Summer break.
Tieshikou campus lay quiet and still.
Huang Yifan's home was close to Tieshikou Middle School, and during the holidays, he often came back to wander around and enjoy the scenery.
On this day, after writing two chapters of 'Sword Breaks the Heavens', Huang Yifan picked up his guitar, found an open spot on campus, and began singing many songs from his previous life.
He wasn't formally trained in music, but over the past three years, he had spent time studying lyrics. He had even tried writing his own lyrics for some classic melodies. Though these were just for fun, they helped him relax amid his constant studying and research. Over time, singing and playing guitar became one of his hobbies.
Of course, he had also considered selling some of those songs from his previous life. But in the end, music was just a hobby. Unlike writing, it wasn't something he treated as essential to his life. So most of the time, he simply used music for his own enjoyment.
"Huang Yifan, what are you doing back at school?"
Just as he finished a song, two people walked over.
One was Ye Fei, his former Chinese teacher, and the other was Huang Yilian, his English teacher. The two had grown close through work, got married, and even had a baby the previous year. Huang Yifan had attended their wedding banquet.
"Teacher Huang, Teacher Ye, didn't you go home for the holidays?"
"We had something to take care of here. Oh? You even learned guitar now?"
Ye Fei teased him.
"Huang Yifan, this won't do. You're already so handsome, and now you play guitar too? Are you trying to charm every girl to death?"
Three years had passed, and Huang Yifan was now an adult. The teachers joked freely.
"Back in middle school, you already had half the girls in class falling for you. Jiang Weiwei aside, we still laugh about how she used to mess with you. Then there's Li Luozhi from Class 3, a top student who fell for you too. And your deskmate Zhang Huiping, now the county's top scorer. You've practically swept up all the beauties of Tieshikou. I've been teaching for years, and I've never seen anyone with your level of charm. Honestly, it's a waste you didn't become an entertainer."
"Please, teachers, don't tease me. I was just bored."
"Cut it out. You're all grown up and still pretending in front of us? Want us to gather all your teachers and expose your little secrets?"
"No, no, please spare me. I'm saving those tricks to impress some girls later."
Huang Yifan quickly begged for mercy.
"Hahaha, alright, go on then. We've got things to do."
"Take care, you two elders."
"Elders?" Huang Yilian nearly stumbled, but Ye Fei caught her.
"You brat, calling us old? Just you wait."
…
Lingdian Editorial Department.
"Success because of The Number One White Under Heaven… and failure because of him too."
Wuyue, now the head editor of Group 7 after three years, sighed.
Looking back, everything had changed.
The noob-style writing pioneered by The Number One White Under Heaven had become the dominant trend in web novels. Meanwhile, more literary and serious works had become a niche, avoided by most writers.
But as always, there were downsides.
While popularizing noob-style writing, it also led to severe homogenization across the market. This was especially obvious in the xuanhuan genre.
Now, Xuanhuan had hit a bottleneck. It was hard to find anything refreshing. Even top authors struggled, relying on long word counts and constant updates just to maintain results.
This issue troubled not only Lingdian but the entire web novel industry.
Many editors had tried to revive xuanhuan, but all had failed.
Wuyue recalled something Editor-in-Chief 567 once said:
"It's not that Xuanhuan has no future. It's that no one can break free from the noob-style formula created by The Number One White Under Heaven."
That single sentence perfectly captured the situation.
Back then, The Number One White Under Heaven had reached the pinnacle with 'The School Belle's Bodyguard'. Even after disappearing for three years, that novel still held the top spot on Mobile Reading.
And his noob-style formula had saved Lingdian, leading to countless successful works.
Simply put, he created a writing formula.
Before it, writing relied heavily on talent.
After it, success depended on how well one mastered the formula.
Under this system, Lingdian produced countless works of the same mold.
At first, readers loved it. It satisfied their growing demand for entertainment.
But as more and more similar works appeared, readers grew tired of the repetition.
Still, no one could change it.
Not because they didn't want to, but because no better formula existed.
Many had tried to innovate, to create a new model.
All had failed miserably.
To this day, the noob-style formula still dominates.
Sigh… time to review manuscripts.
Eventually, the market would evolve. A new formula would emerge.
But that would take time.
"'Pure Yang Sword God'."
Wuyue began reviewing submissions.
Despite being a chief editor, he still reads manuscripts daily to stay sharp and understand trends.
The title was decent, though typical of xuanhuan.
Names like 'Pure Yang Sword God', 'Pure Yang Sword Saint', 'Pure Yang Martial Sovereign'… all followed the same pattern.
Just like noob-style writing itself.
Still, such works had their place.
Authors using these titles usually understood the formula.
Within 500 words, the protagonist appeared.
Within another hundred, the background was explained.
Then came the cheat ability.
And then, the protagonist began astonishing everyone.
"Not bad. Nothing innovative, but the formula is solid. It has commercial value."
Wuyue approved it for the contract.
He reviewed several more.
Some rejected, some accepted.
Most were average, nothing special.
"Last one for today."
He clicked on the final manuscript.
'Sword Breaks the Heavens'.
…What kind of title is this?
Wuyue almost laughed.
Even 'Sword Breaks the World' would sound better.
What does "Breaks the Heavens" even mean?
Alright, maybe it means "covering the heavens," but the combination just sounded awkward.
Probably a newbie.
Still, titles didn't determine everything.
What mattered was the content.
As a professional editor, Wuyue wouldn't judge a book by its name.
He opened the first chapter.
Title: Breaking the Engagement.
He frowned.
If the protagonist gets dumped right away, who would want to read this?
Definitely a newbie mistake.
But as he continued reading…
A surge of emotion, anger, and excitement hit him all at once.
==========
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