This ''chapter'' is not an actual story chapter, but rather a collection of various notes of varying importance about the novel, and details of its general format, going forward. None of the following notes are necessary to read before going ahead to the first chapter but I would still recommend at least checking the segment titles in case there''s anything that catches your interest. I''ve ordered the segments from most to least important, in regards to the various aspects of the novel that are most likely to turn people away, just to clarify the existence, or lack thereof, of certain plot/writing elements that people may be looking for or looking to avoid (the ordering is entirely subjective). With that being said, please note that all decisions made are from a purely literary standpoint. I am simply aiming to create a novel that aligns with my writing style and vision of what I want it to be. The lack and/or inclusion of certain clichés, tropes, and commonly attributed features of the genre of which I''m writing, and the other genres I aim to explore within the same novel, is purely personal. I am not trying to insult or deride by altering staple concepts, I am simply trying to approach them in my own way. Thank you for your understanding. If you are going to go straight to the next chapter from here, then I hope you enjoy it. For everyone else, I will try to keep things brief, but I apologise in advance if things occasionally get wordy.
Yes, this is a cultivation novel. No, it is not a wuxia novel. It''s probably closer to a high fantasy novel
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of cultivation, I will give a very brief overview and do my best to construct visual aids in this word document (lord help me) that can be used as a reference. For those of you who are familiar, feel free to skip to the paragraph after the diagrams as that''s where the main bulk of this segment will inevitably be (although it might be worth checking out the second diagram as that will show off the first few cultivation realms and they''re a little different from usual).
What is a cultivation novel? Well, the following is a rather nice summary: "Cultivation stories basically discuss the idea (often using the cultural idea of ''cultivating'' to gain immortality) via progressing one''s soul / body / state of being. This can happen via martial arts training, grasping the Dao, magical potions or spirit stones, etc." This description, if anyone''s curious, was borrowed from here:
https://www.mylifemytao.com/xianxia-wuxia-cultivation-and-more-a-small-explanation/#:~:text=Cultivation%20stories%20basically%20discuss%20the,potions%20or%20spirit%20stones%2C%20etc</a>.
As for how cultivation is represented in a cultivation novel, it''s done so in a fashion not dissimilar to how most multiplayer games do their ranking systems, if you''re at all familiar with that. To keep it simple, you start in the first ''tier'' (commonly called a realm) and work (cultivate) your way through it to get to the next one. These realms provide benefits to the individual, typically physical strength, but not exclusively, and will keep going up until you reach immortality, the end point for most cultivation novels. One of the benefits of this sort of power scaling is that you can always add more to it if you decide you want your novel to keep going. It''s not limited like, say, a guild ranking system common in other novels that uses the alphabet to grade strength, ending at ''S'' with little-to-no further room to expand (This is probably why a good chunk of cultivation novels have thousands of chapters). It''s also a rather easy system to follow as, within realms, there''s a clear number system that delineates most characters'' strength very accurately. Within each realm there are, usually, ten stages. As a cultivator cultivates, they will gradually climb through these stages, increasing their strength. When they reach the tenth stage, they can ''breakthrough'' into the next realm. As a general rule of thumb, if two cultivators are in the same realm, the one at the higher stage within that realm will be stronger. If a cultivator is in a higher realm, there''s, normally, a zero chance of them losing to anyone in a lower ream in a fight. The gap between stages is not as big as the gap between realms.
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Realm 1
Stage: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10
?
Realm 2
Stage: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10
?
Realm 3
Stage: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10
etc…
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Just to note, the realms have actual names in these novels, I''m just using the word ''realm'' as a placeholder as that''s how they''re indirectly referred to.
One of the main draws of cultivation novels is that the main character is almost always capable of fighting people who are at higher stages and realms than they are. It''s essentially a power fantasy following an overpowered protagonist on their long journey through different worlds, fighting for rare treasures to increase their cultivation, to protect the people around them, or just generally to reach immortality as previously mentioned. In this regard, my novel doesn''t change anything other than the third point as immortality isn''t the goal as will become self-evident relatively early in the novel. I''ll touch more on this side of things a little later.
Back to cultivation realms, the structure shown in the impromptu diagram above has been altered slightly in my novel. It doesn''t impact much as it''s only relevant for the first four realms and the novel covers most of those pretty quickly, but I wanted to experiment with this idea and see if it could potentially work if I bring it back in the future. The realms in my novel, at the start, look like like this…
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Meridian Conversion → Meridian Expansion
Flesh Unfettering → Skeletal Structuring
ps: the formatting doesn''t appear to have worked correctly on royalroad or webnovel, so I simplified it. I apologise for any confusion.
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Ok, so there''s a lot to unpack here. For starters, welcome back to anyone who skipped ahead, this diagram above is representative of the first few cultivation realms in my novel. Next, the obvious change, there is no definitive ''first'' realm in my novel as their are options here. As a cultivator in TWC (The Wandering Calamity), people have the option to start at either Meridian Conversion, or Flesh Unfettering. They have to do all four realms eventually, but the order is malleable. After doing either of the first two realms, the successive realm, be it Meridian Expansion or Skeletal Structuring, also becomes an option. So, if, say, someone starts with Flesh Unfettering, as it gives more physical strength, they can move onto either Skeletal Structuring or Meridian Conversion when they are finished, but not Meridian Expansion. If someone starts with Meridian Conversion, as it enables the use of magic, they can move onto either Flesh Unfettering or Meridian Expansion, but not Skeletal Structuring. Hopefully this isn''t too complicated as I think it''s an interesting idea and one I would like to potentially bring back later. TLDR: Do all four realms before mental accumulation but the order is up to the individual''s needs.
Some of you may have noticed the word ''magic'', this is change number two. Typically, in cultivation novels, martial techniques form the backbone of combat, allowing the characters to do cool things other than just swing their weapon (which they also do a lot of). These techniques include things like controlling the elements, manipulating flying weapons, and even slapping a person''s face with the utmost precision. My novel, instead, has it''s own magic system in which these things are all still possible, but everything is now more specialised (I''ll explain in a second). As a westerner, I''m more familiar with the idea of ''mana'' than ''Qi'', so I''ve effectively replaced the two. Instead of Qi circulating through the body, mana does and is what''s used to cast magic. Those in higher realms can store more mana. As for the magic system, ''Pillars'' are an integral part of the equation. A pillar is any notable facet of reality. For instance, there is a ''fire'' pillar, a ''sound'' pillar, a ''weapons'' pillar, and so on. There are also some more nuanced or niche pillars like, ''summoning'', ''hemomancy'', ''gadgetry'', etc… Everyone is born with a different alignment to different pillars. Some people might have an affinity for the fire pillar, making them exceptional with fire magic, but have bad affinity with the ''nature'' pillar, stymying their growth in that department. The system goes deeper than this, mind you, but that''s explained quite nicely in the novel in the first few chapters, so I''ll leave it at this rather basic overview for now. In short, functionally not much has changed. People are still going to go around firing off massive attacks at one another, it''s just that the operative mechanism is different. Personally, I believe the pillar system gets quite interesting and is one of the better parts of the novel, so I would ask you not to write it off and give it thirty to forty chapters to see the ways in which it''s explored further (this might seem like a lot if you''re unfamiliar with cultivation novels but, trust me, it''ll go quickly).
The third, and final, major change is the way arcs will be structured in TWC. In most cultivation novels, arcs tend to be on the longer side, sometimes taking up to hundreds of chapters. In TWC, they''ll typically be shorter and more focused on a specific region and or person. Part of the problem with cultivation novels is that they tend to repeat themselves after a few thousand chapters with every arc following a pretty clear pattern of: enter a new world in which the main character is bottom of the barrel, join a sect, secretly hide strength, take part in various minor events (occasionally showcasing said strength to a few individuals), get embroiled in trouble with some manner of ''young master'' (probably over a love interest), train by finding rare treasures, compete with young master in an arena full of spectators and wow everyone with their hidden strength, clean-up of any outstanding problems that need to be taken care of, ascend to new world. There''s occasionally variance for sure, but this is a pretty common outline of what you can roughly expect from any given arc in a cultivation novel. In TWC, arcs will probably be closer to 40 or 50 chapters in length, most of which doing the following: exploring a new region with new monsters, people, and cultures, delving into a side characters backstory, and putting the main character smack dab in the middle of whatever problems the region is currently facing. There is an overarching plot in TWC but A, it will only be first mentioned in the second arc and B, it will take a long time before it really starts to become relevant. Each arc will essentially be a contained plot (sometimes maybe being relevant on a larger scale) that exists on the path to the end of the novel, but isn''t necessarily directly related to it. I should note that not every single arc will follow these rules exactly, but most will. While the first and second arcs of TWC are more introductory, with the first being an introduction to the world and the second being an introduction to the characters and lore, most arcs from then on will be more in line with the standard. TLDR: Each arc is like a mini fantasy story, some may wind up being longer but most will be relatively short, all side characters will get a good bit of backstory eventually (I plan on keeping all important side characters relevant instead of letting them fall by the wayside. They are all strong, unique characters in their own right so I will be keeping a note on how long it has been since their last appearance and will bear that in mind when deciding who to give ''scree time'' to). The first two arcs are slightly different compared to what will be normal going forward as they''re a little more basic for the sake of doing necessary world and character building. All arcs will follow a similar naming scheme of ''place'' ''and the'' ''theme''. For example, the first eight arcs (order and name subject to change) are called: ''Baja Forest and the Town on Edge'', ''Red Sun City and the Advent of the Gods'', ''Freeride Federation and the Off-Breed Onslaught'', ''Xasca and the Riddlemyd'', ''Isaz Region and the Mutated Mountain'', ''Akarala and the Maoi Wickerwyrm'', ''Dwarvingdom and the Case at Armstrong Mannor'', and ''Neo Gear Land and the Machiavellian Mechanical Machinations''. I won''t spoil what these arcs are about, but I will mention that I want to use TWC as way to experiment with my writing and attempt genres and general ideas I''m not familiar with. The Darvingdom arc will likely be a murder mystery, for example. I''ll also be incorporating 18+ scenes which leads me onto the next segment…
Stolen story; please report.
18+ / No Rape / Harem
I spent a lot of time going back and forth between whether or not this would be a harem novel, with most of that time spent firmly in the ''no'' camp. Ultimately, my mind was changed for a few reasons. 1: Given the characteristics of the first love interest, which I won''t spoil, it was basically unavoidable. 2: The more I kept creating characters, the more it all just kind of fit together and certain relationships just felt right. 3: It gives me a chance to experiment with writing different kinds of interpersonal relationships and explore alternate dynamics that exist due to unique personalities meshing together in interesting ways. 4: Harem''s are a common enough thing in-universe and, even if I don''t personally care for polyamory, it''s not about me but rather the situation the main character would find himself in. And finally, 5: Just as with the side characters, I plan on keeping any characters of note as relevant as I possibly can. They (harem members) will be their own fleshed out characters instead of just being some kind of trophy collection. In other words, I feel it should be done as it fits the story and I feel I can do the dynamic justice. On the topic of romantic relationships, there will be 18+ scenes. There will be a ''18+'' in the title of any chapters that feature explicitly sexual scenes and said scenes will be marked with a ?? symbol at the start and end. If you wish to skip the scenes then by all means feel free, however there will still be sexual references outside of these scenes, so bear that in mind. I also believe these scenes contribute to characterisation, so I would recommend not skipping it if you don''t have any strong inclination to do so. All of that being said, I''ve never written anything of the sort, so I apologise if the quality of these segments is lacking. I aim to learn more and will continue to try and do better, so please keep in mind the 18+ scenes in the first arc probably won''t be as well written as those that come later as there was a bit of gap between me writing the first arc and continuing on from the second. The frequency of these scenes will be simply up to the situation at hand, i.e I will not force there to be any even if there haven''t been any for a while, nor will I shy away from writing multiple in a row should it pertain to the story. Again, i view this as a natural part of storytelling and something that shouldn''t be overlooked, but it''s also not the point of the novel like it is in, say, dual cultivation (not a knock, I''m simply using it for comparison''s sake). Lastly, I''d also like to mention that all scenes will be consensual as A: I don''t particularly want to write any rape scenes, and B: all scenes will be those involving the main character, and he simply isn''t the type to do such a thing anyway. This isn''t to say that various fetishes won''t be explored (although this is entirely character dependent, so may not be relevant until the harem grows), it''s just that rape, specifically, will not be described in detail (although it may be mentioned if ever relevant, although I don''t plan on any major character being involved in such a thing). As for the ''only MC'' part, I briefly considered writing scenes for others, but I imagine it would become quite a time sink and would oversaturate the novel with such scenes, so I ultimately decided not to.
Release Schedule
You may have noticed in the last segment that I mentioned I''d already written the first arc. This was done a good few months ago before I had to focus on other matters. Now that those matters have been dealt with, I have free time to write as I please and continue onward as well as release these chapters without worry that my time will be taken up again. As such, the plan for now is to release the first twelve chapters, alongside this introductory chapter, and then follow it up with two chapters a day until the first arc is finished at chapter 46. The goal then will be to upload daily for as long as possible. There may be some days when I''m unable to do so, and I apologise in advance, but that''s simply how it has to be as the chapters are quite long and I may not have enough time in the day to make one. The average chapter length is probably around 4,000 words, at a rough estimate, with some of the early chapters being shorter, and some of the later ones being longer. I may also try to throw in a shorter chapter occasionally if I don''t think I can upload a longer one but I still want to put a chapter out. There will also, at some point in time, be side chapters, but I''ll touch more on that in the donations segment at the end as I plan on doing something interesting with them. Just in case, if my writing quality changes noticeably from the first arc to the second, as a result of the delay between creation, then I''m making a note of it here so you can know why (although I don''t think there should be any major changes). I did go back and add a bit more description to some of the character introductions as well as do some basic editing of punctuation and whatnot, but I am still a single human going through over 40+ chapters, so if I missed anything, again, I apologise. The same is true of new releases after the first arc as well as I''m my own editor, so please have mercy as writing and double checking everything is quite the lengthy endeavour. As for where I''ll be uploading, this novel will be available on royal road and webnovel. As there is no need for a translation to English, if it''s a language you understand then the aforementioned sites will be the first place to check for new chapters (although I believe royal road requires approval which can take up to 48 hours, so it might be delayed a tad over there as I''m not entirely sure how it works). Regarding webnovel, I have no intentions of locking anything behind paywalls (this is subject to change but highly unlikely). I will also never sign any contract that requires giving away copyright. I''m simply using it as another platform to view my work if you prefer it over the alternative, royal road. I''ll do my best to keep an eye on comments on both sites but I apologise if I miss some.
Timeskip
This segments a quick one. There is a timeskip very early on so, if for whatever reason, you aren''t thrilled about the idea of a younger main character then don''t worry, it won''t last long. This isn''t to say I won''t explore the main character''s early years down the road, but it won''t be immediate anyhow. There is a brief mention of it for the sake of character development, however. Speaking of character development, the first arc is sort of where a fair bit of it happens. It may not be the most interesting, maybe even a bit cringe at times (I apologise again if it is), but I believe it to be a necessary evil. There will be more down the line, but not anything overt for a good while.
A.I generated art
I''m aware people have mixed feelings about A.I art, so I wanted to talk about it here. I have no issue with either using or not using it, I''m more curious about whether people want to see it or not. Just as an experiment, I put some of my ideas and characters through the A.I generation programs available online and got a couple of images that are relatively close to what I already had in mind. This includes, characters, armour, places, and even the cover image for TWC. I have no intention of ever using them in an official capacity, more so as a placeholder if, in the future, TWC takes off, at which point I would commission official art. I simply thought people might want a visual aid of sorts for some things here and there, but if it turns out that enough people simply don''t want TWC to have anything to do with A.I art, then I have no qualms with removing it all. This would mean either generic images replace everything or there simply is no replacement in the short term. Again, personally, I have no strong opinion either way, but I''ll keep tabs on the comment sections for mentions of this particular topic and, should there be enough support or opposition, I will act accordingly. I''ll also note here, A.I IS NOT USED IN THE WRITING PROCESS AT ALL. For better or for worse, everything in TWC comes from my mind, and mine alone… Not that A.I has a mind, but you get my point.
Donations
Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. I plan on doing this regardless of my financial situation, even if the release schedule has to slow down further down the line, so donations are not necessary. I bring it up here because I have a few ideas for donation rewards that I want to float by you all and let you know that I''m considering the logistics of these ideas. The first is simple, donate to have your name, or someone else''s put into the novel. A tried and true reward that people seem to like as far as I''m aware. Second, instead of uploading more chapters, which I probably won''t be able to do due to time constraints, I instead want to create a side chapter system whereby, if you donate a certain amount, you can come up with an idea for a cannon side story you wish to see in TWC and I''ll write it. Obviously it can''t be anything cannon breaking or highly inappropriate, but if you want to see a Christmas special, certain characters going mini-golfing, or what have you, then this would enable that. The major problem with implementing this is finding a correct price point. If it''s too cheap, I''ll be swamped with more side chapters than I know what to do with and/or have time to make. If it''s too expensive, well then that''s fairly obvious, it''s too expensive and no-one will get to enjoy it. Either way, this idea is something I''m going to have to give a lot of thought to in order to implement correctly. For now, the only place to donate will be on Patreon at…
https://patreon.com/TWCNovel?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
I''ve set the only available donation to the minimum recommended for now as I don''t feel particularly great about anyone potentially donating more when the rewards aren''t up yet. Patreon is a big name as far as donations go and I don''t really know of any others, but if you have any suggestions for donation sites you would prefer, then please let me know in the comments. I will make an author''s note in the latest chapter when I''ve come to a decision about the donation rewards, so you can either check the newest chapters or the patreon to keep up to date. Again, thank you for your support should you decide to donate, it is incredibly helpful. Not only does it mean I can focus on this project more, but it means I can put that money back into TWC at a later date by commissioning art for it.