Hey everyone, Deathblade here. The author, Divine Dreamwalker, included a post-novel note to his readers. I never translated it... until now! There are a few paragraphs I left out of the translation, specifically ones in which he goes on and on about his forthcoming novel. He doesn't give details of the novel, but tries to hype up the readers to check it out, and goes to great pains to announce the release date. Other than leaving those parts out, this is the complete note. I hope it gives some added insight into the author and the story:

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The book is complete!

Let’s be friends for my next book....

Sage Monarch is finally over.

A myth has become a thing of the past. Buried in the sands of time.

When I put the final word on the final sentence, I felt extremely exhausted, so much so that I almost don’t want to write another book. I don’t feel like moving a muscle or typing a single word.

I’ve never felt so tired, but at the same time, I've never felt so relaxed.

I've written many books. From Buddha is the Dao, to Old Demon of the Black Mountain, to Romance of Dragons and Snakes, to Yang God, to Eternal Life. And finally Sage Monarch. Every time I finish a book, it feels like passing a tribulation or being born again. A book is a world. The characters, the scenes, the emotions; they’re my life.

Every time I finish a book, I feel like a good friend has passed away.

When I finished Buddha is the Dao, Zhou Qing vanished, never again to appear in my world. When I finished Black Mountain, Wang Zhong vanished. Dragons and Snakes’ Wang Zhao; Yang God’s Hong Yi; Eternal Life's Fang Han; And now Sage Monarch's Yang Qi. All of them have vanished from my world.

Whenever a friend passes away, my heart becomes incomparably desolate.

Thankfully, I have many other friends in the form of you readers, from my time at Qidian to my time at Zongheng. You have supported me and helped me.

When I came to Zongheng to write Eternal Life and Sage Monarch, it was controversial.

However, I can say that, in Buddha is the Dao, I wrote a myth from ancient times.

In Old Demon of the Black Mountain, I was ‘using the past to disparage the present.’

In Romance of Dragons and Snakes, I gave you a world of traditional martial arts.

In Yang God, I explained the Book of Changes in a fantasy medieval setting.

In Eternal Life, I wrote about countless magical treasures, magical items, and enchanting worlds. By now, the three thousand great daos of Eternal Life have been read by many readers, and used many times as a reference point.

In Sage Monarch, I wrote about passionate friendship and vehement zeal. In the impure lands, friends stood together against the Crown Prince. When I wrote that part, it really got my blood boiling. However, after that, things changed, to the point where I felt like I wasn't in control of my writing.

The ending of Sage Monarch was hard-hitting, crazy, and hysterical.

The endings of Yang God, Eternal Life, and Sage Monarch all had this tendency. The characters were crazy and ruthless. Of them all, Sage Monarch was the most exaggerated in that way.

In fact, I think it's fitting to coin a new genre term for Eternal Life and Sage Monarch: Hysterical Genre.

Buddha is the Dao was Prehistoric Genre. Romance of Dragons and Snakes was Martial Arts Genre.

Eternal Life and Sage Monarch were crazy and hysterical. Given that I've written two such books, two hysterical stories, I think I'm going to call it a day. I'm never again going to write anything similar.

Of course, both books were major successes. For legal reasons, I had to give the copyright for Eternal Life to Qidian. However, Sage Monarch has already become a computer game and a manga.

That’s how it is in life: if you don’t go insane, you can’t become a buddha.

Now that I've finished these two books, I'm finished going insane, so now I can become a buddha.

I, Divine Dreamwalker, intend to write something very different for my next book.

It will be the book in which I break out of my cocoon.

I'm going to write something completely different, something totally unexpected. It’s a book that's been percolating in my mind for a long time.

However, having just finished Sage Monarch, I need to take a break to rest and do some thinking. You won’t see any new stuff from me during that time.

There were some interesting takes on Sage Monarch. There was even a period of time in which, to my surprise, people claimed that I had someone ghostwrite this book. I was shocked by that. Whether a book is good or bad, I can tell you that I take my responsibility as a writer very seriously. Every single word was written by me, Divine Dreamwalker. I've never used ghostwriters, and I never will.

When I write a book, that book is like my wife. And when you think about it that way, wouldn’t using a ghostwriter be like cucking myself? Only a complete and utter lunatic would do something like that.

I, Divine Dreamwalker, am completely one-of-a-kind.

If I'm going to do something crazy, I'm going to do it as crazily as the most insane monster. Like the king of hell.

Writing Sage Monarch was a real milestone for me. When I finished it, I felt like I had transformed. Like I’d risen to a higher level of existence.

Although it pushed me into madness, it also helped me to understand many new things. And it's transformed me as a writer because of that.

It’s already been turned into a very popular game by Perfect World. You’ll be able to play it soon.

It’s actually the first game created from my works.

Sage Monarch, the novel, was a milestone, filled with all of the madness and hysteria of my soul. And I put that into the game. You will find clues in the game that point you to the primordial aura of Buddha is the Dao. You will sense the combination of ancient and modern from Old Demon oh the Black Mountain. You will feel the brutal hand-to-hand combat of Dragons and Snakes, the confucian ideals and mysteries of the Book of Changes from Yang God, and the endless worlds and brutality of Eternal Life. And of course, the hysteria of Sage Monarch.

I am an NPC in the game, and everyone can come yell at me.

Maybe if enough readers get together, they can force me onto my knees and make me beg for mercy.

Don’t you think it would be cool to surround the BOSS version of Divine Dreamwalker, beat him until his blood drains out, and force him to say, “Spare me! I’ll be your slave forever!” That's definitely something that was said a lot in the novel.

Of course, that BOSS would also say, “How dare you provoke me! If you don’t let me go, then no one in heaven or earth will be able to save you!”

You readers also have the chance to become NPCs in the game. Sign up on my Sina Weibo.

I will be releasing announcements about the game there, and also information about my new book.

I really put my heart and soul into the Sage Monarch game, I hope you all really love it.

When a book ends, the main character never appears again. For me, it's a close friend lost into the sands of time.

Their faces are familiar to me. Zhou Qing. Wang Zhong. Hong Yi. Fang Han. Yang Qi. They’re all gone, never to appear again. Is it possible that, one day, their memory and influence will actually fade from my heart, along with all the emotion and joy they brought?

I really can’t stand the thought of all those familiar figures disappearing forever.

I hope that they can continue living, perhaps in the Sage Monarch game. Maybe you can interact with them, and even resurrect them.

If you can find it in your heart to carry on their memory, I will be forever grateful.

Then I can enter a new era, and write a book that truly belongs to me, Divine Dreamwalker.

Brothers, Sisters, readers of all sorts, I promise not to let you down.

We’ll be friends forever.

Including when I write my next book. Deal?