A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Author's Q&A (5)
Author's Q&A (5)
Tremendous
Q: How long did it take for you to plan out RToC?
A: I never kept track of the exact time, but Ive thought about RToC for about 4 years.
Q: You were not a full time author???
A: Full time author I want to be
Q: When you write, you make foreshadowing about how the cycle will go and most of the foreshadowed things happen during the cycle. Is that how you normally write? Or is that because of the episodic nature of the cycles in A Regressors Tale of Cultivation?
A: A Regressors Tale of Cultivation is the first time I wrote something so long, so I dont know yet.
Q: Does your management try to stop you from posting multiple chapters a day because you missed posting one or you just felt like it??
A: Management tells me to restrain myself but unless I feel like my health is really deteriorating or management convinces me very strongly, I tend to push through it.
Q: Which ones harder? Doing this qna or writing one chapter?
A: Writing one chapter.
Q: A Regressors Tale of Cultivation seems to lack infinite loop cliches such as using future information to make profits. Will we never see stuff like take the best elixir of the Bright Cold Realm that will appear in 4000 years?
A: Woah How did I never think of something so simple????? Lmao Thank you, youve provided me with a brand new perspective.
Q: How did you survive after doing Foolish Old Man Moves Mountain and posting 7 chapters in a row?
A: Im dying right now.
Plans for the Novel
Q: You said you plan on ending RToC in 700 chapters, do you think you will post more?
A: I dunno how things will go I am trying to complete the series as fast as I can and prepare for the next work but it might become longer but I am trying to make every chapter as long as I can to finish the work as fast as I can.
Q: Any plans on side stories after the completion of RToC?
A: I think I will write five to six chapters about what the characters are doing after the end?
Q: There is so much foreshadowing right now. Will all of them be resolved before completion? Or will there be side stories afterwards?
A: I will probably resolve them all before the end?
Q: Maybe side stories about the end of all the cycles?
A: Not a bad idea.
Webtoon
Q: Any news about the webtoon or paperback?
A: Some news about the webtoon, but paperbacks will have to wait a long time.
Q: Whens the webtoon coming out?? I want to see it as soon as possible, but you should take the time unless its high quality I want to see it properly.
A: I think the illustrator will do well. To be honest, webtoons are more of the webtoon artists work than mine, so I dont think I have to step in unless things get really bad.
BlueMangoAdes note: No real news about the webtoon adaptation yet!
Next Work
Q: What genre will your next work be??
A: I really want to write dark fantasy but Im not sure. Ive been watching HunterXHunter when I have some time recently, I might write about academies
Q: This is a bit too early to ask, but will your next work be in the same or different setting?
A: I have plans for both works in the same setting and completely unrelated works.
Q: Are there no puppets you can wear like Iron Man? Is it too inefficient?
A: Its possible but thats the identity of a protagonist of a different work I am planning so
What Happens Next
Q: How long will the True Immortal Realm part be? Is it just a short journey at the very end? Or will it be long like the Middle Realm part?
A: It will be long. Which is why I want to go through the Middle Realm part as fast as I can, but
Q: Will there be characters from the future?
A: There is no plan for a person from a SF setting but if you mean the future in a conceptual way thats iffy.
A similar being has appeared already. But direct time travel other than Seo Eun-hyun will not happen.
Q: What will happen to Gyu Ryeon, that Heart Tribe slave, or the spider musician who tried to save him? Will Eun-hyun save them from Seo Hweol?
A: The probability is high given Eun-hyuns personality?
Q: Will we visit the Black Ghost Valley? If so, will we visit this cycle or the next?
A: We will. Specifics are spoilers.
Q: Will we visit named but later unmentioned Middle Realms such as the Ancient Force Realm?
A: There are plans to visit, but unsure if things will go according to plan.
Q: Will we have a happy ending?
A: Spoiler. But I like happy endings.
Q: Will we ever see what happens after Seo Eun-hyuns death? I want to know about what happened to Seo Hweol in the 15th cycle.
A: We might see it a while later.
True Immortals & Governing Immortals
Q: Are the Supreme Deities and Heavenly Venerables equals? Or is there a difference?
A: There is a small difference.
Q: Do children of Black Dragon and Lustrous Glaze Peacock have minds? I think youve said that there are only True Immortals and mindless monsters in the True Immortal realm, are the children thrown away into the Middle Realms?
A: Children of True Immortals are not normal living beings or monsters, but are fates. If the Lustrous Glaze Peacock mates with someone, the resulting children are not children of Lustrous Glaze Peacock but fate to mate with more than ten billion beings, and that fate pervades somewhere in the world and numerous beings that will mate with more than ten billion beings are born.
Q: What level of True Immortal are Bong Myeong and Love of Virtue?
A: Bong Myeong has a lot of roles to play, so thats a spoiler. Love of Virtue was just below the level of the Owner of Heavenly Punishment.
Q: In Heavenly Tribulation (4), Zhengli mentioned the Judge of the Netherworld terrifying enough to threaten the Owner of Heavenly Punishment, is this judge Love of Virtue?
A: Spoiler but since everyone seems to have figured it out, I will say yes.
Q: Is there a difference between the Supreme Deities and the Heavenly Venerables? If so, whats the difference like?
A: Like the difference between first rate martial artists and peak martial artists? Or perhaps like the difference between Three Flowers Gather at the Summit/Five Energies Returning to the Origin and 2nd~6th star of Qi Refining?
Q: The dead True Immortals related to the Head Realm were beings strong enough to be recognized by the Owner of Heavenly Punishment, a Governing Immortal, are there a lot of such beings? Are Governing Immortals 10 beings that have reached the last stage of True Immortal, or 10 strongest beings among those that reached the last stage?
A: Quite a number of beings are that strong. However, if they each fought the Owner of Heavenly Punishment directly and individually, they would lose. There are 10 Governing Immortals.
Q: Do True Immortals eat elixirs as well?
A: They eat something similar.
Q: Is the Owner of Heavenly Punishment female?
A: Gender is meaningless to True Immortals. Owner of Heavenly Punishment is.. a wall.
Q: Is the difference between the weakest True Immortals and Governing Immortals a tremendously big difference like the difference between Four-Axis and Entering Nirvana?
A: Yes, the difference is tremendously big. However, due to the nature of True Immortals, ganging up can work, even if its just a tiny bit.
Q: If one becomes a True Immortal, do they automatically become big? Or is it a choice and they become big because its advantageous?
A: Its automatic. The size can be controlled.
Q: Who is the last being that became a True Immortal? Yang Su-jin?
A: Yes.
Q: How long do True Immortals take to become a True Immortal on average?
A: Excluding Enders, the average is 5 million years.
Q: How far can you grow if you eat a pill made using True Immortals? In the first place, would doing that drive you mad?
A: The True Immortal will start being reborn inside your body.
Q: Immortal Beast King candidate is dead, so is the position of Immortal Beast King currently empty?
A: Yes, it is empty.
Q: Are there 10 Governing Immortals due to the laws of the world, or is 10 just the current number that could become 11 if a being becomes a Governing Immortal?
A: The latter.
Q: Youve said that one needs hundreds of millions of Entering Nirvana puppets to kill a True Immortal. Are Entering Nirvana cultivators just big bugs to True Immortals as well?
A: Entering Nirvana cultivators and True Immortals Its not because of the difference between stages but because the concept of death is unusual for True Immortals. Specifics are spoilers.
Q: Is there a negative effect for cultivation if the True Immortal in charge of a concept dies?
A: There is an effect, but Im not sure if it's negative or positive.
Q: Are there records or books about True Immortals? If not, are records deliberately destroyed or not written because the record itself forms an attraction of fate with the True Immortals?
A: Countless cultivation methods are ultimately records that imply a True Immortal. Especially outstanding and powerful cultivation methods.
Q: When the Master of the Netherworld is said to be the oldest, does this include the true Emperor?
A: No.
Q: Star Shattering stage is said to be the beginning of divinity, does this mean True Immortals treat Star Shattering cultivators as people?
A: From the perspective of True Immortals, Star Shattering cultivators are in the range of microbes and small creatures such as bugs, lizards, or frogs.
Q: How long is 120 thousand years for Zheng Li or Governing Immortals? 12 seconds?
A: Not that short, something like 12 years?
Q: Is there a reason Seo Eun-hyun was unable to tell his sect about the Heavenly Lightning Banner?
Answer from Another Reader: Even talking about Governing Immortals drive you insane or collapse your existence, Seo Eun-hyun was only able to survive because Yang Su-Jin shielded his mind. Thats why hes not telling them so they do not die. Also, talking about Governing Immortals might form an attraction.
A: Yes, he was careful because it was about Governing Immortals. After all, Seo Eun-hyun knows almost nothing about True Immortals.
Q: In the Head Realm, would the Owner of Heavenly Punishment be unable to visit even if you shout Zhengli?
A: The Owner of Heavenly Punishment could detect it and even send some power, but not directly peer in like they did.
Q: Whats the difference in power between True Immortals and Governing Immortals?
A: The difference between presidents and civilians.
Q: Governing Immortals seem to be people, do they always talk so solemnly?
A: From the perspective of Governing Immortals, they are just talking, but it sounds like that to lower beings because of the difference of level.
Q: Could devil path True Immortals never defeat beings like Love of Virtue?
A: Love of Virtue was indeed extremely advantaged against such beings.
Q: How many True Immortals are there in total?
A: I think about 10000 makes sense. But the specific number might not show up in the work.
Q: Are Immortal Beasts similar in strength?
A: Every Immortal Beasts are different in strength. But the Immortal Beasts Ive previously mentioned in Authors Note are all at a similar level except the Black Dragon, Supreme Tiger, and the Lustrous Glaze Peacock.
Q: Whats the probability of a cultivator reaching the level of True Immortal? One in quintillions?
A: I dont know if its that unlikely Probably something like one in billions?
Q: If someone of the Immortal Beast descent becomes a True Immortal, do they become in charge of a sub concept of the Immortal beast?
A: If a being of Immortal Beast descent becomes an Immortal Beast, they actually become in charge of a completely different concept.
Q: Are True Immortals that can be killed with hundreds of millions of Entering Nirvana puppets the lowest stage of True Immortal?
A: The lowest and the one stage above.
Q: Is there a sexual relationship between Zhengli and that True Immortal.
A: True Immortals have very different desires from desires of mortals but I will say that they have many different kinds of desires for each other.
Zhengli
Q: Zhengli raised her power to the plane of fate because of Seo Eun-hyun, does this mean Zhengli is something like a True Immortal?
A: Yes, Zhengli is originally on the level of True Immortals.
Q: Zhenglis dialogue is all too sexy. This is intended, right?
A: A bit intended.
Q: Zhengli seems like a cute mascot that chatters at the side from a Governing Immortals perspective. Is this correct?
A: From the perspective of the Governing Immortal, its a bit like that + loyal subject.
Q: You wont ditch Zhengli, right? I want to see Zhengli again.
A: Zhengli will definitely show up again.
Q: Why was Zhengli so terrified of Jeon Myeong-hoon in the last cycle?
A: Because Jeon Myeong-hoon was learning the Red Lightning Heavenly Tribulation Method even without the guidance of Zhengli last cycle.
Q: Can Zhengli be a heroine? Is this an obvious question?
A: No.
Q: Are Zhengli and Owner of Heavenly Punishment similar to dual cultivation partners?
A: They do dual cultivation according to their needs
Worldbuilding
Q: Do other Heavenly Domains have Middle Realms as well? If so, do they use different Axes from Five Blessings for Four-Axis?
A: They do have Middle Realms. Four-Axis is universal across the world.
Q: It seems both Middle Realms and Lower Realms are made with True Immortals bodies. Is there a difference?
A: Dear friend Sacred Master Baek Woon will explain it for you later.
Q: Heavenly Being cultivators are not allowed to join Immortal Beast Blood Fusion, does this include those less than thousand years old like Hong Su-ryeong?
A: Demon beasts that have reached Heavenly Being in less than 10 times their original lifespan are directly scouted by Immortal Beast descendents and receive True Blood without joining Immortal Beast Blood Fusion.
Q: What does the Bright Cold Realm look like? Is it flat like the Head Realm? Or does it look like a planet?
A: As youve probably noticed this chapter, it has the same basic structure as Decaying Corpse Realms such as the Head Realm, but there are a lot of metaphysical areas where normal living beings cannot survive.
Q: In the Azure Heaven Creation Sect cycle, it was mentioned that there cannot be three or more Four-Axis stage cultivators on a Sky Island, what happens if a sect possesses multiple Four-Axis stage cultivators? Do they open a new branch sect on a different island, like how the Black Ghost Valley owns multiple Sky Islands?
A: Yes. If there are two or more Four-Axis stage cultivators, innocent bystanders might get hurt if the two get upset and fight each other, so they make branch sects.
Q: In the Azure Tiger Saint cycle, there were seven human Integration stage cultivators, but there are only three Integration stage cultivators among the Six Major Sects of the Human Race. Are the rest of the Integration stage cultivators independent or belong to the Human Race Grand Alliance like Wi Ryeong-seon?
A: Yes.
Q: Are all Decaying Corpse Realms made from the corpses of True Immortals?
A: The vast majority are. But there are some made by tinkerers such as Bong Myeong.
Q: Are all Decaying Corpse Realms considered to be ominous?
A: It depends. But most True Immortals dislike Decaying Corpse Realms and those from them. They are considered to be maggots.
Q: What is the purpose of the Netherworld? Is reincarnation a thing in RToC?
A: It serves the role of guaranteeing reincarnation and the afterlife.
Q: Do Heaven Tribe and Earth Tribe respect the Heart Tribe Esteemed One if they meet him?
A: If they want their corpse intact, they would have to show some respect. Even disregarding the difference in stages, there is still respect for reaching such a stage.
Q: Are Entering Nirvana stage cultivators unaffected by looking at Governing Immortals? Or do they have to be like Seo Eun-hyun and master Heaven, Earth, and Heart?
A: Entering Nirvana stage cultivators are the beings most terrified of seeing True Immortals. But Seo Eun-hyun will not be terrified of it due to personal characteristics.
Q: Do all corpses of True Immortals remain as Decaying Corpse Realms? Or does it depend on how they died or their level?
A: Yes, it depends on how they died and their level.
Q: Can someone with Five Element Spiritual Roots understand every element better than someone with One Element Spiritual Roots?
A: At the extremes, the person with One Element Spiritual Roots understands the element better. However, this depends on the attitude of the cultivator, so a diligent Five Element Spiritual Roots understands better than lazy One Element Spiritual Roots.
Q: Could the Mad Lord make modern AIs with his puppets?
A: Not exactly the same, but he can make something similar.
Q: Sea Dragons and the Azure Ghost Valley fought in the past, did Seo Hweol make peace between them?
A: Before Seo Hweols birth, dharma treasures made with Sea Dragon souls were popular in the Ghost Valley, and wines made with Ghost Valley sect members were popular among the Sea Dragons. Seo Hweols birth improved their relations that much.
Q: True Immortal puppets are impossible, but is it possible to turn yourself into a puppet and become as powerful as True Immortals?
A: Theoretically possible.
Q: Is Yeons Play a tremendous thing even for True Immortals?
A: Its as if a ladybug passing by loudly sang Beethoven's Fate Symphony.
Q: Youve said that every Middle Realm had a Sacred Vessel stage cultivator, does that mean True Devil Realm and Blood Yin Realm, which were originally one, each have their own Sacred Vessel stage cultivator? Or is there one in charge of both?
A: Blood Yin Realm does not have a Sacred Vessel stage cultivator.
Q: Does the human race have a Star Shattering Esteemed One?
A: They used to.
Q: Is there a relation between how the Yin Soul Ghost Sect and Yin Soul Ghost Incantation sound so similar?
A: Yes there is.
Q: Are the strongest races in the Earth Tribe and Heaven Tribe the dragons and the human race?
A: That is the case for Earth Tribe, but among the Heaven Tribe humans are one of the strongest but not the strongest.
Q: How much can an Integration stage Grand Cultivator extend their lifespan using pills?
A: It depends on the pill. However, to extend the lifespan of an Integration stage Grand Cultivator, you would need to grind up the corpse of an Esteemed One.
Q: The Ghost Valley has the longest history amo