All-rounder Artist

"It's here!"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat!

This was a novel that had propped up countless expectations before it even hit the shelves!

The Legend of the Condor Heroes still had lingering influence.

Not a single bookstore dared to underestimate the prospects of The Return of the Condor Heroes, and no bookstore doubted the wuxia genre anymore...

In such an atmosphere.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Three days later.

It was just after dawn.

Readers were already setting out, unable to wait any longer!

At some major bookstores, countless customers even formed long, dragon-like queues at the entrances!

And at the entrances of all the major bookstores.

Countless standees and banners had been unfurled early on.

Things like "Chu Kuang's New Book Shocks the Market", "The Legend of the Condor Heroes Sequel Now On Sale", "Chu Kuang's Second Martial Arts Masterpiece The Return of the Condor Heroes following The Legend of the Condor Heroes", and so on.

...

New Cathay Bookstore.

"Please don't push!"

"Everyone, please queue in an orderly manner to buy books to prevent accidents!"

"Do you have enough books this time?"

"Don't tell me again that you're short on stock and need to reorder, wasting my time for nothing."

"Rest assured!"

"We have plenty of stock this time, absolutely no problem, we know everyone's enthusiasm for The Return of the Condor Heroes!"

...

Soaring Dragon Bookstore.

"The doors are opening, they're opening!"

"Why are you only opening at seven o'clock!"

"I've been here since six in the morning, waiting in vain for an hour at the door."

"That's nothing."

"I came over at five!"

"Lucky it's Saturday today, so I don't have to go to work. Otherwise, I'd really be afraid I wouldn't get a copy."

...

Universal Bookstore.

"Start lining up!"

"I can see the books inside."

"Oh my god!"

"The first three rows of shelves at the main store of Universal Bookstore are completely filled with The Return of the Condor Heroes—it's the first time I've seen such a scene!"

"Other books have been relegated to the corners!"

"Even Mr. Antarctica's bestsellers have been squeezed onto the back shelves!"

...

Tranquility Bookstore.

"Two copies of The Return of the Condor Heroes!"

"I'll take a copy of Chu Kuang the old rascal's The Return of the Condor Heroes too!"

"Old rascal, please, don't spare my feelings. I'm resilient now and can take it. You must absolutely torment the Zhao people in this one!"

"Hahaha, brother, a fellow enthusiast indeed!"

"The Zhao people are too arrogant."

"Can you all stop it, I'm a Zhao person, and I'm not afraid of being tormented!"

...

From morning to noon, such frenzied scenes played out in all the major bookstores!

No one wasted time reading the book before buying.

This time, everyone's trust in Chu Kuang seemed to have climbed another notch!

More than ninety-five percent of customers ran straight to the cash registers as soon as they got their books!

To pay quickly!

They were in a rush to go back and read!

The stock prepared by the bookstores this time was indeed sufficient.

Just as the shelves were about to be emptied, a number of staff members, who had been on standby from the start, would skillfully carry a new box of unopened books to restock.

This happened very frequently.

The shelves were always cleared out in no time.

The staff were so exhausted, not to mention the cashiers who had grown tired from handling all the money.

This was the best first-day sales for a new book of Chu Kuang's.

In the past, although Chu Kuang's books also sold well, they often took some time to ferment.

It was only after the word of mouth really picked up that the bookstores would experience a peak in sales.

This time was unique!

Due to the association between The Return of the Condor Heroes and The Legend of the Condor Heroes, readers burst forth with an unprecedented enthusiasm to buy the book!

...

Silver Blue Books.

The relevant departments kept receiving calls, from Blue Star's major bookstores:

"We need to restock!"

"Another hundred thousand copies!"

"The branch in the west city is barely holding on, send us some more!"

"Our bookstore headquarters is a bit cramped, we want to set up a few stalls outside, but we don't have enough stock... City management? Don't worry about city management, just approve our order!"

"Stock up!"

"What we ordered before was enough, but it's always good to have a reserve, there will definitely be lots of readers coming to buy later on!"

The phone wouldn't stop ringing!

The hotter the book sales, the larger the inventory orders!

However, the editors at Silver Blue Books had complicated expressions on their faces.

If peers saw this scene, they would find it very strange:

Chu Kuang's new book is selling so well, and you, Silver Blue Books, as the publisher, why is everyone wearing a bitter face?

Fantasy Department.

An editor sighed:

"Once the readers see how Huang Rong is portrayed, they're probably going to explode."

"Huang Rong might not make readers explode, but the part about Little Dragon Maiden will, that's where I stopped. Anyway, I'm not Chu Kuang's editor, so I didn't have to force myself to finish the whole thing."

"Lucky you didn't keep going."

"Holy shit, there's even worse stuff later on?"

"Personally, I think it's worse. Yang Guo loses an arm and becomes one-armed. That's where I stopped; I couldn't read any further."

"Fuck!"

"Yang Guo loses an arm!?"

"Huang Rong ruins her character, the female lead loses her chastity, the male lead loses an arm, Chu Kuang must be crazy. With so many readers buying the book, if they start to riot, it will be a huge scene!"

The editors were in total panic!

This old rascal has truly gone mad!

At that moment, Ol' Xiong appeared, his tone very grim:

"All of you, just focus on your own jobs. The company's PR department is already prepared. Once the readers start making noise, they will proceed with the prearranged plan to pacify them."

The editors were dumbfounded.

Is it that serious?

Silver Blue's PR department was prepared in advance?

In all the years, the company had never shown such a stance, right?

Chu Kuang's novels have always been tragic, but Silver Blue's PR department has never armed themselves in advance like today—

The reason Silver Blue Books couldn't get excited as the outside world imagined was because:

Many people inside knew just how heartbreaking Chu Kuang's new book was!

Even more so.

Silver Blue Books was already prepared for the fact that in a few days, maybe even tomorrow, the sales of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" would plummet.

Therefore.

The hotter "The Return of the Condor Heroes" sells now, the bigger the backlash might be later!

"That said."

At this moment, "YangFeng", Chu Kuang's first editor, suddenly spoke up: "Actually, I personally recommend everyone finish reading the book."

An editor responded incredulously, "How the hell are we supposed to continue reading it?"

"YangFeng" hesitated a bit: "I couldn't accept those heartbreaking parts when I read them, but after finishing, I had a lot of different feelings, feelings that are hard to experience without finishing the whole book. It gave me this vague feeling..."

Ol' Xiong looked up at him: "What feeling?"

"YangFeng" spoke softly: "I feel like Chu Kuang isn't senselessly tormenting the readers, he indeed wrote it on purpose, but he's also helpless because he can only write it this way, and only by writing it this way can he..."

"No way?"

The editor next to him interrupted "YangFeng" directly: "When we first saw the Dragon Rider plot, you were the one who criticized it the most in the department, so why the change of heart now?"

"It's still the same reason."

"YangFeng" looked deeply, speaking earnestly: "You'll understand how brilliant the novel is only after you've read it in its entirety."

Ol' Xiong appeared contemplative.

Although he hadn't finished "The Return of the Condor Heroes", he had still forced himself to read the sixteen-year reunion plot between Yang Guo and Little Dragon Maiden that morning.

That plot had moved Ol' Xiong like never before.

He had countless emotions in his heart, yet he didn't know how to express them.

For some reason, the previously furious emotions had quietly faded a lot.

Perhaps, as "YangFeng" said.

He should finish the book before reflecting and judging.

However, the other editors were curling their lips, quite annoyed with "YangFeng", thinking he had already stepped into a PR role, even including his own colleagues!

"I don't believe you for a second!"

Pulling out their phones, the editors started to refresh the internet, keeping an eye on the readers' reactions.

According to the time, some readers should have gotten to the part where Little Dragon Maiden loses her virginity.

As expected.

Glancing at the company website's message board, an editor sighed and said, "It's already started."

On the message board of Silver Blue Books.

A comment full of exclamation points was striking:

[Chu Kuang, you old rascal!! I can't quench the hatred in my heart unless you're dead!! Little Dragon Maiden was actually defiled by the antagonist!!!?]

The editors fell silent.

Ol' Xiong's heart skipped a beat.

What was bound to come, would always come; the unavoidable "Dragon Maiden Incident" had now begun to unfold...