"Oh heavens, oh earth, you finally came!"

On December 15th, in Shen City, within the female section of the Endpoint Group’s editorial department, in the office of the gold medal editing studio, sitting at the computer desk, Xia Sheng was overjoyed. Looking at the TT chat window with ’A Breeze of the World’, he operated the mouse with slight excitement, selecting to download a document sent over by the other party titled "Draft of Sword and Magic".

It had been more than a month since ’A Breeze of the World’ sent him the outline of "Chronicles of Sword and Magic". During this time, Xia Sheng had made numerous calls urging for the manuscript, and now he finally received the beginning of this novel’s text.

Such eagerness was not only because the author ’A Breeze of the World’ was a platinum writer who needed focused attention, but also because the outline of "Sword and Magic" was extraordinarily exquisite, making Xia Sheng excessively expectant.

In fact, it wasn’t just him; many male section editors who had seen the outline of "Sword and Magic" also occasionally inquired when the book would be completed. They were eager to have a look and see whether the transformation of ’A Breeze of the World’, a platinum author in the female section, would be successful or a flop, and whether the text could match the grandeur of the outline.

"Longing for the stars and the moon, finally, I get to see the true face of Mount Lu!"

"I hope your pen creates wonders; otherwise... you better go back and continue writing for the female section!"

Various thoughts flashed through Xia Sheng’s mind. The document finished downloading, opened automatically, and dense clusters of words appeared on the screen, revealing a glimpse of the magnificent world shown in the outline of "Sword and Magic" within Xia Sheng’s heart.

This initial draft of fifty thousand words and sixteen Chapters was written over several days after a Shared Dream between Li Peifeng and Huang Tianxuan.

The main purpose of that Shared Dream for Li Peifeng was to build a close relationship with Huang Tianxuan in the dream, but this goal was not achieved smoothly.

Because once Huang Tianxuan entered the dream, she wanted to wholeheartedly immerse herself in learning; exploring the origin of magical energy in the Otherworld, using technology from another world to study the strange phenomena and rules in the universe, discerning the differences and similarities between dream and reality’s physical rules, and analyzing whether the two planets were parallel planes or in the same universe, among other issues.

In short, Dr. Huang extended the spirit of scientific research from reality into the dream, with the greatest wish of influencing or changing herself in the real world through the dream. As for the emotional entanglement with Li Peifeng, Huang Tianxuan didn’t regard it as important.

This attitude from Huang Tianxuan also influenced Li Peifeng, who had to become a like-minded comrade with her, delving together into the research of science and mysticism in the Otherworld.

In the Otherworld, a scientist is inevitably a mage, and a mage is inevitably a scientist. Mystery and science are both opposing and complementary, both considered knowledge systems for understanding the universe and all things.

Fortunately, during their learning process, they didn’t unduly delay the establishment of their relationship. It just happened naturally, with everything falling into place—romance, marriage, becoming a pair of researcher couples.

Knowing each other, holding onto each other, in a plain, busy yet warm and loving life, they walk hand in hand together on the journey of exploring the truths of the universe, which is also very romantic. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

But as the dream hurriedly ended, the intimate connection and romantic allure they shared in the dream were shattered by the heavy reality, leaving only a trace of tenderness that intersected in their gaze when Li Peifeng and Huang Tianxuan awoke and had breakfast, leaving barely audible traces.

What was more regrettable was that their several research outcomes in the dream, such as methods for cultivating magic or special abilities, or physical laws not discovered in reality, all ended in failure due to different world rules or other unknown reasons.

Fortunately, Li Peifeng, due to repeated dreaming, gained a deeper understanding of the Otherworld, and this time, with Huang Tianxuan, spent ’over ten years’ doing research and practicing magic. He could be said to have gazed at the astronomy above, observed the geography below, understood All Spirits, comprehended magic energy, analyzed martial skills, sensed mysteries, comprehended philosophy, engaged in technology... exhaustively pursuing the essence of things to comprehend the heavenly principles of the Otherworld.

In short, after this Shared Dream, Li Peifeng gained new insights into the essence and natural laws of the Otherworld and all things within it, as if Wang Yangming attained enlightenment in Longchang, Li Peifeng too attained enlightenment in the Shared Dream with Huang Tianxuan.

Upon waking, Mr. Li fully understood how he should go about writing "Sword and Magic". Ideas flowed like a spring, thoughts were smooth, writing as if inspired by gods, focusing solely on creation without considering anything else.

He completed a sixty thousand words initial draft in four days, revised and reduced it to fifty thousand words on the fifth day, felt satisfied, and sent it to editor Xia Sheng...

"Phew~"

Half an hour later, Xia Sheng, still unsatisfied, originally planned to read it for the third time. Glancing at the time, he realized he had already delayed too long, so he slapped his forehead and directly sent the file to the male section editors’ group.

"(Acting cool), A Breeze of the World’s new book is finally out; everyone lend me your eyes!"

(Editor-in-chief of Group 2) Old Sword: "Finally out after countless calls; if you hadn’t sent it, I’d have forgotten."

(Editor-in-chief of Group 6) Peanuts: "The usual rule? Two dinners at He Clan’s official cuisine?"

(Editor-in-chief of Group 1) Lemon: "Plus two bottles of Maotai."

Xia Sheng snorted disdainfully, typed: "Read it if you want, if not, I’ll take it back. Letting you read my god’s new work ahead of time, not having you treat me to dinner is already good enough!"

(Editor of Group 9) Yy: "Oh, you stood up! Is it really exciting? Let me take a look first..."

These editors just received it, and only after reading can they comment. There is still some time left, so Xia Sheng rubbed his chin and opened the document again, planning to read it a third time.

Sending the draft of "Sword and Magic" to those male-oriented editors was something Midsummer wasn’t sure about, wanting to hear their feedback. It would be best if they could point out some flaws so she could relay them to Li Peifeng and have him make improvements to enhance the quality of the novel.

Otherwise, Midsummer felt that if she, as a big editor, expressed her true feelings, it would be a bit undignified, like saying, "Wow, wow, wow, it’s so amazing, it’s earth-shattering and soul-stirring, absolutely incredible!"

"Li Peifeng, I’m begging you, write quickly, and publish as soon as possible. I’ve already prepared enough recommendation resources for you!"

"The next Chapter, send me the next Chapter immediately, I want to read it!!"

Does it sound reasonable? Not at all!

Indeed, this 50,000-word draft of "The Chronicles of Sword and Magic" is unexpectedly captivating, surpassing expectations, even with a brilliant outline beforehand, it doesn’t affect the excitement of the text, but rather exceeds it.

The story begins quite commonly, with the male protagonist in the real world having frequent bizarre dreams, where the people and events seem both real and absurd, yet it doesn’t affect his sleep or daily life. The protagonist doesn’t mind and even considers dream traveling to the Otherworld as fun.

Until one morning when he wakes up to find he seems to have truly traveled to the dream world. Before him is a vast, boundless black sea, and above his head are two stars smaller than the sun, proving it. Under the sunlight, he stands alone on a small boat with limited supplies, alone, with nothing else.

The protagonist attempts to return to the real world through sleep, but fails. Worse, the supplies on the boat are running low. Drifting aimlessly on the sea, unaware of the direction of any land or islands, the protagonist must face reality, abandon hopes of return, and begin a ’Robinson Crusoe’-style survival journey on the sea to stay alive...

Facing life-threatening danger, survival.

This is the initial crisis the protagonist encounters in the novel. In the second Chapter, the protagonist uses the limited resources on the boat to create a simple distillation device to purify fresh water, makes fishing rods to ensure a food supply, and improves the sail to speed up the small boat, though he still can’t discern the direction of land, at least the speed has increased greatly.

These events may seem dull, but Li Peifeng, with his captivating writing, easily immerses readers into the story, swaying with the protagonist’s emotions.

More importantly, the unheard-of magical creatures in the Nether Sea, the magnificent celestial bodies in the Otherworld’s sky, and the various anomalies differing from the physical rules of the real world are thoroughly described at the beginning.

Strange yet realistic, magical yet unbelievable.

A world of fantasy that at least in terms of authenticity surpasses all magical literature is revealed through these minute clues.

Li Peifeng interspersed many poems describing these wonders of the Otherworld within the text, even attaching several hand-drawn illustrations, immersing the reader and enhancing the depth or dimensionality of "Sword and Magic."

Xia Sheng could affirm that it would give readers a feeling of watching a 3D Otherworld version of "Life of Pi," as the protagonist gradually explores this world.

The Nether Sea is fraught with dangers, and for survival, the protagonist must not only distill pure water and fish but also fight off unknown ferocious marine creatures daily.

In Chapter Five, Li Peifeng places the protagonist in a life-and-death crisis. At a critical moment, using experiences from previous dreams, the protagonist senses magical energy and kills a strange fish capable of leaping out of the water and gliding, awakening a cheat power and gaining control over the wind, making the survival journey at sea much smoother. He even befriends a cute marine creature with dolphin-like intelligence.

In Chapter Sixteen, after twenty odd days and nights of drifting, the protagonist finally finds an island. In great joy, he lands, only to discover intelligent beings that are completely different from humans.

The 50,000-word draft concludes here...

(Editor of Group 2) Blade: "(Angry) Damn it, where’s the next Chapter?"

(Editor of Group 6) Peanuts: "It’s useless at everything, but the master of cliffhangers!"

(Editor of Group 7) December: "The ending of this Chapter is too natural. For such a cliffhanger expert, Old Xia, you can’t be polite, give me Li Peifeng’s address!!!"

(Editor of Group 9) Yy: "Midsummer, do you have more manuscripts? Send them immediately, or I’ll smash your computer!"

Midsummer: "(Sweat drop) There’s no more, really no more, I’ll urge him for you!!"