Author’s POV#14: Clouded Jade – The Eternal Sanctum

[Disclaimer: This chapter was written by the author Clouded Jade]

"You want me to write another novel? And translate it into English with my own hands?"

My surprised voice echoed throughout my room, and I couldn't help but slam my hands onto my poor desk. The wooden structure that had remained with me for the majority of my life groaned from the continued abuse, but my attention could only be fixated onto the voice emanating from the phone pressed to my ear.

"That's right, ah! Little Sister, I expect a fully-fledged project from you – one that's over a thousand chapters at the minimum!"

The teasing voice remarked over the phone, and I could hear the speaker cackling in laughter. Though I knew that my partner could not see it, I pointed towards the glaring webpage opened on my laptop's monitor, the bold letters printed in its endowed and rebellious glory. The Butterfly of Chaos.

"Didn't I just finish writing one?" I complained.

"And I even exceed my original expectations of five million words – you made me add too much content for that project!"

A brief pause ensued as the speaker on the other side of the communications rose their brow in thought, the dull tapping of a pen's ballpoint tip against a soft pad clicking in my ears. My heart lightened as I heard the customary intake of breath, and a wry smile broke across my countenance.

As I expected, she wouldn't go that far-

"Little Sister, that project spanned across three main protagonists – how could you not reserve a significant portion of the project's length for them?" the teasing voice jabbed at my weakness with pinpoint accuracy.

"All you did was torture your protagonists as much as you liked; at this rate, everyone's going to call you a stepmother of an author. We both know that you didn't want that label after 'research-manic', so –"

"I got it, I got it!"

I quickly interrupted her words as I slammed onto a preconfigured button on my mouse, my lips drawing into a dissatisfied pout at watching the window displaying my treasured work vanish in less than a second. My fingers drummed onto the table's surface, and I leaned into the back of my chair.

"So? Do you have any specifics in mind?"

…fitting into the depths of my expectations, my partner immediately leapt in joy, her voice blaring into my ears as she slammed her knee in appreciation. The phone shrieked a death knell and clattered onto the table, the voice continuing to resound throughout the room.

"You need to expand on either those other characters than Li Xiang at the final volume! That girl named An Fei or the youth named Chu Yi who stood besides Li Xiang at the final scene, they deserve an independent novel for themselves!"

"This Big Sister of mine, you need to understand an author's plight, ah," I complained into the phone as my hands expertly opened the editing software that had faithfully served as the outline for the Butterfly of Chaos.

"Who am I supposed to choose from either one? And why can't I just write about the person who stands above them?"

Before my tired eyes, the laptop's display flashed as a large spider's web of colored threads appeared before me. As I continued to converse with the grand ancestor that was my partner in writing as well as my editor, the mouse under my control zoomed into a sector of the threads.

There, stated under a violet text and a question mark decorating its end, was the title to a project that I had considered upon the final moments of the Butterfly of Chaos – the Eternal Sanctum.

I had left it as an afterthought after introducing the character into the main project's storyline, and had not paid any attention to it ever since. Moreover, after concluding the project, I had made a small oath to myself to take a break from longer literary projects.

"Little Sister, you've put in far too much of a time skip between the last volume and the one before that!" the voice continued to chirp away at my diminishing integrity.

"Ten thousand years at the minimum! So many things can happen in such a long period of time – enough for a whole entire novel!"

"Yes, I placed in ten thousand years in that blurb, but that's simply a number that can change," I lazily panned around the diagram and plotting of the characters implemented into the project that had consumed over a year of my life's blood and tears.

"So what if it's ten thousand years or thirty thousand years? Simply, what am I supposed to write about this An Fei or Chu Yi?"

"Everything! Since it's a young girl, write a story fitting for a young girl – ah, but stay away from the average romantic trope that consumes the majority of female cultivation novels."

My lips twitched, and I closed off the phone call with a snap of my hand. Planting my forehead against my palms and releasing a groan of utter exasperation to release all of my annoyance in one go, I manipulated the writing software to display before me a blank sheet of white.

"And here I thought that I could take a few months off to write short, fluffy stories jam-packed with cuteness…"

Rolling my shoulders and glancing at the section of the characters' diagram depicting An Fei and the short paragraph presenting a vague backstory, I aimlessly tapped at the keys. My mind quickly fell into thought, my hands automatically drawing forth the paper manuscript that was the last volume of the now-predecessor novel, the Butterfly of Chaos.

"Let's see here… An Fei… a short girl who retained her youthful appearance for unknown reasons with scarlet irises and a breathtakingly beautiful countenance…" my lips trembled as they sought after a cup of coffee.

An Fei, the Sanctum of Eternal Peace and Tranquility.

At the conclusion of the Li Xiang's journey, I had revealed her to be a component of the supreme weapon capable of destroying the entire Realm at its roots. The sacred weapon exclusive to the Second Progenitor, the sword that had slain the Forefather of the Realm.

Li Xiang of the Destruction's Spear, Chu Yi of the Bastion of Damnation, and An Fei of the Sanctum of Eternal Peace and Tranquility.

"Or at least, that was how I presented it…"

My body flopped onto the table, my cheeks pressed tightly against the cool and refreshing wooden surface that had suffered from numerous pencil marks and engravings over the years. My fingers splayed and played around on their own initiative as I fell into a nonsensical stupor.

When I had introduced An Fei into the project, I had hinted that she was an anomaly compared to the rest of the immortals within the Realm – Li Xiang included. As I had not specified what exactly was so peculiar regarding this character, I could…

If it were possible, I would…

"Make her a mortal from the start?"

My lips bequeathed the forbidden fruit that began all innovative works, and I found myself able to glimpse at the possibility of rendering the Eternal Sanctum as the novel literary project as I had once griped about in the past.

I quickly viewed the diagram of the characters at its minimum zoom, and the spider's web was fully captured in my gaze. A total of a hundred and sixty-seven named characters had been incorporated into either the planning or the final edition of the Butterfly of Chaos.

"If I were to…"

If An Fei's origins were that of a mortal, then it could lead into a myriad of mysteries and peculiar twists that I could readily employ throughout the story's plot. For example, the elusive Prime Minister Fang who had terrorized the Realm with Li Xiang could be resolved, the mystery surrounding the status of the Forefather could be unveiled with ease.

Particularly for the second one, as that would additionally explain the origins for the overwhelming and nearly plot-breaking ability of the Sanctum of Eternal Peace and Tranquility that was displayed in the final volume.

And finally, if An Fei was a mortal…

"Then I can have an immortal youth – no, several of them – be vying for her hand by an elderly figure, which could allow for a nasty romantic spiral –"

Alright, the reputed stepmother author that was Clouded Jade, was going to calm herself by going to sleep and foregoing the caffeine injection through a cup of refreshing coffee.

In the end…

-

"So, you made An Fei into a cute little girl to be chased around by an arrogant young master of an immortal, to run into Li Xiang in a not-so-friendly first encounter, and be literally hang for dear life every chapter of the project?"

"That's right!"

I lay back against the edge of the couch as I lazily responded, my tongue licking its lips as my hands grasped a small pastry treat filled with lotus seed jam. The phone was silent for a brief moment, before I heard a wistful and age-old sigh.

"…why does it sound like you really made that character into your biography? I mean, isn't that a fantasy rendition of you and your –"

"Ahem! We don't need to explore that topic!"

The pastry's crumbs tickled at the base of my throat, prompting me to burst into a series of loud coughs that deafened the remainder of the sentence.

-----------------------

Author's Thoughts

Thank you Clouded Jade for sharing this wonderful author's POV. Did you guys like it? Mmm, of course you do! (You're not allowed to say NO otherwise kukuku!) It's always fun to have a sneak peek on what the lives of authors are from time to time. I pray that Clouded Jade will continue to write wonderful stories (and her sister continue to help her) that will take you to a world where Myth and Fantasy blend together in chaotic harmony!