Chapter 3: Updating later, around 3 PM

The update shall come a trifle late, around three in the afternoon.

My apologies, dear readers, for the Ten Great Leagues demand an immense expenditure of time; it is no mere tournament, but a monumental event. The outline is tangled with countless foreshadowings and a vast cast of characters, weaving multiple narrative threads. I must conjure the matches, the plot, the personas, the magical treasures, the cultivation arts, the pacing, the humor, the thrills, and the very logic of the Kunxu realm... Every day, I feel the hours slip through my fingers, never enough.

In truth, ever since the inception of this book, time has felt perpetually scarce, for there is simply so much to ponder—the pacing, the humor, the thrills, the world-building, the outline—all because the world of Kunxu is unfathomably complex. Much of this intricacy resides solely in my notes and outlines; for the sake of readability and entertainment, it cannot all be poured into the prose. A mere sentence or two in the novel may conceal hours of painstaking deliberation over its complete lore and underlying logic.

Yet I have persevered until this very day. Save for New Year's Eve this year, I have not taken a single day off, harboring only the hope that I may continue to endure.

But I must confess, as we draw nearer to the Ten Great Leagues, the factions multiply, the characters burgeon, the plot swells, and the complexity deepens. With so much to weigh, the hours demanded each day have escalated once more; I can only keep compressing my sleep, yet it remains woefully insufficient.

After yesterday's update, I toiled over the plot and the detailed outline until two in the morning. When I could bear it no longer, I slept for a mere four hours before rising to refine the outline and flesh out the text. Yet, after a long and arduous struggle, I realized I still could not finish it before noon.

Many of you follow this book over your meals, even sacrificing your afternoon naps. Thus, I wish to issue this special notice and explanation: please enjoy your lunch in peace, rest well at midday, and do not read the update until after three in the afternoon.

(End of this chapter)