Spirit Immortal Chapter 505 End of Book 10 & Author's Thoughts

Before we get into the author's thoughts, I just want to inform you all that I'll be taking a one week break and will resume posting on 14th of October. I've been really busy at work and my chapter bank has been exhausted. I need some time to just write more chapters, rest, and recharge. Particularly with the next Book...

Hihi~ Linodo again!!!

So… That just happened…

Spoilers ahead! Duh…

Okay, s.h.i.+zen's death was something that I didn't really plan when writing the overall plan for Spirit Immortal, but it was one that I felt was natural at this point of the story. You see, even though I have a macro-view of the beginning and end of the story, I like to leave gaps for the novel to organically grow. And well… This is perhaps the most major decision that I'd made thus far.

See, I wrote myself into a hole. I've made s.h.i.+n too powerful for his own good. He can't grow through battle anymore since he's already strong enough to stomp everything. In the previous arcs, s.h.i.+n had already grown to become smarter in battle. So, I can't write s.h.i.+n as a hot-headed youth that barge takes on fights for no reason whatsoever anymore, and it showed in the recent naval battle where s.h.i.+n decided to stand back while others died in battle.

So, here's the problem… How do I grow s.h.i.+n now? I can't use the traditional troupes of him losing a battle only to become stronger at the last moment. Neither can I make him weaker, since it'll only undermine the growth I've written for him. Thus, I came up with an answer… Having him deal with a blow that he couldn't control.

Back in the day, I watched a Superman movie or TV show where Superman grieves over the loss of his adopted father due to a heart attack. I found that scene to be quite endearing. It showed that no matter how omnipotent and smart you were, there were just some things that were out of a person's control. As many of you know, me being me, every few books follow a certain theme. Book 1 to 4 was Family and Book 5 to 8 was Growth. I won't spoil you on what Book 9 to Book ??? theme is, but I can tell you this. s.h.i.+zen's death is something that fits in the theme like a glove.

When you finish the story, I hope you'll understand why I've chosen this route to go with s.h.i.+n and the story as a whole.

Alright, don't mind me… I'm going to grieve about s.h.i.+zen's death now and curse Junius a thousand times like many of you would...