"Brother White, with bookmarks this hot, what recommendation are you getting next week?"
Everyone in the Striving Authors Group was marveling when Thirty-Two asked Huang Yifan about his recommendation schedule for next week.
"The editor just messaged me privately and said it's Four Seas next week."
"Holy crap, it's actually Four Seas."
The moment Four Seas was mentioned, the group exploded with excitement again.
"What's the big deal? Is this Four Seas recommendation really that amazing?"
"Of course it is! You could say Four Seas is the strongest recommendation on Lingdian Chinese Web. Sometimes its power is even greater than a strong recommendation or a major homepage feature."
"No way, it's that powerful?"
This was Huang Yifan's first time going on Four Seas, so he had no idea about the rules behind it.
"Uh… Brother White, don't tell me you don't know about Four Seas?"
"I don't, it's my first time writing a novel, and I'm not familiar with Lingdian yet."
"What, it's your first time writing?"
Thirty-two was on the verge of tears.
"I thought you were some old veteran using a new pen name after flopping for years. Who would've thought this is actually your first book?"
It wasn't just Thirty-Two. The other authors in the group were also deeply shaken.
This industry of web novels could be said to be easy, but also incredibly hard.
It was easy because there was no barrier to entry. Anyone could write, regardless of gender or prose quality.
But it was also hard to survive. Countless people wrote one book after another, only to flop again and again.
People only saw those platinum authors standing at the top of the pyramid, but how many knew how many years of failure they endured before becoming top-tier authors?
It was just like celebrities in the entertainment industry. How many people knew how many years they spent as extras before becoming famous?
Now that they learned Huang Yifan's book was his very first work, everyone was utterly shocked.
Cases of a single book exploding in popularity were truly rare on Lingdian.
Whenever such cases appeared, they were almost always stunningly talented geniuses.
"Well then, since Brother White is writing for the first time, I'm guessing you haven't written your Four Seas speech yet."
Thirty-two reminded him.
"A Four Seas speech? You mean a message you write after getting onto the Four Seas recommendation?"
"Exactly."
"No way, that needs to be written too? If that's the case, wouldn't you have to write a speech for every recommendation? Like a secondary page recommendation speech or a homepage news recommendation speech?"
"Pfft… looks like Brother White really is a newbie."
Huang Yifan's words made the group burst into laughter. At this moment, Thirty Two took on the role of instructor.
"Let me explain, on Lingdian, there are three types of recommendations that require speeches. One is the strong recommendation launch speech, since the book is going premium, you have to say something. After all, charging money means you should greet your readers properly."
"Yeah, that one definitely has to be written."
Huang Yifan nodded. "Then what's the second one?"
Joining this group was really worth it. Otherwise, trying to figure out all these rules on his own would take who knows how long.
"The second is the major homepage feature speech. This one is usually the most impactful and the most eye-catching. And not just anyone can get a major homepage feature. Only authors with good post-launch performance qualify. Generally speaking, once a work gets a major homepage feature, both popularity and subscriptions skyrocket. It's like movie stars or directors winning an Academy Award. When they win, they definitely have to thank CCTV, MTV, and so on."
"Looks like the major feature speech also has to be written."
Huang Yifan nodded again, agreeing with that.
"Then the third speech is the Four Seas speech?"
"That's right."
Thirty Two confirmed it.
"Four Seas is called a recommendation, but it's also not really a recommendation. It's a recommendation because it still promotes novels. But it's not really a recommendation because the competition is extremely intense. Any work that makes it onto Four Seas will have its author write a very aggressive and eye-catching competitive speech. So the Four Seas speech can also be called a battle speech."
"So the Four Seas speech is basically a declaration of war that wipes out all competing works."
"Brother White really is a genius. You got it right away."
"So that means I need to write a Four Seas speech now?"
Wuyue had just told him he'd be on Four Seas next week. Huang Yifan had no idea he needed to write a speech. After Thirty Two explained it, he realized this speech was necessary.
"Of course, you need to write it. And you have to make it passionate and explosive. Especially Brother White, I don't know if you've heard this yet, but next week, there's also a Level 7 god tier author going on Four Seas at the same time as you."
"Who?"
"The author of 'Peak of Martial Dao', Badao."
"Never heard of him."
"…"
"Well then, Brother White is clearly about to blow a god tier master's chrysanthemum. But it doesn't matter if you don't know Badao. His strength is still excellent. On Lingdian, he's a Level 7 author, meaning he's earned over one million in author royalties. He also has quite a few diehard readers."
After Thirty-Two finished, another author in the group, South of Jiang City, added, "Brother White, normally speaking, Four Seas would never put two hot works on the same recommendation slot. But since they did it this time, the site probably wants you and Badao to fight it out. Fighting it out on other rankings isn't a big deal. The difference between first and second place isn't that huge. But Four Seas is different. As Thirty-Two said, it's not really a recommendation list. It's a competition list, and it's also a word-of-mouth list. Each round of Four Seas can only let one work survive."
"It's like raising gu insects among the Miao people. You throw hundreds of gu insects into a container and give them no food. When they're starving, they start killing each other. In the end, the one that survives becomes the Gu King."
Bean Paste Bun wrote female-oriented novels. Seeing the discussion so lively, she joined in as well.
"What Bean Bun said is right. I also don't know why this Four Seas lineup is so strange. Maybe the editors at Lingdian have water in their brains. But since it's already like this, Brother White, you really need to be careful. Your novel is doing well right now, but if you lose to Badao on Four Seas, your book could easily fall into the ranks of ordinary works, or even be abandoned by readers."
In the end, Thirty-Two gave a summary.
"Thank you, everyone. I understand now."
Only after all the sand is washed away does the gold appear.
Huang Yifan finally understood why web novels could develop so explosively in just over a decade.
It was entirely because of their elimination mechanisms, just like the Four Seas recommendation.
Whether a novel had value or fit the market was not something editors or websites decided.
Everything was left to the readers.
Works were thrown onto recommendation lists to clash head-on. In the end, the one that survived was the classic, most recognized by the market.
"Then I'll go write my Four Seas speech now. Everyone, I'm off."
"Alright, bye-bye. Brother White, looking forward to your battle speech."
"Quietly telling you, Brother White, good luck. Wipe out that Badao. I've disliked that guy for a long time."
"Our Striving Authors Group is your strongest backing."
…
After leaving the Striving Authors Group, Huang Yifan pondered what kind of speech he should write.
In his previous life, Huang Yifan had been a bottom-tier author who barely earned any author royalties. How would he have known about things like speeches?
Even though he had seen many authors write speeches back then, he never thought about what purpose they served.
Now, after joining the Striving Authors Group, he finally understood.
These seemingly ordinary speeches hid countless lethal traps beneath the surface.
Among them, the Four Seas speech carried the strongest killing intent.
No one knew how many authors, to fight for rankings, to make their works stand out, to become famous with a single book, to gain renown across the land, racked their brains to write all kinds of passionate, moving, or hot-blooded speeches.
At this moment, Huang Yifan opened Badao's novel, 'Peak of Martial Dao'.
Earlier, Thirty Two had said that the next round's Four Seas would include this Level 7 god tier author.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never lose.
Huang Yifan decided first to understand this Badao.
Four Seas speech.
Huh, this Badao had actually written his Four Seas speech in advance.
Curious, Huang Yifan directly read Badao's Four Seas speech.
[Friends, I've received word from the editor that next week is Four Seas.
A few days ago, I learned from my editor that another novel would be competing head-to-head with my 'Peak of Martial Dao'.
At first, I thought it was some platinum-level author's work, and I was honestly a bit uneasy.
But later, I finally found out that the novel competing with me is actually the infamous noob style book that's been making waves recently.
Yes, that one. You all know which book I mean.
I'm speechless. Why would the editor come up with such a ridiculous idea?
I'm also speechless. Is the editor underestimating the firepower of 'Peak of Martial Dao'?
Fine! No matter what, the battle has already begun.
Brothers, do you still remember how we fought across the Four Seas back then?
That year, we beat our opponents until they cried for their parents.
That year, we beat our opponents until they had no temper left.
That year, we were the kings of the Four Seas.
That year, we left behind far too many memories.
That year…
As time flows on, yesterday is replayed once more.
The Four Seas journey of 'Peak of Martial Dao' begins again.
My name is Badao. I seek to rule as a supreme tyrant.
Next week, whoever stands with me through life and death is my brother.
My friends, see you next week.]
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