Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 369 New Book Launches, Where Does the Viciousness Come From?
A week passed by in a flash.

For the entire week, Cao Sheng didn't write a single word, completely emptying his mind, as if he had entered a state of no writing.

Besides attending classes every day, he would go out to sample various delicacies. During this time, Huang Qingya was invited out by him twice. When she didn't have time, he would invite Jiang Xiaoshuang or Tan Yu instead.

In a sense, he managed to distribute the benefits evenly throughout the week.

He looks pretty scummy.

In fact, he has never had a real relationship with Jiang Xiaoshuang or Tan Yu. Their relationship is just a little ambiguous, and they occasionally kiss when the mood is right.

The reason he didn't have any real relationships with them wasn't because he was morally superior, but because he didn't want his private life to become too chaotic or complicated, thus taking up too much of his energy.

They can easily slip away after just a quick meal or a little chat.

Is that really scummy?

He had already overcome this moral hurdle before his rebirth.

For him, not forcing women or using underhanded methods is his bottom line.

During this week.

He received the first draft of "Infernal Affairs" from Mak Yiu-fai.

Although it was called a first draft, it was actually quite complete and had clearly undergone repeated revisions. The characters and plot were basically what he and Mai Yaohui had discussed on the phone.

However, there are some details that were improved by Mak Yiu-fai and Chuang Man-keung.

After Cao Sheng read the script several times, he pointed out a few minor flaws and helped revise it. The script was then considered finalized.

He then contacted Huang Baiming by phone, sent him the script for "Infernal Affairs," and asked if Huang Baiming was interested in co-investing in the film.

Huang Baiming was surprised that Cao Sheng was interested in co-investing this time.
After reading the script, he made several more phone calls to Cao Sheng to discuss the investment of the script.

For example, the investment ratio between the two parties, the total investment amount, which director will be hired to direct, which actors will be cast, and so on.

During their discussions, the two agreed to invite several more companies to co-invest in the film, not only to raise funds but also to combine the resources of multiple film companies.

For example, the top stars of each company, and promotional resources and cinema resources in mainland China and Hong Kong, etc.

This is also a common practice in some big-budget films in the industry.

Joint investment with multiple companies not only allows for risk sharing but also enables the sharing of various resources from multiple companies.

Huang Baiming took Cao Sheng's advice to heart—a script like "Infernal Affairs" can only be filmed with an all-star cast to achieve the best results.

Because this movie is very different from typical police and gangster films.

There are no intense gunfights, explosions, or other large-scale scenes typical of police and gangster films.

The brilliance lies mainly in the acting duels between the various characters.

Only by bringing together a group of stars with excellent acting skills can a spark be ignited in a battle of acting prowess.

Cao Sheng was not greedy.

Although he was the lead screenwriter and the one who initiated the project, he only invested ten million, and then converted the script fee into investment and included it.

That's it.

The remaining investment shares were all given to other film companies.

Even the script fee was only calculated as 100 million RMB in his investment share.

As for the screenwriting fees for Mak Yiu-fai and Chong Man-keung, their combined fees amounted to only 40.

Cao Sheng had only one request: the remake rights to "Infernal Affairs" belonged exclusively to him, the screenwriter.

As for other copyrights, he can share them with all investors, including the rights to develop sequels.

Huang Baiming readily agreed to the conditions. The movie hadn't even started filming yet, and he felt that the remake rights were a useless asset. If he wanted to sell the remake rights, he would have to wait at least five years, and at most, he could only sell them once or twice.

Even though he was a veteran of the Hong Kong film industry, he couldn't have predicted that this movie would eventually sell remake rights to multiple countries.

Cao Sheng remembers that in the original timeline, the film's remake rights were bought by the United States and South Korea.

There may be other countries that bought it too, but he just didn't pay attention.

Since he didn't hold a large share of the investment, Huang Baiming had taken control of the project, so Cao Sheng didn't need to worry much.

A week later.

As night fell, he sat in his rented teacher's dormitory, in front of his open computer.

On the computer, the outline and detailed outline of the new book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" have already been opened.

He plans to officially begin writing "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" tonight.

A pot of brewed Qimen black tea sits next to the computer.

All the preparations were complete, but he didn't rush to start.

Among martial arts works, the one that left the deepest impression on him was Shenji's "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake".

He still remembers the male protagonist Wang Chao and the female protagonist Tang Zichen from the book, as well as many of the killing moves in the book.

Examples include: Pegasus stepping on a swallow, crocodile cutting its tail, and overturning the seal.

Examples include: ox tongue palm and spider treading water.

and many more.

Before Shenji wrote "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake," there had already been many online novels about traditional kung fu.

However, when "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" was at its peak, the industry generally recognized that Shenji pioneered the genre of Chinese martial arts.

What is the reason?

Cao Sheng believes it's due to differences in writing style and the different levels of achievement of the works.

Before the publication of "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake," the novels about traditional kung fu that appeared in the industry were actually very close to traditional martial arts novels in terms of writing style.

It's supposed to be a traditional kung fu duel set in modern society, but it focuses on internal strength, true qi, and the competition of various moves.

In terms of cultivation system, it does not make any breakthroughs compared to traditional martial arts novels.

It's just that the story is set in modern society.

However, "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" pioneered a completely new cultivation system and a completely new way of writing.

This book does not contain the mystical internal energy found in traditional martial arts novels.

Instead, one should first train the muscles, bones, and skin, then the blood, internal organs, and marrow, and then fuse the vast amount of qi and blood with the spirit to achieve the effect of qi and blood embracing the elixir. The highest realm is the Way of Sincerity, which allows one to foresee dangers and avoid them in advance. This allows one to evade attacks from modern firearms, even if a firearm is locked on from thousands of miles away, one can sense it in advance.

It is clearly a cultivation system that seems very realistic, yet it manages to produce miraculous effects, with the highest level being even more miraculous than the highest level in traditional martial arts novels.

This book subverts the traditional martial arts novel writing style in too many ways.

Therefore, it is widely recognized that it pioneered the genre of Chinese martial arts.

It was this book that allowed "Chinese martial arts" to take root in the hearts of countless readers, distinguishing it from the traditional kung fu that the public is familiar with.

What is Chinese martial arts? It is the kind of martial art that kills without performing.

However, such martial arts were destined not to be favored by those in power.

reason?

Because the pursuit of the highest realm of Chinese martial arts—the Way of Sincerity—requires one to let one's thoughts flow freely in all things, to act according to one's conscience, and not to compromise one's principles.

Because the way of utmost sincerity imitates the instincts of various wild animals in nature.

Why are so many wild animals in nature able to foresee impending danger and migrate or escape before natural disasters strike?
It is because those wild animals act entirely on their instincts that they retain the ability to predict major natural disasters.

Humans are animals, and are capable of foreseeing major crises such as natural disasters.

However, in human society, they gradually distorted their nature and thus gradually lost the ability to predict natural disasters and crises.

The way of sincerity is to restore humanity's ability to foresee danger.

This requires practitioners to unleash their natural instincts, act spontaneously, and follow their hearts.

If you want to kill someone, you have to do it immediately.

Regardless of who the other party is or what their status is.

Which leader would like someone who practices martial arts?

This is no longer a potential dangerous element, but a confirmed dangerous element.

If the cultivator is kind by nature, it's somewhat better; but if the cultivator is evil by nature yet persistently pursues the path of utmost sincerity, then he is simply a demon from a martial arts novel.

Shenji's novels have always been recognized as being very violent, which is very evident in the book "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake".

Because of the "Way of Sincerity" setting, the male protagonist is a ruthless killer, and his methods are extremely cruel. He often tears his opponents in half with his bare hands or uses the "Heaven-Turning Seal" to smash their heads into their chests...

Furthermore, the male protagonist sometimes has very arrogant reasons for killing—because he wants to pursue the path of utmost sincerity, to ensure that he acts according to his own will, and to make his thoughts clear.

Therefore, even if the opponent's crime is not punishable by death, the protagonist will still take action if he wants to kill the opponent.

The protagonist's reason for killing is simply to find a way to make his mind clear.

From a writer's perspective, Cao Sheng felt that this was both a weakness and a strength of Shenji's works.

Because of the fierce energy permeating his works, the male protagonists he creates possess a unique charm, a captivating and wicked allure.

Later, as Shenji's wealth grew and his life became more comfortable, the resentment in his heart naturally dissipated. Shenji's works became more and more peaceful, and without that resentment, they were not as good to watch, in Cao Sheng's opinion.

Sometimes, Cao Sheng felt that Shenji was fortunate to have caught up with a good era.

If such works had appeared a few years later, they might have been reported and taken down by some people on the grounds that "the works have incorrect values".

Cao Sheng recalled that in the original timeline, there was a trend online for several years—whether it was film and television works or online novels, there were always people who would report them "for their distorted values," and they were successful in reporting them repeatedly. As a result, countless works were blocked or ordered to be modified.

Cao Sheng's own works have also been subject to such reports, forcing him to modify parts of the plot on several occasions.

As a writer, he felt helpless about this phenomenon.

But nothing can be done.

Now it's 2001, and online writing is almost unrestricted; you can write whatever you want without any problems.

A male protagonist with a slightly wicked air is even more popular with readers.

The protagonists who are portrayed as virtuous, glorious, and righteous actually have no market.

This can be seen as a form of rebellion by online novel readers against tradition.

From childhood to adulthood, the male protagonists in movies, novels, and other literary works we see are almost always portrayed as virtuous and upright, and they are always tortured to the point of death by the villains before they can defeat them.

After watching too many works like this, readers generally hope to see male protagonists who are even more villainous than the villains themselves.

The male protagonist in Shenji's works is very much like a villain.

It fully satisfies the tastes of a wide range of readers.

Even though Shenji made the male protagonist in "Yang Shen" treat his own father as an enemy and was determined to kill him with his own hands, such a storyline was still loved by countless readers, which led to "Yang Shen" achieving an unprecedented eight consecutive months of winning the monthly ticket championship on Qidian.

and so……

The main reason why Cao Sheng, who was sitting in front of the computer, hesitated to start writing was that he was afraid he couldn't capture that kind of fierceness in his writing.

The main reason is that he has earned too much money in the past two years.

I've already bought three residential buildings.

Last year's revenue even exceeded 100 million.

They bought one villa after another.

He has already earned enough money to last several lifetimes.

Life is already very happy.

Does he still harbor resentment?

Why does resentment lead to death?

Because of dissatisfaction with life, and with many people and things, over time, intense resentment can accumulate in one's heart.

But in the past two years, he has not encountered any people or things that make him dissatisfied.

Almost everyone around him smiled at him, many of their smiles even being ingratiating and flattering.

He was doing incredibly well in his writing, life, and relationships.

If he still harbors resentment, then he's a complete psychopath.

But he also wanted to capture the same kind of ferocity found in "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" in this new book.

How to do it?
Is the male protagonist portrayed as the main villain?
It's barely feasible! But the taste isn't quite right.

Although the male protagonist in "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" is evil, he also has a righteous side, and when he is righteous, he is more righteous than anyone else.

When they are evil, they are even more evil than the villains.

This kind of ambiguous, morally ambiguous character is the most difficult to portray.

As Cao Sheng pondered, he slowly narrowed his eyes. He thought of another way: to turn himself into a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur).

Actively distorting one's own values.

Change your perspective on some people and things.

It makes things that originally felt abnormal seem normal.

That state is close to being insane.

This feels right...

(End of this chapter)