roadtomastery
patreon
Author's Afterword
🕑 Added 2024-11-07 17:46:01 +0000 UTCI just typed in the final words of the series. Bros… I can’t believe it’s over. Road to Mastery has been my project for the past two years, my continued obsession and companion. It not only pushed my skills to a new level, but also my life, financially and in a bunch of other fields.
Throughout these two years, despite the success and reader satisfaction that Road to Mastery received, I never allowed myself to experience it fully. It was incomplete. Anything could go wrong. That is no longer the case. The completion of Road to Mastery means I can finally stop obsessing over it, and it will always be there, never becoming worse no matter what. I cannot describe the relief that brings me. It also marks me as a true author, in my mind, in a more impactful way than anything so far. I feel so proud of what I have accomplished. So satisfied with myself. The positive feelings inside me are so many they fight to come out first.
That doesn’t mean I won’t miss Road to Mastery. I realize now, as I’m writing these words, that I will never write about Jack and Brock again. All the characters of this series are people I’ll leave behind, despite everything I’ve shared with them. It is almost grief. However, life is change, and embracing it is the secret to happiness. Good and bad. This is the good kind of loss, and I hope that, after sharing this adventure with me and Jack—as well as our excellent narrator, Jeremy Frazier, who has my heartfelt thanks—you will embrace the ending of this series as a maturing opportunity. I know I do.
I might be getting emotional now.
Anyway. The series might be over, but my journey as an author—my own Road to Mastery—is just beginning. I know different people have different tastes, but I hope each of you enjoys at least one of my future stories, so our paths can cross again. Let’s stay in touch—we’re bros now!
By the way, since the story is over, feel free to ask any leftover questions in the comments below. I might not reply immediately but I’ll see them all. You can ask about the Gods, the power system, the world-building, anything you’d like to know. If I have the answer—and that’s not always the case—I’ll tell you. To answer one question preemptively, yes, I might write another series in the same universe in the future—a cultivator in Jack’s Universe of the Body, or maybe someone in Edgar’s academy. No promises though.
Let’s talk about practical stuff. I will pause my Patreon page tomorrow, meaning you can all remain subscribed without paying anything. In that period, new members won’t be able to join, but I’ll use one of Patreon’s new functions to post the book file as a purchasable item for any late-comers. It will be at a lowered price for the first week, so the 3$ and 5$ tier people can get it cheaply. The 10$ and above people will naturally get it for free. I’ll keep posting chapters on RR until book completion, but I’ll deprecate and stop posting on the 3$ and 5$ tiers, so you should just buy the book file. To clarify for the 3$ and 5$ people, your tier will remain, you’ll just stop receiving benefits—and paying, since I’ll pause.
I’ll unpause the Patreon when I start posting my next series, Good Guy Necromancer—a story about a wholesome necromancer and his army of undead friends trying to save the world. It will be less xianxia-style than Road to Mastery, and a little more slice-of-death (hehe.) I’d suggest giving it a shot.
I’ll start posting it in around two months, give or take—in the meantime, I want to take a break, then read and edit my already considerable backlog of that story before I resume working on it. I’ll let you guys know.
That’s about all for now. Thank you very, very much for being part of this journey for the past two years. Your presence and comments meant the world to me. You gave me a bunch of great ideas and feedback, as well as motivation to keep going when things got rough—that goes especially for the people who messaged me about how my story helped them improve their lives, or gave them something to rely on during hard times. Writing is a tough gig, but you guys are the reason it’s worth it.
See you soon, bros.
To new words, to new worlds,
With love,
Valerios
Comments
Valerios
1) Nah-uh! He already has a universe, just needs to cultivate and grow it until it contains A-Grades. 2) I love this question. I don't have a clear answer because the universe is a big place, and many people could be cultivating that Dao without even knowing it. I can tell you, though, that Jack's fame has led to a universe-wide increase in pugilist cultivators, and his Dao in particular is followed by at least tens of thousands of people. Brock's is even more popular though. Thanks for being here!
Grimmace
First thanks for the awesome series there was a point in time where having something to look forward to everyday made a world of difference and I got through a particularly hard patch in part because of you! Ok two quick questions. 1) could jack reach s rank by just using his big bang inside his universe of the body? 2) how many people cultivate the dao of Jack Rust?
Golden Bear
*I'm just sad we never got to see Jack enjoy a cup of tea with Shol ;-)
Valerios
They must be part of his world to begin with, otherwise they can't increase his power. And yeah, he could have used the powers he received from Brock to speed up time in his inner world, but he had to use them to fight at that time
Ben Fun
I have a question regarding cultivation and the last battle. Couldn't the Curch cultivator have just joined Jack in his World increasing his cultivation or do they have to be a part of his body? And Couldn't he have just used the power he got from brock to speed up time in his inner world?
Valerios
Looking forward to having you bro!
Valerios
You'll make me blush bro! Thank you for being here and enjoying the story alongside me. You're a real one. See you soon!
Valerios
For normal cultivators, their inner world is just a separate small universe in the dimensional sea. For people like Jack, it's inside their body. In both cases, it is possible to exit if the universe creator allows you to or if you approach a level of power where you can force yourself out. Inner world cultivators tend to be much lower-level than its creator, so pulling them out wasn't a viable strategy at any point in the war. It decreased the creator's power, too.
Valerios
Maybe! But, depends on the kind of story. If it's possible, why not!
Valerios
I think he got to? Shol is still around, right? So Jack for sure paid a visit
Marin Schmidt
Thank you for the amazing time. I mostly followed somc ethe beginning o royalroad and hat switched in and of on patreon. It was amazing how much you did in 2 short years! Thanks for the great story and looking forward to your next project!
JNovaris
Thanks for the words of wisdom. Once again, incredible story, and thanks for the ride. Looking forward to what you come out with next!
Jeremy M
I don't remember what chapter it was that I started, but I remember it being relatively early. When Jack was in the Forest of the strong and what stood out to me the most was the gymonkeys throwing poop everywhere. I thought that this was going to be a parody novel full of weird innuendo. That was not the case. Bro, it was a pleasure and an honor to see you grow as an author and make your readers FEEL with your words. I enjoyed the ride greatly, and I appreciate every ounce of yourself that you poured into this story. Rest now, you've earned it. Excited for the next one!
Zorphe
Congrats on finishing the series! I'm curious to know more about the intricacies of the nested cultivator's inner world, and what it may require for the inner world cultivators to leave, if that's even possible.
Valerios
Ending a series is always like that. I remember I was crying at my first one, and I hadn't cried in years. But, you know, it's part of the experience. One of the greatest, though not the happiest. The pain makes the heart grow larger. Give it a go. Don't be afraid, and just try to have fun. Writing is a world worth joining. See you soon bro!!
Valerios
Thanks bro!!
Valerios
There are other places, either failed attempts of Enas to create intelligent life or attempts of the other Gods to match him. But they aren't as developed as this part of the universe. Jack wanted to ask about the S-Grade, how the universe came to be, if there are other S-Grades and universes out there... And, of course, there are! But that's a story for another time
Sloth
Do you intend to create a multiverse as many authors do? You’ve set it up pretty nicely, and I think it would be a nice addition to future stories, that Jack is out there beyond the void.
Golden Bear
I'm just sad Jack never got to enjoy a cup of tea with Shol
Valerios
Me neither bro! I really enjoyed RtM, but I'm also really looking forward to writing this next story. I've been getting ideas about it for years!
Valerios
The previous leader of the Hand of God. Passed a few million years ago. The current leader was an extreme Archon who was part of the war but never became relevant because the Immortals overshadowed him
Valerios
Absolutely! A few weeks to reset my brain and get ready for something new. To when we meet again, bro!
Valerios
❤️
Valerios
My bro!! Glad to have been part of it, happy fisting your way through life, and see you soon!
Valerios
LOL! Never even crossed my mind! Those scenes may be added later, but maybe not. I like the idea if I can get in the right mood. Thanks for being here bro. See you soon!
Namorat
I will miss your daily chapters. They went life when I finished work and I always read them on my way home :D integral part of the day ^^
Valerios
For me too :P but I make do. Thanks for reading and all the comments. Look forward to it!
Valerios
For sure! In the future, Brock has many children with many female monsters/beasts (brorillas or not) and is venerated for years to come
Valerios
Thank you for being here!!
Valerios
Oh right :P I'll add that, but yeah, they were released and lived happily ever after
Valerios
<3
Valerios
Exactly bro
Ben Fun
It still feels so surreal. As if you lost someone or something important to you and you know it will never be like before, it feels empty.
Nick Nicholson
Loved the series, definitely a little emotional right now. I don’t have a question, just a suggestion. I think you should add something about the people in the black hole world in the last chapter. Unless I forgot something, they were still waiting for Jack to release them into the greater universe.
david fulmer
Your name is defibately at the top of the kist for any new stories to come out i will be a subscriber. Thank you forbthis amazing series!
Condor
I am going to miss your story, the world you made and most importantly the characters we all grew to love. The only question i still have is does Brock ever start his own family in the future?
Namorat
Congratulations! I am glad I could follow you on this road. It was a lot of fun with many great memories. To me it is always difficult to write a power progression with such insane jumps. I am looking forward to see what the future of your writings will bring.
granndfunk
Congrats on the completion and thank you for the story! To be honest, I would have rather had a few chapters after the climax to wrap things up (like Brock's future, what happened to Starhair and Strawpin, Pebble and Frank reuniting with their father, etc) but I understand if that pacing would have been off for you. Regardless, a solid ending and never expected the final villain to belt out a Gloria Gaynor song :)
Colin Holloway
Mad love bro! You and your characters have been such a positive force in my life for years now and I can't thank you enough for still the smiles, tears, and even the cliffs. I look forward to your future works!
Ben Fun
Congratulations on finishing the series. It was awesome and I'm glad to hear there might be a continuation of the story. Road to mastery touched and changed me deeply. Even if we didn't get Jack in S-Grade the end of this Story feels real. I'm not depressed because it's over(not yet at least), but grateful to be a "witness". I'm actually shaking right now. I wish you the best for your next book and hope that our paths cross in the near future again. Until then have a great break(you take one, right?)!
Matt w Lichens
Man I'm emotioanl right now. Beautiful ending to a fantastic story. Thanks for everything!
Daniel
Who was the woman in that last Dao vision?
Jacobean
Thanks bro
Shaq Fu
Congrats on finishing the series, and my condolances on finishing. As of right now i cant bring myself to read this weeks chapters, i dont want it to end. But i cant wait for the new story.
mark harrell
Couple things Valerios. What were the questions that Jack wanted to ask Enas? What would have enas said in response? As this corner of the greater expanse the stories setting takes place in is pretty newborn- are there other, more developed cultivation societies? Or is this corner the "primordial" start of cultivation as a concept?
JNovaris
Man, it really hit me when you wrote about not writing about Jack and Brock again, how it was in many ways an emotional goodbye. This has been such an incredible series, one of my favorite progression fantasies of all time. Hell, it even helped inspire me to write my own, not that that’ll come out for a long time. It’s a hot mess right now, and I keep changing my mind on everything; but even only having worked on it for a couple months, it’s making me tear up thinking about saying goodbye to those characters like you are now. Thank you for the journey, for inspiring me, and for the joy this series has brought.
Michael McMahon
Hell of a job Bro. Well done.
Gambit
Appreciate you, bro.
Hillbillyjedi
Can’t wait for your new series this one was a awesome roller coaster. Appreciate you and all your helpers. Keep up the fantastic work.
