I have returned.

First, I want to apologize to everyone. Last time, I mentioned a major revision, but then inexplicably disappeared, resulting in almost a month without updates. I’m sure many of you must have been frustrated. Here, I bow deeply and offer my sincerest apologies.

In truth, I am the most frustrated of all.

To be honest, no web novelist wants to go back and revise earlier chapters, especially when there are already over a hundred thousand words written. This story was meant for a niche audience from the start, so I think it’s only natural that it hasn’t gained much popularity. If not many people enjoy it, there’s little I can do—so long as I’m writing what I love, that’s enough for me. However, my editor disagreed. As a discerning reader, he pointed out numerous flaws and pitfalls in the previous chapters (though I privately suspect it’s just his personal taste). So, with no other choice, I braced myself and began revising.

Next, I want to say thank you. Thank you all for not giving up on this book even after a month’s absence. Without your support, I might not have had the perseverance to continue. I truly find it difficult to express this feeling in words, so I’ll just say that I will do my utmost to keep the updates coming.

Now, let me tell you what I’ve changed, so you won’t feel like you’ve missed chapters when reading on. The main revisions are in Chapters 7 through 15, as well as Chapter 39.

Due to changes in the storyline, Lady of the Temple visits Xu Wenshan before he moves out of the Xu Residence. In this version, Xu Wenshan does not go mad, so Lu Ze is not brutally beaten. However, because of the convergence of the plot, Lu Ze still becomes Xu Wenshan’s servant.

At the same time, the cultivation methods for demons have been greatly simplified and are no longer as complicated as before. As a result, the scenes where Xu Wenshan establishes the Deer-Crane Temple in the mountains and leads villagers in worship have been removed.

The good news is that Xu Wenshan has become more meticulous with the story’s internal logic and has developed the secret technique “Diamond Star Fist”—though it does seem a bit over the top. For details, please see Chapter Eleven.

Xu Wenshan also keeps his promises. After agreeing to help the Wine Bug brew the finest wine, he seeks out Blacksmith Niu at the village entrance to build a condenser. Unfortunately, due to the blacksmith’s limited skills, the condenser can’t be completed right away. Let’s look forward to seeing whether the old bull can eventually forge a usable condenser when Xu Wenshan returns to the mountain.

Before going to town to sell furs, Xu Wenshan searches for a water source in the mountains as a suitable site for constructing an aqueduct. He actually finds one—a volcanic lake—where he encounters a demon called “Earth Dragon,” which is actually a worm spirit of the yellow rank, and takes it as his servant to help with digging tunnels.

These are basically the storylines that differ from the original. However, the troublesome part is that fixing inconsistencies between the old and new sections introduced a lot of bugs, and most of the time was spent resolving these. Previously, the manuscript had 170,000 words; after bug fixes, only 150,000 words remain.

You can see the new content by deleting the old version of the book and downloading it again. I hope you will continue to enjoy the story.