PS: Before we begin, I have some good news to tell you...

WE DID IT!!! We’ve reached my fourth goal on Patreon for getting $1000 a month! Wooohooo! That means that the one week break that’s usually scheduled for the end of every book has been lifted! So yeah… Chapters continue on tomorrow. No need to wait the additional week. However, if you’re curious to find out what happens next, my Patreon is twenty-one chapters ahead… Just saying… *Wink* *Wink*

Hi, guys! It’s me again!

How was the latest book? Did you like it?! I’m sure many of you actually saw this coming a mile away, but Shin’s Sovereign Koi DID EVOLVE INTO THE CELESTIAL DRAGON!!! WHAT? You never played tuber simulator? Hehe, I’m joking!

That’s right. From the beginning of the story, I chose Shin’s Spirit to be a Koi mainly because of the famous Chinese proverb, "The carp has leapt through the dragon's gate." (Liyu Tiao Long Men, 鯉魚跳龍門). I saw soooo many comments that you guys guessed it, even back during the earlier books. Perhaps I made the foreshadowing a bit too obvious, haha!

The reason why I chose Shin’s Spirit to be the Koi because just like the proverb, I wanted Shin’s story to be one about struggle. The final chapters talking about the Celestial River are rather short. Shin goes to the river and without much difficulty, his Sovereign Koi becomes the Celestial Dragon. Normally, a story would take a few chapters to explain the trials and tribulations about passing the river. Maybe a rock would be thrown its way or a competitor would drag it down in a race or something. However, I didn’t want it to be that way.

The journey was quick in the end because of the arduous journey in front…

Let me explain.

All of you have read Shin when he was young. Seen him grow from a child to an adult who can participate in R-rated content. You know of his journey because there are almost a million words describing it already. And I mean it literally. Once this chapter is published, Spirit Immortal would be a million words long. Amazing right? When did I ever have the time to write a million words? Lol.

Either way back to my main point. Shin’s spirit evolution was quick because you guys have already seen his struggle. Day in day out, there would be a problem for him to solve. No matter what he does, there’s always something that would hold him back. Whether it was the Black Masks, Junius, Ariel or the orphans.

I wanted to show the struggles of life, albeit in a flawed manner. To live is to struggle. Every single one of us is a Shin. Each second we have is a struggle against our eventual death. Just because Shin overcame the Celestial River and turn his Spirit into the Celestial Dragon, it doesn’t mean that he’s perfectly free now. There would be the next problem and the next problem and the next problem… Just like life itself. Every single day, we have so many problems. This bill to pay… Job quotas to meet… Parents to satisfy...

To live is to struggle. However, I believe that all of us, no matter who we are… We can all turn from fishes to dragons. As long as we continue to persevere, work hard for our goal, devote our absolute best to what we love… We can all turn into dragons.

Honestly, this author’s thoughts is more of a confession to myself. See, when all of you are reading this chapter, I would have started on my new job. It’s a stable occupation, with great career growth prospects and a lovely office, but ultimately, it’s not what I love to do. I love writing, I believe you all know that by now. The stress of performing at my absolute peak for the whole day and coming back to give three to four hours a day to writing is absolutely tiring as fuck. Furthermore, the views that I’ve been getting have been dropping and there are some people just being plain mean in the comments. If you’ve been wondering why my interaction with you guys have been dipping, well, it’s because I don’t want to deal with that when I’m already tired and blue.

However, I still love writing. Additionally, for some reason, my Patrons are still supporting me, which still baffles me to this day. So for all my Patrons reading this, thank you so much… You mean the world to me. Without you guys, I would honestly be tempted to just drop this novel entirely.

So yeah… This author’s thoughts would be something like my diary. I’ll use it to look back whenever I feel like giving everything up and basically remind myself about… Well, as embarrassing as it may sound…

Turning into a dragon.