Hu, Lorian Yang creates nine suns around him, which gives him superhuman strength, regeneration and ‘Qi.’

So I tried playing around with the Wuxia techniques that I know and were in awe in and placed them into this novel. Hoped you enjoyed them! Yes, yes. I know I hadn’t added in popular martial arts like the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, Yijingjing, the Palm of Buddha and so on and so forth. But honestly, do you guys really want to read a never-ending tournament where Luminaries from each nation showcased all of their moves? The whole point of the tournament was to create an atmosphere where Shin and Lukman could spar so that Shin could learn how to manipulate water from him!

Alright, I’m so pumped up to continue writing Book 8! Let me spoil something for you. The ending of Book 8 was something that I’ve planned long ago. Even before I came up with the name Spirit Immortal or when I conceived of Shin and Ariel! How, you ask? Why don’t you read and find out?

See you in the next book!