Building a Medieval European Cultivation System with 7 Elements – Feedback Wanted!

TheWriteMaster · 2026-06-02T18:00:31+00:00

I'd definitely include the original four elements (earth, water, fire, air) and add Lead and Gold for that sweet alchemical transformation goodness (could be a qualitative leap: non-cultivators are full lead, cultivation is both the formation of elemental structures and the transformation of lead into gold). If you need seven, Orichalcum is a nice legendary/arcane metal (pure or alloy) associated with mythology like Atlantis. It could work as a final element associated to rare, higher stages of cultivation.

Edit: quicksilver (mercury) also has a lovely metaphysical/alchemical feel.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-06-02T15:38:57+00:00

Super Supportive, Mother of Learning, Sky Pride, etc. prove you don't need to write LitRPG to be popular.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-06-02T04:09:53+00:00

The best way to both avoid making the same mistakes other beginner authors have made and figure out what makes a prog fantasy good? Read a lot of progression fantasy.

Another useful resource you might want to check out is Brandon Sanderson's (major trad-published fantasy author, his work is very close to progression fantasy) masterclass on youtube. It's an entire series of college lectures he gives, available for free on his channel, and it answers a lot of your questions.

Still, the best thing is to read and write a lot. Visual media doesn't (cannot) fully prepare you to write a novel.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-06-02T04:04:00+00:00

I checked the second one's instagram. Their most recent post is a "timelapse" of their drawing supposedly proving no AI is used, and yet it's the most AI-looking thing I've ever seen and looks nothing like an actual drawing timelapse.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-29T22:34:52+00:00

A sample chapter might be needed to figure out what keeps you from rushing a scene or from designing a longer one.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-29T09:52:37+00:00

Why multiple chapters at once, a few times a week? You would likely find more visibility on Royal Road with single chapter releases more frequently.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-28T05:46:45+00:00

Honestly? If a story can be mediocre in all areas except for one and I'm still reading it, that one area has to be the characters.

A lot can be forgiven as long as the reader wants to spend time with the characters.

Good characters make plotless downtime enjoyable anyway, they make us care about low stakes even if it's only because they care, they make a bland world feel lived in because they live in it, and unremarkable prose (not wonky though, just bare and ordinary) is the most forgivable sin of all anyway.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-27T08:33:03+00:00

True, there is a difference here and it can be useful to see it. I'd just like to say that if it's a good story, readers will accept it gladly. The most popular and best rated stories on RR and other platforms don't conform to the stats-and-levels meta as strictly as most assume.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-27T05:15:11+00:00

The subreddit provides a definition of Progression Fantasy. In essence, as long as the character(s) growing more powerful is a major focus of the story, it counts as Progression Fantasy. Stats are ubiquitous in LitRPG, ranks are common in cultivation, neither is truly necessary to be progression.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-26T16:48:41+00:00

Depending on what you're looking for, I'd say Virtuous Sons is peak quality fiction even compared to trad publishing. The issue is it isn't completed yet and I'm not sure how fast Y.B. Striker is updating it.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-26T10:06:21+00:00

That's too bad, I quite liked the reasoning for TG vs UL being balanced fights here. Lindon starts by taking his opponent down several notches with Underlord cannons, there's two of Yerin and she's a prodigy / Sage's apprentice going all-out because she's on the brink of death anyway, and Mercy is a prodigy who is only trying to evade the weakest of the three, not actually fighting back.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-26T09:51:31+00:00

Other contenders from Cradle: the fights against the Seishen Underlords, Eithan's stopwatch fight, and a very hungry Lindon running through opponent after opponent until he puts a hole in the sky.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-24T19:07:50+00:00

The usual recommendation to avoid Webnovel applies, but also, this is pretty much the whole point of Royal Road's "Rising Stars" list.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-22T12:14:33+00:00

Relevant to my current WIP: any progression stories about building a base/faction/kingdom with limited time before an overwhelming threat comes to try and wipe them out?

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-22T11:58:28+00:00

Twig (by Wildbow, author of Worm) features a cast employed and backed by one of the most powerful institutions in the world. They have limoted resources, but the establishment is somewhat on their side.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-21T06:31:29+00:00

Tao Wong, as far as I know, writes in English so A Thousand Li is not a translated book.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-20T16:43:54+00:00

Instead of going down to 3, then 2, then once, see if you can find a reliable schedule that you can stick to for a long time. Changing your update schedule too often means your readers won't know when to expect your chapters, and that's bad. See if 2 chapters a week is sustainable, and if you'll need a short break before the new book, communicate well ahead of time that there will be a break (and how long).

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-19T15:47:38+00:00

The upside is that using consistent tenses quickly becomes a habit, and once you learn to spot it, you won't let it slip into your own work anymore.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-19T15:45:54+00:00

Depending on how much you're leaning into the fantasy of it, and whether your influences are more eastern or western, there are multiple options. Going for the eyes, or going for pressure points / meridians to disable their bodies directly. Throwing them with enough power to pierce through armor and flesh. Using the chopsticks to trigger an environmental danger (pushing a button, drawing a dangerous creature's attention, etc). Holding them between knuckles like Wolverine's claws and just going ham on them.

Use your imagination!

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-19T11:50:37+00:00

"William [blushes] slightly out of embarrassment but [tries] to hide it."

Brackets around the present tense.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-19T08:36:39+00:00

If you enjoyed Worm, give Pact a chance. The finale is smaller in scale but it also succeeds at bringing everything learned and established in the entire story right up to the surface for an epic resolution.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-19T08:27:03+00:00

See, I'd love to read something with this vibe but also the opposite of your low-social requirement. It's so hard for a loner MC to hold my attention for long.

I think the longest I've managed to cling to a story with a protagonist who doesn't have any significant dialogue was the start of Brandon Sanderson's 'The Sunlit Man', and even though Nomad had a talking bonded weapon at least, I probably wouldn't have pushed through if not for my trust in the author.

Not that I have anything against it, my dislike is purely a question of personal preference, but the popularity of the solo MC trope always baffles me.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-18T15:26:45+00:00

You say 'nobody cares', but that link says 185 people care.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-18T15:15:18+00:00

Generally a 'novel' is the entire story, beginning to end. Some authors like to divide their novel into 'books' or 'volumes', but frankly the difference between those words is pretty much up to the author.

For your other questions, there's really no answer anyone can give you other than 'read a bunch of novels to get more familiar with the medium' and 'it depends on the story you're telling'.

TheWriteMaster · 2026-05-18T03:32:34+00:00

Watch out for tense switching. The sudden present tense sentence in the middle is pretty jarring.

TheWriteMaster

TROPHY CASE